Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – State worker insurance company PT Jamsostek announced Thursday it had registered 4,200 more companies in Jakarta as members during the first eight months of the year.

Bekasi – It has been seven years since community policing was adopted in Bekasi, but the concept has yet to penetrate the lives of all residents there.

The negative image the public has of the police force seems to be one of the reasons for the reluctance.

Andra Wisnu, Jakarta – If you are easily upset or are considered passive in dealing with other people, then you might want to skip town, as experts denounce the city's stress levels as being "too high".

Syofiardi Bachyul and Jon Afrizal, Padang/Jambi – The death toll from Wednesday's powerful earthquake in West Sumatra is believed to be in the thousands, as rescue teams struggle to dig people out of the rubble of buildings.

Jakarta – The cameras flashed away as the beautiful people posed on a red carpet, tailored suits for the men and glittery gowns for the women. Their perfume mingled in the air as they wave and smiled at the cameras.

Jakarta – Some 550 Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officials voiced their concern on Thursday over recent attempts to weaken the Commission.

Nivell Rayda – A lawyer for the embattled Corruption Eradication Commission said on Friday staff members had received death threats from a senior police officer, fanning the flames of a bitter rivalry between the two agencies.

Candra Malik, Solo – The body of a terror suspect shot dead in a police raid last month was buried under tight security and cover of darkness in the early hours of Friday in his hometown of Solo, police said.

The burial was done quietly in an effort to head off potential conflicts between supporters and opponents.

Jakarta – Despite recent claims made by the Golkar Party chairmanship candidates that they had secured most support, most regional leaders will decide who to elect based on the rewards offered, an independent study says.

Camelia Pasandaran & Febriamy Hutapea – As the first legislators directly elected to the House of Representatives were sworn in on Thursday, a number of analysts have expressed doubts.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Golkar Party will select its new chairman based on wealth, access to the government and desire to bring the party closer to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling coalition government, political analyst Syamsuddin Haris said on Friday.

AHRC-OLT-026-2009

Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
President of the Republic of Indonesia
Presidential Palace,
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara Jakarta Pusat 10010
INDONESIA

Tel: +62 21 384 5627, ext. 1003
Fax: +62 21 231 4138, 345 2685, 345 7782
Email: presiden@ri.go.id

Dear Mr. President,

Pandaya, Jakarta – Their main job has been to make laws but while they were doing it the House of Representatives legislators often stirred bitter controversies that ended up with the new law landing at the Constitutional Court for review, sometimes in a matter of weeks after endorsement.

Nivell Rayda – The Corruption Eradication Commission and the Supreme Court have welcomed the newly passed Anti-Corruption Court bill and are preparing to handle cases outside of the nation's capital.

Nurrohman, Bandung – Allowing adulterers to be stoned to death is not just improper but is generally perceived as uncivilized nowadays. Stoning is neither in line with the Indonesian legal system, nor with the spirit of how the Prophet Muhammad dealt with adulterers.

Febriamy Hutapea & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The House of Representatives ended its mandate on Wednesday much as it did on most days during its five-year term – with hundreds of empty seats and no sense of urgency.

Irwan Firdaus, Padang – Rescue workers used excavators Thursday to pull out victims, some screaming in pain, from the heavy rubble of buildings felled by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 529 people. The death toll was expected to rise.

Febriamy Hutapea – In the end, the House of Representatives failed in its legislation-producing aims, even by its own, much-vaunted yardstick.

Although the House had set for itself an ambitious target by claiming that it would pass 70 percent of its 284 targeted bills, it ended the final day of its term having only passed 193, or just 68 percent.

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Saifuddin Jaelani, the man who has emerged as the most wanted terrorist in Indonesia, may have been planning a wave of monthly attacks, Indonesian police say.

It is the voice of Jaelani, a Yemeni-trained preacher and traditional Islamic healer, that is heard on a video calling for the destruction of Australia, America and Indonesia.

Emmy Fitri – In response to the simple question of how they would rate the performance of the 550 lawmakers who served the country over the past five years, political analysts and political novices alike immediately give the same response – a big thumbs down.

Max Lane, Jakarta – In the immediate aftermath of the July 8 Indonesian presidential election, the two losing sets of candidates alleged that there was widespread ballot fraud.

Danielle Sabao – The year 2009 has been a significant one for elections in Indonesia. In April, 171 million voters participated in national, provincial and district assembly elections. Then, on July 8th, for the second time since the end of Suharto's military dictatorship, they elected their president by universal suffrage.

Putri Prameshwari – Scores of flights to and from Sumatra had been delayed or cancelled as thick haze still covered parts of the island, forcing airports to suspend operations, airline officials said on Wednesday.

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decided in 2005 to issue a direct instruction that would curb illegal logging, it was hoped that a directive coming straight from the nation's leader would finally get the job done.

Four years later, however, the fight against illegal logging has made minimal strides, one environmentalist says.

Fidelis E Satriastanti – A climate expert says the country is far from ready to deal with the harmful effects of climate change on crops, with droughts or floods likely to threaten food security down the road.

Camelia Pasandaran – The head of the Constitutional Court criticized the House of Representatives on Tuesday, labeling the outgoing crop of legislators as being beholden to political interests and having a "bad" understanding of how the law actually worked.

Justice Mahfud MD identified two specific problems about the lawmakers, whose terms expired on Wednesday.

Angus Hohenboken – Two Indonesian suicide bombers were filmed discussing martyrdom and being instructed to target Australians, just weeks before they blew up two Jakarta hotels, killing seven people, including three Australians.

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Six national commissions criticized the police on Tuesday for criminalizing two deputy chairmen from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said on Wednesday it never intended to discredit controversial former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto by initiating the establishment of an ad hoc tribunal to investigate the disappearances of activists during the 1997-1998 unrest.

Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Residents of East Java's capital are preparing for another water crisis, as October – the transition month from the dry to rainy season – is considered the worst month for pollution in the Surabaya River.

The waterway, a branch of the Brantas River, is the source for 71 percent of the water processed by the regional water company (PDAM) in the city.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Indonesia's president is pressing the country's 234 million people to wear batik clothes to celebrate a triumph over neighbour Malaysia in a poisonous feud over cultural heritage.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Febriamy Hutapea – The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed into law what is considered to be a vague version of the controversial Anti-Corruption Court bill that leaves more questions than answers.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who begins a second five-year term next month, may create new ministerial posts to spur development of the natural resources sector, sources told Reuters.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – In what critics say is a blow to attempts to reform the military, the House of Representatives on Monday abandoned deliberations of the military tribunal bill that would have allowed soldiers accused of criminal offenses to stand trial in civilian courts.

Alwan Ridha Ramdani, Jakarta – The Indonesian airforce began on Tuesday a joint military exercise with the US Airforce at the Husein Sastranegara Airbase, in Bandung, West Java.

Jakarta – Parliament has called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to form a human rights court to try the cases of rights activists kidnapped in 1997.

Oyos Saroso H.N. and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Bandar Lampung, Padang – Many councilors at Lampung provincial legislature and 11 regency and municipal legislatures have reportedly used their letters of appointment (SK) as collateral for loans, raising doubts among observers about their performance.

Jakarta – Media associations and NGOs will draw up their own version of the controversial state secrecy bill to present to the government, after the latter withdrew its version following intense pressure from civic groups.

Putri Prameshwari & Eras Poke – Concerns over a damaged well leaking crude oil into the Timor Sea near East Nusa Tenggara have prompted the government to dispatch a team to monitor the situation.

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The House of Representatives passed the hospital bill into law yesterday, granting the government authority to oversee private hospitals and abolish their licences for misconduct.

Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said the new hospital law would provide better protection of patients' health services rights while in hospital.

Jakarta – Labor unionists criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's performance in the past five years, saying that the majority of workers have not experienced improved monthly minimum wages and that the deadlock over contentious industrial disputes remain unresolved.

Camelia Pasandaran – A nationwide survey released on Sunday by the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information showed that nearly 90 percent of respondents wanted the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle to form an opposition bloc in the House of Representatives.

Febriamy Hutapea – Candidates for the Golkar Party chairmanship are scrambling to secure the support of regional leaders as the competition heats up ahead of the party's national congress next week.

Candra Malik, Solo – Tensions over the burial of a terrorist are not over, with hundreds of residents protesting over the weekend at the two cemeteries near Solo considered for the interment.

Jakarta – Hunched over in brightly lit assembly lines, 300 women churn out 60,000 pairs of sports shoes a month at a factory in Tangerang, an hour's drive from Indonesia's capital.

Nethy Darma Somba, Jayapura – Dozens of paramedics across Jayapura staged a rally on Monday at the Papua Governor's Office to demand the local administration increase their allowances, which are no longer enough to live on.

Nivell Rayda – Embattled Corruption Eradication Commission deputy chairmen Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto on Sunday rejected police allegations that they had received Rp 3 billion ($312,000) in bribe money from fugitive businessman Anggoro Widjaja, saying the accusations were insulting and slanderous.

Nivell Rayda – The government encountered its first setback in its bid to find temporary replacements for three suspended leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission, after most of the candidates refused to participate out of fear that they would meet the same fate as the suspended leaders, a lawyer involved in the matter said.

Hanta Yuda A.R., Jakarta – Who will replace outgoing Vice President Jusuf Kalla as the next chairman of Golkar when the party holds its congress in October? Some figures are certainly ahead in the race.

Jakarta – Activists and a traditional market association have criticized Governor Fauzi Bowo for handing out goods from modern retailers as Idul Fitri gifts, likening the practice to gratuity.