Lhokseumawe – A regional military commander in troubled Aceh province has defended the army's shooting of protesters, as officials said Wednesday the death toll had risen to 31.

Jakarta – Student groups from several universities disclosed on Tuesday that they plan to mobilize thousands of students on May 12 to join a mammoth rally for the first anniversary of t

Jakarta – President B.J. Habibie is concerned over clashes involving Muslim sympathizers of political parties.

New York – The two main East Timor opposition parties, FRETILIN and the UDT (Timorese Democratic Union), want the UN to guarantee that their leaders resident abroad will be allowed to r

[FORTILOS received the following information today from Yayasan HAK, Dili, Timor Lorosae.]

Jeremy Wagstaff, Soreang – This country has endured wrenching change in the past year. Violence is so commonplace that killings of fewer than 50 people often go unreported.

Jakarta – Indonesian Justice Minister Muladi said Monday he believed jailed East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao should be released so he can make a greater contribution to peace efforts

Mark Dodd, Dili – Pro-Indonesian paramilitary groups formed and in some cases armed by the Indonesian military are continuing their campaign of violence and intimidation only days away

The Medan-based daily, Waspada in its Tuesday May 4 edition has confirmed that the number shot dead in the massacre in North Aceh on Monday 3 May is 23 and says that 101 are wounded.

Jakarta – Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Marzuki Darusman has said the defiance of East Timor's pro-integration militias against any United Nations (UN) p

Jakarta – A protest by hundreds of farmers claiming rights to land developed by a state plantation company in West Java left thousands of tree crops and several buildings burned and 120

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Jakarta – Five weeks ahead of the June 7 general election, poll watch organizations warned on Friday of various disruptions, including separatists' calls for a boycott in troubled Aceh,

Jakarta – Hundreds of labourers and university students held a protest here Saturday demanding the release of jailed labour defender Dita Sari as well as of other political prisoners, a

Jakarta – Indonesia's president pleaded with his country's wealthy elite Saturday not to flee abroad ahead of a landmark June 7 parliamentary election, which many fear will result in wi

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Mobs of angry Balinese have been rampaging through the usually tranquil beach resort of Kuta this week – an area previously thought to be impervious to the tens

Clashes between local residents, staff and members of the security forces have resulted in at least six deaths and hundreds of injuries at the Indorayon pulp and rayon mill in North Sum

Brian Toohey – An audience of two.

Jakarta – Police suspect 11 victims found in a mass grave in East Timor were members an anti-independence militia group that has been accused of carrying out attacks and atrocities agai

Jose Manuel Tesoro and Tom McCawley – "We were hunted like pigs." That's how Madurese farmer Amidi describes being driven from his West Kalimantan home recently.

Seth Mydans, Jakarta – Of course there was corruption under former President Suharto, said his half-brother recently, acknowledging a fact of life well known to all Indonesians.

Elizabeth Bukowski – Pramoedya Ananta Toer may have lost more than a decade of his life to the forced labor camp on Indonesia's Buru Island.

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta – Riau, Indonesia's most oil-rich province in central Sumatra, has demanded that it become a semi-autonomous federal state despite Jakarta's proposal last week

Dili – Violence by militias has risen so sharply ahead of an August 8 vote on autonomy from Indonesia that a UN peacekeeping force is needed in East Timor, human rights groups said on T

Jakarta – Hundreds of employees of the state-run water company, PAM Jaya, staged peaceful demonstrations at the British and French embassies and Provincial Legislative Assembly here Thu

Jakarta – The Indonesian government will be unable to introduce meaningful legal or political reform if the army remains involved in politics, a US academic expert on Indonesia said her

Simon Ingram, Bali – A leading activist for independence in East Timor has fled the territory with members of his family saying he intends to seek asylum in Australia.

Jakarta – President B.J. Habibie warned Thursday against any revival of communism in Indonesia, urging people to remember the mistakes of the past.

Jakarta – 150 students who went to Timor ro assist in the reconciliation process were forced to return to Java following threats from Eurico Guterres, head of the Aitarak militia, deman

John McBeth, Jakarta – The flyer from the East Timor Pro-Integration Information Centre billed it as an "Invade Dili" rally.

Jakarta – The last batch of the 3,000-member People's Security (Kamra) civilian force have just completed their 12-day military training course, Jakarta Military Command spokesman Lt.

In a statement issued on his behalf by his lawyer, Hendardi, chair of the PBHI, Xanana Gusmao, the president of the CNRT said that generally speaking, nothing new had emerged from the m

Sydney – Reports that a document has been made public by Amnesty International which comes from a group called Red Blood Commando (Komando Darah Merah) saying they will "cleanse" Dili o

Jay Solomon, Pekanbaru – One of Indonesia's richest provinces is slowly prying control of its natural wealth from the central government, posing a major challenge to Jakarta and some bi

Jakarta – Three prominent Muslim parties have formed a coalition for the next general election, saying they want to grab a sizeable share of the votes to champion Islamic values.

Cameron Stewart – The size of the planned UN observer force to East Timor next month may need to be increased because of unstable security in the territory, senior officials say.

Democratisation in Indonesia has forced president Suharto to end his 32 years of rule.

Jakarta – Politicians from four of Indonesia's 48 political parties planning to contest in the June 7 general election Tuesday took part in the first ever open public debate among presi

Tual – Police fired shots Tuesday to disperse battling mobs of Muslims and Christians in a region of eastern Indonesia that has been plagued by religious violence this year.

Peter Hartcher – John Howard's emergency summit today with the President of Indonesia is not the high-risk event as advertised - both men want the same thing.

Nusa Dua – Indonesian President B.J. Habibie said on Tuesday he fully accepted a UN-brokered autonomy package for troubled East Timor and that his government would sign it on May 5.

On Monday, 26 April, FOKUPERS received news from a resident of Liquisa that ABRI has threatened people living in the countryside, in places remote from the town of Liquisa, to move into

Lhokseumawe – A crowd of thousands held a Free Aceh gathering and feast at the village of Cot Plieng, Blang Mangat sub-district, North Aceh on Sunday night (25th-26th April).

Ujungpandang – Electoral Commission (KPU) Chairman Rudini said that there was now a distinct possibility that the 1999 general election could be postponed, following the government's su

Jakarta – At least 10 people were injured when security forces opened fire Saturday to quell rioting mobs in Indonesia's riot-torn Maluku islands, residents and reports said Sunday.

Mark Riley – It was promoted as a historic event, an agreement on self-determination for East Timor after 24 years of hostile occupation and the loss of more than 200,000 lives.

Susan Sim, Ujung Pandang – More than two thirds of the 131 million Indonesians eligible to vote in June have registered to do so in the country's first voluntary voter-registration driv

Jakarta – An Indonesian human rights group has claimed that more than 50 people have been murdered in a wave of mysterious serial killings this year, news reports said Saturday.

Jakarta – Chairman of the Jakarta Provincial Elections Committee (PPD I) Djafar Badjeber announced on Friday that campaign activities in the city for the June 7 general election were sc

Jakarta – Preliminary police investigations showed that the Monday bombing of the Istiqlal Mosque here was linked to a group calling itself the Mujahidin Islam Nunsantara Movement, poli