[Review essay by Dr Clinton Fernandes, UNSW@ADFA The UN in East Timor: Building Timor Leste, a Fragile State, by Dr Juan Federer, Charles Darwin University Press, 2004.]

The Australia-based Mineral Policy Institute is urging all multi-national companies which pay for military protection of vital assets in Indonesia's Papua region to be transparent about the arrangements.

For the part six weeks, a group of forensic anthropologists from Australia and Argentina have been in East Timor searching for a mass grave allegedly used to bury hundreds of East Timorese killed by Indonesian troops in 1991. The process has unearthed the pain and frustration for victims' families who are desperate to lay their loved ones to rest once and for all.

East Timor's six month gun amnesty has ended. The opposition is describing it as pointless, saying the government should be trying to recover the weapons taken from police during the 2006 crisis. But the government is now focusing on getting its new gun law through parliament.

Presenter: Stephanie March

Laurencius Simanjuntak, Jakarta – It appears that fasting is not deterring some people from taking to the streets to voice their protests. The evidence being that four demonstrations will take place in Jakarta on the first day of the Ramadan fasting month.

Arlina Arshad, Jakarta – Families across Indonesia are tightening their belts during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as rising food and fuel prices limit spending power for the nightly festivities which break the daily fast.

Analysts say a US federal court ruling involving energy giant Exxonmobil and Indonesia's military has major implications for international companies working in regions like Papua.

The court ruled that ExxonMobil has a case to answer in the suit over alleged killings and torture by Indonesian troops protecting the company's gas project in Aceh province.

Jakarta – Scores of Transjakarta bus drivers serving the Corridor II (Pulo Gadung - Harmoni) and Corridor III (Kalideres - Harmoni) have gone on strike since early Monday morning

Table of Contents

Executive Summary
I. Introduction
II. The Security Sector

Jakarta – The majority of suspects in Jakarta are subjected to brutality while in police custody, a recent study claims.

According to a Jakarta Legal Institute (LBH) survey, 83.7 percent of respondents said they had been subjected to various forms of torture and police brutality.

Jakarta – The House of Representatives celebrated its 63rd anniversary on Friday amid a growing public perception that corruption had taken root in the legislative body, which Speaker Agung Laksono said could erode its legitimacy.

Jakarta – Indonesia has seized 134 million dollars from a firm linked to Suharto's youngest son, reports said Saturday, in the latest move to bring the ex-dictator's family to account for alleged graft.

Desy Nurhayati – Wide social and economic disparities between regions across Indonesia remains a serious hindrance to development, a new report on regional development for the 2004-2007 period says.

Abdul Khalik – A US court's decision to proceed with a trial against oil giant ExxonMobil has exposed the Indonesian government's ignorance over the paid military protection of foreign interests in the country.

The government has often seemed powerless in its response to small but noisy (and often violent) groups who use religion as a reason or pretext to take justice into their own hands. Such groups seem to believe using violence (in various forms) against others is OK because God is always on their side.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Legal experts and civil society groups welcomed a US Federal court ruling Thursday to proceed with a trial against US energy giant ExxonMobil, which stands accused of supporting the Indonesian military's alleged killings and torture in Aceh.

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Subsidized fuel consumption this year may exceed the capped volume of 35.5 million kiloliters by close to 10 percent, possibly prompting the government to increase fuel subsidy spending, a ministry official says.

Juwono Sudarsono, Jakarta – The Indonesian Defense Force was established from a myriad group of student brigades, guerrilla militias and irregulars representing ethnic, religious and provincial identities preceding proclamation of Indonesian independence in Aug. 1945.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Poor research funding and quality are the biggest constraints to turning the country's universities into world-class institutions, a discussion heard here Thursday.

The National Education Ministry's director general for higher education Fasli Jalal said Indonesia produced only a small number of scientific journals annually.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Despite a glut of new contenders for the presidency in 2009, it looks likely the President and his predecessor will square off in a repeat of their 2004 duel, a new survey finds.

Indonesian prosecutors have demanded up to seven years' jail for a self-described "commander" of radical Islamists who allegedly led a mob attack on a rally of religious moderates.

Hundreds of police, including crack paramilitary officers, formed a cordon outside the Central Jakarta District Court on Friday for the trial of Munarman over the attack in the capital in June.

Anang Zakaria, Denpasar – The Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said that internet users in Indonesia reached 13 million people. This makes Indonesia the big 13 internet users in the world. However, 70 percent of the users are in large cities. "The computer use as one way to access information is still very low," he said in Bali, Tuesday (28/8).

The government has announced that the country's total subsidized fuel consumption likely to go beyond its initial expectation by 9.7 percent due to higher sales of motorcycles and cars.

Ben Doherty and Daniel Flitton – Australia's 750-strong troop commitment to East Timor could be over by the end of next year, as security in the nation steadily improves, the East Timorese Prime Minister, Xanana Gusmao, said yesterday.

Hadi Santoso, Jakarta – The retreat of key cadres to other parties has left the Labour Party overwhelmed in its attempts to compose a list of legislative candidates.

E. Mei/Amelia. R, Jakarta – At least four protest actions will strike the capital city today and motorists are advised to be on the lookout for areas that could potentially become congested.

Stephen Coates, Jakarta – The Indonesian military's links to human rights abuses while helping foreign mining firms are being exposed in a lawsuit by local villagers against US energy giant ExxonMobil, analysts said Thursday.

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Prolonged drought and low sugar prices are threatening the livelihood of thousands of sugarcane farmers in West Java.

Farmers in the province said Monday the government-regulated sugar price of Rp 5,000 (55 US cents) per kilogram had failed to adequately bugger the production cost of Rp 4,900 per kg.

Ramadhian Fadillah, Jakarta – ExxonMobil is to be taken to court for allegedly supporting human rights violations by the Indonesian military (TNI) in Aceh.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The preference of some political parties to use the majority vote as the basis for the selection of legislative candidates will prejudice the chances of female legislative candidates to win seats in the 2009 elections, a women's activist warned here Wednesday.

Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces chief dismissed Thursday a US federal court judge's ruling that ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit over alleged killings and torture by troops in Aceh province.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Mudflow victims on Wednesday protested the dumping of mud into the Porong River for a second time, saying the buildup of sediment had produced a pungent stench and increased the risk of rainy season flooding along the East Java river.

Indonesia's ambassador to Papua New Guinea has praised PNG's Government for blocking the West Papua issue from being raised in recent meetings of the Melanesian Spearhead Group and Pacific Islands Forum.

Bom Soerjanto made these remarks at a reception to celebrate Indonesia's 63 years of independence.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Sri Sultan Hamengkubowono X has been deemed the country's most competent presidential candidate, defeating both President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, according to a study released here Tuesday.

Hamish McDonald – Xanana Gusmao has had many difficult roles in his 62 years: as rural teacher, guerilla leader, political prisoner, symbolic president of a raw and traumatised new nation.

Havana – A farewell ceremony for a group of six Cuban healthcare service providers in East Timor was held at that country's Health Ministry (MINSA).

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Palm oil companies operating in Indonesia have opposed any moratorium on forest and peat land conversions, saying it will play havoc with the industry and the national economy.

Washington – ExxonMobil must face a lawsuit filed by Indonesian villagers alleging that the US oil giant is liable for killings and torture committed by military security forces, a federal judge said Wednesday.

"Plaintiffs have provided sufficient evidence, at this stage, for their allegations of serious abuse," said US Judge Louis Oberdorfer in Washington.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Hundreds of mudflow victims blockaded a reconstruction site at the Porong mudflow area Monday, demanding mining company Lapindo Brantas Inc. pay the remaining 80 percent compensation as regulated by a presidential instruction.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A weak and corrupt government, rather than a lower defense budget, will one day lure the military back into politics, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono says.

Marcellus Hernowo – As well as celebrities and family members of core political party leaders, the provisional list of legislative candidates that will take part in the 2009 general elections also contains a number of 1998 student movement activists.

Politicians in the House of Representatives and leaders of the major political parties are very diligent to criticize the government for dragging its heels while eradicating corruption in this country.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Seven Lampung gubernatorial candidate pairs took part in a live televised debate organized by Lampung's General Elections Commission (KPUD) and Metro TV in Bandarlampung on Friday evening.

Chris McCall, Sydney – East Timor Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao says he believes his country has turned the corner, and divisions in the military that triggered several years of civil unrest should not recur.

Marianne Kearney, Dili – Plans to build a massive new power station in East Timor have stirred debate over the use of the tiny and impoverished country's oil profits amid fears the government is squandering its hard-won oil and gas wealth.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The country's two biggest political parties are reviving attempts to establish a coalition for the 2009 presidential race.

Key figures from the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) held a rare meeting here Monday to explore the possibility of temporarily linking forces.

The Munir murder case is entering a new stage. These coming weeks Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Pr is standing trial. The former deputy of the State Intelligence Agency will be accused of having ordered the killing of rights activist Munir. If proven, Muchdi is liable to a death sentence or life imprisonment.

Saul Salavador – Thousands of Internally displaced refugees in Timor Leste are finally going home.

For the last two years, they have been living in makeshift tent camps. Their homes were destroyed when the tiny nation descended into communal violence sparked by divisions in the military and police.

Hayley J. Campbell, Jayapura – A New Zealand MP along with Human Rights Groups are calling on Pacific countries to confront Indonesia on human rights abuses in West Papua.

Last week, the Forum leaders summit met in Niue to address key issues among the Pacific island countries. Absent from those issues, was the continuing unrest and protests taking place in West Papua.

New Zealand Green party MP Keith Locke says Pacific Islands Forum countries like New Zealand could do more to push dialogue with Indonesia about West Papua.

This follows the apparent absence of any discussion about the troubled Indonesian region at last week's Forum leaders summit in Niue. The Papua problem has featured at most recent summits, including last year in Tonga.