No matter how we slice and dice the issue of West Papuan independence, it always comes down to this: Do the indigenous peoples of a distinct and discrete land mass have the democratic right to self

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The country's president constitutionally has the prerogative and the liberty to nominate and appoint candidates for top posts in the government and the military, includin

Leong Tsu Quin, Bangkok – From June 4 to 5, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) held a workshop with Indonesian lawyers that we would much rather not have had at all.

Iwan Dzulvan Amir, Jakarta – Once again, Aceh has become a national laughingstock and an international embarrassment.

Dr. Tarcisius Kabutaulaka – West Papua will be the highest-profile issue at the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) leaders' summit in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on 24-26 June 2015.

As if to show their defense of people's interests, House of Representatives members have proposed a whopping budget of Rp 11.2 trillion (US$842 million) for next year to be spent on development pro

The Corruption Eradication Commission is on the verge of becoming merely a place where proxy wars between the National Police, Attorney General's Office and Indonesian Military take place.

Women in Banda Aceh are now banned from being outside their homes after 11 p.m., with exceptions for those in humanitarian work, such as nurses and medical practitioners, and if they are accompanie

Under Indonesia's Constitution, the division of labor between the executive and legislative branches of governments when it comes to spending public funds is clear-cut: the administration allocates

Public perception that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo tends to reserve strategic posts in his government for political parties that supported his election last year is difficult to deny, although a

With Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, agreeing to work under a Special Mining Business Permit, or IUPK, from its current Contract of Work, or KK, the governme

Nobody should be above the law in a democratic country that upholds equality before law.

Phelim Kine – It appears to be business as usual this week for Indonesian government officials intent on maintaining the decades-long restrictions on foreign media access to the far eastern provinc

One by one, graft suspects are humiliating the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in court, capitalizing on the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) to not only escape the commission's enforce

Another day, another controversy under President Joko Widodo's administration.

For an administration that has been vociferous on following through with the letter of the law, the government of President Joko Widodo has shown a callous and wanton disregard for human rights.

Budi Hernawan – Many of us were surprised but pleased when Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced early this month that the decades-long restriction on foreign journalists in Papua would be lif

Tom Clarke – As the Timorese celebrate their 14th "Restoration of Independence Day" this week, it is once again Australia's self-interest that prevents their long struggle for sovereignty from bein

Cillian Nolan and Sidney Jones, IPAC – Indonesia's Papua, covering its two easternmost provinces, simmers with the highest levels of deadly violence – inter-ethnic, electoral, land-related and dome

Cillian Nolan, Jakarta – In his fourth visit to Papua in just over a year, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo last weekend told Papuans that he wanted to "turn over a new page" in their relations with

Jayapura, Jubi – Indonesian President Joko Widodo's visit to Papua from 9-10 May included a stop at Pasar Pharaa, traditional market, at Sentani, the launch of the Institute of Public Administratio

James Giggacher – This weekend has seen some possibly big developments in Papua, where Indonesia President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has released five political prisoners in the disaffected provinces.

Following his campaign pledges, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has signaled a different approach to Papua, announcing on Sunday in Merauke that Papua and West Papua are now open to the foreign pres

President Joko Widodo made a historic decision when he publicly announced in front of the nation's security chiefs on Sunday that foreign journalists now can freely enter Papua.

It is simply beyond our imagination to let the Yogyakarta sultanate, as one of the oldest living monarchies in the country, crumble in the wake of modernism.

Indonesian socialist Sherr Rinn writes of the need to bring radical politics into the labour movement, which is still hampered by the huge defeats of the Suharto era.

Giri Ahmad Taufik – In spite of vigorous appeals from Australia for Indonesia to spare the lives of Bali duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, most Indonesians were not persuaded.

Manpower Minister Hanif Dhakiri announced on Monday that the government would stop the placement of migrant workers in 21 countries of the Middle East, so far among the top destinations of Indonesi

As part of its organizational restructuring, the Indonesian Military (TNI) merged on Monday the military police corps of the three armed forces into one institution dealing with enforcement of mili

Dave Armstrong – Today we may think of the Dutch as a race of benevolent liberals, many of whom sit in Amsterdam cafes smoking hash and listening to bad Eurojazz, but like all colonists, the Dutch

Jennifer Robinson – Australia is up in arms over Indonesia's execution of the Bali Nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. And rightly so: the death penalty is abhorrent and must be abolished.

Within a week of one-time graft suspect Budi Gunawan being inaugurated as deputy police chief, the boys in brown have tried to arrest three officials from the antigraft commission that initially ch

Australian taxpayers spend millions of dollars every year training Indonesian military and police officers.

The execution has been carried out and the damage is done. We have to live with that.

Judging from the statement by the Attorney General's Office, the nine drug convicts on death row may be dead by now or may still be alive as Indonesia continues to defy calls from human right activ

Hamish McDonald – It will be scant help to the two Australians and six other foreigners now facing imminent execution on Nusakambangan Island, but the case of fellow convict Serge Atlaoui, now subj

Why should President Joko Widodo repeal the planned execution of 10 drug convicts on death row?

Mitchell Bland – As Australia celebrates its historic partnership with New Zealand and commemorates lives lost through war, our Pacific partners in West Papua and their plight for independence must

Jewel Topsfield – "A New Hope". The Time magazine cover on October 16, 2014 said it all.

Hamish McDonald – Here we are again, poised on the brink of another media frenzy as two Australian drug convicts come closer and closer to a firing squad in Indonesia, barring a late change of hear

Now that Gen. Badrodin Haiti has been installed as the new National Police chief, the controversy over Comr.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – About the mass killings of alleged leftists in 1965-1966 and their aftermath in the following years, there have been a few qualifications.

Liam Gammon – If it achieved nothing else, last week's PDI-P party congress managed to confuse a lot of tourists.

No one seemed to know, or care, very much about Siti Zaenab when she was still alive.

Indonesians will find it difficult to boast of being from a democratic country as long as their compatriots continue to fall victim to the Electronic Information and Transaction (ITE) Law.

The government's move to block several websites accused of spreading radicalism and hatred received condemnation from many – not only from those identified as fundamental and militant, but also fro

Since its birth almost 70 years ago, this nation has tirelessly promoted equality before the law; but the latest two cases of poor elderly persons being forced to stand trial for minor criminal cha

It's hard to look at the government's recent capitulations in the fight against corruption and write them off as minor setbacks, misguided policies, or sheer ineptitude on the part of the officials

I do not know what the prospects are that President Widodo will stop the current implementation of the death sentence for people convicted of drug related crimes.

Dominic Diongson – President Joko Widodo's plan to issue a regulation focusing more on graft prevention rather than enforcement – meaning investigation, arrest and prosecution – is a troubling shif