An independence movement has existed since the late 1960s. The Free Papua Movement (Organisasi Papua Merdeka, OPM) is a broad umbrella group. Its armed wing, the National Liberation Army (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional, TPN) mainly consists of small groups of fighters armed with bows and arrows and other simple weapons. Over the years it has carried out sporadic attacks mainly on military and police targets, although civilians have also on occasions been targeted and suffered human rights abuses, including unlawful killings and being taken hostage. Counter insurgency operations by the Indonesian security forces against the movement have resulted in gross human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, "disappearances", torture and arbitrary detentions.

For additional information, please visit: http://www.amnesty.org

Please also see “West Papua” in our International Law section.

and

Violence, a US mining giant, and Papua politics
On Saturday, two Americans and one Indonesian were killed in an ambush.
By Dan Murphy | Special to the Christian Science Monitor, September 3, 2002:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0903/p01s04-woap.htm