Christian Motte & Fidelis E.

Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta – With its crumbling infrastructure, lack of a reliable mass transit system, and labyrinthine urban geography, Indonesia's capital of Jakarta was already

Panca Nugraha, Jakarta/Mataram – Student groups have called on the government and the General Elections Commission (KPU) for more transparency over the real condition of their preparati

Jakarta – The first week of the open campaign period saw many political parties rely on old strategies to address the different challenges facing them in the general elections.

Alfian, Jakarta – As the legislative election is around the corner, the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is dealing with two biggest challenges; maintaining its clean image

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The National Commission on Violence against Women has called for a vote of no confidence against political parties that exploit religious issues for their inte

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Shariah-inspired laws have increased discrimination against women, a new report by the National Commission for the Protection of Women, or Komnas Perempuan, in

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is "concerned" about the Indonesian government's failure to respect the rights of indigenous people in their own

Jakarta – Indonesia's military denied Tuesday a disclosure by US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

Jayapura – Over a thousand people rallied in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, on Tuesday demanding a referendum on independence from Indonesia and rejecting the forthcoming elec

Ronald May – Recent reports from Indonesia's West Papua of a raid on a military post by separatist fighters, and the news that a former West Papuan leader, Nicolaas Jouwe, has returned

Banda Aceh/Jakarta – Police in Aceh on Monday were still investigating the latest violent incident ahead of the April elections, while a noted research group said the underlying problem

Nurdin Hasan – In a major review of its education system, Aceh's provincial government has started looking to integrate Shariah-based values into the curriculum, testing subjects such a

Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – Tension in Indonesia's formerly war-torn province of Aceh has escalated ahead of April's parliamentary elections, with 16 people killed and dozens of building

Jakarta – The signing of the Aceh peace accord in 2005 has not freed the province from violence involving former rebels, as reports of attacks continue to escalate ahead of the general

Jakarta – US-based mining giant Freeport McMoRan (FCX) is paying Indonesian troops to protect a large gold and copper mine in Papua, despite regulations requiring the military to hand o

Tom Allard, Jakarta – A co-founder of the outlawed Papuan independence movement, Nicolaas Jouwe, has returned to his homeland after more than 45 years in exile, calling for a new dialog

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Co-founder of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) Nicholas Jouwe arrived back in his homeland of Papua on Sunday after more than 40 years in exile abroad.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Agencies – The military on Monday denied a report that it had received illegal protection payments from US mining giant Freeport McMoran in Papua Province

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Civil groups in Southeast Asia urged the region's governments at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday to include more protection in the mandate for ASEAN's new

Jambi – Jambi has been seeing a rising number of layoffs in the province since early this year, due to the continued fallout from the global economic crisis.

Pagaralam, South Sumatra – A beauty contest for transvestites has become the Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) latest target.

Putri Prameshwari – In the latest move by a local government to adopt regulations inspired by Shariah Law, a district in East Java Province has reportedly banned public elementary schoo

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Despite its withdrawal from practical politics, the military remains one of the most powerful political institutions in the country, and questions on whether

Kafil Yamin – A group representing about 60 pharmacy owners in North and Central Jakarta has lodged a complaint with city police, claiming to have been blackmailed by a rogue police off

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Indonesia is unlikely to follow the path taken by regional peers to allow the local currency to fall against the dollar to make exports more competitive amid

Jeffrey A.

Aubrey Belford, Jakarta – A former Indonesian general running for the country's presidency has gone to unusual lengths to shake a bloody reputation for human rights abuse, by recruiting

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – National Police chief Gen.

Jayapura – Papua Police has offered a Rp 10 million (US$900) cash reward for the capture of any of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) members responsible for the outbreak of violence in Punc

Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta – Indonesia is in a heightened state of political confusion as national legislative and presidential elections approach.

Jakarta – Minister of Religious Affairs Maftuh Basyuni reprimanded religious leaders Friday for using religion to get or discourage votes for certain parties.

Markus Makur, Jakarta – Top figures from various tribes in Papua, including a number of tribe chiefs, are fighting for legislative seats.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Nicolas Jouwe, cofounder of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) has arrived in Jakarta after 40 years exile in the Netherlands to renounce the restive province's inde

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Supreme Court has ordered judges not to send drug addicts to prison any more, instead they should be put in rehabilitation centers.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – A survey released Thursday found that more than 50 percent of voters have not yet decided which party they will vote for in the upcoming election.

Jakarta – A decade after it was established in 1998 by key reform figure Amien Rais and other academics seeking to form a reformist government, the National Mandate Party (PAN) seems to

Jakarta – For young contenders like Eko Budiantara, the upcoming elections will serve more as a test-run for the 2014 polls than a chance to win a seat.

Halida Hatta, daughter of Muhammad Hatta, the co-founding father of Indonesia, remembers her father's words: Politics is dirty, but politics can be the only way to improve people's live

Desy Nurhayati – With the exception of several major parties and one or two new parties, most parties contesting in the April 9 legislative elections do not have a strategy to woo voter

Alfian, Jakarta – Claims of massive fraud in the recent East Java gubernatorial election have raised the issue of the credibility of the April polls, coming days after the resignation o

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Islamic parties might not be able to secure a significant number of votes in this year's legislative elections as the parties have been abandoned by supporters

Indah Setiawati and Alit Kertaraharja, Denpasar – An estimated 60,000 children in Southeast Asia are being exploited to work in a multimillion dollar of commercial sexual businesses, a

Alfian, Jakarta – The chances for an unprecedented meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri look less likely, with both leaders at i

Jakarta – Nearly two dozen Greenpeace activists were forcibly dragged away by security guards Thursday while protesting the destruction of Indonesia's forests by one of the country's la

Jakarta – Around 300 people displaced by the Lapindo mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, in 2006 returned to the State Palace on Wednesday for another protest.

Jakarta – Indonesians should prepare for the worst as the global economy looks set to slide further over the next few years, economists and alumni from the association of the National R

Jakarta – The co-founder of a Papuan rebel group fighting to split from Indonesia has returned after more than 40 years in exile to renounce the independence struggle, officials said Th

Novia Stephani – When Muji (not her real name), 61, joined Pemuda Rakyat, or People's Youth, in 1965, she never imagined her involvement in the youth wing of the Indonesian Communist Pa

Kafil Yamin – The recent buzz about the potential for last week's meeting, between former President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, to lead to a coalition between