Houses of worship are an important topic of discussion for many people, as the recent debate over them showed. The impression was that people put more importance on the buildings themselves than on practicing the good deeds taught inside them.

Jakarta – Although the central government has identified human trafficking as one of Indonesia's most serious problems, the trade continues to flourish here.

Arist Merdeka Sirait of the National Commission on Child Protection (Komnas PA) said that the situation was being aggravated by the way police treated the victims.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Forest fires on Sumatra and Borneo are sending a toxic haze across the skies of Southeast Asia, raising air pollution levels on the two islands and in neighboring Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Workers whose companies are affected by hot mudflow in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java, said Tuesday they were not being properly compensated for their loss of income.

Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – Residents of a village in West Lombok protested Tuesday outside the provincial forestry office in Mataram.

They accused police and forest rangers of wrongful arrest and false accusations during a joint operation two weeks ago in the forest near their village in Sambik Bangkol, Gangga district.

Jakarta – A coalition of environmental groups on Tuesday accused leading European flooring manufacturers of using wood stolen from Indonesia's last remaining rainforests.

On behalf of the Australia West Papua Association (Sydney), I am writing to you concerning the issue of West Papua. It was disappointing that concern for the human rights situation in West Papua was not mentioned in last years PIF Communique, as it has been in previous years.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Thousands of Tangerang residents living along the Cisadane river are at risk of various illnesses due to the increasing level of pollution in the river, a report says.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – It is rare to get a behind-the-scenes look at historic events. But Tuesday's conference commemorating one year of the Aceh peace accord provided a rare glimpse into the process and gave the actors involved a chance to publicly pat themselves on the back.

Michael Morfit, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement, known locally as the Gerakan Acheh Merdeka (GAM), and Indonesia's government on Monday marked the first anniversary of a peace agreement that ended nearly 30 years of armed conflict in the resource-rich and historically turbulent province of Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra.

Mark Dodd – East Timor's highest court has declared legal the controversial "show of hands" vote that endorsed the leadership of then prime minister Mari Alkatiri at a national party congress in May.

Nurdin Hassan, Banda Aceh – Tens of thousands have rallied in Indonesia's Aceh, celebrating a full year of peace but calling on Jakarta to honour the pact which ended three decades of separatist warfare.

Fakhurradzie M. Gade, Banda Aceh – Thousands of protesters accused Indonesia's government Tuesday of failing to deliver on promises made when separatist rebels signed an agreement a year ago to end decades of fighting in Aceh province.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The formerly rebellious Free Aceh Movement(GAM) is dissatisfied with several articles in the newly enacted law on Aceh governance, but its leaders say the group will wait to see how the law is put into practice, and work through normal channels to amend it.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The government should take all the necessary measures to prevent Indonesian jihadis from leaving for Lebanon or they will only create more problems when they return home, Muslim scholars say.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Five-year-old Trimo is placed in an old babywalker every now and then. Although his feet can touch the ground, he isn't able to get it moving as other children usually can.

The boy, blind at birth, was playing alone in front of his 12-square-meter house with plaited bamboo walls and a dirt floor.

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Depok – Suci Islamiyah will never forget the fact that her mother died in one of the leading government hospitals in Central Jakarta, deprived of proper medical treatment.

Cath Hart and Samantha Maiden – John Howard has pulled the plug on his controversial migration bill to avoid facing a defeat in the Senate.

Jakarta – For more than two decades, the brutal military occupation of East Timor, a distant, impoverished, peripheral territory, brought Indonesia little but disdain and dishonor on the world stage.

Hasballah Saad and Michael Shank, Washington DC – The United States Congress recently passed a contentious bill that allocates over US$6 million to Indonesia for military equipment and training in 2007. Two checks will be issued: $4.5 million under Congress' Foreign Military Financing program and $1.28 million under Congress' International Military Education and Training program.

Titis Setianingtyas, Jakarta – The First Minister of GAM (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) Malik Mahmud Al Haytar has declared that the introduction of Syariat Islam in Aceh is not welcomed by the Acehnese.

Banda Aceh – Thousands of people from various regions of Aceh have began arriving in Banda Aceh to commemorated one year since the Helsinki agreement that falls on August 15 tomorrow. They plan to hold a peaceful action and joint prayers in at several locations in Banda Aceh.

Refugee and Free West Papua supporters this afternoon welcomed the Prime Minister's decision to scuttle the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill and

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – A rosier economic picture is expected to emerge in the second half of the year, with increased growth forecast after a recent easing of inflation and interest rates.

Tom Hyland – The Indonesian Army manipulated the voyage to Australia of 43 West Papuan asylum seekers in a secret pyschological warfare operation that gave Jakarta a diplomatic and strategic victory over the Howard Government, a former intelligence analyst says.

Jakarta – Thick and acrid haze from fires set to clear land is blanketing parts of the Indonesian section of Borneo island, a meteorology official said.

Tiro – Eyes red with tears, Alamsyah Mahmud recalls how in 2001, Indonesian paramilitaries swooped on his village in Tiro, the birthplace of Aceh's rebel movement, rounding up people and torching homes.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – The National AIDS Commission is running a trial on the use of female condoms in Papua to reduce the rate of new HIV infections.

Arvin Fikriansyah, Palu – A last-minute reprieve for three Indonesian Christians on death row has been welcomed by activists and relatives as they geared up to fight for a commutation of their sentences.

Jakarta/Surabaya – Permanent effects from the huge mudflow engulfing Sidoarjo, East Java, may keep thousands of displaced residents from ever returning to their homes, officials warn.

Panca Nugraha, Mataram – The National Commission on Human Rights has asked the government to guarantee the security of Ahmadiyah followers to ensure members of the religious sect can live in peace and worship freely.

Jakarta – The Jakarta administration will have to rethink its plan to increase public awareness about paying taxes in an SMS reward program after the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) declared it prohibited by Islam.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) is coming under fire for allocating funds to security and intelligence operations by the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Aceh.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The delays in the spending of development funds by many local administrations are believed to be partly the result of rent-seeking practices involving collusion between a number of national legislators and local administrations, a minister says.

Yemris Fointuna and Ruslan Sangadji, Kupang/Palu – Large rallies were held across East Nusa Tenggara on Thursday to protest the impending executions of Fabianus Tibo, Marianus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva for their roles in violence between Christians and Muslims in Central Sulawesi's Poso district.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) has replaced the chiefs of three military commands and of the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) as part of a major reshuffle of its 79 senior officers.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Military analysts Thursday blasted the military probe into an arms stash scandal as neither transparent nor credible, and urged the House of Representatives to launch an immediate inquiry into the case.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Residents of Mane village in Pidie, Aceh, who lost family members and homes during the 30-year conflict between the government and the Free Aceh Movement have occupied the Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) office to press their compensation demands.

The following are the tangible impacts of the hot, toxic mud that has flooded part of the East Java town of Sidoarjo since the end of May: nearly 8,000 people have been displaced, more than 190 hectares of farmland have been flooded, at least 15 factories have been shut down and a section of the Surabaya-Gempol turnpike has been closed.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Almost a year after the signing of the Helsinki peace accord that ended 29 years of fighting in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, most people in the province believe conditions are improving, a survey reveals.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's tobacco market, the world's fifth-largest, is primed for foreign takeovers.

Jakarta – A controversial religious leader and a feminist writer were named winners of an award for freedom of expression Thursday. They are former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and Gadis Arivia who founded Jurnal Perempuan, a woman's journal.

Nothing has changed since John Howard's ill-judged and dangerous migration amendment bill was first introduced into the federal parliament in May to suggest it now deserves support.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Weeks after a lawmaker was dismissed for acting as a middleman in a government-funded haj dormitory project, seven lawmakers are accused of pressuring government officials in order to get disaster relief money for their regions.

The Coordinating Ministry for the People's Welfare disclosed the names of the lawmakers Wednesday.

Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – Corruption is a deep-seated and pervasive problem that affects all levels of governance, from neighborhood level up.

The efforts of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other high-ranking officials, as well as police and prosecutors, to eradicate corruption within the government appear to have had little impact at neighborhood or village level.

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesia plans to hold the first direct elections in once-volatile Aceh province by December 10, a government minister said on Thursday.

Rudy Madanir and Christine Tjandraningsih, Jakarta – A recent survey has found that the majority of people in Aceh are satisfied with the current condition in the northernmost Indonesian province and believe in lasting peace, a year after the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement signed a peace deal in Helsinki.

Jakarta – Some 90% of people in Indonesia's Aceh province say they agree with Islamic laws that punish gamblers with caning and force women to cover their heads in public, according to an opinion poll released Thursday.

Aceh is the first province in secular but Muslim-majority Indonesia to be allowed to implement laws based on the Islamic legal code, or Sharia.

Jakarta – A former senior separatist from Indonesia's Aceh said Thursday that a new generation of rebels could be spawned within a decade amid dismay over the implementation of a peace pact signed a year ago.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – One of Indonesia's most senior officials has admitted that his country was directly responsible for failing to stop the murderous chaos that accompanied its withdrawal from East Timor in 1998.