An Indonesian court Monday indicted five activists for treason in the restive Papua region after they raised an outlawed Papuan flag and declared its independence.

The men, who led a peaceful pro-independence celebration attended by 5,000 Papuans on October 19, face life in prison if found guilty.

Papuans, mostly indigenous Melanesians, have long accused Indonesia's military of violating human rights in the region and complain that the bulk of earnings from its rich natural resources flow to Jakarta.

"The defendants jointly tried to commit treason with the intention of allowing the country or part of the country to fall into the hands of the enemy," said Judge Jack L. Oktovianus at the Jayapura district court.

"They acted together to declare Papua an independent region, which constitutes an act of treason."

Local TV footage had showed the men declaring the region's independence in the Papuan capital Jayapura and paramilitary police then shooting into the crowd and beating participants with batons and bare fists.

At least three people were killed and more than 90 injured. Eight police officers were let off with written warnings for disciplinary infractions.

New-York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday called for the cancellation of the trial.

"It's appalling that a modern democratic nation like Indonesia continues to lock up people for organising a demonstration and expressing controversial views," the group's Asia deputy director Elaine Pearson said in a statement.

HRW also urged Indonesia to release at least 15 other Papuans, including independence leader Filep Karma, who is serving a 15-year prison term.

A spate of violence in the past five months has left at least 14 people dead in the region, including police officers.

Unidentified gunmen ambushed and shot dead three police officer in the central highlands, a known hub for separatists, between October and December.

Last Friday, gunmen shot dead a food vendor in the same area.

Ten Indonesians have died since September around a mine owned by US-based Freeport-McMoRan, north of Timika town, in ambushes and a clash with police.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in November voiced alarm about human rights in the region.

"There needs to be continuing dialogue and political reforms in order to meet the legitimate needs of the Papua people, and we will be raising that again directly and encouraging that kind of approach," Clinton said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has defended the military presence in Papua, saying Jakarta was committed to its economic development.

"Papua is part of Indonesia. It doesn’t make sense that NGOs say things that imply that we can’t enforce the law in Papua," local media quoted him as saying this month.

"They are there because there is still an armed separatist movement," he added.

In 1969, Indonesia took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony on the western half of New Guinea island, after a vote among a select group of Papuans widely seen as a sham.

Jakarta keeps a tight grip on Papua, with the military regularly clashing with locals. Foreign journalists are barred from reporting in the region.

More than 170 people are imprisoned in Indonesia for promoting separatism, most of them from Papua or the eastern Maluku islands, according to HRW.