East Timor's court system could take months to clear a backlog of cases relating to the bloodshed before and after the United Nations-backed ballot for independence in 1999.

Darren Goodsir, Denpasar – Waving his arms and yelling at his lawyers to respond to his religious chants, Imam Samudra – the alleged brains behind the Bali bombings – strolled into cour

[The following article will be published in the forthcoming issue of the Tapol Bulletin.]

Jakarta, Kompas – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has found strong indications of human rights violations – including the murder of civilians since the emergency milit

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Monday it would investigate over 20 cases of alleged rights violations in Aceh during the

Kevin McQuillan and agencies – Indonesian authorities in Aceh have rejected requests from about 10 overseas journalists to cover the war.

Police in Indonesia's Aceh province said they were hunting civilian activists suspected of supporting separatist rebels.

R. William Liddle – How likely is it that Indonesia will once again be ruled by the Indonesian Military (TNI)?

Jakarta, Sripo – The Indonesian Centre for Reform and Social Emancipation (INCREASE) has put forward a referendum as the solution to resolving the conflict in Aceh.

Kupang – The military in West Timor strongly deplored the East Timor government's inaction over the recent raising of the Aceh Free Movement (GAM) flag in Dili, saying it could affect t

Dili – East Timor is training police not troops to guard its border with giant neighbour Indonesia because it wants a demilitarised frontier zone, President Xanana Gusmao said Monday.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Pressure for the establishment of an international tribunal to try Indonesian Military personnel accused of gross human rights violations in East Timo

Lisa Clausen, Dili – Domingos Ximenes pulls off his T shirt to reveal a body that tells the story of two decades of war and suffering.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Religious leaders demanded on Saturday that the government avoid civilian fatalities in its war against the separatists in Aceh and boost humanitarian activiti

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Police nationwide are on full alert for fleeing members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who may attempt to take refuge in other provinces.

Indonesian armed forces chief General Endriartono Sutarto says the military assault in the province of Aceh is making faster progress than expected.

Separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province said they have abducted 13 local civilian leaders for carrying out the military's orders.

The Indonesia-headquartered Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) claims that members of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) – which holds its interim meeting in Jaka

Indonesia summoned the Swedish ambassador to express disappointment at his country's response to a demand for action against exiled Acehnese rebel leaders.

Anger was rising in Indonesia against Sweden over the Scandanavian country's refusal to act on Jakarta's demand that it stop one of its citizens from leading an Aceh separatist group.

There can no longer be any doubt that the proceedings in Indonesia's ad hoc human rights court for East Timor are a sham following the extraordinary decision by the prosecution to reque

Simon Montlake – As recently as 1999, Indonesia idled in the AIDS slow lane.

[Excerpt from report by Indonesian Detikcom web site on 30 May.]

Jane Perlez, Singapore – Paul D.

Robert Go, Banda Aceh – Ten-year-old Embrianda Hassan stayed up later than usual on Tuesday last week.

Robert Go, Banda Aceh – Soldiers and policemen strut about in battle gear, machine guns slung from their shoulders and holstered pistols at their waists.

Banda Aceh – An Acehnese joke: Why does an Acehnese with dental problems leave Aceh to get treatment? Punchline: Because he's not accustomed to opening his mouth on his home ground.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Pressure is mounting on the Indonesian media to support the military offensive against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with the government insisting tha

Jakarta – A group of journalists associations revealed on Thursday a series of violent incidents and restrictions imposed on journalists covering the military operation in Aceh which be

Kafil Yamin, Jakarta – As the Indonesian television journalist faced the cameras from atop a military truck, the sound of gunfire interrupted his report, providing immediacy and reality

Jayapura – Indonesian military using flame throwers are burning houses, killing people and destroying livestock and gardens in the Kurawage district in West Papua, according to the huma

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – A Chinese-Malaysian businessman who won a case of illegal arrest against East Timorese police has been re-arrested and jailed within 24 hours of the court decision

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – People living in Jakarta will be jailed for up to three months without trial and fined during a massive city administration crackdown on illegal resid

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) concluded its three-day national meeting late on Thursday by naming its chief patron, Abdurrahman Wahid, its presidential cand

Dili – Timor Leste's Prime Minister yesterday called for the establishment of an international tribunal in a neutral country to try Indonesian military officers for the bloodshed that s

New York, May 29 – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by a recent series of sniper attacks in which unknown gunmen have targeted journalists in Aceh, a conflict-riven

Singapore – The United States said on Friday it had warned Indonesia "at the highest levels" that a failure by Jakarta to cooperate in solving the murder of two American teachers would

James Politi, Washington – The US on Friday raised the political pressure on Indonesia, urging the Pacific nation to allow independent monitors into Aceh, the restive island province wh

An Indonesian group linked to the al-Qaeda network held a high-level meeting last month in Indonesia, possibly to identify new terrorist targets, The Australian newspaper reported.

David Fogarty, Singapore – Deputy US Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz called on Indonesia on Friday to ensure transparency in its military offensive in Aceh province and said independen

Dean Yates, Banda Aceh – Their allegations of Indonesian military brutality cannot be verified, but the pain etched on their faces is real.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Two key suspects in the Bali bombings testified yesterday that Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir is the head of Jemaah Islamiah, the al-Qaeda linked terror organis

Phar Kim Beng, Hong Kong – Aceh, like East Timor, has seen its share of separatist problems for the greater part of the past 30 years.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Despite several shortcomings, the government said on Wednesday the ongoing military operation to crush the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the province had

Lhokseumawe – Fatimah stopped a car carrying several journalists and begged them to load her belongings into the car.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military reported increased rebel casualties in Aceh province yesterday but admitted that troops were having a tough time confronting highly mobile guerillas wh

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Public bus drivers are forced to pay, on average, up to Rp 40,000 for legal and illegal fees each day, a factor that has caused their services and safety to

Jakarta – Chief of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) Gen Endriartono Sutarto said human rights group the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) should look i

Jakarta – Flora & Fauna International (FFI) and the Team for the Conservation of Sumatran Tigers (TPHS) have received reports on the unchecked poaching of Sumatran elephants and oth

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru – With the beginning of the dry season, an increasing number of forest fires have been detected in Riau and Kalimantan, raising a thick haze that could d