Padang – An environmental group has issued a statement in protest over West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi's decision to issue a letter of recommendation to the central government to grant 49,440 hectares of forest concession to a plantation company.

[The following is a compilation abridged translations on demonstrations between September 16-25 against the government's plan to increase fuel prices by as much as 60 per cent on October 1.]

Malang students oppose fuel price increases

Detik.com - September 16, 2005

The Supreme Audit Agency, for the fourth consecutive year, placed a disclaimer on the government's financial statement for the 2004 fiscal year, due mainly to inadequate internal controls, noncompliance with financial accounting rules and discrepancies in current accounts.

Veronika Kusuma Wijayanti, Jakarta – The ineptness of the investigation into the murder of human rights activist Munir is being questioned. The reason being that up until now police have yet to arrest the masterminded behind the murder and or to name any new suspects aside from Pollycapus Budihari Priyanto.

Representatives of 48 human rights, faith-based, arms control and peace groups wrote members of the US Congress this week to urge continued restriction of military assistance to Indonesia.

Shanty, Jakarta – On Thursday September 22, the Munir Solidarity Committee (Komite Solidaritas Untuk Munir, Kasum) went to the police headquarters' criminal investigation bureau to ask about developments in the investigation of the Munir murder case. Kasum took this step because they believe that the police investigation team has been totally inept in its investigation.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Eleven months after taking over the presidency, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's pledges to curb corruption within government agencies, particularly the tax and customs services, have not being realized, according to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Ardimas Sasdi, Jakarta – The peace pact signed by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government in Helsinki on Aug. 15 has so far brought hopes of a lasting peace to the province after more than 30 years of war.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former Garuda Indonesia president director Indra Setiawan had given a special assignment to pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who is charged with murdering noted human rights activist Munir last year, two executives of the company testified on Friday.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – A senior judge in the world's most populous Islamic country, declaring that "killing is a big thing in the eyes of God, blood must be paid with blood", sentenced a Muslim militant to death by firing squad this month.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has again put a disclaimer note on the government's financial report of the state budget, despite the implementation since last year of what was hailed as a "new and improved" state accounting system.

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Driven by their frustration over the sluggish investigation into corruption cases, dozens of anticorruption activists took high-ranking prosecutors hostage in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara on Tuesday.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Hundreds of people in West Java vandalized on Monday night houses, mosques and cars belonging to members of the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI), a Muslim group whose teachings differ from the central tenets of Islam.

No casualties nor injuries were reported in the attack.

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The United Nations food agency expressed deep concern over the slow recovery in tsunami-devastated Aceh, saying another crisis might occur if no action is taken to speed up the ongoing reconstruction and the relief efforts.

Six years ago today, Australian armed forces lead a multinational peacekeeping force (INTERFET) to East Timor to restore order and provide security for the transition to independence, but the Timor Sea Justice Campaign, today claimed the Howard Government is undoing the good work by taking gas and oil that belongs to the world's newest nation.

Dean Yates, Jakarta – Joining a group of young Indonesian intellectuals who hold liberal Islamic views was once just a ticket to controversy. Now, it could be life-threatening.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The fact that one in five Indonesians still lives on less than US$1 a day is made even gloomier by the fact that every person in the country – including those extremely poor and even newborn babies – already has nearly Rp 6 million (US$600) in debt to shoulder.

Miedy Pakasi, Manado – Newmont Mining Corp. and one of its top executives must stand trial on charges of dumping mercury and arsenic-laced pollutants into an Indonesian bay, a court said Tuesday, rejecting the gold mining giant's request to drop the case.

Sydney – East Timorese president Xanana Gusmao says pursuing Indonesian generals through the courts for atrocities committed years ago won't provide justice.

Launching his book Timor Lives today in Sydney, Gusmao said the people of East Timor backed a fight for the truth and a just account of history.

Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni and Eva C. Komandjaja, Mataram/Jakarta – Police said on Monday they have questioned at least 11 people as witnesses in connection with a bloody clash a day earlier between police and farmers in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

Jakarta – Suspected bird flu patients can be forced into hospital under "extraordinary" measures welcomed by the World Health Organization to counter a widening outbreak of the virus in Indonesia, officials said.

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – The much-vaunted reform movement has helped Indonesia build a democratic infrastructure but the country has yet to develop democratic practices, a noted political analyst says.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government promised on Monday to install the members of the much-awaited Papua People's Assembly (MRP) early next month and to refrain from making any strategic decisions on the troubled province pending the establishment of the local body.

A Swiss journalist who witnessed the Abepura incident in 2000 in Indonesia's Papua province says a police commissioner acquitted of charges in connection to the incident was responsible for fatal beatings.

Simon Montlake, Lhue and Banda Aceh – For Mahfud and Jaafar, two former Acehnese fighters, life after the rebellion has left time for quiet afternoons like this one, sipping coffee in a cafe. The two men entered into the ranks of civil society last Thursday morning, joining dozens of other rebel soldiers in a convey of vehicles to the provincial capital Banda Aceh.

Jakarta – Indonesia will pull 2,600 soldiers out of Aceh province on Tuesday as it steps up the withdrawal of troops under a peace agreement that ended decades of conflict with rebels, an army spokesman said.

Jill Jolliffe – A witness to the killing of five journalists in Balibo, East Timor, in 1975 has died in Dili months before a new inquiry by the NSW Coroner's Court.

Olandino Maia Guterres accused former Indonesian minister Yunus Yosfiah in 1998 of ordering the deaths of the five television reporters after they filmed an attack on the border town.

Nani Afrida, Lhokseumawe – Around 800 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers left Aceh on Sunday as the mass withdrawal of reinforcement troops from the province agreed under the recent peace deal began.

The troops, from two infantry battalions, set sail from Krueng Geukueh port in Lhokseumawe aboard the KRI Teluk Sampit naval vessel after six months of duty in the province.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Anticipating protests about increased fuel prices in October, the Jakarta Police are tightening security around government buildings and public areas and are promising to get tough on people stockpiling fuel.

Jakarta – Dozens of people, including two policemen, were injured as farmers and police clashed on Sunday over a dispute in connection with land earmarked for the construction of an airport in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – Police have declared nine people suspects in Saturday's rioting that followed a protest over the inauguration of Pesisir Selatan Regent Nasrul Abit and his deputy Syafrizal. West Sumatra Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Akmil said on Sunday that local police had questioned 20 people involved in the protest, including several high school students.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandar Lampung – Yuswandi, 40, a shrimp farm worker, seems bewildered. He and his colleagues have been traveling back and forth between South Lampung and Bandarlampung for the past week expressing their grievances to Lampung legislators. They have not worked for the past month because their employer has had to stop operations due to the shortage of diesel fuel.

Ruslan Sangadji, Poso – The peace was again shattered in the Central Sulawesi city of Poso on Saturday night when a homemade bomb exploded injuring four people.

Firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir and more than a dozen Bali bombers may get further automatic jail remissions within weeks despite pressure from Australia.

Also it emerged that Bashir was allowed out of prison for one day last week for hospital treatment for a bad back and might have to have further outside medical attention.

Jakarta – Pressure continued on Friday for the House of Representatives to open their meetings on the state budget to ensure transparency, in the wake of allegations of state funds being "traded" between legislators and local officials.

Kornelius Purba, New York – Less than two weeks before completing his first year in office, foreign businesspeople reminded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about the danger of the rising fuel subsidy and that time is running out for him to deliver the economic promises to those who voted him into office last year.

Mark Forbes – On Boxing Day Irwandi Yusuf clambered onto a roof inside Banda Aceh's prison and watched a torrent of water wash the walls and most other inmates away.

This week he witnessed his dreams of an independent Aceh vanish as he surrendered guns for peace monitors to destroy.

Jerry Norton, Teupin Raya – Aceh rebels have more than met their initial commitment to hand in their weapons under an agreement aimed at ending nearly 30 years of conflict, international monitors said on Saturday.

Australia West Papua Association (Melbourne) welcomes the National Party's Resolution No. 11 calling on the Liberal Party, its coalition partner in government, to investigate human rights abuses in West Papua. The motion was put to the National Party's national convention today in Canberra by Wendy Duncan, President of the National Party (WA).

Washington – Thirty-five members of the US Congress have called on Indonesia to lift travel restrictions to West Papua and halt the military buildup in the province where a rebellion has simmered for decades.

Devi Asmarani, Banda Aceh – They used to emerge under the cover of night, sneaking into villages from base camps in the mountains for rare visits to their loved ones or to gather provisions from civilians backing their independence struggle.

This week's decision by Indonesia's Supreme Court not to reverse the acquittal of a police officer charged with gross human rights abuses in East Timor is the latest confirmation that impunity is still alive and well in Indonesia, says TAPOL the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign.

Activists and legislators questioned on Thursday the government's commitment to boosting transparency in the public sector after a minister rejected calls for the immediate deliberation of the bill on information.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Around 700 members of the Islamic mass organisation Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, held an action opposing the legalisation of abortion though amendments to Law Number 23/1992 on Healthcare.

Jerry Norton, Banda Aceh – Indonesia will begin withdrawing thousands of troops from strife-torn Aceh province as soon as rebels there complete the first stage of an arms surrender this weekend, the military said on Friday.

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta – The government should not only focus on the disarmament of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) but must also act firmly against civilian groups carrying arms in Aceh, which must be disarmed and disbanded.

Phelim Kyne, Jakarta – Foreign companies contracted to help rebuild Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province must actively protect themselves from involvement in potentially graft-tainted projects, an international anti-corruption expert says.

Ellen Nakashima, Liquica – On the day he disappeared, Jacinto da Costa Canisio Pereira, a local resistance leader, stood in a priest's bedroom and prayed, his brother recalled. "I wanted to stay, to die with my brother," said Graciano Pires dos Santos.

Jakarta – The cafe looks no different from any other eatery, except that it serves as a meeting place for emerging artists and intellectuals.

Founder of Tempo magazine Goenawan Mohamad, writer Ayu Utami, poet Sitok Srengenge and progressive Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar Abdala are among some of those who patronize the place.

Muhammad Nur Hayid, Jakarta – The destruction of weapons belonging to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has received a warm welcome. The House of Representatives (DPR) is asking GAM to be consistent and surrender weapons on time.