Banda Aceh – Hundreds of students from Syiah Kuala University (Unsyiah) in Banda Aceh again held a protest at the university compound on Monday, demanding the university president, Abdi Abdul Wahab, to provide them and the lecturers shelter and free tuition for one semester.

The two-hour long protest was the third in the past week.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Human rights activists urged the government to provide better legislation for human rights protection in the country as it aims to ratify the International Bill on Human Rights.

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – The National Police are facing difficulties in the investigation of the death of top human rights activist Munir, particularly due to resistance from the Netherlands government to allow the Indonesian police to investigate in that country.

Jakarta – City-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya has raised the rental fees of at least 39 of 153 traditional markets in the capital since January, despite the traders' opposition.

Pasar Jaya president director Prabowo Soenirman said on Monday that the hike rate was based on the transaction volume at respective markets.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – State-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek has called on companies in tsunami-ravaged Aceh to provide lists of workers victimized in the disaster, in order to speed up the payment of claims to the victims' relatives.

Much has been made of Makarim Wibisono's appointment as chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). The honor signifies recognition of the diplomat's long service to his country and his contribution to multilateral diplomacy. Given his experience and tenure in various international organizations, Makarim is, without doubt, a qualified candidate for the job.

For the second time since the tsunami destroyed his house, Kamaruzaman slogged his way up the steep hill on the broken road to Ligan, still searching for somewhere to live and something to eat.

Lisa Clausen – Built from scratch like so much of East Timor after the militia rampages in the wake of 1999's independence vote, the nation's justice system is now facing a critical setback.

We have just received a tragic message from a Papuan contact (copied below), letting us know that three more Papuans have died in just one of the many refugee camps in the jungles of West Papua near the town of Wunin: a 45 year old woman called Nomanugwe, a 50 year old man called Nununggen... and a 2 year old little Papuan girl whose name was Nona.

Detikom, Muhammad Atqa – Indonesia's foreign minister, Hasan Wirayudha, clarified that the Truth and Friendship Commission [TFC] being formed by the Indonesian and East Timor governments will not include officials from either country, but will, however, include community leaders with high integrity.

Shifts among command posts within the Indonesian Army are underway, with those in Aceh taking the limelight.

A warming-up is taking place within the Indonesian Army rank and file. Pending the replacement of its chief of staff and commander, reshuffles of posts within the corps are the order of the day once more.

Tim O'Connor – Recently returned from Aceh, academic Ed Aspinall has been traveling regularly to Aceh for several years and written extensively on this area. He talks to Tim O'Connor about experiences during his 3 weeks assisting in the emergency efforts and and of the vital and unheralded work the local civil society groups were doing in the immediate aftermath.

Surabaya (Miol) – The East Java United Opposition Front (BOB) is asking the East Java Regional Parliament (DPRD) to oppose fuel price increases which are planned for March and April.

Fears of a post-tsunami disease explosion in Indonesia prompted the influx of huge medical resources, but with no sign of epidemic, a surfeit of foreign doctors is now struggling to find patients as hospital beds lie empty.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The government's move to amend legislation on security and defense has split legislators, with a Golkar Party lawmaker leading the opposition to attempts to prevent House members from having a say in the appointment of the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) launched a campaign on Friday opposing a proposed official secrets bill, which they said could hamper the effort to establish transparent and accountable government if it were enacted into law.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – After four years of pleading by the government, the global money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has finally removed Indonesia from its list of Non Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCT).

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government insisted on Friday it would sue Malaysian employers who refused to pay their undocumented Indonesian workers, despite calls from Malaysian officials to back down from the plan.

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – The public has high hopes that the planned government team assigned to hunt down graft suspects residing overseas will be able to conclude its mission in a country where corruptors have long managed to easily escape justice and enjoy their ill-gotten wealth abroad, according to a top lawmaker and anticorruption activist.

Christopher Bodeen, Banda Aceh – In this tsunami-ravaged Indonesian city, the streets couldn't seem safer. Rifle-toting Indonesian soldiers patrol while children head off to school. Shoppers cram makeshift markets, and unarmed troops from foreign powers deliver aid.

Jakarta – National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar recently ordered a major reshuffle affecting four senior officers, including police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman.

Paiman told reporters on Friday that the reshuffle had taken place on Tuesday after one of the senior officers reached retirement age.

Saturday afternoon, February 5. A historical day for the village of Perdamaian in the Langkat regency sub-district of Stabat, North Sumatra. Since the country won its independence almost 60 years ago, not one member of the People's Representative Assembly (DPR) has set foot here.

Yang Razali Kassim – Within days of the tsunami disaster, several Indonesian organisations sent volunteers to Banda Aceh to provide humanitarian relief. Among them were two Islamist groups, the Majlis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI) and the Front Pembela Islam (FPI). They set up a command post at an air force base in Aceh to help bury the dead and distribute aid.

Tangerang – Tangerang District Court ruled on Tuesday that 455 dismissed workers of Kingstone Indonesia had precedence over China Trust Bank, one of the bankrupt writing equipment manufacturer's creditors, as regards claims to the company's assets.

Semarang – An Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Reform Movement was launched at the Panti Marhaen Building on Jalan Brigjen Katamso in Semarang, East Java on Friday afternoon (11/2).

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A grouping representing 52 trade unions expressed disappointment about what it said was the poor performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his first 100 days in office, particularly as regards improving the lot of the country's workers.

Jakarta – Prosecutors recommended that hard-line cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir be sentenced to eight years in jail for his alleged role in a string of terrorist acts.

Fadli, Banda Aceh – Hundreds of Syiah Kuala University students protested on the Banda Aceh campus on Thursday to demand that their tuition be waived and that the rector resign for attempting to force them to pay tuition beginning on February 14.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Dissatisfied with the disbursement of its share of the royalties paid by mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia, the Papua administration has accused the central government of "dishonesty" regarding the amount of royalties it receives from Freeport.

Jakarta – The idea of dividing West Papua into five provinces has been mooted again. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is reported to have welcomed the proposal which was raised by Papuan governor J.P. Solossa and a number of Papuan groups.

It's realisation however mush be trough the agreement of the soon to be formed Papuan People's Council (MRP).

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Some members of the House of Representatives have expressed opposition to articles in the draft revision of the Criminal Code that could threaten press freedom.

They said they would challenge the government-sponsored draft, which will soon be opened for deliberation in the House.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Ministry of Defense has finalized the first drafts on the revision of legislation on security and defense, which aim, among other things, to help create more professional military and police forces.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Indonesian government is expected soon to ratify the international bill on human rights, a move that could improve the country's image in the global community.

Gordon G Benton – It is more than likely that there will be an unholy battle over the desolation in Aceh and North Sumatra on who is going to rebuild the infrastructure, towns and villages.

Dili – East Timor's leaders want national consensus on how to deal with Indonesian atrocities committed in 1999, but will move to set up a Truth and Friendship Commission with Jakarta regardless of negative public reaction, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said Friday.

Among the donors to tsunami survivors in Indonesia's Aceh, Turkey stands out. Not for bringing money, shelter or food, but for flying their flag – an emblem that bears an uncanny likeness to the outlawed insignia of separatist rebels.

Jakarta – Teachers and academics doubt the government's planned national final exam will be able to narrow the gap in education between schools across the country.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – In a party held to celebrate his 80th birthday at the Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) building Indonesia's most credible candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, displayed a trait that was in sharp contrast with his customary nature.

Not too long ago there was a time when the public, and journalists in particular, lived with a collective daily dose of fear. A fear of speaking out about one's political opinion no matter how benign this expression might be. Any voice that even remotely could displease authorities was self-censored.

Dear Secretary Rice,

We, The Forum of Aceh People, an Acehnese civil society group who work for peace and democracy in Aceh, have read that you intend to reopen the IMET military training program for Indonesia and build again a structural relationship with the Indonesian military. We urge you not to do this.

Laksamana.Net – The government has reportedly accepted a proposal to divide resource-rich and rebellious Papua province into five provinces by 2009, despite the Constitutional Court's recent annulment of a controversial law dividing it into three provinces.

Teams collecting corpses in the Indonesian province of Aceh have estimated it will take at least another six months to find all the tsunami victims, the Red Cross said. Volunteers have been pulling scores of bodies from the rubble daily since the December 26 disaster, a grim task complicated by rapid decomposition in tropical temperatures.

Indonesia has urged the global community to heighten vigilance to ensure rampant corruption does not swallow billions of dollars of tsunami aid as it promises a March deadline to begin large-scale reconstruction in ravaged Aceh province.

Ken Guggenheim, Washington – Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz praised "a new era" of democratic rule in Indonesia, but said no decision has been made yet about lifting restrictions on ties with the Indonesian military.

Dili – The port authorities of the East Timorese and Portuguese capitals signed an accord Wednesday for broad bilateral cooperation.

The agreement was signed for Dili by the minister of transportation, communications and public works, Ovmdeo Amaral, and for Lisbon by Ambassador Joco Ramos Pinto.

Zely Ariane has been the secretary-general of the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) since 2003. Indonesia's only openly operating socialist party, It played a central role in the movement to overthrow Suharto between 1994 and 1998 and has been at the forefront of attempts to unite the fragmented opposition to the neoliberal economic policies of the post-Suharto governments.

Thousands of Indonesians left homeless by the tsunami will be able to move into newly-finished barracks next week, but despite the promise of shelter, food and water, many instead want to return to the windswept piles of rubble they once called home.

Indonesia's capital Jakarta and five provinces have been placed under alert for a possible dengue epidemic following a growing number of fatalities and infections, officials said.

[The following open letter was sent by the UK base human rights organisation Tapol to British Foreign Office Minister, Douglas Alexander, on 9 February 2005.]

Douglas Alexander
Minister of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH

Dear Mr Alexander,

Human Rights Abuses in Aceh

Jon Lamb – A 30-second television advertisement screened on January 26 during the Australian Open tennis tournament has returned to the limelight the theft of East Timor's oil and gas resources by PM John Howard's Coalition government. At prime time and to a record number of viewers, the message was very clear: stop stealing East Timor's oil and gas wealth.