ASIET Net News 49 - December 22-28, 1997

At this time, we face two important religious events, Christmas and the Islamic fasting month. This time is not just important in a religious sense, but it also has a very important social component. Even more so at a time when this country is in the mist of a crisis: an economic crisis, a moral crisis, a crisis of leadership, a political crisis, a legal crisis, a crisis of human rights, a crisis of justice and a democratic crisis; [under such circumstances] these religious events will not simply loose their social aspect. At a time like this, it is extremely important for the Islamic and Christian communities to begin to think about change, most importantly a change in the presidency and a change in the system so that we can emerge from this crisis.

As with the example given by the Christian community in the Philippines and countries of Latin and Central America, also the example given by the Islamic community in the Middle East, Africa and a number of other countries; religious groups have a role in the overthrow of dictatorships. Because it is clear that a dictator is the oppressor of [religious] communities and tramples upon praiseworthy morals. So it is also important for the Christian and Islamic communities in Indonesia to take these as examples [to follow].

The right of both Christian and Islamic communities to freely celebrate this great day and carry out this act of devotion may not be violated. The Christian community cannot be forbidden from holding gatherings to celebrate Christmas, for the sake of respecting a different religious community. Similarly, do not forbid the Islamic community from holding meetings while observing the fasting month and commemorating Idul Fitri [the end of the fasting month] as long as it does not disturb other religious communities. Certainly, there have been many recent riots which have smacked of SARA*, but in reality that which has manifested itself, is in essence the people's resistance against the New Order dictatorship.

Because for more than 30 years, the people have been blinded by [the New Order's] politics and the lack of a democratic culture in this country, so that the people do not know how to conduct the struggle against oppression. So that the people immense anger at the regime becomes easy to manipulate, to be turned and used by military agents and directed toward the Christians and the Chinese. In this way, the people's anger is not directed at the New Order regime, but instead turned towards the Christian community.

Because of this, we must use the gatherings that happen during Christmas and the fasting month as a place to raise the people's political consciousness. So that both the Christian and Islamic communities are not blanketed with false consciousness and fight each other, so that they become aware [of the need] to jointly fight the dictatorship. When there is no input of political consciousness in these gatherings, it is very possible that gatherings of people who are angered by the oppression of the New Order regime, will be manipulated so that their consciousness becomes hatred and SARA.

Because of this, the Central Leadership Committee of the People's Democratic Party asks the Islamic and Christian communities:

1. To continue to hold religious gatherings during Christmas and the fasting month, and resist if they are dispersed by the military;

2. To use the gatherings during Christmas and the fasting month as a political forum, most of all as a forum to demand a change in the presidency and an overhaul of the economic and political system;

3. To rid yourselves of issues of SARA and strengthen the unity between the oppressed people during Christmas and the fasting month.

Again, the message of the KPP-PRD is merry Christmas and best wishes for the month of fasting! Overthrow Suharto with a peoples uprising!

Mirah Mahardika, in the name of KPP-PRD

Translators notes:

SARA: Suku, agama, ras dan antar golongan, An acronym meaning ethnic, religious, racial and inter-group conflicts. A loosely defined term with negative connotations, it is frequently used by the regime to describe conflicts which are deemed to threaten "national unity" or "stability" and are at odds with the state ideology of Pancasila and the concept of "unity in diversity".

[Translated by James Balowski]

News this week

Pro-democracy Weekly (MBR) - No 7, Week III, December 1997

[The following is a translation of the text of a leaflet sent to ASIET by the Mega-Bintang-Rakyat Democratic Coalition. The leaflet was distributed widely in urban kampungs in a number of Indonesia cities.]

Suharto gravely ill, the Rupiah falls even further, Suharto's renomination opposed

Not long ago we were surprised that president Suharto had to have total rest for ten days. This resulted in widespread speculation that political uncertainty will clearly become even worse if the president's health deteriorates. Wasn't one of the reasons for the tragedy of 1965 also the illness of president Sukarno (1)? Last year didn't the president have to be treated in Germany because of a severe kidney complaint?

Political uncertainty in Indonesia will become even worse if Suharto dies. Because since the New Order has been in power, the power of the president has been unlimited. There has been no distribution of state power as must be the case in a democracy. Certainly there are legislative and judicial institutions such as the DPR (2) and the Supreme Court, but these two institutions are mere puppets of Suharto. So if Suharto dies, things cannot continue as they are. This means political uncertainty will come. That is the thinking of most people.

This issue has bewildered the authorities. There has even been rumours that Suharto had died. Because of this, the authorities have tried to reassure the people. The State Secretary, Moerdiono, met with journalists and assured them that Suharto would attend the ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur, as proof that Suharto's illness is not serious. But Suharto did not go. This further strengthened the believe that Suharto's illness is already very serious. As a result, the value of the Rupiah fell to 5,800 rupaih per US dollar (at the official rate). On the market however, you needed 6,200 rupiah to but a dollar. The results are clear: prices (primarily of imports) are getting more expensive and more and more companies close because they are unable to pay their debts [in US dollars].

The political situation has also become more critical for the Suharto regime. Not long ago the Indonesian Law Students Senate Association (Ikatan Senat Mahasiswa Hukum Indonesia, ISMAHI), rejected Suharto's renomination [for president]. Then at demonstrations commemorating human rights day in Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang and Purwakerto, students also rejected Suharto's renomination. Most recently it has been the turn of New Order's [own] figures to resist Suharto. The Petition of Fifty (3) explicitly rejected Suharto's renomination.

The thing that endangers Suharto is not just that his renomination has been rejected and a number of figures who are supported by the people have emerged as presidential candidates. Spontaneous riots by the masses are also a very serious threat. These riots are rebellions on a small scale. They spread everywhere and in the end can become a large and broad uprising. All of this has been done spontaneously by the people.

At the time of the economic crisis and the president's illness, riots erupted again in Medan and Kendari. In Medan traders and students united to resist troops evicting them from their place of trade. While in Kendari, students and drivers united to resist traffic police who constantly extort money from drivers.

So what is the meaning of all this? It means that the crisis which is overwhelming the New Order regime has come from a number of different sides. The crisis is not just an economic crisis, but a crisis of the system itself. Of the economy, politics, morality, the country's leadership, the trust of the people, the environment. This situation is difficult to fix.

Both the system and the country's leadership are both abhorrent. Because of this, there must be a change in the system and the country's leadership. Meaning there must be change in the presidency and state institutions. Suharto must be replaced by someone who sides with and is supported by the people. State institutions must be replaced with regulations which are just, democratic and advance the country. If there is not change in the presidency, the situation will become even more uncertain because Suharto is no longer able to lead this country.

Thus if the system is not changed, the institutions of the New Order will be proven to have failed. This failure can be viewed in three aspects:

The New Order has not brought any meaningful advancement;
The New Order has not brought justice;
The New Order is experiencing a crisis.

The crisis will worsen In a few more days, Christians will be celebrating Christmas day. While the Islamic community will begin the fasting month and Lebaran (4). This all means that the people's needs will become greater. The impact on the economy will be to push up inflation (a large increase in prices). Imagine, if prices which at the moment are already rising steeply, increase even further. According to an analysis by the daily newspaper Kompas, we will face hyper-inflation.

Aside from the price increases, workers will soon be sacked because their companies have gone bankrupt or because the companies have to reduce the size of their work force. This means that levels unemployment will get even higher. Imagine, how difficult our lives will become. Prices increases and many people being sacked. In such a situation as this will we still believe in Suharto? Will we not wish for change? Or will we still hope that Suharto is capable of improving this deplorable situation because of who he is?

Army Chief Wiranto says that the armed forces are ready to deal with any unrest. This means that the armed forces are convinced that there will be unrest soon. We must push so this situation too is able to bring about change, that is replacing Suharto and the state institutions. The situation is already ripe [for change], however our problem is that we are not able to push things forward any further.

So that this situation can result in change, we must continue to organise demonstrations and demand a change in the presidency and improvements in the state institutions, such as: abolish corruption, reduce prices and so on. Although the crisis has already occurred, without demonstrations with demands such as these, the situation will go from bad to worse.

Translators Notes:

1. In the context of sharpening political confrontation between the military and the Indonesian Communist Party, in August 1965, president Sukarno fell temporary ill. With all sides wandering whether Sukarno would be able to continue in office, coup rumors abounded. It was in this atmosphere, that a group of left-wing middle ranking officers attempted to preempt an alleged coup against Sukarno on September 30, which provided a pretext for Suharto and right-wing military officers to seize power.

2. DPR: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, Peoples Representative Assembly (Parliament). Consisting of 500 members, 425 elected from the three officially recognised political parties during the general elections: Golkar (the state party), the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party. The remaining 75 members are appointed by the president from the military (who are not allowed to vote).

3. Petition Of 50 (Petisi 50): A dissident group which emerged in 1980 lead by discontented elements of the elite from two traditional political stream, nationalism and Islam; along with a number of former military officers. The group was named after it issued a petition, signed by over fifty people, which raised issues of democratic rights and accused Suharto for seeing himself as the personification of the state ideology, Pancasila.

4. Lebaran: Islamic day of celebration at the end of the fasting month.

[Translated by James Balowski]

East Timor

Three youths jailed on subversion charges

Kompas - December 22, 1997

Baucau – The Baucau District Court in East Timor has passed jail terms on three local youths found to have committed a subversive act against the Indonesian government. The three youths are Muhammad Amin, 19, Fortunato Ximenes, 31, and Alvino Freitas, 19. All of them have been sentenced to 17 years in prison minus their detention time.

The sentence, handed down by Judge Idris Sinambela at the trial on Friday (19th December), was three years less than what the prosecutor, Damly R. Purba, had demanded. The three youths were accompanied by their defence counsels: Abdul Hakim, Perry Wilson and Nursalam Paliling from the Trisula Legal Assistance Institute in Dili.

Two weeks earlier, the Baucau District Court also sentenced two Baucau residents charged on similar grounds. Luis Maria da Silva, 57, and Fransisco da Costa, 36, were sentenced to death by the court.

There are 18 defendants in this case and they are being tried in four separate trials. Five of the 18 defendants have received their verdicts while the rest are facing the prosecutors' demand for 20-year jail terms.

The judge said the defendants had held a meeting on 26th May 1997 to carry out a plan to sabotage the 1997 general elections in East Timor. "The defendants agreed to make the meeting a secret and anyone who revealed the secret meeting would be killed - and also his family members. If one wants to join the security disturbance movement, one must do it wholeheartedly and be responsible for one's own safety," said the judge, quoting the prosecutor as having said.

As mentioned during the trial, the defendants managed to lay an ambush on 17 security personnel who were in charge of safeguarding the elections at Abafala village, Quelicai subdistrict, Baucau District, East Timor. Several security personnel were killed during the ambush. The three defendants decided to appeal against the verdict through their defence counsel, Perry Wilson.

Five East Timorese arrested in Java

Agence France Presse - December 22, 1997

Lisbon – Indonesian secret police have arrested five East Timorese university students in Surabaya, Java, on suspicion of supporting the pro-independence Socialist Association of Timor, the group said today.

The arrests yesterday were part of a huge operation launched in September to dismantle the association's main bases on Indonesian territory, the group said in a statement issued here.

It said it would ask the human rights group Amnesty International to campaign for their release.

East Timor, a former Portuguese territory, was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed the following year in a move that has never been recognised by the United Nations.

East Timor rebels killed in fighting

DPA - December 23, 1997

Jakarta – Two alleged East Timor rebels were killed in armed fighting with Indonesian troops in the former Portuguese colony, reports said today.

Lieutenant Colonel Supadi, chief of East Timor's Ermera military district, said the two, killed on Saturday, were identified as Agustinho Mounsinho, 21, and Agustinho Coan, 24.

Supadi said the military shootout came after government forces launched a raid against rebels in Nunglet village. He said at the time six members of East Timor guerrillas were setting up an emergency tent.

Besides killing the two, troops also seized a couple of military bags, medicines, clothes and some other goods, Supadi said, though he did not explain what had happened to the four other Timorese.

Indonesia has been fighting pro-independence rebels since 1975 when it invaded East Timor, a former Portuguese colony about 2,000 kilometres east of Jakarta.

Indonesia annexed the troubled territory as its 27th province in 1976. However, the United Nations and most western countries do not recognise its sovereignty and regards Portugal as East Timor's administering power.

Guerrilla attacks kill one and injured another says police chief

Lusa - December 17, 1997

Dili – East Timor's police chief, Indonesian Colonel Rismanto, accused on Tuesday the Timorese guerrilla of being the responsible for the death of a civilian and injuries to a policeman during two separate attacks.

Rismanto said that in the first case, the guerrilla had kidnapped last week Timorese Manuel Soares, 35, in the village of Patuoli, and that he was later found dead near his house.

The second case involved the policeman Gabriel Asa who got injured during an attack by an armed group in Bobonaro.

Rismanto claimed these attacks were part of a resistance plan to intimidate the local population, leading it not to co-operate with the Indonesian authorities.

Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it one year later but the United Nations still regards Portugal as the territory's administering power.

A local resistance movement has been active in seeking the self- determination of the territory.

Salatiga security authorities banned East Timor seminar

MateBEAN - December 16, 1997

Salatiga – Military authorities in Salatiga banned "Seminar on the Prospects of Justice Movements, Peace and the Struggle for Human Rights in East Timor". The seminar itself was organised by the Communication Forum of Nahdlatul Ulama Students Movement (FKGMNU) last Monday 14 December 1997.

An FKGMNU staff told MateBEAN that the military had been harassing the State College of Islamic Religion (STAIN) campus since Saturday 13 December 1997. Trucks of army soldiers drove by in front of the campus building back and forth. Meanwhile, Ahmad Dimyati, the chairman of the organising committee called by the Military District Command for questioning. "But I do not know what kind of questions had been asked by the military," said the young student.

Since early in the morning, the campus was packed by plain clothesmen (popularly known among the activists as "intels") from the Military District Command and Police Precinct's investigation department agents. Then the seminar room was locked-tight by the campus warden. "A security officer asked a College Staff to lock the room without giving reason why the room must be locked," said one STAIN student.

Around 50 persons sat near the place, waiting for the speakers to come. The organising Committee tried to use another room but security officers dispersed them.

"It was impossible to organise the seminar in the Campus building. We decided to move to Geni Foundation office and held a warm discussion with the speakers," explained one member of the OC. "At least we can lessen our anger." Clementino dos Reis Amaral expressed his anger by commenting harshly: "What is this!? Why they ban a seminar in a campus?" To ease disappointment, three key-note speakers were brought to Geni Foundation Office and invited to a discussion there. The speakers were Clementino Dos Reis Amaral from the National Commission of Human Rights, Ida Ayu Yanti from FKGMNU and Aderito de Jesus Soares from ELSAM (a human rights advocacy group).

The aim of the seminar is to arouse concerns on East Timor problems. By doing so, the organising committee hoped the seminar would motivate people to join forces in a broad solidarity movement for justice and peace in East Timor. "We invite religious community, especially the young generation, to play significant role in the process of a peaceful and just East Timor problem solving," said one organising committee member. The seminar will present religious leaders such as Father YB Mangunwijaya (Catholic), TH Sumartana (Protestant), AS Hikam (Moslem). Three key speakers, Clementino Dos Reis Amaral from the Nat- ional Commission of Human Rights, Ida Ayu Yanti from FKGMNU and Aderito de Jesus Soares from ELSAM (a human rights advocacy group) were invited by the organising committee to a discussion in Geni Foundation office. Also invited, East Timor experts like Clementino dos Reis Amaral, Aderito de Jesus Soares, and Ida Ayu Yanti as the representative of the National Board of FKGMNU.

339 human rights violations during 1997

MateBEAN - December 12, 1997

Dili – During the last eleven months, there were 339 reported human rights violations in East Timor. It was reported by the East Timor people to Comissa Iustiti Et Pax (Commission for Justice and Peace), a special organization appointed by the Dili Diocese and the Human Rights and Law Foundation (HAK). However, many believe the number of human rights abuse is higher than that.

The director of the HAK Foundation, Aniceto Guterres Lopes released HAK's human rights violation report in a press conference last Thursday, 11 December 1997 in KKP office, Travessa de Lecidera Street, Dili, to commemorate Human Rights Day.

The two independent groups had received 451 cases during the last eleven months. Three hundred thirty nine cases categorized as violence and human rights abuse. They also reported around eighty cases on women and social-economic problems. Aniceto stressed the fact that violence and human rights abuse is still dominant in East Timor. He mentioned Hotel Mahkota Case on 23 March 1997 and the attack of the University of East Timor by military personnel on 14 November 1997. Another significant human rights abuse was the political trials. HAK Foundation and KKP handled 34 cases in 1997. Both institutions also handled non-political cases, but the number is too small, i.e., and criminal, civil, labor and administrative cases. There were 289 arrests or 82.2% of civil and political rights cases.

Aniceto and Amandio are concerned about the human rights violations surounding the present political trials in East Timor. Many arrests and detentions by the authorities were illegal and against the existing Criminal Code because they did not bring the necessary warrants.

According to HAK Foundation, law enforcers are still using violence in inter- rogations and it clearly against Article 52 of the Criminal Code. If we read the files of the Bairo Pite Case (the attack of Police SWAT barrack), we will find that the suspects were tortured badly; from kicking, punching, using e- lectric shocks until stabbing. It all done before the suspects were officially arrested. Belisior Soares, 49, the Hatolia Village Head, was the witness and victim of the authorities' brutality.

"Arrest, detention and torture was always used, simply by suspecting somebody as a Fretilin, clandestine, 'bushman' and other silly accusations. It's all against the basic principle of criminal law, the Presumption of Innocence written on Article 88 of Law No. 14/1970 on the Authority of Justice," Aniceto said further.

Mentioning the death of four Guico villager in Maubara, near Liquisa last 19 November 1997, Aniceto said that his organization will dispatch a Fact-finding Team soon. Many believed that ABRI was behind the slaughter. The four killed people were Imerco dos Santos, Bendito, Patricino, and Bernardo.

Four rebels in East Timor sentenced to prison in grenade attack

Associated Press - December 22, 1997

Jakarta – Four East Timorese rebels convicted in a grenade attack that killed 17 Indonesian security agents were sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison.

The separatist rebels were among five others convicted in the ambush on the security agents in the disputed territory of East Timor. Earlier this month, two rebels were sentenced to death, and three others were sent to prison for between 12 and 13 years.

The men were convicted of throwing grenades into a police truck on a highway on May 30, one day after parliamentary elections. Sixteen policemen and one soldier were killed.

Violence during the election period killed 42 soldiers, police, civilians and rebels in East Timor, a former Portuguese colony that was invaded by Indonesia in 1975. The United Nations does not recognize Indonesian sovereignty.

In a telephone interview, Judge Idris Sinambela said seven of the rebels sentenced to prison attended a meeting to plan attacks during the elections in territory.

All the defendants convicted in the ambush will appeal the verdict.

Environment/land disputes

250,000 at risk of starving in Irian Jaya

The Age - December 20, 1997

Louise Williams – Food stocks in drought-stricken regions of Irian Jaya are almost exhausted and up to 20 per cent of the population of some villages has already died, according to the latest report on the famine by the Australian Red Cross.

The Red Cross said Indonesian sources had reported to the International Red Cross mission operating in Irian Jaya that 250,000 people were at risk of starvation.

According to aid officials, 80 per cent of food reserves in the Mimika and Jayawijaya districts have been exhausted and the next harvest is not expected until June or July.

Although rain has began to fall across Indonesia, the long drought has delayed planting in many areas and many crop failures are expected.

In the remote mountains of Irian Jaya the mainly tribal communities normally rely on yams as their staple food.

Unusually high temperatures associated with the strong El Nino pattern, as well as a significant delay in seasonal monsoon rains, means crops have shrivelled and died.

The Indonesian Government has reported more than 600 deaths.

Most of the highland people in Irian Jaya can be reached only by air, making food and medical missions difficult and expensive.

The Red Cross statement said that in two villages reached by helicopter 20 per cent of the population had died, 55 per cent of infants were suffering from malnutrition and 95 per cent of villagers had malaria.

"The fate of thousands of people will be determined in the next two months," according to the Red Cross team.

Mr Jim Carlton, the secretary-general of the Australian Red Cross, said it was the worst drought in Irian Jaya in living memory.

"Malnutrition and malaria have reach devastating proportions and famine has advanced to the final stages in some of the villages in the highlands, with children and the elderly the main victims."

Labour issues

Military involvement seen hurting labor protection

Jakarta Post - December 11, 1997

Surabaya – An increasingly excessive intervention by security authorities in many labor disputes has robbed workers of just and satisfying solutions, and of control over situations, an activist says.

The Surabaya Legal Aid Institute's director, Indro Sugianto, told a press conference here yesterday that military intervention in labor conflicts had become even more marked over the past year. As shown during many labor demonstrations in 1997, the presence of security personnel has become more evident. "(The development) has made labor problems even more complicated and more difficult to solve," he said. "Security personnel have always reacted (to worker strikes) by charging that a demonstration was masterminded by a third party."

The legal aid office recorded in 1997 a total of 142 labor strikes [in East Java alone], 10 more than last year, against employers' policy. The demonstrations involved 100,452 workers.

Surabaya saw the most strikes with 55 occurrences, followed by Sidoarjo with 40 and Gresik with 11. The figure excludes the four-day strike of 40,000 workers of PT Gudang Garam cigarette company in Kediri, and that of hundreds of employees of PT PAL ship manufacturer.

"Sometimes, the security officers' intervention took the most naive form," Indro said, citing the handling of a recent demonstration held by hundreds of PT Nor Leather tannery. The striking workers wanted to demonstrate outside the provincial legislative council building. The police picked them up in trucks and promised to transport them there, but instead took them back to the factory. "They went on with the strike but under tight security, and they were barred from leaving the factory site," Indro said.

Indro predicted that there would be even greater labor unrest next year given the tighter control applied by security personnel in conjunction with the presidential election in March.

Furthermore, "October is the time when the new Manpower Law will come into effect and workers' interests will be harmed even more," Indro said.

He also cited the monetary crisis that has forced business people to tighten their budgets and resort to massive layoffs. He said that this year alone, 20 companies had dismissed at least 7,000 workers, all citing the crisis as the reason.

"Those companies have been mismanaged for years. I believe that that next year, the number of people losing their jobs will be even greater," he said. "These layoffs could probably take place silently."

He pinted out that workers had tried to shoulder their share of the burden by demanding fewer wage rises.

Human rights/law

LBH predicts rights record to worsen

Jakarta Post - December 24, 1997 (posted by Tapol)

Jakarta – Human rights activists predicted yesterday that Indonesia's human rights record and legal condition would see no improvement next year.

"As long as the law is still considered subordinate to the government's politics, as is the character of the New Order regime, the situation will remain the same, " said the Jakarta office of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in its year-end evaluation delivered by its director Apong Herlina here yesterday.

"And as long as human rights is still placed within the power holders' framework of power, the list of human rights violations will be even longer next year," she said.

This year's economic woes and next March's political power struggle would also color the country's legal and human rights records, Apong said.

The socioeconomic crisis, which she said "can hardly be handled by the government" as reflected by the rising price of staple food, could lead to increasing "social pathology".

She said massive layoffs land disputes, violence by legal apparatus, violations of people's freedom of expression and the right to assemble divorce and domestic violence, and sexual violence, were examples of the rising social pathology.

"Those issues will be rife next year, directly or indirectly influenced by the country's socioeconomic and sociopolitical conditions," she said.

According to Apong, never before during the New Order era had an economic crisis affected so many people, either from the lower or the middle class.

"Unless the rising problems are tackled seriously and the law is implemented justly, it is very possible that more social upheavals will color the country's legal scene next year," she said.

Concerning human rights violations Apong said: "It's very difficult to expect a decrease in the number of violations."

She said the current political power, which tends to maintain the status quo had "repressed" demands for change.

Apong was accompanied yesterday by the institute's land division head Dewi Novirianti, criminal division head Daniel Panjaitan, and special division head Paulus Mahulette. Reflecting on the past year's legal scene and human rights records, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute said the number of complaints it had received had increased from past years.

This year alone, Apong said, the institute's criminal division had received 225 cases, labor division 280 cases, land division 114, and special division 529 cases.

"The increased number every year signifies that the institute is still trusted and needed by the public," Apong said. The institute also noted the problems affecting workers here and abroad. It cited the beheading of an Indonesian female worker in Saudi Arabia, and reproached the government for being too slow to respond to the case.

"The government has not been responsible enough for the fate of its people when faced with such a serious situation," the institute said.

The public uproar over the execution, and the planned beheading of fellow worker Nasiroh, indicated the public's increasing legal awareness, the institute said.

"Public criticism and protest effectively pressured the government to take action (and save Nasiroh from the same fate)," it said.

Long way to go to human rights protection

Jakarta Post - December 10, 1997

Jakarta – The excessive use of force along with the neglect of civil and political rights remained a disturbing feature throughout the year, a leading rights group said in its year end assessment here yesterday.

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) said in its 1997 human rights assessment that given the current climate, there was still a long way to go to better human rights promotion and protection in Indonesia. "Although high ranking officials here have acknowledged the importance of human rights, in the daily practice we must admit that there are still many violations," ELSAM's chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara told journalists.

ELSAM's report coincides with the 49th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights today. Hakim said the violations varied from the excessive use of force by security officials to violations on the right to a fair trial and right of freedom of assembly. In a four-page report which was accompanied by a 21-page appendix, ELSAM criticized security officials' customary use of force.

Criminologist Levy who was recruited by ELSAM to help with the report said that firearms were frequently used in situations which did not require coercive measures.

"Looking at this tendency, it can be said that the use of firearms and coercive measures has become a pattern, whether it is in handling demonstrations, unrest or criminal cases," the report said.

ELSAM therefore called for the formulation of a national guideline or code of conduct on the use of firearms and assault weapons used by security officials. The report also lamented continued limitations on the freedom of assembly.

The report outlined no less than five major events which were either stopped or banned by authorities this year. Among the latest cases was the recent banning of a play on slain labor activist Marsinah in Surabaya and Bandung. "In short, this shows that the control and restrictions on the activities of societal organizations is continuing," the report noted.

ELSAM further condemned what they perceived to be a string of "political trials" such as proceedings on the 1996 Tasikmalaya riot and the trials against the student movement in support of labor demands in Jombang, East Java. "We see that in these cases there is a tendency to use the court as an instrument of deterrence, whether it is to merely embarrass the suspect or frighten the public," the report said.

Hakim said better human rights protection required a strengthening of the National Commission on Human Rights' authority. "We noticed that many of its recommendations have not been carried out by the government."

Gustaf Dupe, secretary of the Protestant Church's Working Group for Service to Prisoners, highlighted the issue of political prisoners, particularly those imprisoned for being members of the now banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). In a statement signed together with Bonar Tigor Naipospos of the Manusia Indonesia untak Kemanusiaun and - Mindo Rajagukguk of the Yayasan Hidup Baru, Dupe called on the government to rehabilitate the civil rights of all PKI ex-convicts and their families.

Sentence of Indonesian activist condemned

Human Rights Watch/Asia - December 22, 1997

Human Rights Watch strongly protests the eight-year sentence handed down on December 18 to Indonesian human rights activist Agustiana bin Suryana after he was convicted of subversion by a court in Tasikmalaya, West Java. Agustiana, thirty-two, a former economics student, was charged with being the intellectual mastermind behind riots in Tasikmalaya in December 1996, involving mostly Muslim youth, that left four dead and over a hundred buildings destroyed or damaged, including eleven churches. The riots stemmed from a protest over the torture of Muslim teachers by the Tasikmalaya police after the son of a local police officer was punished at a Muslim school.

The prosecution had scant evidence against Agustiana, who was detained on January 8 and held at two different hotels under military guard and without access to a lawyer, in clear violation of Indonesia's criminal procedure code, until January 31, when he was formally detained by the Attorney General's office and moved to a detention facility in Ciamis, West Java. (The actual detention order is dated January 29.) He was not in Tasikmalaya on the day of the riot, and it appeared that the prosecution based the charges on the fact that Agustiana since 1993 had helped organize demonstrations by farmers and workers over land disputes and wage issues respectively. At the time of his arrest, Agustiana was also a secretary-general of an opposition political party, the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (Partai Uni Demokrasi Indonesia or PUDI), established in violation of Indonesia's restrictive laws on political organizations by Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a former parliamentarian who himself is in prison on subversion charges for his role in PUDI.

"This verdict is evidence of both a search for an easy scapegoat for Indonesia's increasing communal tensions and a vindictiveness on the part of the government toward the activist community," said Sidney Jones, director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "It also represents an increase in the use of the draconian anti-subversion law after a period when we thought it was going into decline."

The prosecution charged that Agustiana's anti-government activities went back to 1993 when he founded the Garut Youth and Students Forum (Forum Pemuda Pelajar Mahasiswa Garut or FPPMG) and had organized high school and university students, students in Muslim boarding schools (pesantren), workers, and farmers to undermine the government and economic assets of Indonesia. He also founded an organization the same year called the Union of People's Solidarity (Serikat Pendamping Rakyat) aimed, the prosecution said, at changing the political system. In this capacity, he had frequent contact with other nongovernmental advocacy groups, including the independent labor union, SBSI, and the now-banned militant student organization, the People's Democratic Party (Parti Rakyat Demokratik). He was accused of having particular influence over another youth named Mimih Haeruman, a member of the Indonesian Islamic Students' Movement (Pergerakan Mahasiswa Islam Indonesia or PMII) who founded a forum for students in Tasikmalaya that in form and activities was "virtually identical" to the Garut group. Mimih, charged with instigating the violence that took place during the December 1996 riots, was tried in absentia on subversion charges and on November 20 sentenced to ten years' in prison; he remained at large as of December 1997.

According to the charge-sheet, Mimih received information about the torture of the Muslim teachers on December 23 and immediately informed other members of PMII in Garut. Mimih then met with Agustiana to discuss a strategy for staging a demonstration to protest the abuse. On December 24, the prosecution said, there were further discussions about the case among members of PMII and the Garut students' forum, and, by telephone, with Sri Bintang Pamungkas of PUDI. On December 25, Agustiana went to Garut with another NGO activist where he is accused of meeting other PMII and forum activists, again to discuss a response to the torture. One result of these meetings was the drafting of a statement entitled "Solidarity of the Muslims of Tasikmalaya Against Torture." According to the prosecution, Mimih told members of the Tasikmalaya student forum members that Agustiana had his Garut followers ready to support any action in Tasikmalaya. On December 26, Mimih gave an emotional speech at a mosque in Tasikmalaya, the result of which was a mass march toward the Tasikmalaya police headquarters, another inflammatory speech there by Mimih urging those present to wage a jihad or holy war for Islam. It was at that point that the thousands present took to the streets in what eventually turned into a riot with an anti-Christian, anti-Chinese cast. Agustiana was then charged with holding a meeting later on December 26 in Garut to assess the the progress of the protest.

It was clear from the way the charge-sheet was written that Agustiana's earlier experience in organizing protests was a major factor against him. (He had led demonstrations over the years not only in support of farmers whose land was expropriated for golf courses and commercial ventures but also in support of Bosnia, against a national lottery, against the invasion of Iraq by the U.S., in protest over the escape of the embezzler Eddy Tanzil in Jakarta, and against the press licensing law.)

On the day of the riot, in fact, Agustiana and other FPPMG activists were in Garut preparing to go to the field for several days in the coastal fishing village of Pameungpeuk south of Garut. On December 29, police intelligence from Garut visited them in the village, saying they were looking for the "brains behind the riots." These officials continued to harrass them, without making arrests, until the FPPMG program was completed on December 31.

On January 8, Agustiana was detained by security officials who only identified themselves as "Sumatra 37."A warrant from the Tasikmalaya Attorney General's Department arrived on the same day summoning Agustiana for interrogation but not stating that he would be detained. Agustiana was initially kept kept under house arrest in his mother's house in Tasikmalaya. On January 12, he was moved to a Tasikmalaya hotel, Hotel Abadi, where a guard shared the room with him while more guards rented the rooms on either side. When friends from FPPMG came to the hotel to inquire after him they were immediately interrogated. At the same time, the Tasikmalaya's Attorney General's Department denied that Agustiana was in detention. On January 27, he was moved to the Yudha Negara Hotel. He told his lawyer, Effendi Saman of Bandung, that he had not been tortured physically.

The trouble in Tasikmalaya began with the disciplining of a student at the the Riyadhul Ulum pesantren in Condong, about six kilometers to the east of Tasikmalaya. On December 19, Rizal, a fourteen-year-old student, was caught in a petty theft and was punished by having to stand in knee-deep water in a fishpond. Rizal's father was a police officer in Tasikmalaya, Corporal Nursamsi. His father took exception to this punishment and came to visit the pesantren to speak with its leaders the next day. On December 21, Tasikmalaya police summoned two members of the Condong pesantren in their mid-twenties, Habib Hamdani Ali (the teacher who had punished Rizal), and Ihsan, for further interrogation.The summons was not signed by the local police chief, as it should have been. Presumably to protect their younger colleagues, the pesantren's two senior teachers, K.H. Makmun, seventy-four, and his son, Mahmud Farid, thirty-eight, reported to the police instead. But they were told the police wanted to speak with Habib and Ihsan. On December 23, Habib and Ihsan reported to the police, in the company of Mahmud Farid and pesantren member Ate Musodiq. Upon arrival, Habib was immediately pulled by the hair and beaten by Nursamsi and several other policemen. When Mahmud tried to intervene he was also beaten, as was Ihsan.They were taken inside and told to do pushups while being beaten at the same time. Ate Musodiq meanwhile managed to escape and report the beating. When the deputy district head of Tasikmalaya sent his officers to intervene at about midday, the beating stopped. Police then resumed the interrogation. But Mahmud soon had to be taken to hospital unable to walk unassisted, complaining of cigarette burns on his chest and pain in his ribs. Within a few hours news of the beating had spread, and soon the victim was receiving so many visitors at the Tasikmalaya General Hospital that he was sent home.

On December 25 rumors circulated that Mahmud, or even his old father Makmun, had died. The rumors were false. Students of the Condong pesantren were forbidden to go out on the streets, but many other Islamic students were ready to vent their anger. Tattooed youths who often operate as paid thugs reportedly were also ready to act.

The police commander Lt-Col Suherman, correctly fearing a backlash, immediately went to the Condong pesantren and agreed he would punish the police officers involved, if the religious teachers would keep their students under control. He ordered four police accused of torturing the religious teachers to be arrested by military police. The four were then dishonourably dismissed from the police force on January 9, even before judicial proceedings against them had commenced.

Activists from a variety of student and youth groups in the Tasikmalaya area had already begun planning a protest rally in the form of a communal prayer meeting (istighosah). They began to plan it after it became clear that hundreds of pesantren students were ready to march on the local police headquarters. Fearing a violent confrontation, student and youth leaders urged the formation of a committee of representatives to hold a prayer meeting instead, as a more constructive forum for channeling grievances.

Among the groups represented at preliminary discussions were the Tasikmalaya branch of the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement PMII (through its chairman Abdul Muis, who later visited Tasikmalaya pesantren to pass out invitations), the Garut branch of PMII(Mimih Haeruman, also known as Mimih Suherman), the Tasikmalaya branch of the Islamic Students Association HMI, the Bandung branch of HMI (I'ip Syamsul Ma'arif), Siliwangi Youth (Angkatan Muda Siliwangi, related to the Siliwangi military division), and student senates from various colleges including Siliwangi University in Tasikmalaya, the Garut Law School (STHG), and the Cipasung Islamic Institute IAIC.

On December 26 crowds starting arriving early at Tasikmalaya's main mosque, Mesjid Agung, for the prayer service, which commenced at about 9:00 am. Pamphlets had been distributed advertising the meeting. The local military commander,Col. H M Yasin attended, as did the local police commander, Lt.Col. Suherman, and the district head.

By the time the meeting closed at 13:30, rioting had already broken out, after a large and increasingly agitated crowd outside the mosque had broken away earlier. When someone, later identified by some as Asep Ilyas, another man accused of subversion, had shouted "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great!), the crowd was already on the move. They first confronted the district head and police chief at police headquarters, 200 meters from the mosque, throwing stones at them and the building, before spreading out in all directions to burn Chinese shops. Coming out of the mosque, Mimih, on the request of the military commander, stood on a statue and appealed to the crowd to stop rioting, but to no avail. Officials later estimated the crowd in Tasikmalaya at about 5,000, but other estimates were higher.

Local military and police units were inadequate to control the crowd. Indeed, police were too afraid of the crowd to face them in uniform for several days. Reinforcements did not arrive from Bandung until the late afternoon. Soldiers from Battalion 330 came from Bandung, about three to four hours drive to the northwest, from Battalion 323 in Majalengka to the north, from Battalion 301 in Sumedang, from Battalion 303 and 321, as well as some Kostrad Infantery Brigade 134 (Reserve Forces) and Arhanud, about 800 troops in all. They brought the situation under control by about 10:00 p.m. By this time, however, burning and looting was also taking place in other small towns in the vicinity of Tasikmalaya: Idihiang (northwest), Ciawi (further northwest), and Singaparna (west). In some of these places rioting again broke out the next day (Ciawi, and Sawalu, to the west). An eyewitness who asked to remain anonymous was struck by the calm and methodical approach of the rioters, saying they arrived from Tasikmalaya in a group of two trucks and about fifty motorcycles at exactly 10:00 p.m. as expected by forewarned locals. These locals identified buildings owned by Chinese. A truck would then ram down the front door, rioters would bring out the Chinese inside and deposit them at the local military post (Koramil) without hurting them. If the building was in a Chinese row, it was burned down after throwing in Molotov cocktails. If it stood among non-Chinese buildings, its contents were brought out onto the street to be burned, and the building was wrecked. Looting was rare, even though there were about a thousand onlookers.

Altogether 173 people were arrested, of whom some forty-five were tried for destroying public property. Officials said most of those arrested were caught looting and were unemployed or petty criminals. They specifically denied pesantren students were among those arrested. In fact the pesantren students among the original detainees were soon released, presumably to avoid further confrontation with the Islamic community. News agencies reported four deaths: two Chinese – Mrs Geok Wiwih and Eli Santoso – and two others who fell off rioters' trucks, one a seventeen- year- old youth. One police officer said five had died. Fifteen were reported injured, many of them rioters struck by rocks thrown by other rioters.

Officials early in February estimated over a hundred buildings were burned down or seriously damaged, including eighty-nine shops, eighteen police stations and police posts, sixteen offices, one Christian school, eleven churches, four banks, three hotels, 114 cars and trucks, and twenty-two motorcycles. The churches were of several denominations, Catholic, Protestant and Pentecostal. They were not only Chinese; one was a church of the Batak (an ethnic group in Sumatra); the Pasundan church is Sundanese, the dominant ethnic group in West Java. Most of the damage was in Tasikmalaya; one Catholic church was in Ciawi. Damage was estimated at Rp. 85 billion (US$40 million).

Activist given eight years in Tasikmalaya

SiaR - 19 December 1997 (posted by Tapol)

Tasikmalaya – The district court in Tasiklamaya has passed a savage sentence of eight years on an activist from Garut named Agustiana who was accused of being the brains behind the riots that struck Tasikmalaya in West Java on 26 December last year.

Hundreds of supporters of the accused were in court to hear the verdict and sentence read out by the presiding judge. Four truckloads of troops were on guard outside, armed with M16s and truncheons.

The accused announced immediately that he would appeal against the sentence; he then shouted: 'Long live democracy!' and went to the bench to shake the hands of the judges.

As supporters rushed forward in court to embrace Agustiana, the police chief in charge of the police forces present ordered his men to surround him and take him to a vehicle outside, to be driven back to Cimahi Prison.

Agustiana was charged under the anti-subversion law and given four years less than the prosecutor's request for twelve years. In his summing up, the judge spoke at length about Agustiana's involvement in the pro-democracy movement, statements he made in various publications and his involvement in solidarity forums, none of which is related to the riot in Tasikmalaya.

Agustiana had told the court that on the day of the riot, he was at the Garus General Hospital together with a friend named Titik to visit a friend, and from there they went to the home of the police chief of Garut to keep an appointment with friends there. His request for Titik to be called as a witness in court was rejected by the court as being 'irrelevant'.

The riots in Tasikmalaya were sparked by an incident in which the son of a local policeman was punished for a misdemeanour at a local religious school. The policeman and other officers summoned the teachers involved and beat them up. This triggered anger among Muslims in the city, which led to the outburst of violence.

Social unrest

Church in Jakarta destroyed by mob

BBC - December 24, 1997

Jonathan Head, Jakarta – An ecumenical church is Indonesia has been destroyed by a mob near the capital, Jakarta, according to church sources. This is the latest in a series of attacks on churches, which are being blamed on rising resentment among Indonesia's Muslim majority of the disproportionate wealth of many Christians. Last week, Jakarta's Roman Catholic cardinal asked Christians in the city to hold simple Christmas celebrations this year to avoid causing offence to Muslims, who have been affected by the country's economic crisis. Here's our Jakarta correspondent, Jonathan Head:

Father Cornelius Billy says his brand new church was reduced to ruins by a mob of 500 people wielding stones and iron bars. The church was deserted at the time and no-one was hurt.

He said the attackers were not local people, but he believed that his Muslim neighbours objected to the church, which had already been closed down because it lacked an official licence.

There have been a number of attacks on churches over the past two years. The worst incident in October last year left five people dead and 21 churches burnt to the ground.

Most observers believe the root cause of these attacks is more economic than religious. The fact that many of Indonesia's ethnic Chinese - who've long been resented for their perceived privileges - are also Christians makes the churches an easy target during a riot.

But the authorities are clearly worried that Indonesia's cherished reputation for religious tolerance is under threat.

The head of the State Intelligence Authority has just issued a warning against the rise of religious extremism - a reference to the small groups of radical Muslims who advocate an Islamic state in Indonesia.

With the country going through its worst economic crisis for 30 years, there are fears that inter-religious tensions will increase.

It was clearly with that in mind that the Roman Catholic cardinal of Jakarta asked Christians to scale down their Christmas celebrations.

He said the money would be better spent on helping those who are suffering in the current economic climate.

Arms/armed forces

The waiting game

Sydney Morning Herald - December 22, 1997

As fears grow over the health of Indonesia's President Soeharto, so does talk of who may succeed him. David Jenkins look at who's who among the likely contenders.

When Indonesians talk about General Wiranto, the army chief whose effortless ascendancy coincides with deepening fears about the post-Soeharto future, they make little attempt to disguise their admiration.

Wiranto, they say, is not just a man who exhibits grace under pressure; he is someone who may have what it takes to lead the country towards a more open and democratic future.

For that reason, many were dismayed when the Government released the names of the 500 appointees it is sending to the 1,000-strong People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the body that is expected to rubber-stamp President Soeharto's seventh presidential term in March.

There on the list was the name of both Wiranto's wife, Rugaiya, and their 21-year-old daughter, Amalia Sianti, a university student and political unknown.

They joined a record number of well-connected wives and children, including several of the President's sons and daughters, in the MPR, a body which, in addition to the 500 appointees, includes 75 military officers and 425 parliamentarians, most of them from the army-backed Golkar grouping, all of them carefully screened by the internal security agencies.

"It was not good public relations [by Wiranto]," says an Indonesian magazine editor, shaking his head in disbelief. "Although he is a nice guy, it's nepotism."

As Indonesia grapples with its worst political and economic crisis in 30 years and fears mount over the health of Soeharto, who is said to be suffering from exhaustion, hypertension, a defective kidney and a leaking heart valve, the spotlight is falling increasingly on Wiranto, the army "nice guy".

If Soeharto were to die or become incapacitated in the next three months, Wiranto would be one of several officers responsible for managing the succession and maintaining stability, no easy task at a time when the economy continues to implode, triggering business failures, job losses, price increases and raising concerns over possible food shortages.

Nor is it beyond the realms of possibility that Wiranto might one day become president himself, although for the time being Vice- President Try Sutrisno, a retired four-star general, would automatically become acting president should Soeharto die.

A Muslim from the Indonesian heartland in Central Java, Wiranto, 50, is a man with many strings to his bow. He has an impressive military record. He inspires confidence. He is well-liked, both in the army and the wider community. He has had a better education than some of his colleagues and is said to recognise the need for political reform, albeit cautious reform. He paints. He plays music. He even heads the national bridge association, although he hasn't yet fully mastered the game.

Equally important, Wiranto enjoys the trust of the President, whom he served as an adjutant from 1989 to 1993 - while not being seen as a member of the presidential household, unlike some of his army colleagues.

As army chief, Wiranto is, of course, a loyal supporter of the political system that Soeharto has put in place, one that awards the Armed Forces (ABRI) a central role in politics, with an influence over almost every aspect of Indonesian life.

But he is not a hardliner. Unlike his predecessor, General Hartono, a cavalry officer who displayed a more than normal readiness to involve himself in matters of religion and politics, Wiranto is cut from more conventional ABRI cloth.

He has not gone out of his way to court Muslim leaders, as Hartono did, antagonising some fellow officers, especially Christians. Nor is he the sort of man who would pull a yellow Golkar jacket over his army uniform, as Hartono did on one occasion, to the dismay of many active and retired officers, who like to think that ABRI is "above all groups" in society.

"Wiranto has never aligned himself with a particular group," says a Western diplomat, clearly alluding to Hartono, who is now Minister for Information. "He has never gone to an ICMI [Muslim intellectuals] meeting or donned a yellow jacket. He's a breath of fresh air. He appears on the covers of magazines as someone to look up to. Wiranto is the most charismatic, professional soldier. I would follow him."

Others are equally impressed. "Wiranto has a unique attribute," says another diplomat. "I cannot find any enemies ... nobody comes up with any dirt on him." What is more, Wiranto radiates self-confidence. "When everyone was running scared before the election he was cool, calm and collected. He was Kostrad [Army Strategic Reserve] commander at the time. You couldn't get in to see anyone else. With Wiranto it was no problem at all: "Sure. Come in'."

Until the scare over Soeharto's health upset calculations, it had been widely assumed that Wiranto would move up next March to become Commander of the 476,000-strong Armed Forces (ABRI), replacing General Feisal Tanjung, a cautious and somewhat dour officer.

That is still a strong possibility. But more and more Indonesians are suggesting that Wiranto would make an ideal vice-president - becoming, in effect, the anointed successor to Soeharto - should the President insist on standing again.

Whatever happens - and for the time being every important decision in Indonesia continues to be made by Soeharto - Wiranto looks set to play an important role. If he were to become vice- president, he would be in the box seat should the 76-year-old Soeharto die or become incapacitated. Under the 1945 Constitution, the vice-president automatically completes the five-year presidential term.

If he were to become ABRI Commander, he would be the key officer in a regime which is built, ultimately, on the bedrock of military support.

In the opinion of a prominent Indonesian civilian, Wiranto could be the man who redefines ABRI's future role. "We have an armed forces which is now back on its national track. It's not going off on tangents, as it did when Hartono was there, some of them aligning with the Muslims and some of them aligning with the Benny [Moerdani] group and all that."

If things work out as they should, this source maintains, Indonesia could find itself with a reformist and much more professional army led by a crop of bright new younger officers, including Wiranto, Major General Bambang Yudhoyono - a man billed as "the next Wiranto" - and Major General Prabowo Subianto, a son-in-law of Soeharto and commander of the elite red beret unit, Kopassus.

"It's a fascinating development. But to what extent this group can constitute itself in a cohesive way will depend on the coming one or two years. Who is going to come out as the leader of [the group below Wiranto]?"

Indonesia, according to this analyst, may find itself with a much more professional army, led by officers "still taking it for granted that they have an unquestioned role to play" but content to have "a much more measured role than in the past. It could be a bit destabilising. So we need someone like Wiranto acquiring a recognised status as being the spokesperson for the armed forces."

In other words, many hopes are being invested in Wiranto, who graduated from the military academy at Magelang, Central Java, in 1968 and whose entire adult life has been lived in the shadow of Soeharto's presidency.

It is too early, of course, to say whether those hopes will be realised. The sceptics doubt that Indonesia's army leaders will ever cede real power unless forced to do so. And they point out that the President has not been in the habit of anointing successors or allowing any one officer to build up an independent power base.

Indonesians have been keeping a weather eye open for a possible successor to Soeharto for the best part of three decades. Soeharto has outlived or outmanoeuvred all those who might have posed a challenge. He has never allowed anyone - least of all a four-star Javanese Muslim - to acquire unfettered power. Nor is that likely to change.

Nor, for that matter, has Wiranto been looking much like a man bent on redefining ABRI's political role. In recent weeks, he and Hartono - the current army chief and his immediate predecessor - have been hard at work ensuring that everything falls into place during the March session of the MPR, a nominally independent civilian institution which is animated by the presidential will and responsive to military "guidance".

Unlike Hartono, who had never had a combat command, Wiranto spent much of his time in an infantry battalion, with several tours of duty in East Timor. In 1989, he began a four-year term as presidential adjutant. This brought him into daily contact with the man who holds all senior military appointments in his hands.

The new adjutant made a good impression on the President. In 1993, he was appointed chief of staff of Kodam Jaya, the politically sensitive Jakarta military region, taking command in 1994. In 1995, he took command of Kostrad.

At each stop along the way, Wiranto seems to have stood out as a man destined for greater things. He topped his year at staff college. He won the respect of colleagues while serving on the army staff. He impressed those around him while serving as an adjutant at the presidential palace. Within six weeks, said a retired four-star general who is not given to praising lightly, "he was running the palace. It was just that he was so good".

What would happen if Soeharto were to install someone such as Hartono as vice-president and Wiranto as ABRI Commander, only to then disappear from the scene? Where would the power lie? That is not at all clear.

About the only thing that can be said with any certainty is the army will be playing a central role in Indonesia long after Soeharto has gone.

Economy and investment

Foreign debt nearly twice official figure

International Herald Tribune - December 24, 1997

Michael Richardson, Singapore – Indonesia's total foreign debt may amount to $200 billion, nearly double the level recorded by the government in Jakarta, according to an estimate made public Tuesday amid rising doubts about East Asia's capacity to repay loans.

The estimate, by the Indosuez bank group, takes into account $83 billion in undeclared offshore borrowing by Indonesian companies.

Even based on the official figure of Indonesian corporate debt - $65 billion - Indonesian companies will have to repay $50 billion in 1998 unless foreign banks agree to roll over or reschedule the loans, bankers said Tuesday.

Excessive short-term borrowing in dollars by Indonesian companies, including many of the largest, before the Indonesian rupiah started to plunge in value has created this looming debt repayment crunch.

The scale of the interest and principal repayment bill, which amounts to more than double the level of Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves, is undermining confidence in the country's currency, stock markets and economic future.

Some analysts are now drawing a parallel between Indonesia and South Korea, where the debt crisis stems from foreign creditors' reluctance to roll over an estimated $100 billion in short-term debt, much of it held by the private sector.

On Tuesday, South Korea gave foreign bankers a full account of the country's overseas debt crisis for the first time, hoping to prevent them from triggering a default. In both countries despite multibillion-dollar standby loans arranged by the International Monetary Fund recent rapid falls in the value of their currencies against the dollar have made it much more expensive for companies to repay, or even service, their loans.

The rupiah has plummeted more than 50 percent against the dollar since the middle of the year. "This meltdown in its currency could lead to a wave of corporate bankruptcies, and this could be very destabilizing," said David Hale, Chicago-based global economist for the Zurich Kemper group. '`Half of Indonesia's major corporations are technically bankrupt if we don't get the rupiah back to 3,000 or 4,000" to the dollar, he said.

The dollar rose Tuesday to 5,245 rupiah from 5,100 rupiah Monday.

Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous nation and its fourth largest debtor. Official figures put Indonesia's combined government and private debt at $117 billion, of which $65 billion is private.

Bankers and economists have little doubt about the government's capacity to repay its foreign debt, much of which carries concessional interest rates and long repayment terms.

But C.J. de Konins, lndonesia country manager for ABN-AMRO Bank of Holland, said that the average maturity of the Indonesian corporate debt was only 18 months. "Which means the private sector repayment obligations are $3.6 billion per month and $43 billion in the coming year," he said. "Add to this the interest to be paid of nearly $6 billion per year and one can easily understand that $49 billion payment obligation creates an immense hurdle.

Pablo Zuanic, head of research in the Jakarta office of lndosuez W.I. Carr securities, said that economists in the French financial services group had estimated that at least $44 billion in offshore bond borrowings by Indonesian companies were not included in the official private sector debt figure nor were short-term off-shore borrowings.

'In total, it would not be farfetched to assume that the total Indonesian foreign debt amounts to $200 billion," he said. With three quarters of this debt being private, and at least a third maturing over the next 12 months. it is not hard to see where the pressure on the rupiah is coming from."

In a meeting Monday with representatives of major Indonesian companies, President Suharto said that the private sector must work closely with the government to overcome the country's troubles. 'The problem is companies are using short-term loans for long-term projects," he said.

Mr. Suharto, who recently returned to work from a 10-day rest period ordered by his doctors that further unnerved the markets, said he had appointed Radius Prawiro, a former coordinating minister for the economy, to head a task force to help firms renegotiate foreign loans to gain more time for repayment.

Steadier rupiah holds out hope

Australian Financial Review - December 22, 1997

Greg Earl, Jakarta – Indonesia's financial markets are showing the first signs of stability in three weeks, giving the Government a much-needed chance to regain its management credibility with the annual Budget to be delivered in the first week of January.

The rupiah dipped below 5,000 to the US dollar for a while on Friday in a tenuous recovery from fears a week earlier that it was set to plummet past 6,000.

Many analysts feel it will now hold a little below 5,000 as most speculators close their books for the Christmas period.

Dealers say there was some evidence of exporters selling dollars as fears of a further blowout in the rupiah receded, although the central banks have also maintained a tight monetary policy, with overnight rates around 27 per cent on Friday.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange is also showing some sign of halting its 50 per cent plunge over the past five months, actually closing up almost 4 per cent for the week at 378 on the JSE Index on Friday.

But the market remains nervous about when companies will start acknowledging the impact of the currency's dramatic fall. Ratings agency Standard & Poors contributed to the concern on Friday by downgrading the credit rating of three companies.

Indonesian companies owe at least $US65 billion ($102 billion) in foreign debt, which the country manager of ABN AMRO, Mr C.J. de Koning, estimates has a 1.5 year maturity, implying that about $US43 billion – or $US3.6 billion a month – must be rolled over or repaid in the next year.

Combined with total interest of at least $US6 billion, the companies have to find about $US49 billion in the next year – equivalent to about 45 per cent of Indonesia's gross domestic product at current exchange rates.

Opinions vary about what level of exchange rate the corporate sector needs to survive, but one foreign banker with many years of experience in Indonesia says 3,800 is about the highest level most companies can withstand.

According to various calculations by Jakarta stockbrokers, at the 4,500-5,000 level the total shareholders' equity of the top 30 to 50 listed companies is wiped out by short-term interest and repayment liabilities.

President Soeharto called his top economic ministers together for the first time in several weeks on Friday to consider a draft Budget, which is expected to be finalised on Wednesday before being delivered on January 6.

But it is possible that the Government may push ahead with an announcement on the merger of State banks and a new corporate merger law before the Budget.

There is also speculation that Bank Indonesia could launch a substantial push to boost the rupiah on the final day of the year to give companies and banks a better year-end figure with which to close their books.

After a frenzied start to the year as one of the region's hottest stockmarkets, the JSX looks set to close 1997 with a capitalisation fall of about 30 per cent, from Rp215 trillion at the end of 1996 to about Rp150 trillion this week.

But in US dollar terms the fall has been devastating, with the bourse now valued at about $US30 billion compared with about $US90 billion at the end of last year.

INDONESIA's economic woes are likely to intensify, as a recession and ballooning foreign debt are likely in the wake of its currency losing more than half its value against the dollar in less than six months, according to an economists' review.

UBS Global Research says that the sharp rupiah depreciation is leading to growing debt service payments and will push even more corporates into bankruptcy.

"A recession now looks unavoidable – the magnitude of which will crucially depend on near-term developments," UBS economist Christa Marti says in the report.

Suharto reasserts control with central bank move

Dow Jones Newswires - December 22, 1997

Jay Solomon and Kate Linebaugh, Jakarta – Indonesian President Suharto Monday decided on a reshuffle at the country's central bank, reasserting control over economic policy following nearly a two-week absence from his daily duties due to ill-health.

Also Monday, Suharto recommitted the government to the package of reforms negotiated with the International Monetary Fund at a meeting with the country's business elite.

But while analysts welcomed the signs that Suharto is back in charge of the day-to-day running of the government - after worries about his condition caused severe jitters in local financial markets in recent weeks - they said the reshuffle at Bank Indonesia could have troubling implications for the economy.

Many interpreted the move to replace four central bank directors as a step toward curbing the influence of the central bank's well-respected governor, Soedradjad Djiwandono.

'It's like Suharto has suddenly clipped his wings,' said one analyst close to Bank Indonesia.

Analysts said there's growing speculation that Soedradjad won't be reappointed as governor in a cabinet reshuffle that will take place following presidential elections in March.

That could have important implications at a time when Indonesia is implementing the terms of a nearly $40 billion bailout organized by the International Monetary Fund.

As reported, Suharto issued a decree Monday which removes, effective immediately, four of Bank Indonesia's directors - Deputy Governor Paul Soetopo, Managing Director Hendrobudiyanto, head of the bank's Legal and Banking Department Heru Soepraptomo, and head of Bank Indonesia's Logistics Department Mansyurdin.

The new directors are Iwan Prawiranata, the president-director of state-owned PT Bank Bumi Daya; Aulia Pohan, currently a junior director at Bank Indonesia; Miranda Goeltom, deputy assistant for monetary affairs to the coordinating minister for economy and finance; and Sjahril Sabirin.

One suspicion is that the four directors were ousted because of bitterness in the Suharto family about Bank Indonesia's recent shuttering of commercial banks owned by first family members, one of the conditions of the IMF bailout.

Of the 16 that were liquidated under the International Monetary Fund-led program, three - PT Band Andromeda, PT Bank Jakarta, and PT Bank Industri - were owned by the first family. Both President Suharto's middle son Bambang Trihatmodjo, owner of Bank Andromeda, and half-brother Probosutedjo, owner of Bank Jakarta, have threatened legal action against the central bank and the finance ministry for the closures.

Soedradjad's loyalists at the central bank could be taking the heat for that decision, according to sources close to the central bank.

Indeed, the sources say Soedradjad wasn't consulted by Suharto about the management changes, which were issued from the palace as a presidential decree. Instead, the decision was passed on by Suharto's top economic advisor Widjojo Nitisastro.

But some economists welcomed the measures, saying the new appointments could inject some new blood into the central bank management.

'I think it's unfair to say the new directors are just favorites of the President,' said Rizal Ramli, an influential Indonesian economists. 'Suharto just got to the point where he needed to resolve issues in the banking sector and decided to inject people with more decisive character.'

Critics have charged that Bank Indonesia has been lax in regulating the banking industry over the past few years, part of the reason for the current economic crisis. Hendrobudiyanto was the Bank Indonesia director in charge of banking supervision.

Suharto also took to the offensive Monday by hosting a gathering of virtually all of the Indonesia's top businessmen at the Palace. Present at the meetings where the chairman's of such massive, ethnic-Chinese conglomerates, as the Salim, Sinar Mas, and Lippo Groups, as well as five of the six Suharto children - all of whom are active in business.

A copy of the speech showed that Suharto recommitted the government to implementing the IMF package and to balancing the budget next year. The president also asked for greater coordination between government and the private sector in handling the current economic crisis and for the private sector to take steps to renegotiating their loans.

A special task force has been set up to facilitate this coordination, Suharto decided.

Suharto also outlined a potential government plan whereby dollar-denominated funds would be issued at low rates to cash- strapped local companies. The President said that this could calm market jitters and keep foreign exchange within Indonesia.

But as a transcript of the meeting illustrates, some of the businessmen themselves didn't seem to agree with Suharto's solution. The scheme, noted Sofyan Wanandi, Chairman of the Gemala Group, could actually undermine confidence in the rupiah as it appears 'the government itself doesn't have confidence in the rupiah.'

Indonesia Has $18 Bln In Forex Reserves: Suharto

Dow Jones Newswires - December 22, 1997

Jakarta – Indonesia President Suharto, in a meeting with the nation's top business leaders Monday, said the central bank has spent 10% of its reserves, or $2 billion, intervening on behalf of the nation's currency in recent months.

He added, however, that the $18 billion remaining in reserves is enough to cover 4.5 months of imports.

He revealed that the government has had put to aside 32 trillion rupiah for its 1998 debt servicing costs - based on current exchange rates - and that fuel and food subsidies will cost 15 trillion rupiah for 1998.

Nevertheless, the 76-year-old leader affirmed the government is committed to a balanced budget, as the government has sufficient funds.

A balanced budget is a constitutional requirement in Indonesia.

Suharto, who made his first public appearance after two weeks rest last Thursday, reaffirmed the nation's commitment to the $40 billion IMF-led bail out package.

'We put together a program abolishing (some government) subsidies that we gave to the IMF and they approved.'

These comments came amid speculation that Indonesia is diverging from the conditions set out in the IMF package.

The president called on the nation's private sector to work with the government and to reduce debt, which he estimates to be $80 billion, in order to strengthen the country's economy.

'It is better for domestic companies to lessen their debt. By selling off assets the companies will be healthier and our economy will be stronger.' 'Try to find partners, so capital flows in, to raise equity so to lower debt,' Suharto said, urging companies to offer equity to help ease the private sector's high levels of foreign debt.

To help the nation's ailing banking sector, he suggested companies move their overseas deposits into domestic banks 'to improve the private sector and its capabilities.'

But he outlined a government plan to issue U.S. denominated 'bank notes,' similar to bonds, with low interest rates to attract a return of foreign capital.

Suharto jokingly referred to rumors of his death, telling the gathering that they were 'meeting with someone who was dead, rumored to be dead, but it turns out is alive again.'

These rumors and others of a coup d'etat hammered the rupiah and the Jakarta stock exchange - raising concerns over succession and political stability.

He assured the gathering that the armed forces had the political situation, including rising unemployment, under control, referring to riots in recent years.

'Hopefully this will eliminate doubt about the steps being taken by the government.'

Jakarta struggle over economic policy

Australian Financial Review - December 22, 1997

Greg Earl, Jakarta – Indonesia's President Soeharto has dismissed half the directors of the country's central bank and established a group of private sector advisers amid a growing struggle over economic policy.

The moves coincided with the downgrading of Indonesia's sovereign debt rating yesterday to below investment grade status, and a ratings review of six State-owned banks ahead of an expected announcement of major State bank mergers in the next week.

Moody's Investors Service also downgraded sovereign ratings for Malaysia, Korea and Thailand, warning that weaknesses in the Japanese economy and banking system were another negative for the regional outlook.

The Indonesian Government gave no explanation for the dismissal of four Bank Indonesia directors.

The dismissals followed an intense struggle over the closure of 16 banks as part of the International Monetary Fund rescue package.

President Soeharto's son, Mr Bambang Trihatmodjo, and his half- brother, Mr Probosutedjo, attacked the closure of their banks.

There have also been separate allegations of corruption against the central bank in the past year.

The central bank's governor, Mr Djiwandono Soedradjat, has been criticised for the banks' closures, but as a Cabinet member he would have been much harder to dismiss than the directors.

The State Secretary, Mr Moerdiono, announced the formation of a private-sector advisory group to help co-ordinate economic policy and relations with the business community after a meeting between the president and a group of conglomerate heads.

There has been a public battle between sections of the business community and leading economic ministers over the direction of economic policy for several weeks.

A month ago, the head of the country's peak business group, Mr Aburizal Bakrie, announced some important economic policies.

Late last week, the economic ministers appeared to return to influence. There were speeches and a meeting with Mr Soeharto on Friday after several had receded from public view.

Mr Soeharto has previously used an informal forum of conglomerate chiefs to discuss economic problems. Two years ago he used the group to float a 2 per cent tax surcharge – to deal with poverty – which he controls outside the tax system.

The new Indonesian group parallels the announcement of a similar body by Malaysia's Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, earlier this month, which he said yesterday would be led by former finance minister and leading businessman, Mr Tun Daim Zainuddin.

The Malaysian National Economic Action Council was originally seen as a challenge to the authority of the Finance Minister, Mr Datuk Anwar Ibrahim. Those fears receded with the release of Mr Datuk's economic reform announcement two weeks ago after reported co-operation with Mr Tun.

Moody's downgraded Indonesia's foreign currency country ceiling for bonds one level to Ba1 from Baa3, and its foreign currency ceiling for bank deposits by two levels to Ba3 from Ba1.

Thailand is also below investment grade at Ba1, down from Baa3 previously; Malaysia was lowered to A2 from A1; and Korea was lowered to Ba1 from Baa2.

The agency said the rupiah's fall was likely to create substantial strains in the banking system, although it said the IMF rescue package would be sufficient unless confidence deteriorated because of political factors or other events in Asia.

Indonesia's foreign bond rating was downgraded to the same level as Thailand's, although the Thai foreign currency deposit rating was already one level lower than the new rating for Indonesian foreign currency deposits.

Indonesia is set to announce a merger plan for its seven State banks in the next week in response to the IMF package, but it is not clear how many banks will result from the measure.

Apart from warning of a potential downgrade of the Indonesian State banks, Moody's put the country's second-largest private bank, Bank Danamon, under review for a possible downgrade, reflecting its "higher than average" risk profile and uncertainty about its ownership.

The Admadjaja family, which controls Danamon, recently announced the sale of 29 per cent of the bank's shares to rival business group Salim and Credit Suisse First Boston, leaving the founding family with only 19 per cent.

Women banned from shopping sprees abroad

South China Morning Post - December 23, 1997

Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Indonesian Vice-President General Try Sutrisno has "banned" women from going on lavish foreign shopping expeditions during the country's economic crisis.

The Minister for Women's Affairs, Mien Sugandhi, quoted General Sutrisno as saying foreign shopping jaunts were a "no go".

"People of other countries will laugh at us. Our country is in trouble, so how can we enjoy ourselves abroad?" she said in the Jakarta Post.

The Indonesian rupiah has declined by 53 per cent against the US dollar since July. Analysts say the currency turmoil, high inflation and mass sackings will lead to a recession early next year.

The Government is urging women to buy locally made goods rather than travel to buy foreign products.

General Sutrisno said local merchandise was just as good as foreign wares.

Luxury goods belonging to the wives of senior civil servants were impounded at Jakarta's international airport earlier this month because the owners failed to declare their purchases.

Fifty boxes containing electronics, expensive clothes and jewellery were brought by wives of Department of Transport officials after a spending spree in Thailand.

The wives of Transport Minister Haryanto Dhanutirto and Research and Technology Minister Jusuf Habibie helped organise the trip.

The women also demanded half-price tickets from the state-owned airline Garuda Indonesia, which is suffering from a US$900 million (HK$6.98 billion) debt.

Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia are important destinations for shopping jaunts of Indonesia's wealthy.

The chairman of the ruling Golkar party, Harmoko, called on Indonesians at the weekend to live "simply and modestly" during the time of high inflation and rising unemployment.

Politics

Megawati urges political reform

Jakarta Post - December 24, 1997 (posted by Tapol)

Jakarta – Ousted chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri commemorated the fourth anniversary of her leadership yesterday, calling for immediate political reform.

In a gathering attended by 300 people at her residence in South Jakarta, Megawati also called for a stop to violations of the law.

"Return the laws that protect people's sovereignty," she said. "Establish a clean and respected government. "

Megawati was democratically elected in the 1993 PDI congress in December in Surabaya, East Java. She was toppled in June last year in a splinter group's congress backed by the government.

Her opponents elected former chairman Soerjadi in Megawati's place. Ever since, Megawati has been battling her ouster in court.

In her scathing message yesterday evening Megawati drew people's attention to what she described as "the crisis of the nation" which emerged because Indonesia failed to address fundamental flaws wisely, thoroughly and in a spirit of togetherness.

"Too many things have been covered up, manipulated, so that people are no longer able to discern right from wrong, to know their rights and their responsibilities," she said.

In her evaluation of the past year, she said some parties had tried to turn President Soeharto into a cult figure. The attempt had been made openly, and denied as openly, she said.

"In consequence, every aspect of this nation's life becomes unhealthy as everything depends only on one individual, President Soeharto," she said.

"This happens because most of us do not care that President Soeharto has led the country for 32 years, a very long period of time, (as if) denying nature that with the advancement of age a person's health and capability decline," she said.

"Without realizing it, we have become inhumane, because we continue to burden and place too great a responsibility on President Soeharto, and ignore the fact that he is just a human being," she said.

She also said that turning Soeharto into a cult figure and forcing him to remain president during the current economic crisis, was an egotistical action, committed by a group of people seeking to further their own interest.

"This is a deplorable stance, because it aims only to maintain the opportunity to amass wealth at the suffering of many people," she said.

Megawati said she had deliberately kept quiet in the past few months to give the government and the Armed Forces the opportunity to solve various problems. "Had an end to the monetary crisis been guaranteed, including ways to improve our economy and save if from being crippled, I might have chosen to keep on being silent ... even though it pains me," she said.

"But the question is, are there and were there any guarantees?"

UGM Referendum results not made public

Republika - 22 December 1997 (Summary of report by Tapol)

Journalists and activists who attended a press conference which had been called to announce the results of a referendum held by the Gajah Mada University student body were disappointed and angry when they were told that the results would after all not be announced. The committee which had organised the event asked the journalists 'to understand' their position. 'We know you are all disappointed,' said Haryo Setyoko, 'but we beg your understanding'.

Posters announcing the results had been put up in the faculties, saying that the majority of those participating in the referendum had said they wanted a presidential succession in 1998 and wanted the number of terms a president could serve to be limited.

The atmosphere at the press conference became heated when it was announced that the results would not be made public. 'We will deliver the results to the MPR,' said the chair of the student body. 'It's part of our strategy for taking the issue forward,' he explained.

Journalists were not satisfied with the explanation and asked whether there had been pressure from outside forces. 'We are not saying that that was what happened, but you can draw your own conclusions,' they were told.

[As readers of act.indonesia already know, the results were made public in an interview published by Tempo Interaktif on the Internet - TAPOL.]

Rumors aim to topple government

Jakarta Post - December 23, 1997

Jakarta – President Soeharto said yesterday rumors that his health was failing, he was dead, or that the Armed Forces were planning a coup, were aimed at destabilizing the economy and toppling the government.

The President accused "certain groups" of attempting to create monetary chaos so as to create a lack of confidence in the government as a part of their political strategy.

"There were rumors that I had died, and had been detained, and that a coup had taken place, which were aimed at weakening the rupiah ... to bolster people's distrust of the government and eventually to create a revolution," Soeharto said in a dialog with the country's top 57 businessmen at the Bina Graha presidential office.

Soeharto called for Indonesian entrepreneurs to work shoulder to shoulder with the government to overcome the crisis, and vowed that he would do everything to help the private sector, which is the country's economic backbone.

"I have ordered ministers to approach the private sector to work jointly to resolve the ongoing monetary crisis with the government, because it is not only the government's responsibility but also the entrepreneurs," Soeharto said.

Yesterday's meeting was Soeharto's second official appearance since doctors ordered him to rest earlier this month to regain his physical fitness after an exhausting overseas trip last month.

Last week he attended a graduation ceremony at Indonesia's Military Academy at Merdeka Palace, during which he warned the public against attempting to "fish in murky waters" – exploiting the current crisis to further one's interests.

In an attempt to revive the ailing economy and to bolster public savings, Soeharto said yesterday that the government was considering offering higher interest rates on U.S. bank notes than are offered offshore.

This is expected to encourage people to deposit their money in national banks.

"If they do not believe in the rupiah, we will issue notes in dollars. We are still making all necessary preparations for this plan, which is aimed at restoring public confidence in the rupiah, " the President said.

Soeharto also quoted experts who said that the country's businessmen had parked some US$80 billion in offshore funds. However, he reminded the audience about the need to check the report's accuracy.

"If it is true, it's better that the money be brought home to help cash-strapped companies to enable them to service their debts," he said.

The government had to find Rp 32 trillion ($6.03.bil1ion) to service its debt and the interest on it next year, he said.

"We must also provide about Rp 15 trillion to subsidize fuel oil and food including wheat," said Soeharto.

The government earlier scrapped the National Logistic Bureau's monopoly on wheat trading but continues to subsidize wheat for public consumption.

He also briefed the entrepreneurs on the progress of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) sessions, which concluded last week.

"I received a report that (the MPR Working Committee) has completed 99 percent of the draft State Policy Guidelines," he said.

Businessman Sofjan Wanandi told Soeharto that the plan to offer savings in dollars might negatively affect public confidence in the rupiah if the plan was launched without adequate preparation.

"I think this needs to be explained so that the public's confidence in the rupiah remains (and) to avoid giving the impression that psychologically the government itself does not have confidence in the rupiah.

"This is only a temporary policy to attract those who put their money in overseas banks with only two percent interest," he said.

Also at the 90-minute talks were Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono, Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo, Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad and Governor of Bank Indonesia Soedradjad Djiwandono.

Several heads of conglomerates were also present, including Soedono Salim, Prayogo Pangestu, Sudwikatmono, chairman of Sinar Mas Group Eka Tjipta Widjaja, and Soeharto's children Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, Siti Hedijati Prabowo and Bambang Trihatmodjo.

Gadjah Mada students say No to Suharto

Tempo Interaktif - 20 December, 1997 (posted by Tapol)

More than ten thousand students at Yogyakarta's prestigious Gadjah Mada University have expressed the view that Suharto should not be nominated as president at next year's MPR session.

They expressed their views in an opinion poll run by the University Students' Community which was held with the approval of the Rectorate. 20,000 cards were handed out and 65 per cent were returned - a much higher percentage than had been expected. Eighty per cent of the replies said No to the nomination of Suharto for a seventh term. This amounts to 10,400 votes against Suharto. A similar number answered Yes to the second question - whether the number of terms a president can serve should be limited.

Haryo Setyoko, chair of the executive board of UGM students, who was interviewed by Tempo Interaktif about the opinion poll said the results would be presented to Parliament and the MPR in the next few weeks.

Suharto's best move may be to bow out now

Business Week - December 29, 1997

Jakarta's power elite loves to gossip about who might succeed President Suharto. The grapevine works overtime every fifth year when the Indonesian strongman prepares to go to Parliament to renew his mandate, as he must again in March. The goal is to guess whether a tame general, a Suharto relative, or someone else will become Vice-President, and thus the elderly leader's legal successor, should he die in office.

The game suddenly turned deadly serious in early December when the 76-year-old leader long plagued with kidney and heart problems fell ill with an unspecified condition. On doctor's orders, he canceled a trip to Malaysia for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit. Suharto appeared on national TV to allay fears about his health. But he looked pale and sat cross-legged on the floor, suggesting he could not stand for long. Financial markets went into a funk. Indonesia's stock market and the rupiah crashed to record lows.

Ugly history

What dismays markets is the receding prospect that Indonesia will get the reforms it needs to pull out of its financial tailspin. The country has never had an orderly transfer of power. Suharto came to office 32 years ago in a murderous coup. Now, according to the rumor mill, if Suharto survives until March he will refuse to acknowledge the new Suharto: Ailing, stubborn Vice-President as his legitimate successor. The lack of a clear heir apparent is a recipe for a bloody power struggle between Suharto's family and the army.

If he wants an orderly succession, say political analysts Suharto's best option is to resign before March. Constitutionally, he would be replaced by current Vice-President Try Sutrisno, a retired general who has army support and is considered less venal than rivals. "This is a critical juncture in our history where a political solution is the only answer. It's no longer [just] an economic problem," says prominent Indonesian lawyer Mulya Lubis.

A growing number of Indonesia's 200 million population agrees. But Suharto has other ideas. He still apparently resents fly's appointment, imposed on him in 1993 by the army. He wanted to keep a pliant incumbent in office. Recently, Suharto has insisted he wants his daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukrnana, or Tutut, to succeed him regardless of who is Vice-President.

Gravy train

But the Suharto dynasty is a large part of the problem. Suharto's six children are major beneficiaries of the crony capitalism that plagues Indonesia. The International Monetary Fund wants Suharto to curb his famfly's influence in return for a $40 billion bailout of Indonesia. But the Suharto offspring are fighting to stay aboard their gravy train. Their dad can't – or won't stop them from mocking the IMF, thus undermining – Indonesia's efforts to rebuild its international credit and credibility.

Worse still, the Suharto children are endangering the bailout by flouting its conditions. Despite Indonesia's pledge to rein in infrastructure outlays, for instance, one daughter is plowing ahead with a power-plant project on Java. Meantime, son Hutomo Mandala Putra, or Tommy, insists on keeping control of the ruinously costly national car program.

The family's excesses are fanning discontent as Indonesia faces a recession after years of 8% growth. Unemployment is soaring. More than a million construction and factory workers may be laid off. Instead of returning to drought-struck villages, they could become an explosive political force.

Suharto's illness aggravates an already serious crisiSs. A wise choice of a successor now is his last chance to restore stability and confidence in his battered country.

[By Michael Sharz in Kuala Lumpur, with Sheri Prasso in New York.]

Miscellaneous

The young rich take "trip" from the other Jakarta

Sydney Morning Herald - December 22, 1997

Louise Williams, Jakarta – It's close to 3am and business is brisk behind the heavy velvet curtain shielding the back room from the jarring beat on the crowded dance floor of one of Jakarta's most expensive night clubs.

The night's offering is called "snow white", a name the users say refers to the soft landing this particular pill offers from a night of dancing on a frenetic high.

The music is an endless loop of repetitive "techno" rhythms matched by hundreds of bobbing heads, bodies swaying like seaweed in an aquarium of smoke and noise.

The curtain is more practical than anything else. There is little effort to conceal the drug trade. Regulars can order ecstasy tablets with bottles of iced water from the waiters. The club, a senior staff member says openly, pays off the police.

"When they want to come and raid us, they ring us first and we tidy up," he says.

Ecstasy is Indonesia's drug of the young and rich. Most have links to the ruling elite, and large allowances in their pockets from their parents. Others have businesses of their own, handed out to adult children like sweets by powerful parents.

In recent years ecstasy has become a significant problem among the affluent young. It is manufactured locally, and the industry is widely rumored to be controlled by a "princeling" with impeccable political connections.

The hedonism of the ecstasy set sits uneasily with a conservative, majority Muslim nation. But the rich kids believe they are above the restrictions that bind the rest of the population.

Token piles of pills are regularly burned publicly by police. But customers say most of the pills picked up during raids find their way back on to the market.

For police the most serious problem is that many users are children of the political elite. Few ordinary officers would be willing to arrest a "princeling".

"You can't say Indonesia is poor," 23-year-old Daisy says laughing. She is unconcerned that the economy is collapsing. The luxury cars pulling into the car park attests to the ongoing cash flow of the very rich.

That outside, the streets are filled with shanties and huddles of the homeless is irrelevant inside this bubble of privilege.

"Nobody here is worried about the political or economic crisis," says Abdullah, 31, on a day that the rupiah plunged another 12 per cent.

"The pills are produced locally, so they won't go up much."

A night out costs at least 100,000 rupiah ($A35), more than a factory worker can make in a week in the good times when he has work.

So serious is the ecstasy problem that many rich students at the elite universities are unable to keep up with their studies. Instead, they can buy their term papers and exam results in advance from syndicates.

By 6am the trippers are in full swing, passing pills from mouth to mouth as they kiss on the dance floor. It is a reckless abandonment of all the taboos in a society that demands chastity before marriage and has an Islamic ban on alcohol and drugs.

Sociologists and political scientists have been warning for years of the explosive nature of the gap between Indonesia's super rich and the poor. At no time has the danger been more apparent than now, as the economic crisis closes factories, the drought delays harvests and prices skyrocket.

Fifteen newspapers warned

Akcaya - 21 December 1997 (extract only by Tapol)

Surabaya – In anticipation of the Session of the MPR in March next year, the Information Minister General (ret'd) Hartono said that he has issued strong warnings to fifteen newspapers about their reporting of news. 'The government has made it clear that as long as no one violates the law, they can continue, but when violations occur, the law will take its course,' said the Minister.

He said the newspapers had been warned because of 'mischievous' reporting, out of proportion to the matter in hand. 'Disproportionate reporting can mislead the public,' he said.

Although pressed by journalists, he refused to divulge the names of the papers warned. 'We are still investigating. If any have broken the law, the law will take its course.'

He said there had also been discussions with editors in chief about their reporting during the MPR session during which guidelines were put forward, the Minister said.

He said that besides these fifteen, some other papers have been issued with warnings for other reasons, such as not conforming with their requirements of their licences.

[The remainder of the report is about the difficulty being confronted by the print media because of the shortage of supply of newspprint, and the increase in prices. Some newspapers have annnounced cuts in the number of pages because of the supply difficulties.]

14,000 troops mobilised to secure capital

Tapol - December 22, 1997

14,000 troops are being mobilised to secure the capital in a special operation over the coming holidays. Ten thousand of the troops will be from the police and the remaining four thousand from the army.

Police chief Hamami Nata described this as a routine operation to deal with a period during which the New Year coincides with the commencement of the fasting month. The security forces also anticipate that there will be an increase in social activities because of the festive season as well as disturbances in social, economic and political affairs.

Troops have also been warned to heighten their vigilance in the run-up to the Special Session of the MPR in March. The police chief said this could lead to threats to national security in the form of demonstrations, workers strikes and various criminal activities.