Jakarta – The Indonesian government is being called on to ratify the International Convention on Enforced Disappearance of Persons.

Jakarta – The long fight to uncover and moreover reconcile the 1965-66 affair is slowly starting to show results. Still needed of course is hard work and a readiness on the part of several parties to uncover the truth and come to terms with the facts of the affair.

Jakarta – The Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions (KSPI) and several other labour associations have emphatically rejected the issuance of a presidential instruction (Inpres) on limiting wage rises in order to stimulate the economy and overcome a slump in the value of the rupiah.

Zulfi Suhendra, Jakarta – A number of companies and industrial zones have been included as Indonesian National Vital Objects (OVNI) in the industrial sector and now come under government protection. This protection covers security threats against OVNIs.

Bekasi – The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) held its 3rd National Conference (Munas) at the Wisma Haji building in Bekasi, West Java, between Thursday and Saturday, August 22-24. Conference participants discussed broadening the organisation’s social role and continuing to defend the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

Jakarta – As of mid-August this year the number of discriminative regulations has risen two-fold, from 154 in 2009 to 342. Of these 334 are regency or municipal regulations and the province with the most discriminative regulations is West Java.

Jakarta – The Australian government does not have the authority to stop its citizen from sailing out of Australian ports as long as it is legal. However Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr confirmed that the Indonesian government has the authority to deal with the matter if the ships enter Indonesia illegally.

Alsadad Rudi, Jakarta – The Cross-Factory Labour Forum (FBLP) disputes the claim that four South Korean companies have left Jakarta. The companies that were cited as having closed, PT Hansol 1, PT Hansai 5, PT Winner 3 and PT Olimpic, are still operating in the Nusantara Bonded Zone (KBN) in the Cakung industrial area of East Jakarta.

Jakarta – Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Rieke Diah Pitaloka has criticised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s (SBY) state of the nation speech as being no different from a work of science fiction.

Bogor – The momentum in the lead up to Indonesia’s 68th Independence Day was used by scores of Papuan students to demand freedom and self-determination for the Papuan people. These demands were conveyed during a demonstration at the Tugu Kujang intersection on Jl. Padjajaran in Bogor, West Java, on Thursday August 15.