Jakarta – Indonesian police have seized dozens of atlases showing the flag of separatist rebels in Papua province amongst the banners of nations.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The head of the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction Agency (BRR) praised on Friday the role of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the work being done to rebuild

Banda Aceh – The commander of the Iskandar Muda Territorial Command, Major General Supiadin AS, says that there are no grounds to extend the presence of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM

An advocate for the self determination movement in the Indonesian province of Papua says the Vanuatu parliament's withdrawal of a motion in support of West Papua is shameful.

There are hopes that a coalition to be established in the Indonesian province of Papua will lead to a united self determination movement.

Jakarta – A high-ranking government official returning from Yahukimo regency in Papua denied on Thursday a famine was underway in the isolated region, describing people there as "fat".

M. Aziz Tunny, Ambon – The Southeast Maluku regency administration has ordered the closure of a radio station that often aired stories criticizing the local authorities.

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Despite a slow start, progress has been made in tsunami-ravaged Aceh, with the pace of reconstruction picking up.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Thursday that the current peace-building process in Aceh was on the right track, giving optimism for a lasting peac

Dili – The head of East Timor's Catholic Church has written to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reaffirm the need for an international tribunal to bring justice for victims of violenc

Urip Hudiono and Mustaqim, Jakarta – As high inflation and interest rates continue to climb, the economy is expected to remain sluggish until the end of 2006, Bank Indonesia said, wrapp

Benteng Reges, Jakarta – Following the revelations of Fabianus Tibo-one of three Catholics sentenced to death for the 2000 sectarian violence in Poso-demands are growing that the real c

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – Members of several Muslim organizations will help guard churches over the Christmas and New Year period, a city official says.

Jakarta – A joint truth commission on violence surrounding East Timor's independence vote from Indonesia will try to summon people who may have been involved in the bloodshed next month

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Human rights campaigners on Wednesday blamed the slow investigation into last year's murder of pro-democracy activist Munir on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyon

Jakarta – It is expected that the provisions on resolving human rights violations in Aceh will again attract sharp debate in dissuasions on the Draft Law on the Organisation of a Govern

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Jakarta Police are requiring all hotels across the capital to report the identities of their guests to police as soon as they check in.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in jail for corruption in a high profile case t

Jakarta – The head of reconstruction in Indonesia's tsunami-devastated Aceh province defended the pace of home rebuilding for survivors on Thursday, saying it was exceeding the country'

Dili – President Xanana Gusmco Thursday criticized the East Timorese government's decision to begin paying benefits to former guerrilla freedom fighters as premature and destined to pro

Ben Terrall – As the US empire continues its so-called "war on terror" via blank checks for the military-industrial complex, the Bush Administration recently overrode a congressional ba

Members of the House of Representatives Commission I on defense Permadi and Djoko Susilo examine various types of weaponry belonging to the Army Special Forces (Kopassus) at the unit's

Jakarta – Aiming to boost efficiency, the world's largest instant noodle maker, PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, has dismissed thousands of workers and plans to keep on doing so until at leas

Alex Chadwick, host:

Jakarta – In spite of the public uproar, the government has disbursed Rp 10 million (US$1,030) in monthly operational allowances for each of 550 House of Representatives lawmakers, Anta

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance has expressed alarm over the media situation in East Timor after Prime Minister Mari Altakiri signed an executive decree approving a penal code that c

Havana – President Fidel Castro has confirmed that Cuba is prepared to receive another 400 young people from Timor Leste for medical training, and to extend the new literacy method Yo s

Jakarta – The efforts to create lasting peace in tsunami-devastated Aceh have been more successful than expected thus far, but the process has now entered a critical stage, a report say

Joyce Barnathan – It has been a tough road for Indonesia.

Andrew Steele, Jakarta – The wagons are already circling.

Jakarta – The USA, according to US-Indonesia (USINDO) society President Alphonse Laporta, might impose a new military embargo on Indonesia because every year the Congress has a differen

Jakarta – No matter what verdict is delivered in the murder trial of prominent Indonesian rights activist Munir on Friday, activists and legal experts say the true mastermind may never

The reports coming out of Papua about a famine that has taken the lives of 55 people since November punctuate the suffering of a country still reeling from the recent fuel price increas

Jakarta – Widodo AS, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, has said that the government has taken a rapid response to the hunger cases in Papua.

Arin Widiyanti, Jakarta – Concerned about their livelihoods that are being ground down by the advanced countries, though policies being driven by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), far

Havana – Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, Mari Bim Amude Alkatiri, praised Cuba's development and breakthroughs in its health system and its successful cooperati

Jakarta – The National Police have announced the largest-ever reshuffle under chief Gen. Sutanto, which an analyst claims kick-starts a new paradigm that will promote meritocracy.

Rusman, Balikpapan – Illegal logging on Borneo along the Indonesia-Malaysia border has increased in recent years, leading to rapid deforestation, a non-governmental organization (NGO) a

Jakarta – The Islamic-oriented Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has claimed it senses a conspiracy to alienate it from the coalition that supports the current administration.

ID Nugroho, Surabaya – Deddy Prihambudi, the chairman of the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute, who usually speaks in an explosive manner, was, for a moment, unusually quiet.

Labor says the Government must ensure proper safeguards are in place when Australia resumes training exercises with Indonesia's notorious Kopassus special forces early next year.

Reporter: Alexandra Kirk

Mark Colvin: There's been a mixed reaction to the Federal Government's decision to resume training with Indonesia's special forces.

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Australia has invited Indonesia's special forces Kopassus to join a two-week counterterrorism exercise next year, a move which rights activists say is inconsist

Jakarta – Indonesia welcomed Australia's decision Sunday to resume ties with its elite commando unit to help fight terrorism, but human rights activists questioned whether the force had

Sian Powell, Jakarta – Australia has left organisers of an Indonesian film festival in the lurch on the eve of its opening by withdrawing funding because it objects to a documentary abo

Human rights have become part of the daily vocabulary of people at all levels of society.

Jakarta – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) foresees stronger coordination between the fiscal and monetary authorities in navigating Indonesia's economy through the high inflationar

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has urged the government to address environmental problems from a human rights point of view.

Sonny Inbaraj, Dili – Cecelia Soares' eyes glaze over, each time she remembers the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. Thirty years ago, on Dec.

Cirebon – An NGO activist lashed out on Friday at new minimum wage set up by the local administration, saying that it was well below workers' expectations.