Attention and concern. Something ordinary people hope for from their leaders. Such hopes were clearly apparent when Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar visited the Abepura Penitentiary in Papua on Saturday May 15.
West Papua
May 2010
March 2010
Jakarta – Around 35 representatives of students and civil society groups from Papua demonstrated on Wednesday March 17 in front of the United States Embassy and the State Palace in Central Jakarta.
February 2010
Suwardiman – After nine years, support by various elements of society for special autonomy (otsus) is weakening.
January 2010
Jakarta – Acts of violence and human rights violations in Papua have continued throughout 2009. This situation has further complicated efforts to resolve various problems in Papua through dialogue, as desired by the majority of Papuan people.
Wisdom cannot be measured by how long one has lived...
December 2009
Nala Edwin, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is urging the government to investigate the beating of Buchtar Tabuni, a prisoner at the Abepura jail near the Papuan provincial capital of Jayapura. The beating triggered a riot at the jail on November 26.
October 2009
Elvan Dany Sutrisno, Jakarta – Twenty ‘black pearls’ formed an orderly line in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) Gelding Nusantara Building on October 20 demanding that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono fulfill his promise to improve the welfare of their country.
July 2009
Ari Saputra, Jakarta – At least 30 West Papuans demonstrated at the offices of PT Freeport Indonesia at the Plaza 89 building in the Kuningan area of South Jakarta, demanding that the Freeport mine in West Papua be closed down.
May 2009
Gede Suardana, Denpasar – Denpasar municipal police in Bali have taken two Papua youths into custody who they suspect were planning to join May Day rallies in order to call for a referendum in Papua.
February 2009
Jakarta – The slow pace of development in Papua 12 years after the implementation of special autonomy has lead observers to believe that a reevaluation of the special autonomy law is needed. They believe that the stipulations enacted in the 2001 law have lost their spirit, namely bringing prosperity to the Papuan people.
November 2008
Laurencius Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Leaders from the Communion of Christian Churches (PGGK) covering five regencies and municipalities in West Papua province went to the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday November 3 to declare their opposition to the recently enacted law on pornography.
Muhammad Nur Abdurrahman, Makassar – Scores of students from Papua demonstrated in front of the Mandala monument on Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on November 3.
August 2008
Didi Syafirdi, Jakarta – Around 20 West Papuans from the United West Papua Popular Struggle Front (Pepera) held an action at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta on Friday August 22.
Muh Syaifullah, Yogyakarta – The Yogyakarta District Attorney General’s Office has seized 213 books titled The Annihilation of Ethnic Melanesians: Breaking the Silence on the History of Violence in West Papua, published by PT Galang Press.
April 2008
Jayapura – Some 300 fully armed personal from the Indonesian military (TNI) and the national police (Polri) intercepted three trucks of protesters in the Arso Tujuh area bordering on the Keerom regency and the Jayapura city who were planning to demonstrate in Jayapura today.
Rofiqi Hasan, Denpasar – Scores of West Papuan students from the United West Papua Popular Struggle Front (Pepera) demonstrated today on the Udayana University campus in the Balinese provincial capital of Denpasar. They were protesting against special autonomy for West Papua and calling for a referendum to be held.
March 2008
Jayapura – It appears that the police will show not tolerance to those who unfurled the Morning Star flag during a demonstration on grounds of the Manokwari Regional House of Representatives on Thursday March 13. The evidence, nine out of the 12 demonstrators arrested earlier by police are to be charged with rebellion.
December 2007
Gede Suardana, Denpasar – The United States’ stand in refusing to reduce emissions in order to overcome global warming has received a strong reaction with hundreds of students demonstrating in Bali on Monday December 10.
November 2007
Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) hopes that the police will soon provide an explanation for the arrest of an activist from the Foundation for Legal Education and Democracy (LPHD), Iwangin Sabar Olif.
September 2007
Jakarta – The terrorisation of the Papuan chief representative of the National Human Rights Commission or Komnas HAM, Albert Rumbekwan, could have an impact on Indonesia’s image as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Moreover, Amnesty International has sent a letter to the president raising questions about the case.