Andrew Burrell – They may not like being lumped together, but Indonesia's radical Islamic terrorists and the nation's military commanders have more in common than they would care to admit.
Most glaringly, they are both accused of using or authorising shocking violence, often leading to the death of many innocent civilians, in the pursuit of their goals.
Geneva – The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) engaged in the fight against torture, would like to express its deep concern about the ongoing conflict in the province of Aceh, which, to a great extent, is being ignored by the international community.
Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – The Banda Aceh District Court handed an unwanted birthday present to Muhammad Nazar, the chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), in the form of a five-year jail term for "displaying hostility" to the government through his campaign for a self-determination referendum in Aceh.
In Jakarta, around 1000 people, the majority women from the Women's Claim Alliance (APM), commemorated March 8, International Women's Day (IWD), by condemning increases to fuel prices and calling for a reduction in prices and the resignation of President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
An international rights group criticised East Timor's new police force for arbitrary detentions, beating some detainees and a trigger-happy response to last December's riots in which three people died.
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Papua Provincial Legislative Council decided on Friday that it would refuse to implement the newly endorsed bill on national education in the province, saying that the bill would only compartmentalize citizens based on religion and could further trigger national disintegration.
Jakarta – A general on trial before a human rights court on Tuesday rejected allegations that troops fuelled the 1999 atrocities in East Timor as "fantasy."
Major-General Adam Damiri is the last and highest-ranking official to appear before the court, accused of crimes against humanity during East Timor's bloody breakaway from Jakarta's rule.
Dili – East Timor's prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, criticized Tuesday the earlier pronouncement by Dili's Court of Appeal that a draft immigration and asylum bill is unconstitutional. The Appeal Court ruled Monday that parts of the draft bill which limit political rights for foreign citizens in Timor are "unconstitutional".
Sidney Jones, Indonesia project director of Brussels-based analysts International Crisis Group suggests that the Jakarta government has an electoral interest in stirring up a nationalist backlash against foreign involvement in peace talks with separatists in Aceh.
Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The newspaper editor Supratman is standing by his punchy page one headlines, even though they could send him to jail for six years.
Jakarta – Alleged irregularities in the purchase of Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters are expected to come into the open slowly as lawmakers begin their investigation on Monday into the highly politicized case.
Three Indonesian soldiers arrested for raping four women in war-torn Aceh province have confessed to the crimes, the military said.
The private soldiers are now being detained at military police headquarters in North Aceh, said military operations spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Yani Basuki.
Jakarta – About 500 people from eight villages in three subdistricts, including Jonggol, Bogor, staged a rally over the weekend to oppose the Jakarta administration's plan to use land there as a dumpsite.
"We reject the construction of a dumpsite as it would be a disaster for locals," one of the protesters, Triasa Cahyaputra, was quoted as saying by Antara on Saturday.
Jayapura – Forty-two rebels in Indonesia's eastern Papua province surrendered Monday, vowing to end their struggle for independence, police said. It was not immediately clear what prompted the move.
Jakarta – More than 40 fighters of an armed separatist group in Indonesia's remote eastern province of Papua have surrendered to police and their immediate fate is – handicrafts training.
Papua police chief Budi Utomo told leading El Shinta radio that most of the 42 members of the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) had been living in the jungle, some as long as 10 years.
Lhok Sukon, Banda Aceh – The management of PT ExxonMobil Indonesia began dismissing around 1000 workers on Monday, this is the third time the company has dismissed contract workers this year.
In protest against the dismissals, employees held a demonstration in the area around ExxonMobil in Lhok Sukon on Monday, this demonstration being the fifth [to date].
Bogor – Protected forests in Bogor, such as those on the slopes of Mt. Salak, Mt. Pangrango and Mt. Pongkor, are being destroyed by illegal logging and mining, an expert says.
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Human rights activists denounced the excavation of mass graves in Aceh by the Indonesian Military (TNI), saying it violated normal investigation procedures for possible gross violations of human rights.
Lumajang – Some 15 activists of the Moslem University Students Action Group (KAMMI) from some districts in East Java were released on Sunday afternoon after police earlier arrested and held them for a couple of hours.
"They were released after we interrogate them for several hours," Adjunct Commissioner Fransiscus Sasono, chief of the Lumajang police crime unit, said here.
Jakarta – The media criticized on Friday new guidelines for media coverage in Aceh, saying that rules were effectively hampering the press from obtaining balanced reports on the current integrated operations in the conflict-torn province.
A'an Suryana, Lhokseumawe – Soldiers captured on Friday two alleged Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists who acted as the rebels' district chief and police chief for the GAM district Tangse in the village of Pulo Kawah in Pidie regency.
Lhokseumawe – Aceh Separatist Movement (GSA) members may have infiltrated Acehnese society over the past few weeks to obtain newly issued "red-and-white" citizen's cards, a military officer said.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Politicians have blocked public demands for transparency in the campaign funds channeled to and spent by presidential candidates, casting doubt over their commitment to a fair and honest election, observers say.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A group of senior Indonesian MPs is in the spotlight after media reports here said that they and their families had lived it up on a recent tour of Europe at taxpayers' expense.
Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Just five weeks into its renewed war against separatist rebels in Aceh, Indonesia has been accused of, in effect, banning foreign journalists from the province.
The party is over but at least we have been left with some great lessons. The recent celebration of Jakarta's 476th anniversary at the National Monument square was a failure, or so say many residents. Only a few Jakartans, in fact, were aware that June 22 was the climax of the celebration.
[The Politics of Power Freeport in Soeharto's Indonesia By Denise Leith University of Hawaii Press, 372 pp, $55.]
Nothing fades as fast as an international crisis that seems to be settled, as proved by the almost complete disappearance of East Timor from Australian newspapers and television screens. James Dunn's updating of his history to cover its foundation as an independent nation reminds us of its continuing importance to international politics.
Marianne Kearney – One year after formal independence and almost four years after East Timorese voted in a United Nations-backed referendum to split from its former occupier Indonesia, the world's newest nation is still dirt poor.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Sobbing witnesses, lawyers walking out in protest against the judges' decision, and a defendant who never looked up from a book he was reading throughout the trial – even courtroom scenes in television soaps are rarely this exciting.
Kafil Yamin, Jakarta – Indonesia's armed forces might be winning the propaganda war in Aceh, thanks to "embedded" journalists, but activists warn that peace remains out of sight after more than a month of military operations. Instead, they say, the offensive in Aceh province that began on May 19 has taken a severe toll on civilians and on the rule of law.
A'an Suryana, Takengon – Tens of thousands of Central Aceh residents thronged Gelanggang Musara Alun soccer field in Bebesen district on Thursday for a rally against the separatist movement in the province.
Martial law authorities in Indonesia's Aceh have further tightened restrictions on foreign journalists and overseas non-government organisations (NGOs).
Jakarta – Twenty bodies were uncovered in two mass graves in Aceh province, police said yesterday, as President Megawati Sukarnoputri warned that a military offensive against rebels in the region may be extended.
Jakarta/Medan – Indonesia marked International Anti-drug Day 2003 on Thursday with grave concerns about the rapid growth in the drug trade.
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the fact that half the prisons across the country were housing large numbers of drug convicts proved that drug abuse was a serious challenge facing the police.
Jakarta – A Japanese photojournalist has been arrested in the war-torn Aceh , apparently for working without a permit, police and the military said on Friday.
"He is now apparently being detained in South Aceh. We're checking it," Aceh police spokesman Sayed Husaini told AFP. He did not give further details.
Jakarta – FBI agents have returned to Indonesia to investigate the killing last August of two American schoolteachers in restive Papua province, an issue Washington has said could seriously affect bilateral ties.
Hanoi – President Megawati Soekarnoputri deplored US Secteraty of State Colin Powell's statement on alleged human rights abuses in Papua province, especially in the Timika ambush which killed two Americans and an Indonesian.
"I think Mr.Colin Powell exaggerated things somewhat," the Indonesian head of state told a press briefing at Melia Hotel here Thursday evening.
Alan Sipress, Jakarta – Five years after Gen. Suharto was ousted and a newly democratic Indonesia pledged to reform the military, the ambitious effort has largely stalled and the generals are resurgent, according to Indonesian and Western analysts.
An Indonesian Muslim cleric accused of leading a terror network accused the United States of orchestrating his treason trial to stop him fighting for the establishment of Islamic law.
How would you characterize a typical government worker in Indonesia? If Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno has his way, a typical civil servant would be loyal to the cause of the unitary state (however the minister defines "loyal"), but would still be corrupt. You can throw in lazy for good measure, to complete the picture.
Jakarta – Indonesia's parliament is to summon President Megawati Sukarnoputri to explain the loss of two islands to Malaysia, reports said yesterday.
Parliament wants Ms Megawati to elaborate on the loss of Sipadan and Ligitan islands following a World Court decision last December, the Jakarta Post and the state Antara news agency reported.
Jakarta – An international ratings agency said Thursday it may upgrade Indonesia's credit ratings but warned that the country remains vulnerable to "unforeseen shocks." Moody's Investors Service said in a statement it is reviewing four ratings for a possible upgrade following a substantial cut in government debt ratios and reduced external vulnerability.
Zakki Hakim, Jakarta – "We chose to go to court because we didn't want to bribe the traffic police officer. But it turned out that people here ask for more money than the police do," a 66-year-old man, who was accompanying his son, said angrily in front of the East Jakarta District Court.
The disastrous failure of Indonesia's ad hoc human rights court for East Timor to provide justice for the victims of human rights atrocities in East Timor has heightened fears of increased military oppression in areas such as West Papua.
Journalists who are based in Lhokseumawe boycotted on Wednesday a press briefing at the military operation center in protest over unfair treatment they received from military operation commander Brig. Gen. Bambang Darmono.
Kasparman, Padang – Hundreds of people in Padang, West Sumatra clashed on Wednesday with security officers over a housing dispute, causing 20 people to be arrested by the police.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights is drafting tough regulations to limit the presence of foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) activists in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, further closing the province to independent scrutiny.
Vannessa Hearman – On the eve of an official visit to Jakarta, Timorese PM Mari Alkatiri on May 30 called for an international tribunal in a "neutral country" to try those responsible for serious crimes in his country in 1999. He likened the current Indonesian trials to "a piece of theatre".
Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is to release $US486 million to Indonesia as part of its ninth review of Indonesia performance.
The executive board of the IMF announced yesterday the completion of its latest review, which opens the way for release of a further US$486 million in loans.