Fitri R., West Lombok – Around 700 people from five villages in West Lombok district rallied outside the West Nusa Tenggara governor's office on Thursday to protest the administration's

Christen Broecker – When President Obama went to Indonesia last month, he lauded its embrace of democracy in a speech at the University of Indonesia but made clear that equality was ess

Fidelis E.

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – A court on Thursday sentenced two foreigners in absentia to 15 years of prison each for having looted Bank Century, while an order was issued to seize the ove

Dion Bisara, Jakarta – The World Bank revised down its 2010 growth forecast for Indonesia by 0.1 percentage points to 5.9 percent on Thursday.

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Legislators have blamed the lack of prosecution in the Bank Century bailout on the refusal of law-enforcement agencies to act on recommendations offered by the

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) and the Indonesian Bishop's Conference (KWI) said on Wednesday the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) had not spoken to th

Slamet Susanto and Sri Wahyuni, Klaten/Yogyakarta – Protesters demanded on Tuesday that Surakarta's special status be restored – and that the regency be separated from Central Java.

In a move that would raise the eyebrows of both its critics and supporters, the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), a group notorious for attacking minority groups, said Tuesday it w

Indonesia – An Indonesian court on Wednesday sentenced a United States retiree to five months in jail for blasphemy for pulling the plug on a mosque's loudspeaker during a prayer readin

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – The Indonesian electoral system should be changed in such a way that qualified candidates, including women, are more likely to end up in the legislat

Zaky Pawas & Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – In a surprise move, the head of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front on Tuesday said Christians should be allowed to celebrate Christmas in pe

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – The construction of two second-hand Chinese power plants in East Timor is an escalating environmental and safety disaster that has been hit by delays and cost

Peter Alford, Jakarta – Densus 88, the Indonesian counter-terrorism police, used every day of the four months available to substantiate its charges against Abu Bakar Bashir before deliv

Jakarta – Documents reportedly released by WikiLeaks quote a senior Chinese government official as saying that he was "not impressed" with Indonesia's presidents after the downfall of S

Jakarta – The central government must remove their security forces from Papua and West Papua provinces and communicate better with residents in order to reduce tensions in the region, a

Banyumas, Central Java – Around 1,500 village representatives from 310 villages in Banyumas regency left for Jakarta on Tuesday to join a rally to demand employment status promotions.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – A senior Democratic Party legislator has called on the antigraft body to take over the case of former tax official Gayus Tambunan from the police, in

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – If the Aceh legislature has its way, the province will soon have a supreme leader with the authority to dismiss the governor and disband the legislature.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Refugees from the Aceh conflict era admitted to having been intimidated by "anti-relocation" figures, saying that threats had deterred them from moving from a p

Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Suhardiman Indoleaks, a portal set up on the heels of the global brouhaha over WikiLeaks, posted four autopsy documents on the victims of the infamous 1965 trag

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – A budget watchdog has criticized the government for slashing anticorruption funding for law enforcement agencies, saying it raised questions about Pr

Camelia Pasandaran, Nivell Rayda & Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court on Tuesday pressed charges against a court clerk and the plaintiff accused of bribing him, while

Jakarta – The government is being slammed for reducing the investigation and prosecution budget of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) from Rp 26.3 billion (approximately US$2.9

Solo, Indonesia – Indonesian authorities have arrested four Islamist militants suspected of having links to a top terrorist suspect captured last week, a police spokesman said Tuesday.

Candra Malik, Yogyakarta – National flags flew at half staff, schools sent students home early and shops along bustling Jalan Malioboro closed down on Monday as the people of Yogyakarta

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has failed to deliberate 23 bills on the agenda for this year.

Jakarta – Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) chairman Dadang Rachmat Hidayat said that as per November the commission had received 20,000 complaints on television content, a more

Heru Andriyanto & Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – The case of firebrand Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, charged with multiple counts of terrorism punishable by death, was on Monday handed

Indonesian Christians appealed to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for protection on Monday after Muslim vigilante groups, backed by police, surrounded their homes and forced them to

Jakarta – Following a massive protest at the Home Affairs Ministry that almost degenerated into violence, the ministry agreed to involve the Association of Indonesian Village Officials

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – The president on Monday acknowledged that public trust in law enforcement had plummeted during his six years in office, but hinted that some of the critici

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Contradicting the government's frequent refrain that Indonesia is a haven of diversity, justice and tolerance, a trio of NGOs took the country's lead

Jakarta – A legislative working group recently finalized revisions to the 2008 Political Parties Law.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Tighter control should be exercised over the powers of Indonesia's various intelligence agencies, a researcher for non-governmental organization Impa

Judicial bodies are still reluctant to uphold citizen's rights to access public information, a study says.

Nivell Rayda, Indonesia – New York-based Human Rights Watch has demanded an explanation for the transfer of two Papuan "political prisoners" from Jayapura's notorious Abepura Prison to

Ismira Lutfia, Indonesia – Countries that send and receive migrant workers are poorly lacking in protection policies, New-York based Human Rights Watch said in a report on Saturday.

Jakarta – Hardliners from three Muslim organizations raided and sealed homes belonging to Christians in Rancaekek, Bandung, on Sunday.

Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – Not one to shy away from issuing controversial statements, Constitutional Court Chief Mahfud MD has said the court had yet to deal with an election dispute

Andi Hajramurni and Oyos Saroso H.N., Makassar/Bandarlampung – Students in Makassar, South Sulawesi, commemorated the World Human Rights Day on Friday by attacking and damaging three po

Jakarta – The bill on housing and settlement has continued to draw criticism from civil society groups, including the National Commission on Violence against Women, or Komnas Perempuan,

Lindsay Murdoch – East Timor has renewed its criticism of Woodside over its plans to build a floating liquefied natural gas platform above the Timor Sea's Greater Sunrise field, warning

Poor control and mismanagement have tainted the credibility of local elections, resulting in proposals to limit their existence.

Dessy Sagita, Indonesia – A blog that appears to emulate the controversial WikiLeaks site – Indoleaks.org – appeared on Friday with what are claimed to be copies of confidential documen

Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – The government's proposal to move gubernatorial elections from the hands of the people back into the hands of regional legislatures is being greeted with call

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Law enforcers and military officers in regions, especially in remote areas, gain impunity for their human rights abuse due to lack of media and public exposu

Surabaya, East Java – Hundreds of workers in East Java took to the streets again Friday to oppose the 2011 City Minimum Wage (UMK), which they deemed inadequate and against the aspects

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Indonesia – With petty politicking consuming much of the time and energy of policy makers this past year, public welfare has gone largely ignored, a political

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta, Indonesia – Indonesian police arrested one of the country's most-wanted Muslim militants Friday, accusing him of plotting high-profile assassinations and bloody