Calvin Michel Sidjaja – 2011 was not a good year for human rights in Indonesia.

Francis Kan, Singapore – Indonesia's inability to meet the rising energy needs of its businesses, from steelmakers to hotel resorts, threatens to put the brakes on growth in Southeast A

Jan Lepeltak – On Jan.

Charlie Hill-Smith – The highest mountains between the Himalayas and the Andes are the snow-topped crags of West Papua (4884 metres).

The trial and conviction of a teenager who stole a pair of flip-flops in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu on Wednesday has sent out the wrong message about law enforcement in the co

John McBeth – When the United States and Australia recently announced that US Marines would begin regular training in the Northern Territory, all that some Indonesian legislators could

Anita Rachman – With 2011 now behind us, pundits looking ahead to 2012 see a year of intense political battles and legal struggles ahead for Indonesia.

Three decades, you're entitled to think, is a long time in politics.

Nurkholis Hidayat – The current state of Indonesian law prompts me to question once again whether the rulers (the investors, political oligarchy, the majority) are the law, or whether t

Nurhayat Indriyatno – The past year offered up a bounty of prime headline fodder, with plenty of people stepping into the glare of the public spotlight, willingly or not, to capture the

Jay Griffiths – I have a hit list in my hand. Fifteen people are threatened with assassination because they speak out for freedom and democracy, against a massacre.

After the completion of a six-month forensic audit process, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) last week announced that its auditors found no evidence of corruption involving the key offici

Usman Hamid, Jakarta – The year 2011 found the predicament of human rights in a state of decay.

Neles Tebay, Jayapura – Papua, under Indonesian rule since May 1, 1963, has been a land of conflict. It has to be transformed into a land of peace.

Noble mothers, wives and workers, with no troublesome demands – this is what Soeharto's New Order wanted of its female citizens. And every Dec.

Oei Eng Goan – This isn't the 1959 courtroom drama "Anatomy of a Murder." It was a real life tragedy that befell farmers in the Mesuji area in South Sumatra and Lampung provinces, where

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed in early October Lt. Gen.

Carmel Budiardjo – According to Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, there are no political prisoners in Papua – only criminals who have b

Catherine Wilson, Sydney – The Indonesian government's offer of development for West Papua, following the crackdown by security forces on a pro-independence meeting in Jayapura in Octob

It has now been four months since workers at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Papua decided to strike, demanding higher pay.

Ati Nurbaiti, Canberra – As of September this year, at least 26 regencies and municipalities have passed bylaws restricting or banning the Ahmadiyah sect, 11 of them in West Java alone,

Half a century ago, the Dutch encouraged the people of Western New Guinea, now generally known as Papuans or West Papuans, to look forward to independence.

After months of interviews and auditions, which included a tug-of-war within the House of Representatives over trivial procedural technicalities, the House's Commission III on legal aff

Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, Jerusalem – With Special Autonomy unable to address long-standing problems facing Papua, development acceleration is the latest government policy in place in the

Tom Clarke – Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has staked Australia's UN Security Council candidacy – and international reputation – on the claims that Australia is a "principled advocate of

Genevieve Woods – In October 2010, Indonesia faced a diplomatic milestone - the inaugural visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) to The Netherlands.

Oei Eng Goan – Veteran actor Pong Harjatmo unveiled a banner reading "Arrest Nunun or Else Busyro Resigns" during a protest at the office of the Corruption Eradication Commission on Fri

Melody Kemp – The low hill in front of us was bathed in golden light as the sun set gloriously over Sumba, Eastern Indonesia.

Puguh Sadadi, London – The call by Eni F. H. Faleomavaega and Donald M. Payne in The Jakarta Post on Nov.

Armando Siahaan – Under normal circumstances, the media serves as an institution that covers political stories.

Bramantyo Prijosusilo – Transparency and accountability are universally accepted as the cornerstones of good governance.

Bastiaan Scherpen – After a brief controversy, a ruthless former governor-general of the Dutch East India Company is back on his pedestal in his Holland birthplace.

When the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather for their 19th Summit in Bali, they will have a slew of issues on the table.

Eni F.H. Faleomavaega and Donald M.

Elaine Pearson – "Now we are vilified," an Ahmadiyah imam told me last week at a mosque outside Jakarta that is threatened with closure.

Usman Hamid, Jakarta – Indonesia and other Asian countries have for better or worse to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The freedom of religious belief and the right to practice one's faith are protected by our Constitution.

John M.

Charles Scheiner, Dili – Tonight, I'm honored to be with so many young Timorese people who believe in justice and independence.

Jajang Jahroni, Boston, Massachusetts – The phenomenon of our mosques today reflects the idea of incongruity.

Robert Finlayson – No one I know loves Soetta, aka Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, except me.

The decision by the Law and Human Rights Ministry last week to issue a moratorium on sentence remissions for graft convicts while observing frequent cases of controversial sentence redu

William Lloyd George – While the international community is fixated on events taking place across the Middle East, they are turning a blind eye to desperate cries for help by the Papuan

This is not the first time that Gareth Evans has recognised that his, and Australia's, policy on reforming ABRI (Later TNI) was mistaken.

If the "crocodile versus gecko" saga two years ago was dubbed the fight-back by corruptors, the latest batch of not guilty verdicts from regional corruption courts is feared to augur th

Oktovianus Pogau – The situation in Papua has taken a turn for the worse after last month's forced dispersal of a pro-independence congress in Abepura.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Amsterdam – A dialogue initiated by Jakarta has recently been followed up by massive strikes at the Freeport gold mining site and third Papuan People's Congress on

Gareth Evans – Noam Chomsky, in Sydney on 2 November, repeated his familiar attack on my handling, as Australia's foreign minister from 1988-96, of relations with Indonesia over East Ti

Sidney Jones – If President Yudhoyono is looking for one simple step that could change the ugly political dynamic in Papua, he should announce that police will stop using live ammunitio

The tough response of the Indonesian armed forces to the Third Papuan People's congress has strengthened calls for freedom.