Bill Guerin, Jakarta – In an unexpected lurch toward more market protectionism, Indonesia last week greatly expanded its "negative investment list" of local industries to which foreign investment is partially or wholly restricted in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The four-day Papuan Tribal Community congress has elected Forkorus Yoboisembut as the new Papuan Tribal Council leader, replacing Tom Beanal.

Forkorus, formerly the council's tribal governing chief, was elected Friday on the last day of the congress at the Cendrawasih sport complex in Jayapura city. He will hold the post until 2012.

Jakarta – The police said Friday they would look into allegations of abuse contained in a Human Rights Watch report released the previous day, and respond appropriately if the allegations were found to be true.

Muhammad Nur Hayid, Jakarta – Foreign intelligence [agencies] are believed to be playing a significant role in the recent emergence of separatist movements. Rather, the people of Maluku and West Papua are satisfied and do not want these movements.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia Defenders Front (FP-NKRI) will be conducting sweeps of people who support separatist movements in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta and surrounding areas.

Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian stated once again that it is the duty of the TNI to crush any struggle or activity undertaken by any group in the community which tends towards separatism.

Jakarta – An economic think tank has warned the government of a possible sudden reversal in short-term capital inflows, which it says could destabilize the economy and cause even more chaos than the 1997 meltdown.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – A group of economists have criticized the government for being "overly pro-market" and abandoning its own pro-poor policies, claiming that these were the underlying factors preventing the real sector from generating higher growth.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has asked the Navy to allow residents to continue using disputed land in Pasuran, East Java, while awaiting a permanent court ruling.

Jakarta – Convinced that discussions of a potential coalition between the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will be of little benefit, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has declared that intensive talks between the two parties must soon conclude.

Palu, Central Sulawesi – Several youth organizations rallied here Friday against the planned creation of the Indonesian Youth Party, which is an initiative of the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI).

The organizations say now is not the right time for the country's youths to have their own political party.

Jakarta – An unclear division of responsibilities between local and central government is hampering both from reaping more benefits from fiscal decentralization, international experts said Thursday.

Jakarta – A US congressman who once supported separatism for Indonesia's Papua said Thursday he was encouraged by the nation's commitment to address the needs of people in the troubled region.

US Democrat congressman Eni Faleomavaega, who was invited to the national capital Jakarta but not to Papua itself by an Indonesian lawmaker, said his outlook had "changed".

Jakarta – Indonesian police are to investigate claims in a human rights report released this week that their forces in Papua have routinely abused people there, national police chief Sutanto said Friday.

The newly-unveiled negative list of investment has turned out to be far from negative.

Contrary to the much publicized concerns from foreign investors, the list neither makes the country over-protected nor closed. But there are still concerns.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – A visiting US congressman said on Thursday Indonesia had made progress in how it treats the people of Papua, as a rights group accused security forces of killing, torturing and raping civilians in the remote area.

Banda Aceh – A plan by the Aceh government to liquidate the Asean Aceh Fertilizer (AAF) factory and have it managed by a foreign company has been opposed by the Aceh People's Party (PRA). The PRA is instead calling for the government to restart operations at the factory.

Arfi Bambani Amri, Jakarta – Following on the heals of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) flag-raising incident, there have been cases of the Morning Star flag being raised in West Papua. It seems like there is an effort to shape public opinion that the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is week on separatism.

Dikhy Sasra, Jakarta – Around 100 people who said they were students originating from West Papua demonstrated in front of the United States Embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta on Thursday July 5. Some of the demonstrators wore traditional clothing and T-shirts with pictures of the Morning Star.

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Police in Yogyakarta broke up a rally Wednesday by about 50 Papuan students after they unfurled a Bintang Kejora flag, the symbol of the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM).

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Visiting US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega on Wednesday expressed support for Indonesia's efforts to empower Papuans, stressing a tangible developmental outcome and more autonomy to Papua.

Jakarta – Indonesian police routinely torture, rape and kill with impunity in Indonesia's easternmost Papua and risk fanning separatism there, an international rights group said in a report released Thursday.

Indra Shalihin, Jakarta – Wearing traditional woven bamboo hats, housewives, farmers and student went to the Constitutional Court on Thursday July 5 to demand that Law No. 25/2007 on Capital Investment be revoked.

Jakarta – More than 25 witnesses are set to testify in a civil suit against ailing former Indonesian dictator Suharto to be lodged next week, an official from the attorney-general's office said Thursday.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Indonesian security forces killed and beat unarmed civilians and on two occasions raped women during recent operations against separatists in Papua province, Human Rights Watch alleged in a report released Thursday.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – With little public fanfare, the Jakarta administration issued a regulation in April requiring all parties to obtain a license at least two weeks before conducting a survey or poll in the city.

Jakarta – Human rights activists demanded Wednesday that parties responsible for excessive violence in Talangsari, Lampung, in 1989 be held accountable through the ongoing investigation into the tragedy.

The banning of US American Samoan Congressman Eni Faleomavaega, from visiting West Papua, strengthens the suspicions of the international community that Indonesia has something to hide in its territory of West Papua.

Government should open Central Highlands to independent observers

Jakarta – In the Central Highlands of remote Papua province, a region closed to outside observers, police appear to be routinely committing serious abuses, such as extrajudicial executions, torture and rape, with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

How influential is a US congressman that he could disrupt security in Papua or, in an extreme case, lead the province to break away from the republic?

The fear of this, however, seems so prevalent among our top policy makers that the government barred Democratic congressman Eni Faleomavaega from Papua.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Accompanied by the beat of drums, West Papuan students danced and sang following a protest in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Wednesday July 4 in which they rejected special autonomy saying it had failed.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Visiting US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega met Tuesday with leading Papuan figures in Jakarta after the government failed to grant him permission to enter the province.

Nadhifa Putri, Jakarta – Around 50 people from the Urban Poor Union (SRMK) descended on the Jakarta city hall en masse today. They were representing poor people from 17 sub-districts and 23 village administrative districts that have been unable register as poor households (RTM) and become eligible to receive a welfare card for poor families (Gakin).

Benjamin Terrall – Although Indonesia's government has committed to reforming the Indonesian military (TNI) territorial command structure, which allows the armed forces to maintain units down to the village level throughout the country, this apparatus has actually been reinforced in the name of "counterterrorism."

Peter Boyle – East Timor is holding parliamentary elections on June 30. Many commentators predict former president Xanana Gusmao's new party, the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT), will form government, ousting the current ruling Fretilin party.

Vote counting from East Timor's parliamentary election neared completion Wednesday, showing no political party will be able to clinch an absolute majority needed to govern in its own right, making a coalition government most likely.

Damien Kingsbury – When the people of East Timor went to the polls for the third time this year, they completed a political cycle that has been remarkable in part because of its relative success, but in part because it has happened at all. Yet a little over a year ago, many people thought that East Timor's fledgling democracy had failed.

With about half the vote counted in East Timor's parliamentary elections, the crucial role of the minor parties has become more clear – and the head of the small Democrat Party is emerging as the potential key to Xanana Gusmao's future.

Dili – For the third time in as many months, East Timor's people lined up and voted in high numbers. But the show of democracy could not mask mounting challenges facing Asia's newest nation five years after it proclaimed independence.

Karen Michelmore, Dili – East Timor's Court of Appeal has been asked to decide if a controversial new law which grants widespread amnesties for most crimes committed in the past year violates the tiny country's constitution.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia has barred a US congressman who has been a critic of Jakarta's policies in Papua from visiting the area, but has denied the move is to cover up alleged human rights abuses in the remote region.

The decision, announced yesterday, by the Indonesian government to prevent US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega from travelling to West Papua, will undermine efforts to promote human rights and democracy in the territory says TAPOL, the UK-based human rights organisation.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Hundreds of banners appealing to the Jakartan pubic not to be easily enticed by the promises by made by candidate governors and deputy governors have been put up across the city. The banners, which were put up by the Had it with Promises Social Forum (FMKJ), also called on candidates to respect the values of fair play.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – US Congressman Eni Faleomavaega is expected to arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday but the Indonesian government said Monday it would not allow him to visit Papua because his presence in the province could encourage violence.

Debnath Guharoy, Consultant – Whichever way you look at it, not many people in Indonesia have real disposable incomes. Census data from the BPS will tell you that only 3 percent of all wage earners make over Rp 2 million per month.

M. Taufiqurrahman and M. Azis Tunny, Jakarta/Ambon – While Jakarta attempted to put an end to the controversy surrounding the recent waving of a separatist flag in front of the President, protests denouncing the incident and displays of the flag grew Monday.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The number of poor people has declined slightly due to better economic conditions of late and the government's poverty-alleviation programs, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) says.

Jakarta – The National Police celebrated its 61st anniversary Monday in the midst of calls from third parties for law enforcers to improve their performance despite having recently captured several wanted terrorists.

Indra Shalihin, Jakarta – Stinging criticism by activists from the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) who accused Forestry Minister MS Kaban of being the architect behind the destruction of Indonesia's forests has infuriated the minister. The microphone being used by the demonstrators even became the object of a fight.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives is gearing up to deliberate the draft law on political parties, which addresses the lack of female political representation in the country.