Teguh Surya – Climate change has brought forest protection into the forefront of the global agenda.

The seven-month imprisonment given to a junior Army officer in Papua, who was shown on YouTube leading the torture of Papuan civilians, defies the sense of justice of any decent and san

Trefor Moss – Indonesia has long been the individualist of Asian geopolitics – a big country that behaved like a small one when all those around it were trying to do the opposite.

Robin Lee Santoso – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's speech against the persecution of minorities last month received much acclaim.

Zoe Kenny, Yogyakarta – Thousands of mainly student protesters took to the streets in cities across Indonesia – including Jakarta, Palu, Makassar, Medan, Ternate, Samarinda, Bandung, Su

Walter Balansa – This month, Indonesia will celebrate National Health Day. For the second year in a row, it will pass with the Health Law's tobacco control regulation still pending.

It doesn't get any lower than this. Or does it?

Trefor Moss – Southeast Asia's sleeping giant has begun to make some surprisingly wakeful noises.

Torture has no place in a modern, civilized society. Period.

Aubrey Belford, Jakarta – To millions, Suharto, the military strongman who ruled Indonesia for 32 years, was a tyrant, a thief and a murderer.

Peter Alford, Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono finished the first year of his second term yesterday beset by criticism from every direction.

By now there may be only a few of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's 34 Cabinet ministers who are confident that their positions are secure.

What a difference a year makes. Just 12 months ago there was so much hope and optimism when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took the oath of office for his second five-year term.

Radicalism is a cancer that is slowly devouring our nation.

There is nothing more worrisome in a sovereign, rule-based state than the absence of legal certainty to ensure that laws and regulations are imposed and justice is upheld.

That religious conservatism, or more precisely Islamic conservatism, is creeping into our state affairs comes as no surprise.

Muh Taufiqurrohman & Suharsana Aji – With just a day remaining before Comr. Gen.

It is no wonder that the government is having to respond to criticism about its tardy response to the flashfloods that swept across Wasior area in West Papua.

Jakartans had high hopes when they picked Fauzi Bowo to be the city's governor three years ago.

Could President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's skin be any thinner? Once again the president has lashed out after perceiving an incident as a personal transgression against him.

Christian Donny Putranto – Just moments before what was to be a historic flight to the Netherlands on Tuesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono surprised quite a few people – his ento

Bramantyo Prijosusilo – In the wake of the threats and wrath coming from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) against the gay film festival in Jakarta, a Democratic Party politician questi

Stanley A Weiss, Jakarta – One of the mesmerizing dances performed here is Jaipongan, a style that mixes Indonesian martial arts with village ritual music.

"If you want to borrow some too, I have some [money] here," Gayus Tambunan, a defendant in a tax corruption mega-case told the judge during a hearing last week at South Jakarta District

Duncan Graham – Traffic jams are expected to vanish throughout Indonesia once a new edict by a leading agency takes effect.

Zely Ariane – We undertake united front work because it is a principal tactic with which to bring broader layers of the poor majority into the movement challenging the power of the ruli

Max Lane – In the Indonesia News Digest 31, August 16-23 there are more than 70 news items covering a wide range of issues relating to struggles for social justice and full democracy in

Neles Tebay, Abepura, Papua – The central government under the leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is committed to continue establishing constructive dialogue with Papua.

Hendra Teja, Jakarta – Indonesia in the reform era has made significant strides in its efforts to eradicate corruption.

The right to worship freely is clearly enshrined in our Constitution. But to our nation's chagrin, this guarantee may only exist in theory, and not yet in practice.

Teddy Lesmana – Poverty remains a serious problem in Indonesia, despite the country's improved economic performance and robust economic growth in recent years.

Damien Kingsbury – As the new consolation prize, Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd's first job will be to try to implement the government's "East Timor solution" for asylum seekers.

Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – We are not in competition with each other.

Taufik Darusman – It is only a matter of weeks or even days before the Corruption Eradication Commission ushers in a new chairman.

"The greatest threat facing the US is the tyranny of the majority," penned nineteenth-century French writer Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America.

Putri Prameshwari& Arientha Primanita – FPI flexing its muscle again. The Brown Shirts in Nazi Germany did that too – and no one stood up to them – and look what happened.

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar, Bali – Six years ago, academic Greg Barton understood why Indonesian moderates were reluctant to clash with the country's radical Islamist minority.

Robert M Cutler, Montreal – Jakarta's principal stock market index has more than doubled since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the July 2009 presidential elections with a margin

Pandaya, Jakarta – The generous presidential pardon and remissions granted to graft convicts has strengthened Indonesia's status as a haven for corruption and eroded public trust in Pre

Clifford McCoy – The arrest last week of radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was the highlight of a government crackdown on Islamic militants following the discovery in February

Pandaya – The House of Representatives needs to make a breakthrough to improve its poor legislative performance as indicted by its almost certain failure to reach its target of endorsin

Jason Tedjasukmana – Rising tensions in Papua have Indonesian authorities worried about possible international intervention in the nation's easternmost province, reports the head of a g

Muh Taufiqurrohman – The police's elite Densus 88 counterterrorism unit arrested five alleged terrorists in West Java this past week, and while Abu Bakar Bashir grabbed the headlines, t

Chris Chaplin and Carole Reckinger – West Papuans and Papuans are not only fighting for independence but also to live free of poverty.

The Indonesian government has banned a Dutch funding agency, for allegedly supporting Papuan separatists and running a commercial enterprise.

The New York Times has called Indonesia a "golden economic child" and said that the nation once known for inefficiency, corruption and instability had earned a new reputation.

Al Makin, Yogyakarta – Islam, like Buddhism, teaches us to endure suffering, through which we can learn some lessons including in patience, disquietude and self-control.

Pandaya – The police's failure again on Tuesday to present the court with crucial evidence it had previously claimed to possess – in the form of wiretapped conversations between Corrupt

A leaked video clip from Indonesian controlled West Papua should be as unsettling for Indonesia as the Wikileaks 2007 video showing a helicopter strike in Baghdad was for the United Sta

The release of the International Crisis Group's latest report again highlights the important – yet often neglected – issues surrounding our easternmost province.