Carlos Paath – The government has hailed the passage of new legislation that it says will tackle the chronic shortage of doctors serving Indonesia's rural and underdeveloped areas.

Clayton Bennett – East Timor will open a consulate in Darwin.

Dessy Aswim – Pramono Edhie Wibowo has been a Democratic Party member for less than two weeks and already the former Army chief of staff is being hailed as the obvious choice to replace

Yohanna Ririhena, Geneva – Members of the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) said they would treat reports of Indonesia's human rights record, presented by NGOs, as essential

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Rizky Amelia – Where there's smoke, there's fire, as residents of Riau, Singapore and parts of Malaysia can attest to after forest hot spots in Sumatra ge

Panca Nugraha, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara – While almost everybody else is welcoming Ramadhan with happiness and smiles, for 116 Ahmadis who are now living at the Transito house in Mat

Yohanna Ririhena, Geneva – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and representatives of Indonesia's NGOs are gathering in Geneva this week to assess the country's serious

Muslims across Indonesia began celebrating the holy month of Ramadan Wednesday, with hard-liners vowing to raid "sinful" bars and police steamrolling a mountain of alcohol and porn amid

Anggi M.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The House of Representatives passed a key bill on Tuesday aimed at empowering the country's largely impoverished agrarian class, but the passage was overshado

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – It took two trips to Brazil and the United States, at a total cost to the taxpayer of Rp 2.89 billion ($289,000), for legislators to figure out that satellite

Jakarta – Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Budiman Sudjatmiko on Wednesday expressed concern over remarks uttered by Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi in which he blamed the vill

Margareth S.

Bambang Muryanto – The People's Coalition for Military Court Monitoring (KRPM) is to report the intimidation of activists monitoring the Cebongan trial to the Indonesian Military (TNI),

Fergus Jensen, Jakarta – Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold Inc has resumed copper concentrate shipments from its mine in Grasberg, Indonesia, but expects output this year to drop by a fi

According to several NGOs which are involved in the promotion of human rights in Papua, there has been no change in the human rights situation in Papua in the first one hundred days of

Diska Putri Pamungkas & Dessy Aswim – Indonesia is a long way from achieving the openness and tolerance of the United States and Europe toward people of diverse sexualities, experts

Josef Benedict, Geneva – This week, the eyes of the international human rights community – and in particular those of the diplomats working at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva,

The Minister of Health Sergio da Costa Lobo said there are a lot of possibilities for private investment in the health sector, so they can better develop quality health assistance in th

Gita Rossiana – The growth rate in lending by Indonesian banks fell in June as consumers delayed purchasing high-price items like cars or motorcycles amid fears of rising inflation.

Stephanie Hendarta – Violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims on East Java's Madura Island and an attack on an Ahmadiyah community in West Java are among the 282 cases of religious vio

Carlos Paath & Yeremia Sukoyo – Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo says he intends to decline an invitation to take part in the Democratic Party's convention to select its candidate for n

The Timor-Leste President Taur Matan Ruak has plans to introduce compulsory military service in the future for young people, but before this he will hold discussions with relevant insti

Jakarta – The People's Coalition for Military Court Monitoring (KRPM) reported the intimidation of journalists covering the Cebongan trial to the press council, asking for an immediate

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) stepped up its drive against drug trafficking and rounded up police personnel and Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers susp

Jakarta – Issues surrounding Tanjung Priok Port's dwelling time are heating up, with logistics and forwarding firms accusing state-owned port operator Pelindo II of taking benefits from

Jakarta – A rival faction within the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) called on the leadership of the party to withdraw its decision to nominate party chairman Gen.

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The House of Representatives has agreed to accept a draft bill proposed by the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP), which calls for stricter regulation of

Ali Akhmad, Jakarta – The Press Council says the ban on the first edition of Papua's Pelita Pelita Magazine is considered as an attempt to block the press.

Novianti Setuningsih – Politicians need to try something new to regain public trust ahead of next year's elections, it appears, with a new survey finding an increasing number of people

Yohanna Ririhena, Jakarta – A human rights group coalition has urged the Indonesian government to be more open in reporting the country's human rights situation when it presents a repor

Michael Sergel – Asylum seekers and West Papuans were prime time talking points on Australian television last week, as ABC hosted a ground-breaking debate on Indonesia-Australia relatio

Dili – Greater efforts are now needed to tackle the many challenges women face in accessing health care in Timor-Leste, which has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios (MMR) in t

Jakarta – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) senior politician Sidarto Danusubroto has been inaugurated as speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), replacing th

Mark Colvin: East Timor's president, Taur Matan Ruak, is on his first official visit to Australia since he won last year's election.

Disna Harvens – Having watched the offspring of former presidents Sukarno and Suharto seek high office, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is trying to built a dynasty of his own, groom

Simon Santow: Indonesia has invited the foreign ministers of four Pacific Island countries to visit its two easternmost provinces – Papua and West Papua – to see for themselves if the p

Pandaya – There is something strange in the latest raucous, uninspiring commercials bombarding our brains on local TV channels: A host of advertisements for commercial products starring

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's commitment to help develop Indonesia's easternmost region could instead lead to more abuses of Papuans, an activist wa

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Robertus Wardi & Anastasia Wienanti Resardhy – Presidential hopefuls without the backing of one of Indonesia's political dynasties appear to stand little c

Jakarta – Domestic waste, at 80 percent, remains the top contributor to water pollution in Indonesia.

Ainur Rohmah, Semarang – A plan by the Social Affairs Ministry to close down 50 red-light districts across Indonesia has caused nervousness among inhabitants of the Argorejo red-light d

Rizky Amelia – The chief patron of a scandal-ridden Islamic party, already implicated in a major graft case, now faces allegations of illegally profiting from the sale of a home bequeat

Slamet Susanto and Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana called on the public to keep watching the progress of the Cebongan trial.

Jakarta – Christianto Wibisono from the Institute of Indonesia Presidency says three political dynasties retain a firm hold on current Indonesian politics; namely the Sukarno family, th

According to a women's rights advocate, traditional justice carried out in Timor-Leste, especially in the districts, doesn't benefit women who are victims of domestic violence and sexua

Martial arts gang have virtually taken control of the streets during the night in several parts of Dili and District locations, causing havoc and unrest, with police proving a little ba

This weekend marks the 15th anniversary of the Biak massacre in West Papua, when scores of West Papuans were wounded, arrested or killed while calling for independence from Indonesia.

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – Indonesia's equity market is the most vulnerable to capital outflows in Southeast Asia, a US-based investment bank says, ringing alarms for policy-makers

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Businesses and consumers are to suffer further losses as the time it takes for goods to enter and leave Tanjung Priok Port – the country's main port – continues