Amir Tejo – Tired of waiting for PT Minarak Lapindo Jaya to pay for the damage to their property, thousands of Lapindo mudflow victims in Sidoarjo, East Java Province, staged yet another protest in the province's capital of Surabaya on Monday.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Up to 2,500 public minivan and bus drivers staged a strike in Bandarlampung on Monday to protest a decree on fare cuts.

The rally, organized by the Bandarlampung branch of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), paralyzed public transportation in the city.

Ismira Lutfia – Local media and bloggers who transmit ideas electronically should not feel that their freedom of expression is under threat from the controversial 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Law, Communication and Information Technology Minister Muhammad Nuh said on Monday.

In a letter sent today on the eve of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Indonesia, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) and representatives of three dozen other organizations urged her not to offer U.S. assistance to the Indonesian military (TNI) or intelligence agencies.

Jakarta – The bill on halal product assurance, now being deliberated at the House of Representatives, discriminates against non-Muslims and has serious impacts for people who consume items unacceptable under the bill, legislators said Monday.

Wasti Atmodjo, Denpasar – A voting simulation held Sunday by the Denpasar General Elections Commission (KPUD) revealed a flaw that almost everyone – laymen and pundits alike – had already pointed out: the ballot is too large to enable a voter to process it quickly.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – British celebrity footballer David Beckham and US President Barack Obama have taken unexpected lead roles in the run-up to Indonesia's legislative elections in April.

Election fever mounts as candidates discuss strategic alliances and running mates, but academic and Indonesia expert Max Lane says this may be an election characterized by disappointment – for candidates and constituents alike.

Arijit Ghosh and Michael Munoz – Indonesia's economy, Southeast Asia's biggest, probably expanded at the slowest pace in more than two years in the fourth quarter as exports slumped.

Jakarta – Indonesian civil servants will be ordered to buy locally made products for everything from clothes to movies under rules intended to boost demand amid the global economic crisis, a senior official said Monday.

Parwito, Temanggung – Thousands of tobacco farmers throughout Central Java gathered at the Temanggung regency town square on Monday February 16 to hold a massive protest against the Indonesia Ulama Council (MUI) edict (fatwa) against smoking.

Jakarta – Indonesia's economy grew 5.2 percent in the final quarter of 2008, the slowest annual pace since mid 2006, and is expected to cool further, raising the spectre of deeper interest rate cuts and higher budget spending.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The government is intensifying efforts to bolster the domestic market, already boosted by the introduction of import restrictions.

As part of such efforts, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said Sunday the government was finalizing a regulation that would mandate the use of local products by, for instance, civil servants.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-014-2009

Dear Friends,

Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – In order to discover the truth behind the murder of human rights activist Munir, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has formed a public examination team. The team will analyse the December 31 verdict by the South Jakarta District Court that acquitted former State Intelligence Agency deputy chief Muchdi Purwopranjono of the murder.

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – In a rare day off from housekeeping and childcare Sunday, maids emerged from the domestic sphere to gather at the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle, Central Jakarta, to rally for their rights.

Jakarta – The increasing use of contract labour is undermining the strength of national trade unions and making it difficult for workers to struggle for decent working conditions.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Environmental activists have mounted a challenge against the government's plan to allow palm oil companies to set up plantations in the country's remaining peatlands.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Female legislative candidates and activists remain pessimistic that their representation at the House of Representatives could drop drastically.

Jakarta – An average of 2.3 million women, 30 percent of whom are teenagers, report having abortions in Indonesian each year, according to a report released by an NGO on Monday.

"Unwanted pregnancy among teenagers is increasing by a rate of between 150,000 and 200,000 cases annually, Luh Putu Ikha Widani of the We Love Teenagers (Kisara) Bali said, as quoted by kompas.com.

Wasti Atmodjo, Jakarta – A simulation exercise held in Denpasar, Bali, over the weekend showed that 44 percent of eligible voters chose to abstain, an election committee member said.

Alfian, Jakarta – As it tries to ward off the fallout from the global recession, Indonesia's economy should focus more on developing the agriculture sector.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The Golkar Party will ultimately "tie the knot" with the Democratic Party in backing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in the presidential race, despite mounting calls within Golkar for an end to the coalition, experts say.

Urgent Appeal Case - AHRC-UAC-013-2009

Dear Friends,

Ati Nurbaiti, Kuala Lumpur – Equality is necessary and possible in Muslim families, and not just so-called modern women demand such equality, women said Saturday at an international gathering in Kuala Lumpur.

Indonesia – Jaipong artists slammed president of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Tifatul Sembiring for his statement, which they said discredited the traditional West Java dance.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – It has been more than a decade since Suharto relinquished power, yet some political parties are still seeking political points through connections to the late former president, including the Indonesian Youth Party, which on Sunday named Suharto's grandson, Ari Sigit, one of its possible presidential candidates.

Jakarta – The quality of life for women in Aceh has greatly improved since the end of a three-decade separatist conflict and the 2004 tsunami, which ravaged the Islamic province, a study revealed Saturday.

Nivell Rayda – "Freddy" – who entered Jakarta's huge pirated video and later pirated DVD market more than 20 years ago – has experienced police raids several times. Yet, he's still in business.

Jakarta – The Golkar Party is eyeing alternative coalitions with other key major political groups, in case the current Yudhoyono-Kalla pairing turns sour.

Coalitions with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) or the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) would be possible options, senior Golkar executive Priyo Budi Santoso told a discussion in Jakarta on Friday.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Four years after the Boxing Day tsunami that wiped out large parts of coastal Aceh, almost everyone involved in the Indonesian province's reconstruction is talking up the special agency President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono created for the task.

Jakarta – The slow pace of development in Papua 12 years after the implementation of special autonomy has lead observers to believe that a reevaluation of the special autonomy law is needed. They believe that the stipulations enacted in the 2001 law have lost their spirit, namely bringing prosperity to the Papuan people.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – Amid the increasing threat of mass layoffs in the province, business continued as usual Friday in the industrial areas of Rungkut, Surabaya, and in Sidoarjo, while dismissed workers who have yet to receive their normative rights remained at their workplaces to seek a settlement to their disputes.

Febriamy Hutapea – The Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, on Wednesday denied allegations that it used "backdoor channels" to secure its budget for 2009.

Concerned with the KPK's weakening performance in early 2009, journalists presented the agency with a canvas of handwritten valentines critiquing the commission's performance to mark Valentine's Day.

Andra Wisnu, Denpasar – Opposition parties took jabs at the ruling ones for allowing last year's passage of the pornography law, ensuring the issue will become a central theme in Bali's legislative election.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court overturned Friday a demand to scrap the parliamentary threshold of 2.5 percent giving a major boost to efforts to simplify the political party system.

The Court's chief justice Mahfud M.D., who presided over the panel of judges, said the plaintiffs had failed to provide valid arguments to support their cause.

Alfian, Jakarta – Despite their fundamental ideological differences, the secular-prone Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) have much in common in terms of economic policies.

This was revealed Friday during their separate discussions with business leaders from the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).

Yayat Supriatna, Jakarta – Indonesia's trade minister said on Saturday export volumes for non-oil and gas are set to fall 20-30 percent this year from 2008 as global trade slows, dealing a blow to Southeast Asia's biggest economy in an election year.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Hopes abound for Indonesia to further boost ties with the US under President Barack Obama, with the upcoming visit of his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicating positive signals.

Anita Barraud – Democracy in Indonesia is fragile and the economy struggling. In a nation of 240 million, half the population live on less than $2 a day. Indonesia has the lowest standards of education in the region and one of the highest rates of corruption.

M. Syafi'i Anwar, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) edicts on smoking, yoga and vote abstention have been challenged by many Muslim scholars and leaders, human rights activists and even some local ulema.

Indra Harsaputra and Ridwan M. Sijabat, Surabaya – Home Minister Mardiyanto urged new East Java Governor Soekarwo to address a number of pressing problems in the province, including the Lapindo mudflow disaster.

Yogyakarta – Around 50 students from the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) campus' Proselytizing Institutions Goodwill Forum held an action on February 13 opposing the celebration of Valentines Day claiming that it tarnishes the sanctity of love.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Members of the Indonesian military, or TNI, should be given exceptional treatment under the law when suspected of civilian crimes, a senior officer argued on Friday during the deliberation of a long-debated military tribunal bill.

Jakarta – The Golkar Party is nearing breaking point over whether to name its own presidential candidate or maintain its coalition with the Democratic Party, political pundits said Thursday.

The current national leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla is the result of the coalition formed for the last election in 2004.

Eny Wulandari, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has turned down a request by several political parties to review a number of articles in the 2008 election law, citing lack of evidence that the articles violate the 1945 Constitution.

Camelia Pasandaran – The Constitutional Court on Friday ruled to reject a demand for a judicial review filed by 11 minor political parties against the minimum election vote share required to gain seats in the House of Representatives, or DPR, the court's chief said.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, Megawati Sukarnoputri, defended her 2001-04 government during a presentation of her party's economic program to a number of noted business people on Friday.

Jakarta – A former rebel whose wife is contesting regional elections in Indonesia's Aceh province has been fatally shot, raising fears the April polls could descend into violence, police and party officials said Friday.