The good old days?

It is a sad day for civilization when the hard-earned advances of human rights, women's rights, individual rights and freedom of speech are trampled into the ground by totalitarian governments and ultra-conservative religious groups.

It is a return to the "good old days" of censorship when these people fear criticism, or independence of thought or action.

If they think that national security is going to be disturbed by criticism, then the problem is in the fabric of the system.

Personally, I have found the reports by Sidney Jones to be most analytical and insightful, and those anonymous parties who complain about them obviously have something to fear.

The foreign minister has stated that these reports are "biased". Maybe he hasn't realized it yet, but objectivity and even opinions tend to be biased -- again, to be feared by those who have something to fear.

The picture of the religious "policeman" lecturing women on appropriate attire is an insult to all people's freedom of expression, and is a return to the barbaric dark ages of totalitarian control. (Come the Inquisition).

It has yet to be explained as to how local or religious rules can have a higher legal status than Constitutional Law, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression.

BRIEN F. DOYLE Jakarta