Malang – The Malang chapter of the All-Indonesia Workers Union Federation (KSPSI) has rejected a call from the federation's headquarters to launch a three-day strike.

Jakarta – Politicians and analysts have rebuked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for accusing his political rivals of orchestrating Wednesday's violent labor rally in Jakarta.

His comments showed the government was uneasy in handling labor affairs, they said Friday.

Tiarma Siboro and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Aceh is set hold its first-ever gubernatorial elections sometime in August, with independent candidates expected to contest the polls, the government announced Thursday.

Sydney – Editorial independence and journalist safety are at risk in Papua, says the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), after 50 people violently attacked Timika Pos journalists and other employees, in Mimika, Iwan, Papua, Indonesia, during a strike over the appointment of the chief editor.

Indra Harsaputra, Banyuwangi – Ulemas organized a mass rally Thursday to demand Banyuwangi Regent Ratna Ani Lestari resign within 24 hours for allegedly blaspheming Islam.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The labor movement, which evolved from communities of railway and plantation workers during Dutch colonialism, has enjoyed highs and suffered lows along with the changing administrations in the country.

Jakarta – Union leaders have called off a rally planned for Friday in Jakarta after a similar march Wednesday ended in violence, which they claim was instigated by outside parties seeking to sow chaos.

Guido Guilliart, Dili – Rumors circulated by mobile phone text messages of an imminent attack by disgruntled ex-soldiers who clashed violently with police last week prompted thousands of residents to flee East Timor's capital on Friday, officials and witnesses said.

Stephen Fitzpatrick and Mark Dodd – More than 20,000 East Timorese, fearing renewed ethnic violence, have fled the riot-torn capital of Dili as the Government made desperate calls for calm yesterday.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Last week's protests in East Timor were sparked by a group of sacked soldiers, but a combination of disaffected youth, poverty and anger as the government turned them into deadly riots, analysts say.

Two key US Senators recently criticized the Bush Administration's "premature" use of a waiver to allow weapons exports to Indonesia.

Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) expressed concern "that this waiver, unattached to any clear strategy or specific benchmarks, sends the wrong message to the Indonesian Government and to other countries."

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The environmental damage caused by PT Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg mine in Papua province is much worse than earlier reported by the government, an environment watchdog says.

After an appeal process that dragged on for over three years, former East Timorese pro-Indonesia militia leader Eurico Guterres has finally begun serving his 10-year jail sentence for crimes against humanity, but the Indonesian generals who ordered and financed his crimes remain free.

Jakarta – A draft law proposed by lawmakers on the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh will impose Shariah, or Islamic law, on all non-Muslims, the military and police, a local law enforcement official said Thursday.

Jakarta – Every humiliating moment of that day is etched in Lilies Lindawati's memory. She still smarts at the indignity of being branded a prostitute as she stood before a jeering crowd in a "show trial" for Tangerang's new prostitution bylaw.

Melbourne – Indonesian Environment Forum (WALHI) yesterday launched a damning environmental report on the Rio Tinto joint venture at the Freeport Mine, ahead of shareholder concerns and protests to be held outside the company's Annual General Meeting today.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Liandro de Jesus's body lay in the morgue at Dili's Guido Valadares hospital for four days before his family was allowed to see it. They claim they were warned that if they pushed the matter, they too, like the star university student so recently lost to them, would be shot.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The traditional view that most Indonesians live in rural areas will soon be turned upside down. Rapidly increasing urbanization and uncontrollable urban population growth will drive more and more of Indonesia's population into cities.

Jakarta – The Indonesian military (TNI) will for the first time take part in a joint military exercise with Thailand, the United States, Japan and Singapore in Konayo, Thailand, on May 15-26, 2006.

The mortality rate for pneumonia among children under five remains high in the country because parents don't know how to quickly spot the killer disease, an expert says.

Pediatrician Mardjanis Said said that about 300 children under five died of pneumonia here every day; with it accounting for 41 out of every 1,000 infant deaths.

Jakarta – Poor students continue to be denied education because the government is not properly monitoring how schools spend their education budget allocations, consumer groups and activists say.

Shawn Donnan, Jakarta – A former pro-Jakarta militia leader on Thursday began serving a 10-year jail sentence in connection with the 1999 violence in East Timor as the United Nations Security Council prepared to discuss on Friday extending the mandate of a UN mission to the world's newest nation.

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – Students rallied at the Maluku governor's office and the local prosecutor's office Wednesday to protest the alleged misappropriation of reconstruction and resettlement funds.

Time and again, the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) continuously reminds that the East Timorese people's struggle did not end when it acquired its independence.

Jakarta – Three of five Corruption Court judges walked out of a bribery trial session Wednesday after the presiding judge refused to summon Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan.

The incident flared up when presiding judge Kresna Menon denied the prosecutor's request to change the trial agenda to include testimony from the chief justice.

Tangerang is firmly in the spotlight after the issuance of a controversial bylaw to eradicate prostitution in the municipality. It also issued another bylaw that bans liquor. Syafi'i Anwar, executive director of the International Centre for Islam and Pluralism (ICIP), shared his views with The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat on what is happening in the region.

Rob Taylor, Jakarta – The giant Freeport gold mine blamed for a slew of environmental and social catastrophes in Papua is causing far greater damage to the environment than previously thought, green activists claimed today.

Jakarta – Environmental damage caused by Freeport's huge gold and copper mine in Indonesia's remote Papua province is much worse than previously thought, an environmental watchdog said Wednesday.

Pip Hinman – An Australian coalition of West Papua support groups has asked the UN to list West Papua as a non-governing territory requiring a self-determination plebiscite.

Michael Vatikiotis, Singapore – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who died in Jakarta on Sunday at the age of 81, never won the Nobel Prize for Literature that he was nominated for more than once toward the end of his life.

Dili – When East Timorese guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao languished in an Indonesian jail, Australian activist and English teacher Kirsty Sword was a crucial link to his fighters and the outside world.

Ridwan Max Sijabat – Workers have found shared causes for concern and a renewed sense of activism in rejecting proposed revisions to the 2003 Labor Law and hardships they say have been caused by the government's economic policy.

They also know they need to build stronger political bargaining power to fight for their rights.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Around 500 people, consisting of freedom fighters, war veterans, and their children and grandchildren commemorated Monday the 43rd anniversary of Papua's return from the Dutch government to Indonesia, at the Cenderawasih Sports Hall in Jayapura.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Multa Fidrus and Theresia Sufa, Jakarta/Tangerang/Bogor – It was dreaded by some and eagerly awaited by others, but the peaceful World Labor Day rally Monday surprised all, turning Jakarta into a sea of color despite the traffic snarls it caused.

Jakarta – Hundreds of thousands of workers rallied in major cities and towns nationwide Monday, with revisions to the labor law their collective target of protest on International Workers Day.

Although the government relented to massive labor union pressure about changes to the 2003 law, workers fear their demands will eventually be pushed aside in a subsequent draft.

Jakarta – Business in the North Sumatra capital Medan ground to a halt Monday, with many companies unable to operate as normal because their employees were taking part in rallies to mark International Labor Day.

Jakarta – Two Indonesian businessmen are on trial in Michigan, the United States, for attempting to illegally smuggle weapons into Indonesia. The company they were working for was a recognized weapons seller to the Indonesian Air Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat and Tiarma Siboro issues behind the case.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Hundreds of sacked soldiers whose anti-Government protests erupted in violence have fled into East Timor's mountains, where many of them spent years waging a guerilla war against Indonesian troops.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Dili – Thousands of East Timorese were pouring into makeshift refugee camps in Dili last night, fearful of being murdered in an outbreak of ethnic violence.

Shawn Donnan – In recent years, the Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who died yesterday at age 81, came to be known as a chain-smoking curmudgeon and consistent critic of the corrupt legacies of the Suharto regime and western-style consumerism.

Michael Vatikiotis – I first met Pramoedya Ananta Toer when he was still restricted to a small house in a Jakarta suburb in the dying days of the Suharto regime that had first jailed him, then sent him into internal exile, and finally allowed him to live under 'city arrest'. There was an air of disarming humility about the man. He liked to smoke clove cigarettes, as did I.

Jakarta – Acclaimed author Pramoedya Ananta Toer spent much of his life alone, in his solitary art, his years of imprisonment and also as an unyielding voice proclaiming what made the archipelago a nation today.

Hasrul, Kendari – The chairman of a local Ahmadiya group says dozens of unidentified people have vandalized the Nur Rabwah mosque belonging to Ahmadiyah followers at Ranowila village, Konda district in the South Sulawesi regency of South Konawe.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The smoldering, bloody sectarian conflict in Maluku and ethnic warfare in Kalimantan may flare up again unless the government addresses injustices and lingering tensions, an expert says.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has joined calls by international press freedom groups for a thorough inquiry into the recent murder of an Indonesian journalist who was investigating corruption allegations against officials in East Java province.

Jakarta – East Java Police chief Brig. Gen. Herman Suryadi has issued a shoot-on-sight order for rioters following the massive wave of vandalism by disgruntled supporters of a candidate in the Tuban regental elections.

Tuban Police intensified their hunt for the masterminds of the violence, Herman said, with a curfew imposed for an indefinite period of time in the area.

Rini Kustiani, Jakarta – The Head of the Central Executive committee of the Voice of Human Rights News Center, Atmakusumah Astraatmadja, said that press freedom in Indonesia declined drastically in 2005.

Banda Aceh – Acehnese students have again demonstrated – this time in greater numbers – in the thousands.

Jakarta – Delays in passing a bill clearing the way for elections in Indonesia's Aceh province may play into the hands of former separatist rebels, boosting their strength when the ballots finally come.

Executive Summary

This report presents a new and independent picture of the environmental impacts of the Freeport mine, a Freeport McMoRan and Rio Tinto joint venture, which although one of the largest mines in the world, operates under a shroud of secrecy in remote Papua province.