May 29 elections

Golkar election victory is marred by claims of fraud

Far Eastern Economic Review - June 12, 1997

Margot Cohen, Malang – A s village secretary, he knew every trick in the book. Presiding over previous vote counts, he would puncture ballots with a swift flick of a thumbnail, and spoil others with a rusty nail lodged under the table. He cast his own vote as many as six times at different polling stations.

Now retired after 20 years of service in the Tajinan district of East Java, the official decided his loyalty to the ruling Golkar Party had reached its limit. After observing the May 29 polls, the 54-year-old Muslim handed in his report on election irregularities to an unofficial group of voluntary overseers. The single majority is no good, he says, asking that his name not be used. People are demanding justice and the rule of law.

Complaints of election fraud rose sharply this year for what the Indonesian government calls its festival of democracy, marring Golkar's 74% majority. Officially, the Muslim-oriented United Development Party, known as the PPP, took 22%, while a paltry 3% voted for the third contender, the Indonesian Democratic Party, or PDI.

While the cheating allegations have yet to be proven, there are many eyewitness reports of irregularities, and voters are shedding deeply ingrained fears to confront the powers that be. If the people don't rise up, the cheating will never stop, says Marzuqi, an Arabic-language teacher in the East Java town of Malang.

Irate voters on the island of Madura did not hesitate to rise up on election day, after polls opened suspiciously early and vote counting commenced behind closed doors at district offices. Riots ripped through five districts in Madura's Sampang regency, prompting unprecedented re-voting at 86 polling stations. Villagers also turned violent in four districts in West Java after vote counts revealed overwhelming local victories for Golkar. For the most part, however, voters channelled their frustrations through written and verbal reports to the PPP or the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring, known as Kipp an unofficial group of lawyers, activists, religious leaders and others dedicated to fair elections. The complaints will be summarized in Kipp's final report, to be issued on June 8.

One particular abuse, highlighted by both the PPP and Kipp, involved voting cards categorized as A/B, which allow voters to vote in the election outside their home district. Many civil servants reportedly received such cards and voted twice, once at their offices and again near their homes. Schoolchildren of voting age were allegedly given A/B cards and told by school principals to vote for Golkar. As many as 200 A/B cards were distributed per village, with scant accountability. This has been going on for years, but it's only now that we know for sure, says Arifin, a government appointed election overseer in Tajinan district.

While the central government does admit some election irregularities, it played down their scope. The problems occurred in only one or two areas, Golkar chairman and Minister for Information Harmoko told reporters on June 1.

Going by the cases documented by the PPP, it would be hard to award prizes for subtlety to the fraudsters. At one polling station in Surabaya, East Java, only 600 voters showed up, but the vote count was 800. In Godang Legi, East Java, 381 Golkar votes were allegedly stuffed into the ballot box beforehand. In Huko Huko, central Sulawesi, the ballot boxes were allegedly whisked off to the district office instead of being counted openly before the public. In Lampung, South Sumatra, a requested recount yielded 85 PPP votes, compared to the initial count of two votes.

If there is no follow up on these cases, the government runs the risk of losing its authority, PPP secretary general Tosari Widjaja told the REVIEW. The unusually high incidence of violence during the campaign ending in a riot in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan that left at least 123 dead helped boost the ruling party's victory. Much of the violence erupted at PPP rallies, although both PPP leaders and military officials maintain outsiders often fanned the flames.

Clearly, many voters were haunted by the spectre of national instability. Golkar did not hesitate to play on those fears, particularly in regions scarred by the 1965 66 anti communist bloodletting. Golkar loves the people and wants them to feel safe, said a circular handed out just before the election in the East Java village of Merjosari.

There was no alternative but Golkar, notes Hotman Siahaan, a sociologist at Airlangga University in Surabaya. In some areas, the PPP itself generated fear.

As for the PDI, government and military officials have clearly succeeded in crushing the party. Until last year the PDI was led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of former president Sukarno, and was threatening to challenge Golkar. But ever since Megawati was ousted last June and replaced by Suryadi, a government-backed candidate, PDI support has been split.

Some local branches of the PPP were counting on catching Megawati supporters' votes. But in late May, Megawati announced that she would not vote. While emphasizing that she was not instructing supporters to follow her example, that was how many interpreted her words.

This swelled the ranks of the Golput vote, the local term for leaving the ballot blank, or spoiled. In the East Java town of Pasuruan, blank and ruined ballots totalled 14,687, while the PDI only garnered 1,647 votes, according to the Surabaya based daily newspaper Surya. Other papers estimate the Golput vote surged more than 10% nationwide over the 1992 estimate.

We're thrilled that the PDI vote fell drastically, says Sri Suharto, chairman of the pro Megawati PDI branch in Batu, East Java. The government has to know that Megawati supporters are militant. They have to get rid of Suryadi. Indeed, rumours have already swept Jakarta that the government could engineer yet another party congress for a leadership reshuffle.

But officials congratulating themselves on the PDI's woes may yet pause for thought. In addition to alienated PPP supporters and radicalized Megawati fans, they now have to cope with thousands of resentful PDI loyalists. We in the countryside are only victims of political game playing by the elite, says Z.F. Johnny, vice chairman of PDI's Malang branch. Such disgruntlement does not bode well for a smooth road to March 1998, when the People's Consultative Assembly will anoint a new national president.

The post election hangover has left many Indonesians shaking their heads over the tragic loss of life and vast sums squandered on mass rallies and party uniforms. Some village headmen are taken aback by the new disrespect shown by youth, emboldened after throwing rocks at security forces and defying government bans on motorcycle convoys. But in the East Java village of Mendalan, there's at least one voter who has no regrets. In the first five minutes of the very first campaign rally of his life, 19-year-old Makrus got caught in a riot and entered a hospital with a thigh wound from a rubber bullet. He says he wasn't rioting, but was excited to be part of the general mayhem. I feel really happy, says the young carpenter. Elections come only once every five years.

Suharto's party won big, some say too big

Asiaweek - June 13, 1997

Keith Loveard, Jakarta – The outcome of an Indonesian election is supposed to be predictable and, in that regard, the May 29 parliamentary polls did not disappoint. Golkar, the long-ruling party backed by President Suharto, the military and big business, always wins. Only the margin of its victory varies a bit. Support slipped to 68% of the vote in 1992, and this time officials were determined to secure a very calculated 70.02%. They did, and then some. It is that some (4.2%) extra that is causing them trouble now.

For the first time ever, the government has acknowledged election breaches on the island of Madura, where support for the Islam- based United Development Party (PPP) is strong. Mobs trashed government buildings and officials' homes after authorities took ballot boxes to government offices instead of counting them on the spot. A new vote was held in 86 locations, under tight security, June 4. But the PPP did not participate in the second round of polls, which officials claimed should be held throughout a key district instead of in just a few villages. Elsewhere, the PPP also called for a re-vote.

The chairman of Golkar, Harmoko, has dismissed the problems in Madura as small blots on an otherwise clean record. "Look at all 305,000 polling stations. On the whole we believe the election went well." An independent monitoring commission, known as KIPP, believes the voting may have gone just a little too well for the results to be entirely credible. "There are indications that there has been systematic violation of the rules," said KIPP chairman Gunawan Mohamad. "The election was organized by the bureaucracy, and officials were forced to produce a significant result for Golkar."

Local officials were certainly well-briefed on Golkar's goals. Some may have been a bit more enthusiastic about their duties than Jakarta would have wished. "Golkar officials are looking for face by seeking even more than the grouping's target," says University of Indonesia political scientist Arbi Sanit. They may have been worried too. During the campaign season the rumblings of discontent were louder, and more violent, than in any other election in the past 25 years. Indonesia's jobless youth had taken to the streets in noisy rallies against Golkar. Rioting in a number of cities marred the campaign. Afterward, election- related violence continued in East Timor. A grenade tossed into the back of a truck left 14 policemen and one soldier dead, with another five police and a trooper badly injured. In all, more than 400 people died during the campaign and in the days just after.

But protesting and casting a protest vote are two different things, especially in rural Indonesia. Seventy percent of the nation lives in villages, and a villager's life is pretty much dominated by Golkar. Officials dole out development money, vending licenses and much more. A village that votes against Golkar can expect to pay a price. Still, some did. The PPP won a solid 22%, its best result since 1982. The government party benefited from disaffection with the Democratic Party (PDI), whose elected leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, was ousted from office a year ago at a government-backed special congress. Many supporters were unable to forgive her successor, Suryadi, for what they consider his betrayal. The party won a mere 3% of the vote. As a result the PDI, which secured about 15% in 1992, may not be able to take any seats in parliament. Regulations state that each of the three government-sanctioned parties must be represented on every house commission. There are 11 commissions and the PDI may have won only ten seats.

The strong vote will give Suharto a free hand to arrange delegates to next March's Consultative Assembly session, where he is expected to be selected for another five-year presidential term. But it has not convinced those who believe Suharto's style of government is out of touch with society. The middle class is increasingly critical of Jakarta's closed political system. Many in the business community feel cheated by the blatant abuse of position by the relatives of senior officials. And the poor are frustrated by a growing income gap. "A victory like this will make people more suspicious and more likely to protest, even to the point of riots," says Sanit.

The government's view is predictably upbeat. "For us, this victory is something that we will use for the benefit of the people, to meet the aspirations of the people for change and progress," said Harmoko, who is also the minister of information. "This is a vote for our policies of change and renewal." But Golkar's "policies of change" are unlikely to satisfy its critics.

East Timor

More and more hear dreaded knock at the door

Sydney Morning Herald - June 14, 1997

Dili – On the outskirts of Baucau near the military airport, two stones on the road mark the place where Amaro Belo, a 35-year-old East Timorese, was gunned down by troops of the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) last Friday night at 6pm.

As a suspected intermediary between the pro-independence Fretilin guerillas and their supporters, he was one of the many victims of the crackdown by the Indonesian military in response to guerilla attacks to disrupt the elections a fortnight ago.

In Baucau alone, at least 20 local people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. Two of those captured by the Kopassus, Saul Eelo and Pantaleao, both in their early 20s, are not among those in the prison and are thought by their friends to have been executed.

According to a spokesperson for the clandestine resistance movement in Baucau: "Many who have been in contact with us in the past or who are members cannot be found. We don't know whether the military has them or they have fled or they have been killed – every night more people disappear."

The military trucks which pass through the town now only travel in threes. The soldiers, wearing flak jackets, train their M-16 rifles and machineguns on the few people on the streets. Some Timorese defiantly wear black ribbons in memory of the recent dead. Almost all of the businesses are closed and the main marketplace is deserted.

By 7pm, the streets of Baucau are empty except for the occasional military convoy moving slowly through the town, prompting a chorus of barking from the hundreds of stray dogs. "It is at night they come to kill us – we try to stay in different houses so they don't find us," said a young resident.

The situation is mirrored in the territory's capital, Dili. The arrests of Americo Fatima da Costa from his home in the Dili suburb of Becora at 4am last Saturday and Felipe da Costa one hour later in the same area, exemplify the tactics used by the Indonesian military.

The pre-dawn raids amplify the terror and uncertainty among the population. Often, particular arrests are denied by the authorities the following day. The secretive nature of the Indonesian military leads families to expect the worst: torture followed by execution. The appearance of four fresh graves in the cemetery in Hera, 200 kilometres east of Dili, on Monday night has led to speculation that they might hold the the bodies of the four resistance members arrested shortly after the attack on a Dili police post on May 28, the night before voting in the national elections.

None of the youths has been located at any of the detention centres since their arrest, and inquiries from their families have been left unanswered.

Similar fears of torture and execution are held for seven youths detained after the polling day violence in the Ermera district 100 kilometres south-west of Dili.

The seven are being held in the police camp in Atabae, where resistance sources say they have been subject to electric shocks and beatings.

Following the death of an Indonesian officer of the Rajawali Battalion in the election day attacks in Ermera, the garrison has been reinforced. Two guerilla fighters, Mau-Leki and Raemerhai, are being held incommunicado in the Ermera police camp.

An Indonesian doctor working in the town said that since the outbreak of violence he was worried about his own safety and that of his staff, adding that the mood among the Timorese in Ermera was such that any Indonesian, no matter what their attitude, was in danger – especially at night.

The killing in the far eastern town of Los Palos last week of an East Timorese couple who openly collaborated with the Indonesians is a signal that old scores are being settled by both sides.

The source of the fire which destroyed Dili's central market early last Sunday is another cause for dispute. The authorities said it was the work of the "security disturbing group" – their term for the guerillas.

Resistance members in Dili denied involvement and point to the mysterious arrest and subsequent release of a Javanese man found in the market by police as the fire took hold.

500 Kiosks at Dili's Mercado market burnt by GPK

Suara Pembaruan (abridged) - June 8, 1997

Dili – Four out of six members of GPK from Baucau and Viqueque, Timor Timur, who had been caught to have torched a public market (Old Mercado) in Dili causing 500 kiosks to burn on Saturday (June 6) were successfuly arrested by personnel of Timor Timur's criminal police bureau. At the same time, police also seized a car and a plastic container which had been used to hold petrol for burning the market.

Head of police department in Timor Timur Col Jusuf Muharram on answering questions from 'Pembaruan' through a long distance call Sunday morning said the the four unarmed GPKs were now being interrogated intensively. They were captured after a two-hour chase by security personnel Saturday night. Based on temporary result of investigation, it was learnt that the plan to burn the market was part of a criminal chain which had been plotted to disturb the city of Dili.

Besides burning the old Mercado market, the perpetrators had also planned to burn several government office buildings, especially police stations. By torching the stations, they expected to get weapons which would be used to disturb Timor Timur's region.

Because of it, Col Muharram said, the police would continue to chase the other two suspects in order to clear up the incident. He expected that the two perpetrators could be arrested soon because their identities were already known from the information given by the other four suspects.

Col Muharram explained that the authorities knew that Marcedo market had been purposefully torched after police personnel trying to safe the market were blocked by a group of 40 youths. After the youths were taken aside, it was learnt that the market had been indeed burnt by six men who came from Baucau and Viqueque.

Based on this info, those in charge were instantly looking for the perpetrators while the rest tried to stop the fire which could only be extinguished after the fire brigade came.

From the information supplied by those four already arrested, Muharram expected to break GPK chains still existing in Baucau and Viqueque. He hoped to arrest them one by one in order to maintain safety and security in Timor Timur. He appealed to Timor Timur people to remain calm and not to be swayed by misleading rumors because all GPKs intended to disturb peace would soon be arrested.

Indonesia arrests 120 Timor rebels after ambush

Far Eastern Economic Review - June 8, 1997

Jakarta – Indonesian security officers have so far captured 120 members of the separatist guerrilla movement in troubled East Timor after a recent surge of violence over the country's general election period, the official Antara news agency reported on Sunday.

At least 34 people died as a result of attacks by separatists seeking to disrupt the May 29 general elections, in which Indonesia's ruling Golkar party swept 74 percent of the vote nation-wide, police have said.

Antara quoted East Timor police chief Colonel Jusup Muharam as saying on Saturday that security officers had so far arrested 120 separatist members following the attacks and confiscated guns, daggers, spears and amulets from them.

"Security officers have so far arrested 120 members of the separatist movement," said Muharam, adding that the hunt for the rebels continued. Antara gave no further details. Police were not available for comment on the report.

In the most serious incident, separatists killed 16 policemen and a soldier in an ambush on May 31 as the group returned by truck after protecting election booths.

Another 17 people, including at least four rebels, died the day before the election and on the polling day, in election-related violence, police said.

Indonesia occupied the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year in a move not recognised by the United Nations.

The U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern on Friday at reports of recent violence in East Timor and called on all parties to exercise restraint.

Annan is scheduled to hold the next in a long-running series of meetings on East Timor with the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal on June 19 and 20 in New York.

The meetings, to try to find an internationally acceptable solution to the issue, were initiated in 1983 by then Secretary- General Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru.

East Timor: Update on Los Palos killings

Human Rights Watch/Asia - June 5, 1997

New York – We have received new information about the killing of seven civilians at the home of Castelho, a teacher at the local elementary school in Irara, Los Palos, East Timor, that raises questions about the identity of the attackers.

In our June 4 news release, "East Timor: Concern Over Guerrilla Attacks and Government Reprisals," we cited unconfirmed reports that Castelho was known as a supporter of integration and the attacks were carried out by guerrillas. Both those statements are open to question.

In 1993, after the capture of East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao, many people in Los Palos suspected of belonging to the underground network were brought in and interrogated by military intelligence; one question that frequently came up, according to HRW/Asia sources, was how well the suspect knew Castelho, suggesting that Castelho himself was suspected at that time of having ties to the underground. Neither the identity of those who attacked Castelho nor their motivation is clear.

As reports of reprisal actions by the Indonesian military continue to come in, Human Rights Watch/Asia reiterates its call on all parties to the conflict to respect basic principles of human rights and humanitarian law.

Poster's Note: The seven civillians killed at Castelho's house were: Gregorius Kedang, a teacher; Gregorius Kedang's stepchild; Castelho, a teacher; Castelho's wife and Castelho's three children.

Timor leader condemns alleged killing of civilians by rebels

Radio Australia - June 6, 1997

East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta has condemned any targeting of civilians by the resistance movement.

He made the comment after allegations that nine civilians were killed by the guerillas in East Timor, in what could be a dramatic change in tactics used in the conflict.

Doctor Ramos Horta says reports from the region indicate nine civilians and 30 Indonesian soldiers had been killed by guerrillas in renewed fighting over the past few days.

He says if the reports are confimed then it will be the first time since the invasion in 1975 that guerrillas have attacked Indonesian civilians.

Doctor Ramos Horta says that whatever actions are taken against civilians are inexcusable and he can't condone such actions.

Indonesian court jails Timorese over Christmas eve violence

Agence France Presse - June 11, 1997

Jakarta – An Indonesian court in troubled East Timor has jailed a youth to six months and 15 days for involvement in violence in the main town of Dili on Christmas eve, a report said Wednesday.

The Dili court Tuesday found Luis Alfonso, 18, guilty of attacking two undercover security members during the violence that erupted in Dili on December 24 that left one soldier dead and scores of people injured, the official Antara news agency said.

The violence broke out when tens of thousands of East Timorese gathered to greet East Timor's returning Nobel prize laureate Bishop Carlos Ximenes Filipe Belo.

The defendant was among a group of men who hit and pelted security officers Tukiran and Abdul Kadir in Dili on December 24, the judge said, adding that group also injured Dili Police Chief Lieutenant Colonel Beno Kilapong who had tried to intervene and protect the officers.

The prosecution earlier requested a 12-month sentence for the defendant.

Both the defendant and the prosecution are still deciding whether or not to appeal.

The same court has sentenced five other East Timorese to similar jail terms for violence during the Christmas eve unrest.

Ten others are to be tried in Dili for various acts of violence during the unrest.

Belo shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Price with exiled East Timorese pro-independence activist Jose Ramos Horta.

Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony of East Timor in 1976 in a move that remains unrecognized by the United Nations and most countries.

Indonesian reprisals against Timorese threaten talks

Lusa - June 4, 1999

Lisbon – Reported reprisals against East Timorese for an attack by resistance fighters on Indonesian troops threaten upcoming talks on the future of the territory, resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta said Tuesday.

"The arrests and human rights violations could endanger the dialogue" between Indonesia and Portugal, the former colonial power in East Timor, which is due to resume later this month under United Nations mediation, he said.

Ramos Horta, the current holder of the Nobel Peace Prize, was interviewed by the Portuguese news agency LUSA from San Francisco.

International Portuguese radio, quoting local resistance sources, said Monday that Indonesian troops killed 16 young people at Los Palos in East Timor in a reprisal action after recent clashes between pro-independence guerrillas and the army.

The radio said dozens of young people accused of supporting the rebels had been rounded up after Indonesian troops were killed in a recent rebel attack.

A rebel source in Lisbon said two companies of Indonesial special forces arrived Monday at Baucau, east of the Timorese capital Dili, to reinforce security in the former Portuguese colony annexed by Indonesia in 1976.

On Saturday 18 Indonesian police and soldiers were killed and nine wounded in a rebel attack in Baucau.

On Monday Ramos Horta said he regarded such attacks, which he refused to condemn, as "a very serious warning to the Indonesian side that they must negotiate seriously with the secretary- general of the United Nations to find a quick resolution to the conflict."

He added: "I do not believe that violence or armed resistance can resolve a problem that is political. It's a case of self- determination, so Indonesia should not try to resolve it by force."

In a separate development, a defector from the East Timor independence movement Fretilin, Abilio Araujo, said here Tuesday that a cement works built with the aid of US capital was planned for Baucau.

Araujo, who described himself as "a moderate nationalist," said the 480 million dollar plant would employ 1,500 people, producing 2,300 tonnes of cement a year for the Indonesian domestic market and Australia. He said that Indonesian President Suharto's adviser on East Timor, Lopes da Cruz, and governor Abilio Osorio were both shareholders in the enterprise, named PT Semen Timor Lorossai.

Rebel attack a warning to negotiate: Ramos Horta

Agence France Presse - June 2, 1997

Cologne, Germany – East Timor resistance spokesman Ramos Horta said Monday a bloody weekend rebel attack is a warning to the Indonesian authorities to negotiate a solution through the United Nations.

Speaking on the German radio Deutsche Welle, he expressed regret at the loss of life but refused to condemn the attack, which cost the lives of 18 police and soldiers and wounded nine others Saturday in Baucau.

"In combat soldiers on both sides take casualties. How can I condemn the act of the East Timorese independence fighters in attacking Indonesian military personnel?" he said.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said he regretted the loss of life throughout the 22-year conflict.

"I feel very bad, it's a dilemma for me. A soldier is also a human being, he didn't lose his personality just because he happened to be a soldier," Ramos Horta said.

He regarded such attacks as "a very serious warning to the Indonesian side that they must negotiate seriously with the secretary-general of the United Nations to find a quick resolution to the conflict."

"These daring attacks were a warning by the guerrillas and by the people as a whole that it can no longer continue to tolerate the abuses, the torture that have been going on, and got worse in the last few months."

Ramos Horta said the East Timor rebels never attacked civilians.

But he added: "I do not believe that violence or armed resistance can resolve a problem that is political. It's a case of self- determination, so Indonesia should not try to resolve it by force."

Rights group concerned over Timor arrests

Reuters - June 5, 1997

Jakarta – Human Rights Watch/Asia on Thursday voiced concern over what it described as widespread arrests of civilians and dissidents in East Timor by Indonesian security officers after recent guerrilla attacks.

At least 34 people died as a result of attacks by separatists seeking to disrupt last Thursday's national elections, in which Indonesia's ruling Golkar swept 74 percent of the vote, police said.

"Human Rights Watch/Asia condemns any targeting of civilians or other non-combatants by East Timor guerrillas as being in clear violation of international humanitarian law," the New York-based organisation said in a statement.

"Human Rights Watch/Asia is also concerned about reports of manhunts by the military in the aftermath of the violence and widespread arrests in Dili, Baucau, Ermera and Los Palos under circumstances in which torture is likely," it said.

East Timor deputy police chief Lieutenant-Colonel Atok Rismanto denied any torture or killings by security officers, but confirmed the arrests.

"We deny there has been torture. We do arrest people but I can't tell you how many," he said by telephone from the East Timor capital of Dili.

He said East Timor was quiet on Thursday and there were no reports of fresh attacks by separatists rebels.

In the most serious recent incident, separatists killed 16 policemen and a soldier in an ambush on Saturday morning as the group returned by truck from protecting election booths.

A further 17 people, including at least four rebels, died last Wednesday and Thursday in election-related violence.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed it the following year in a move not recognised by the United Nations.

The military says about 80 poorly armed guerrillas remain in the rugged hills in the territory. Other sources suggest there are around 200.

Jakarta officially has about 5,000 troops in East Timor, far more than in neighbouring provinces with much larger populations.

Security sweep targets East Timorese civilians

Jose Ramos-Horta - June 4, 1997

The East Timorese armed resistance is very much alive, despite the propaganda claims by the Indonesian armed forces in the Suharto regime that the independence fighters have all been decimated. Over the weekend, East Timor independence fighters killed at least 18 Indonesian police in a highway ambush.

"The Indonesian government says in its propaganda that most East Timorese today are happy with their integration with Indonesia. But if they are happy with integration, why do there have to be more than 20,000 Indonesian troops in East Timor?", asked Jose Ramos-Horta, the East Timor resistance leader and 1996 Nobel Peace laureate.

A major security sweep is currently being carried out in Dili, Bacau and Los Palos following the weekend ambush.

Ramos-Horta said that 2,000 East Timorese could be rounded up all over the territory in the security sweep.

"I have received information from inside East Timor that over 200 people have been arrested during the past two days in Baucau. And many of them are students," said the Nobel Peace laureate.

Ramos-Horta appealed to the international community to intervene on behalf of the East Timorese.

"The international community must not turn a blind eye to these atrocities committed against the Timorese people. With the Suharto regime's reputation for repression unabated, the international community must act fast before more innocent lives are lost."

In the post-election Indonesia, Ramos-Horta said, there are additional headaches for President Suharto.

"The main promoters of the election boycott in Indonesia have also called for a United Nations-supervised referendum in East Timor," he pointed out.

There are important political developments that are making it increasingly difficult for Indonesia to maintain its illegal occupation of East Timor.

Most important, said Ramos-Horta, is the changing situation within Indonesia itself. "Pro-democracy groups are speaking out more and more on the issue of East Timor, linking the oppression there to that which exists under the Suharto regime in Indonesia."

The brutal, over two-decade-long , occupation of East Timor by Indonesia, said the Nobel Peace laureate, is a clear indication of the inflexibility and violence of the Suharto regime. Ramos- Horta said Timorese would cease their armed activities if there was a sign of compromise by Indonesia. But Indonesia, he said, had to come up with concrete measures: reduce its more than 20,000 troops in East Timor, release prisoners and stop torturing those in its prisons.

Arbitrary Arrests/Arbitrary Detention/Torture

East Timor Human Rights Centre - 6 June, 1997

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) holds grave fears for the safety of seven East Timorese men arrested between 29 and 30 May, 1997, in the sub-district of Atabae, Bobonaro. The arrests are believed to be part of the repercussions which have followed the wave of violence surrounding the the recent Indonesian election.

Ernesto Soares, Antonio Barros, Francisco Martins, Hermenegildo Pereira, Afonso Alitalo, Baptista Guterres and Jacinto Barros were arrested by members of KODIM (District Military Command) and the Rajawali battalion (Special Command Forces) and taken to KODIM headquarters in Maliana where it is believed they have been subjected to torture. It is believed they were arbitrarily arrested for refusing to vote in the Indonesian election.

Arbitrary detention/fear of torture/Suspected extra-judicial executions

East Timor Human Rights Centre - 6 June 1997

The East Timor Human Rights Centre (ETHRC) has received further information about David Dias Ximenes who was arrested on 31 May at his home in Dili. An ETHRC source has confirmed that a warrant was issued for Ximenes' arrest and that he has now had access to legal representation. His personal property, which was confiscated by authorities following his arrest, has been returned to his family. Ximenes has been accused of being the mastermind behind the 28 May attack on BRIMOB (Mobile Police Brigade) headquarters in Bairo Pite and charged with crimes against national security under Articles 106 and 214 of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP). If convicted, Ximenes could be sentenced to a prison term of twenty years to life.

The ETHRC has received confirmation that Ximenes' wife, Beatriz Ximenes, was picked up by police at 11.30a.m. on 3 June. She was told she was being taken to see her husband's lawyer but she was in fact taken to POLDA (the local police station) in Comoro, where it is believed she was interrogated. She was released at around midnight that day. It is believed she is being subjected to ongoing intimidation.

Human Rights Watch Asia (HRW) has reported that the BRIMOB attack occurred at 8.30 p.m. on Wednesday 28 May when approximately fourteen youths drove up in a red Kijang vehicle to a guard post of company A of BRIMOB in Bairo Pite. They said they were voters then allegedly opened fire, injuring 5 police officers. According to HRW, three of the attackers were killed immediately and another two died later at the Wira Husada hospital. HRW has reported that the driver of the vehicle, Adelio de Fatima, was detained during the assault and is believed to be in detention at police headquarters in Dili.

Labour issues

Australia to support Indonesia at ILO conference

Antara - June 6, 1997

Canberra – Australia's labor federation will support Indonesia at an International Labor Organisation (ILO) conference to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, next june 12, a visiting Indonesian labor leader said here Thursday.

Bomer Pasaribu, chairman of the All-Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI), said he had obtained the promise of support in meetings he had held with Australian labor union executives in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.

He said their policy was very friendly towards Indonesia as could be seen from an invitation from the Australian labor union to the SPSI to send delegates to a grand ACTU (Australian Confederation of Trade Unions) congress on September 1, 1997 in Melbourne.

The friendly attitude had come about after Indonesia gave autonomy to workers' sectors but not in the form of a federation, he said.

Environment

Bob Hasan gets environment prize

Down To Earth - June 7, 1997

President Suharto's right hand man, Bob Hasan, was awarded the prestigious Indonesian environment prize – the Kalpataru – by Environment Minister Sarwono on World Environment Day (June 5th). The Kalpataru awards were created by the then Environment Minister, Emil Salim, over fifteen years ago to acknowledge the achievements of ordinary people and public figures who had protected the environment. Past winners include the radical journalist, environmentalist and academic George Aditjondro, now in exile in Australia.

It is hard to imagine a less appropriate recipient of this prize than Mohammad 'Bob' Hasan. Best known as Indonesia's top timber tycoon, who controls numerous trade and producer associations in the forestry industry, Bob Hasan has recently been playing an increasingly prominent role in the country's strategic business affairs. Under his reign, Indonesia's forests have been mercilessly plundered by a handful of well-connected businessmen with total disregard for the environment and the rights of indigenous forest-dwelling communities. Indonesians joke that he – not Djamaludin – is the Minister of Forestry.

At least one Indonesian NGO is convinced that Hasan was awarded the Kalpataru to counter publicity generated by the recent award of the 'environmental Nobel' – the US Goldman prize – to the Bentian Dayak people of East Kalimantan. There has been a long- running dispute between the Bentian and Bob Hasan's logging company PT Kalhold Utama. The Bentian are skilled agro-foresters who have been managing their traditional lands sustainably for generations. Their rattan gardens, fruit trees and other forest resources plus ancestral graves have been destroyed by the company in order to establish a timber plantation and transmigration site. Indigenous landowners have been intimidated by the authorities and some have been forced to hand over their land. Others continue to protest. The villagers of Jelmu Sibak in Kutai district have appealed to the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission to protect their lands.

Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Ministry of the Environment

The following article is taken from 'Bob Hasan centre-stage' in issue No 33 of Down to Earth's newsletter

Bob Hasan began his assault on the forests in 1972 when, on the recommendation of friends in the military, he was given a 10% stake in the local subsidiary of US-based loggers Georgia Pacific. he soon acquired the remaining 90% of the company and went on to build his Kalimanis timber empire. In the 1980s he founded APKINDO, the state-sanctioned cartel that controls Indonesia's plywood exports.

On several occasions Hasan has attempted to counter critics at home and abroad by launching aggressive campaigns to convince the world that Indonesian forests are being well-managed under in the timber industry's capable hands. Such campaigns have included organising 'seminars' in consumer countries, advertising in newspapers and TV channels in Europe and the US. The UK television advertisement was withdrawn after complaints from environmental organisations, including DtE, that it was highly misleading. 'Uncle Bob' has also accused NGOs campaigning against destructive logging and violation of indigenous rights of being stooges of timber producers in their own countries who want to gain a larger share of world markets.

The Indonesian Environment Forum WALHI is currently taking the Indonesian President to court for approving a loan of Rp250 billion (over US$100 million) from state reforestation funds to help build Bob Hasan's PT Kiani Kertas paper and pulp plant in East Kalimantan. The funds were transferred in December by Presidential Decree. This is almost half the government's total revenue of reforestation funds for last year.

Hasan's influence is extending to other strategic areas of the Indonesian economy. In February he took over as chairman of car- maker conglomerate Astra International. He also brokered the deal to settle the interminable squabble over the Busang gold mine, securing a free 30% stake before the hoax over the samples was exposed. Bob Hasan, who is 66, has been a friend of the President for more than 40 years and his role as Suharto's closest confident has increased since the death of the leader's wife, Tien, last April.

Hasan's prominent role means that his word carries more weight even than ministers in the Indonesian government. In forestry, and now in other areas, his and the first family's business interests are paramount. Hasan is well and truly centre-stage and, as long as he stays there, this can only mean bad news for forests, forest-dwellers and many others whose interests conflict with his own.

International relations

Jakarta sends Washington a sharp defence-linked message

Far Eastern Economic Review - June 19, 1997

John McBeth, Jakarta – There are two things President Suharto detests more than anything: critics questioning his administration's legitimacy and outsiders interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs. The Australians had a taste of Suharto's ire in the mid-1980s. The Dutch discovered it five years ago. Now the United States is getting the message too.

In a decision aimed at pre-empting Indonesia's critics in the US Congress, Foreign Minister Ali Alatas announced on June 7 that Suharto was cancelling Indonesian participation in American military-training programmes, as well as the planned purchase of nine American-made F-16 fighters. Suharto's letter to President Bill Clinton indicated that his decision was motivated in part by the "wholly unjustified criticism" of Indonesia in Congress.

The move was reminiscent of action Indonesia took in 1992 when it rejected all future aid from the Netherlands, saying assistance was being used as a "tool of pressure" in the aftermath of the November 1991 massacre in Dili, capital of the former Portuguese colony of East Timor.

But the implications in the latest case could be far more serious than before. Criticism of Indonesia's human-rights record is growing in the US Congress, and Washington's military ties to Jakarta have been coming under increasing criticism.

Publicly, Indonesia says its latest moves get rid of irritants harmful to the bilateral relationship. Instead, it may be heading for more criticism. On June 10, the House of Representatives unanimously approved a motion condemning human-rights abuses in East Timor. Now, Congress is likely to switch its focus to a review of Indonesia's trade privileges, which are worth around $700 million a year. The game's not over, says one senior Western diplomat, adding: "Just because they take some things off the table, it won't end there."

US-Indonesian defence ties have been through storms before. The military-training programme-known as the International Military Education and Training scheme, or Imet-was suspended in the wake of the Dili massacre. When it was restored in the 1995-96 budget, combat-related courses were excluded. The US had put the planned F-16 sale-a deal worth more than $80 million-on hold following last year's government-engineered removal of Indonesian Democratic Party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri.

American officials now say they're unclear what impact Indonesia's move will have on joint exercises, maintenance contracts and even ship calls between the two countries. Also up in the air are the regular visits by the Okinawa-based Green Berets, who have been providing specialized training to Kopassus, Indonesia's elite special-forces regiment.

In the three years Imet was on hold, Indonesia paid for about 30 officers to undergo military courses in the US This arrangement will presumably continue-at substantial cost to the Indonesians.

But Indonesia is turning away from the US for its military hardware. As part of a broad expansion programme, Kopassus is building an aviation battalion, which was originally to have been made up of rebuilt American UH-1H helicopters. Significantly, only a day before the decision to cancel the F-16s, Indonesia revealed plans to buy 12 Russian Mi-8 troop-carrying helicopters instead of the American UH-1H craft. Retired Gen. Riyanto, a special assistant to Development Planning Minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita, was in Moscow in early June looking into the purchase of the helicopters, and also possibly MiG-29s or longer-range Su-27 strike aircraft.

Officials on both sides say the Indonesian decision had been percolating for some time. The Americans, who had spent 18 months convincing the Indonesians to buy the cut-price F-16s, got their first inkling that the sale was unravelling as far back as March. But they only heard word about the Imet decision in early May.

Although Suharto's letter was dated May 26, another week went by before it was delivered. During that time, the US State Department issued a stinging rebuke a day after Indonesia's May 29 parliamentary elections, claiming that Indonesians had been deprived of the ability "to change their government through democratic means." Alatas ascribed the time lag in sending the letter to "technical" reasons. But if Suharto had any last-minute misgivings, they probably disappeared with the State Department's broadside.

Alatas already has his hands full with critics such as Democratic Congressman and East Timor critic Patrick Kennedy, as well as a range of Republicans who hold the view that Indonesian tycoon James Riady sought to use campaign contributions to influence Clinton administration policies. Indeed, many American policy veterans are concerned that domestic politics is playing an increasingly prominent role in the shaping of US foreign policy-a perception reinforced by the fact that eight months after he began his second term, Clinton still doesn't have an assistant secretary of state to handle an increasingly assertive East Asia.

Indonesia mulls fighter jets after pulling out of US deal

Agence France Presse - June 10, 1997

Indonesia is now perusing a shopping list of jet fighters from various countries after pulling out of a deal to buy nine US F- 16s, a high-ranking source said here Tuesday.

Russian Sukhoi-27s, British Hawk 200s and the French Mirage-2000 were all under scrutiny by military authorities, said the Indonesian source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The French model "is not the only being considered, but it is very, very well placed," the source said.

On Friday, Indonesia hit back at US Congress criticism of its human rights record by withdrawing from a US military training program and cancelling plans to purchase the F-16s.

Announcing the move, President Suharto cited "wholly unjustified criticisms in the United States Congress against Indonesia" in a letter to President Bill Clinton.

Washington had wanted to sell the nine F-16s to Indonesia and pass on the proceeds to Pakistan, which paid 650 million dollars for 28 of the jets in 1989 but could not take delivery because of US fears it was developing nuclear weapons.

But US Congress blocked the so-called US Expanded International Military Education and Training (IMET) program in 1992, following the 1991 massacre of unarmed civilians in Dili, East Timor.

Last September, Indonesian Air Force Chief Sutria Tubagus said publicly "there are other aircraft, like the Mirage-2000 or the Sukhoi-27 which are in the same category as the F-16."

He added he had "suggested the government buy (the other aircraft), if they have the means."

Meanwhile, the Indonesian source pointed out that a high-ranking industrial and military delegation from Indonesia would be attending the Le Bourget air show near Paris, which begins at the end of this week.

The cost of the F-16s has never been made public, but is estimated at about 10 million dollars each.

A comparable model of the Mirage-2000 is about three times the price, and the Sukhoi-27 about double. The cost of Hawks, which are largely inferior in speed and range, cannot accurately be compared.

Britain seeks EU code on arms exports

The Times (Britain) - June 10, 1997

Michael Evans and Edward Yates, Jakarta – Britain wants to persuade its European partners to sign a new code of conduct on arms exports to prevent weapons from reaching regimes that might use them for internal repression.

While Britain is currently ahead of France in the league table of global arms exporters, Tony Lloyd, Minister of State at the Foreign Office, said yesterday that the Government proposed to raise its standards in selling arms abroad and wanted the European Union to follow suit.

Mr Lloyd's statement came after Bishop Carlos Belo of East Timor, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, urged Britain to restrict the arms trade. British weapons are reported to have been used in the conflict in East Timor, which has suffered from insurgency since Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese territory in 1975.

Before meeting Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, last night, the bishop said in a lecture sponsored by Cafod, the Catholic aid agency: "Please, I beg you, restrict still further the conditions under which this trade is permitted. Do not sustain any longer a conflict which, without these sales, could never have been pursued in the first place, nor for so long."

However, Mr Lloyd said that, despite a desire to tighten up on arms exports, the Government supported a strong British defence industry.

"We are one of the major arms exporters in the world but that status carries with it a responsibility, an obligation, to ensure that the arms trade is properly regulated," he said. The Minister was speaking at a seminar on controlling the arms trade, which was organised by Saferworld and the British American Security Information Council, two independent research groups.

Mr Lloyd took up the theme first enunciated by Mr Cook in his policy mission statement in which he underlined the importance of human rights and the need to ensure that arms were not sold to regimes which had a record of abuse.

"We are all aware of concerns that some defence equipment exported from the UK in the past might have been used for internal repression," Mr Lloyd said. One of the most controversial arms sales from Britain was the export of Hawk jets to Indonesia, which has been accused of rights abuses in East Timor. Bishop Belo's visit to London comes at a time of increasing violence there.

Mr Lloyd said the Government would press for greater disclosure of information on arms exports and transfers by all countries, and would try to strengthen the United Nations register of conventional weapons by including the sale of small arms.

Arms dealers and other slippery fish

The Guardian (UK) - June 10, 1997

Adam Sweeting – Is there any such thing as ethical arms trading? Robin Cook has pledged the Government to a policy of not selling arms to repressive or aggressive regimes. An admirable philosophy, but boil it down logically and you're left with 'we promise not to sell weapons to anybody who might use them', or 'we'll only sell weapons to nice people'. Hardly a tenable position if Britain – which has the world's fourth largest defence industry – intends to remain competitive in the unscrupulous billion-dollar international marketplace. The French and the Chinese will be doubled up with laughter.

Part two of World In Action's investigation of Britain's arms trade to the unloveable Indonesian regime (ITV) was subtitled Profit Before Principle. It seems we're still up to our necks in selling weapons to Indonesia, which uses them to pursue its genocidal policies in East Timor. We send them Tactical riot- control vehicles, Land-Rovers, Heckler & Koch submachine guns and Hawk jets. British 'experts' also train the Indonesian special forces.

There were nauseating photographs of victims of Indonesian torture, and pitiful pleas from protesters and civil rights activists for Britain to stop selling equipment to this despicable government. World In Action's inquiries led them to Procurement Services International, which brokers British arms to Indonesia. They secretly filmed managing director Nick Oliver as he boasted of his firm's A700 million Indonesian contracts and explained how more people are killed in Northern Ireland than in East Timor. 'The difference is that in East Timor they do it in blocks of 200, and in Northern Ireland they do one or two a day,' he said breezily.

The killer blow was Oliver's claim that he had spoken to Tony Blair before Labour's victory, and allegedly Blair's view was that 'the type of equipment the Conservatives have given export licences to will present no difficulty for the Labour government'. Blair's office denies the claim. Meanwhile, government experts will be grappling with the explosive equation between arms sales, export earnings, British jobs and votes. And morality, of course.

Russia offers fighter planes to Indonesia

Deutsche Presse Agentur - June 10, 1997

Jakarta – Russia is offering advanced jet fighters to Indonesia without any political conditions, a Russian embassy official said in Jakarta Tuesday.

Moscow's offer was part of Russia's marketing of its aircraft in the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asian region, an embassy information officer, Iouri I. Naskov, told the Indonesian news agency Antara.

Included among the planes on offer were Su-27 Sk and Mig-29 fighters.

Naskov's statement follows Indonesia's decision to cancel the purchase of nine U.S F-16 jet fighters. The Russian offer had been made before that decision, Naskov said.

"Russia never links the sales of its planes with political conditions. This is our principle. Because we won't interfere with the other countries' internal affairs," Naskov as quoted as saying.

The decision not to go ahead with the purchase of the F-16s was taken in Jakarta in view of the "wholly unjustified criticism" by the US Congress over Indonesia's human rights record.

During the era of the late President Sukarno, Indonesia had relied for its armed forces on Russian-made aircrafts and armaments, including Mig-15s, Il-28 and Tu-16 bombers.

But since President Suharto came to power in 1966, Jakarta has enforced a strict restriction on Soviet and then Russian-made aircraft and shifted its military shopping to Western cuntries.

The United States initiated the sale of the F-16s to Indonesia after the originally planned sale to Pakistan was blocked by Congress over Islamabad's nuclear policy.

No political strings attached on purchase of French planes

Antara - June 13, 1997

Jakarta – France will not set any political condition if Indonesia wishes to purchase its warplanes, the French Embassy's military attache, Col M Jean Roucher, said here Wednesday.

Roucher was commenting on the departure of an Indonesian group to attend an air show in Le Bourget, France.

Indonesia last week cancelled its plan to purchase nine F-16 fighters and join a military program offered by the US following criticisms made by the US Congress on its human rights record.

Roucher confirmed that the Indonesian group was to leave for Paris on Thursday to see the French Air Show which will showcase the sophisticated fighter Mirage-2000.

The Indonesian group, whose members come from the country's industrial and military circles, was led by Research and Technology Minister BJ Habibie (*).

Roucher said another group, composed of invitees of the French government, will attend the air show.

He said the agenda for talks has not yet been finalized and may be discussed further upon the group's arrival in Paris.

He neither confirmed nor denied that Habibie is exploring the possibility of buying the Mirage-2000 after the official cancellation of the purchase of the F-16s. Roucher said Indonesia might be interested in purchasing warplanes from France, Russia or other countries.

No consultation on the matter has so far been done but France would be honored if Indonesia chooses its planes, he said.

Poster's Note: The French government awarded Habibie with the "Grand Officier de la Legion d'Honneur" medal last week, the highest token of appreciation to an official from another

Indonesia lashes at US congressman Patrick Kennedy

Agence France Presse - June 10, 1997

Jakarta – The Indonesian government on Wednesday hit out at comments by US congressman Patrick Kennedy after Jakarta's decision to forego its planned purchase of US fighter planes were absurd and outrageous.

Kennedy's statement of a "major human rights victory" following Jakarta's decision not to buy the F-16s was "simply absurd," a foreign ministry statement said.

The statement also described Kennedy's claim that the Indonesian decision was his personal victory as "ludicrous."

Kennedy, a Democrat for the state of Rhode Island, which has a strong Portuguese-American community, said the Indonesian was "a major victory for all of us who believe in the importance of human rights."

"His statement only reveals his failure in his legislative initiative where he links his accusations against Indonesia with the purchase of the F-16 planes," the Indonesian foreign ministry said.

Indonesia on Friday announced that it would not buy nine F-16 fighter planes citing "wholly unjustified criticisms in the US Congress against Indonesia."

Foreign Minsiter Ali Alatas, when announcing the decision which also included a withdrawl from the US Expanded International Military Education and Training (IMET) program , cited Kennedy as one of the critics.

Jakarta labeled as "outrageous" Kennedy's accusation that Indonesia was responsible for the recent killings in the troubled territory of East Timor, the statement said.

Indonesian authorities have said that separatist rebels in East Timor have killed 17 civilians. Rebels have also killed 21 policemen and soldiers in attacks in East Timor between May 27 and May 31.

"His statement only reflects his lack of understanding and knowledge of the issues at hand and merely echoes the views of those parties who do not wish to find a solution to the East Timor question," the foreign ministry said.

Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony of East timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year although the United Nations still views Lisbon as the administrator of the territory. The East Timorese pro-independence movement Fretilin has since maintained armed resistance to the Indonesian presence in East Timor.

Congress in 1992 ended IMET, which cost about 600,000 dollars a year to train roughly 20 Indonesian military officers, following the 1991 massacre of unarmed civilians in the East Timor capital, Dili.

The program was resumed in 1996. But legislators have recently threatened to stop funding for IMET again, citing Jakarta's heavy-handed treatment in East Timor.

US House condemns Indonesian rights abuses

Reuters - June 10, 1997

Washington – The US House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously approved an amendment condemning human rights abuses committed by Indonesia in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor.

"This will send a strong and clear message to the Indonesian government that Congress will not tolerate the continued human rights abuses of the people of East Timor," said Representative Patrick Kennedy, the Rhode Island Democrat who introduced the amendment to the Foreign Policy Reform Act.

Kennedy said Tuesday's unanimous vote would "serve as a launching point for further action against Indonesia."

Kennedy also introduced a bill calling for the elimination of military assistance and training funds to Indonesia unless human rights violations are halted, which may come to the House floor for a vote later this month.

Indonesia hit out at the Kennedy legislation on Friday, dropping its participation in an American military training programme and the scheduled purchase of nine US-made F-16 warplanes.

Foreign Minister Ali Alatas told a news conference Kennedy's criticism was "wholly unjustified."

"It was clear they were feeling defensive," Kennedy said in remarks on the House floor. "They wanted to get the planes out of the way before this Congress expressed its strong opinion on their human rights abuses."

Kennedy also sent a letter to Indonesian President Suharto, requesting a meeting to "discuss my concerns regarding the situation in East Timor and in Indonesia."

Jakarta has come under fire from some US senators and congressmen, particularly over its human rights record and East Timor, the former Portuguese colony that Indonesia occupied in 1975 and annexed the following year.

The United States barred Indonesia from participating in the military training programme called IMET in 1992 after security forces fired into demonstrating mourners in the East Timor capital of Dili in 1991. Witnesses said up to 200 people died. The programme allows senior officers to be trained in the United States.

In late 1995, Washington reinstated Indonesia's participation in the programme, which covers about 20 senior officers annually at a cost of $600,000.

[Poster's Note: While an important step, it should be noted that the amendment as passed is "Sense of the Congress" and would not be binding if the accompnaying bill becomes law. There is still much work to do in the US Congress. As noted in the VOA report (posted earlier), amendment was itself amended to includes a provision condemning so-called "seperatist" violence. The justification for this was the since retracted Human Rights Watch report concerning civilian casualties alleged to have been inflicted by Falintil. A fuller report from ETAN will follow soon, along with the exact language of the amendments and the debate on the House floor when they are available. John]

Habibie awarded highest French medal

Antara - June 4, 1997

Jakarta – The French government has decided to award Indonesian Research and Technology Minister BJ Habibie with the "Grand Officier de la Legion d'Honneur" medal in appreciation of his contribution to the promotion of relations between the two countries.

The French embassy in Jakarta disclosed Tuesday the highest French government token of appreciation to an official from another country will be presented by French Ambassador to Indonesia Thierry de Beauce.

"L'Ordre National de la Legion d'Honner" was instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte on May 19, 1802, in appreciation of civil and military services rendered in time of war or peace.

In 1986, Habibie was awarded the "Grand Croix dans L'Ordre Nationale du Merite".

Habibie was also honoured for his contribution to Indonesia's industrial development and care for the promotion of research and the dissemination of the latest techniques and cooperation established with French companies.

Cancellation of US fighter planes purchase 'A major human rights victory'

Parliamentarians for East Timor - June 6, 1997

Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) termed the announcement that Indonesia has cancelled a deal to purchase nine F-19 fighter planes from the United States, due to the pressure he has applied on the Indonesian government, as a "major human rights victory".

"This is a major victory for all of us who believe in the importance of human rights," said Kennedy. "It is a day that we can be proud of because it shows that when pressure is put on dictatorship governments such as Indonesia's, these countries will be forced to address their outrageous behavior."

Legislation, which Kennedy introduced in March, calling for the elimination of $26 million in military aid to Indonesia until it improves its human rights record, was singled out by Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas in making today's announcement about the fighter jets.

"I am proud of the pressure I have put on Indonesia, and I will continue to fight for the human rights of the people of East Timor and other regions in Indonesia," said Kennedy. "Over the past few months, I have worked with several other members of Congress to call attention to the continued atrocities being committed by the Indonesian government. Today's step taken by Indonesia will further the possibilities for human rights issues finally being addressed."

Kennedy said he was disappointed that Foreign Minister Alatas claimed that the criticism within Congress, which he led, is unjustified.

"The death of one-third of the East Timorese people over the past 21 years, and the recent violence during their "sham" election process in which at least 50 people were killed as a result of a military crackdown, show that these criticisms are indeed totally justified," claimed Kennedy. "I am going to continue to wage this fight in Congress until such time that Indonesia admits that it is abusing human rights and begins to address such critical issues as allowing free and fair elections to be held, protecting the East Timorese people, and releasing and fairly adjudicating political prisoners."

A modified version of Kennedy's Indonesia Military Assistance Accountability Act was unanimously approved on May 1 by the House International Relations Committee. The legislation was offered as an amendmet to the Foreign Policy Reform Act by Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-CA), calling for the elimination of certain US military assistance and arms transfers to Indonesia which are commonly used in direct violation of human rights. Kennedy's legislation approved in committee also eliminated about $600,000 in International Military Education and Training (IMET) funds to Indonesia. Kennedy said he was gratified to learn today that Indonesia has announced that it will pull out of the expanded version of the IMET program.

East Timor declared its independence from Portugal in 1975 and was soon occupied by the Indonesian military. More than 200,000 East Timorese, or nearly one-third of the predominantly Catholic population, have been killed or died of starvation since the occupation.

Kennedy visited East Timor last Christmas, attending Midnight Mass celebrated by Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenese [sic] Belo, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Kennedy recently hosted both Bishop Belo and Nobel co-winner Jose Ramos-Horta during their separate visits to Rhode Island.

Kennedy had previously written to President Clinton urging him to cancel the deal with Indonesia for the fighter planes.

"I am hopeful that this latest development will bring further attention to Indonesia's horrific human rights' record," said Kennedy. "This is a victory ... but I'm going to keep on fighting."

Miscellaneous

Suharto moves to tighten his grip on power

The Nation (Editorial & Opinion) - June 13, 1997

The Indonesian president creates a comfort zone with the appointment of a new army chief, writes The Nation's Abu Rahman from Jakarta.

Indonesian President Suharto finally replaced army chief Gen R Hartono, one of the most powerful figures in Indonesian politics, after months of rumours and speculation.

Hartono was made Minister of Information while Lt Gen Wiranto, currently the chief of the army's strategic reserve command (Kostrad), will fill the top army post.

Hartono was born on June 10, 1941, on Madura Island off eastern Java. Aged 56, he is one year over the normal retirement age and Suharto's decision to appoint him Minister of Information came as a surprise.

The former information minister, Harmoko, is also chairman of the ruling Golkar party which he led to a landslide victory in the May 29 elections. Harmoko had held the position since 1983 and was the longest serving information minister in Suharto's leadership.

It is the first time that Suharto has replaced an aide before the incumbent minister completed his term of service. It is also the first time there has been a minister of special assignments AD the new position Suharto created especially for Harmoko. Maj Gen Soebagyo, currently the Diponegoro military commander in Central Java province, is the new deputy chief of staff.

Maj Gen Soegiono, currently the commander of the Presidential Security Guards, has been named the new Kostrad chief. The position left by Soegiono will be filled by Brig Gen Soetarto, who now is the Kostrad deputy assistant.

Meanwhile Maj Gen Mardiyono, currently the deputy governor of the army academy in Magelang, will sit as the Diponegoro military commander.

The promotion of Wiranto has long been predicted among the three-star generals as he has had a bright career.

The Yogyakarta man is a 1968 graduate of the National Military Academy and Suharto's adjutant from 1989 to 1993. He was subsequently promoted to head the Jakarta armed forces staff and then to chief of the Jakarta military area (1993 to 1996).

A territorial position such as chief of a military area command is a requirement to be the leader of the army. As one of the 1968 graduates of the National Military Academy, Wiranto was the first to sit as a chief of a military area command. When he took a course in the National Resilience Institute in 1995 he was selected as the best graduate.

Since 1996 Wiranto has sat in the prestigious position of the chief of army strategic command. It was during his tenure that the armed forces released a new regulation that the army strategic command should be led by a three-star general. It was significant that this political decision benefitted Wiranto's career.

From the regeneration of the army chiefs, there are two basic things that can explain the promotion of Wiranto. The most important is that the armed forces hastened the regeneration of its top echelons.

This was done by "chopping" its older generations, a process which is usually known as "timbre chopping". This means that because Wiranto was a 1968 graduate of the National Military Academy and Hartono was a 1962 graduate of the same academy, some generations AD the 1963 to 1967 graduates AD who are between those two graduates lost the opportunity to reach the top positions in the army. Of the "chopped" generations, it is interesting to note the 400 graduates of 1965. They all had promising careers. Once, this 1965 generation sat in eight out of ten military area commands. One prominent member of this bright generation is Maj Gen Theo Syafei, a previous Udayana military commander who now is a legislator in the House of Representatives.

It was rumoured that Theo was in the process of being moved out of the House.

The second point of note is that the army wants to keep the regulation that a candidate for armed forces chief should be a three-star general, a lieutenant general, and less than 55-years old. Because of Wiranto's promotion there are a number of three- star generals who are eligible for the position.

On June 17, Tanjung will be 58, or three years past retirement age. It is possible that he will be replaced. But it is also possible that Suharto, as the overall commander of the armed forces, will allow him to remain until he reaches 60.

Tanjung is the oldest chief of the armed forces on record. Usually, the chief is replaced around the time of the general meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly, which will elect the president and the vice president.

The next assembly will convene in 1998. Yet, it should be noted that the replacement of armed forces chiefs is fully in the hands of Suharto.

But the question of who will replace Tanjung remains. Surely, Wiranto, who has been cadred by Tanjung, stands in the best position. A recent document circulated in Jakarta stated that Wiranto had been prepared by Tanjung as chief of the army strategic command (1997) and chief of the armed forces (1998).

Usually, the chief of armed forces job is for the chief of the army strategic command. But there are other three-star generals with a chance to compete with Wiranto.

Lt Gen A M Hendropriyono is the current secretary of development operational control. He is 51 and has had a bright military career. Now he is in the same office with Suharto.

Another candidate is Lt Gen Syarwan Hamid (a 1966 graduate of the National Military Academy), the armed forces socio-political affairs chief.

In addition there are Lt Gen Sofian Effendi (a 1965 graduate of the National Military Academy) who now is the governor of Natyional Resilience Institute, and Lt Gen Tarub, the chief of general staff.

But these three-star generals are between 53 and 55 years old AD close to the age of retirement. It seems that Wiranto's only competition is Hendropriyono.

The rise of Wiranto is a "victory" for the red and white armed forces.

In Jakarta it is said that Hartono is a "green" (the colour of the Muslim party). The chief of the army strategic command affiliates himself with the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals.

With Maj Prabowo Subianto AD the chief of the elite special forces command, and Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, or Mbak Tutut AD Suharto's eldest daughter AD this green armed forces commander is rumoured to influence some promotions of army members.

On the other side there are Wiranto and some others like Bambang Yudhoyono AD the chief of Sriwijaya military command and a member of the 1973 generation of the National Military Academy AD who have long been in disagreement with the Hartono-Prabowo-Tutut trio.

Therefore, Wiranto is believed will return the "command" of the army to the red and white armed forces, which is the group that wants a neutral position in the promoting of high military officials.

Hartono once said the armed forces "cadre-ised" Golkar, but Wiranto seemed to be at a distance from Golkar.

Another aspect of the reshuffle is that it creates a more secure position for Suharto. The reason being that practically all of the important posts in the army were in the control of either his previous adjutant, his security guard or one of his relatives.

Besides Wiranto, Lt Gen Subagyo AD the deputy chief of the army strategic command AD was also the previous chief of the presidential security guard. The leader of the army strategic command, Lt Gen Soegiono, was once also a commander of the presidential security guard.

Meanwhile, the chief of special forces command is Maj Gen Prabowo, a 1974 graduate of the National Military Academy and a son-in-law of Suharto.

With such tight "security", the issue of when Suharto will resign his presidency is a matter to be decided only by Suharto himself.

Rough sailing ahead for Indonesia

Wall Street Journal - June 12, 1997

Andrew Macintyre – Uncertainty hangs over Indonesia's political future. After roughly two decades of relatively smooth sailing, there are now some doubts about the stability and direction of the national political leadership. Last month's rocky parliamentary election, which saw unusually high levels of campaign violence and claims of electoral manipulation, is only the most recent in a string of events that have unsettled national politics.

Just when things began to change is hard to determine, but the emergence of serious questions about the health of 76-year-old President Suharto early last year is one possible turning point. This was followed by the eruption of large-scale rioting in Jakarta in the wake of a clumsy move to oust Megawati Sukarnoputri, the popular leader of the small Indonesian Democratic Party. In the meantime, economic policy became increasingly erratic as one after another big investment project controlled by individuals surrounding the president seemed to capture stunning preferential treatment. Around the country churches were burned by angry Muslim mobs and there were outbursts of violence in the runup to the turbulent election on May 29.

What is the root of all this instability? The most frequently heard explanation is that there is widespread anger at high-level corruption and a widening gap between the rich and poor. While the income gap between the very richest and very poorest Indonesians is indeed widening, overall income distribution has either remained stable or improved slightly from what we can tell from studies. Certainly the absolute incidence of serious poverty is shrinking significantly. But soothing statistics of this sort count for little with those Indonesians struggling to make ends meet. They see for themselves the gaudy displays of the fabulously wealthy and they hear tales of unrestrained cronyism among the elite. This presents a striking contrast with the romanticized vision of life under former President Sukarno which his daughter, Ms. Megawati, now seems to symbolize.

There are also deeper structural factors at work. In a very real sense, Mr. Suharto's government is becoming the victim of its own economic success. In Indonesia more than elsewhere in Asia, the education system has expanded so rapidly that the supply of graduates is outstripping the capacity of the economy to generate new well-paying jobs, as Australian economist Chris Manning has shown. Indonesia's economy has grown very rapidly, but educational output has grown even faster. The costs of completing high school or university and acquiring the skills for a well- paid job are considerable. This adds to resentment among the growing pool of graduates who see the best jobs in the public and private sector go to the offspring of the well-connected and to Chinese Indonesians, while they are left to settle for low-skill jobs.

Overarching all of this is the sense that Mr. Suharto is now in the twilight of his very long rule. Inevitably, this is fueling speculation about the imminence of change and encouraging the disaffected to vent their frustration. Any regular visitor to Indonesia will know from even casual observation that political disillusionment is now very widespread. But it would be a serious mistake to conclude from this that Mr. Suharto and the system of government he has constructed are on the brink of collapse.

Those Indonesians who believe strongly that the country requires major political and economic change are not in a good position to bring it about. Serious opposition figures, such as labor leader Mochtar Pakpahan, are either in prison or at risk of going to prison. Notwithstanding the upsurge of unrest, Indonesia's security forces are a very credible deterrent to any who would consider mounting an organized opposition campaign.

On the other hand, those who are in a position to bring about major change do not appear to want it. While some of Indonesia's political and economic elite think it's time for a leadership turnover, there seems to be remarkably little demand for more than modest changes to the basic pattern of government.

The problem for those who would preserve the system but seek a fresh leader is that the incumbent shows no signs of being willing to retire. Mr. Suharto has demonstrated over many years that he is an unusually skilled political leader. He has been generous in spreading patronage benefits to those in positions of importance–especially the armed forces–thereby giving them a direct economic interest in his political survival.

This judicious blend of carrots and sticks means that no one from within the military leadership has been willing to attempt to ease him out since 1978. It would require sustained turbulence or a major blow to economic confidence for military officers to calculate that the risks of confronting Mr. Suharto exceeded the dangers of inaction.

The situation today is far from precarious. However, the events of the last year or so have loosened the government's grip on political life. The government's move to force Ms. Megawati out of the Democratic Party and off the political stage was successful in reducing threats to the ruling party in the short term, but as the dust of the election settles, it is emerging as an extremely costly maneuver. The most obvious cost has been the damage to government legitimacy by the louder than usual outcry over electoral interference.

Ms. Megawati's ouster may create other problems too. While the Democratic Party was eliminated as a political irritant, many of Ms. Megawati's supporters simply shifted over to the Muslim-based United Development Party to register their anti-government sentiments. The prospect of a suddenly enlarged Islamic party that also embraces the disaffected secular youth may well prove an even greater potential worry for the government than Ms. Megawati and the Democratic Party would have been if left to their own devices.

Moreover, by triggering such a complete rout of the Democratic Party, the government has come very close to rupturing the three-party parliamentary framework that it so carefully constructed in the early 1970s. The government now finds itself in the extraordinary position of having to boost the Democratic Party in order to stave off the possibility that it will fall beneath the threshold needed to operate effectively in the parliament. A de facto two-party system would concentrate the protest vote and thereby alter both the actual and rhetorical dynamics of Indonesian political life.

Last month's election gave the ruling party the victory it sought, but the price was high in terms of government credibility and national stability. When the Peoples' Consultative Assembly meets early next year to select a president, it is likely to vote unanimously for Mr. Suharto for a seventh time. However, if the instability we have seen over the last year does not abate or if investors become truly nervous, it is not inconceivable that some within the military will seek to ease the president into retirement regardless of carrots or sticks.

Dita Sari's jail set on fire

Info Pembebasan (Liberation) - June 12, 1997

On June 12, the private television station SCTV reported that a riot had occurred at the Medaeng prison, Surabaya (East Java). Dita Indah Sari, chair of the Center for Labour Struggle which is affiliated with the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD) was imprisoned there. The incident began when 300 prisoners tried to force they way out of the jail by beating up a jailer and destroying the main door. This action was then followed by other prisoners. In the end the gate was broken down and a number of sections of the prison set fire to. The SCTV report showed the arrival of fully armed soldiers to control the riot.

For the moment the women prisoners have been evacuated, while the male prisoners have been moved to other jails, such as Kalisosok.

The Medaeng prison has been overwhelmed by almost identical riots on previous occasions. The prison authorities accused Dita Sari as the mastermind of the riots because the prisoners shouted "Viva Dita!" and "Viva PRD!".

In this last riot, the report said that the action was masterminded by a "figure" who's cell is located in Block F. Another source said that Dita Sari was being held in that block.

[Translated by James Balowski]

Indonesian president names Hartono information minister

Wall Street Journal - June 9, 1997

Richard Borsuk, Jakarta – President Suharto's surprise appointment of a new information minister may herald tighter control of Indonesia's media. The abrupt replacement of long- serving Information Minister Harmoko with retiring army Chief of Staff Gen. Hartono also could provide clues about the country's political succession.

Gen. Hartono, who turns 56 years old on Tuesday, told reporters on Friday that he was surprised by the appointment announced that day, as he learned of it from journalists and not from the president. The announcement came less than nine months before the end of the cabinet's five-year term, and only eight days after Indonesia's parliamentary election.

The 58-year-old Mr. Harmoko, information minister since 1983 and chairman of Mr. Suharto's Golkar party since 1993, will remain in the cabinet as "minister for special affairs" after Gen. Hartono is sworn in Wednesday. It wasn't immediately clear what Mr. Harmoko's duties will be in the newly created post.

Many observers assumed Mr. Harmoko's standing might be enhanced by last month's election, in which Golkar won its highest percentage ever of valid votes, 74%. But it appears, instead, the election may have left the president unhappy with Mr. Harmoko. Prefacing the announcement of an "honorary discharge" for Mr. Harmoko, State Secretary Murdiono said that, in connection with the election, "it is regarded as necessary to make a change of duty." He didn't elaborate. Mr. Suharto, who turned 76 on Sunday, made no public comment on the switch.

Displeasure over media coverage

Indonesian editors and political analysts said they believe Mr. Suharto removed Mr. Harmoko because of displeasure over domestic media coverage of the election campaign. The Indonesian print media reported comprehensively on violence and other facets of the campaign, during which more than 250 people died.

An editor of a Jakarta daily said Mr. Suharto appears to believe the media was "too free" during the campaign and that Mr. Harmoko, occupied with campaigning, failed to keep it in line. "With a military man as information minister, the grip may well become tighter," the editor said.

At times, Mr. Harmoko has taken a tough line. In 1994, he closed Tempo, Indonesia's leading newsweekly, which had been outspoken about political issues, as well as two other publications. But while the closings sent a chill through the Indonesian media, the press has been lively and robust at times.

Indonesian editors speculate that several publications may get stiff warnings, or worse, once Gen. Hartono settles into his job. They also believe some newspapers may be unofficially instructed to change editors. Asked Friday whether he might close any papers, Gen. Hartono told reporters: "Please don't talk about it now. I haven't been installed yet." He said he expected to follow the military's "principles" and to continue Mr. Harmoko's programs.

It is unclear what lies ahead for Mr. Harmoko, one of Indonesia's most recognized faces as a fixture on state-produced television news. As Golkar chairman, he is the prime candidate to be named speaker of the House of Representatives later this year. Traditionally, the speaker also is chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, a 1,000-member body that meets next March to select the president and vice president. (The assembly is comprised of the 500 House members and 500 appointees approved by Mr. Suharto.)

The shift in Mr. Harmoko's job sparked intense interest because it is the first time in 30 years that Mr. Suharto replaced a minister partway through a five-year cabinet term. In December 1995, the president dropped his trade minister, but that department was merged with the Industry Ministry.

Mr. Harmoko said he couldn't comment yet on his new duties. He thanked Mr. Suharto for trusting him with the new post and said he will carry it out based on the president's "guidance."

Gen. Hartono's future

The appointments also are likely to fuel speculation on the future of Gen. Hartono, who is widely thought to be close to Mr. Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana. Analysts suggest that because he will be joining the cabinet and Mrs. Rukmana appears to have high political ambitions, Gen. Hartono may play some role in the succession.

Mr. Suharto hasn't designated a successor. It is widely believed that, if his health remains good, he will seek a seventh five- year term in March. Friday's appointment likely means Gen. Hartono has moved up on the list of possible vice presidents, one political analyst said.

Months ago, government officials and others predicted that Gen. Hartono would be retired on his birthday as army chief of staff. And it was known he would be succeeded by Lt. Gen. Wiranto, commander of the Strategic Reserve Command. But until Friday, many thought Gen. Hartono would either receive a cabinet position next year or become an ambassador.

To some observers, Friday's announcement illustrated the growing influence of Mrs. Rukmana, a deputy Golkar chairwoman who is close to her father. At a function he attended last year with her, Gen. Hartono upset many Indonesians by wearing Golkar's symbol, a yellow jacket, and openly declaring his support for the party. The military, though a vital part of Mr. Suharto's power base, traditionally has professed neutrality in elections.

Is Islam now the alternative?

Digest No. 34 (Indonesian news with comment) - June 11, 1997

The complete collapse of the PDI in the 1997 election left the Islamically coloured PPP as the only viable non-government party. Does this mean the Indonesian government now faces a Turkish, or even an Algerian scenario of popular opposition focused only on the symbols of Islam? No, it does not.

Not that the PPP as sole vehicle for Islamic opposition is a completely implausible idea. Vigorous PPP rallies were the life of the election campaign. The Mega-Bintang phenomenon (supported by the Solo branch of PPP) brought disenfranchised PDI voters under the PPP banner – though probably more did not use their vote at all. A PPP branch in Madura under the charismatic leadership of Kiai Alawy Muhammad successfully forced the government to repeat the election locally six days later. Ballot boxes had been destroyed in rioting by PPP voters turned away by officials at the 29 May poll.

Many district branches beyond Madura refused to sign the election result, a largely ceremonial requirement. Two provincial executives appear determined to do likewise – West Sumatra and Southeast Sulawesi.

At a national meeting held in Jakarta last week top PPP executives were under intense pressure from below to refuse to acknowledge the election result. One national executive member thought to be responsive to this moral indignation from below is PPP secretary- general Tosari Widjaya.

According to the anonymous Internet service SiaR, the government was so worried about this post-election militancy it offered six top PPP office holders Rp 1 trillion (almost AU$500 million!) last weekend for 'party development' purposes, in exchange for unreserved acceptance of the election result. As the story spread, branches rang in threatening mass action if the office bearers accepted.

Former Religious Affairs Minister Alamsyah Ratuperwiranegara, himself known as a militant Muslim, publicly told the PPP it would be opposing both the government and the Islamic community if it refused to accept the result. In the end, the PPP announced a non-committal 'cooling down' period.

However, despite what the branches may demand, the PPP is not about to become an opposition party. Key observers are convinced that (presumably with or without the trillion rupiah) the PPP will submit meekly after its 'cooling down' period. Both NU chairman Aburrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) and Muhammadiyah chairman Amien Rais say the PPP would not dare do otherwise because it would imperil the (much increased) number of PPP parliamentary delegates now poised to take office.

The fact is that, like PDI's Soerjadi, PPP chairman 'Buya' Ismail Hasan Metareum is government-approved. The party is entirely dependent on government funding. Buya knows that his political life would end abruptly at a PDI-style 'special congress' if he did not comply. It would be easy enough for opponents to connect rebellious sentiment with 'anarchic' pre-election violence.

Nor does PPP represent all the Islamic interests in Indonesia. Nahdatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation, is almost unrepresented in its leadership. Its chairman Gus Dur worked actively to 'deflate' (gembos) PPP votes during the campaign.

There is a desire for change. But the PPP is not positioned to be its champion. PPP is almost as much part of the political establishment as is Golkar. The same is even more true of ICMI, once regarded as another Islamic foot in the door of the hitherto secular New Order regime. Neither PPP nor ICMI are about to make Islam an alternative.

The real political divide in Indonesia is not religious, between secularism and Islam. It is economic, between the elite establishment and the poor masses. Ever optimistic, those masses were momentarily excited by the militancy of PPP branch leaders in places like Solo and Madura. But that was not enough to make PPP a reliable constitutional outlet for their demands.

[Gerry van Klinken, Editor, Inside Indonesia magazine.]

12 GPK members surrender

Antara - June 13, 1997

Jayapura, Irian Jaya – Twelve members of a security disturbance group (GPK) along with 10 adults and 11 children who had been hiding near the Irian Jaya- Papua New Guinea borders have surrendered to the military in Opkim village, Merauke district.

Information chief of the Trikora military command, Lt Col Maulud Hidayat, said Thursday that the GPK members, led by Martinus Okayanum, decided to surrender after learning that 72 other GPK members who have earlier surrendered are being treated well by the military and are being assisted by the local administration in leading a new life.

The 72 GPK members led by Willem Onde surrendered on May 25 to security authorities in Mindiptana village, 20 minutes away by air from Opkim village.

They handed over 46 rifles of various types.

Hidayat said GPK members and Irianese living in the neighboring country have sent feelers that they want to return to their hometowns after the military launched the so-called "arms-free" territorial operation. The operation has proven to be effective in attracting GPK members, he added.

Indonesian authorities move inmates following jail riot

Radio Australia - June 13, 1997

Indonesian authorities are reported to have moved hundreds of inmates from a jail in East Java, to other prisons in the region after rioting prisoners set part of the jail on fire.

The Indonesian daily, Kompas, said inmates of the high-security Medaeng prison in Sidoarjo, south of Surabaya, rioted on Wednesday, setting fire to the prison's office and breaking down walls.

Intervention by police and troops prevented any of them from escaping.

The director general of prisons, Thahir Abdullah, said the jail's security system was defective and the 575 inmates had been transferred to three other jails. Kompas said there were indications that the unrest was started as part of an effort by some inmates to escape.

[Peoples Democratic Party members Dita Indah Sari, Husein Pontoh and Moh. Sholeh were among those interned at the Medaeng prison. Although the authorities have been reported as saying that they are still investigating the riot (searching for the "intellectual actors"), two reports in Pos Kota and Media Indonesia on June 12 implied that they might be responsible by saying that since the three have been interned at the prison, there have been three incidents of rioting - James Balowski]

Armed forces, police chiefs promoted to full general

Antara - June 10, 1997

Jakarta – Chiefs of the Armed Forces services and National Police promoted as full generals called on Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen Feisal Tanjung here on Tuesday to report their new ranks. The newly promoted four-star generals are Navy Chief Admiral Arief Kushariadi, Air Force Chief Marshall Sutria Tubagus, and National Police Chief Gen Dibyo Widodo.

The post of Army Chief is still held by Gen Hartono who has been appointed as the new Information Minister, succeeding Harmoko.

Six other high-ranking officers also reported to Gen Tanjung their respective promotions, namely Commander of the Army's Strategic Command (Kostrad) Gen Wiranto, who is tipped to occupy the Army Chief post, Diponegoro Military Command Chief Lt Gen Subagyo, Presidential Security Force Commander Lt Gen Sugiono, Military Academy Vice Governor Maj Gen Mardiyanto, Operations Assistant to the Army Chief Maj Gen Sutarto, and former Manokwari (Irian Jaya) Military Resort Commandant Brig Gen Frans De Wanna.

The officers will occupy their new posts in the near future. Gen Wiranto will be installed as Army Chief, Lt Gen Sugiono as Kostrad Commander, Maj Gen Mariyanto as Diponegoro Military Command Chief, Maj Gen Sutarto as Chief of the Presidential Security Force, and Brig Gen Frans De Wanna as Head of Biak's Integrated Economic Development Centre in Irian Jaya.

Following their call, Army Chief Gen Hartono installed Lt Gen Subagyo as Army Deputy Chief, filling the post that had been left vacant since Lt Gen FX Sudjasmin retired last month.

Reorganisation of the cabinet and army

SiaR - June 6, 1997

A quite surprising reorganisation of the cabinet and changes in the leadership of the army by the president were announced on Wednesday. This was announced by the State Secretary Moerdiono and armed forces chief Faisal Tanjung.

Golkar chair Harmoko who was the previous minister of information will be swapped with General Hartono who was previously Army Chief of Staff. Harmoko will take up a new post, State Minister for Special Assignments. The nature of this new position is not clear. Moerdiono said that it would be explained in more detail later. According to a SiaR source the new post will have a function similar to Opsus (Operasi Khusus, military special operations) as in the time of Ali Moertopo.

Lieutenant-General Wiranto will become army chief of staff and Major-General Soebagyo will become take over from Lieutenant- General Soedjasmin as second in command of the army. The new Kostrad commander will be Major-General Sugiono while command of the Diponegoro division will be taken over by Brig-General Margiono.

According to Moerdiono, Wiranto is currently on training and will later be promoted to a four star general. Soebagyo will be promoted to Lieutenant-General and all of the armed forces and police heads of staff will be promoted to the same level.

Meanwhile rumors within the elite are that the government system will experience changes after the coming MPR session [to elect the president/vice-president in 1998 - JB]. According to information obtained by SiaR, the presidency will be modified to double as the prime minister. The position of vice-president will no longer exist [will not be filled].

A presidency doubling as prime minister will have three deputy prime ministers. According to this information, Suharto in this new position will be assisted by BJ Habibie, Ismail Hasan Matereum Siti Hardiyati Rukmana better known as Mbak Tutut.

SiaR was unable to obtain information about whether the government system will be returned to the period of Sukarno known as the Cabinet of 100 Ministers. However all of the SiaR sources suspect that Suharto only wants to change the atmosphere by giving the impression that democratisation has occurred and by using Old Order jargon. Although another SiaR source said that Mbak Tutut will be given the number two position although she will be working alongside Habibie and Buya Ismail.

A political observer contacted by SiaR said that the positions for Harmoko and Hartono are only temporary until the MPR session. He added that Suharto wanted everything in order before the June 13 State Islamic Conference in Turkey.

Hartono is being promoted and replacing Harmoko because he did not act decisively against the media. "Harmoko often compromised with the editors who were brave enough to give him bribes. Suharto hopes that Hartono will act more decisively. Particularly against those papers which often report on and criticize the interests of his children" said a SiaR source.

A expert on the press contacted by SiaR said that the position of information minister was intentionally given to Hartono who will retire on June 10 to "secure" press reporting in the lead up to the 1998 MPR session. Particularly after newspapers had over reported the election rioting. "Perhaps the era of the military controlling the media will begin again as in the time of Ali Moertopo" said the source.