"Indonesia on execution spree", reads the headline of a wire service reporting on six such executions in the past month.

Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless

- TS Eliot, The Hollow Men

Mike Steketee, National Affairs Editor – Downer's achievements as our longest serving foreign minister aren't all he claims and must be balanced against some calamitous mistakes

HS Dillon, Jakarta – The report of the joint Commission for Truth and Friendship, recently presented to the two heads of state who established the body, could certainly be lauded for en

Warren Reed – By any measure, our intelligence agencies are the eyes and ears of the nation.

Eko Waluyo, Sydney – At the handover of a report by the joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) in Bali, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted the rep

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Jakarta – The final report of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Truth and Friendship Commission (CTF), titled Per Memoriam ad Spem (Through memory toward hope) is a politic

Amid the growing number of legislators arrested for corruption allegations, House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono has accepted the public criticism against the legislative body

Sahil K. Mahtani – Unlike his predecessors, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono can hardly be accused of shooting from the hip.

Aboeprijadi Santoso, Contributor, Jakarta – "Did the Nazi Party and its supporters give Indonesian nationalists a chance to accelerate the process toward independence?

Usman Hamid, Jakarta – On July 15, Indonesia and Timor Leste officially accepted a report produced by the joint Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF).

Hamish McDonald – Hilario Madeira was the sort of priest who makes you understand how the balance of the global Catholic congregation is shifting to the developing world, away from a ja

Paul Toohey – There was never any question that it would tread softly. After all, it was called the Commission for Truth and Friendship, not the commission for truth.

Jakarta – The separatist conflict in Indonesia's Papua region – formerly known as Irian Jaya and once one of the world's great liberal causes – has become relatively quiet in recent yea

In 2000, the then Indonesian president, Abdurrahman Wahid, performed one of the most difficult acts a nation's leader can perform.

Clinton Fernandes – Imagine the reaction if an inquiry assigned responsibility for the Holocaust without mentioning Hitler, and focused only on the last few months of World War II.

Bruce Haigh – The release of a joint Indonesian-East Timor report on Tuesday by the Commission for Truth and Friendship into the causes of the crimes against humanity in the run-up to E

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was very quick in implementing one of the recommendations of the joint Indonesia-Timor Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) – expressing reg

Daniel Flitton – The sorry history of violence in East Timor did not begin with the militia rampage following the 1999 independence ballot.

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Jakarta – The casualty list piled into the newsroom like a high-scoring sports box line.

Mark Aarons – When Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jose Ramos Horta receive the Truth and Friendship Commission's (CTF) report today, the Indonesian President will be hoping that it is the

Hanan Nugroho, Jakarta – While domestic demand for oil is escalating uncontrollably (12 percent for gasoline and 15 percent for diesel fuel in 2007) and domestic oil production has been

This week we are facing two challenging humanitarian issues, the situation in Zimbabwe and the findings of the Indonesia-East Timor Truth and Friendship Commission.

Alexander Downer – Even in 1999 it was widely known that elements of the Indonesian military were behind the violent militia activity in East Timor.

Hamish McDonald, Asia-Pacific editor – The emails still keep coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, several times a day, attached with transcripts of what the minister

The long-awaited report by the Indonesia-East Timor 'Commission on Truth and Friendship' (CTF) has been handed down, confirming what we already knew about the events in East Timor in 19

Tom Hyland – The report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship is a bitter pill for the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a slap in the face to the Indonesian military,

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) alarmingly said last week while international oil prices continued to surge closer to US$150 per barrel that rising oil prices had reached a cri

Mr. Rudd's recent Jakarta visit was obviously a success, paving the way for a more informal and creative relationship between Canberra and Jakarta.

Tom McCawley, Jakarta – A breakaway Islamic sect's struggle to survive has become a major test of tolerance for Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country.

Max Lane – Protest demonstrations in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities in recent weeks marked the appearance of a new progressive alliance, the National Liberation Front (FPN).

Hanan Nugroho, Jakarta – The energy and mineral resources minister was recently blamed for his failure to meet domestic oil production targets.

If the United States is obsessed with gauging its popularity in the world through conducting regular opinion polls with simple questions like "Do you like or hate America?", Indonesia i

Jesse Wright, Dili – While East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta is on a shortlist of candidates to become the United Nations' next high commissioner for human rights, critics at home a

Marie Leadbeater – Indonesia is trying to build an international reputation as a nascent democracy and is proud of having been re-elected in 2007 to the United Nations Human Rights Coun

Lucy Williamson, Dili – Lily's wide, gentle face crumples when I ask her why she is doing it.

Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – "Awas, ada orang Islam!" (Watch out, Muslims are coming!) is now a joke among activists after the brutal attack by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on

A former general and a successful entrepreneur once sounded like the perfect partnership to lead this vast archipelagic country given their diverse socioeconomic and sociocultural backg

Philip Setunga, Hong Kong, China – Since the amendment to the Indonesian constitution in 2000, Indonesian citizens are guaranteed the right to freedom of religion and belief in accordan

The government finally issued a decision on Ahmadiyah, imposing restrictions on the leaders and followers of the minority Islamic sect.

Explain Yourself to Cameron Broadhurst

Ariel Heryanto, Victoria – Fear has prevailed in the lives of Indonesians for much too long. The reign of fear has affected both the state and ordinary people.

Ariel Heryanto, Victoria, Australia – The use and abuse of Islamic politics by the Soeharto government (1966-1998) and his immediate successor in transition, BJ Habibie (1998-1999), hav

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) roam freely despite a history of frequently taking the law into their own hands and attacking and burning buildings of

The attack on participants of a peaceful rally organized to defend freedom of religion at Monas Square in Jakarta on Sunday afternoon shows just how tenuous our freedoms are today.

The Government is reportedly undertaking a far-reaching review of the nation's foreign relationships. As we have previously noted, this is not before time.

Today is the two-year anniversary since the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, began, and it's appropriate to reflect on why problems remain unresolved and the government seems toothless t

Step Vaessen, Papua – While much of Indonesia has moved on to become a vibrant democracy, the province of Papua in the far east of the archipelago has been left behind.

It's improving, but there's a long way to go.

Irene Hadiprayitno, Utrecht – The palm oil industry is not only popular in the discourse of biofuels, but it is also economically lucrative.