Dili – Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri acknowledged Wednesday that his FRETILIN party forces committed "errors" and "excesses" during East Timor's brief civil war in 1975, but he vehementl

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Labor activists have accused employers and the government of treating workers inhumanely by underpaying a great number of them.

Suherdjoko, Semarang – Around 10,000 employees in Central Java could lose their jobs by the end of the year, most of them working for textile factories, an official said on Tuesday.

Denpasar – The increase in the number of applications for domestic and foreign investment shows Indonesia is recovering from a slump in investment, said the Head of the Investment Coord

Sydney – The sister of one of the Balibo Five journalists shot dead in East Timor 30 years ago wants their remains exhumed for examination.

Nurvita Indarini, Jakarta – The sentencing of Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was enlivened by a demonstration by hundreds of activists from the Solidarity Action Committee for Munir.

Banda Aceh – Indonesia withdrew 1,600 troops from Aceh province as part of a pact aimed at ending a separatist conflict in the province devastated by last year's tsunami.

Jeff Kingston – The legacies of Indonesia's brutal occupation of East Timor from 1975 to 1999 – when there were at least 102,800 conflict-related deaths – remain divisive in this small,

Organisations campaigning for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua hope that a new umbrella body will help them gain support from governments in the Pacific.

Fabio Scarpello, Jakarta – A recently published Dutch-report has rekindled hopes of "correcting the course of history" in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province and theatre of a strugg

Organisations campaigning for independence in the Indonesian province of Papua have formed a new umbrella organisation – the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation.

Jakarta – The government will soon disburse Rp 75 billion (some US$7.5 million) in fresh funds to bail out ailing state-owned domestic airliner PT Merpati Nusantara to speed up its fina

The government will spend Rp 18 trillion (about US$1.82 billion) next year for a range of infrastructure projects including irrigation, roads, dams and bridges, to help drive higher eco

Australia is to resume training Indonesia's most feared Army unit, Kopassus, which has been linked to the murder of New Zealand soldier Private Leonard Manning in Timor, and to human ri

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The government is expected to extend the presence of international peace monitors in Aceh, previously scheduled to finish their job in

Suherdjoko, Semarang – Over 1,000 village leaders from across Central Java staged a protest outside the governor's office on Monday, the latest in a series of protests demanding legal c

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Public uproar over an alleged study tour by 15 lawmakers to Egypt heightened on Monday with a critical report of their activities from Cairo fueling admonishment

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Hundreds of displaced persons from East Timor taking refuge in East Nusa Tenggara province demanded on Monday that the central government compensate them with

Cimahi/Medan/Surabaya – Thousands of workers have jammed the streets of the main cities of Medan, Surabaya and Cimahi in massive protests over the newly set minimum wages, which they sa

Nurvita Indarini, Jakarta – Although Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto has been sentenced to 14 years jail, Munir's wife, Suciwati, appears not to care.

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta – Pollycarpus has been sentenced to 14 months jail by the Central Jakarta State Court.

Dean Yates and Ade Rina, Jakarta – An Indonesian court jailed an off-duty pilot for 14 years on Tuesday over the murder of the country's top human rights activist during a flight on the

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – Dissatisfied with the court's decision to sentence Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto to 14 years jail, around 200 activist from the Commission for Missing Pers

Fitraya Ramadhanny, Jakarta – Around 200 demonstrators from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) held an action in front of the State Palace demanding th

John McBeth – The commission formed to investigate human rights abuses during Indonesia's bloody 25-year occupation of the former East Timor, now Timor Leste, has just issued its report

Hong Kong – Four Indonesians who took part in an anti-WTO sit-in that occupied a major thoroughfare in Hong Kong over the weekend have been charged with unlawful assembly, an activist s

Mark Dodd – At his war crimes trial in Dili in 2001, East Timorese militia leader Joni Marques, facing 13 counts of murder, assault, kidnapping and torture including the cold-blooded ki

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A non-governmental organization (NGO) has reported that child trafficking and illegal adoptions were continuing in the tsunami-ravaged areas of Aceh and Nias.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid led thousands of Muslims in a march through the capital on Sunday to promote "Islam for Peace" and counter militant

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Indonesia's economy may have to brace for interest rates of 14 percent in the first half of 2006 as the central bank continues its monetary policies designed to

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – After a relatively ineffective run this year, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration should make use of all political support it has enjoyed in the

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – A broadcasting regulator has condemned the closure of a radio station critical of the government and asked the station to continue broadcasting.

Eva C.

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – The increase in fuel prices and a shortage of raw materials have left 23 metal factories in Cirebon on the brink of bankruptcy and hundreds of workers' jobs at r

Muchus Budi R., Jakarta – Pollycarpus, the defendant in the murder case of human rights defender Munir will soon be sentenced.

Joyce Hor-Chung Lau, Hong Kong – Suciwati Munir looks every inch the modern, media-savvy campaigner, flying from country to country with her bags of matching red-and-black banners, butt

Leony Aurora, Bandung – Despite the soaring oil prices, exploration activities in Indonesia remain low at between 60 percent and 75 percent of the plans submitted to the government, whi

Banda Aceh – Former rebels in Indonesia's Aceh today surrendered enough weapons in a final disarmament process to meet the total required under a historic peace pact with the Government

Machendra Setyo AtmajaIntania Nur Kusuma, Jakarta – Symbols of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have been burnt by demonstrators from the Indonesian People's Anti-Imperialist Union (P

Ahmad Dani, Jakarta – Coinciding with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Level Conference (KTM) in Hong Kong, 2,000 farmers gathered at Victoria Park on Saturday December 17

Muhammad Nur Hayid, Jakarta – Around 100 people from the Indonesian People's Anti-Imperialist Union (Perisai) demonstrated in front of the State Palace on Sunday December 18.

Anthony Hubbard – Greig Cunningham has learned the hard way about governments and foreign affairs.

A. Junaidi – Acehnese writer Riati M.K.

Ahmad Dani, Jakarta – Actions opposing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will also been held in Indonesia.

Machhendra Setyo Atmaja, Jakarta – Calls for Indonesia to walkout of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are growing stronger as it is believed that the Indonesian government gains no be

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Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – The Indonesia-Timor Leste Truth and Friendship Commission (CTF) plans to summon former Indonesian Military chief Gen.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – The first thing on Sujono's mind when he decided to move from his hometown of Pacitan to Sidoarjo city six years ago, was to improve the financial state of his fa

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – The cemetery was quiet in the afternoon, with only the sounds of birds chirping in tamarind trees and the bleat of grazing goats being audible.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The true picture of the country's unemployment is much worse than is being acknowledged by the government, a prominent labor analyst said.