President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been trying to fast-track infrastructure and economic development in Papua over the last two years, but little has been achieved to prevent human rights abuses from taking place in the country’s easternmost region. Soon after he took office, Jokowi made an oath that he would not let Papuans continue to suffer as a result of ... Read More »

Jakarta. Calls are mounting for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to start implementing a proposed roadmap for reconciliation in Papua, with human rights activists claiming that he has failed to calm tensions in the restive province in the two years since he took office. The Jokowi administration has been focusing on infrastructure development projects to boost the economy in Papua, where a ... Read More »

A radio station in Batam, Hang FM, recently made headlines when Singaporean authorities accused it of spreading extremist ideology and radicalizing two of its citizens, who had been arrested under the Internal Security Act for allegedly trying to join the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. The city-state’s ministry of home affairs alleged that Rosli Hamzah, 50, and Mohamed Omar ... Read More »

Defying his parents’ admonition that he should simply accept his position as a member of a minority community, a young Chinese-Indonesian man has bravely reported to the police a group of men who reportedly assaulted him because of his ethnicity last Friday evening. Andrew Budikusuma, 24, needed five days to recover from his injuries and to obtain evidence such as ... Read More »

The “lone wolf” assailant who planned to blow up a Catholic church in Medan, North Sumatra, was inspired by leader of the Islamic State (IS) Movement Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi and learned how to make bombs on the internet, a top security minister said on Monday. Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said that the alleged assailant, 18-year old ... Read More »

Concerns over the growing role of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in civilian affairs have emerged after a group of young people in Bandung, West Java, claimed they were assaulted by military personnel while running a makeshift library at night in the city’s downtown. The attack on the young people happened amid the city administration’s extensive campaign to improve literacy through ... Read More »

JAKARTA (The Straits Times/ANN) – Indonesia President Joko Widodo sacked nine ministers and demoted two more, and in their place were at least five highly rated technocrats or professionals in their field of work. What a difference a year makes. This time last year, President Joko Widodo’s popularity was on the wane amid questions about his ability to deliver on ... Read More »

INDONESIAN president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has been called out over his commitment to protecting human rights following a Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday. The appointment of retired military general Wiranto as the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, in particular, has drawn the ire of human rights groups. The decision to put Wiranto in such an influential position within ... Read More »

Human rights groups have lambasted President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s decision to appoint Wiranto as the new coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, claiming it is in contrast to the government’s own commitment to resolve the past human rights abuse in which Wiranto was alleged to have been implicated. Wiranto’s appointment manifested concerns that Jokowi did not take human rights ... Read More »

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Any move to execute convicts on the death row continues to draw strong criticism since many NGOs strongly oppose and criticize such an approach. Last year, the Indonesian government was flooded with criticisms from within the country as well as by other nations for having executed 14 drug convicts on death row. Notwithstanding the lack of popular ... Read More »

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Attorney General HM Prasetyo indicated execution of drug convicts on death row would be carried out soon. “You see the preparations we have made yesterday. I have even seen the activities in Nusakambangan in preparing the execution,” Prasetyo said here on Friday. The prisoners would all be brought to Nusakambangan to face the execution, he said. ... Read More »