Despite making remarkable strides since the overthrow of the Suharto dictatorship 12 years ago, critics say that widespread corruption, poor law enforcement, a culture of impunity for rights abuses and the growing use of draconian libel laws to muzzle critics is undermining the gains won by the 1998 reformasi movement.

Toto Suryaningtyas – Efforts by certain politicians to pull the military back into the political arena has tended to receive little public agreement. This disagreement however has in fact been expressed at time when the public’s sense of satisfaction with the performance of the Indonesian military (TNI) has improved.

M Zaid Wahyudi – The growing number of ordinary people’s votes that are needlessly lost is a direct consequence of the application of an increasingly higher parliamentary threshold.

Yogyakarta – Activists from the United People’s Movement (GRB) in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held a protest action by placing flowers on a grave at the zero kilometer point near the Yogyakarta central post office on Friday May 21.

Hen Hen, Jakarta – A number of social and student organisations held a protest action in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building on May 21 to commemorated 12 years of reformasi or political reform.

Let us unite to overthrow the pro-imperialist government of SBY-Boediono and the rotten political elite. Replace them with a United Government of the Poor!

Marsinah was a woman worker who was militant and courageous.

Anung Wendyartaka – To this day there has yet to be any visible sign of a breakthrough in the improvement of workers’ standard of living. On the one hand, the basic rights possessed by the working class are still felt to be inadequate and on the other, workers themselves appear to fail to appreciate their existence.

The following is a compilation of abridged translations of the January 28 protest actions held around the country to commemorate the first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's second administration. The reports are ordered alphabetically by city.

Jakarta – Like previous years, 2008 was marked by a variety of actions by students who took to the streets opposing government policies that they believe harm the people.

Only, in concert the approach of the 2009 legislative and presidential elections, so too has the tendency for these student actions to end in clashes and violence.

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 – Hundreds of demonstrators from the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) held an protest action on May 21 opposing the candidates running for the July 8 presidential elections because none of the candidates are pro-people.

Muhammad Nur Abdurrahman, Makassar – International Labour Day was also commemorated by thousands of workers in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, who held a long-march to the governor’s office.

The children enjoyed themselves, dancing in the rain in front of the ogres. There were none who appeared troubled, what there was, was merriment. A million drops of rain and a thousand thunderbolts could not have diminished their desire to play among the water puddles.

Jakarta – Although admitting that they may contains some truth, statements by a number of public officials on human rights violations during the National Human Rights and State Defense Seminar at the Department of Defence on Thursday December 18 are believed to be incomplete have the potential to mislead the public.

Oleh Ahmad Arif – The global financial crisis, which began far away in the United States, appears to have also become a bugbear for workers in Indonesia. Starting with national industries that are dying because global markets are stagnating, millions of workers are faced with the threat of dismissal.

Oppose the 2009 elections of the political elite – an election of the human rights violators, capitalists, corruptors and opportunist!

Suwardiman – Young voters, particularly first time voters, are a potential vote base that political parties should consider targeting in the 2009 legislative and presidential elections.

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Scores of residents in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held an action today opposing the enactment of the Draft Anti-Pornography Law. The reason, the draft law will harm the Indonesian nation’s spirit of diversity.