Alan Sipress, Jakarta – The new publication of declassified US documents by a private Washington-based research group, raising questions about Indonesia's takeover of disputed territory 35 years ago, has provoked charges in Jakarta that the US government must be behind the revelations.

Jayapura – One person was killed and another was severely wounded after ethnic violence broke out in the Timika district in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua on Friday morning.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – religious leaders have urged the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to reveal the findings of its probe into alleged human rights violations by soldiers and police in the troubled province.

Earlier today Mark Davis spoke to Indonesia's Ambassador to Australia, Imron Cotan, from Canberra.

Mark Davis: Ambassador, thanks for joining us. Were you surprised by the very strong nature of these documents?

Imron Cotan, Indonesian ambassador to Australia: I'm not surprised at all.

Jayapura – Trikora Military Commander Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal has filed a complaint against Latifah Hanum Siregar, the director of the Democratic Alliance for Papua (ALDP), alleging defamation.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – In its response to new questions over the legitimacy of Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua, it seems the government has learned little from the loss of East Timor in 1999.

Jim Lobe, Washington – On the 35th anniversary of the so-called "Act of Free Choice" (AFC) that resulted in West Papua's annexation by Indonesia, newly declassified documents revealed that the administration of the late US president Richard Nixon was unwilling to raise any objections to the process despite its assessment that the move was overwhelmingly opposed by the Papuan people.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja & Netty Dharma Somba, Jakarta, Jayapura – The Indonesian government has brushed aside any questions about the legitimacy of the 1964 UN-sponsored self-determination vote in Papua, saying current standards should not be applied to past events.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The central government's reluctance to implement Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy status for Papua might incite a separatist movement in the province, a court was told.

Frances Evans – West Papua: where the second largest rainforest in the world is cleared for Freeport/Rio Tinto's gold and copper mines; where one of the world's most diverse marine environments is being polluted by BHP-Billiton's toxic tailings; where, for more than half a century, demands for self-determination have been met with mass human rights abuses; where a struggle has been

John Rumbiak is West Papua's most prominent human rights investigator. He led a 2-year investigation of the Freeport killings, in close cooperation with the FBI. Rumbiak now lives in exile after reports emerged of death threats being made against him by the Indonesian military.

Indonesia says it hopes to resume military cooperation with the United States after a separatist rebel leader was charged over the deaths of two Americans in Papua almost two years ago. A US grand jury in Washington has indicted Anthonius Wamang on two counts of murder and eight counts of attempted murder over an ambush at the Freeport copper mine, near the town of Timika.

The recent declassification of documents by the US National Security Archive pertaining to the 1969 referendum on Papua has put this vast and resource-rich westernmost province of Indonesia in the spotlight.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Timika – Two conflicting tribes, the Damal and Nduga, in Papua province have agreed to end the bloody clashes that have killed two tribesmen on each side.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Papuan people's campaign against the province's division has received a major boost after the State Administrative Court ruled on Tuesday against a law appointing Abraham Octavianus Atururi as West Irian Jaya governor.

With a long tradition of supporting independence movements in the Pacific, Vanuatu has taken the lead to support dialogue on the future of the Indonesian province of Papua. Last month, Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Moana Cacasses issued an invitation to the Government of Indonesia to participate in a roundtable meeting with representatives of the West Papuan movement.

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – A panel of judges dismissed on Monday defense pleas by two senior police officers charged with human rights abuses in Papua, ruling that their ad hoc rights trials must continue in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Biak – Some 300 people in Biak Numfor district in Indonesia's Papua province staged a peaceful rally at the legislative council building on Tuesday to press for the discharge of police officers for beating a local official last June 9.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged Wednesday to implement fully the special autonomy law for Papua by speeding up the establishment of the stalled Papuan People's Assembly (MRP).

Suwarjono, Jakarta – Opposition to presidential and vice-presidential candidates from the military are surfacing again. A coalition of West Papuan non-government organisations (NGOs) say that presidential candidates with a military background will make it difficult to uphold values of human rights in Indonesia.

Matthew Moore, Makassar – The first member of Indonesia's notorious paramilitary police force Brimob to face trial for human rights abuses has appeared in court accused of allowing the killing of a Papuan student and the torture of dozens of others.

Matthew Moore/Karuni Rompies, Makassar – The first member of Indonesia's notorious paramilitary police force (Brimob) ever to face trial for human rights abuses has appeared in court accused of allowing the killing of a Papuan student and the torture of dozens of others.

Jayapura – About 500 Papuans in the Coalition of Civilians for Human Rights protested at the province's legislative council here on Wednesday to oppose the May 1, 1963 integration of their territory into Indonesia.

Brian Toohey – The appointment of a new police chief in western Papua might seem of little interest to the British Foreign Office. When Timbul Silaen's appointment was announced on December 1 last year, however, the Foreign Office had good reason to take notice.

Jayapura – Most of people in Papua living with HIV/AIDS are between 5 years and 29 years of age, or in their productive years, numbering 746 or 51 percent out of a total 1,454 people with AIDS in the province, according to government data.

Alisa P., Jakarta – Scores of activists from the Papuan National Student's Front (Front Nasional Mahasiswa Papua, FNMP) held a demonstration at the United Nations offices in Jakarta on Tuesday 27.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua province now reaches 1,398 and has sparked concern among Papuans and local health officials.

Of the total, 912 people have been diagnosed HIV-positive and 486 have developed AIDS.

Counting continues after Indonesia's national elections in the world's third largest democracy. The remote province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, was the first place to vote in the Indonesian archipelago, which covers three time zones. However, Papua's remoteness has thrown up some challenges for local authorities.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Police here said on Sunday that they had shot dead a suspected separatist in the troubled province of Papua for allegedly trying to discourage people from voting in the legislative election on Monday, while a policeman and an activist were reportedly missing.

Sentani – Less than three years after special forces troops killed his father, restive Papua's most prominent independence leader at the time, Boy Eluay wants to be an Indonesian politician.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – A key witness to the 2002 ambush in Papua that left two Americans and one Indonesian dead has changed his testimony that Army soldiers were responsible for the incident.

Jakarta – Prosecutors have indicted two senior police officers on charges of allowing their men to torture hundreds of people in the eastern province of Papua, officials said on Thursday.

Jakarta – A human rights group in Papua province said Thursday it was being sued by Indonesia's powerful military for alleging that troops carried out an ambush which killed two Americans in August 2002.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Political campaigning for the 2004 general elections in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, is apparently not as lively as before, in 1999, as can be seen from the reduction in the number of those attending outdoor campaign rallies.

The following letter was sent today to Minister of State Douglas Alexander

29 March 2005

The Rt Hon. Douglas Alexander MP
Minister of State, Foreign Office
King George's Street
London SW1A 0AA

Dear Mr Alexander,

Military Build Up in West Papua

A leading Indonesia analyst says Jakarta has grossly mishandled the troubled province of Papua, and now seems to be stepping back to watch it disintegrate.

Presenter/Interviewer: Graeme Dobell

Speakers: Sidney Jones, the Southeast Asia director, the International Crisis Group

For the first time since it was called into the case, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is believed to be following several promising leads in the investigation into the slaying of two American teachers near the Papua mining town of Tembagapura in August 2002.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The whole of Papua society could unite in a movement to secede from the Republic of Indonesia if the government insisted on splitting the province, a religious leader warned.

Jakarta – Government troops have shot dead a separatist leader in Indonesia's eastern most province of Papua, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Papua governor JP Solossa has expressed his fear of a possible delay of several days in the legislative elections scheduled for April 5 for technical, geographical and logistical reasons.

Tom Benedetti – A storm is quietly but rapidly gaining force in an overlooked corner of the world. Papua (formerly West Papua or Irian Jaya) is being ravaged in an escalating program of repression by the Indonesian military.

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – US officials believe local army commanders ordered an ambush that killed two American teachers near a gold mine in a case that has held up resumption of normal US-Indonesia military ties, two American officials told The Associated Press.

Tim Shorrock – August 31, 2002, began as a day like any other in the lives of Patsy and Rick Spier. They were teaching school in West Papua, Indonesia, the latest posting in a series of international teaching jobs far away from their home in Denver.

Neles Tebay – When the territory of Papua was under Dutch rule, the population was almost exclusively Papuan, made up of some 252 ethnic groups. Since Indonesia took over the territory in 1963, however, the composition of the population has altered due to the influx of Indonesian migrants.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Papuan tribal leaders rejected what they called an unsatisfactory investigation into the murder of proindependence Papuan leader Dortheys "Theys" Hiyo Eluway, and called for the United Nations to set up an independent team to conduct an objective and thorough inquiry into the case.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A seminar featuring respected intellectuals, analysts and religious leaders has urged the government to lift Presidential Instruction No. 1/2003 on the formation of two new provinces in Papua, and consistently enforce Law No.

21/2001 on special autonomy for the resource-rich province to help solve the increasingly complex issues.

Semarang – Four university students of Papuan origin, detained by Central Java police for having raised the separatist "morning star" flag on December 3, 2003, have been set free.

Their release had to do with the expiry of their detention term, namely 60 days. But they were still required to report to the police periodically.

Jayapura – Anticipating security disturbances in the lead up to the 2004 general elections, the TNI (armed forces) will increase surveillance in areas which are considered to be susceptible to disturbances by the Free Papua Organisation or the Papua National Liberation Army (OPM/TPN). There will not be any increase in troop numbers but routine patrols will be increased.

Jakarta – Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno stated that so far the government did not have any plans to raise the status of civil order in Papua formerly Irian Jaya to civil emergency. There was not enough reason to impose such a status in that province.

Currently more than 2.2 tons a year of hazardous and toxic (B3) wastes are exported to developing countries, including Indonesia. Indonesia as a country of archipelago is regarded as one of countries that apply lenient standards of environmental management particularly of B3 wastes.