The Attorney General’s Office names the Director-General of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Trade and three people in the palm oil business as corruption suspects related to the crude palm oil export. They are alleged of creating a cooking oil cartel.

Waste processing projects sees limited success in some areas. Two options are in competition with one another.

The Indonesian government plans to ban the export of crude palm oil (CPO) starting on April 28. This policy could bring some serious consequences.

The industrialization persuasion and the widespread agrarian conflicts stall the regeneration of farmers. What is the solution?

As personal data of the citizens suffered immense leaks, the government and the DPR still have not ratified the bill for personal data protection. It is hampered by the stalemate on the authority for personal data protection.

Cartoon: Yuyun Nurrachman

In Indonesia, the endeavor to build a robust research ecosystem is being obstructed by the absence of academic freedom. Our researchers do better overseas.

Aksi Kamisan, a weekly rally staged in front of the Presidential Palace, has entered its 15th year. Kamisan activist, Maria Katarina Sumarsih, talks about her fight for the cause.

Chairil  Anwar exists within the ‘modernist’ spirit. He is renowned for using the metaphor ‘wild beast’ as his choice of destiny: he is a creature who is unbridled. He was often considered ‘strange’. But he paid no heed. 

AN officer checks on a male Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) that fell victim to a conflict with local residents, prior to being transferred to the treatment cage of Jambi Animal Rescue Center, Jambi, Thursday, April 21. The tiger that walked into the trap set by the Jambi Natural Resources Conservation Agency in the residential area of Nalo Gedang village, Merangin Regency, after being suspected of preying on local livestock, will receive temporary treatment at the Animal Rescue Center. ANTARA FOTO/Wahdi Septiawan

SOUTHEAST Asia has faced numerous human rights violations and abuses, ranging from the worst crimes against the Rohingya and other religious and ethnic minorities in Myanmar to extra-judicial killings in the Philippines under President Duterte’s administration. Many enforced disappearances have also occurred across the region, along with violence against human rights and democracy defenders, attacks on freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression, and some other incidents. 

It does not mean the region has no institution that addresses human rights issues. Since 2009, member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have had the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights or AICHR. But critics said this body has been ineffective and ‌incapable of protecting human rights in the region. 

To commemorate the International Human Rights Day on December 10, TEMPO TALKS presents Yuyun Wahyuningrum, the representative of Indonesia to AICHR who will explain about human rights problems in the region and how her organization addresses the issue on TEMPO TALKS