Aboeprijadi Santoso, Jakarta – Few issues have shaken the nation as the conflicts in East Timor and Aceh. Both have been resolved, yet their impact on our nationhood lingers on.

Ciamis – As a fisherman wife, Saring lives a simple life. But the 53-year-old never imagined she would have to camp in a make-shift tent for more than a year.

Jakarta Post – Legal experts are recommending the government use the anti-corruption law, not forestry laws, to try illegal logging suspects.

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta Post – Observers welcomed the dismissal of Maluku's provincial police chief following the recent flag-waving incident by a separatist group in Ambon.

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) establishing itself as a political party is the last thing Jakarta needs to worry about right now.

Jakarta Post – Thousands of workers from two shoe manufacturers rallied Monday at the Jakarta Stock Exchange building to demand Nike, an American athletic apparel company, restore contr

Oecussi – Sika and Siska were not born prematurely and yet between them the twins weigh a little over four kilograms (nine pounds), a testament to food shortages gripping impoverished E

East Timor's ruling party Fretilin and an alliance led by ex-president Xanana Gusmao have agreed to form a unity government after last month's legislative elections, the country's presi

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston has defended his support for Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso over a Sydney coroner's bid to question him about the 1975 killings of five newsmen, despite fresh

Last week United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour paid a five-day visit here, during which she met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Indonesian Military Com

Dili – East Timor's president said Monday he was pushing political parties deadlocked since elections last month into forming a unity government but they were disputing who would be pri

The House of Representatives recently selected 11 new members of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

Few newspapers gave space for the enactment last week of the Energy Law by the House of Representatives, as its 34 articles only provide a broad outline of national energy policies.

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta – Mondays are usually the starting point of each persons activities for the week. Likewise also for demonstrations in the capital.

Jakarta – Females must make up at least 30 percent of a political party's candidate pool for the 2009 general elections and parties that do not adhere to this policy should be financial

Jakarta – Giving the House of Representatives more power and money to deliberate laws could curb the flow of illegal funds from ministries to lawmakers, analysts say.

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities have removed the military chief of Maluku province following a surprise separatist protest in front of the president there last month, a military spokes

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Democratic Party (PD) faction in the House of Representatives has recommended House leadership be determined according the number of votes obtained by each

Jakarta – The Justice and Human Rights Ministry will verify the validity of political parties running in the 2009 general election only after a new law on parties is enacted, to minimiz

Rafiqa Qurrata A, Jakarta – Dissatisfied with the process of reform that they believe has failed, 1998 activists are threatening to make a comeback.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Australian troops have surrounded East Timorese military rebel Alfredo Reinado in an attempt to head off deadly clashes with disgruntled supporters of the

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Despite major improvements over the past few years, the country's banking sector has yet to fully recover from its worst crisis in living memory 10 years ago, th

Simon Roughneen, Dili – After spending two years in prison on terror-related charges, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, widely regarded as Indonesia's most radical Islamic cleric, is plotting his nex

Bandung/Makassar/Jakarta – A series of fatal land and sea accidents since last Saturday has claimed dozens of lives and further tarnished the country's public transportation reputation.

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Jill Jolliffe, Baucau – A top-ranking Indonesian official at the centre of a bitter diplomatic dispute last month has been identified as a key figure in the systematic torture of milita

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A Canadian Muslim intellectual has questioned whether the rise of sharia-based ordinances in Indonesia has been driven by a desire for harmony and people's welfa

With the regional assembly (DPRP) now preparing to issue a regulation about cultural symbols, such as the Morning Star, the song Hai Tanahku Papua some time this month, the Commander of

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Jakarta – Teachers in the Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) held a rally in the capital city once again. Last Monday, PGRI deployed hundreds of members from East Java.

East Timor's president Jose Ramos-Horta met Friday with political parties deadlocked over forming a government in the wake of elections last month and set a date for their first parliam

The current brouhaha over the establishment of a local political party in Aceh raises a more important question about the exercise of democracy and equality in Indonesia: Shouldn't othe

Siswanto, Jakarta – Around 100 residents from Cengkareng in West Jakarta held a demonstration in front of the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara on Friday July 13.

Idham Gofur, Jakarta – Scores of housewives and children held a demonstration in front of the State Palace on July 13 calling on the government not to surrender the distribution of milk

The secretary-general of the Dewan Ketahanan Nasional (Council for National Resilience), Lt.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The government is upbeat that Indonesia's economy will continue to pick up momentum this year, with growth of between 6 and 6.11 percent year-on-year anticipated

Ary Hermawan, Jimbaran, Bali – Indonesia will continue to adopt a society-oriented economic system aimed at guaranteeing an equal distribution of wealth to all citizens but remaining op

Zainal Fikri, Banjarmasin – More and more regencies and municipalities across the country have adopted sharia-inspired bylaws.

Hariyanto Kurniawan, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's speech stating other economic systems have failed and so they have chosen an open economic system that incorporates s

Banda Aceh – The case of RCTI television reporter Ersa Siregar, who died during a fire fight between TNI (Indonesian military) soldiers and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) during the perio

Paul Cleary – A potentially unstable coalition government with few detailed policies and weak administrative ability is now certain to emerge after East Timor's first post-independence

Banda Aceh – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has been asked to pressure the Indonesian government to resolve cases of human rights violations that befell

The US$1.5 billion civil lawsuit filed by state attorneys against former president Soeharto at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday – more than nine years after his fall – could s

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The urban poor made it clear Wednesday that casting their ballots in Aug. 8 election was their only way of having a say in how the city is run.

Udin, Banda Aceh – United Nations High Commission for Human Rights Louise Arbour is particularly interested in women's issues in Aceh.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has praised Indonesia's progress in applying human rights principles in recent years, and says th

Sebastien Blanc, Dili – With a new president and parliament, East Timor is poised for reconciliation after more than a year of simmering political tension.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Jakarta – State responses and the row over flag incidents in Maluku and Papua suggest little has been learned from Indonesia's rich experience with conflicts in Eas

Bhimanto Suwastoyo, Jakarta – A 1.5-billion-dollar civil suit filed against Indonesia's ex-dictator Suharto is a political move to appease government critics and comes too late to retri

Jakarta – The government denied Monday that it had given the go-ahead for ex-members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to use the flag of the former rebel group as symbol for a