After decades of little serious effort to fight gambling, the new National Police chief's bold announcement that he planned to completely eradicate gambling nationwide came as a quite a surprise.

Gen. Sutanto's move on his first day in office should send a strong signal to gambling racketeers and also to the many corrupt police officers who support the enterprise.

Ellen Nakashima, Jakarta – Indonesian government officials said they expect to avert calls for an international war crimes tribunal on Indonesian military atrocities in East Timor, promoting instead a truth commission to probe abuses committed in the province after it voted for independence in 1999.

Helsinki – Aceh separatists on Friday called for the Establishment of an international tribunal to try Indonesian troops accused of Committing war crimes in the province.

Bakhtiar Abdullah, spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement, said Government forces had committed numerous war crimes but that very few of these had been prosecuted.

Peace talks between Indonesian officials and Aceh separatists have run into a "disastrous" hurdle in discussions of political participation, the rebels said, claiming Jakarta had "sabotaged" the process.

"It's going diasastrously," Free Aceh Movement (GAM) political advisor Damien Kingsbury told AFP before a fourth day of talks got under way.

The United Nations said on Friday international aid was flowing smoothly to tsunami-hit areas of Aceh, denying reports of large numbers of containers languishing on Indonesian wharfs.

Amnesty International Secretary General, Irene Khan, wrote today to the members of the Security Council urging them to act upon the recommendations of a recent UN report on justice for Timor-Leste.

Australian businessman, Ian Melrose, has put to air a new television ad which aims to expose the Howard Government's tactics regarding a deal to be signed with East Timor over oil and gas resources in the disputed Timor Sea.

Jakarta – Twenty days after the Fact Finding Team (TPF) investigating the case of the death of human rights activist Munir handed over the conclusions and recommendations of their six months work to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, there has still been no information on what follow up measures are to be taken by the government.

Jakarta – House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono defended on Wednesday plans to jack up state budget allocations next year for financing overseas travel for lawmakers, despite the current weak financial state of the government and mounting criticism over the effectiveness of such trips.

Aleksius Jemadu, Bandung – Recently, thousands of farmers took to the streets in front of the presidential palace to protest against the enactment of Presidential Regulation No. 36/2005, which allows the government to acquire land for public development projects.

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – Approvals for fresh domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) are on the raise, increasing optimism that a pickup in investor confidence has finally started to set in.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) wish to form local political parties in Aceh has been in vain. The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has rejected the proposal because it violates the law on political parties.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The ongoing peace talks between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Finland may end in deadlock with Jakarta refusing the rebels' demand for the establishment of local political parties and self government.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) information center head Major General Kohirin Suganda Saputra said that the TNI welcomed the statement made by high-rank officers of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) during the fifth-round talks in Helsinki, Finland.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Raids on gambling dens have started in the capital, but the public at large complained Wednesday that police were only targeting small-time gamblers.

Ara, 37, a resident of Kota Bambu Utara, West Jakarta, said police raided two small gambling dens in the neighborhood, but turned a blind eye to gambling dens in buildings in their area.

Mohamad Mova Al 'Afghani, Jakarta – The recent caning of people convicted for gambling offences in Aceh has sparked controversy about the extent of the implementation of sharia law there. There have also been questions raised concerning the applicability of such laws to non-Acehnesse, non-Aceh residents and non-Muslims living in Aceh.

Jakarta – Human rights groups on Wednesday called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to back a plan for international trials for Indonesian military officers accused of atrocities in East Timor in 1999.

Separatists in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province have reiterated their demand for self-government to end a decades-long war, saying democratic local elections are a basic right.

Jakarta – A recent investigation conducted by the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) revealed that parents are still being burdened by various school fees for their children attending elementary school.

Head of ICW's public service monitoring division Ade Irawan said on Monday that his organization had undertaken surveys and interviews at 50 city elementary schools.

James Balowski, Jakarta – Hundreds of Acehnese residing in the Indonesian capital Jakarta demonstrated on July 4 in support of the current peace negotiations being held in Helsinki, Finland, between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Vaudine England, Hong Kong – The recent acquittal of 12 soldiers in a politically sensitive court case in Indonesia is seen to indicate the failure of the nation's human rights tribunals and the continued impunity of the armed forces, analysts and rights activists said Tuesday.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The government will not grant amnesty to members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who have been involved in criminal activities. Amnesty will be granted in the context of it being given to those who have been involved in the conflict in Aceh.

Rendi A. Witular and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The country's cooperatives and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) remain underdeveloped and commitments to assist their financing by the government, banks and corporate business has not materialized.

Irwin Arieff – The Security Council is sitting on a UN expert panel's recommendation for an international tribunal to try Indonesian and local militia leaders blamed for a deadly 1999 rampage in East Timor, diplomats and UN officials said on Wednesday.

Damien Kingsbury, Melbourne – Representatives of the Government of Indonesia (GoI) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are again meeting in Helsinki for the fifth and probably last round of talks aimed at securing an end to Aceh – almost three decade long conflict.

AK-1, Jakarta – The meeting between representatives of Acehnese civil society and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Stockholm on July 9-19 has resulted in a number of recommendations on Aceh's future.

Contributor to The Jakarta Post Riedo Panaligan is a recipient of the 2005 Journalism Fellowship Program of the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance. From Banda Aceh he has filed a special report on illegal logging in Aceh province, plus related issues. His report is covers this page and the facing page.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Denpasar – A senior legislator revealed on Monday that 80 percent of the penitentiaries in the country, including those in Bali, were currently way over capacity.

"Most are between 40 percent and 300 percent over capacity. In one prison, with a capacity of 300 people, it is filled with 800 inmates," said Akil Mochtar during his working visit to Bali.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – As lawmakers gear up to deliberate the long-awaited law on the protection of witnesses and victims of violence, experts have said that it must be comprehensively discussed and detailed in order to push forward judicial reform.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have agreed to a demand by the Indonesian government that the tsunami-hit province should remain a part of Indonesia, but they spelled out conditions that the Acehnese must be allowed to govern the territory under a system of self-government.

AK-38, Jakarta – The Aceh Working Group (AWG) says there have been systematic efforts to ensure that the peace negotiations with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fail. This effort has being launched by a small section of People Representative Assembly and TNI (armed forces) military officers.

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has denied that it supports the dialogue between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki. The PDI-P is even calling for the official government representative to take responsibility for the fifth round of the informal negotiations going ahead.

Banda Aceh – Separatist rebels in tsumami-ravaged Aceh province said Tuesday they are prepared to lay down their weapons if a peace agreement is reached this week in Finland.

"We will follow any order that comes from our leaders," Teungku Muharram, a rebel field commander for the Free Aceh Movement, told The Associated Press from his jungle hideout.

The recent appeals court acquittal of twelve soldiers convicted last year of the 1984 massacre of demonstrators in Jakarta shows the almost complete failure of Indonesia's human rights courts, Human Rights Watch said today.

Leaders should lead by example. And the thriftiness of a government plays an exemplary role in setting the pace of a nation's consumptive habits.

Ideally we wish to see an efficient, responsive, thrifty government that provides all the services needed – not necessarily demanded – by its citizens.

The Constitutional Court's unanimous ruling last Thursday that Law No. 19/2004 on forestry is constitutional certainly disappointed and angered environmentalists as the ruling boils down to a license for a number of firms to conduct open-pit mining in protected forests.

With its Gucci-filled shopping malls, Indonesia's capital shares the emerging superficial affluence of many other Asian cities, but while many in Jakarta are now better off, new wealth has brought an embarrassing and unusual side-effect: child malnutrition.

Jakarta – Hundreds of teachers who have been working for the government on a contract basis demanded permanent status as the government plans to hire some 300,000 new public servants this year.

They said that at least 70 percent of the new permanent teaching jobs should be allocated to them, particularly those whose contracts would expire this year.

Hera Diani, Bogor – The Bojong waste treatment plant case, the 20 year-old unresolved Kedung Ombo land eviction case, land confiscation by military officers in Sidoarjo, East Java – these are just a few drops in the ocean of flawed justice in this country.

Riyadi Suparno, Jakarta – The rupiah's plunge over the past few weeks may not have spoiled last weekend's wedding party for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's son, but it could eventually undermine his government.

Jakarta – Police arrested three people on Sunday for allegedly provoking violence during a rally at the State Palace against a decree on land seizures.

New York – A US-based human rights group on Monday blasted an Indonesian appeal court's decision to overturn the convictions of 12 soldiers in the massacre of Muslim protestors in 1984.

The court ruling "shows the almost complete failure of Indonesia's human rights courts," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

His Excellency Kofi Annan Secretary-General The United Nations 1 United Nations Plaza New York, New York 10017-3515

Jim Lobe, Washington – A recent appeals court decision to acquit 12 soldiers convicted last year of a notorious 1984 massacre in Jakarta could complicate efforts by the administration of US President George W. Bush to normalise military ties with the Southeast Asian nation.

The exiled leadership of the Aceh separatist movement has agreed to a demand by Jakarta that the tsunami-hit province should remain a part of Indonesia, the rebels said in a statement.

Ridarson Galingging, Jakarta – The government is expected to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ratification will make the ICCPR a binding legal instrument that can be enforced domestically.

AK-17, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Coalition of Human Rights Non-Government Organisations (Koalisi NGO HAM Aceh) believes that the shooting of foreign volunteers in Aceh is an attempt by certain parties to isolate Aceh from the international community. This is the reason that the coalition is asking the government to form an independent team to investigate the incident.

Tomi Soetjipto – Sun-bathing topless on Bali's famed Kuta beach, Joanna Lee seems unfazed by the sight of giggling Indonesian tourist policemen buzzing by on a golf cart.

"We're happy that tourism in Bali is back because our job is more fun now," says police officer I Wayan Karna, laughing and joking with a colleague about sun-loving travelers.

Muhammad Nafik and ID Nugroho, Malang – In a foregone conclusion, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) secretary-general Din Syamsuddin was officially declared the new chairman of Muhammadiyah here on Thursday after winning unanimous support from the newly elected executive board of the country's second biggest Muslim organization.

Jakarta – Environmental organizations have slammed the recent Constitutional Court verdict allowing mining companies to continue operations in protected forests, saying it set a bad precedent and would create more environmental destruction.

In a joint statement, the NGOs which lost the court battle said the judges were inconsistent in their stance on environmental issues.