Jakarta – New requirements applied to this year's regional elections could pave the way for the emergence of "puppet candidates" who run merely to boost the profile of other candidates, warned a po

Indra Harsaputra and Djemi Amnifu, Surabaya/Kupang – A number of Regional General Elections Commissions (KPUD) have extended the registration period for political party-endorsed candidates to nomin

Jakarta – Alliances built by political parties for the 2014 presidential elections have been rendered irrelevant with parties at the regional level crafting a new form of alliance with the single p

Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – Transportation Ministry director general for sea transportation Bobby Mamahit said on Tuesday that the rally staged by employees of PT Jakarta International Container

Dylan Amirio, National – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has signed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that wil

Haeril Halim, National – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has lashed out at the National Police for questioning two of its activists about remarks that allegedly defamed a senior legal expert from

Andi Hajramurni and Suherdjoko, Makassar/Semarang – One graft suspect and another man convicted of the offense are two highlights of the list of candidates being offered up for the upcoming electio

Grace D.

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – In a major overhaul of key military positions, three Army generals who used to serve as security chiefs and an adjutant to then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have been a

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesians who join Islamic State or sympathise with the terrorist group will face criminal sanctions for the first time under draft laws that will significantly harden the c

Indra Budiari, Jakarta – Maharani said she was unable to hold back her tears when hundreds of uniformed men raided her neighborhood and started to throw her family's belongings out of the house.

Ganug Nugroho Adi and Agus Maryono, Karanganyar Banyumas, Central Java – A prolonged drought has left thousands of hectares of rice fields dried out and tens of thousands of residents with a clean-

Haeril Halim, Jakarta – A lawyer representing former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Abraham Samad and investigator Novel Baswedan has lashed out at the Attorney General's Office (

Grace D.

Deti Mega Purnamasari, Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has once again come to the defense of a religious minority congregation targeted by Islamic hard-liners, this time siding wi

Jakarta – For Budiman Sudjatmiko, the memory is still fresh of the massacre on July 27, 1996, at the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)'s offices on Jl. Diponegoro in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – Film producer Ody Mulya Hidayat had no reservations about paying Rp 1.5 billion (US$112,880) to buy the film rights to Bulan Terbelah di Langit Amerika (Split Moon in th

Sam Reeves, Jakarta – Container ships dot the horizon off the coast of Jakarta, as cranes and laborers work on an ambitious, economy-boosting project to expand the port network in the world's large

Agus Maryono, Banyumas – Tens of thousands of hectares (ha) of farmland across the archipelago are on the verge of harvest failure due to the prolonged dry season, hampering President Joko "Jokowi"

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The government is rolling out a new program starting in the 2015 academic year that places heavy emphasis on nurturing students' characters outside normal study.

Linda Yulisman and Grace D.

As of today, import duties on alcoholic drinks are set at 150 percent of their market price, higher than under previous arrangements.

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is considering a plan to broaden the authority of the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) and provide its executives with legal indemni

Djemi Amnifu, Kupang – The Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) chapter has rejected the plan by Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) to hold a halal bihalal (Idul Fitri friendship me

Marking the anniversary of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) on Wednesday, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo warned state prosecutors against extorting individuals under investigation, a practice th

Suherdjoko, Rembang, Central Java – Hundreds of residents of the Kendeng mountainous area of Central Java carried mounds of ketupat (rice cooked in coconut leaf casings) as part of a ritual on Wedn

Hunger Alert Case: AHRC-HAC-008-2015

Dear Friends,

Bayu Marhaenjati & Mikael Niman, Bekasi/Jakarta – The death toll from an explosion at a cosmetics factory on the outskirts of Jakarta has reached 17, with 12 victims dying in hospital as a resu

Bernadette Christina & Randy Fabi, Jakarta – Indonesians are smoking less than before, and that poses a dilemma for a government that faces a budget shortfall as well as rising unemployment and

Jakarta – The government plans to start providing meals at certain state and private elementary schools around the archipelago to fight malnutrition and stunted growth.

Satria Sambijantoro, Jakarta – Consumer prices may not greatly increase in July despite the Ramadhan and Idul Fitri festivities, as consumers hold back spending amid domestic economic slowdown, pol

Ina Parlina and Fedina S.

Bambang Muryanto and Suherdjoko – The Bantul regency administration in Yogyakarta has requested members of an Indonesian Baptist Church (GBI) congregation in Saman hamlet, Sewon district, to tempor

Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – The Home Ministry is planning to curb discriminatory bylaws that have become the source of conflict in regions throughout the archipelago.

Jakarta – Among a line of empty houses on Jl.

Jakarta – As the General Elections Commission (KPU) has revised regional election regulations to accommodate parties with dual leadership, camps within the Golkar Party have agreed to jointly nomin

Margareth S.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – As the government expects more and more people to register for its National Health Insurance (JKN) program, a recent study has predicted a disastrous future for the he

Andreyka Natalegawa, Jakarta – Members of the Ahmadiyah community in Indonesia continue to be discriminated against and religious leaders say a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach is needed to ad

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – In the early morning of Monday, local residents in Bantul, Yogyakarta, and Purworejo, Central Java, managed to foil attempts by unidentified persons to burn down two

As a nation, Indonesia has one major piece of unfinished business: providing a solid, unshaken and irreversible foundation for pluralism to flourish across the archipelago.

One death was too many.

Adi Marsiela, Cipaku Village, West Java – The Cipaku village square is located, fittingly enough for this agrarian heart of West Java, in the middle of rice fields ringed by thickly forested hills.

Jakarta – Indonesia's legal frameworks fail to enforce transparency in the use of public funding for electoral campaigns by political parties, while abuses are rampant and remain unaddressed due to

Johannes Nugroho – Ditching initial plans for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Indonesian government has instead opted for a mere Reconciliation Committee to deal with past state-sponsore

One of the main foundations of modern Indonesia was the awareness that the nation could only survive if it would accept, respect and accommodate differences.

Melanie Burton & Michael Taylor, Melbourne/Jakarta – Indonesian tin smelters are finding it harder to get credit from banks and trading houses after a Singapore-based firm failed to deliver som

Eveline Danubrata and Cindy Silviana, Jakarta – Investors hoping for President Joko Widodo to speed up work on Indonesia's infrastructure projects have been disappointed, with a plan for a $2-billi

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – The Bantul Police in Yogyakarta on Tuesday managed to prevent a local Muslim group from forcibly shutting down an Indonesian Baptist Church in Sewon district after ex

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns the actions of the police of the Republic of Indonesia, which has been actively working towards fabricating charges in numerous recent