Jakarta – The Defense Ministry is synchronizing key issues for the implementation of the recently-signed defense treaties between Indonesia and Singapore as part of efforts to persuade the House of Representatives to ratify the documents.

Indonesia is vying for re-election to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC). The General Assembly (GA) meets on May 17, 2007, to elect 14 of the Council's 47 seats, four of which are from the Asian region. Bahrain, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines are coming to the end of their one-year terms on the Council.

First to the Indonesian province of Papua, where police armed with water canon and M16 rifles are occupying a Jayapura church at the centre of a dispute over the synod's independence.

Vannessa Hearman, Solo – On April 29, the Indonesian National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) again suffered intimidation and disruption of a planned meeting in Sukoharjo, on the outskirts of Solo in Central Java. Members of the Islamic Community Militia prevented the meeting from going ahead by blockading surrounding roads and occupying the venue of the meeting.

Indonesian Police are maintaining control of the Kingmi Synod Church office in the capital of Papua province, Jayapura. Earlier today police arrested dozens of Papuans who were among up to five hundred Kingmi Church members protesting in front of the office.

Palu, Tito Sianipar – The secretariat offices of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) in the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu was attacked by a large group of people on Sunday night.

Palu – The regional office of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) in the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu was attacked by members of the Indonesian military (TNI) on Sunday May 13 at around 1am local time. Three party activists were beaten and suffered serious injuries.

Arfi Bambani Amri, Jakarta – One of the perpetrators of an attack on the offices of the Central Sulawesi branch of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) is known to be a rogue member of the Indonesian military (TNI). Papernas is urging the TNI to provide an explanation for and to investigate the incident.

The key witness in the Munir murder case is now under police protection. Upon arriving from Holland, he became the subject of a fight between the police and state intelligence.

[The following is an open letter issued by the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) following the March 13 attack on Papernas's regional office in the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu. Translated by James Balowski.]

An open letter to the leaders of the nation and higher state institutions:

Fugitive army rebel Alfredo Reinado says he is ready to give himself up to East Timor authorities after deciding he could get a fair trial.

Last August, Reinado and 50 other inmates escaped from a prison where he was being held on charges of involvement in a wave of violence that killed 37 people and drove 150,000 from their homes last year.

Dili – Incoming East Timor president Jose Ramos-Horta's chances of achieving major reform in the troubled tiny state hinge on the outcome of next month's parliamentary elections, according to analysts.

Really encouraging news from East Timor is hard to come by, but the election of Jose Ramos Horta as its new president should be widely welcomed, and not only by his own citizens, some 70 per cent of whom voted for him in the second round run-off, but in the region and the wider community of nations.

Arfi Bambani Amri, Palu – Yet again the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has been physically attacked. This time it was the turn of the Central Sulawesi regional branch of Papernas.

The attack by around 50 unidentified assailants took place at the Papernas offices on Jl. Jl Raja Moili in the Central Sulawesi provincial capital of Palu, on Sunday May 13.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said Friday the Attorney General's Office (AGO) would coordinate with the National Police to re-investigate the criminal elements surrounding the 2004 murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Despite maintaining good ties with most of his supporting parties, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will nonetheless face major political hurdles in seeking reelection in 2009, a political analyst says.

Jayapura – The Regional Military Commander of 172/PWY of Papua, Colonel Kav Burhanudin Siagian stated that the main enemies of the state are those who have enjoyed the nation's facilities, but who still do actions against the stability of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. Traitors like them are the ones that must be destroyed.

Andi Haswidi and Hendarsyah Tarmizi, Jakarta – It is still unclear whether the mistake was the finance minister's or the media's, but the recent remarks by Sri Mulyani appear to have put the chief economics minister and central bank governor into a serious spin.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – An alliance of activists and human rights abuse victims in Aceh have completed a draft on the formation of a truth and reconciliation commission, which they plan to propose to the government.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – A rumbling row between Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla and two top technocrats charged with overseeing economic policy is hampering the implementation of the government's infrastructure spending drive and generating high-level political tensions.

Peter Charlton – What did Prime Minister Gough Whitlam know about the deaths of the so-called Balibo Five in East Timor in October 1975?

This has been the question exercising the Glebe Coroner's Court in Sydney this week as the inquest into the death of one of the five, cameraman Brian Peters, resumed.

Sebastian Berger, Dili – Her belly swollen with her seventh child, Fernanda Sarmento paced the corridors of Dili's National Hospital as she waited to give birth.

"It's good if I have a lot of children," said the 38-year-old, adding that she wanted another girl to add to her two existing daughters.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta has secured a stunning victory in a run-off presidential election, official vote-counting shows. Poll commission spokeswoman Maria Sarmento said Mr Ramos Horta had won about 73 per cent of votes with almost 90 per cent counted.

Jakarta – Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia was hoping Timor Leste's new government will continue the policies of its predecessor, including that on the Indonesia-Timor Leste Joint Commission of Truth and Friendship to settle their common residual problems

Lucy Williamson, Jakarta – Half an hour's drive from Indonesia's parliament, the civilian police in the district of Tangerang go on patrol every evening.

Setiono Sugiharto, Jakarta – Thousands of history textbooks used in Indonesian schools have been confiscated by officials under the instructions of the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which claims the books could perpetuate a resurgence of communism notoriously linked to the attempted coup of 1965.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Dozens of people were injured and scores of cars vandalized in a bloody clash between two disputing parties wanting to lead the foundation responsible for running the North Sumatra Islamic University (UISU) in Medan.

Jakarta – Activists and observers are demanding that the Judicial Commission and the House of Representatives prioritize quality over quantity in selecting candidates for Supreme Court judgeship.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Aliwaya had promised himself that he would not vote in August's gubernatorial election.

The resident of Cakung, East Jakarta had seen the low and dark side of politics, with politicians treating poor residents like him as objects to gain votes. He said he had had enough with anything to do with the city administration.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Post-tsunami reconstruction works in Aceh are contributing to deforestation as reconstruction agencies use timber from illegal logging activities, an environmental organization has alleged.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The chairman of the National Banks Association (Perbanas), Sigit Pramono, has pinned the blame squarely on the shoulder of businesses for the slow lending growth in the real sector.

Hopes look dim – if not totally diminished – that victims of violence during the East Timor mayhem in 1999 will find the truth about the events before and after the referendum which saw the then Indonesian province vote for independence.

Mario de Queiroz, Lisbon – In the late 1970s, diplomats at United Nations headquarters in New York got used to seeing a discreet young man plying the hallways and conference rooms, trying to drum up support for what seemed a lost cause in a tiny country that few had even heard about.

Janet Fife-Yeomans, Sydney – The former head of Australia's spy network has revealed he never had any doubt Indonesian forces deliberately killed five young Australian newsmen in a "cover-up".

Former prime minister Gough Whitlam has always prided himself on his grasp of history. But on one subject, the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, and specifically the deaths of five Australian journalists at Balibo on October 16, 1975, his recall of detail has been elusive.

P.P. McGuinness – The coronial inquiry into the 1975 deaths of the five journalists in Balibo, East Timor, is an interesting exercise in raking over old controversies – or should be. So far it seems to be yet another of the many politicised attacks on Indonesia which have characterised this issue from the start.

Belinda Tasker, Paul Mulvey, Sydney – Gough Whitlam's defence minister admits he concealed secret details from the prime minister about the deaths of five Australian newsmen in East Timor in 1975.

Paul Barber – Two apparently unrelated events that together raise important questions about the West's responsibility for conflicts in the world's poorest countries are being held in London today.

Jakarta – The surprising silent protest by East Timorese members of the joint Indonesia-Timor Leste commission at its recent hearing is expected to be the first and the last because such action could hamper commission activities.

Jakarta – Although he has yet to officially assume his new post as Attorney General, Hendarman Supandji has already issued statements on his law enforcement priorities.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Analysts and observers say political parties still lack the vision and the will to reach the ultimate goal of having women make up at least 30 percent of their membership.

James Balowski, Jakarta – Tens of thousands of Indonesian workers commemorated May Day across the country demanding an end to contract labour and outsourcing, and for May 1 to be declared a national holiday.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Displaced earthquake and tsunami survivors from Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra still residing in shelters rallied Tuesday at the gubernatorial office in Medan demanding they be immediately able to return to their respective villages.

Wibatsu Ari Sudewo, Solo – Over the last two years, the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has become hot news in the Central Java city of Solo and other parts of the country. This new party has indeed triggered controversy after it was accused of being a reincarnation of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

[Merdeka: Artists from around the world unit in support of the independence movement in West Papua. Dancing Turtle Records, 2007. Only available from . Reviewed by Vannessa Hearman.]

HS Dillon, Jakarta – Following the "limited cabinet reshuffle", I sent a text message to three close friends – a prominent human rights activist, a brilliant economist and a budding politician – inquiring about the immediate prospects of Indonesia's poor?

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – Skepticism and disappointment have dominated discussions of the latest reorganization of the United Indonesia Cabinet.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The replacement of Sugiharto as state minister for state enterprises by Sofyan Djalil, who previously served as information and communications minister, in the recent Cabinet shake-up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been cheered by some analysts and condemned by others.

Seby Sambom – The West Papua Highland Student Association is continuing its call for dialogue with the Indonesian government about Papua province's special autonomy status.

1,500 people took part in a student-led demonstration for Papuan self-determination outside the Provincial Parliament in Jayapura late last month.

Solo – The National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) has been unlucky of late. A meeting to establish a branch management board in Tanjung Anom, Grogol, Sukoharjo, was forcibly broken up by a certain group. Feeling cornered, Papernas is officially and strenuously denying the accusation that it is linked with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).