Wisdom cannot be measured by how long one has lived...

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.

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.

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.

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.

I respectfully bow my head
To all of you the victims
Because to you alone I shall bow my head
[But] to the oppressors
Never will I bow in submission
I shall always stand erect

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.

Oppose the 2009 elections of the political elite – an election of the human rights violators, capitalists, corruptors and opportunist!

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.

Ken Yunita, Jakarta – It has become like a ‘regular customer’, traffic crossing Jl. Warung Buncit Raya in South Jakarta from Ragunan in the direction of Mampang Prapatan is invariably congested in the mornings.

TMC/Ronald, Jakarta – The Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre (TMC) reports that eight protest actions will be held in Jakarta today, Monday September 22.

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.

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.

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.

Jakarta – The commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD) was marked by the accumulation of bitter gifts in the form of the soaring price of basic commodities and soybean, the bacteria infection of powdered milk products and the high cost of education and healthcare.

Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – Two days before the start of the Idul Adha, Christmas and New Year holiday period, Jakarta will be hit by all sorts of protest actions on Tuesday December 18. Take a look at the list of demonstration posted by the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Control Centre so that you don’t get caught up in the current:

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.

Rofiqi Hasan, Denpasar – Hundreds of Balinese student activists held a demonstration at the US Consulate General in provincial capital of Denpasar on Monday December 10. The action was part of International Human Rights Day commemorations and at the same time to protest the United States’ intransigence on climate change.