Jakarta – Hendra, an 11-year-old street beggar and trash collector, stays silent and stares at the sky when asked whether he wants to continue his education.
He has given up on his dream of sitting in a classroom since his parents moved out of Jasinga in Bogor to Jakarta three years ago. The move forced him to quit after just two years of elementary school.
Jakarta – A historian has said history can sometimes be "his story". Indonesia's prolonged controversy over the various historical accounts of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in the 1965 coup could fall into this description.
Jakarta – Poll cancellations, protests and rumors of clashes disrupted the landmark direct local leadership elections in some of the country's regencies and municipalities on Monday.
Eva C. Komandjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The fact-finding team probing last year's murder of human rights campaigner Munir has completed its work and submitted a report of its findings to the President, but it is unlikely that the high-profile case will be solved quickly.
Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Human rights groups Tuesday hailed a UN panel recommendation that an international tribunal be formed to try Indonesian military officers accused of violence in East Timor in 1999 and attacks on the United Nations mission there.
Bandar Lampung – Hundreds of protesters attacked the Selagailingga Police station in Central Lampung on Sunday night, damaging two cars and setting office equipment and two motorcycles on fire.
Jakarta – The commander of Aceh's separatist rebels on Monday ordered his fighters to avoid clashes with Indonesian troops during an upcoming European Union fact-finding mission, warning that the military might use the occasion to try to sabotage the peace process.
The military denied that it was trying to undermine efforts to bring peace to the tsunami-hit region.
A United Nations commission says Indonesia should be given six months to re-try those accused of destroying East Timor or they should face an international war crimes court.
A thick haze shrouding Malaysia's tourist island of Penang and caused by fires in neighbouring Indonesia has spread to the mainland, meteorological officials said.
Air quality levels in several towns on mainland Malaysia, across from Penang and extending into northern Perak state, were officially unhealthy, a meteorological official in the Kuala Lumpur bureau told AFP.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has reportedly handed-over the report of the Commission of Experts on justice for East Timor to the Security Council. The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network issued the following statement:
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) congratulates the UN's Commission of Experts (COE) for its thorough and thoughtful report.
Kornelius Purba – Each of three of our director generals has his own way of responding to criticism on corruption and poor-governance practices in their offices.
From putting the case into God's hands, to asking the public to refrain from bribery, to threatening to sue accusers who are unable to come up with proof.
Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Allegations of money politics and unethical campaigning have overshadowed direct local leadership elections in three regencies of Yogyakarta province on Sunday.
However, the polls, which were simultaneously held in the regencies of Bantul, Sleman and Gunungkidul, generally passed off peacefully and smoothly.
Harry Bhaskara, Surabaya – Some 1.9 million Surabayans will head for the polling booths today to vote for their city's first directly elected mayor. The poll is part of sweeping changes in the country's election system, a product of the 1998 political earthquake that forced president Soeharto to quit after 32 years of authoritarian rule.
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Six months after the tsunami swept the region, many frustrated survivors of the disaster are still living in tents and struggling to survive, with the reconstruction efforts to date proceeding at a snail's pace.
Neles Tebay, Urbaniana, Rome – Last week, Vice President Jusuf Kalla visited West Irian Jaya. where he acknowledged the province continues to lack a strong legal base. During the visit, the vice president, who is also the head of the Golkar party, was accompanied by Golkar's candidate for the governor of the province.
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – With rights campaigners already protesting a bill on state intelligence, more criticism is expected from lawmakers who worry the bill gives the state too much power and could lead to rights violations.
Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Kopra, a 42-year-old vegetable seller, sat on the floor of a small hut standing on the edge of the Kalimas River in Surabaya. She was boiling water when The Jakarta Post called at the shack where she and her family have been living for three years.
Recommended Action: Please copy the letter below the Background Information or write in your own words and send to:
Mr Kofi Annan Secretary General of the United Nations <mailto:ecu@un.org>ecu@un.org
And Cc: <http://us.f419.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=indonesia2@un.int>indonesia2@un.int;
Optional: Please also send appeals to:
Nani Afrida, Bireun – Various elements of society in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam view the implementation of Sharia in the province as discriminatory and as not touching on core issues.
"If the government is serious, it should implement local laws in regard to serious violations such as theft and corruption," said legal practitioner Rufriadi on Saturday.
Surabaya – Indonesian Army Chief of Staff General Djoko Santoso has said that the army would prioritize the use of domestic weapons. According to Santoso, his soldiers already use many weapons made by PT Pindad.
Jakarta – The number of reported AIDS cases in Indonesia has more than doubled, with injecting drug users most affected, a report says.
Drivers in Jakarta need to be even more heedful and patient on the streets these days as they are full of speeding motorcyclists who invariably violate almost every traffic regulation that exists. Worse, most motorcyclists exhibit a strange habit of protesting or challenging car drivers who are just upset due to their dangerous behavior and maneuvers on the street.
Alan Sipress, Jakarta – The fatal, midair poisoning last year of Indonesia's best-known human rights campaigner, Munir Said Thalib, was a plot by operatives from the country's spy agency, according to members of a presidential commission probing the September murder.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A renowned legal practitioner has called on the Supreme Court to awake from its long sleep and take measures against the corrupt judiciary system as part of the ongoing nationwide anticorruption drive.
Jakarta – Indonesia's Supreme Court has overturned a 15-year jail sentence against a son of former dictator Soeharto for murdering a judge, sentencing him instead to 10 years, a court official said yesterday.
Ardimas Sasdi, Jakarta – One of the bizarre aspects of the government's plan to revive the notorious regional intelligence network has been that it has ignored the anxiety of the people. Even more bizarrely, is its decision to secretly set up the agency despite the hue and cry about it.
Jakarta – The police urged foreign aid workers in Aceh to secure a police escort when traveling in areas where separatist rebels are known to operate.
"It is important that foreigners ask for a security escort," National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar explained.
Kathy Marks, Gle Bruk, Aceh – The Acehnese fishermen had just returned with their catch and were on their way back to the refugee camp. As they passed a security post, soldiers barred their way and ordered them to lie face down on the ground. The men were then told to crawl through the dust. Their ordeal ended with a lecture on the virtues of the Indonesian unitary state.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government-sanctioned team assigned to help the police in investigating the murder of prominent human rights activist Munir handed over the report of their six-months of work to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday.
Susilo told the team that he was committed to bring the perpetrators of the murder to justice.
Jakarta – Iskandar Muda Regional Military Commander, Major-General Sapiudin Yusuf, believes the shooting of Hong Kong foreign volunteer Eva Yee Wayeung was an attempt by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to demonstrate that their forces still have a presence.
Zakki P. Hakim and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), a grouping of major foreign donors, was satisfied with the way Indonesia's economic reform was going, especially on efforts to improve the investment climate, a World Bank executive says.
M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Although Aceh has only just begun to implement public floggings the chairperson of the Nahdhatul Ulama's (NU) Executive Board (PBNU), Hasyim Muzadi, believes that the punishment will actually strengthen the Free Aceh Movement's (GAM) position.
Reporter: Tom Iggulden
Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS)'s recent labor survey has revealed that the wood and textile weaving industries have lost about 500,000 and 300,000 jobs respectively last year.
Irwan Firdaus – Fifteen convicted gamblers were flogged Friday for illegal gaming in Indonesia – the first time caning was used as punishment in the world's most populous Muslim country.
In the past, journalists reporting on baffling cases had come to depend on the wisdom of rights activist Munir, who would discuss with them his suspicions or findings.
AK-20, Jakarta – The Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA) and Student's Solidarity for the People (SMUR) have condemned the shooting of a Hong Kong Red Cross volunteer in Lamno, Greater Aceh, on Wednesday June 22.
Hera Diani, Jakarta – It seems that agnostics will have the last laugh, with the highly spiritual haj pilgrimage in this country being defiled by fraud and embezzlement.
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A career woman expressed her frustration when the justice system did not side with her, with police ignored her demand that a truck belonging to a businessman be confiscated pending a court verdict to settle their dispute.
Rusman, Samarinda – Junaedi, 32, waited for his illegally bought logs to be hauled out of the Mahakam River in the upper reaches of Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, where they had been immersed for the past two months. After hours of waiting, the logs were released and dragged up onto the banks of the river, where they were cut up for transportation.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Air Force is hoping to fortify its minimum weaponry system with plans slated to procure more Sukhoi fighter jets and set up more radar units, particularly in border areas in the country's eastern parts.
Jakarta – Former intelligence chief A.M. Hendropriyono denied on Thursday allegations that the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) was involved in the murder of human rights campaigner Munir. "I never ordered the murder. If it is the work of the institution, I should know.
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Young people in the capital have more permissive attitudes towards pornography, homosexuality, drug abuse and violence than their older siblings, according to one survey.
Yorrys Raweyai, a former leader of one of the country's most feared thugs-for-hire groups, has registered himself as a candidate for the governorship of West Irian Jaya province.
Reports said Yorrys and his running mate Abdul M. Killian were nominated by Golkar Party and two smaller parties for next month's gubernatorial election.
An Indonesian anti-graft activist working for the United Nations was sentenced to one year in jail Thursday for stealing relief aid intended for the victims of December tsunami in Aceh province.
Jayapura – The Papua provincial council officially changed its name to the Papua People's Representative Council in a plenary session on Wednesday. The change, based on Law No. 21/2001 on Papua's special autonomy, was marked by the unveiling of a new placard outside the council building by the province's deputy governor Constant Karma.
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – As Jakarta celebrated its 478th anniversary on Wednesday, the city administration made public a report of a further 26 malnourished children in the capital. This brings the number of malnourished children in Jakarta to 39.
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Legislators lashed out at Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Wednesday for reprimanding a state defense institute for criticizing the ongoing Aceh peace talks. The legislators even claimed that the reprimand could endanger democracy.
An opposite opinion, however, came from a legislator of Kalla's Golkar Party, who said the rebuke was just common.
A team investigating the arsenic poisoning death of a top Indonesian human rights campaigner has found indications of involvement of the state intelligence agency, a rights activist said Thursday.
Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta – Aceh's separatist rebels called Friday for an international probe into the shooting of a Red Cross worker in the tsunami-hit province, saying the Indonesian military has a long history of using violence against foreigners.