News & Updates

from the Java Post - November 18, 2011
Ribuan Massa Teriakkan Papua Merdeka - Jawa Pos. Jum'at, 18 November 2011

Manokwari -- Shouts of "Papuan is independent" enlivened a peaceful protest action at the West Papua Provincial House of Representatives (DPRPB) on Thursday November 17.

Thousands of protesters took to the street and marched from Jl. Pahlawan Sanggeng to Jl. Yos Sudarso and then to Jl. Merdeka before eventually conveying their demands on the grounds of the DPRPB.

UNITED NATIONS DECLARES INDONESIA’S DETENTION OF FILEP KARMA A VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Source: Freedom Now

In response to a petition filed by Freedom Now and Hogan Lovells, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued its opinion that the Government of Indonesia is in violation of international law by detaining Filep Karma. The Working Group calls on the Government of Indonesia to immediately release the human rights advocate.

Neles Tebay welcomes the readiness of the government to enter into dialogue with Papua
source: Bintang Papua, 9 November 2011; translation courtesy of TAPOL

Jayapura: Pastor Neles Tebay, co-ordinator of the Papua Peace Network has stated today that he has received information that the central government is willing to have a dialogue with the Papuan people. He said that the offer from the goverenment, by the Minister-Coordinator for Politics and Law to enter into construction communications with the Papua people was welcome.

'We Papuan people should welcome the constructive communications being offered by the government, as the way to resolve all the crucial problems in Papua. Even though it is not entirely clear, the willingness to communicate with the Papuan people is a sign of good will and means that the government is very concerned about Papua.'

RAW FOOTAGE OF THE ATTACK ON THE PAPUAN PEOPLE’S CONGRESS

source: West Papua Media Alerts

This is raw footage of the attack of Oct 19/2011 by the Indonesian military and police on the Third Papuan People’s Congress in Jayapura. The footage shows people dancing, soldiers closing in, and gun shots. The video was shot by several observers. The last sequence was shot while the camera person was hiding from gunfire. Police have now confirmed that five people were killed in the attack – human rights groups say it was more.

click here for full footage (Oct 21/2011)

click here for more (Nov 11/2011)

Full translation by TAPOL of the report received from KPKC, Synod of GKI, Indonesian Christian Church on 21 October 2011

THE THIRD PAPUAN PEOPLES' CONGRESS

The Third Papuan Congress was held from 17 October and attended by Papuans from across the territory of Papua. After facing difficulties regarding the venue of the Congress, the Congress was held in the Zakheus Tunas Harapan Padang field.

By AUBREY BELFORD
Published: August 2, 2011
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/world/asia/03indonesia.html

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Thousands of people rallied for independence from Indonesia in the country’s Papua region on Tuesday, after days of political violence that killed at least 21 people.

Related

Leaked Letter Reveals Indon Army Scare Tactics

Exclusive Copies of the Scanned Letter are available for download at the end of this article hosted at westpapuamedia.info. (Please note, any attempts to block access will result in significant multiplication across the internet)

Source: http://newmatilda.com/2011/07/07/leaked-letter-reveals-indo-army-scare-tactics

By Alex Rayfield
Leaked letter reveals state intimidation in Papua

EXCLUSIVE: A leaked letter from an Army General reveals Indonesia's attempts to disband a West Papuan church with threats of "assertive action"

From the outside looking in, the latest church conflict in West Papua might look like just another example of factional Protestant politics. A little sordid perhaps, but irrelevant to all but the parties involved.

Dig a little deeper, however, and one finds something far more disturbing.

Indonesian Prison Guards in Nabire, West Papua has beaten and Abused 3 political prisoners on May 25th ago. It was really sadist what happened against Linus Hiluka (40), Kimanus Wenda (43) and Tomi Tabuni (32) who has been sentenced to prison for 20th years.

From Tapol

Tempo Magazine
No. 43/XI/June 22-28, 2011

National

OPM: Taking the Aceh Road

The President has named a special representative to seek peace with
the OPM. This will be tougher to solve than the Aceh conflict.

LAMBERT Pekikir was taken aback. He could not believe his fellow
freedom-fighters planned to surrender their weapons and take up the
option of a negotiating table. The chief of the National Liberation
Army of the Papua Independence Organization (OPM) for Keerom regency
was silent for a second. “It’s crazy,” he said last Monday. “I don’t

Monday, 23 May 2011, 12:19 pm
Article: Asian Human Rights Commission
Source: "Scoop" New Zealand
Indonesia: West Papua -- Violence against indigenous women

Fien Jarangga & Galuh Wandita
May 20, 2011

Papuan women have been suffering terrible violence both outside and inside their homes for the past 40 years, and for most of that time, they’ve suffered in silence. But now a group of women has launched their own truth commission to give support to the victims and to pressure the government to change its behavior.