Paul Toohey – East Timor's 40-odd lawyers are on strike. The judges and registry staff have all gone home.

Students have nominated four legislators to receive the "Traitor of Reform" award for their political stance.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's failure this week to win an extended amnesty period or leniency for its citizens who work illegally in Malaysia has prompted the country's vice-presiden

Jakarta – In an effort to push the reform agenda, at least 2,000 students staged a protest by joining hands to create a human chain, linking the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) com

Jakarta – In a new role, General Anthony Zinni, the Bush administration's envoy to the Middle East, has met Indonesian officials in an effort to find a solution to the long-running but

Jakarta – Some 200 students from Jakarta and its environs staged another rally outside the legislative assembly building here Thursday to press for the completion of the latest round of

Indonesian parliamentarians have blamed security and legal concerns for the country's failure to win China's first major liquefied natural gas supply contract.

Palu, Central Sulawesi – Drivers of public transportation vehicles in Palu, the capital city of Central Sulawesi, went on strike on Thursday to demand the local government stop inter-ci

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – In attempt to wash their hands of a potentially damaging case, police announced on Thursday that they had closed the investigation into an alleged plot between

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors lacked evidence to lay charges against powerful former armed forces commander General Wiranto over the violence in East Timor, the country's former atto

The dissenting voices rejecting the present parliament are not confined to student activists and renegade politicians.

Jakarta – Hundreds of people rallied in front of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)/House of Representatives (DPR) complex on Thursday to reject amendments to the 1945 Constitutio

East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, seeking political detente, held a first meeting Friday to discuss "sensitive" policy issues before government act

Matthew Moore – The United States risks destabilising Indonesia and turning Muslim militants into heroes by pressuring the Indonesian Government to arrest them, a report published yeste

Oktovianus Pinontoan, Ambon – Two bomb explosions in North Maluku's Tobelo district and fresh clashes between two villages on Wednesday left one dead and several houses burned, military

Jakarta – US retired General Anthony Zinni on Thursday said he was optimistic peace could prevail in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province if Jakarta and separatists push for talks.

Jakarta – Pressure on Indonesia from the United States and Southeast Asia to crack down on Islamic militants could backfire and turn them into heroes, according to a report by Brussels-

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Indonesia's highest legislative body is likely to call on the government to end ties with the International Monetary Fund, arguing that its prescriptions are

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – A pro-Jakarta East Timorese leader told the Rights Tribunal on Thursday that the Indonesian Military (TNI) did nothing to stop armed militias from attacking the

Ahmad Junaidi and Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Commission B asserted on Thursday that it was not seeking to terminate Indonesia's relationship wit

Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned US government attempts to scupper a human rights lawsuit brought by a group of Indonesian villagers against oil giant Exxon Mobil.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Seven people stood trial on Wednesday at the Central Jakarta District Court for allegedly attacking the office of the National Commission on Human Rig

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Some 300 people presented on Wednesday 11 ducks for the 11 factions in the City Council to mock their apparent blind loyalty to incumbent Governor Sutiyoso,

Debbie A.

Luciano Fernandez – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has triggered sharp protests inside and outside her own party-the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P)-through her

With the US government firmly on its side, energy giant ExxonMobil claims allegations of human rights abuses filed against it in a lawsuit on behalf of 11 villagers in Aceh province are

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – Legislators at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) renewed their calls on Wednesday for the government to give priority to dialog in solving the Aceh probl

Jakarta – An independent team of five prominent public figures is working to expedite a solution to the conflict in Aceh, advising the government not to impose a state of civil emergenc

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Residents of the Riau town of Dumai threatened on Wednesday to block the operations of an oil refinery belonging to state-owned Pertamina unless a local is app

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Violence has erupted again in Indonesia's Central Sulawesi province just as Mr Yusuf Kalla, the chief welfare minister and architect of two peace deals in th

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Three Indonesian judges involved in the high-profile and controversial bankruptcy case of a Toronto-based insurer have been suspended on charges of corruption,

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is likely to recommend the government to cut ties with international donor agencies, particularly the International M

Jakarta – A retired US general, who has been mediating between Jakarta and the rebels in Aceh, said on Thursday that the only way to achieve peace in the restive province was through ta

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Jakarta – With its long record of human rights abuses, the Indonesian Military (TNI) must be made accountable for its past before the United States restores military ties with Indonesia

Alan Beattie and Tom McCawley – The International Monetary Fund does not usually end up being sued by the people it has negotiated with.

Atambua – The Belu district military command on Thursday succeeded in foiling an attempt to smuggle around 1.8 tons of kerosene to East Timor.

President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri urged East Timor's students Thursday to aid the new nation's reconstruction and development through "mature" and "constructive"

Jakarta – A former militia boss accused of inciting a massacre in East Timor in 1999 on Thursday denied allegations by a compatriot that he had ordered his men to attack pro-independenc

Retired US General Anthony Zinni held talks with the military chief of Indonesia's Aceh province as part of efforts to pave the way for more talks between Jakarta and separatist rebels.

Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – As the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) entered its sixth day, thousands of student protesters staged a rally outsi

Jakarta – A leading former East Timorese independence supporter wept Wednesday as he recalled the death of his son in a 1999 militia attack on his refugee-packed home in Dili.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – An advisor at the office of the Vice President said on Tuesday that he had asked for Rp 400 million to produce favorable media reports for then presid

President Xanana Gusmao Wednesday defended his controversial request for an Indonesian court trying human rights crimes committed in East Timor to show clemency in one case, saying he w

Palu/Makassar – At least seven people were shot and wounded, four others missing and two churches and 27 houses burned to the ground in the worst violence to hit Poso in Central Sulawes

East Timorese government and UN officials held a fourth, unannounced round of reconciliation and repatriation talks with former anti-independence militia chief Joao Tavares Tuesday in t

Jakarta – The US ambassador to Indonesia warned Jakarta on Wednesday America and the world were closely watching East Timor human rights trials and the result would help determine if fu

Fitri Wulandari and Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – The Indonesia Military/National Police faction in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) admitted on Tuesday that the military and police

Medan – Hundreds of Acehnese refugees clashed with police and public order officers in the North Sumatra governor's office in Medan on Tuesday, a report said.

John Roberts – A five-judge panel of the Jakarta District Court pronounced its long-awaited verdict on Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of the former Indonesian dictator G