Jakarta – After years of holding Kamisan (Thursday) actions every week, a mother of one the students killed in the Semanggi affair in 1998, Maria Sumarsih, admits that things are becoming more difficult.

Jakarta – The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) has revealed that a number of alleged violations of standard operating procedures or protap by police took place during the high-school and university student protests in September 2019.

Jakarta – The Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) has recorded that over the last five years conflicts involving mining have occurred on land covering some 925,748 hectares, involving at least 71 cases.

Jakarta – The Constitutional Court (MK) has rejected a judicial review of Law Number 12/1969 on the Formation of the West Irian (Papua) Autonomous Province and Autonomous Regencies in the Province of West Irian which was submitted based on the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

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Jakarta – Coinciding with Mother’s Day which falls on December 22 each year, hundreds of women marched to the State Palace in Central Jakarta to articulate demands related to women’s issues saying that government policies are still discriminative and do not support women. The action took up the theme Women Heal the Nation.

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) says that the statement by Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs, Mahfud MD, who said that there have been no human rights (HAM) violations under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is a misleading narrative.

Ahmad Bil Wahid, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has issued a report on the handling of human rights (HAM) issues in 2019 in Indonesia. Kontras concluded that there has been a retreat on human rights issues this year.

Farih Maulana Sidik, Jakarta – Students from a number of different campuses held a demonstration in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta to commemorate International Human Rights Day on Tuesday December 10.

The students, who marched from the nearby Horse Statue, were joined by workers, the majority of which wore red clothing.

Putu Ayu Palupi – Scores of students in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta held a protest action at the Pal Putih Monument on December 10 to commemorate International Human Rights Day.

Muhammad Ridwan – Becoming an activist, especially a human rights defender, often means confronting the law. Human rights defenders are not exempt from the treat of criminalisation.

The threat of criminalisation was revealed from data compiled by the Civil Society Coalition for the Protection and Defense of Human Rights (HAM).

Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) recorded 1,056 cases related to violations of freedom of assembly in different parts of Indonesia between 2015 and 2018.

Oleh Farid M. Ibrahim – Welcoming December 1, 2019 yesterday, activists from the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) and its supporters in a number of different countries held actions in which they brought and flew the Morning Star independence flag. Several activities were coordinated on social media through the hashtag #GlobalFlagRaising.

Shinta Maharani, Yogyakarta – Around 100 students from the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) along with various other organisations held a protest action demanding a referendum for West Papua at the Gajah Mada University (UGM) traffic circle in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Sunday December 1.

Rahmat Rahman Patty, Ambon – A protest action by scores of Papuan students calling themselves the Struggle Committee for Democracy and Human Rights in front of the World Peace Gong in Ambon City, Maluku, was broken up by police on Sunday December 1.

Eva Safitri, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Mahfud Md says that cases of human rights (HAM) violations are still being used as a political commodity and his ministry is serious about resolving them through a non-judicial mechanism.

Jakarta – Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) says that violations against freedom of religion and belief (KBB) occur because the law is bias towards the majority. Imparsial researcher Amelia says that several regulations guarantee the right to freedom of religion and worship but others threaten this freedom.

Jakarta – Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) has found scores of violations against freedom of religion and worship (KBB) or intolerance in Indonesia over the last year.

Imparsial Program Coordinator Ardimanto Adiputra said that the violations against freedom of religion and worship occurred in a variety of forms.

Dian Kurniati, Jakarta – The Presidential Palace has confirmed that it plans to revive the law on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) which was annulled by the Constitutional Court in 2006.

Rahel Narda Chaterine, Jakarta – A group of students from the Semanggi Student Action Front held a commemoration marking 21 years since the Semanggi I tragedy. They even managed to put up a huge banner demanding that the perpetrators of human rights violations be brought to trial.