The widow of an Indonesian human rights activist who was fatally poisoned on an international flight has called for Australia to rethink its security treaty with Indonesia.
Munir Talib Sahir became violently ill on a Garuda flight to Amsterdam in September 2004 and was pronounced dead shortly before arrival. An autopsy revealed he had died from arsenic poisoning.
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Anti-graft activists have deplored President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's move to involve himself in the conflict between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra.
Adam Bennett, Sydney – A NSW coroner hearing an inquest into the death of one of five Australian journalists in East Timor more than 30 years ago has agreed to hear some evidence in secret.
A government intelligence chief destroyed documents revealing the deaths of Australian-based journalists in East Timor in 1975 to stop news of the killings spreading.
Hamish McDonald – Australia's spooks are often aghast at the way highly classified intelligence material and techniques leak out into the public domain in the United States.
It looks as though Indonesia is yet to be free of disasters. With the Jakarta floods receding and the capital's residents counting their losses, a ferry caught fire 80 kilometer's off the city's coast on Thursday. At least 16 people were killed and another 17 remain missing.
Jakarta – Scholars and analysts agreed during a discussion Friday that legislators and government officials needed to stop working solely for party interests and focus more on the needs of the people who voted them into office.
Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – Jakartans may think they have seen it all when it comes to environmental disasters, but it is a good bet that the worst is yet to come, a study reveals.
Jakarta – Marching is nothing unusual for members of the National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI), but the activity took on a new meaning Friday.
The recent deadly flooding that submerged Greater Jakarta for one week left behind prolonged misery and remarkable damages. Not only because the floods killed 79 people and left more than 200,000 homeless, but also because the they caused a total loss of Rp 8.8 trillion (US$970 million).
Jakarta – A leading environmental organization has praised police action against a company accused of illegal logging, but says it wants the authorities to take a harder line against the crime in the future.
Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Police dispersed frustrated residents Friday who had been blocking main roads and railways in Sidoarjo, East Java, upsetting motorists and causing major traffic congestion.
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Tens of thousands of malnourished children in East Nusa Tenggara will be at risk of marasmus if attention is not given to the matter by the government and related institutions, a health official said Friday.
Marasmus, a severe form of malnutrition, involved the chronic wasting of fat, muscle and other tissues.
Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), Kontras, ELSAM, Imparsial, PBHI, Yayasan HAK and FORUM-ASIA have closely viewed the 19-21 February 2007 hearing process of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) as an instrument of impunity on cases of human rights violations that occurred in Timor Leste in 1999.
Jakarta – More than 120 people are still missing after a deadly fire on board an Indonesian ferry, the Red Cross has said.
"One hundred and twenty-two people are still reported missing by their families," Heri Asmedi from the Indonesian Red Cross told AFP on Friday.
Jakarta – The plot has thickened in the spat between State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), with the former accusing the latter of being a corrupt institution that requires a thorough audit.
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – A forum of intellectuals, community representatives and politicians asked the central government Thursday to postpone the planned revision of the 2001 Papuan Special Autonomy law, despite acknowledging that special autonomy has yet to be fully implemented in Papua.
Jakarta – Hundreds of residents whose houses have been submerged by a "mud volcano" blocked a main road junction and railway, causing major congestion near Indonesia's second largest city.
A gas well near Surabaya in East Java has spewed steaming mud since May last year, submerging villages, factories and fields, and forcing more than 15,000 people to flee their homes.
An Indonesian official has hit back at critics of a plan to control a gushing mud volcano by dropping concrete balls into its crater, saying something must be done to stop a nine-month-long eruption that has displaced 11,000 people.
On a visit to London this week, Peneas Lokbere, a young West Papuan who survived the Abepura killings in 2000, said that many of the survivors are still suffering from the after effects of that incident, physically or psychologically.
Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is drafting an alternative regulation on compensation and restitution for the victims of human rights abuse and crime, at the same time as the government is drafting its own.
Jakarta – Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir failed to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday to file a petition calling for the implementation of sharia.
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – A British volcanologist is disputing a government-sponsored conference's conclusion that the Sidoarjo mud disaster was caused by tectonic forces.
Paul Mulvey, Sydney – Three decades on, Shirley Shackleton still wakes in fright, sitting bolt upright in bed as she relives the moment she sensed her husband had been killed. It's a recurring, but now rare, nightmare.
The Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), set up by Indonesia and Timor Leste, has finally begun to show its face with its inaugural public hearings.
There is apprehension all around as we follow testimonies regarding the violence before and after the 1999 referendum which led to Timor Leste's independence.
Emma Alberici Mark Colvin: The Coronial Inquest into the death of Brian Peters in Balibo, East Timor today heard startling evidence from a former senior federal government official.
Michelle Nichols, United Nations – The UN Security Council voted on Thursday to keep peacekeepers in East Timor for another 12 months as the Asia-Pacific's newest nation struggles to overcome an east-west divide and gang violence.
Paul Mulvey, Sydney – The Whitlam and Fraser governments have been accused of lying over the deaths of five Australian-based journalists in East Timor in 1975.
Paul Mulvey, Sydney – A mystery Australian intelligence officer from the 1970s could prove whether the federal government knew five Australian journalists were executed by Indonesian forces in East Timor in 1975. But, despite extensive inquiries and searches, nobody knows where he is.
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – An international human rights watchdog has accused the Indonesian government of detaining Papuan activists for their political views.
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Environmental activists Wednesday accused powerful military and police officials in North Sumatra and Aceh of keeping endangered orangutans as pets.
Panca Nugraha, Mataram – Dozens of environmental protesters rallied in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday against the issuance of a permit to expand mining company Newmont's operations, an accusation which the company denied.
The protesters, members of the Community of Environment Messenger group, gathered at the office of West Nusa Tenggara Governor H.L. Serinata.
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) said today that the joint Indonesia-East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) can not further either goal its name suggests.
Radzie, Banda Aceh – The Preparatory Committee for the Acehnese People's Party (Komite Persiapan Partai Rakyat Aceh, KP-PRA) will hold its first congress between February 27 and March 2. Following the congress, the party will be declared as the first local political party in Aceh.
Jakarta – The National Commission for Child Protection urged the House of Representatives on Tuesday to pressure the government to restrict the sale of single cigarettes, in a bid to protect children from tobacco.
Commercialized courts and limited access to legal aid have caused poor people to face inequality before the law, say observers.
Peter Boyle, Jakarta – Dita Sari is arguably the most well-known progressive activist in Indonesia today. A former trade union leader and political prisoner under the Suharto regime, she is now the chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), which is the leading force in the new, broader National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas).
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Rectors of 61 universities told the government Tuesday to tackle poverty and unemployment, as they were key problems that could threaten the security and stability of the country.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Manokwari – Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu and West Papua Governor Abraham (Bram) O. Atururi signed an agreement here Tuesday to settle their differences, the first cooperative move by the two leaders since they were installed six months ago.
Ed Davies, Jakarta – Indonesia is continuing to arrest and hand down heavy prison sentences to activists in Papua for peacefully supporting independence in the remote eastern area, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso is still a popular target of protests by victims of recent floods. Carrying children on their hips, on Wednesday February 21 hundreds of housewives rallied to call on the Number 1 person in Jakarta to resign.
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – A plan to plug the Lapindo exploratory gas well at the heart of the East Java mudflow might be ineffective and dangerous, an expert said Tuesday.
Brett Morris – On Monday, a commission set up by Indonesia and East Timor began its first hearing to further reconciliation between the two countries over the violence that occurred during 1999 when East Timor voted in a referendum to declare independence from Indonesia.
Mark Forbes, Denpasar – Tales of blood and tears are flowing from a Commission of Truth and Friendship hearing into the atrocities committed in East Timor about the time of the 1999 independence vote.
Dili – UN police have arrested 148 people suspected of involvement in a resurgence of street violence in the East Timorese capital, the UN envoy to the troubled country said today.
"In the past three days, the police have arrested 148 people, all related to the security situation in Dili," Atul Khare said.
Paul Mulvey – The widow of one of the Balibo Five has renewed calls for former prime minister Gough Whitlam to appear as a witness at the inquest into the death of one of the journalists killed in East Timor in 1975.
Mark Forbes Denpasar – Australia was overzealous and "gung-ho" towards East Timor, the former Indonesian foreign minister, Ali Alatas, has said at an inquiry aimed at healing the wounds left by the bloody aftermath of Timorese independence.
Stephen Fitzpatrick, Bali – A plain-clothes Indonesian soldier gave the order to attack an East Timor churchyard where thousands of civilians were sheltering in 1999, resulting in more than two dozen deaths, a survivor of the atrocity claimed yesterday.
Dili – Parliament agreed to ratify an agreement with Australia over the management of oil and gas resources in the Greater Sunrise field in the Timor Sea.
"I am glad because after one year, the parliament finally has approved this agreement," Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta told reporters after the vote, with 48 in favor, five against and three abstentions.
The mudslinging between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra poses yet another test for the government's graft fight.
At the same time, the anti-corruption body is facing a moment of truth to prove that its work is genuine and free from political motives.