AHRC-STM-049-2010

Ismira Lutfia – An environmental group on Tuesday condemned lawmakers' decision this week to approve plans to build nuclear power plants in Indonesia.

Nurfika Osman & Made Arya Kencana – Despite the government's claim to have succeeded in reducing poverty and social deprivation, experts on Tuesday warned that more effective social

Jakarta – Family planning programs are an unfamiliar service among city residents, especially among the poor, with an observer warning of the looming phenomenon of a lost generation.

Tini Tran, Jakarta – The US should consider lifting a ban against working with a commando unit accused of human rights abuses a decade ago, saying Indonesia's military has undergone sig

Jakarta – Former National Police detective chief Comr. Gen.

Jakarta – As online and multimedia journalism spreads across the globe, promising greater freedom and wider readership for media outlets, the specter of censorship and violence against

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – If the United States does not lift its ban on cooperation with the Army's Special Forces, the Indonesian military says it will simply establish ties with othe

Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman – A growing debate in the religious arena over smoking intensified on Sunday, with senior officials from the country's largest Muslim organization and i

Nivell Rayda – The Corruption Eradication Commission pledged not to sacrifice its independence as more and more members of the House of Representatives threatened to slash the body's bu

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman – Whoever is elected next week to head the country's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, would maintain its distance from politic

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – The law on blasphemy tramples on the rights of women, the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) testified Friday in the judi

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Human Rights Watch has called on the US government to rethink any plans to lift a 12-year ban on training the Indonesian Army's Special Forces, stressing that

Hamish McDonald – Domestic political change can do wonders for a foreign relationship.

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – With the Jakarta administration's deaf ear on the request to review its public order agency, a group of NGOs rallied Friday in front of the City Hall, Centra

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – "Beware of terrorists among us" reads a welcome banner upon entering the Witana Harja housing complex in Pamulang, South Tangerang, Banten.

Suherdjoko, Pemalang – The body of Joko Pitono, better known as Dulmatin, who was shot dead during the recent police raid on a terrorist cell, was buried in Pemalang on Friday while rel

Ati Nurbaiti, Canberra – The visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, capped with a standing ovation in parliament here Wednesday, highlighted a mutual willingness to push harder fo

Hans David Tampobolon, Jakarta – A threat from House of Representatives lawmakers to boycott any hearing with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati will do more harm than good, observe

Hundreds of people turned out in the wee hours of the morning to welcome the body of Bali bombing suspect Dulmatin home to Pemalang, Central Java.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-026-2010

Dear friends,

Anita Rachman & Camelia Pasandaran – The government body tasked with supervising elections has painted a grim picture ahead of the 244 provincial, regional and municipal polls sched

Resuming ties should require resolving concerns about Special Forces' abuses

Febriamy Hutapea, Nivell Rayda & Heru Andriyanto – Lawmakers should go back to looking after the people who voted for them instead of tending to bruised political egos.

Nurfika Osman – Freedom of the press in democratic societies should be upheld, industry experts agreed on Friday, although that principle should be balanced with responsible reporting.

Putri Prameshwari & Ismira Lutfia – The National Commission on Human Rights has dismissed as "too optimistic" a US report released on Thursday that praised Indonesia's progress in p

Camelia Pasandaran – Islamic scholars and religious experts on Friday demanded the Constitutional Court either revise or annul the 1965 Law on Blasphemy, arguing that the outdated law c

Jakarta – A group of Indonesian environmental NGOs published a letter, calling on investors and buyers to reject Asia Pulp and Paper's (APP) "misinformation" on its environmental polici

Farouk Arnaz & Nurdin Hasan – Police shot and killed two suspected terrorists on Friday during a gun battle along a road in the district of Aceh Besar near the provincial capital, N

Jakarta – The fallout from the indictment on a vote-buying case in the House of Representatives has led to four more legislators being named for allegedly receiving bribes in the 2004 e

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Febriamy Hutapea & Camelia Pasandaran – The Bank Century votes may have come in, but the relentless lobbying must continue.

Febriamy Hutapea, Heru Andriyanto & Nivell Rayda – In the latest move to assert themselves following the diluted conclusions from a legislative probe into the PT Bank Century bailou

Anita Rachman, Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Febriamy Hutapea – After already going against the ruling coalition line in declaring there were "indications" of crimes and irregularities

Nurfika Osman & Heru Andriyanto – The shock jailing under the country's controversial Antipornography Law of six women for putting on an erotic dance show in Bandung has left women'

Febriamy Hutapea – A group of nongovernmental organizations on Thursday officially called for House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie, a member of the president's Democratic Party

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Human rights activists on Thursday asked that the closure of the Guantanamo camp and the return of terrorist suspects to their countries for trial be a priori

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will seek an explanation from the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) for its refusal to approve a bro

Damien Kingsbury – Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's address to the Australian parliament yesterday marked a very real change in Australia-Indonesia bilateral relations.

Hans David Tampobolon, Jakarta – Legislators should retain their professionalism and put aside their personal differences with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati amid growing confli

Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Total subsidies will be raised by 26.3 percent to Rp 199.34 trillion (US$21.73 billion) in the revised 2010 state budget to protect households, the main driv

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Observers say the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has been biased in its handling of a bribery scandal at the House of Representatives.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesian authorities are in hot pursuit of Umar Patek, the last alumnus of the Bali bombing terrorist cell who remains at large after the death this week of his

Nurfika Osman & Farouk Arnaz – Despite the confirmed death of terrorist mastermind Dulmatin, a resurgent and expanding militant network still posed serious security concerns, expert

Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
US Department of State
2201 C Street
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Ati Nurbaiti, Canberra – Veteran Australian journalists have remarked that a string of negative incidents should not disrupt Australian-Indonesian relations in the long run.

Ulma Haryanto – Heated debate and cries from a rowdy crowd marked Wednesday's hearing in the judicial review of the 1965 Blasphemy Law, as leaders of the hardline Islamic Defenders Fron

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Academics took to the stand Wednesday in the judicial review of the blasphemy law, as hard-line Islamic groups warned of a violent backlash should the

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – It is alleged that Makassar and East Makassar Police chiefs are being transferred from their posts for their involvement in uncontrolled clashes between stud

Ulma Haryanto – The government is anticipating a massive housecleaning after a special team formed by Vice President Boediono announced it would begin instituting sweeping administrativ

Peter Boyle – An historic decision to relaunch itself as an open party was made at the seventh congress of the People's Democratic Party (PRD) of Indonesia on March 1-3.