Jakarta – Activists plan to report Governor Sutiyoso and Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie to the National Human Rights Commission over the recent deadly flooding in the capital.

Jakarta Resident's Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said Saturday that the incident that claimed 48 lives was a human rights violation.

Jakarta – The end of efforts to solve cases of human rights violations indicates the strength of the political influence of human rights violators on the government. A House of Representatives' (DPR) recommendation to the president to form an Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal based on a proposal by the DPR's Commission III will be difficult to make a reality.

Sandy Indra Pratama, Jakarta – The families of victims of gross human rights violations are disappointed with the endless foot dragging by the Attorney General and the House of Representatives (DPR) Legal Commission over investigating cases of gross human rights violations. They believe that the Attorney General has betrayed the mandate of his office.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Dozens of policies created to protect the environment in Jakarta, Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur, also known as Jabopunjur, have been fruitless due to poor law enforcement, research into the issue has found.

Irwan Firdaus, Muara Bakti – Farmers living outside Indonesia's flood-hit capital said Monday they were struggling to survive after hundreds of square miles of land were inundated, destroying rice and other recently planted crops.

Ade Mardiyati and Jerry Norton, Jakarta – Mud and debris from flood-damaged homes on Sunday after days of relatively dry weather, but for many it could be one or two months before they can actually move back into their houses.

Jakarta – Political observers have suggested that the country needs direct and open general elections that allow people to choose their own candidates.

Speakers at a discussion at the University of Indonesia on Saturday told the public to scrutinize the background of their preferred candidates for the 2009 general elections.

Anthony Hubbard – The New Zealand government didn't want to make a fuss about the death of Gary Cunningham. It privately supported the Indonesian invasion of Timor, and Cunningham's death was a PR problem.

New Zealand's shameful record over East Timor comes into focus again this week. A Sydney inquest is delving into the murder of five journalists, including New Zealander Gary Cunningham, during the Indonesian invasion in 1975.

Six West Papuan Student activists from the Student and Civil Society Coalition Concerned about Human Rights in Papua (Koalisi Mahasiswa dan Masyarakat Peduli HAM di Papua) were arrested, detained and later released by Indonesian Police during a demonstration of about 60 people outside the front of the Provincial Parliament in Jayapura on Tuesday 6 February 2007.

Donald E. Weatherbee, Honolulu – For six years the administration of George W. Bush has nurtured a restored relationship with Indonesia. The US views Indonesia as a key partner of the United States in dealing with the immediate concerns of counter-terrorism.

Jakarta – The fight against corruption is apparently taking a back seat to poverty eradication programs, at least in terms of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's instructions to the Presidential Unit for the Management of Reform Programs (UKP3R).

Fadli, Batam – The head of a waste management group says the repeated dumping of oil in the waters near the Riau Islands is causing serious environmental damage.

Tankers in the Malacca Strait are believed to dispose of the oil when cleaning their tanks.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Aceh needs at least 100 more judges to fully implement sharia across the province, with many sharia courts operating with only three to five judges.

Honolulu – Peace is possible in Indonesia's troubled eastern province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya. But, according to a recently published East-West Center Washington Policy Studies, getting there will entail journeying down a different road than that recently traveled in the successful search for peace in Aceh, another unsettled Indonesian province.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Representatives of four regencies in southern Papua met with the provincial legislative council Friday to demand the establishment of a South Papua province.

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – Receding floods across Jakarta exposed a rank, muddy mess of sodden belongings littering countless streets and homes.

The revelation this week by Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono that Indonesia is considering the procurement of BAE Systems Hawk aircraft from the UK [1] confirms that the two countries are intent on securing a substantial upgrade in their military relations.

Achmad Sukarsono and Sugita Katyal, Jakarta – Fears of disease gripped Indonesia's flood-hit capital on Friday with thousands of people living in cramped emergency shelters and some streets still inundated a week after the city's worst floods in five years.

Fabio Scarpello – When former rebel Irwandi Yusuf was sworn in on Thursday as the first directly elected governor of Indonesia's Aceh province, the ceremony capped one of Southeast Asia's most extraordinary democratic transitions.

In little more than a decade, Indonesia has transformed itself from international pariah to indispensable regional power. Both George Bush and Tony Blair have made supportive visits to Jakarta in the past year. My guest today is Indonesia's foreign minister.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – After surviving Aceh's long struggle and even being jailed in 2003, former rebel leader Irwandi Yusuf has been installed as governor of the once-defiant province.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – Too many shopping malls in the city. Too many squatters on the riverbanks. Too many villas on the southern hillsides. Or a curse hovering over the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A man emptied his Jakarta house on Friday of mud left by a flood last week, one of many calamities to strike Indonesia in the last two years.

In between the nonstop television news coverage of the Jakarta floods this week was a report from Australia about a man plucked from a tree by a helicopter as floodwaters raged below. The contrast was stunning: a single man rescued in Queensland while hundreds of flood victims in Jakarta have been trapped in their houses for days.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – A study on corruption in Indonesia has found that although the government's political will to fight the crime is increasing, it still lacks the authority to implement anti-graft programs.

In another day of testimony to a coroner's court in Glebe, Sydney, three former Timorese militiamen working for the Indonesian special forces during the October 1975 attack on the East Timor town of Balibo confirmed today that Indonesian army Capt. Yunus Yosfiah was present.

Putting decades of armed conflict and the devastating tsunami behind it, Aceh will embark on a new era when the new governor takes office Thursday. Outgoing acting governor Mustafa Abubakar talked to The Jakarta Post's Dwi Atmanta recently about the legacy of his administration and the landmark transfer of power, which he expects to lead the province to prosperity.

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – West Sumatra's new local ordinance requiring all Muslim students and couples intending to get married to be able to recite the Koran received mixed reactions Wednesday.

Most school principals warmly welcomed the move, while others questioned the regulation's fairness, since it failed to take into account other religions.

Duncan Graham, Surabaya – Bureaucrats everywhere seem to be afflicted with the same handicap: They don't listen to advice from those they're supposed to be serving. This is particularly so when they deal with the poor and disadvantaged.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Jakartans have seen floods before – the last major inundation was in 2002 – but they were surprised by the vast area of the city that was covered by water this time around.

Imron Rosyid, Solo – The families of activists abducted in 1997-1998 are calling on the House of Representatives (DPR) to summon President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) following a statement by the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), Abdul Hakim Garuda Nasution, that Yudhoyono has information pertaining to the fate of the activists which after years an

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The name of West Irian Jaya will be changed to West Papua to match the preferences of local people, the provincial government announced Tuesday.

M. Azis Tunny and Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Ambon/Jakarta – The conflicts in Ambon, Maluku and Poso in Central Sulawesi are linked by similar characteristics and all involve Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and Mujahidin KOMPAK radical groups, a think tank said Wednesday.

Jakarta – The World Bank has banned 40 Indonesian firms and 29 individuals from participating in its projects for between 1 and 5 years due to their alleged involvement in fraud and corruption, the bank said in its latest report Wednesday.

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – Squatting, a man stared intensely down at the water in front of him. Feeling a tug on his fishing line, he gave a quick yank. "Awww, not fast enough!" said the growing crowd of onlookers, as the man pulled up his empty hook.

Baban, 51, re-baited his hook and plunged it into the overflowing channel in Grogol, West Jakarta.

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The losses suffered by manufacturing firms due to the floods that have paralyzed the capital since last Friday may reach more than Rp 1 trillion (US$105.2 million).

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Policyholders whose homes, cars and other property were damaged by the floods over the past days may find themselves being turned away by their insurance companies, even if they have all-risk insurance.

Reporter: Emma Alberici

Mark Colvin: A witness at the inquest into the death of the newsman Brian Peters in East Timor in 1975 wept today, as he described seeing the five dead Australian journalists in a house in Balibo.

Dili – Hundreds of people protested Thursday over the decision to clear former prime minister Mari Alkatiri of allegations that he formed a hit squad to kill his opponents during unrest last year.

Hamish McDonald – Former Indonesian information minister Yunus Yosfiah gunned down Channel Nine cameraman Brian Peters as he tried to surrender in East Timor in 1975, a witness told an inquest yesterday.

Reporter: Emma Alberici

Mark Colvin: A witness to the deaths of five Australian journalists in Timor in 1975 told a court today that he'd heard people yelling "there are whites, there are whites" before gunfire broke out.

The man, known only as Glebe Four, is the second witness to suggest in Sydney's He spoke to Emma Alberici.

Lindsay Murdoch – East Timor's former prime minister Mari Alkatiri intends to sue the ABC for defamation over an award-winning Four Corners program that led to him being forced from office.

Mark Dodd – Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has withdrawn plans to invoke a rarely used national-interest exemption clause to fast-track ratification of the Timor Sea Treaty through parliament.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government is drafting a regulation that would likely shackle local political parties in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Jakarta – While the number of non-governmental organizations has increased sharply since the collapse of the New Order, some question whether their professionalism has kept pace.

Aqida Swamurti/Sutarto, Jakarta – The National Commission for Human Rights has said that it considers President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono knows about the information on activists who were kidnapped between 1997 and 1998.

Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) believes that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has a great of information about the abduction of pro-democracy activists in 1997-1998. Based on this, Komnas HAM believes that it would be a mistake if the president does not give his full attention to solving these gross human rights violations.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is calling on the police not to distract the investigation into the murder of human rights activist Munir by focusing on an autopsy of Munir's organs.

Jakarta – Aceh Governor-elect Irwandi Yusuf met Monday with Army chief of staff Gen. Djoko Santoso to seek support in leading the province.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ricardo Siahaan said that in the 30-minute meeting, Irwandi stressed that support from the military, especially the Army, would be indispensable in helping Aceh's recovery.

Indonesian government needs to be more serious in dealing with the matter

The problems of Indonesian migrant workers facing the death penalty abroad has never been seriously and systematically dealt with by the Indonesian missions within the program protecting the rights of the Indonesian Migrant workers.