| Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia | |
ASIET Net News 14 – March 31-April 6, 1997
Kompas - April 8, 1997 (Posted by Tapol)
Andi Syahpputra, 31 years old, has been sentenced by a Jakarta
court to thirty months in prison for printing the journal, Suara
Independen, publication of the independent journalists'
organisation, AJI.
Kompas of 8 April reported that the accused did not appear to be
surprised at the verdict but smiled in the direction of his
defence lawyers. He told the court that he would appeal against
the verdict. The prosecutor, who had asked for four years, said
he would consider whether or not to appeal against the sentence.
The court said that it was clear the accused had been guilty of
insulting the president because he could have read, albeit only
at a glance, the article contained in the publication he was
about to print. Moreover when he signed a declaration presented
to him by Jasrul Zen (who is still under town arrest) of non-
responsibility for the contents, he should in fact have tried to
contact Santoso and Bimo who were the ones who had placed the
order for the publication to be printed.
Bali Post - April 3, 1997
Denpasar – The pro-Soerjadi Indonesian Democratic Party
Secretariat in Denpasar, Wednesday (2/4) yesterday at around
1.30pm, was occupied by around 250 pro-Megawati supporters.
The PDI masses held the action after being disappointed by the
decision of the Denpasar state court against them [pro-Megawati
supporters] and in favor of the pro-Soerjadi congress in Medan.
After attending the trial they went directly to the PDI
secretariat offices where they sat down along the street and
stated their dissatisfaction with the court's decision. When
security forces wanted to breakup the action, the masses did not
want to leave. Authorities then attacked them in order to get
them to leave the street. Only after 3pm were the masses
dispersed.
In yesterdays peaceful action, according to the pro-Megawati
security coordinator AA Kompyang Gede, three PDI members and two
people not supporters of Megawati were beaten by the security
officers. Three other Megawati supporters disappeared taken by
security forces. As of this story going to print (6pm), it is
their whereabouts are still unknown. "This case will be reported
to the National Human Rights Commission", he said.
Among those who were clobbered by the security force were Putu
Yuliantara and Putu Lina Adyawati, Salit Putu Aryana (17), Nyoman
Adiana (32). Meanwhile Made Arjana, Wayan Arjana, and Nyoman
Budiasa are missing and there whereabout unknown.
An employee of Bali Post who wanted passed nearby, far from the
demonstrations, also became a victim of the security forces being
hit twice by security personnel. Yuliantara a student of Diana
Pura Kerobokan from Klungkung who was in fact only passing by,
was struck in the ace and bruised and had to be treated in
hospital.
When police Let-Col P. Purwoko was asked how many security
personnel were mobilsed and how long they would guard the area,
he said "All of those matters are secret. What is clear is that
we will guard the are until the situation is truly secure. So it
cannot be determined until when, who knows if we leave now
tomorrow they will return". By 3.15pm yesterday the situation had
returned to normal.
[Abridged translation from Bali Post - James Balowski]
East Timor
May 29 elections
Social unrest
Armed forces
Economy and investment
Labour issues
Politics
Miscellaneous
Democratic struggle
Suara Independent printer sentenced to 30 months
Mega supporters hold sit in at the pro-Soerjadi secretariat
Interview with Megawati Soekarnoputri
Voice of America - March 20, 1997
Megawati Sukarnoputri: "... if my name is not among the list of candidates standing for election, many people will decide not to participate in these elections."
The general elections in Indonesia will take place next May. radio Voice of America reporter, Irna Sinulingga, recently interviewed several official from political parties.These interviews will be reported in turns. Now follows an interview with Megawati Sukarnoputri.
IS: The foreign media refers to you as the ousted head of the PDI, opposition leader, fighter for democracy, and so on. How do you actually wanted to be called, mBak Mega?
MS: I am not after any particular title. But the decision of the party as from the National Assembly of 1993 until now is that I am the legitimate Chairperson Central Council of the PDI.
IS: Political observers say that the PCI has split between the Megawati and the Soeryadi camp and that this will have a negative effect on the PDI in the May elections. What are your comments?
MS: This is what concerns me so much. It seems that most foreign observers don't understand the situation inside the PDI. In fact there is no split. All of the members, or the vast majority are still in the PDI and follow the party rules and recognise my leadership. The issue now are the efforts of those who are being manipulated from above to depose me. But they have no support from the PDI membership. I must remind people that I am the first PDI chair elected from below in the 30 years of the New Order. When I was elected, many people, especially outsiders, doubted my support from below. because in previous times, leaders or chairpersons or presidents of organisations have been arranged by the government; that A or B must get the job. But my election in the extraordinary congress in Surabaya and then the national Assembly in 93 saw the aspirations from below coming to the fore. This is what outside observers must understand. Now the most annoying thing is that I am asked to reconcile with those that call themselves the Congress appointed leadership. I have said that there is no chance of that at all. Why do some people what be to reconcile? Because they know that if I participate in the elections and my name is among the candidates for election to membership of the House of Representatives and the Peoples' Consultative Assembly then this will cause a lot of trouble for many forces. Because my supporters, my sympathisers, the PDI membership, the PDI cadres, the PDI structure are all following my instructions, and waiting for my instructions as to what should be done next vis-a-vis the elections.
IS: Are they still waiting or have you sent messages out already?
MS: From the beginning it has been clear, transparent, that there has been a force outside the party trying to depose me as party chairperson. The outside world wants to know why are they trying to depose me. This is because the PDI under my leadership has been able to do something that has previously always been very difficult, namely, to consolidate the party. Consolidation means putting everything in order, both structurally and otherwise, all the disorder that was there before. And with this consolidation, making the party more solid and united, then in the next elections, according t various observers we could get an "amazing" vote. Nah, in the Indonesian political set-up, such a development would be part of the transition into the future. The polarisation that takes place would upset all the calculations that have for so long seemed stable. I am not saying that there would be instability. No. But there will be changes in the political spectrum and balance of forces [konstelasi] and this is becoming clearer and clearer every day. On one side there are those who want no change, but I can say that in society, there is always change, sometimes small, sometimes middle-sized, sometimes great. Of course, such processes cause many problems. That is what I want to explain.
IS: What role will Mbak Mega have in the elections, either directly or indirectly.
MS: There is no question of talking in terms of "direct" or "indirect". When I was elected I said that everything we do must be in accord with the party constitution and rules. Even now, with all the illegal and unconstitutional actions that have been taken [against us], I will still push the party to the forefront, through constitutional processes. This means that I have instructed the party to participate in all stages of the formal election preparations, that is the formal 12 stages. [e.g. submission of candidates, etc] At the moment we are into stages 8/9. Finally, there will be the campaign, period, the week of quiet and the actual election day on May 29. There is still plenty of time for the leadership to decide what we will do. But there are already many reports, many hopes and wishes, that if my name is not among the list of candidates standing for election, many people will decide not to participate in these elections.
[Translated by Max Lane, ASIET National Coordinator]
EBRI - April 2, 1997
A score of youths grouped in the Indonesian Youth Committee last week staged a demonstration in front of the Attorney General Office in Jakarta, demanding the release of Sri Bintang Pamungkas and his friends who are in the prosecution custody on charges of subversion.
The demonstrators waved some banners, which among others read: "Set free our friends." When an official of the attorney general office suggested that they sent in a deputation, they refused and continued to chant slogans and sing patriotic songs.
Bintang, chairman of the unaccredited Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI), was arrested early in March along with PUDI vice chairman Julius Usman and the party's secretary general Saleh Abdullah. Both have refused to answer questions from the prosecution on the ground that they have not been informed of the exact accusations against them.
The youth committee then circulated a written statement, protesting Bintang's detainment. According to the statement, Bintang's arrest was baseless and indicated the arrogance of the Attorney General Office
"The warrant for the arrest should have specified the charges and the parties that have been put at a disadvantage by Bintang's political greeting cards," the statement said. In February, Bintang sent Idul Fitri greeting cards which contained PUDI's political agenda. In addition to demanding the release of Bintang, the youth committee also asked that law enforcers be consistent in their legal actions. For example, the committee expected clarity on the case of Eddy Tansil, a convict of bank credit swindling who escaped from prison last year.
"Make a thorough prosecution of those who eroded state treasury and uphold justice and legal certainty," the committee said. (EBRI/ss)
Kompas - April 3, 1997 (Abridged)
Yogya korem commander Col Gaffar has said that the 24 students arrested while demonstrating on the Gadjah Mada University campus are now under investigation by the Yogya police. Those proven to be involved will be tried, he said. He said they are all UGM students; seven are women. Three who appear to have been leading the action are named as Vic, Kur and Tri. 'We wont try all of them of course. Those who are proven not to be involved will be released,' said Gaffar.
The anti-riot police entered the campus and arrested the 24, without incident, according to Kompas the previous day.
While the military commander was holding a press conference, another demonstration and a free-speech forum was going on at the same campus. Demands were made for the release of their 24 colleagues. An incident occurred when officers who were present on the boulevard of UGM campus pushed into the crowd of demonstrators and starting chasing them. Eight activists were arrested.
A press release signed by the chairperson of the UGM Students Publishing House Akuat Supriyanto and secretary Khoirul Rosyadi, said that violence was used as the arrests took place. Legal procedures were not observed and no one was given advanced warnings to stop. Several activists sustained bruises and scratches.
They really went too far, said Gaffar, calling for the release of Pakpahan, DBudiman and so on. If they had had ordinary posters they would not have been arrested but they were calling for an election boycott, which we regard as incitement. 'That's why we arrested them,' said Gaffar. They can face up to five years, he added, and that's why we are entitled to arrest them.
KPDI - April 2, 1997
On April 2, 1997 students from several Yogyakarta universities along with members of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)- Struggle organised in the Indonesian Democratic Struggle Committee (KPDI) carried out a protest action against the arrest of 24 people during a Hunger Strike for Megawati and Democracy action at Gajah Mada University on April 1
600 people attended the protest action. The action began in the Gajah Mada University Boulevarde. The military again attacked the demonstration in a brutal manner. At the time of this statement 5 students are unconscious as a result of being attacked by the military. Seven students and one high school student have been arrested
Chronology
09.35 WIB: 50 people with placards and posters outside the University Auditorium.
09.40 WIB: The 50 headed off chanting Free Our Comrades and We Will Win
09.51 WIB: The fifty stopped outside the Kagama College and started an open forum.Speeches concentrated on the increasing brutality of the military in suppressing pro-democracy actions.
The crowd started to grow. Chants started for the repeal of the 5 major repressive political laws.
10.00 WIB: Scores of students from KAMMI (Independent Moslem Student Action Committee) joined the rally. KAMMI speakers stated that the democracy movement can retreat no more and that the detentions of figures such as the PRD leaders, as well as Bintang Pamungkas and Subadio was bound to happen as part of the struggle. The people were watching and would soon decide what to do.
10.06 WIB: The rally increased further in size and the crowd started off in a march around the campus chanting: Free Our Comrades and We Will Win. They all sang the national anthem and other songs of struggle.
10.28 WIB: The march stopped outside the Faculty of Arts and more speeches took place attacking the brutality of the military.
10.35 WIB: The rally moved off again chanting: Free Our Comrades and We Boycott the Elections. 10.40 WIB: The march stopped again outside the Faculty of Law. Speeches called for the military to get out of politics and also criticised apathy among students.
At this point, the march of 600 people came into confrontation with the Police Anti-Riot Squad who blocked the road.
10.55 WIB: The rally approached closer to the police increasing tension among their ranks.
11.05 WIB: The rally turned towards the Faculty of Arts again and then on to the Gajah Mada University Boulevarde. "Free Our Comrades" and "We will boycott" echoed out.The march stopped again for more speeches before heading to the Gajah Mada University Bunderan intersection.
11.45 WIB: The rally marched towards the big Campus UGM sign. Statements were read out by KAMII, and student councils from Gajah Mada and Santa Dharma Universities and from Youth for Democracy (PPD) and Philosophy students.
11.52 WIB: An intelligence agent in civiies engaged in provocation against a rally member and scuffles and fighting broke out. The police attacked several rally participants.
While midday prayer calls started, 5 students were beaten unconscious and 8 more dragged off and taken awayoin a Kijang truck in the direction of polcie headquarters. Thic included the rally field commander, Titok, who was attacked by 5 police and beaten until his face was covered with bruises.
12.04 WIB: hundreds of the remaining marchers retruned to the campus square and while chanting Islamic prayers attacked the military's brutality.
12.12 WIB: The rally dispersed.
As of the time of preparation of this statement, there are no news of the detained activists or of several other missing activists.
KPDI is now in the middle of planning its next actions.
[Translated by ASIET]
Media Indonesia - March 7, 1997
Jakarta – A Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) circular calling for an election boycott has also been distributed in Bogor, West Java. The circular was pasted up in all of the strategic places at around 3am last night in the name of KPP-PRD.
As many as 17 circulars and a printing machine suspected of being used to produce them was seized by the Bogor military (Korem). "As well as seizing the printer and 17 circulars, we have also already identified who did it", said Colonel Eddi Budianto yesterday.
Eddi did not wish to say where the seizure took place or the name of the suspect, asking only that society not be fooled around with (terpancing) by a person who wants to disrupt the elections.
The circular had pictures of the leaders of the three political parties crossed with an "X" with comments calling for a boycott. There was also a quote from the Independent Monitoring Committee (KIPP). "Because KIPP was mentioned we will ask for Harry Saba's explanation, the secretary of KIPP Bogor" said a government official.
As well as in Bogor and Sri Bintang Pamungkas's Lebaran greeting cards who's tone discredited the president of Indonesia, similar circulars have been distributed in a number of other places. The issue is almost the same, discrediting the government and calling for an election boycott. Three other PRD members are also being questioned in a similar case and last month police seized 6,000 circulars calling for a boycott in Bandung, West Java.
[Abridged translation from Media Indonesia - James Balowski]
Amnesty International - April 3, 1997
24 students A protest against the arrest of 24 students in Yogyakarta, Central Java on 1 April has resulted in eight further arrests and beatings of protestors in the city.
According to unconfirmed information, the protest involving up to 600 people took place in Yogyakarta on 2 April. The demonstrators, mainly students from Yogyakarta universities, marched around the various university colleges shouting slogans including "free our comrades" and "we will boycott [the elections]". Speeches were also made in support of the pro- democracy movement and attacking military brutality. At around midday a scuffle broke out between some of the demonstrators and government intelligence agents. Five students are reported to have been beaten by the police. Another seven students - Titok Haryanto, Aman, Hari Prabow, Indit, Aturma, Agung and Ardiansyah - and one high school student - Maria Karmelia were arrested. It is believed that they were taken to the police headquarters.
The 24 students arrested on 1 April are now also believed to have been transferred from military to police custody. According to the local military resort commander, Colonel Gaffar, the 24 are now under investigation by the police. It is not known if they, or the eight arrested on 2 April, have access to lawyers or to their families. Amnesty International remains concerned that they are at risk of torture or ill- treatment.
The organization is further concerned that the eight may have been arrested for the peaceful expression of their views. In a statement to the news daily Kompas on 2 April by the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes the authorities made clear its intention to punish those accused of disrupting the forthcoming parliamentary elections "[a]nyone disrupting the elections will definetly face the arm of the law... The Attorney General's office has prepared a group of laws..."
Amnesty International - April 2, 1997
Some 24 students were arrested and several others injured when members of the Indonesian security forces broke up a demonstration in Yogyakarta, Central Java on 1 April 1997. According to one report, those arrested are detained in Sleman District Military Command Centre, other reports suggest that they are being held in police custody. Amnesty International fears that they are at risk of ill-treatment or torture - the risk is particularly acute if they are in military custody.
According to reports, the demonstration of about 300 people took place at 9am on the campus of Gadja Mada University, Yogyakarta. The students were demonstrating in support of the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia - PDI), Megawati Sukarnoputri, and were calling for greater democracy and for a boycott of the election for Indonesia's House of Representatives due on 29 May. The students were threatening, or had begun, a hunger-strike in support of their demands. The security forces intervened to break up the demonstration, allegedly beating and stamping on demonstrators as they did so.
There is no information to suggest that the demonstrators were engaged in any violence and Amnesty International is concerned that they may have been arrested solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.
Background information
Tension has been mounting in the run up to the May 29 Parliamentary elections. Growing calls for political change inside the country have met with repression from the government. Since January 1997 at least 17 people have been detained in connection with their peaceful calls for an election boycott or for political change. They include former parliamentarian Sri Bintang Pamungkas who was detained on 5 March together with two of his colleagues from the unofficial United Democratic Party of Indonesia (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia - PUDI) after sending cards to celebrate the Moslem festival of Idul Fitri. The cards called for the election to be boycotted and for President Suharto to be replaced. All three are being held under the Anti-subversion Law which punishes subversion with death or up to life imprisonment. Others have been arrested, and in some cases charged or tried, for distributing pamphlets or putting up posters calling for an election boycott and for criticising past elections.
KPDI - April 1, 1977
Today on April 1 the repressive apparatus of the New Order has acted even more brutally against the movement to establish democracy in Indonesia. The Armed Forces ferociously and ruthlessy attacked a HUNGER STRIKE FOR MEGAWATI AND DEMOCRACY being conducted in the Gajah Mada University Boulevarde. The hunger strike was being organised by the Struggle Committee for Indonesian Democracy (KPDI). The KPDI comprises Yogyakarta Youth in Struggle for Democracy (PPD), University of Gajah Mada Student Council, Santa Dharma University Student Council, Pijar magazine from Faculty of Philosophy Gajah Mada University, Dian Budaya magazine from the Faculty of Arts, UGM; Balairung magazine, and the Yogyakarta Megawati Supporters Association. The military chased, beat, stamped on and dragged along the activists and then threw them on the truck. Several student activists and members of the PDI-Struggle (of Megawati) were arrested and several more injured.
Activists arrested and detained in Sleman District Military Command centre are:
Injured activists include:
Yogyakarta, 1 April 1997, Advocacy Coordinator Indonesian Democracy Struggle Committee (KPDI) - Hari Prabowo
| East Timor |
Indonesian Observer - April 7 1997
Indonesian Ambassador-at-large, Lopes Da cruz, has refuted foreign allegations that a special program has been developed to spread Islam in the predominantly Roman Catholic province of East Timor. "That is untrue. Catholicism is well developed in that area [East Timor]," he said in Canada on Saturday.
Da Cruz was in Canada with Dr Astrid Susanto, a communication analyst from the Jakarta- based University of Indonesia.
They were there to tell Canadians the official version of affairs in East Timor. The ambassador said 800 churches have been built in the province since East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1976. The Portuguese only left the province with 100 churches after 450 years of occupation, he added.
The government's official data says that 92% of Timorese are now Roman Catholics, while during the Portuguese era only 29% were Catholics.
Da Cruz said that during Portugal's occupation of the area, only two East Timorese locals had tertiary education, but presently some 500 of the province's 800,000 people hold university degrees.
The ambassador said 90% of Indonesia's 200 million citizens follow Islam and they can live in harmony with the minority groups of Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and Buddhists. He said the government considers human rights issues and has tried to improve the implementation of rights in East Timor by setting up a local branch of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
"During their daily tasks, the commission acts in coordination with the Peace and Justice Commission of the Dili diocese,""he said.
Da Cruz explained that human rights cover the social, cultural and economic aspects of EastTimor.
He pointed out that Indonesia is not the only country in the world with a human rights problem. "Many other countries have also violated human rights." The Western media has often claimed that the Indonesian Armed Forces has committed serious human rights abuses in East Timor.
But Dr Susanto, a socio-political analyst, explained that the government and the military are in East Timor to "improve" the human rights situation.
The visit of Da Cruz and Susanto was sponsored by the Indonesian Embassy in Canada.
Reuters - April 7, 1997
Geneva – The camera zooms in to show a man's blood-covered wrist, nailed to his prison plank. Men in khakis torture inmates with sticks, chair legs, electric shocks and metal chains. A corpse wrapped in rags lies in a corner.
These and other graphic images purporting to show torture of East Timorese youths by Indonesia's army were presented on Monday to the United Nations by the island's exiled independence leader, Jose Ramos Horta, for investigation.
The 1996 Nobel Peace laureate said the still pictures in a video film, presented during the U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva, were taken in East Timor prisons in 1996 and recently smuggled out of the Indonesian-ruled island.
Horta called for a full U.N. investigation on torture on the former Portuguese territory, which Indonesia invaded in 1975 and annexed unilaterally the next year with tacit Western support.
He also urged the West to stop sending arms to Indonesia.
"This is one of the most horrific pieces of evidence of what has been the practice of Indonesian forces in East Timor for many years," the exiled former foreign minister told Reuters.
"What we see here is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a very urgent need for the governments of United States, Britain and France to stop all arms deliveries to Indonesia."
The pictures could not be independently authenticated.
Horta, who won the Nobel peace prize last year jointly with respected East Timorese Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo, said he believed the pictures were genuine, but Indonesia dismissed them as "a lot of nonsense" and said they were false.
"This is in comformity with Horta's propaganda...using lies and distortion to discredit Indonesia, especially since he received the Nobel Prize," the foreign ministry in Jakarta said.
One picture appeared to show two youths tied to a tree and hit with a shovel. Another appeared to show bodies being buried in a shallow grave under leaves and before beind burned.
A third purportedly showed youths who were arrested on their way from eastern part of the island to the capital Dili to welcome the return of Bishop Belo being tortured and killed. "If anyone has doubts about the brutality of the Indonesian army in East Timor and the unwillingness of Indonesian authorities to put an end to the attrocities, this photographic evidence will dispel any remaining doubts," Horta said.
East Timorese sources said they believed the pictures had been taken in or around the northeastern town of Baucau between October 1995 and December 1996.
The video was presented to U.N. special human rights investigator on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Bacre Waly Ndiaye, and to Dato Param Cumaraswamy, the investigator on the independence of judges and lawyers.
"The situation continues to be extremely serious in East Timor. Torture is continuing. People are being tortured with electric shocks, being put into water tanks," Horta said.
"With this evidence, I hope the U.N. Human Rights Commission this time will take real firm action in condemning the attrocities in East Timor."
Diplomats said it was unclear whether the Commission would adopt a resolution condemning Indonesia's rights abuses.
Rights groups say the body is becoming irrelevant, with big powers working hard backstage to ensure allies do not come under full scrutiny and many countries refraining from criticising others for fear of being criticised themselves.
Ruters - April 7, 1997
Jakarta – Indonesia said on Monday that Nobel Peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta's claim that he had fresh evidence of widespread torture in East Timor was "a lot of nonsense."
Horta said on Sunday in Geneva that he would give a video of photographs purportedly showing East Timorese youths being tortured by Indonesian soldiers to the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
"We doubt the (authenticity) of the pictures. It is unclear when they were taken," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ghaffar Fadyl told Reuters.
"This is in conformity with Horta's propaganda...using lies and distortion to discredit Indonesia, especially since he received the Nobel Prize," he added.
Horta also said: "It (the video of the photographs) shows a pattern of systematic, gross, widespread human rights violations. If anything, it shows it is not isolated... This is evidence of a pattern of the most brutal kind."
Fadyl said that Horta's statement was full of nonsense. "This is a lot of nonsense, which he repeats from time to time...and which we are bored of listening to," he added.
Tapol - April 7, 1997
34 people accused of being involved in the demonstration in Dili during the visit last month of Jamsheed Marker, the UN special envoy, are to go on trial very soon, according to a report in today's Kompas 7/IV., quoting Dili police chief, Lr ColBeno Kalipong. They will be charged with physical assault against members of the security forces.
'Their interrogation reports are being completed and will next week be handed to the public prosecutor in Dili. They are deemed to have been involved in criminal actions, under Article 154, and are not being charged with subversion.' [maximum penalty, seven years]
Of the 48 originally arrested (according to the police), 14 have been released, one of whom is still under treatment in hospital.
Meanwhile, head of the Dili Election Supervision Committee said that firm measures will be taken against anyone trying to disrupt the elections which will take place next month. The Committee will work in close cooperation with the security forces to safeguard the elections, he said.
He said it was obvious that the conditions in East Timor were such as to provide certain irresponsible elements with the opportunity to use the elections to undermine stability and the elections by inciting the younger generation to create disturbances. The security forces would therefore be anticipating such actions at the district and sub-district levels.
ASIET - April 6, 1997
ASIET has received the following message (abridged translation) from the East Timorese underground in Java.
Statement begins: Suharto regime murders more Maubere people
After 22 years of occupying the East Timorese nation and massacring the Maubere people, the Suharto regime is still not satisfied. The Suharto regime still wants to kill those who oppose Integration. Two of the 33 East Timorese who occupied the Austrian Embassy on 25 March have been killed. They are Zeka (26) and Casimiro (22). After their release, the regime continued to harass the Timorese because they had embarassed the regime in front of Mr Jamsheed Marker from the UN.
In the mind of the regime, anti-Integration East Timorese must be wiped out.
But the East Timoree youth are not discouraged by these scarifices. In east Timor, they have tortured 48 of those who demonstrated at the Mahkota Hotel.
They left the Austrian Embassy with the agreement of the Ambassador and the International Red Cross. But on arrival at Metropolitan Police Headquarters they were interrogated for 24 hours and many were tortured.
On March 29, they were released from the police headquarters. Casimiro and Zeka were students from Malang, East Java and so they joined the group that travelled to Jogja [on the way to Malang] after being released.
After one week in Jogja, Zeka and Casimiro left for Malang from Jogja by motor. Government agents in civvies rammed their LAndrover into the two East Timorese killing them both. This occurred at about 3.00am on April 2.
There has been no police action taken on this so East Timorese youth a preparing for an action at East Java police offices.
Guardian Weekly - April 6, 1997
When Jose Ramos Horta won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with his fellow East Tmorese, Monsignor Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo, there were hopes he might be able to dispel the dark cloud of silence that has engulfed the genocide of his people.
It was not to be so. The Asian countries and various Muslim nations last week conspired to prevent Horta from bringing up the issue of atrocities commited by Indonesian troops before the UN Commission on Human Rights.
Ever since it invaded the former Portugese colony of East Timor in 1975, the Indonesian carmy has kept the lid firmly clamped down on the aspirations of a population that craves for freedom.
During his recent Paris visit, Horta seemed convinced the aura prestige surrounding the Nobel prize would make it possible for him to address the UN commission. He was prevented from doing so by the religious solidarity of many countries of the South, in whose eyes Indonesia enjoys the distinction of being the largest Muslim country in the world.
But although the Western nations came out in favour – at long last – of allowing Horta to express his view before the commisssion, the fact remains that they have never vigorously condemned the forgotten war in East Timor, which has resulted in 300,000 death since 1975. Why? Because realpolitik is paramount in all dealings with a country such as Indonesia, a big economic and strategic player with huge virgin lands and oil reserves.
The anguished appeal that Monsignor Belo, the bishop of the East Timor capital, Dili, has just addressed, in absentia to the UN commission on Human Rights shows that a courageous Catholic voice in that occupied country continues to denounce the Indonesian army's unjust treatment of the civilian population and a forgotten guerrilla movement.
To the east of East Timor, another divided island, New Guinea, is going through a peiod of alarming instability. Its western half, the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, is slipping from the control of Jakarta, which regularly cracks down on tribal freedom movements there.
Sir Julius Chan, prime minister of the island's eastern half, Papua New Guinea, was forced to resign on March 26 by the parliamnetary opposition because, to the great irritation of his own army, he had recruited foreign mercenaries in an attempt to put down a separatist uprising on Bougaiville island.
It would be a mistake to dismiss such faraway upheavels as unimportant. Along the geostrategic dividing line between Australia and Asia, the forgotten freedom fighters of East Timor and Bougainville - in their different contexts, for the Bougainville rebels have suffered nothing approaching the tragedy of East Timor - are emblematic of the straggle by Oceanian civilisations to prevent themselves from being "pacified" (for which read "assimilated") and to defend the extraordinary cultural diversity that is their great hallmark.****
Australian Financial Review - April 3, 1997
Ian Howarth – BHP Petroleum was announced yesterday as the operator of a new multibillion-dollar oil and gas development in the Timor Sea, based on the rich Bayu-Undan discovery.
The $1 billion first stage of the project was confirmed yesterday, and the final details of an associated proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project will be settled within weeks.
BHP Petroleum was selected as the operator by the nine-member consortium that owns the Bayu-Undan field, discovered in January 1995.
Although it has not been fully explored, Bayu-Undan is already estimated to contain a minimum of 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas and around 400 million barrels of hydrocarbon liquids.
The discovery is easily the biggest in the Timor Sea and confirms the potential of the Timor Gap region, one of the prime targets in a billion-dollar exploration boom around the north-west coast.
The Timor Gap, once the subject of a lengthy international border dispute between Australia and Indonesia, has already yielded the rich Buffalo, Laminaria, Elang, Kakatua and Corralina oil discoveries.
The Bayu-Undan consortium will initially spend more than $1 billion on facilities to strip condensate (light oil) and liquefied petroleum gas from the reserves, with first production expected in late 1998.
A new LNG facility, costing up to several billion dollars, could be built later to liquefy the remaining natural gas for export.
BHP and US-based Phillips Petroleum want to use very different LNG production technologies in the Bayu-Undan development.
BHP is keen to develop the world's first offshore LNG facility in the Timor Gap, but Phillips wants to use its established technology in a more conventional LNG development to be built near Darwin.
The Bayu-Undan consortium expects to decide on the LNG project – utilising either BHP's plan or the Phillips proposal – within the next few weeks.
Development of the Bayu-Undan field has been hampered because the field is spread across the boundaries of two adjoining exploration permits, one operated by BHP Petroleum and the other by Phillips.
The key agreement reached yesterday was the position of operator, a requirement of the Timor Gap Zone of Co-Operation Joint Authority – made up of Australian and Indonesian officials – which administers the Timor Gap region. An actual development decision for the stage one liquids stripping project, which will utilise floating production and storage facilities, is likely to be made later this year.
BHP Petroleum president and group general manager Australia/Asia, Mr Mike Baugh, said yesterday: "The selection [of BHP as operator] was confirmed by the participants of both the ZOCA 91- 12 and ZOCA 91-13 joint ventures at meetings in Melbourne late last week.
"The single field extends across both contract areas and any development will be carried out under the framework of a unitisation agreement and utilise shared facilities." The actual percentage equity interests in the Bayu-Undan field have not been decided, although spokesmen for several of the participants said yesterday that the formula by which those equity shares will be determined has been agreed between the participants.
Mr Baugh said yesterday that the field would be developed using an "integrated project team involving BHP Petroleum, Phillips Petroleum [operator of ZOCA 91-13] and possibly other co- venturers in both 91-12 and 91-13."
Joint venturer partners in ZOCA 91-12 are BHP Petroleum with 42.427 per cent, Santos Ltd with 21.43 per cent, Inpex Sahul Ltd with 21.21 per cent, Petroz NL with 13.37 per cent and Emet Pty Ltd with 1.58 per cent. In ZOCA 91-13 the partners are Phillips Petroleum with 60 per cent, Oryx Energy with 25 per cent and the UK-based Hardy Petroleum Ltd 15 per cent.
Reuters - March 31, 1997
Jakarta – An East Timorese man has been jailed for one year for spreading hatred against Indonesian President Suharto after displaying a banner in the territory last year, the Antara news agency reported on Monday.
The agency said the state court in the East Timor capital Dili on Monday sentenced Joao Do Rosario Pires Al Joao, 24, under a lighter section of the criminal code because he told the court he did not know the poster was spreading hatred.
The report said the more serious charge of intentionally spreading hatred against the president, which carries a maximum sentence of six years jail, was not proved.
Antara said the banner showed a picture of Suharto beside jailed East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao. The report did not mention that the image of Suharto showed the president with a bloody bone in his mouth and holding two human skulls.
The banner, captioned "Suharto eats the bones of East Timorese," was placed outside the offices of Nobel peace laureate Bishop Carlos Belo in a demonstration in support of the head of the Dili diocese while he was giving a news conference.
Antara quoted Joao as saying he did not know the meaning of the banner, which was partly written in English.
"I did not know that if a picture of the President was put beside Xanana it was categorised as spreading hatred against the president," Joao was quoted by Antara as saying.
"I now truly regret it because I have done things which I did not know and (which) have caused me to suffer," he said.
A small band of armed rebels, which the Indonesian army says number less than 100, and an urban-based clandestine movement still oppose Jakarta's rule in the territory which remains heavily garrisoned by Indonesian troops.
Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year in an act not recognised by the United Nations.
Radio Australia - April 1, 1997
Indonesian police have freed 33 East Timorese who had been held since last Thursday after entering the Austrian embassy in Jakarta in an effort to meet a United Nations envoy on East Timor. A diplomat says the youths were dropped off in three groups at different bus stations in the Indonesian capital. It is not known whether police plans to press charges against the youths. U-N special envoy Jamsheed Marker, who had just returned from East Timor, met representatives of the students last Tuesday. Police detained the students from various towns in Java and Bali, after they left the Austrian embassy last Thursday.
Lusa - March 31, 1997
Jakarta – A member of Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission has accused the country's police of physically maltreating East Timorese who staged a demonstration during a visit to the conflict-territory last week by United Nations (UN) envoy, Jamsheed Marker.
Clementino dos Reis, a native East Timorese and member of the commission, told Reuters by telephone on Saturday, that "It is obvious the protesters have been beaten. They have swollen eyes, mouths, backs and chests. Some haven't eaten for four days because they can't do it as the result of the beating".
Amaral added that "In total, we have found there are 37 protesters who have been injured during the protest".
The Indonesian police arrested on March 23 several protesters who were demanding a meeting with Marker staying in a hotel at the East Timorese capital Dili.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it one year later but the United Nations still regards Portugal as the territory's administering power.
Lisbon has demanded that East Timor be given the right of self- determination.
Lusa - March 31, 1997
Lisbon – The Indonesian police has demanded 33 East Timorese youths arrested last week after breaking into the Austrian embassy in Jakarta to sign a declaration accepting the annexation of East Timor by Indonesia if they want to be released, sources told Lusa.
Sources at the East Timorese Student Resistance movement (RENETIL) in Jakarta told Lusa by phone on Sunday that the Indonesian request had been denounced by one of the arrested youth after calling RENETIL.
The same sources added that, until the contact with Lusa, the youths had not been physically tortured and that they refused to sign the document.
The 33 East Timorese students entered the Austrian embassy in Jakarta last Thursday to stage a demonstration in support of East Timor's self-determination right and seek a meeting with United Nations (UN) envoy, Jamsheed Marker, during his 10-day visit to Indonesia and East Timor.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it one year later but the United Nations still regards Portugal as the territory's administering power.
Lisbon has demanded that East Timor be given the right to self- determination. Lusa/Fim
Dow Jones News - March 24, 1997
Dili – About 50 East Timorese staged a non-violent protest Monday against Indonesian rule of their territory, a day after hundreds of demonstrators clashed with police during a visit by a U.N. investigator.
There were no arrests at the protest, in a marketplace, which dispersed after about 30 minutes, said the local police chief, Col. Jusuf Muharam.
Security forces fought Sunday with about 200 people who tried to present protests to Jamsheed Marker, a U.N. envoy investigating unrest in the former Portuguese colony that Indonesia invaded in 1975.
Muharam denied Monday that anyone had been killed, contradicting a security official who told The Associated Press on Sunday that two people were dead.
'There are no casualties. Only 38 people were injured and we have released three of the 48 people arrested,' he said.
Marker left the territory Monday, expressing regret over the incident.
'We must find a better alternative to solve the problem and certainly not through violence,' the Pakistani diplomat told reporters at the airport in Dili, the East Timorese capital.
Marker said that during his three-day visit, he had met with East Timor Gov. Abilio Soares, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Bishop Carlos Belo and other officials.
'We talked about the situation in East Timor, the need of the people and their problems,' Belo told reporters.
Belo is a prominent critic of the Indonesian government and military, which has often been accused of human rights abuses in the territory.
The U.N. still regards Portugal as the territory's administering power.
Tapol - March 31, 1997
In a letter dated 31 March 1997 to the chief of police of Jakarta, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, the YLBHI, has asked whether the Jakarta police are holding the 33 East Timorese who were arrested in Jakarta on 27 March. The Foundation states that they were arrested on 27 March after they had entered the Austrian embassy in Jakarta on 25 March and asked to meet the special UN envoy for East Timor. The students left the embassy at 5 am on 27 March and were immediately arrested.
The Foundation asked the chief of police to confirm that the 33 Timorese were now in the hands of the Jakarta police.
In its letter the Foundation drew attention to the criminal procedural code and basic human rights and asked the police to respect their rights.
The letter is signed by Munir of the Foundation's operation division.
[Note: the Indonesian authorities gave assurances to the Austrian embassy that they men would come to no harm if they left the embassy.]
Stop the Hawks coalition - March 31, 1997
Four East Timorese refugees and a Catholic priest arrested in East Trespass at British Aerospace Warton
This Easter morning, 31 March, four East Timorese refugees, a Liverpool Catholic priest and three parishioners were arrested at British Asrospace's Warton plant in Lancashire. The eight climbed the factory fence at dawn and held an Easter Service in order to protest against BAe's current Hawk deal with Indonesia.
The four East Timorese Refugees - Moises da Costa, Ermenegildo Lopes (both currently living in Liverpool, Amorim Vieira (from Lisbon) and Acacio Marques (currently living in Oxford) - were accompanied by Fr Arthur Fitzgerald of St Michael's Parish, Liverpool, James Cookson, a Liverpool student, Lizzie Jones and Julie Currall of the Liverpool Catholic Worker community. Before being apprehended they read from the Bible, scattered poppy seeds and unfurled banners. They then gave BAe security staff an Easter egg each. They were then arrested by Lancashire Police.
[Latest news: The four Timorese are being held and will appear before a magistrate's court in Lytham St Annes Tuesday at 9.30am. Their four companions have been release.]
BAe is currently assembling 16 Hawk ground attack aircraft at BAe Warton ready for export to Indonesia. Indonesia invaded East Timorese in 1975 and has since maintained an illegal occupation, condemned by the UN. Over 200,000 East Timorese - a third of the population - have died as a result of this brutal occupation.
In July of last year, four women were acquitted by a Liverpool jury of charges of criminal damage to a Hawk - arguing that they had 'used reasonable force in the prevention of a crime' - the crime of genocide in East Timor. In the wake of this trial, local Liverpool parishioners and human rights campaigners have continued to regularly vigil and protest at BAe Warton.
'I saw the Hawks in East Timor but I didn't know they came from Britain,' says Ermenegildo Lopes. 'Now that we live here and know they are made by British Aerospace, we call on Britain to stop supporting human rights abuses in East Timor and to stop selling Hawks to Indonesia.'
Fr Arthur Fitzgerald said: 'We're here today to celebrate Easter alongside four men who have survived the genocide in East Timor. BAe Hawk jets are being used by the Indonesian regime to slaughter innocents in East Timor. This trade in death has to stop.'
At 11am Monday about fifty supporters gathered at the main gaite of BAe Warton to continue the protest. Other East Timorese refugees will be present. Spokespeople will be available at the gate for interview at 10am.
| May 29 elections |
Straits Times - April 3, 1997
Jakarta – Indonesia banned political parties contesting the May 29 general election from obtaining foreign aid, the Media Indonesia newspaper reported yesterday. "It is against the law for the parties to ask for foreign funds even though they feel that the election funding is insufficient," it quoted Mr H. S. A. Yusacc, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, as saying on Tuesday. The two minority parties complained on Monday that the 500 million rupiah (S$300,000) given by the government was not enough.
Mr Ismail Hasan Metareum, head of the Muslim-oriented United Development Party, said the funding, which made up most of the minority parties' income, was too little. Mr Soerjadi, leader of the government-backed faction of the divided Indonesian Democratic Party, said the money would not pay for the campaign, which begins on April 27 and ends on May 23. – Reuter.
Straits Times - April 1, 1997
Jakarta – Indonesia's minority parties said yesterday that election funding given by the government was too small to cover campaign costs for the country's May polls.
Mr Ismail Hasan Metareum, head of the Muslim-oriented United Development Party (PPP), was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying the government election funding of 500 million rupiah (S$291,200) was not enough.
The funds make up most of the minority parties' income.
"According to our estimates, what is needed is two or three billion rupiah or at the least one billion rupiah, and if the government has to be very economical, 750 million. This assistance of 500 million rupiah is, of course, not enough," he said.
He said his party must look for alternative sources of funding for the May 29 election, without giving details.
Mr Soerjadi, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), said the 500 million rupiah would not cover the cost of the campaign, which begins officially on April 27 and ends on May 23. He said the money had to be split among the PDI's 302 branches.
Information Minister Harmoko, head of the ruling Golkar party, declined to comment on the funding issue.
The minority parties have long complained that Golkar, whose leaders are drawn from senior government figures and business executives, has no problem funding its extensive activities.
Public rallies have been banned for the election and the government wants to restrict campaigning to TV debates.
Interior Minister Yogie Memet yesterday recognised the funding was less than the parties needed, but said it was twice that given to them at the last election in 1992.
"However, this is the amount that can be given by the government, because every expenditure must be in line with the financial abilities of the state," he said, suggesting that the parties look for funding from elsewhere.
Even before the start of the official campaign period, Golkar has put up its bright yellow flags and hosted pop music concerts in Central Java. PPP supporters have countered this with unsanctioned motorcycle rallies every Sunday. – Reuter.
South China Morning Post - April 3, 1997
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Indonesia's leader for 30 years, President Suharto, has sounded a note of caution about his age, while his daughter shapes up as a strong candidate for vice- president.
"Please take my age into account because I will be 77 next year," Mr Suharto told a group of youth activists.
He said he was concerned about a perception overseas the elections were orchestrated to maintain the status quo and claimed he wanted to leave the presidential race open for other contestants.
"There are many others who want to become president and we should also consider this," Mr Suharto reportedly said.
The 1,000-member People's Consultative Assembly will meet in March 1998 to elect a new president and vice-president. Few expect any upsets and that Mr Suharto will be re-elected to a seventh term.
His doctors have given him a clean bill of health and palace insiders say he is keen to have another five-year term.
The regime has eliminated all possible presidential challengers in the past year.
The Government and military engineered the toppling of Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of the first president Sukarno, as leader of the Indonesian Democracy Party at a congress last June.
Ms Megawati was a popular leader and was seen as a potential presidential candidate.
Indonesian analysts said she would have been the first real challenger to Mr Suharto since he came to power in 1968.
Last month, authorities arrested Sri Bintang Pamungkas, the only figure to publicly nominate for the presidency. He is now facing subversion charges and a possible death sentence for defaming Mr Suharto in greeting cards.
The outspoken former parliamentarian urged a boycott of the May general elections and rejection of Mr Suharto.
Interest has shifted to the vice-presidential slot. The name of Mr Suharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana is racing up the list of rumoured candidates. Ms Rukmana, Golkar's deputy chairman, received an image boost at the weekend, appearing with influential Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid at a rally in Central Java.
Golkar officials said they would consider nominating her for vice-president, currently held by former general Try Sutrisno.
"We'll consider her as we will with other names. It could be Tutut or other candidates," Golkar secretary-general Ary Mardjono said.
A political analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Kristiadi, recently tipped Ms Rukmana, known as Mbak Tutut, as a favourite for the deputy position. Her profile has increased since her mother Ibu Tien Suharto died last April.
The Government yesterday reminded Indonesia's three political parties they were barred from accepting campaign donations from overseas.
EBRI - April 2, 1997
Opinion leaders say the Indonesian government's plan to invite foreign observers to monitor the implementation of the 1997 general election is a progressive step, which will not only improve the country's image abroad but also encourage us to carry out an honest, fair and democratic election.
"It indicates that general elections in Indonesia are carried out openly and not hampered by any principle problems," said Mulyana W. Kusumah, executive director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).
Mulyana said, however, that such facility which is accorded foreign observers should also be made available to domestic watchdogs, such as the Independent Electoral Monitoring Committee (KIPP).
"I say, the same opportunity should be offered to foreign and domestic observers alike," said Mulyana, who is also KIPP secretary general.
Mulyana was commenting on a recent statement by Internal Affairs Minister Yogie Suardi Memet that the government has a plan to invite foreign observers from neighboring countries to monitor the polling of the 1997 general election.
The plan promptly solicits endorsement from the military. Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander General Feisal Tanjung claims he has no objection to the presence of foreign observers during the May 29 polling.
"If there are foreign observers who are interested in seeing Indonesia's general election process, why not?" Tanjung was quoted as saying.
No guarantee
Analysts note, however, that the move does not guarantee a fair general election. Mohammad Budyatna, dean of the state University of Indonesia in Jakarta, said that the government should go further and let all three political groups contesting the general election control the flow of tallied ballots from the polling booths up to the national election committee.
"The transparency would help the government and the ruling party dispel any suspicion of cheating," the Jakarta Post quoted Budyatna as saying.
Asmara Nababan, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), seconded Budyatna's suggestion.
"They (the political groups) have the right to demand transparency because they are the ones contesting the election," Nababan said.
In concur with Mulyana, Nababan also believes that the government should give priority to Indonesian citizens to monitor the polls as "the presence of an independent watchdog is required to guarantee the polls are run fairly and honestly."
Nababan's comment implies criticism of the government, which has warned KIPP under the chairmanship of Gunawan Mohammad, the editor of the now-banned Tempo weekly news magazine, against intervening in ballot counting. In principle, the three political groups contesting the general election agree with the plan to invite foreign observers. Yusuf Syakir, vice chairman of the United Development Party (PPP), welcomes the government plan but asserts that no other bodies but the political groups themselves would be able to monitor the process of election effectively.
"Neither foreign observers nor independent bodies have enough resources to monitor the polls," said Syakir.
Evaluation standard
Meanwhile, ruling Golkar Chairman Harmoko advises the foreign observers to first study the value system of the Pancasila Democracy and avoid imposing the norms of liberal democracy.
"They should abide by the laws and regulations adopted in Indonesia," said Harmoko, who is also Minister of Information.
By that (study) mechanism, Harmoko claims, the results of their monitoring may give the proper perspectives of general elections' function to channel the people's political rights as understood by the country's constitutional system. On this regard, Harmoko's advice gets support from a member of the independent Komnas HAM.
Prof. Dr. Muladi, who is also rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro University in Central Java, emphasizes that the foreign observers should not impose their own cultural values or the international standard.
"Otherwise, their works won't be of any use," Muladi said.
The university rector also suggests that the observers should come from countries which do not have any principle problems with Indonesia and they themselves do not have the tendency to underrate Indonesia in international forums.
Not necessary
On the other side of the hedge, some opinion leaders express disagreement about the plan to invite foreign observers.
"Personally, I don't agree to outsiders monitoring our domestic affairs... there is no need for us to follow the examples of other countries," said Dr. Juwono Soedarsono, Deputy Governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas). Juwono expresses concern that the opportunity might be exploited to voice baseless grudges on the implementation of general elections in Indonesia, thus raising polemics about the results of election. Outspoken Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudo- husodo says Indonesia does not need foreigners to monitor the country's election.
"We are capable of monitoring ourselves. The general elections we have conducted in the past went well. We don't need foreign supervisors," Yudohusodo said.
According to Yudohusodo, inviting foreign supervisors may give the impression that we have something to hide.
"Inviting foreign supervisors may imply that our past elections were rife with manipulation, while they were not. Besides, what if the foreigners then conduct investigations and meddle in the voting. It's not good at all," he said.
Observers, not supervisors
At this point, the Ministry of Internal Affairs gives an assertion that those invited are not supervisors, but observers who have no rights of investigation.
"The press has given the perception that those invited are supervisors which connotes investigation, but they are not," said Sutoyo NK, the ministry's director general for social and political supervision.
According to Sutoyo, there is nothing wrong with the foreign guests observing the campaigns and the polls as long as they are not investigating, which some people interpret as interfering in the domestic affairs of our country.
"As citizens, we don't welcome other people investigating our country," Sutoyo said. These foreign observers, Sutoyo said, are in principle the same as those who have been invited by some other countries. When Malaysia or Singapore carried out their general elections, observers from Indonesia were invited.
"And they were not investigating, but just observing," said Sutoyo.
The director general stresses that the presence of these observers should be viewed from the spirit of the issue, namely the spirit of the Indonesian government to give the opportunity to other countries to get to know how the Indonesian government organizes the general election.
"So, what counts is the spirit of our nation carrying out the general election under the observation by other countries," Sutoyo said. (EBRI/ss)
Agence France Presse - April 2, 1997
Jakarta – President Suharto's children and other relatives will contest general elections next month while opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri and her supporters have been barred, a final list of candidates showed yesterday.
The National Election Institute published a list of 2,285 people allowed to run in the May 29 elections: 716 from the Muslim-led United Development Party, 825 from the ruling Golkar party and 744 from the Christian-nationalist Indonesian Democracy Party.
The list, virtually unchanged from an original provisional one, included four of Suharto's children, one daughter-in-law, a cousin and a half-brother, along with scores of close relatives of senior military and civilian officials. They are all standing as Golkar candidates.
The original list was released in January.
Suryadi, appointed chairman in June by a government-sanctioned rebel PDI faction which toppled Ms Megawati as party chairman, is heading his party's list for Jakarta.
Golkar has fielded two ministers in the capital, along with Mr Suharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo, pop singer Rhoma Irama who left the PPP last year and leading Muslim preacher Kosim Nurseha.
South China Morning Post - April 2, 1997
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – The ousted leader of the Indonesian Democracy Party, Megawati Sukarnoputri, plans to withdraw support for the party in the elections as a protest against the man who unseated her.
"Megawati and her followers will use their voting rights to choose one of the other two parties," said a senior source.
He said Ms Megawati would make a statement within the next two weeks announcing her strategy for the May 29 elections, which will include withdrawing backing for the party as a sign that she does not support rival leader Suryadi.
Ms Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's first president, Sukarnoputri, was forced out of the leadership at a rebel congress in June. The Government and military backed the congress, which elected Mr Suryadi.
"She is withdrawing her support from Suryadi and therefore the current party executive. She will be telling supporters to use their vote for any other party," the source said.
The Indonesian Democracy Party, the ruling Golkar party and the Muslim-oriented United Development Party will contest 425 seats.
President Suharto personally appoints 75 members of the armed forces to the Lower House of Parliament.
The General Election Institute yesterday released the final list of 2,285 candidates. It contained the names of seven of Mr Suharto's relatives, including four of his children, but excluded the name of Ms Megawati, who remains an MP.
"This is the final list and there will be no changes," Walujo, the deputy secretary-general of the institute said as his assistants pinned up the candidate lists outside the election building in central Jakarta.
Mr Walujo said eight names had been dropped from the interim list because the candidates had died, resigned or failed to pass compulsory national security clearance.
The interim list, released in January, was criticised in the media for being nepotistic.
The popular Ms Megawati said she still had majority support from party members and would not give up her political ambitions.
"My supporters want the Government to reinstate my political rights as the party's leader," she said.
The chairman of the South Sulawesi branch has already urged his members to vote for Golkar. Another leader in Surabaya, East Java, has called on his members to vote for the United Development Party.
Jakarta Post - March 26, 1997
Semarang – Military authorities in this Central Java city are planning to deploy at least 20 pythons to safeguard the May general election and the March 1998 presidential election.
Lt. Col. Harry Purdianto of Central Java's infantry battalion was quoted by the Suara Merdeka daily as saying yesterday the pythons, about six meters long and weighing 15 kilograms, would take part in safeguarding the polls, particularly against anti- government demonstrators.
"We are also preparing snake charmers, in case unexpected things happen," Harry said. If the demonstrators persist and get through the snakes, another layer of security personnel would be ready with rifles and rubber bullets, he added.
The May 29 general election will be preceded by a four-week-long campaign. More than 120 million Indonesians are eligible to vote in the sixth general election under President Soeharto's administration and the seventh since Indonesia gained independence in 1945. (swe)
South China Morning Post - April 1, 1997
Jenny Grant, Jakarta – The appearance of President Suharto's daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, with Indonesia's most influential Muslim leader, Abdurrahman Wahid, at a weekend rally signifies the beginnings of a powerful alliance.
Ms Rukmana, the deputy chairman of the ruling Golkar party, appeared at the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) meeting in Semarang, central Java, along with her military ally, army chief General Hartono. The 30-million strong NU is Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation.
The President's daughter shied away from wearing the usual Golkar party yellow, donning a white-lace Islamic head dress for her 15-minute speech.
Experts see Ms Rukmana's appearance as the start of an alliance between NU, Golkar and a pro-Suharto faction of the military before the May 29 election.
Pro-government analyst Amir Santoso said: "There is an effort from both sides to get close to each other for the election."
Mr Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, said the event was mutually beneficial to Golkar and NU. "It's not taking sides in the elections. It is reciprocal. We introduce her to the crowd and she uses the opportunity to pull the crowd to Golkar."
Mr Wahid said NU members could vote for whatever party they wanted at the polls in which 120 million Indonesians are expected to cast ballots for one of the three official parties - Golkar, the Muslim-oriented United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party.
Mr Wahid said he wanted to give Ms Rukmana the chance to enhance her image among NU members.
"She is a rising star and we think she will go far," he said.
"We have done this for other well-known people and maybe we will do it for her brother, Bambang, too."
Bambang Trihatmodjo, Mr Suharto's second eldest son, is a successful businessman with interests in broadcasting, construction and telecommunications. He is also the treasurer of Golkar.
Mr Wahid has been an outspoken supporter of democracy in Indonesia. His Democracy Forum group campaigns on human rights issues and he wields great political clout.
About 90 per cent of Indonesia's 200 million people follow Islam.
Mr Santoso said: "For a long time, Gus Dur has been a government opponent. Now he wants to move closer to the Government, both for his personal ambition and because of pressure from inside NU."
Straits Times - March 30, 1997
Susan Sim, Jakarta – Indonesia's favourite guessing game – who will be the next Vice-President – has been moved up a notch this past week with calls to political parties to name their candidates before the parliamentary election in May.
The calls have been backed by at least two of the likely contenders for the post, which is due to be elected, usually by acclamation, by the People's Consultative Assembly next March.
There is no doubt in most minds, however, that the 1,000-member Assembly will elect President Suharto for a sixth consecutive term, and that the Vice-President will be of his choice. The rather unprecedented suggestion to the three officially recognised political parties to "take a brave step" and announce their preferred candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency during campaign hustings starting next month was made last weekend by a former Golkar MP, Mr Marzuki Darusman. "The move will earn the parties the people's attention and affinity," he was quoted as saying by local newspapers.
The lawyer and deputy chief of the National Human Rights Commission added: "People should be free to make their own choices and give suggestions to the People's Consultative Assembly. Naming candidates shouldn't be the monopoly of legislative members." Over the week, the call for open nominations for the vice-presidency gained momentum as several politicians, Cabinet ministers and political observers threw their weight behind it, and the Jakarta chapters of one opposition party even named its chairman for the post.
Amid criticism that his nomination had not been endorsed by the party's central board, United Development Party (PPP) chief Ismail Hasan Metareum said he was ready to run for the vice- presidency. Meanwhile, two ministers seen as potential Golkar candidates for the post voiced their support for the open discussions.
Minister for National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita told reporters: "It's very important that the public are allowed to talk about it openly, although it sometimes causes the candidates to feel awkward."
But he dismissed speculation that he was a potential candidate along with incumbent Vice-President Try Sutrisno, Golkar Chairman Harmoko, State Research and Technology Minister B. J. Habibie and army Chief of Staff Hartono.
Dr Habibie, a favourite candidate because of his close ties to the President, last week also endorsed the active participation of the people in the nomination process as a positive sign of growing political awareness.
Rather surprisingly, he then told reporters he would "think about it" if he was nominated by the People's Assembly, adding that he was not the only person considered suitable for the No. 2 post.
In the past, he had refused to be drawn on the question other than to call for more executive powers for the Vice-President. A scenario making the rounds currently is that Mr Suharto will accept election to a sixth term next March and then relinquish some of his powers mid-term.
The question of who will become the next vice-president is thus of crucial urgency as he will have to lead Indonesia through a political transition, and into the 21st century.
| Social unrest |
Sydney Morning Herald - April 8, 1997
Louise Williams, Jakarta – The central Javanese town of Pekalongan was under military control yesterday after further political riots over the weekend which left at least five people injured and more than 60 shops and homes damaged or destroyed. At least 1,000 Muslims shouting "Allah is Great" went on the rampage on Sunday morning, breaking into shops and burning and looting, according to reports reaching Jakarta.
Pekalongan is a stronghold of the Muslim-orientated United Development Party (PPP), one of only two alternative parties permitted to stand in the upcoming national elections.
Witnesses said the riots began after a Muslim crowd began removing flags of the ruling Golkar Party of the Soeharto Government. Pekalongan was the only Javanese town where the PPP won a majority in the previous elections.
The mob attacked Christian and Chinese targets, burning and damaging homes and shops. Witnesses said a motor cycle dealership, a warehouse and a truck garage were broken into.
Tapol - April 8, 1997
According to reports in Monday's Republika and Media Indonesia, there were more disturbances in the northern Central Java city of Pekalangan. Around midnight Sunday, 6 April thousands of people ran riot on the streets, destroying motorbikes and vehicles. A tomato puree warehouse was destroyed as well as a batik dyes shop.
Two weeks ago, the city was shaken by disturbances when a huge crowd burnt down a podium on which the president's daughter, Mbak Tutut, vice chair of the government party, GOLKAR was due to speak, along with the well-known singer Rhoma Irama who only recently switched his allegiance from the PPP to GOLKAR. The disturbances on that occasion lasted for three days, from 24 - 26 March.
The local army chief Col Amirul Isnaeni, said on Sunday that the disturbances had been brought under control. 'The security forces are being kept in readiness in locations where they occurred,' he said.
According to Republika (7 April), the troubles started when young people of one of the contesting parties tried to remove the election symbol of another party. This led to physical clashes which grew worse as youths of the other party tried to remove the symbols of the first party. The papers don't identify the parties but it is not difficult to conclude that the clashes were between the Muslim PPP which is known to have massive support in the city and GOLKAR which is trying to assert its superiority in a Muslim stronghold, ahead of the elections due on 29 May.
Some local residents in the Buaran district where the trouble erupted say that many of those who started the trouble were outsiders and unknown locally.
The local authorities said seven people had been arrested, of whom two were likely to be charged. A number of people were injured in the clashes.
While it was said that things were now back to normal, a number of shops remained closed.
[From the sketchy reports available, it would appear that this is a conflict between PPP supporters and GOLKAR. There appears to be no suggestion that the crowds attacked Chinese shops or churches as has happened in other cities in Java.]
Straits Times - April 1, 1997
Jakarta – Indonesia's main Muslim party has accused a number of ulamas of inciting last week's riots in a small Central Java town, a report said yesterday.
The United Development Party's (PPP) deputy secretary for Central Java, Mr Harminto Agustono, said a number of ulamas (Muslim leaders) had delivered religious sermons which "provoked" social unrest, the Indonesian Observer said.
The ulamas were neither the PPP's "functionary members nor its preachers, but only its sympathisers", Mr Agustono said on Sunday in Central Java's capital, Semarang.
He said his party had filed complaints with the local authorities about the ulamas' actions, but did not elaborate.
One of the ulamas accused of inciting the riots, Mr Affinuddin Musitari, dismissed Mr Agustono's allegations as "slander".
A mob of around 1,000 people vandalised more than 60 buildings, mostly shops owned by ethnic Chinese, and burned scores of vehicles in the normally sleepy town of Pekalongan on Wednesday.
The riots were preceded on Monday by the burning of an open air stage prepared for a pop concert organised by the ruling Golkar party which was to feature pop star Rhoma Irama, who recently crossed over from the PPP to Golkar, to the chagrin of many PPP followers.
Angered by the concert organisers' move to remove PPP flags from around the venue of the concert, people attacked and burned the stage.
The concert went ahead on Wednesday night despite the tense situation, attended by President Suharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, a Golkar executive and legislative candidate for Central Java. Trials for around 30 people accused of being involved in the riots were under way, Pekalongan police chief Lieutenant-Colonel Triyono said on Sunday.
He said four people still remained in hospital following the riots.
A Pekalongan resident told AFP yesterday after the riots that many shops were painted green, the PPP's official colour, adding that the town was returning to normal slowly following the riots.
Central Java has been a political battleground, with the PPP accusing the authorities of assisting Golkar in the campaign for the May 29 general election. Pekalongan is a PPP stronghold.
Golkar has received widespread criticism for using government facilities and officials to gain support in general elections.
Indonesia has in recent months been rocked by a series of ethnic and religious riots, which have left scores dead and more than 100 buildings vandalised or burned. – AFP.
South China Morning Post - April, 4 1997
Deutsche Presse Agentur in Jakarta – A court has sentenced 30 people to between three days and three months in jail following riots last week.
The Jakarta Post said the rioters also received probation of three to four months for disrupting public order.
The Pekalongan District Court found the 30 guilty of involvement in last week's unrest that left eight people injured. Eighteen people were sentenced to three days in prison while 12 received three-month jail terms.
About 1,000 people went on the rampage last Thursday, burning or vandalising shops and vehicles, leaving at least 60 buildings and a number of vehicles damaged.
Reports said the rioting broke out after supporters of the Muslim-backed United Development Party were enraged when local authorities removed the party's flags and banners and replaced them with the ruling Golkar party's banners.
Unrest in Indonesia over the past months has claimed scores of lives.
Dow Jones News - March 29, 1997
Jakarta – More than 30 people have been arrested since riots broke out in central Java early this week, the official Antara news agency reported Saturday.
About 60 shops were burned or vandalized, a bank office was damaged and two truckloads of garments were set on fire in riots Monday and Tuesday in the town of Pekalongan, a military spokesman told Antara.
Eight people, including several security officers, were hospitalized.
The riots erupted after organizers of a concert sponsored by the governing Golkar party pulled down the flags of two other political parties, the Muslim United Development Party, or PPP, and the Indonesia Democratic Party, or PDI.
Lieutenant Colonel Sugeng Suryanto, spokesman of the Central Java military command, was quoted by Antara as saying authorities were looking for five more suspects.
Agence France Presse - March 30, 1997
Jakarta – Trials for about 30 people charged with involvement in riots in Indonesia's Central Java last week have already begun.
"The court has already begun their trials on Thursday and Saturday," said police chief Triyono from Pekalongan, 300 kilometres from Jakarta, where 1,000 people rioted for three days last week.
He said 12 suspects were tried on Thursday and a further 18 on Saturday on charges of damaging property and disturbing public order, but declined to give details. Officials of the court could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Four people were still in hospital on Sunday after the riots from Monday to Wednesday.
A mob of 1,000 people vandalised more than 60 buildings, mostly shops owned by ethnic Chinese, and burned two trucks in Pekalongan on Wednesday.
The riots were preceded by the burning of an open air stage prepared for a pop concert organised by the ruling Golkar party that was to feature pop star Rhoma Irama.
The singer recently crossed over to Golkar from the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP). - AFP
Antara - March 29, 1997
Semarang – The Central Java provincial branch of the United Development Party (PPP) is asking the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to probe alleged human rights violations in Monday's riot in the Central Java town of Pekalongan.
"From the reports we have received there are a number of human rights violations including destruction of houses, violent acts locals and shooting of three locals," deputy secretary of the party's provincial branch Harminto Agustono said Friday.
If the reports were true, the rights body should step in, he said.
The party leadership hoped the Armed Forces to take immediate actions against state apparatuses who were found guilty of being involved in the human rights violations, he said. "We must view the Pekalongan incident from its root," he said.
Meanwhile, Komnas HAM Chairman Munawir Sjadzali said the rights body was ready to send an investigation team to the town at the affected people's request although the riot was believed to have been politically motivated.
"Komnas HAM continues to receive any complaint from the people about human rights violation, although it is politically motivated,"Munawir said Friday.
But he said Komnas HAM would not race with the authorities in handling the Pekalongan riot because it would perform duties based on complaint from the people.
"Komnas HAM has so far been active and not proactive in performing its duties. Unless there is complaint from the people, we will not step in," he said.
The riot erupted Monday after the organizers of the planned Golkar gathering had taken down the flags of the three political groupings, Golkar's yellow flags, PPP's green flags and the Indonesian Democratic Party's red flags.
Some people said the incident erupted as supporters were upset that their parties' colors were being taken down while Golkar's yellow stage was being erected.
Chief of the Diponegoro regional military command Maj. Gen.
Soebagyo said the securities agencies were searching for the masterminds of the Pekalongan riot.
He said the securities agencies would not tolerate anybody found guilty of being involved in the riot.
It was reported that 60 shops were destroyed or burnt down, and two cars and a BRI branch office were set ablaze.
A total of 31 people were detained until Friday as the town began to return to normal.
| Armed forces |
Jane's Defense Daily - March 19, 1997
Indonesia has ordered an unspecified number of armored personnel carriers from Ukraine's UKRSPETSE, the country's state-owned arms corporation, according to a top company official.
Andrei Koukin, UKRSPETSE's director general, disclosed the deal yesterday during a press conference at the IDEX '97 defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Koukin would not disclose the value of the deal. But he did say that although the deal would not yield the company significant financial results, it would bolster Ukrainian market presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
| Economy and investment |
Wall Street Journal - April 2, 1997
Jakarta – After years of living contentedly, many import- dependent businesses in Indonesia worry that changes in customs procedures could bring back the bad old days at the country's ports.
For the first time since 1985, the government's Directorate- General of Customs and Excise Tuesday regained complete control of inspecting commercial cargo entering Indonesia. This marks the end of a system of preshipment inspection conducted outside the country – a system praised by many business executives for slashing both costs and corruption. Now, cargo duties will be assessed after the goods reach Indonesia. The new method does not include a role for the Swiss surveying firm Societe Generale de Surveillance SA, which ran preshipment inspection from 1985 until 1991 and remained directly involved until Monday.
Opinions vary on how well the return to on-arrival inspection will work at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port, which handles much of the country's sea cargo. Amirudin Saud, chairman of the All- Indonesia Importers Association, sees two types of trouble on the horizon: congestion and corruption. "Customs isn't ready for the change," he says, predicting that the port will suffer traffic jams by June or July. He says many companies boosted their imports in the first quarter of this year to stockpile supplies in case the ports get clogged. He also believes the new system won't tackle an old problem of corruption at customs. The first problem of Indonesian customs officers, he contends, is one of "mentality." The approach to clearing cargo, Mr. Saud says, is "no money, no goods."
But Soerhardjo Soebardi, director-general of customs and excise, dismisses the worries. Fears of congestion are "unfounded," he says, because preparations for the new system, which depends on shippers sending cargo data to customs by computer, have been made. Mr. Soerhardjo takes exception to the widely held view that many customs officers will see the return of their responsibilities as a license to return to soliciting bribes.
"I regret if people still think that customs will be back in the old habits," Mr. Soehardjo says. "That means they don't know what we have done for the last 10 years."
'Old habit' died
The director-general doesn't deny there will be some corruption, noting that "bad habits aren't just in customs, but in every department." However, he thinks that training, a higher caliber of staff and the "phasing out of those who had the old habit" will let customs perform much better than before 1985. Before 1985, corruption at Indonesian ports was a key factor in establishing the country's reputation as a high-cost economy. When oil companies needed a spare part, for example, they often ordered three in the hope that one would arrive.
In the early 1980s, the government gave poorly paid customs officers a tenfold raise in an unsuccessful bid to cut down solicitation for bribes. Importers often complained they needed more than 35 signatures to clear cargo, which could mean 35 payments, most of which never went to government coffers.
So in April 1985, President Suharto boldly moved to clean up the ports by cleaning out customs. He issued a decree that essentially fired, by pensioning off, nearly half of the 13,000 customs officers. In their place, the government hired Geneva- based SGS to manage a system of preshipment inspection. For most cargoes (those valued at less than $5,000 were exempted), customs officers in Indonesia ended up just looking at shipment reports filed through SGS that both confirmed the cargoes and calculated the duties owed.
The hiring of SGS, promoted by government technocrats, dramatically improved the movement of goods through Indonesian ports. That, in turn, was critical to Indonesia's success in the late 1980s in building up nonoil exports to replace income lost due to low oil prices. The preshipment inspection also boosted government revenue from import duties. Many businessmen view the 1985 decree as one of the most important "deregulation" moves made by Mr. Suharto.
Even so, some government officials and politicians lobbied for SGS's role to end on the ground that the country should handle its own customs-clearance work. Some importers, too, were unhappy with SGS, though several informal business surveys showed overwhelming support for extending the period of SGS's work.
Restoring power
In 1991, when SGS's second three-year contract was expiring, the government decided to restore most of the power stripped from the customs service; yet, it ensured that SGS continued to play a significant role. The concept of preshipment inspection was retained, though instead of being handled solely by SGS, a new company called PT Surveyor Indonesia was created. SGS had a 20% stake in that concern, the Finance Ministry took 76% and the other 4% went to PT Sucofindo, a government-owned inspection company. Surveyor Indonesia's contract ended March 31.
The Finance Ministry says the system begun Tuesday is entirely new because importers are expected to follow a "self assessment" method in which they report goods through what's called EDI, or electronic data interchange. Mr. Soehardjo says importers should take to the new system because there will be minimal contact with officials, who will spot-check some cargoes but often accept the assessment of the importers.
Mr. Soehardjo acknowledges that problems may arise because more departments and agencies are involved in handling imports than just customs, such as the state-owned company running the Jakarta port. But he's confident customs itself will perform well. "Our challenge is to prove people wrong," he says.
| Labour issues |
Sydney Morning Herald - April 4, 1997
Gordon Feeney, Jakarta – A new Australian study has accused glamour sports shoe maker Nike of callous exploitation of workers, including children as young as 11.
The study, by Perth academic Mr Peter Hancock, also alleges that in one case in early 1996 a 23-year old woman collapsed from exhaustion in a factory licensed by Nike to make its products.
The woman later died after she was taken to lie in a mosque and received no medical attention, Mr Hancock alleged in a report that dubbed the Nike operation as "Satan's factories".
Nike and its Indonesian licensee have consistently denied allegations of worker exploitation across Asia. The company argues it is not directly responsible for the licensee factories.
Its frontman, basketball superstar Michael Jordan, said last year: "It's Nike's responsibility. I only endorse the shoe products."
Mr Hancock said yesterday he had spent eight months, from June 1996 to February this year, at two Nike licensee factories sotu of Bandung in West Java, and had been deeply disturbed at what he saw.
"I was shocked. I found it unbelievable; they are making record profits and yet they have really shocking conditions", he said.
Me Hancock said he found the average working day lasted 11.5 hours, that workers wre instantly sacked for taking sick leave and that woman workers suffered systematic verbal abuse.
Some 80% of workers were forced to work seven days a week and most earned Indonesian minimumlegal wage - about $2.50 a day plus overtime, that was sometimes docked for underperformance.
Mr Hancock said other major sports shoe operations, including Nike rival Reebok, had far more satisfactory working conditions.
He rejected Nike's assertion that it had litle control over licensee factories, reporting that two US Nike representatives worked on the factory floor.
During his study, Mr Hancock said he had found many factory workers aged under 16, with the youngest 11.
"The 11-year old girl was under the strict control of her parents who said he was too stupid to continue at school. They have to say that as an excuse to the Government for taking her out of school" he said.
Mr Hancock said Indonesian authorities appeared to have little interest in workers' conditions. "Even middle-level factory managers told stories of government inspectors coming to the factory to receive what you might call gratuities but making no inspection."
The title of the report, "Nike's satanic factories in West Java", was taken from an account by a villager.
"I arrived in the old man's village at about 8pm to survey factory workers. I asked him where I could find women who worked for Feng Tey [the name of the Nike licensee].
"He replied that they had not returned since leaving at 4am the previous morning.
"He told me the women were called "walking ghosts who work at Satan's factory" and if I wanted to speak with them I would have to become a ghost myself."
Brad Norington reports that the report on working conditions in factories producing shoes for Nike in West Java follows a similar study by the US-based Vietnam Labour Watch, which reported on harsh conditions and low pay for women in four Vietnam factories contracted to produce sports shoes for Nike.
According to the Vietnam report, women as young a 15 were working for 20c an hour and had to endure corporal punishment as a penalty for wearing non-regulation shoes.
Community Aid Abroad - April 4, 1997
New report reveals "worst conditions yet" in Nike contractor's factory.
"It's the most disturbing report we've seen so far," Community Aid Abroad spokesperson Tim Connor said today, speaking of Australian academic Peter Hancock's new report on working conditions in Nike-producing factories in Banjaran in West Java, Indonesia. "There have been several reports on Nike-producing factories near Jakarta, and the conditions there are bad enough," he said. "Peter has spent several months interviewing workers in an extremely remote area and the situation there is nothing short of abhorrent. It seems the less likely it is that researchers will visit, the less concern Nike and its contractors pay to human rights." Hancock's report reveals that that in Nike contractor Feng Tay's factory in Banjaran:
The title of the report, "Nike's Satanic Factories in West Java", comes from an Indonesian villager. Hancock writes, "I arrived in the old man's village at about 8pm to survey factory workers. I asked him where I could find women who worked for Feng Tay (Nike's contractor). He replied that they had not returned since leaving at 4am the previous morning. He told me the women from Feng Tay were called 'Walking Ghosts who work in Satan's factory' and if I wanted to speak with them I would have to become a ghost myself."
Hancock's report comes hot on the heels of a much publicised report on the weekend by US group Vietnam Labor Watch on conditions faced by Vietnamese workers making Nikes. Community Aid Abroad is campaigning for the protection of the basic human rights of workers who make Nikes.
| Politics |
South China Morning Post - April 4, 1997
Agence France-Presse in Jakarta - Foreign Minister Ali Alatas yesterday dismissed rumours that President Suharto had suffered a stroke.
"News like that is common; everything was clearly made up, it was engineered," he said after meeting Mr Suharto at the presidential office.
Rumours circulated in international markets on Wednesday that Mr Suharto had suffered a mild stroke. A US news report said he had been forced to cancel an engagement.
Mr Alatas said the Cabinet meeting was cancelled on Wednesday "because many ministers had not returned to Jakarta from the regions, then this was immediately used as speculation material by the foreign press".
Questions over the President's health have frequently raised speculation, especially after his wife died in April 1996.
Mr Suharto, 75, later spent two months in Germany for a check-up sending the Indonesian currency and stock market reeling.
He has been in power since 1968 and is serving his sixth consecutive term as President.
Several groups, including Mr Suharto's Golkar party, have already said they want him re-elected in 1998, but the retired general has so far declined to reveal his intentions after his current term is up.
Reuters - April 2, 1997
Jakarta – The ghost of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno still haunts his successor, Suharto, who is intent on stressing the legitimacy of his rise to power 30 years ago, observers say.
The president has approved an official seminar this month on Sukarno's last major speech, in which he denied prior knowledge of a 1965 coup attempt blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
Mr Suharto, 75, took over from Sukarno in March 1966 amid rising discontent following the coup bid. He was elected provisional president a year later and president in 1968.
The seminar is officially aimed at giving "accurate" information to Indonesians, particularly the country's youth, on Sukarno's January 1967 speech to the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPRS), when he delivered the denial. The coup bid had sparked nation-wide bloodshed.
The seminar issue led the president to stress publicly last week that he had not come to power through a coup. "In old age, perhaps, a lot of things haunt you from the past," said Indonesian historian Onghokham. The MPRS, which had been appointed by the then General Suharto, stripped Sukarno of his titles, including president for life, in March 1967 and elected Mr Suharto acting president.
Historians give little weight to Sukarno's speech as by then he had been effectively pushed aside after signing a letter the previous March transferring executive power to Mr Suharto.
Mr Suharto, then chief of the army's strategic reserve command, was one of the few senior generals not killed in the 1965 coup bid led by Sukarno's palace guard and the air force.
Mr Suharto quickly re-asserted army control and later organised the crushing of the now-banned PKI in a series of bloody army- backed pogroms. Sukarno's links to the coup attempt have never been clear.
Political analysts said it was not clear why Suharto wanted to revisit the subject, but they speculated it could be linked to his decision last year to back the removal of Sukarno's daughter, Megawati Sukarnoputri, as head of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
They said Ms Megawati's rising popularity was seen as a possible threat to President Suharto at next March's presidential election when he is expected to run for a seventh five-year term. Ms Megawati was ousted at a government-funded congress last June and has been excluded from next month's general election.
"Perhaps he wants to blacken a bit his historical rival and his daughter as he was troubled by the growing popularity of Sukarnoism," a Jakarta-based diplomat said.
Mr Suharto's 30-year rule has brought stability and high economic growth. But Sukarno remains a popular figure among the young and his speeches are still sold on cassettes at street corners.
Kompas - April 4, 1997
Jakarta – Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said today that the whole debate around President Suharto's health, which has been given ample coverage in the foreign press, is the result of a conspiracy engineered by speculators.
Speaking to journalists gathered at Bina Graha after meeting with Suharto, Alatas declared that the president had a statement to make about his upcoming 77th birthday, but had nothing to say about his current health.
Alatas added that it is crucial for Indonesian diplomats to make it known abroad that Suharto's health is fine, especially since questions on the president's health usually come from foreign reporters.
On Thursday, Suharto began his day with a 9 AM meeting with participants in a course organised by the Ministry of Defence. This was followed by a series of audiences with the Governor for West Kalimantan, Aspar Aswin, the minister for Trade and Industry Tunky Ariwibowo, and finally with Ali Alights. At approximately 12 noon Suharto left the Bina Graha and returned to his private residence in Menteng.
"I was asked by foreign reporters how come there was no cabinet session yesterday. I answered that it was only common sense, since most ministers were still out of town busy submitting their projects for the 1997/98 budget. This is an obvious attempt by the foreign press to fuel speculation. I think that our own press here in Indonesia must avoid to jump on this speculative bandwagon."
Stock drops
Meanwhile rumours about the health of President Suharto had nasty effects on the floor of Jakarta's Stock Exchange. The share index dropped 9,256 points to close at 641, 621 points as a consequence of the fall in the value of 106 different shares whereas only 22 shares increased their value over that same period.
Since the beginning of the week, the composite index has dropped 20,617 points, equivalent to 3,11 percent. Brokers believe that investors are going to be extra cautious in days to come and wait for signs that all is well with the president's health.
"The total volume of transactions today passed the mark of 300 billion rupiahs, somewhat less than usual. An ordinary trading day at the Jakarta Stock Exchange oscillates between 400 and 500 billion rupiahs," said the director of Sekuritas.
On the foreign exchange, however, there was no surge in demand for US dollars arising from the recent rumours about the President. PT Ayumas Gunung Agung, a money changing company, complained that the demand for US dollars was rather sluggish, with most transactions being undertaken by those families preparing for a pilgrimage to Mecca.
"The most we've changed today did not amount to more than 5,000 dollars." The rate of the US dollar against the Indonesian rupiah at money changers remained unchanged, trading at 2,376 rupiahs (purchase) and 2,418 rupiahs (sale) respectively. Bank Indonesia's rate was trading at a slightly different rate of 2,395 rupiahs (purchase) and 2,443 rupiahs (sale).
Singapore's dollar strengthened against the Indonesian currency by 7 rupiahs/dollar. Bank Indonesia current rate is 1.667 rupiahs (purchase) and 1.710 rupiahs (sale).
On the Singapore Stock Exchange, the Indonesian rupiah was not significantly weakened against the US dollar, trading at 2.404 rupiahs - down from 2.398 rupiahs. The rupiah has weakened by 14 rupiahs against the US dollar since it was announced in July 1996 that President Suharto required medical assistance in Germany.
Business Times - April 2, 1997
SN Vasuki – As Indonesia's ruling establishment braces itself for crucial parliamentary elections on May 29, analysts are puzzled by the government's plan to hold a seminar on the dramatic events that led to the exit of President Sukarno in 1966.
The seminar, to be held later this month, has the backing of President Suharto who said on Monday that it would help provide Indonesians with "accurate information" on what really happened in 1966. However, the proposal has attracted criticism from opposition leaders including the late Mr Sukarno's daughter, Ms Megawati, who was ousted from the leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) last year.
Senior government officials have explained that the seminar will focus on a speech delivered by Indonesia's first President in 1965 before a special session of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Mr Sukarno had delivered the speech, referred to as Nawaksara or accountability, in the aftermath of an abortive coup attempt on Sep 30 1965 by elements of the now- banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
While that segment of Indonesian history still remains a subject of intense debate, the popular perception is that Mr Sukarno did not resist efforts by the PKI to take charge of the country. Hence members of the provisional MPR rejected efforts made by Mr Sukarno in his famous speech to defend his role in the episode. "Nawaksara led to a direct confrontation, pitting Sukarno against the people's representatives, so that they decided to revoke the people's mandate," President Suharto said on Monday at a function commemorating a monument to the Spirit of 1966.
Historians said that the failure of Mr Sukarno in 1965 to convince legislators about his leadership abilities eventually led to his exit in March 1966.
The seminar is expected to focus on the circumstances that led Mr Sukarno to write a famous letter to President Suharto on March 11, 1966, asking him to take adequate measures to restore authority following the 1965 coup attempt. Mr Suharto succeeded Mr Sukarno, initially as acting president and the MPR eventually elected him as President in 1968. However, the original copy of that letter, known by its acronym as Supersemar, is missing.
Indonesia's Sports and Youth Minister Hayono Isman said that he proposed the seminar in order to clear any potential disputes over the issue of presidential succession. In that context, analysts said that the seminar remained relevant to contemporary Indonesia because the country is now grappling over the delicate issue of political succession after Mr Suharto.
However former PDI leader Megawati Sukarnoputri has opposed the plan to organise a seminar on her father's speech.
Digest Number 29 - March, 1997
Analysists who prefer to highlight structural interests often find the personalised nature of Indonesian politics difficult to grasp. Yet personal loyalties define the language of intra-elite conflict today as much as they did in the days of the sultans. A document marked 'highly secret', apparently produced at the think tank CPDS and circulating in Jakarta proves the point.
The CPDS is led by Amir Santoso, and is often said to be close to Army Chief of Staff Gen Hartono. The document surveys all Jakarta's main political players and places them in the category of enemy or friend of 'Pak Harto'. Though undated, it refers to events of the last several months. If its conspiratorial atmosphere accurately reflects the lack of communication across factional divides at the nation's top, it bodes ill for a smooth presidential succession.
'Analysis of socio-political developments in the run-up to the 1997 election and the 1998 MPR special session' paints a picture of an 'anti-Pak Harto' ('anti-establishment', 'pro-democracy') alliance so large it makes the reader wonder what chance 'pro-Pak Harto' people have. The alliance's two main grievances are said to be the Suharto family's illicit wealth, and his favouring Islamic influence in the bureaucracy and army. The document says the alliance is made up of 'pro-Sukarno' nationalists, and of resentful individuals who have lost power.
First within the oppositional alliance are factions within the military. As does much Jakarta rumour, the document speaks of a split between Armed Forces Commander Gen Feisal Tanjung and Hartono. Here the former is the villain. Protected by Feisal Tanjung, the two serving officers most to be watched are Kostrad commander Lt-Gen Wiranto (49) and Jakarta area chief of staff Maj- Gen Bambang Yudhoyono (brilliant son-in-law of Sarwo Edhie, class of '73). Wiranto's network is supposed to be derived from the Infantry Training Centre he led in the '80s.
Behind Wiranto are supposed to stand retired officers formerly identified as 'Red-and-White': Harsudiono Hartas, Defence Minister Edi Sudradjat, and above all Benny Murdani, still feared as the menacing power behind all anti-Suharto dissent. The think-tank CSIS (a rival of the CDPS) and Singapore scholar Bilveer Singh are supposed to play a facilitating role in the conspiracy. Their interest, according to the document, is to restore the autonomy of Abri against Suharto's tendency to 'give civilians a go'. Ranged against this military faction on the 'pro-Pak Harto' side within Abri are what others have long called 'Green' Abri (referring to its Islamic credentials, not the colour of its uniform). Wiranto allegedly calls this a 'Hartono- Prabowo-Tutut coalition' (though the document adds that Wiranto is trying to get Prabowo to swap sides).
Coopted by this Red-and-White military group of 'anti-Suharto' officers is a 'Rainbow Alliance' of civilian politicians. It supposedly includes cabinet ministers: Secretary of State Moerdiono, Transmigration Minister Siswono Yudohusodo (whose name, incidentally, is given incorrectly), Environment Minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja. Of course Megawati is there too, as are Abdurrahman Wahid of NU. And then dissidents of all stripes such as Gunawan Mohammad, Arief Budiman, Sandyawan SJ, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, Mulyana Wirakusumah, and Soebadio.
All these people are linked vaguely with communism, through alleged contacts with the PRD, still portrayed as public enemy number one for its ability to mobilise on 27 July 1996.
Even some of the President's offspring fall into this 'anti- Suharto' category by default because by their greedy behaviour they have created a bad image for their father.
The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) is part of the alliance too, the document says, as are foreign human rights NGOs such as Aksi, Tapol and Human Rights Watch. The latter have stimulated fears about the potent combination of 'Islam and high tech' (ie. of Habibie) within the US & Australian governments.
A large number of mainstream news media, both print and electronic, are also listed as part of the anti-Suharto conspiracy (Indonesia-L even gets a mention!). There are complaints that even media owned by pro-Suharto people are giving prominence to anti-Suharto stories. Examples given are ICMI's Republika, and Bambang Trihatmodjo's RCTI - the latter through the influence of the 'Christian' Peter Gontha.
This paranoic picture of a huge, homogeneous and hostile conspiracy ends in a series of recommendations. The President should move disloyal army officers to non-strategic posts, reduce his children's dependence on state favours, do something about cabinet ministers who embarrass the government (the Tourism and Home Affairs ministers). The document recommends a strategy of 'divide- and-rule' against the dissident alliance by taking repressive action against diehards, while trying to coopt the others. It recommends a program of acquiring shares in mass media in order to control their information output. Finally, it recommends an increase in funding for think-tanks that could rival the 'negative' influence of the CSIS....
[Gerry van Klinken, Editor, Inside Indonesia magazine]
| Miscellaneous |
Granada - April 1, 1997
Granada, Spain – Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) was awarded the International Press Institute's "Free Media Pioneer '97" prize Monday at the opening of the group's sixth annual meeting.
Satrio Arismunandar, secretary-general of AJI, accepted the award before a gathering of more than 500 journalists and other members of the media from around the globe.
In a brief opening statement King Juan Carlos applauded journalists for their "sacrifices and unselfishness" on behalf of democracy. The king urged the media to be the voice of "dialog, tolerance and mutual respect between peoples and cultures. "
The award presentation was made by Charles Overby, president and CEO of The Freedom Forum along with Peter Preston, chairman of the International Press Institute and editorial director of The Guardian and Observer newspapers in England.