Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Camelia Pasandaran & Dessy Sagita – Kicking off its frantic final weeks, a plenary session of the House of Representatives on Monday approved four bills, a

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was under strong pressure on Monday to intervene in the drafting process of the controversial state secrecy bill by orderin

Ismira Lutfia – With black tape covering their mouths to symbolize freedom of expression being silenced, journalists on Monday demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court and urged it to

Heru Andriyanto – The widow of slain businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen said on Monday that the accused mastermind of the murder, antigraft agency chairman Antasari Azhar, has promised inv

Jakarta – The Witness and Victim Protection Agency told families and victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre Saturday that it might be difficult for them to ask for compensation from

Nivell Rayda – An international rights group on Monday slammed Indonesia's police for botching a key human rights case and for wielding defamation charges as a political weapon against

Pandaya, Dili – A man dropped a pale brown book onto my lap, startling me and interrupting my interview with human rights activist Lita Sarmento in the hall of the CAVR (Timor Leste Com

Joint statement on the release of Martenus Bere – indicted for crimes against humanity in Timor-Leste

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has finally resolved more than 200 issues in the controversial state secrecy bill with the government, despite requests from civil society groups

Jakarta – In another attempt at justice, families and victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre sent a letter to a United Nations special rapporteur Friday pleading for an intervention

Philip Dorling – The Federal Government has conceded an East Timorese man may leave Australia before the Federal Police have finalised an investigation of his alleged involvement in tor

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – A retired Indonesian spy chief controversially acquitted of murdering a human rights lawyer is pursuing a criminal defamation case against one of the lawy

Australia-Indonesia relations are being tested as the Australian Federal Police conduct a war crimes investigation into the deaths of five Australian journalists killed at Balibo in 197

Jakarta – The House of Representatives passed three bills into law during a plenary session Tuesday, but two have drawn heated criticism from industry experts.

Bati Kartini – The executive director of a committee fighting for justice for murdered human rights lawyer Munir Said Thalib was called to the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Wednesday t

Shohib Masykur, Jakarta – The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, took time out on Wednesday to wish President Susilo Bamba

Jakarta – The House of Representatives has three weeks to pass their target of 22 priority bills, but legislators are apparently unable to even show up to deliberate the potential laws.

Camelia Pasandaran – With lawmakers likely to pass two new pieces of legislation today, critics have called for a moratorium, arguing that new laws could end up being struck down by the

Jakarta – Five years after the murder of prominent human rights activist Munir Said Thalib, his supporters have accused the government of lacking resolve to settle the case.

Dili – A decision by East Timor's government to release a militant wanted for an infamous 1999 church massacre a decade ago this week has sparked angry protests by human rights groups a

Lindsay Murdoch, Darwin – East Timor's release of an Indonesian citizen accused of crimes against humanity violates the country's own constitution, the top United Nations human rights o

Vannessa Hearman – I was angry that Timorese president and peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta used the 10-year anniversary of the United Nations-supervised ballot in East Timor on August 3

Farouk Arnaz & Heru Andriyanto – Monday marks five years since renowned rights activist Munir Said Thalib was murdered in what law enforcement agencies believe was part of a conspir

Camelia Pasandaran – With Indonesia's controversial state secrecy bill likely to be passed into law this month, analysts are urging legislators to ensure that an independent watchdog is

Hundreds of people lit candles and held prayers in East Timor on Sunday to mark the 10th anniversary of one of the worst massacres in the country's history.

ASA 57/002/2009

Heru Andriyanto – In the face of numerous unresolved human rights violations, the government has no justification to delay ratifying an international convention on protection from enfor

Dili – The United Nations condemned Tuesday the reported release of an Indonesian former militia leader accused of taking part in a massacre of civilians in East Timor in 1999.

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) is calling for the President to establish an ad-hoc human rights court to hear human rights abuse cases fr

[The following is an extended version of a presentation by Carmel Budiardjo at a conference in Dili, Timor-Leste in August 2009 on the theme: Strengthening Solidarity: The Struggle f

Rachmadin Ismail, Jakarta – There has been no significant change in the handling of cases of missing person or human rights violations since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been

Rachmadin Ismail, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) visited the Directorate General of Human Rights at the Department of Justice and Human R

Maris Beck, Dili – In East Timor's notorious Balide prison, the walls are scrawled with the hatred of the past.

Dili – An Indonesian man allegedly involved in crimes against humanity in East Timor when the country voted for independence has been released from a Dili prison, the United Nations sai

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – The President of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, has called on the United Nations to stop gathering evidence against the killers of hundreds of Timorese, saying hi

Geoff Thompson, Indonesia – As East Timor celebrates a decade of self-rule, President Jose Ramos-Horta has called for an end to all United Nations-led investigations into the serious cr

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Eight years after the introduction of "special autonomy" scheme developed by the central government for Papua and West Papua, major problems remain, with m

East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta is out of touch with the people over his refusal to accept an international tribunal to try perpetrators of past atrocities, the opposition said

Pandaya and Yemris Fointuna, Dili – Timor Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta asked Indonesia on Sunday to return the remains of its independence fighters who died in Indonesia.

Lindsay Murdoch, Dili – East Timor is under pressure to release an Indonesian citizen accused of leading one of the country's worst massacres, as hundreds of East Timorese attended a ce

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A lawmaker said on Sunday that the House of Representatives was likely to adopt a controversial article in the State Secrecy Bill that would allow media outle

Matt Crook, Dili – After three years behind bars as a political prisoner in Indonesia, British human rights campaigner Carmel Budiardjo saw firsthand the viciousness of former President

John Aglion, Dili – Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor's president, has called for those responsible for the death of Sander Thoenes, the Financial Times journalist killed during 1999 violenc

Sara Everingham – East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta has dismissed calls by Amnesty International to establish a war crimes tribunal to investigate human rights violations there du

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesia has been dealt a blow by Britain's highest court of appeal, with a ruling in favour of convicted murderer Tommy Suharto getting his hands on Eur

Heru Andriyanto – The Attorney General's Office is putting together a new corruption case against Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra in an attempt to keep the injunction on his 36 million eur

Camelia Pasandaran – In somewhat unusual circumstances, two beautiful North Sulawesi women wearing skirts slit all the way up to their waists and low cut white silk tops performed a tra

East Timor's stability is threatened by the failure to prosecute those behind the 1999 violence.

A decade after Timor-Leste voted for independence, a culture of impunity continues to haunt the country's people.

Long-term development in East Timor – which celebrates the tenth anniversary of its vote for independence on Sunday 29 August 2009 – will be "seriously hindered" if justice for past cri