Dear friends,

Jakarta – A survey conducted to commemorate a decade of Indonesia's reform movement has concluded an overall decline in the freedom of religion and speech but an increase in governance

Jakarta – Indonesian prosecutors demanded on Wednesday a local court outlaw the Jemaah Islamiah Islamic militant group, which has been blamed for a string of deadly bombings in recent y

Jakarta – Muslim hardliners stormed a church in Indonesia during services, smashing images of Jesus Christ and demanding that it be closed down, the pastor said on Monday.

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – Papuan Muslims will hold an inaugural three-day congress in Jayapura beginning Tuesday, which is slated to attract 260 participants from 29 regencies and m

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government and all political factions at the House of Representatives have agreed to continue listing religion on identity cards.

Endy M.

Jakarta – Pro-democracy supporters and scholars are urging the upholding of the founding Pancasila state ideology to thwart hardline religious groups attempting to impose a monotheistic

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reassured the public Saturday that Chinese-Indonesians were legally recognized and their constitutional rights guaranteed by t

Andra Jackson – A group of West Timorese is seeking asylum in Australia from Indonesia claiming they have been pressured into carrying out attacks against Christians in their village.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) here Wednesday condemned the expulsion of 253 Moslems from East Timor, saying the action was a violation of the Moslems' human rights.

Erwin Z, Jakarta – A total of 278 Indonesian citizens currently residing in the An-Nur mosque, Dili, East Timor, have requested that the Indonesian Representatives' Office (KUKRI) in th

Frans H. Winarta, Jakarta – Indonesians, and especially those of Chinese descent, have just celebrated Chinese New Year.

After decades of official supression, Indonesia's ethnic Chinese minority is now able to openly celebrate the Lunar New Year but discrimination remains for the rest of the time.

Indonesia is gradually winding back the elaborate system of discrimination against its Chinese citizens.

Jakarta – Indonesia's top Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) yesterday demanded that an article guaranteeing religious freedom be kept untouched in the country's Constitution.

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta – Calls are mounting for the government to revamp or scrap altogether the Ministry of Religious Affairs following a recent proposal to establish a joint religion

Louise Williams – Four years ago, the then Islamic leader Abdurrahman Wahid publicly begged for forgiveness on behalf of Muslim mobs who had burned every church to the ground in the eas

Vaudine England – Christians in Jakarta have come to know December as a time when their faith, commitment and tolerance will be tested.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Dili – Lured by the opportunity to make it big in the coffee trading business, Abdul Halim moved to this predominantly Roman Catholic territory in 1996 from his la

Dili – Several dozen Muslims who fled the recent violence in East Timor returned home to a protest by East Timorese who said they are not welcome, a UN official said Friday.

Jakarta – A mob of some 200 Muslims armed with crude weapons set fire to a church in a town south of Jakarta early Tuesday, residents said.

Jakarta – Hundreds of Confucians gave orchids to Indonesian riot police, burnt incense and chanted prayers on Monday to demand the government officially recognise their religion.

Jakarta – A mob attacked a Roman Catholic complex in the predominantly Moslem province of South Sulawesi, throwing fuel bombs that burned several buildings just hours after a blast at a

Jakarta – Rock-throwing students damaged at least four churches and four Catholic schools in Ujunagpandang, the capital of Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, witnesses said Friday.

Susan Sim, Jakarta – Two churches and a Christian school were destroyed partially in the West Java city of Bandung on Sunday by mobs angry over the illegal use of several shophouses for

Seven government offices were seriously damaged and seven people – four soldiers and three civilians – were seriously injured when hundreds of people flooded into Lhokseumawe early Mond

Jakarta – A mob of more than 1,000 people attacked three churches, a Catholic school, a clinic and scores of houses near here on the eve of the Moslem fasting month, a report said Monda

Jakarta – Thousands of Moslems attacked and burned down three houses and two mosques in two villages on Indonesia's Madura island, off the coast of eastern Java, following rumors a devi

Jakarta – A Moslem mob Friday attacked and set on fire a Catholic church in South Sulawesi in the latest incident of religious strife to hit Indonesia in the past two weeks, residents s

Jonathan Head, Jakarta – An ecumenical church is Indonesia has been destroyed by a mob near the capital, Jakarta, according to church sources.

Michael Richardson, Manado – In a country where official statistics show Muslims forming 85 percent of the 200 million population, a striking feature of the buildings lining both sides