We should count ourselves blessed that we live in an age where human rights are part of our daily vernacular. In both substance and speech Indonesians have succeeded in breaking the chains of authoritarianism and can now freely execute their political rights, by speaking out against repression, and addressing, if not correcting, injustices across the archipelago.

Devi Asmarani in Jakarta and Shefali Rekhi in Singapore – The former general is showing his colours.

Long used to a disciplined life, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono seems to be taking this approach as he strives for order and prosperity in his country.

Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta – Never before in Indonesia's long history has a leader's mandate come at so pivotal a time.

Kurniawan Hari and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – House of Representatives legislators urged the government to take the suspicious death of human rights activist Munir seriously, if it did not want the country to come under mounting criticism from the international community.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Uncooperative lawmakers and law enforcers remain a persistent hurdle that the National Commission on Human Rights has to clear in upholding human rights in the country, the commission says.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Commemorating International Human Rights Day, on Friday December 10 students and activists in Yogyakarta, Central Java, held a long march carrying four biers and photographs of recently murdered human rights defender Munir.

Budi Hartadi, Surabaya – Around 300 activists from a number of groups in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya held an action in front of the Grahadi Building and at the grounds of the provincial parliament on Friday December 10 to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) is calling on the government to provide protection and legal certainty against threats which have been received by human rights defenders, and to punish the perpetrators.

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday issued a decree stepping up the fight against corruption in Indonesia.

All government members have been ordered to help him embark on the ambitious task. In a ceremony marking National Anti-Corruption Day, the President also urged the nation to take part in a massive campaign against graft.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Few people could afford to buy the latest BMW 5 car at the age of 27, no matter how hard they work. But, Amien, not his real name, can buy one easily. He's a public official in one of the country's most corrupt institutions: the tax office.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Lampung's Golkar Party secretary Oktaviano was sentenced on Thursday to four years in prison and fined Rp 200 million (US$22,222) in a graft scam involving the provincial education office. The Tanjungkarang District Court found Oktaviano guilty of embezzling Rp 6 billion allocated for the procurement of textbooks in Lampung province.

Indramayu, West Java – A woman activist disclosed on Thursday that child traffickers are operating in at least 10 regions of Indonesia. Some areas are located near the Malaysian and Indonesian border, with Batam city tipped as the area with the highest incidence of child trafficking.

East Timor wants the United Nations to extend its mission here for at least another year after its current mandate expires next May in order to strengthen the nascent state's still-fragile security institutions, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said Friday.

CAAT warmly welcomes the decision by Mr Justice Park to allow the Guardian access to the court file of the case Chan U Seek vs Alvis Vehicles Limited.

David Leigh – Disclosures in the Guardian that a British arms company paid 16 million pounds to Indonesia's president's daughter to obtain a government-backed sale are being investigated, the leader of the Commons, Peter Hain, told MPs yesterday.

[Indonesia's Struggle: Jemaah Islamiyah and the Soul of Islam, by Greg Barton, University of New South Wales Press, August 2004, Sydney. ISBN: 0-86840-759-3. Price: A$16.95 (paperback), 118 pages.]

Theresia Sufa, Bogor – Six police officers, who were found guilty of using unnecessary violence during the November 22 protest at the Bojong waste treatment facility in Bogor, have only been punished with administrative sanctions.

The ruling was read out by the chairman of the police disciplinary committee, Comr. Rastra Gunawan, at Bogor Police Headquarters on Thursday.

Timothy Mapes, Jakarta – BP PLC's plans to invest about $5 billion in a natural-gas project in Indonesia's remote eastern region are coming under fire from human-rights groups, which charge that the company isn't living up to promises to make it a model for investing in the developing world.

Jakarta – Indonesia's military, which is undergoing phased reforms intended to bring it under civilian control, may soon lose all its major businesses.

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – A middle-ranking Navy officer, who shot dead four Army soldiers here in August and left another one critically wounded, has been jailed for 10 years and dishonorably discharged from the Navy, a military spokesman said on Thursday.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – Syamsir Siregar was sworn in as the new head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday, promising to fight separatism and terrorism.

Dimas Adityo, Jakarta – The DPR [House of Representatives] questioned Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono's plans to lobby the United States Congress to withdraw its military embargo against Indonesia.

David Leigh, David Pallister, Rob Evans, and John Aglionby in Jakarta – The high court yesterday ordered the release of files disclosing payments by a leading British arms company to the daughter of the then president of Indonesia in a landmark ruling for freedom of information.

Rob Evans, David Leigh, David Pallister and John Aglionby in Jakarta – Britain's controversial sale of tanks to Indonesia was a thoroughly corrupt transaction, according to the Alvis documents released yesterday to the Guardian.

Nala Edwin, Jakarta – The People's Lawyers Union (Serikat Pengacara Rakyat, SPR) has launched a class action against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of 9.02 trillion rupiah for failing to repeal the state of emergency in Aceh and instead extending it through government regulation Number 2/2004.

Indonesia's powerful military is getting out of big business, so the newly elected democratic government can tighten control over its wealthy generals, curb corruption and reform the ranks.

Arry Anggadha, Jakarta – The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) says that law enforcement agencies are incapable of upholding human rights in Indonesia. LBH is urging the government, law enforcement agencies and the people's representatives to be become more serious about upholding human rights.

Tiarma Siboro and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoiled the commemoration of rights defender Munir's birthday on Wednesday by shelving the establishment of an independent team to investigate his death.

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Three hundred non-governmental organisations and individuals yesterday wrote to Lord Browne, the chief executive of energy group BP, to express their "mounting concerns" over the company's failure to meet human rights commitments made two years ago in a multibillion pound natural gas project in Indonesia.

An army whistleblower today found some backing for his claims after a government review found Australian troops in East Timor had been cut off from top secret information.

Late today, Defence Minister Robert Hill released details of a review by Inspector General of Intelligence and Security Ian Carnell into claims by army officer Lance Collins.

Indonesian presidents after Soeharto are likely to have learned one important lesson from the former dictator: Don't slip on the oil. Politically, oil is indeed a slippery commodity for Indonesia.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – After 59 years of independence, poverty remains a major problem in 190 regencies in the country, a minister says.

Indonesia says it won't shy away from the controversy of prosecuting the world's biggest gold mining company for alleged pollution.

At least ten suspected rebels have been killed in gunbattles this week in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, the army said Wednesday.

Nine rebels were gunned down by government troops in three separate clashes on Monday, said Ary Mulya Asnawi, an army spokesman in North Aceh's capital Lhokseumawe. He added that three soldiers were wounded.

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has appointed a fellow former general to head the nation's sensitive intelligence agency, BIN. Retired Lieutenant-General Sjamsir Siregar once served in the military's intelligence wing and some analysts see his appointment as a much-needed bridge between the police and the military.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Salim Osman, Jakarta – The falling out between two key figures of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) is threatening to break up Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation with millions of followers.

Suryani Ika Sari, Jakarta – Trade unions and labour groups from the United Workers' Alliance have demonstrated at the Jakarta Provincial Council building demanding to meet with the Jakarta governor, Sutiyoso, and calling on the governor to repeal Govenoral Decree Number 2515/2004 which sets the provincial minimum wage at 711,843 rupiah per month.

Australia will double anti-terrorism aid funding for Indonesia to $20 million over the next year, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – "Forget asking about how we're going to cope with the fuel price hike. Just asking the government to increase our wages to meet the minimum cost of living is difficult enough," complained Iqbal.

Fadli, Batam – Businesspeople oppose Riau Islands acting governor Ismeth Abdullah's plan to review the monthly minimum wage of Rp 635,000 (US$70.50) on the industrial island of Batam.

Jayapura – At least 5,000 people in Indonesia's West Papua province face hunger and starvation after fleeing a military offensive against separatists, church leaders in the region said.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Papua will probably return its special autonomy status to Jakarta and, instead, demand for a self-determination ballot for the province's future, if the government decides to establish Papuan People's Assemblies in Papua and West Irian Jaya, Papuan leaders say.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Indonesia's prolonged transition to democracy may have distracted it from issues tied to its Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) membership and lessened its political weight and influence there, but after last week's ASEAN summit in Laos, the country's sixth president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has grabbed the ASEAN free-trade ball and is running wi

Jakarta – In one of the Indonesia's highest profile anti-corruption arrests to date, prosecutors on Tuesday detained the governor of Aceh province for allegedly embezzling US$1.3 million of state funds.

Indonesia's president has picked an army general who supported his recent rise to power to head the country's intelligence agency – a key post in the fight against terror in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Puji Santoso and Andi Hajramurni, Pekanbaru/Makassar – Violence triggered by the recent election of a Golkar Party leader in South Sulawesi spread to Siak regency, Riau province, on Sunday night.

As a result, Siak Police deployed dozens of personnel to prevent the riot from escalating as tensions ran high in the regency.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Nurhasanah, 48, could not hold back the tears welling up her eyes as she shared the story of her son who disappeared more than six years ago during the May 1998 riots, one of the more tragic events in Indonesian history.

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta – A visiting team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognized early signs that the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is serious about improving the business climate here.

The Jakarta Police receive more money than any other police force in the country, yet residents say they are still unable to deal with crime and traffic in the capital. In conjunction with the Jakarta Police's 55th anniversary on December 6, The Jakarta Post asked residents for their opinion on this much-maligned force.

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Surabaya/Blitar – More towns in East Java will likely follow Blitar's major flood with the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) forecasting continuous torrential rain and strong winds this week in the province, which has been denuded of much of its protective forests.