Suharto resigned as President of Indonesia on 21 May 1998 following the collapse of support for his 32-year long presidency. Vice President B. J. Habibie took over the presidency.
The May 1998 Indonesia riots, also known in Indonesia as the 1998 tragedy or simply the 1998 event, were incidents of mass violence, anti-government demonstrations, and civil unrest in Indonesia in May 1998. The events were mainly in the cities of Medan, Jakarta and Surakarta, with small incidents in other regions of the country.
Munir Said Thalib was an Indonesian activist. Founder of the Kontras human rights organisation and laureate of the 2000 Right Livelihood Award, Munir was assassinated in 2004 while travelling to Utrecht University to pursue a master's degree in international law and human rights. He is one of Indonesia's most famous human rights and anti-corruption activists.
Human rights in Indonesia are defined by the 1945 Constitution and the laws under it; several rights are guaranteed especially as a result of the constitutional amendments following the Reform era. The Ministry of Law and Human Rights deals with human rights issues in the cabinet, and the National Commission on Human Rights, established in Suharto's New Order administration in 1993, is the country's national human rights institution.
The Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor was an independent truth commission established in East Timor in 2001 under the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and charged to “inquire into human rights violations committed on all sides, between April 1974 and October 1999, and facilitate community reconciliation with justice for those who committed less serious offenses.” The idea of a truth commission in East Timor was first agreed by the National Council of Timorese Resistance in 2000.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Indonesia face legal challenges and prejudices not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Traditional mores disapprove of homosexuality and transitioning, which impacts public policy. Indonesian same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for any of the legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples. Most parts of Indonesia do not have a sodomy law, and the country does not currently prohibit non-commercial, private and consensual sexual activity between members of the same-sex, yet there is no specific Indonesian law that protects the LGBT community against discrimination and hate crimes. In Aceh, homosexuality is illegal under Islamic Sharia law and it is punishable by flogging or imprisonment. Indonesia does not recognize same-sex marriage.
The Indonesian occupation of East Timor began in December 1975 and lasted until October 1999. After centuries of Portuguese colonial rule in East Timor, the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Portugal led to the decolonisation of its former colonies, creating instability in East Timor and leaving its future uncertain. After a small-scale civil war, the pro-independence Fretilin declared victory in the capital city of Dili and declared an independent East Timor on 28 November 1975.
Several scholars have accused the United States of involvement in state terrorism. They have written about the US and other liberal democracies' use of state terrorism, particularly in relation to the Cold War. According to them, state terrorism is used to protect the interest of capitalist elites, and the U.S. organized a neo-colonial system of client states, co-operating with regional elites to rule through terror.
The Indonesian National Police is the national law enforcement and police force of the Republic of Indonesia. Founded on 1 July 1946, it was formerly a part of the country's military since 1962. The police were formally separated from the armed forces on 1 April 1999 in a process which was formally completed on 1 July 1999.
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) is a nonprofit US organization supporting human rights throughout Southeast Asia and Oceania. ETAN was founded in 1991 to support the right to self-determination of Timor-Leste. In 1999, that goal was significantly realized when the people of East Timor voted for independence. Since then ETAN has focused on building on its success in support of justice and self-determination in Timor-Leste and the surrounding region.
The Papua conflict is an ongoing conflict in Western New Guinea (Papua) between Indonesia and the Free Papua Movement. Subsequent to the withdrawal of the Dutch administration from the Netherlands New Guinea in 1962 and implementation of Indonesian administration in 1963, the Free Papua Movement has conducted a low-intensity guerrilla war against Indonesia through the targeting of its military, police, and civilian populations.
East Timor is a multiparty parliamentary republic with a population of approximately 1.1 million, sharing the island of Timor with Indonesia's Nusa Tenggara province. During the 24 years of Indonesian occupation and after the 1999 independence referendum, pro Indonesian militias committed many human rights violations. The country gained independence in 2002, and free and fair elections were held in 2007. The United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT) and the International Stabilization Force remain in the country while it develops its own security forces, the National Police (PNTL) and Defence Forces (F-FDTL).
Malaun is a pejorative term for Bengali Hindus, most commonly used in Bangladesh by Bengali Muslims. The word is derived from the Arabic "ملعون", meaning "accursed" or "deprived of God's Mercy", and in modern times, it is used as an ethnic slur by the Muslims in Bengal region for Hindus.
The National Commission on Human Rights is the national human rights institution (NHRI) of Indonesia. As with other NHRIs, its principal functions are the protection and promotion of human rights.
The Indonesia–Timor Leste Commission on Truth and Friendship was a truth commission established jointly by the governments of Indonesia and East Timor in August 2005. The commission was officially created to investigate acts of violence that occurred around the independence referendum held in East Timor in 1999 and sought to find the "conclusive truth" behind the events. After holding private hearings and document reviews, the commission handed in the final report on July 15, 2008 to the presidents of both nations, and was fully endorsed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, providing the first acknowledgement by the government of Indonesia of the human rights violations committed by state institutions in Timor. The commission is notable for being the first modern truth commission to be bilateral.
The Poso riots, also known as Poso communal conflict, is a name given to a series of riots that occurred in Poso, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. This incident involved a group of Muslims and Christians in the region and was divided into three stages. The first Poso riot took place from December 25 to 29, 1998, continued from April 17 to 21, 2000, and finally from May 16 to June 15, 2000.
The Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection (MoWECP) of the Republic of Indonesia, formerly the Ministry of Women's Empowerment of the Republic of Indonesia is a government ministry responsible for the rights and welfare of women and children of Indonesia. The minister is currently I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati since 23 October 2019.
Feminism in Indonesia refers to the long history of discourse for gender equality to bring about positive social change in Indonesia. The issues women in Indonesia currently are facing include gender violence, underage marriages, and lack of representation in the political system. Feminism and the women's right movement began during colonial Indonesia under Dutch rule and were spearheaded by the national heroine Kartini, a Javanese noblewoman who advocated for the education of all women and girls regardless of social status. In the early 19th century, women's rights organizations and movements were allowed to developed under Budi Utomo, the first Indonesian Nationalist organization. Modern day Indonesian feminism include and are influenced by both fundamentalist and progressive Islamic women's organizations.
The National Commission on Violence against Women is an Indonesian independent state institution established in 1998 with the goal of eliminating violence against women. It is one of three such institutions, the other two being the National Commission on Human Rights and the Indonesian Child Protection Commission.
