Kornelius Purba and Rita A.

Jakarta – Some 2,000 people have taken refuge in safer areas in Poso town following a spate of recent attacks in Poso regency, a senior local official said on Tuesday.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung/Jakarta – The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) and the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) condemned the shooting of two workers in Bandung, West

Jakarta – Some 3,000 workers from PT Doson Indonesia, a company which produces Nike athletic shoes, staged a demonstration on Tuesday in front of the US Embassy to protest plans by the

Ainur R.

Jill Jolliffe – Most of Dili's shops were closed and shuttered yesterday as about 2000 former guerrilla fighters put on a show of force against the Fretilin government of Prime Minister

As of the end of July, the number of political parties registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights for the 2004 general election had reached a staggering 204.

Robert Go, Jakarta – As the number of hotspots in Indonesia rises, Jakarta officials yesterday said that they were unable to do much to stop the fires causing the choking haze in the re

James Dunn – At last Indonesia's human rights tribunal has begun passing verdicts on the 18 accused who have appeared before it.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – The United States has criticised Indonesia's acquittal of six out of seven people accused of war crimes in East Timor, highlighting the prosecution's failure to

A thick haze from forest and ground fires has blanketed several Indonesian regions on Borneo island, choking residents and disrupting road and air traffic.

[Australia is to talk to East Timor about Indonesia's acquittal of army officers accused of human rights crimes in East Timor.

The commander of the East Timor Defense Force (ETDF) said Tuesday that the Dili government should build a monument to honor resistance fighters killed in the independence struggle again

Jerry Norton, Jakarta – US criticism of Indonesian prosecutors over verdicts in East Timor human rights cases was out of line and would be better directed at judges in the case, a spoke

Jakarta – A Christian separatist leader went on trial yesterday for allegedly plotting a rebellion in Indonesia's religiously divided Maluku islands.

Jakarta – Human rights activists pledged on Monday to step up a global campaign for the establishment of an international tribunal for those involved in the mayhem in East Timor in 1999

Kupang – Police and Army troops, backed by local civilians scuffled on Monday at Maumere, Sikka regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) on the island of Flores, leaving more than 10 people, i

[The Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal has acquitted six military and police officers charged with crimes against humanity for failing to prevent the bloodshed in East Timor in 1999.

La Remy and Muhammad Nafik, Palu/Jakarta – Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen.

Patricia Nunan, Jakarta – About 2,000 factory workers marched through the Indonesian capital Jakarta Tuesday to protest being laid off from their jobs making Nike products.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Bandung, the provincial capital of West Java, is still tense following a violent labor rally in which two demonstrators were shot and a police officer was in

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – The Indonesian government yesterday gave separatist rebels in Aceh a three-month deadline to drop their independence demand and resume peace talks, as part of a

President Megawati Sukarnoputri has reportedly spent a whopping $22.8 million on overseas trips during her first year in office and no one in parliament is complaining – disgraceful giv

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – An observer has criticized the government's decision to raise the budget allocations for the military and police without obliging them to promote financial tran

Jacqueline Koch, Jakarta – Last week's acquittals of six army commanders accused of inciting terror in East Timor graphically illustrate the distance Indonesia still has to travel befor

A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Having been in office for a year, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has spent a staggering US$22.8 million on overseas trips, according to a finding revealed by t

Muklis Ali and Dean Yates, Jakarta – Indonesia on Monday gave rebels in Aceh province until December to resume peace talks, backing away from the threat of an intensified military crack

Kenneth Roth, New York – Following the spate of recent business scandals in the United States, President George W.

More than 50 prisoners who escaped from Dili's main prison Friday, after a riot apparently provoked by anger at hold-ups in the processing of inmates' cases, remained on the run Monday.

The Australian Government has been told it has an obligation to support the establishment of an international tribunal to prosecute those Indonesians involved in the 1999 bloodshed in E

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – New government policies expected to be unveiled today for the restive province of Aceh are likely to be a combination of a carrot and stick approach.

The acquittal of six members of Indonesia's security forces on charges arising from the horrific massacre of three East Timorese priests and the scores of civilians they were sheltering

Washington – The United States on Monday criticized the Indonesian prosecutors who failed to secure convictions for six out of seven security officials charged with crimes against human

Jakarta – Relations with the US will not be affected by the acquittal of six defendants allegedly involved in the violence that engulfed East Timor in 1999, Indonesia's foreign minister

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Disillusioned Indonesians are paying tribute to one of the nation's forgotten heroes and founding fathers, the late Mohammad Hatta.

Banda Aceh – At least 5,000 people paraded in Aceh province yesterday to celebrate the country's independence in a show of support for Jakarta's rule over the region.

Jakarta – Economists said the government was being too optimistic with its economic growth target of 5 percent for next year, as stated in its 2003 state budget draft, as they argued th

Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI)'s surrender of its seats in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has been applauded by many, but one analyst says the retreat is symbolic, no

M. Munab Islah Ahyani, Bandung – A demonstration by workers in Bandung [West Java] has resulted in a worker being shot.

Jakarta – Indonesia's national assembly chairman Amien Rais yesterday slammed Malaysia over what he called the "inhumane" caning of several illegal Indonesian migrant workers.

The influential chairman of Indonesia's national assembly says his chances of winning the presidency in 2004 have been greatly improved by the assembly's decision to hold direct electio

Tommy Suharto is among more than 35,000 prisoners – almost half of all Indonesian inmates – who have had their sentences cut to mark the country's 57th independence day.

Efforts to stem or halt the rapid disappearance of Indonesia's rich and sprawling forests are stumbling in the face of weak law enforcement in this vast and corruption-prone archipelago

A new upsurge in violence in the Poso region of Central Sulawesi is believed to be not only a conflict between Muslims and Christians but more a struggle between local elites.

Nani Farida and Apriadi Gunawan, Banda Aceh/Medan – A series of bomb explosions punctuated the celebration of Independence Day in conflict-torn Aceh, as another bomb explosion rocked a

[Bitter Dawn: East Timor, A People's Story; by Irena Cristalis; ZED Books, London, 2002; 286 pages. Reviewed by Carmel Budiardjo, Contributor, London.]

[As the fledgling nation of East Timor finds its feet, Maree Curtis talks to Kirsty Sword, the Australian-born former spy playing first lady to a legend.

We are in the back of an old Toyota Ute, heading for the hillside village of Ermera. It is only about 100km from the East Timorese capital, Dili, but the road is rough and winding.

A thick haze caused by fires in Indonesia has disrupted internal air services and forced flight cancellations in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island, an airport official said.

R.K.