It is difficult not to be suspicious of the latest political maneuvers made by the heirs of the late former president Soeharto.

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 enforced disappearance, rights activists said on Thursday.

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Indonesia is considering tough new anti-terror legislation that would enable detention without charge for up to two years and prosecution of radical preachers who glorify terrorist acts.

Dicky Christanto and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Human rights defenders strongly rejected a proposal to extend the detention of alleged terrorists to two years without charges.

Nivell Rayda – The country's most prominent antigraft watchdog warned on Wednesday that there were at least two provisions in the latest draft of the Anti-Corruption Court bill that could hamper the government's campaign against graft.

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 from the New Order era.

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – The Medan District Court sentenced Tuesday a student, a becak (pedicab) driver and a lecturer to prison for their involvement in violent protest that led to the death of North Sumatra legislative council speaker Abdul Aziz Angkat in Feburary.

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 Rights on Tuesday September 1.

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 in office. Over the next period therefore, Yudhoyono is being urged to show more courage.

Kartika Inggas, Bangkok – Lubna Ahmed Al Hussein is not a household name in Indonesia. Not many people anywhere in the world knew of this female Sudanese journalist until earlier this month, when her name hit the headlines for her courage to challenging her government by refusing to admit that she committed a crime.

Max Lane, Jakarta – Watching Jusuf Isak's body wrapped in white linen being passed down to his sons, standing deep in the grave dug in Java's rich, red muddy soil, was like watching life itself being buried, for Jusuf was somebody who never stopped living life to the full, to the very last moment. He died on August 15, aged 81.

Febriamy Hutapea – Never mind differences over culture, Malaysia has at least one thing that the Indonesian government wants to "copy" – its tough antiterror law. A senior government official says the country is too "soft" on terrorists and is pushing for a Malaysian-style Internal Security Act.

Max Lane – On August 6, Wahyu Sulaiman Rendra, Indonesia's greatest dramatist and most influential poet, died in Jakarta, aged 74. More than a thousand people, mostly villagers but also intellectuals, attended his funeral on August 7 at his home and theatre group centre, Bengkel Teater, outside Jakarta.

Sam King – The National Network for Women's Liberation (Jaringan Nasional Perempuan Mahardika – JNPM) is an Indonesian women's liberation organisation consisting of local women's committees, coordinating bodies and women's sections of labour, student, peasant and urban poor organisations committed to the liberation of women.

Amir Tejo, Surabaya – Irresponsibility on the part of PT Lapindo Brantas may again cause more misery for the people of Sidoarjo.

After a mass hacking attack on more than 120 Malaysian Web sites, dozens of students ambushed the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday and pelted it with rotten eggs.

The rally outside the embassy at Jalan Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, was heavily guarded by police, but no demonstrators were stopped or arrested.

Jakarta – The Indonesia Military (TNI) says the export of weaponry to the Philippines has been done in accordance with procedural administrative requirements.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Executive members of political parties in coalition with President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party will remain strong potential candidates for the next Cabinet, experts predict.

Camelia Pasandaran – The potential power of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party-led coalition in the House of Representatives could pose a threat to democracy, the Indonesian Civic Network said on Tuesday.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra may support his eldest sister Siti Hadiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana as she challenges billionaire Aburizal Bakrie for the Golkar Party's top post, party officials and political analysts say.

Ismira Lutfia – A prudent man does not make the goat his gardener. Nor, apparently, should a prudent television station broadcast the word "goat."

The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) told the Jakarta Globe on Monday that it had reprimanded two Jakarta-based television stations for broadcasting derogatory content, including the word "goat," in August.

A suspect wanted in connection with hotel suicide bombings in the Indonesian capital infiltrated the national airline in a plot to carry out a "bigger attack," the police chief said Monday.

The chief editor of a media group that runs a hardline Islamic Web site said on Monday that the site would reopen after being brought down by excessive visitors following a police raid and allegations that a founder of the site was linked with the Jakarta bombings.

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The government would be accused of abusing human rights if it endorsed a tougher antiterrorism law giving the power for police to detain a terrorist suspect for two years without charge, a top official from the National Human Rights Commission said on Tuesday.

[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 for Justice Continues.]

Jakarta – State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said Saturday the whereabouts of a 1966 document that marked a transfer of power from founding president Sukarno to Army general Soeharto remained uncertain.

Indah Setiawati – Loopholes in the process of making an identity card (KTP) in the city and its surrounding areas means many people can get, and indeed do have multiple KTPs.

Wedhatama, a resident of Tangerang, says he knew he ought to have handed his old KTP over to the subdistrict office when he made a new KTP at his new residence, also in Tangerang.

Indah Setiawati, Jakarta – In 2004, the Home Ministry announced to the public that Indonesia would give each citizen a Single Identity Number (SIN) for use in various administrative systems records and documents.

Kafil Yamin – Since the beginning of last year, the heads of no fewer than 29 provincial, district and municipal administrations have been arrested on corruption charges, with 19 being convicted in court. In Indonesia's push toward eradicating corruption, they likely will not be the last.

Bogor – Bogor Police took 30 unmarried couples from several hotels in Parung, Bogor, on Friday evening and brought them to police headquarters for questioning.

A senior detective with the Bogor Police, Adj Comr Luky B Irawan, said that the arrest of the couples was part of campaign to honor the holy month of Ramadan in the area that has predominantly Muslim residents.

Ismira Lutfia – In an effort to scoop audience ratings during the holy month, broadcasters have been serving up a banquet of Islamic-oriented shows for Muslim viewers, ranging from televised sermons to Ramadan specials and religious soap operas.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Public opinion is needed to push the government to act to mitigate climate change, but a new survey shows that many of the nation's students believe climate change is God's will and that humans can do nothing to stop it.

Arientha Primanita – Jakarta residents who haven't made the adjustment already had better learn to live with the annual floods because the problem will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, experts say.

Febriamy Hutapea – Members of the corruption-plagued House of Representatives (DPR) have been blasted for their poor performances during their 2004-09 term after managing to pass less than 60 percent of targeted legislation.

Camelia Pasandaran – A House of Representatives committee on Sunday denied it had dragged its feet on a bill to set up a new Anti-Corruption Court.

Dewi Asmara, the head of the committee, said that the House had to be methodical in its consideration of the bill. "We don't want to pass it without thorough deliberations," she said.

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 outlets to face fines of as much as Rp 100 billion ($10 million) for publishing state secrets.

Nurfika Osman – Nongovernmental organizations on Sunday urged the government to ratify the 1990 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers, warning the country could lose face with the international community if it further delayed legal protection for its citizens overseas.

Jakarta – Aspiring Golkar Party chairman Yuddy Chrisnandi met with former president Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, after meeting with her younger brother, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

Febriamy Hutapea – Analysts said on Friday that the irrepressible Suharto family was courting its former bedfellow, the troubled Golkar Party, for a possible comeback.

A string of recent political events involving the two amounts to a "testing of the waters" for possible re-entry into politics, analysts said.

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 euros ($52 million) kept in the British independency of Guernsey.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, however, declined to give details about the case when he met reporters on Friday.

Jakarta – Police are verifying intel that the country's most wanted terrorist, Noordin M. Top, has married again – this time to a 19-year-old woman in Pandeglang, Banten, days after one of his lieutenants was killed in Central Java.

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 Euro 36 million ($61.7m) in a Guernsey bank account.

Febriamy Hutapea – A senior official with the Democratic Party tried to quell a tempest of controversy on Friday, saying there had been no hidden agenda surrounding a recent meeting with a major rival party.

Jakarta – How long will the country tolerate the prolonged slavery of housemaids? The government insists it is difficult and potentially counterproductive to regulate the domestic sub-sector and the House of Representatives has not made the issue a top priority.

Around 370 operators and employees of entertainment centers in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, have demanded that the local authorities pay them a Ramadan allowance following the closure of their work places.

They made the demand in reaction to the forced closure of their businesses and workplaces during the current Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

Febriamy Hutapea & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A Democratic Party official is once again stirring controversy by saying that current negotiations with a major rival party about positions in the next government are merely part of a ploy to pressure coalition members to ease up on their demands.

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Claims that local election officials demanded payment from political parties for legislative seats have emerged from two new regencies in Lampung.

The two regencies – West Tulangbawang and Mesuji – just recently gained autonomy from the Tulangbawang administration.

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 traditional dance in front of the nine-member Constitutional Court on Thursday, as part of a legal challenge against the Anti-Pornography Law.

Jakarta – Migrant Care, an NGO advocating for the rights of migrant workers, has urged the government to immediately ratify the 2003 ILO convention on the protection of migrant workers and their families to counter increasing abuse against housemaids both at home and abroad.

The terror network blamed for the Jakarta hotel bombings is "larger and more sophisticated" than thought, a think tank said Thursday.

Analysts at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said the group led by Malaysian Islamist Noordin Mohammed Top was finding it "disturbingly easy" to recruit members to carry out fresh attacks.