Takaras village in Central Kalimantan is an ecological disaster waiting to happen, with illegal miners reportedly dumping an estimated 160 kilograms of mercury into a local river every month.
Mercury, which is used to facilitate the extraction of gold ore, can cause crippling nerve disorders, brain damage, birth defects and death.
Jakarta – Indonesia is drafting a regulation under which people who owe more than 100 million rupiah in taxes would be jailed for up to one year without trial.
The move comes amid concern that many taxpayers have been evading tax payments for several years, a burden to the cash-strapped government in Jakarta.
Jakarta – A rally calling for peace by hundreds of students in Jakarta on Friday was in marked contrast to a number of other rowdier rallies around the country against the United States-led attack on Iraq.
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Thousands of people who claim to be Acehnese refugees ignored North Sumatra governor T. Rizal Nurdin's ultimatum to leave the provincial legislative council building, saying they would continue occupying the compound until they obtained resettlement funds.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Henry Dunant Centre (HDC) has warned the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) against reinforcing military strength during the demilitarization process, saying that the move would violate the peace deal signed last year.
Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Which country has just passed a law to provide two days a month paid menstruation leave for women workers? Perhaps you're thinking northern Europe? Or maybe Scandinavia? If so, you're wrong.
Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar – Along with the refusal of Iraqis to follow the United States and British "shock-awe-welcome liberators" script, a major surprise in the first week of the war has been the reaction of Indonesia.
Jakarta – Hundreds of Indonesians protested in several cities on Friday against the US invasion of Iraq, with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as well as President George Bush coming in for criticism.
Jakarta – East Timor has formed a new border patrol unit to replace international peacekeepers, the UN said Friday – a sign that the military is assuming greater responsibility for security in the world's newest nation.
Medan – Hundreds of angry refugees from war-torn Aceh prevented North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin and all provincial councillors from leaving the legislative building for six hours on Thursday, as their demand for immediate disbursement of resettlement funds remained unheeded.
There are fears in Jakarta that the war in Iraq is diverting attention from a conflict much closer to home – in the province of Aceh. Under a demilitarisation deal signed four months ago, Indonesian military and police who've been controlling the province for over a decade, were due to start to withdraw from villages to regional barracks.
Amnesty International says two human rights activists in Indonesia's Aceh province are believed to be being held by the military and could face torture or death.
The British-based rights group says Mukhlis Ishak, 27, and Zulfikar, 24, were detained on March 25 by plain-clothed men believed to be from the military intelligence unit, Satuan Gabungan Intelijen.
Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – Smuggling of protected animals in Indonesia is valued at a whopping US$1.5 billion a year, with Jakarta topping the list with $1.5 million per day or $547.5 million per year, according to a survey.
Jakarta – Indonesia has criticized the United Nations' Security Council (UNSC) for its failure to take a clear stand against the United States' military campaign in Iraq.
Jakarta – The South Jakarta district court decided that there was enough grounds to proceed with the lawsuit filed by Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung against Rakyat Merdeka daily's chief editor Karim Paputungan for defamation.
Jakarta – Rallies to protest against the attack on Iraq continued on Thursday across the country, with demonstrators in some cities expanding their targets to parties not affiliated with the United States or its allies.
Jakarta – Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim said here Wednesday the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) had to settle the question of environmental pollution in PT Freeport Indonesia's mining field in Papua this year.
Jakarta – More than 36 billion rupiah meant for the Acehnese refugees has been embezzled allegedly by officials who also stole other forms of aid provided by humanitarian groups.
Tens of thousands of Indonesian protesters took to the streets on Thursday to oppose the US-British bombardment of Iraq. Many prayed for peace, others wept, some hurled tomatoes at the US Embassy and others "sealed" a McDonald's outlet.
Several Indonesian Non Government Organisations say they will refuse funds from America, Britain and Australia, in response to those countries involvement in the war on Iraq. The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, several women's rights groups and the country's leading environmental watchdog, known as Walhi, have joined in the action.
Jakarta – If a Muslim group has its way, moviegoers in the Indonesian city of Bandung will no longer get to watch films such as Daredevil or Chicago.
The Kabah Youth Movement yesterday urged 17 theatres in the industrial town 200 km south-east of Jakarta to stop screening US and British films because of the war in Iraq.
John McBeth, Jakarta – Controversial new legislation that would give the Indonesian armed forces unilateral authority to deploy troops in the event of an emergency appears to undermine efforts by reformers to impose civilian supremacy over the military.
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Women activists demanded the executive board of political parties on Tuesday arrange legislative candidates alternately between men and women to give women a greater chance to meet the 30 percent quota for representation in legislative bodies.
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – A new Bill is set to unravel a dark side of Indonesian history, allowing cases of human-rights violations to be reopened for the sake of national reconciliation.
The Bill provides a legal basis for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Tokyo – More than 4,000 Indonesians will join a lawsuit against the Japanese government, demanding compensation for a dam funded by aid from Tokyo and which they say has destroyed their livelihood, supporters said on Wednesday.
Bogor – Dozens of minivan drivers gathered at the council building here to protest against the injustices they face in the course of their work.
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Thousands of workers from failing factories, formerly run in whole or in part by international companies, in Greater Jakarta are facing a bleak future as there is not yet an existing law that deals with foreign investors who close up shop without agreeing on settlements with the workers.
East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation has been up and running for over three months now and has accepted over 100 minor political criminals back into their villages.
Nigel Wilson – The Timor Sea Treaty will formally come into effect next Tuesday with an exchange of notes between Australia and East Timor in Dili.
The exchange will be the final step in the process of replacing Indonesia as the country that Australia partners in developing Timor Sea oil and gas reserves.
Jakarta/Bandung/Semarang – Thousands of workers from Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, and Semarang in Central Java staged separate, peaceful rallies to coincide with the new labor bill becoming law on Tuesday.
East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao has urged Canberra to allow 1,600 of his compatriots who fled to Australia about a decade ago, in the bloody years before independence, to stay.
The asylum seekers would not impose any hardship on the Australian economy whereas destitute East Timor would struggle to provide for them, Gusmao told a conference here about nation building.
Batam – Local religious and community leaders are angry with the authorities for turning a blind eye to the thriving gambling dens on the island which cater to a largely Malaysian and Singaporean clientele.
Yuli Trisuwarni, Bandung – The Ka'bah Youth Movement Muslim organization has threatened all movie theaters in the West Java capital of Bandung to stop showing American and British films until the countries stop attacking Iraq.
Jakarta – Some 100 employees of the state-owned mint, Perum Peruri, staged a demonstration on Monday at its office on Jl. Faletehan, Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, demanding a salary hike of 100 percent.
Bogor – More than 6,100 elementary school students from 30 subdistricts in Bogor regency need financial help because the poor economic condition of their families.
Nurhadiaty, head of the basic education office of the town, said that Bogor also was in need of more than 800 teachers.
Nani Farida, Banda Aceh – Despite allegations infamous pro-Jakarta militia Laskar Jihad are waging a "holy war" against pro-independence forces in Central Aceh, public transportation services resumed on Monday to ease the regency's isolation.
Jakarta – Ten members of a radical Islamic group were arrested in Jakarta yesterday after they tried to force their way into a Sizzler restaurant in a thwarted bid to harass foreigners and protest against the US-led war in Iraq.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has severed ties with one of its main donors, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in protest against the US-led war on Iraq.
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Twenty-five students began a hunger strike on Monday during a rally in the grounds of the North Sumatra provincial council to demand the permanent closure of pulp and paper mill PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), which they accuse of causing serious pollution.
Indonesia promised to safeguard westerners amid continuing anti-war protests as police said 10 Muslim radicals arrested for allegedly harassing foreigners could face a year in jail.
Jakarta – An Indonesian court on Monday rejected a demand that prosecutors free Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir after lawyers for the alleged head of the militant Jemaah Islamiah group argued his detention was illegal.
Bashir was arrested in October on suspicion of links to church bombings in 2000 and a plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Tertiani ZB Simanjutak, Jakarta – The wave of antiwar rallies continued on Sunday with thousands of protesters taking to the streets across the country to express their opposition to the ongoing US-led invasion of Iraq.
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru, Riau – Several major companies in the natural-resource rich province of Riau allegedly pay the local police and Indonesian Military (TN) to ensure the safety of their operations, local figures said, following the disclosure of a similar practice by an American firm in Papua.
M. Taufiqurrahman and Leo Wahyudi S, Jakarta – The society has to count on itself in the war against the hoodlums and their organized mob bosses as the government, which should lead the campaign, reaps benefits from the presence of thugs instead, an activist allege.
Lisa Clausen – The young boy returned to the mountain village of Letefoho in fear and disgrace. He was a child in 1999 when, swept up in the militia violence that followed East Timor's vote for independence, he burnt down his aunt's house and fled. When he finally came home this year, the teenager had no idea of what he would face.
A'an Suryana, Jakarta – As the antiwar protests become rowdier, scholars urged the government on Sunday to swiftly move to prevent them turning violent.
Haedar Nashir, the secretary-general of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization in the country, called on the government to invite the representatives of the protesters for talks to calm them down.
Jakarta – Indonesia's Vice President Hamzah Haz has rejected US President George W.Bush's request to close down the Iraqi embassy in Jakarta.
"The [Indonesian] government cannot possibly close the Iraqi embassy," he said commenting on the US president's request to other countries in the world to close down Iraqi embassies.
Stockholm – Swedish companies pride themselves on their high standards of business ethics, but now corporate heavyweights have come in for stinging criticism for their alleged role in the destruction of Indonesian rainforests.
Police in Indonesia's second-biggest city Surabaya have reacted angrily to an Australian warning that anti-Western groups may be planning a "terrorist" attack there, saying there were no signs of threat.
Jakarta – President Megawati Soekarnoputri plans to sue Rakyat Merdeka daily for comparing her to Soemanto, a man who confessed to eating parts of dead human bodies.