Hundreds of Islamist protesters stormed a courthouse and put two churches to the torch in central Java town of Temmangung on Feb. 8 to protest that a Christian convicted of blasphemy was not given the death penalty. The defendant, Antonius Richmond Bawengan, was found guilty of distributing books and leaflets that “spread hatred about Islam” and was sentenced to five years in prison, the maximum term. The the Bethel and Pantekosta churches were burned, while the Santo Petrus and Paulus churches were pelted with stones. Two days earlier, a lynch mob in the nearby town of Banten killed three members of the Ahmadiyya minority Islamic sect. The attacks prompted international calls for the overturn of Indonesia's blasphemy laws. (ENI News, Feb. 10; Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Catholic News Agency, Jakarta Post, Feb. 9; Bali Times, NYT, Feb. 8)

At least two people were killed in clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces on their disputed border Feb. 4. A Cambodian soldier and a Thai villager are reported killed, with several more wounded, in a two-hour artillery exchange. The fatalities are the first since a Thai soldier was killed a year ago in a similar clash over the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, a UN World Heritage site that is claimed by both countries.

Four people were killed and 14 wounded in an explosion aboard a bus outside the EDSA entertainment complex in Manila's financial district of Makati Jan. 25. In a nationally televised statement, President Benigno Aquino III said government agencies would not stop "until everyone involved in this heinous crime is accounted for." No group has claimed responsibility, but Aquino said authorities suspect Abu Sayyaf, most militant wing of the Moro separatist movement in southern Mindanao region. (Philippine Star, Jan. 26; AP, Jan. 25) On Jan. 9, two suspected Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in a gun battle with government troops on the Mindanao region's Basilan Island. (AP, Jan. 9)

In the wake of Barack Obama's visit to Indonesia, a video has emerged showing the torture of helpless detainees in the restive territory of West Papua. Rights groups are describing the footage as "Indonesia's Abu Ghraib," and say it raises serious questions about the Obama administration's decision to embrace cooperation with the Indonesian security forces. The video is the second in recent months to offer graphic footage of Indonesian security force torture of Papuans.

Burmese opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest Nov. 14, walking free for the first time in seven years. Euphoric crowds of supporters greeted her as spoke to them for the first time since 2003 from the front gate of her crumbling lakeside villa on University Avenue in Rangoon.

Some 20 thousand peasants marked the 50th commemoration of Indonesia's National Farmers Day and passage of the country's first agrarian law Sept. 24, with mobilizations to demand a new agrarian reform program. In actions promoted by over 40 organizations nationwide, protesters demanded the government to implement reforms promised by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2007. Indonesia, a country where 25.6 million family farmers only have an average of 0.4 hectares, has implemented market-based reforms mandated by the World Bank, without aiming to achieve food sovereignty, justice or land rights, the movement charges.

Indonesian authorities on Aug. 11 charged well-known radical Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir with aiding an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist cell. Bashir, who was arrested Aug. 9 is accused of operating a terrorist training camp in the mountains of the northwestern province of Aceh to prepare Islamic radicals to carry out attacks in the capital of Jakarta.

From Amnesty International, June 28:

Timor-Leste law allows amnesties for war criminals
Amnesty International is urging Timor-Leste to close a legal loophole that is allowing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1975-1999 Indonesian occupation to go unpunished.