Jakarta – Around 500 workers, children and housewives protested at the offices of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare in Jakarta on Thursday May 29 against the recent fuel price hikes.

Step Vaessen, Papua – While much of Indonesia has moved on to become a vibrant democracy, the province of Papua in the far east of the archipelago has been left behind.

Suharto, Indonesia's former strongman president, stepped down 10 years ago, but the legacy of his often harsh rule continues to be felt here.

Joniansyah, Tangerang – More than 18 thousand employees from various companies in the Jakarta satellite city of Tangerang are now unemployed. They lost their jobs because the companies where they worked closed down.

Two years after the fact, people in the East Java regency of Sidoarjo are still trying to cope with the mudflow disaster that changed their lives. A piece of good news is that some families have received 20 percent of their compensation from Lapindo Brantas Inc., the firm that owned the mining site from which gas leaked and allegedly played a role in causing the mudflow.

Heri Retnowati, Porong – Two years after a mud volcano started erupting on Indonesia's Java island, thousands of people who lost their homes are still living in squalid makeshift shelters with no signs the flow of sludge is about to stop soon.

Porong – Indonesians displaced by the world's worst mud volcano disaster prayed for help and compensation Thursday beside the sea of sludge that swallowed their homes exactly two years ago.

Today is the two-year anniversary since the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, began, and it's appropriate to reflect on why problems remain unresolved and the government seems toothless to pursue this case.

The Asia Pacific Solidarity Network (APSN) has received information from the People's Democratic Party-Political Committee of the Poor (KPRM-PRD) that on May 27 a student activist named Chalid from the Politics of the Poor-Indonesian National Student League for Democracy (LMND-PRM) in the North Maluku city of Ternate was abducted by unknown persons, taken to an isolated location whe

Ratu Epeli Nailatikau – The push by Vanuatu to have West Papuans granted observer status at the Melanesian Spearhead Group is being blocked by Papua New Guinea.

Speaking at the MSG Foreign Ministers' meeting in Port Vila, PNG's Foreign Minister Sam Abal says his country will not allow Indonesia's Papua region to be an MSG matter.

Jakarta – City police chose a persuasive approach to deal with protests following clashes between police officers and university students last week, a police spokesperson said Tuesday. Reports from two universities in East and South Jakarta on Tuesday showed no major clashes between the two parties.

TMC/Ibnu R., Jakarta – Protest actions and public transport strikes will colour various parts of the capital today, Wednesday May 28. Aside from taking up the theme of anti-corruption, there will also be a demonstration by thousands of people supporting direct cash assistance and a student protest action later tonight opposing the recent fuel price hikes.

Anwar Khumaini, Jakarta – Student demonstrations against the recent fuel price increases are moving towards anarchic acts involving frequent clashes with police. There are indications that foreign intelligence agencies are using the protests for their own ends.

Jakarta – Indonesian people must continue to speak up against human rights violations committed by their government and other citizens, a rights seminar has concluded.

Executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), Agung Putri Astrid Kartika, said here Tuesday the country was facing huge challenges in resolving past human rights crimes.

Sruwen Boyolali, Indonesia – In the bloody history of the 20th century, the killing fields scattered through the lush greenery of Indonesia's islands are a rarely mentioned footnote.

It's improving, but there's a long way to go. Yesterday's release of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's report Seeing Indonesia as a Normal Country is timely, coming 10 years after the overthrow of the Suharto regime and just ahead of Kevin Rudd's visit to Jakarta next month.

Jakarta – An Indonesian "mud volcano" that has oozed sludge for two years is collapsing under its own weight, worsening an environmental disaster that has displaced thousands, a study said Wednesday.

Australians are being urged to rethink the way they view Indonesia and recognise the country as a stable, pluralist democracy and not a hotbed of fundamentalist Islam.

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speaker: Doug Ramage, country representative for the Asia Foundation in Jakarta

Jakarta – Workers unions say that 10 years after Indonesia ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention on freedom of association, workers continue to face discrimination.

Chairman of the Indonesian Labor Unions Campaign Committee, Andy William Sinaga, said here Tuesday about 80 percent of workers unions were still discriminated against.

Aubrey Belford, Jakarta – Indonesia will withdraw from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries after years of declining exports, the energy minister said Wednesday even as other producers cash in on soaring oil prices.

Sid Maher – Australia needs to redefine its relationship with Indonesia to reflect its rise, in barely a decade, from a troubled, unstable, corruption-ridden nation to a "normal" middle-income developing democracy.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The National University (Unas) has welcomed lawmakers' support for the release of students who have been in police custody since a clash between police and student protesters at the campus on Saturday.

Irene Hadiprayitno, Utrecht – The palm oil industry is not only popular in the discourse of biofuels, but it is also economically lucrative.

In Indonesia alone the industry covers 17 provinces, employing about 2 million workers. The industry has generated an income amounting to Rp 7.779 million.

Jakarta – Students in Semarang and Makassar began a hunger strike Monday to protest the government's recent fuel price increases.

The strikers, from the Islamic University Students Association, said they would call off the strike if the government revised its fuel policy, which they blamed for driving more people into poverty.

Abdul Khalik and Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The quick disbursement of cash aid to lower income families has tempered protests after the government raised fuel prices, helping President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono avoid political fallout from the controversial decision, observers say.

Jakarta – Hundreds of public minivan drivers in Jakarta staged a strike Monday, demanding an official fare increase in the wake of fuel price rises, leaving many commuters and students stranded.

One striking driver, Cecep Wahyudin, told The Jakarta Post they wanted the administration officially to raise fares.

Jakarta – City police have begun investigations into police officers involved in a clash with student protesters at National University (Unas) at Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.

"The internal affairs and security division called on the officers this morning," said police spokesperson Snr. Comr. Ketut Untung Yoga Ana on Monday.

Umi Kulsum – Indonesia's 100th National Awakening day, which fell on May 20, was noisily celebrated at the Bung Karno Sports Stadium during a ceremony led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. In the president's speech he said that Indonesia is a capable nation that can change its fortunes and confront the energy and food crisis. But what about the public's views on this?

The reform movement, which began 10 years ago, stipulated the need for the Indonesian Military (TNI) to give up its sociopolitical role and focus on defense. A lot has been done in the past decade to help achieve military and defense reform, although there has been plenty of criticism that change has occurred too slowly. Defense Ministry secretary-general Lt. Gen.

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – After a prolonged verification process, the government is set to approve 12 local parties to be registered with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.

Local justice and human rights official Rajali Ubit said the 12 would be recognized once the administrative and legal requirements (set by the 2006 Aceh administration law) had been completed.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights is setting up a special team to investigate a clash between police officers and student protesters at National University (Unas) in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, on Saturday.

Vice chairperson of the commission, M. Ridha Saleh, said the team would look into possible abuses committed by officers against protesters.

Indra Subagja, Jakarta – As soon as the price of fuel was officially increased at 12 midnight, 26 people from the People's Struggle Front (FPR) held a protest action in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta. Police immediately moved in and rounded up the demonstrators and all 26 were taken to the Metro Jaya regional police headquarters.

Irwan Nugroho, Jakarta – The police attack on the University of Indonesia campus this morning has left those who witnessed it dumb founded after they watched hundreds of police officers surround some 50 or so students, who were then beaten, stripped naked and forced into trucks.

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Local women's rights activists have taken up the outcry raised by New York-based Human Rights Watch, following a Saudi Arabian court's acquittal of two people accused of torturing their Indonesian maid.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – A state minister on Friday delivered documents on the alleged May 1998 mass rape of mostly ethnic Chinese women to the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

State Minister for Women's Empowerment Meutia Farida Swasono handed over the documents to Attorney General Hendarman Supandji.

Aditya Suharmoko and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – After weeks of uncertainty, the government on Friday raised subsidized fuel prices by an average of 28.7 percent to help salvage the state budget, which has been severely strained by high-flying crude oil prices.

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta – Indonesia's government jacked up fuel prices on Saturday, sparking protests, but some $1.5 billion of cash handouts intended to cushion the blow for poor families could turn out to be a savvy move, politically and economically.

Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru – Five legislators in Riau province have come under fire for attending a seminar in Egypt organized by Indonesian students there.

Jakarta – From a soto (traditional soup) vendor to a lawyer, people from different walks of life have remembered the late human rights activist Munir through the enduring medium of music.

Presi Mandari, Jakarta – Angry students hurled molotov cocktails at police after Indonesia hiked the cost of gasoline by 33 (sic) percent Saturday to rein in subsidies that are exploding along with world oil prices.

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta, Semarang, Kupang – More than 100 people were arrested Saturday during protests at National University (Unas) in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta.

Hundreds of Unas students and alumni had gathered to protest the government's fuel price rises.

Jakarta – Police arrested more than 100 protesters in the Indonesian capital Saturday after some burnt tyres and threw molotov cocktails during a rally over fuel price rises, police said.

Jakarta – Women and children from Jamaah Ahmadiyah families have been suffering not only repeated attacks but also discrimination and human rights abuses from Muslims outside the "deviant" Islamic sect, says a report.

Jakarta – Indonesian Corruption Watch has urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate alleged graft within the Supreme Court after the court refused to state publicly how appellants' administrative fees were managed.

ICW legal investigator Febri Diansyah said Friday there were indications the Supreme Court had misused administrative fees.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Islamic schools need to include more scientific and research studies, rather than trying to revive the glory of past Islamic civilization by focusing solely on theology, a seminar here heard Thursday.

[The following statement in English was edited slightly for readability, the original SMS message in Indonesian translated and the full names of organisations added where abbreviations only were used in the original – James Balowski.]

The following are statements of objection by three organisations that are part of the Ternate (North Maluku) National Liberation Front (FPN) against statements and releases issue by the Indonesian Student League for Democracy (LMND) and the People's Challenge Alliance (FRM).

[The following is a slightly abridged translation of a statement by the People's Struggle Front (FPR) condemning recent acts of violence by police against peaceful protests opposing the Indonesian government's planned fuel price hikes.]

Greeting of struggle,

Jakarta – Twenty students were detained by city police and were named suspects of various crimes after being arrested at recent demonstrations, a city police spokesperson said Thursday.

Jakarta – Bureaucratic reform in Indonesia has moved at snail's pace due to intervention by political parties and widespread corruption, a seminar heard Thursday.

Political considerations played a dominant role in the recruitment of personnel for professional bureaucratic positions, said Miftah Toha, a professor of political science at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

A report emerging from Indonesia's Papua region claims a Papuan man was forced to rape his fiancee by 8 Indonesian Navy marines in Jayapura.

The Elsham Human Rights group in Papua says the incident has been detailed in a report from a church group.