Timothy Mapes and Patrick Barta, Jakarta – Australia and East Timor have worked out the broad outlines of a possible compromise that could help end a bruising two-year dispute over cont

Ian Timberlake, Jakarta – A spate of acquittals absolving Indonesian military officers of human rights violations proves how powerful the armed forces remain in the country despite thei

Louise Williams – The failure of human rights prosecutions against the Indonesian military over abuses in East Timor has put millions of people at risk of continuing military abuses in

Nethy Dharma Somba and M.

Robert Go, Jakarta – Despite a hard line against offenders, Indonesia's war on drugs seems to have stalled, with users estimated at four million and rising, and the country described as

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Foreign businesses say a planned new policy on taxation, still winding its way through the corridors of power, coupled with high corporate tax rates, currently at

Jakarta – On the night of Wednesday August 11, the Tambora city sectoral police (Polsek) in West Java raided a number of gambling houses in the Tambora area.

Jakarta – Indonesian police said Thursday they had raided a gambling den reportedly owned by former East Timor militia boss Eurico Guterres, who has been convicted of crimes against hum

Jakarta – Legitimate forestry companies are contributing to illegal logging and other deforestation in Indonesia, according to a new report into the widespread exploitation of the count

Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta – Former Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri sought to reassure Indonesia's media that it would remain unshackled despite claims her government was putting the squeeze on free speech.

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB) put an end on Tuesday to their fragile and less-than-three-month-old coalition, following the

Suherdjoko and M.

Yogyakarta – Yogyakarta municipal police chief Sr. Comr.

Kusnanto Anggoro, Jakarta – There are quite a few positive sides to the territorial structure of the Indonesian Military (TNI), as ID Nugroho and Netty Dharma Somba wrote in this newspa

A public debate is raging over the Indonesian Military (TNI) bill.

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – In response to demands by businessmen operating in Glodok business district, West Jakarta, the Jakarta administration will delay the afternoon three-in-one

Medan – Hundreds of truck drivers from Belawan port staged a protest on Tuesday in front of the office of North Sumatra provincial council, demanding the council revoke a government rul

US-based rights groups called for a UN inquiry to bring to justice Indonesian security officers let off the hook for atrocities during East Timor's 1999 violence-marred independence vot

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh – Security personnel have again arrested aid workers in the violence-ravaged province of Aceh, following a high-profile arrest to an environmental activist earli

The head of the Indonesian military command overseeing the restive province of Aceh has said that controversial air strikes have been effective in battling separatist guerrillas there.

In the latest verdict to favor Indonesia's powerful military, a court acquitted a former army general on Tuesday of charges that he tortured scores of Muslim activists two decades ago.

Jim Lobe, Washington – Saturday's dismissal by a Jakarta appeals court of all pending cases against Indonesians indicted for crimes against humanity committed in East Timor five years a

Dadan Kuswaraharja, Jakarta – People living in and around mining operations find it difficult to obtain their rights.

Neles Tebay, Rome – It was the first time in the history of Papua that the Government of Indonesia recognized the Papuans' need for democracy (The Jakarta Post, July 30, 2004).

John Saltford, London – In his July 30th article in this newspaper, Foreign Affairs official Andri Hadi argues against any discussion of the 1969 Indonesian-organized act of self determ

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – The Islamic card may not be a sure vote-winner in secular Indonesia, but candidates in the first direct presidential election are not taking any chances.

An Indonesian independent rights watchdog has found evidence that the country's police and military were involved in gross human rights abuses in the troubled eastern province of Papua,

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has completed the report on its investigation into bloody incidents in the Papua towns of Wamena an

Dan Eaton, Jakarta – East Timor urged its friends on Monday not to push for a U.N tribunal for Indonesian forces accused of abuses during its bloody 1999 vote for independence, saying s

David Gollust, State Department – The United States Monday expressed dismay over an Indonesian appeals court ruling overturning convictions of security officials for crimes against huma

Jill Jolliffe, Dili – "I saw seven police firing their pistols at L-7, a volley of bullets directed at his legs. It would be surprising if he hadn't been hit."

John Aglionby, Jakarta – A UN prosecutor and human rights groups called for international action yesterday after an Indonesian appeal court quashed the four outstanding convictions of m

Jakarta – Foreign rights groups Saturday demanded the establishment of an international tribunal to punish Indonesian security officers implicated in the 1999 violence in East Timor aft

New York – US-based rights groups called for a UN inquiry to bring to justice Indonesian security officers let off the hook for atrocities during East Timor's 1999 violence-marred indep

Andrew Burrell, Jakarta – The only four Indonesians found guilty of the wave of killings and destruction in East Timor in 1999 have all had their convictions and jail terms overturned b

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Three Indonesian soldiers and a police officer have won their appeals against convictions for gross human rights abuses in East Timor, in a decision that means

A dispute over the killing of two Americans in a remote Indonesian province two years ago shows no sign of abating, despite a recent US indictment against an Indonesian man believed to

East Timor's first lady, Kirsty Sword Gusmao has called on the Alkatiri government to listen to the needs and demands of rebel Cornelio Gama or L-7.

Evelyn Rusli, Jakarta – An Indonesian appeals court has overturned the convictions of three army officers and one policeman for crimes against humanity during violence in 1999 over East

It was a bloody event that Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, then a human rights activist and University of Indonesia law student working part-time at the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), can nev

Melbourne – East Timor's first lady today accused the federal government of making the Timor Sea oil negotiations a political football.

Jakarta – Rights groups in Indonesia's Papua province Wednesday accused US Attorney General John Ashcroft of a cover up over the killing of two US teachers and an Indonesian near Papua'

Oil wealth was always expected to play an important role in rebuilding East Timor after independence.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Three human rights groups in Papua province have accused the US Attorney-General, John Ashcroft, of withholding evidence of the Indonesian military's involvemen

John Roberts – US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced in late June that the Justice Department and FBI had indicted Anthonius Wamang over the August 2002 ambush of employees of the

[This transcript was kindly supplied by Tony O'Connor as ABC TV no longer provides transcripts.]

Reporter: Anthony Balmain (AB)

Max Lane – On July 27, outside the office of the Jakarta governor, scores of civil service police – the governor's security corps – attacked a peaceful demonstration as it was dispersin

Jon Lamb – Australian Labor Party federal leader Mark Latham's comments on July 22 that a government led by him would start new negotiations with East Timor over the maritime boundary i

Banda Aceh – Indonesia's military said on Tuesday its warplanes attacked two suspected rebel bases in Aceh province, in the second use of air power against the separatists in a week.