At a time when the international media is focusing on today's Indonesian elections, little attention had been paid to the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua. TAPOL is calling for an end to the violence and for the Papuans' democratic rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly to be guaranteed.

Jakarta – As the global downturn is still nowhere near recovering, Indonesia's exports – having dropped 30 percent in the first quarter – will fall even faster in the second three-month period, a business grouping predicts.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesia goes to the polls today amid widespread confusion about new voting rules, chaotic organisation and warnings of corrupted voter lists.

The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) Victoria is calling on the Australian Government to make an urgent diplomatic representation to its Indonesian counterpart over escalating violence in the lead up to the general elections taking place today.

Jakarta – On Wednesday, several NGOs filed a request for the Constitutional Court to review the 2009 Supreme Court law that extends the retirement age of justices to 70 years from 65 years. The petitioners argued the passing of the law was "unconstitutional".

Kontras regrets the occurrence of several incidents of violence prior to the elections in Papua which have spread a sense of anxiety among Papuan people. The latest was an incident last night when eight students were arrested following an attack on the head office of the police in Abepura and a fire at the office of the Rector of Cenderawasih University in Waena.

Jakarta – On Wednesday, Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Ferry Juliantono to one year in prison for triggering a riot following a protest over the fuel price hike in June last year.

Rowan Callick – Following a raucous and colourful campaign season – with most candidates singing on stage – 240 million Indonesians will today start electing their next government by choosing a new national parliament and local legislatures.

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Islamist groups expected to take back seat in vote

Robin Shulman, Depok (Indonesia) – Ismi Safeya is a student at an Islamic school who veils her hair for modesty, prays five times a day and is inspired by the idea of a society based on Muslim principles.

Matt Brown – Human rights activists say a 10-year-old boy was among nine Melanesians shot after Indonesian paramilitary police broke up a pro-independence protest in Papua.

The ABC has obtained footage of the incident in the small town of Nabire on Monday, and Amnesty International is calling for an independent investigation.

Abepura – Indonesian police shot a man dead Thursday when about 100 people armed with arrows and bombs attacked a police post in Papua province as the country held general elections, police said.

In all, five people were killed in violent incidents across the restive eastern province overnight Wednesday and early Thursday, police said.

Megawati Wijaya, Jakarta – After weeks of raucous rallies and colorful campaigns, an estimated 170 million Indonesians are eligible to cast their votes at Thursday's legislative polls.

The Australian Press Council has expressed concerns about proposals to license journalists in East Timor.

The Council Chairman Professor Ken McKinnon said the proposed scheme could greatly affect the operation of a free press in the world's newest democracy.

The government should carry out serious investigations into the pre-election violence, no matter where the evidence leads. No one should be complacent and say that Indonesia is a big and unstable country where election violence is inevitable. No human rights abuses are inevitable. – Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Banda Aceh – In Indonesia's Aceh province, stories about young unmarried couples arrested by religious patrol officers make frequent headlines in local newspapers with tabloids exposing details of the offenders' sexual trysts.

Jakarta – The economy may have grown by 4.6 percent in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier, as the elections helped pushed up consumption, the finance minister says.

Consumption remains the largest contributor to Indonesia's economy, making up about 70 percent of the GDP.

Singapore – Indonesia and Thailand are perceived as Asia's most corrupt economies, with last year's cellar-dweller the Philippines making a marked improvement, an annual survey of foreign business executives showed Wednesday.

Leony Aurora and Arijit Ghosh – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's 70 percent personal approval rating is his Democrat Party's strongest asset as it enters the election season seeking to boost its rank as the fifth-largest party in parliament.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Underrepresented for decades, women candidates received a major boost in their struggle for legislative seats in Thursday's polls, a survey revealed on Tuesday.

Jakarta – Poverty, poor education, and a lack of health care continue to plague Papua eight years after centralized control gave way to regional autonomy in the province.

The current government in Papua is highly corrupt and entrenched in traditional values that do not necessarily benefit democracy or development, speakers at a seminar in Jakarta said Tuesday.

Fabio Scarpello – After the fall of president Suharto in 1998, Indonesia's powerful military found itself sidelined by enthusiasm for the nation's nascent democracy.

But more than a decade later, many former military officers are again vying for roles in the Indonesian power game – this time via the ballot box.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – Hundreds of tobacco farmers rallied against the planned kerosene subsidy cut Monday, at the West Nusa Tenggara governor's office in Mataram.

Around 300 farmers from East and Central Lombok, grouped under the Indonesian Farmers' Association (Petani), also demanded a hike in the price of tobacco leaves this year.

AI Index: ASA 21/012/2009

Amnesty International urges the National Head of Police, Bambang Hendarso Danuri to initiate an immediate investigation into reports of police using excessive force to disperse a demonstration in Nabire, Papua. This is the third reported incident of such abuses by the Nabire police force since December 2008.

As the situation deteriorates further in West Papua with more arrests and the shooting of protesters, the Australia West Papua Association calls on the Australian Government to send observers to investigate the human rights situation in West Papua.

Jayapura – Papua Police have detained three activists of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), for their allegedly subversive activities.

Election tensions in the Indonesian province of Papua have boiled-over, with reports that police shot and injured 11 people at a pro-independence rally on Monday. Police deny any shootings took place.

The police's credibility and professionalism are being questioned as they failed to progress in their month-long investigation into the contentious voter list fraud cases in the Madurese regencies of Sampang and Bangkalan, East Java.

Arijit Ghosh and Aloysius Unditu – Indonesia's central bank may ease some bad-loan rules to enable lenders to boost credit as growth in Southeast Asia's biggest economy slows to an eight-year low.

Semarang – Fifty-three of 182 regional legislative council members across Central Java implicated in corruption cases are seeking reelection in the April 9 polls.

Secretary of the provincial Corruption, Nepotism and Collusion Committee (KP2KKN), Eko Haryanto, said Monday its examination found the candidates mostly came from major parties.

Anita Rachman – Nine years after Indonesia took up the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, the country still had a long way to go in proving its commitment to achieving the targets, especially in the areas of health, poverty eradication and the environment, a representative of a nongovernmental group said on Tuesday.

Stephen Fitzpatrick – If it seems Indonesia's air safety record has improved since the Garuda crash two years ago that claimed 21 lives and has now seen pilot Marwoto Komar sentenced to jail, it is an illusion at best. Less than two hours after yesterday's decision, a military plane crashed into a hangar at an airbase in West Java, killing 24 crew.

Erwida Maulia and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – At least 36 people, mostly legislative candidates from various political parties, were sentenced to prison during the open election campaign period for violating the General Elections Law, the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) stated in Jakarta on Monday.

The gubernatorial election in East Java is long over, but has bequeathed the police with the task of investigating the alleged voter list fraud in Bangkalan and Sampang regencies, Madura, while prompting election contestants and the media to ensure the legislative polls go ahead freely and fairly.

Jakarta – With a half full bag of plastic bottles, Maya, 40, mingled with thousands of supporters of the People Conscience's Party (Hanura in front of a stage on the main field of Bung Karno Stadium in the Senayan sport complex, Central Jakarta on Sunday.

Aloysius Unditu – Effendy Choirie has lost count of the T-shirts, baseball caps and food packages he has given away since he began campaigning for re-election to Indonesia's parliament.

Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties are turning to high-yielding rice seeds to woo an agriculture-based electorate in this year's parliamentary and presidential elections.

Achmad Faisal, Surabaya – A surplus in rice production is no guarantee that farmers' well being – measured by their buying power – will improve, as the latest statistics released this month showed.

Alfian, Banda Aceh – Aceh's leading local parties have promised sharia law during their recent campaigns, bidding to win the upcoming legislative elections and a political chance to reinstate the province's special identity as "Mecca's verandah".

Surabaya – On Sunday April 5, protesters from the East Java People's Union Against the Elections (PRTP) held a demonstration at the Bungkul Park in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya.

The hundreds of demonstrators from 11 labour and student organisations are opposing the election because they say it is nothing more than a festival of the political elite.

Rallies and arrests in West Papua coincide with establishment of International Lawyers for West Papua

Reports from West Papua today indicate that 10,000 people are staging a rally in Nabire, while another rally planned for Wamena is occurring in the grounds of the Efata Church after a joint Police and Military security operation to block that rally.

Camelia Pasandaran – The candidate sons of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a senior Golkar Party lawmaker are under investigation for alleged vote-buying, elections officials said on Sunday, as the 20-day campaign period ahead of this week's national legislative elections came to a close.

Yogyakarta – On Sunday April 6, around 40 students from the United People's Committee (KRB) demonstrated at the Gadjah Mada University roundabout in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta. The protesters were opposing the 2009 general elections and calling for the immediate creation of an anti-imperialist government.

Dili – It's been 10 years since Rudolfo dos Santos, then 14, watched as his neighbours and friends were shot, beaten and hacked to death by East Timorese and Indonesian anti-independence militias, police and soldiers.

When Mirini was appointed No. 1 on the National Awakening Party's list of national legislative candidates in Aceh Province, she put it down to her local connections. After all, the 30-year-old Acehnese activist was a known quantity: a former civil servant, university lecturer in Banda Aceh and a campaigner for women and children's rights.

Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – Only nine of 38 parties contesting the April 9 elections will get seats at the House of Representatives in Jakarta, according to a number of recent surveys.

Nabire, Indonesia – Indonesian police shot and injured 11 people on Monday at a pro-independence rally in Papua province, where demonstrators urged an election boycott and protested about a police raid, a hospital worker said.

Tom Allard, Magelang, Central Java – Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, yesterday backed away from longstanding and highly controversial plans to build a nuclear reactor in one of the world's most seismically active countries, saying it would instead develop existing energy sources and explore renewable alternatives before pursuing the nuclear option.

Jayapura, Indonesia – At least four people were wounded when police opened fire on a protest in Indonesia's remote Papua region on Monday, demanding independence and a boycott of elections, an activist said.

Amerindians in Guyana are supporting West Papua's calls for independence from Indonesia. West Papua is half of the island of New Guinea, which is located north of Australia.

The pledge of support came Friday at the launch of the International Lawyers Federation for West Papua in Georgetown.