Examining Timor-Leste's current tangle of land ownership claims, this briefing recommends that the government and its partners act now to supplement titling with clear public information. Measures to resolve land disputes in Timor-Leste must go beyond a draft law on land titling if they are to comprehensively reduce the risks posed, otherwise the law could...

A year after the near-fatal shooting of President José Ramos-Horta, security in Timor-Leste is strikingly improved. Armed rebels are no longer at large. The atmosphere on the streets of Dili is far less tense. The government does not seem to be facing any serious political threat to its survival. It has, at least temporarily, been...

Three years after the Helsinki agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, GAM) to end a 30-year conflict, Aceh is tense in the lead-up to general elections in 2009. The sources of unease are several. As preparations get underway for the April 2009 parliamentary elections with 44 parties –...

An Indonesian government decree restricting activities of the Ahmadiyah sect demonstrates how hardline Islamic groups, which have little political support, have been able to use classic civil society advocacy techniques to influence government policy, according to this briefing, which examines the factors leading to government action on 9 June against a sect whose members have...

Indonesian Papua has seen periodic clashes between pro-independence supporters and government forces, but conflict between Muslim and Christian communities could also erupt unless rising tensions are effectively managed. Violence was narrowly averted in Mano­kwari and Kaimana in West Papua province in 2007, but bitterness remains on both sides. The key fac­tors are continuing Muslim migration...