Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – A hundred activists and domestic workers in Yogyakarta staged a rally Tuesday, protesting a governor decree that allegedly contravened a bylaw on domestic work

Camelia Pasandaran – A noted forum of religious leaders became the latest in a line of organizations supporting the judicial review of the 1965 law on religious blasphemy, pointing out

Nurfika Osman – A spate of crimes targeting Indonesian teenagers using social networking site Facebook has raised questions about whether parents should monitor their children's online

In what may have been a warning shot at Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie over the investigation into the Bank Century bailout, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday ordered

Febriamy Hutapea – Most of President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono's coalition partners lined up against him on Monday, with seven out of nine factions on a House of Representatives special c

Nivell Rayda – Strict implementation of the 2004 National Social Security System Law is needed to prevent millions of Indonesians from slipping through the cracks in the health insuranc

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attended the commemoration of the 64th National Press Day in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Tuesday, however prior to his arrival, police detained a gro

Putri Prameshwari – One out of every four ships operating in Indonesian waters does not have a safety certificate, the chief of the Indonesian Classification Bureau said on Monday.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The military on Monday said the promise of 130 blocks of flats by the State Ministry of Public Housing was not enough to overcome an acute housing shortage th

Camelia Pasandaran – Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD on Monday warned the government and the House of Representatives against using government regulations in lieu of law, or perppu

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Residents of Pondok Timur Indah housing complex ran a massive rally against the Bekasi Protestant church congregation.

The Attorney General ignores the recommendation of the National Commission for Human Rights while victims commemorate the 21st anniversary of the atrocities.

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – A Cabinet reshuffle could backfire on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, contradicting his earlier claims that his administration's first 100-day prog

Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – Regional elections across Central Java province are two months away but many regencies and municipalities are allegedly not ready due to problems such as lack

The upcoming bylaws that discriminate against women and limit their freedom are mostly copies of existing bylaws of similar nature, Masruchah, from the National Commission on Violence a

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Malaysia and Indonesia are close to signing a comprehensive agreement on migrant workers that will better protect Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia from

Anton Septian, Jakarta – A group of students from at least six universities rallied outside one of Bakrie & Brothers' property on Monday (8/2) to urge authorities to complete tax ev

A far cry from 2006, when thousands took to the streets to protest George W.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Delegates at the People's Conscience Party's first national conference in Surabaya over the weekend wasted no time in re-electing former general Wiranto as pa

Putri Prameshwari, Cipayung – The room is not big, but there's just enough room for Fariba to let her four children run around with dolls in their hands.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Politicians and observers apparently are talking about something this weekend: Is the cabinet reshuffle proposal from the Democratic Party a bluff or a real thr

Ulma Haryanto – It's thirsty work for residents in Muara Baru, North Jakarta, who on Sunday said they felt trapped between a city water operator reportedly able to provide them with reg

Nurfika Osman – Noted political dissident George Junus Aditjondro and his book alleging Bank Century bailout money was siphoned off by the Democratic Party are in trouble with the law b

Bagus Budi Tama Saragih, Jakarta – More than a decade after the fall of Soeharto, Indonesia's fledgling democracy is yet to fully benefit its people, an expert says.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – One of the first rules of being in the public eye is not to give away free kicks – especially when your public is already disposed to seizing any opportun

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's increasingly flustered Democratic Party says it plans to hold a meeting with the leaders of

Emmy Fitri & Ismira Lutfia – Slapping criminal libel charges on journalists constitutes a major threat to freedom of expression, because such charges have long since been eliminated

Adianto P.

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Indonesia will file a demand to Australia asking for compensation after the latter's oil rig leaked in Indonesian territory in Timor Sea, says the Indonesian

A coalition of some of the country's well-known NGOs has called on the Corruption Eradication Commission to investigate cases of alleged corruption in the forestry sector.

Rumbadi Dalle, Jakarta – A group of fishermen in Riau Islands, Sumatra, have launched a legal complaint against and demand for compensation to an Asian consortium-owned mining equipment

Camelia Pasandaran – Minister of Home Affairs Gamawan Fauzi is fast becoming a political liability for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, with a spokesman saying on Friday that the pre

Tom Allard – The notorious Indonesian people smuggler Abraham Louhenapessy, better known as Captain Bram, is likely to receive only a fine for attempting to bring 254 Sri Lankans in an

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) says that the Supreme Court has yet to display a serious commitment to eradicate corruption from the country.

Hudaiva gazed into the distance as she spoke about her son Arif, who disappeared in Jakarta in May, 2008.

Febriamy Hutapea, Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Camelia Pasandaran – Top leaders of the Democratic Party, obviously exasperated by the antics of members of the ruling coalition in the C

Putri Prameshwari – A film deemed suitable by the country's censor was reportedly pulled from distribution on Thursday night after the Islamic Defenders Front threatened its producers a

Jakarta – Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and former vice president Jusuf Kalla were among political bigwigs who turned up for the opening of the People's Conscience (Hanura) Pa

Muninggar Saraswati & Antara – Declaring that he would not back down in the race to assume the chairmanship of the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P), Guruh Sukarnoput

Ismira Lutfia – The Corruption Eradication Commission's performance is "still far from what is expected" and is not properly performing its three main functions – preventing graft, puni

Nivell Rayda – The country's most prominent antigraft group on Thursday condemned a Corruption Eradication Commission official for allegedly protecting a former state prosecutor on Thur

Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – How should the PT Bank Century scandal be settled?

Dr. Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
US Department of Defense
1300 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Re: US Military Assistance to Indonesia

Nivell Rayda – The Constitutional Court on Thursday held its first session to review the 1965 law on religious blasphemy, much to the chagrin of the government and hard-line Muslim grou

Farouk Arnaz – Investigating the reasons for the disbursement of Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) for the bailout of PT Bank Century was no longer a priority for the National Police, form

Bagus Budi Tama Saragih, Jakarta – Lobbying between politicians has intensified and observers now say the President, the Vice President and Finance Minister, in the hot seat over the Ba

Sukmawati, Makassar – The South Sulawesi Moslem Women for Islamic Shariah Enactment Corps has asked that women be involved in formulating Islamic Shariah local ordinances (Perda).

Adianto P.

Jakarta – The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) said they would defend the controversial blasphemy law, calling the move to scrap the 45-year-old law as an

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Religious minorities have expressed their support for a group of NGOs that have requested the 1965 Blasphemy Law be reviewed, saying the controversial