Indonesia

Indonesia has great natural wealth but many of its citizens live in extreme poverty. Democratic progress has been made since the resigation of former president Suharto in 1998, but many civil society organisations feel that far too little progress has been made towards sustainable management of the country's resources, and ensuring that Indonesia's diverse communities have a real say in decisions which affect their future.

DTE 95, March 2013

Communities have criticised the lack of transparency and unfulfilled promises at the giant Tangguh gas installation operated by UK-based energy multinational BP in Papua Barat.

DTE 93-94, December 2012

In this article we highlight some of the influences at work inside Indonesia which are contributing to the ongoing transfer of land from communities to corporations. These influences include national and local government policies, laws, governance and practices, whose provisions for supporting indigenous peoples and communities’ rights and livelihoods have been deprioritised in favour of large-scale, commercial ‘development’ projects. The result is a growing disparity between rich and poor, worsening imbalance in the control over agrarian resources and more and more conflicts between communities, private sector and the state.

DTE 93-94, December 2012

A protracted land conflict in Aceh involving communities, a plantation company and a struggle for authority between central and regional authorities.

By Zulfikar Arma, Aceh’s Indigenous Peoples Network (JKMA).

DTE 91-92, May 2012

An overview of some of the outcomes of KMAN IV: AMAN’s people, plans and demands for the future.

DTE 91-92, May 2012

Book Review: Vedi R. Hadiz, 2011, Localising Power in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia: a Southeast Asia perspective.

DTE 89-90, November 2011, Special Papua edition

The brutal crackdown by Indonesian security forces on the Third Papuan Congress in October has brought up to six deaths and hundreds of beatings and arrests.

DTE 88, April 2011

In the last few years, DTE has been working with local communities in Indonesia to follow the international negotiations on climate change.