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ASIET NetNews Number 42 - November 2-8, 1998
East TimorStudents want Soeharto tried Students protest special legislative session
Political/economic crisisUN-sponsored talks break down Another police officer murdered Troops disclosure mocks credibility Major attack launched, says activist Jakarta admits 18,000 troops in Timor
Labour issuesThird of key industries forced to close Villagers destroy sugarcane plantation
Human rights/lawTwo more unions reject agreement
News & issuesGlobalization and human rights
Arms/armed forcesThousands storm police station 10,000 rally to support MPR session China, US call for further probe Tanjung consolidates his Golkar position We'll get tough, Wiranto warns Shadow cast on May riots report More retired generals join PDI May riots: facts not enough for Wiranto Report says military contributed to riots East Java killings politically orchestrated: Golkar calls for reformists to join MPR Mob lynches three policemen in East Java Opposition front set to disrupt MPR Killing spree troubles the nation
Economy and investmentABRI ventures benefit soldiers
News of IMF disbursement boosts Rupiah October inflation down but rockets for year
| Democratic struggle |
Jakarta -- Thousands of students here and in several other cities staged peaceful rallies on Friday to demand the upcoming Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) arrange for the prosecution of Soeharto, expel the military from politics and prepare for a fair and honest general election.
Also on Friday, different groups aired their opposition to the session, saying it has failed to heed the people's demands. The session is scheduled for Nov. 10 through Nov. 13. Among dissenting voices was a group that planned to call a national strike and another that planned to hold a peaceful mass demonstration to air their grievances.
In Central Jakarta, around 5,000 students and activists who called themselves the Salemba Forum packed the University of Indonesia's campus to express their demands which included an end to the government stipulation that all organizations, political or otherwise, adopt the Pancasila state ideology as their sole basis for existence.
The students urged the Assembly to decree that former president Soeharto and his cronies be brought to court for alleged abuses of power during Soeharto's 32 years in office. "If the MPR rejects our (demands), we have prepared another agenda. Just wait and see what will happen on Nov. 14," said Agus Setyawan, the forum's spokesman. He did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, thousands of people from towns around West Java gathered in Senayan East Parking Lot near the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly compound. They said they were there to guard against possible attempts to disrupt the session and would remain in place until after the Special Session was over. "This action is to anticipate those who intend to foil the session. We are ready to face them," Daud Poliradja, the coordinator of the Moslem Youth Forum for the Success of the MPR Special Session, was quoted by Antara as saying.
Many of the campers are activists from the Moslem Youth Movement, Moslem Students Association (HMI), Humanika and Humaika, the news agency said, adding that they came from Tangerang, Bekasi, Serang, Cianjur, Bandung and Garut. "We are optimistic that our number will increase to 50,000," said Daud.
Elsewhere, while addressing a media conference before inspecting troops deployed at the Assembly complex, Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said there was no logical reason to attempt to foil the event. "A successful Special Session will help to restore the confidence of both the local and international community and will eventually lead to a recovery of the nation's economy," he said. "It also shows us that the ongoing reform movement is on the right track," he added.
Another rally was staged by around 500 HMI activists in front of Taman Ria Senayan, a fun park adjacent to the Assembly building, to protest against the military's role in politics to demand Soeharto be prosecuted.
In Bengkulu, the capital city of Bengkulu province on the island of Sumatra, hundreds of Islamic students took to the streets to demand Soeharto be brought to justice. They also called on the Armed Forces' to cease playing a political role.
In Semarang, the capital of Central Java, around 100 activists of the Indonesian Nationalist Students Movement (GMNI) rallied in front of Diponegoro State University to demand the general election be held earlier than next May, for when it is currently scheduled. "The ruling government is unconstitutional and has failed to win the people's support. An immediate general election is needed to establish a new and credible government," they shouted.
In the Central Java city of Surakarta, 400 activists staged a demonstration demanding an end to the military's political role. They also objected to Pancasila's status as the sole state ideology and called for the release of Moslem political prisoners.
Similarly in Yogyakarta, hundreds of students from a number of universities staged a demonstration on the Gadjah Mada University campus to demand prosecution of Soeharto and an end to the military's political role. Still in Yogyakarta, 5,000 Moslems rallied in front of the provincial legislative council building to express their view that Pancasila should no longer be the country's sole ideology.
Back in Jakarta, some 150 alumni from several noted universities in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya and human rights activists and leaders of the opposition National Front group on Friday declared that the Special Session "has failed to respond to the people's demands."
Among the demands they voiced were the dissolution of Golkar and the other two political parties -- the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- both of which were established under Soeharto's New Order regime.
In a discussion led by economist Syahrir, the activists also demanded an end to corruption, collusion, and nepotism and called for those guilty of abusing human rights to be brought to trial. They said that unless their demands were met, they would campaign for a national strike beginning on Nov. 10, the day the Special Session is due to commence.
Also in Jakarta, the Communication Forum of All-Jakarta Student Senates (FKSMJ) said was it opposed to the Special Session because recommendations that they lodged with the Assembly last month were not included on the session's agenda. "Since our demands have not been accommodated, we hereby declare our total opposition to the session and are planning nonviolent mass demonstrations to express our stance," Dandy, a spokesman for a delegation of the forum said after separate meetings with the Golkar and Armed Forces factions.
Jakarta -- Students in several Indonesian cities held protests to reject an upcoming special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and its plan to assure parliamentary seats for the military, reports said Friday.
Hundreds of students gathered at the state Indonesia University here before attending Friday prayers to reaffirm their stance on the November 10-13 session designed to pave the way for elections in 1999. The students said that as the government planned to go ahead with the special session despite protests, the MPs should be more proactive in accommodating and fighting for the people's aspirations.
"We hope the people's sovereignty exercised by the MPR will not be used to meet the interests of a small group of society and sacrifice those of other larger groups," one of the students who identified himself as Dicky, said. The students, however, rejected the presence of the military in the lower house, saying all MP's should be elected through polls.
A working committee of the MPR, preparing the decrees to be approved by the body, has already agreed to allow military representation both in the lower and upper houses, even though a draft bill regulating the matter has still to be debated in the lower house. The military has 75 of the 500 seats in the lower house. The government of President B.J. Habibie has, since taking over from former president Suharto in May, promised to cut the number to 55.
Thousands of students on Thursday held a peaceful protest at the Central Java provincial parliament in Semarang to protest the special session which they saw as engineered by forces loyal to Suharto, the Kompas daily. The protesters also demanded that the MPR put an end to the military's socio-political role, including in the legislature.
Later on Thursday, hundreds of students from at least five student forums also protested in Semarang, but to call for the nation to remain united, the daily added.
In Jakarta on Thursday, some 100 students were prevented from approaching the national parliament by a thick cordon of security personnel. The students also aired their rejection of the special session and called for an end to the military's role in politics.
Some 300 other students rallied on foot and aboard buses at a busy roundabout in central Jakarta while about 100 others held a separate rally at the park where the Indonesian independence from the Dutch was proclaimed 55 years ago. Both groups protested the special session and demanded the military quit politics, the daily said.
In Surabaya, the capital of the province of East Java, hundreds of students took the same demands to the streets in front of the district parliament there.
A similar demonstration took place in Tasikmalaya, West Java where hundreds of students rejected the special session, demanded the revocation of the military's political role accorded to it by law, and sought a speedy handling and an end to a wave of mysterious killings in East Java.
Students have vowed to protest the session, saying it is merely a Suharto body that was sure to preserve the status-quo. But other groups, mostly Moslems, have also aired support for the special session and warned that they were prepared to face anyone trying to disrupt the meeting. In one of the largest recent shows of force for the session, tens of thousands of Moslems gathered at a sport stadium here on Thursday.
"There will be no days without demonstrations," the head of the national police, Lieutenant General Rusmanhadi forecast on Wednesday. The military have responded by martialling 30,000 police and troops, some 16,000 of them to be deployed in the vicinity of the parliament here. They have said 120,000 civilian volunteers will assist in keeping peace in the city.
| East Timor |
Michael Thurston, Austria -- UN-sponsored talks between East Timorese leaders broke down Tuesday without agreement on their demands for the future of the former Portuguese colony, delegates said.
The four-day talks failed to reach a compromise between supporters of integration with Jakarta and a group, mostly of exiles, which wants a referendum on independence for the territory, annexed by Indonesia in 1976. The main sticking points was disagreement among the 40 delegates over whether to call in a joint declaration for the release of jailed resistance leader Xanana Gusmao.
"We have not (agreed) because some of the pro-Indonesian elements are civil servants of Indonesia," 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta, head of the pro-referendum group, told AFP. He said agreement had been reached on 11 out of 12 points. But he lamented the pro-integrationists "continue to refuse to sign a demand for the release of the resistance leader Xanana Gusmao," he said.
Splits meanwhile also emerged among Horta's pro-referendum group, with several delegates criticizing their leader's decision to walk out of the talks without consulting them. The UN-backed talks, the fourth such annual inter-Timorese meeting organized by the United Nations, began on Saturday at a castle in Krumbach, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Vienna.
Delegates had kept talking until dawn Tuesday in a bid to iron out their differences, which focus on a UN autonomy plan for East Timor. Hardliners, many of whom live in exile, want a referendum on independence.
The pro-integration group lamented the failure to agree a joint declaration. "I am very disappointed as I consider it is a failure... we have just shown a sign of our immaturity," said delegate Abilio Araujo. UN representative Tamrat Samuel denied the talks were a failure. "I would not call this meeting a failure because they have exhaustively discussed the key issues," he told AFP. The meeting had "made a very important contribution to the process which is continuing," he added.
He was speaking before a meeting later in the day between UN special representative on East Timor Jamsheed Marker and Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama. Marker, who opened the talks Saturday with a call for the East Timorese to agree on their common goals rapidly, was also due to brief the Indonesian ambassador to Vienna.
The UN unveiled an autonomy plan for East Timor last month, laying out "substantive elements designed to achieve a just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable solution to the question of East Timor." Horta meanwhile appealed to the international community to continue putting pressure on Jakarta over East Timor.
"Indonesia is thoroughly bankrupt... and yet the Indonesian authorities continue to waste the resources of the country... on continued occupation of East Timor," he said. "If there is continued international pressure... then they might think twice before continuing the war against East Timor."
Dili -- Masked assassins killed an Indonesian policeman in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor Saturday a day after the stabbing murders of three other officials, reports said Sunday. Second Sergeant Josep Florindo Pereira was shot dead by five men believed to be pro-independence fighters at his home, the Antara state news agency and witnesses reported.
A duty police officer in Liquisa district, 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) west of here, confirmed a officer was shot. "He was attacked at his home, most likely by the freedom fighters," said a resident who had contacted residents from Liquisa, referring to pro-independence Timorese.
He quoted them as saying Pereira was killed because of rumours that he had threatened people in the community to support Jakarta's proposal for autonomy for the troubled territory.
On Friday an Indonesian government engineer and two soldiers were stabbed to death in the town of Weberek 70 kilometers (44 miles) southeast of here and their bodies thrown into a river. Local military chief Colonel Tono Suratman said the three left their headquarters on a regular patrol Friday. None of the three was armed at the time and the vehicle they were using was missing. Suratman said four people were being questioned.
Sonny Inbaraj, Darwin -- The disclosure of Indonesian army documents revealing higher than stated troop levels in East Timor grossly undermines Jakarta's credibility, amid sensitive talks over the territory's future.
This is because under the new government of President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, Indonesia has used recent troop withdrawals from East Timor as evidence of good faith aimed at improving the mood of negotiations with East Timorese groups and at the United Nations.
These troops withdrawals were reported in a blaze of publicity in late July, when 400 Indonesian troops bid farewell from the docks of the East Timor capital of Dili. Assembled foreign media, flown into the former Portuguese enclave by the Indonesian government were told another 600 troops would follow -- completing the withdrawal of all combat troops from East Timor.
But confidential documents from the Indonesian defense ministry leaked to journalists late last week show the number of troops in East Timor to be more than three times that publicly stated by the Indonesian government. Likewise, they indicate that there has been no troop withdrawals from the troubled territory as promised.
In an interview with 'The Australian' newspaper recently, Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said the only forces in East Timor were territorial battalions comprising 750 to 1,000 troops each, and the total number of troops was only 6,000. Asked if combat troops remained, he said: "As far as I know, not any more."
But if these leaked documents are believed to be authentic by senior diplomats and intelligence personnel in Jakarta, experts in London and members of the bureaucracy in Australia, then that faith in Indonesia's new goodwill may well be shattered.
More than 100 pages of highly detailed data on unit compositions and an elaborate network of paramilitary groups have been circulated to foreign journalists and governments in the United States, Australia and elsewhere. Western diplomats who have reviewed the documents say they have no doubt the information is accurate, 'The Australian' said.
The papers shows total Indonesian armed forces strength in East Timor, including combat and territorial battalions, at 17,834 by late August, or after the reported troop pullouts. The documents also show 4,000 armed militia, who are not under the structure of the Indonesian armed forces known by its acronym ABRI. Far from a scaling back of military activity, the documents show that in the 10 months to August 1998, total Indonesian troop presence increased by nearly 2,000.
They also confirm the continued presence in East Timor of units from the army's elite special forces, Kopassus. Kopassus or the Red Berets were involved in the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in December 1975. Human rights groups say more than 200,000 East Timorese lost their lives in the bombardments and "cleaning" manoeuvres of the Indonesian army.
The former commander of Kopassus and son-in-law of former President Suharto, Prabowo Subianto, has been implicated in the control of 'ninja squads' in East Timor, which have been used by Kopassus and other elements of the military to terrorise East Timorese suspected of supporting the pro-independence resistance. Prabowo, also accused of involvement in shooting and kidnapping of pro- democracy activists -- has since been removed from his command by Armed Forces Chief General Wiranto.
On Friday, Wiranto dismissed as "lies" reports that Jakarta had more than 17,000 troops deployed in East Timor. "It is not true that ABRI personnel reach 17,000. That is a lie that is not supported by facts," Wiranto told reporters at the military headquarters in Jakarta. "The ABRI troops (in East Timor) are territorial troops which have been given training in agriculture and craftmanship."
But Carmel Budiardjo, a veteran human rights campaigner from the Britain-based group Tapol, disagrees with Wiranto. She, too, has seen the leaked documents. "We now have positive proof from the Indonesian army that the level of militarisation in East Timor is extremely high. There is no sign whatsoever that they are reducing troops. The East Timorese have been telling us, all along, that troops are coming in through other harbours," she said.
As well as troop size, the documents reveal information about the type of troops in East Timor. One document outlines the existence of 13 paramilitary squads and names a group known as Team Alpha, which is allegedly a terror squad.
Dr Andrew McNaughton from the Darwin-based East Timor International Support Centre said after studying the leaked documents that they contradict the armed forces' long-time claims of having no links with paramilitary groups. "But here we see a document that shows the paramilitary groups happen to operate under the umbrella of ABRI," said McNaughton.
But while Indonesia began tracking down the culprit behind the leak of the documents, its neighbour Australia warned the East Timor reconciliation process could be under threat.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the Australian government would be disappointed if the reports of high troops levels were true, but said it was a matter for Jakarta to address. "We've argued for two and a half years in government that an important component of confidence-building in East Timor is to reduce numbers of troops," Downer told ABC Radio. "We strongly urge the Indonesian government to reduce the numbers."
The leak has had repercussions in Australia, which has close political and security ties with its neighbour to the north. There is speculation in Canberra that Australian intelligence officials knew of the documents before they were leaked. Analysts say this explains why a day before details of the troop numbers were published in the Australian press, Canberra decided to freeze military contact with Kopassus.
Two major joint military exercises have been canceled and a Special Air Services exercise in Indonesia in June has been abandoned. Planned command-level visits have been scrapped. "That country's (Indonesia) soldiers have benefited from instruction in Australia, but have applied their learning in ways which shame the Indonesian armed forces -- and, by extension, those who helped train them," the 'Sydney Morning Herald' said in an editorial.
Agencies in Dili and Jakarta -- East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos Horta claims Indonesian troops have launched a major offensive against separatist rebels in the province.
The exiled Nobel Peace Prize laureate, citing separatist sources, said on Sunday in Austria that 2,000 troops, backed by helicopters, had attacked rebels near Los Palos in the east of the former Portuguese colony on Friday.
The Indonesian military yesterday rejected his claim. A military spokesman in East Timor said the accusation was part of a disinformation campaign against Indonesia, which has opened peace talks with Portugal under the auspices of the United Nations. "There was no attack in Los Palos and we're not conducting combat operations any more," Lieutenant-Colonel Supadi said from Dili, the capital of East Timor.
Colonel Supadi said the military was on alert in case of demonstrations on the anniversary of a massacre of separatist protesters at Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili on November 12, 1991. The military is also investigating whether separatists were involved in the killings of two soldiers, a policeman and a civilian on Friday and Saturday. A third soldier is missing.
Mr Ramos Horta's fellow Nobel laureate, Bishop Carlos Belo, said yesterday jailed guerilla leader Xanana Gusmao had to be included in peace efforts, saying the problem would never be settled without him. Bishop Belo said participants in UN-sponsored talks, which started yesterday in Austria, should push for Gusmao's participation.
Among issues that might be discussed, Bishop Belo said, were the feasibility of creating political parties, the holding of elections and the formation of a transitional government, a judicial system and a local defence and security mechanism.
Karen Polglaze and Buni Yani, Jakarta -- Indonesia admitted for the first time today that as many as 18,000 troops may be deployed in East Timor. Chief of Staff of the East Timor military sub-command, Lieutenant Colonel Supadi, told AAP that if all troops and civilians trained by the military to carry guns and to be used in operations were included then the number might total 18,000.
The admission came after documents leaked to Australian media purportedly showed that Indonesia had failed to reduce the number of troops stationed in the disputed half-island territory despite President B.J. Habibie's personal promise.
In a telephone interview from the East Timor capital Dili, Supadi told AAP that assessments of as many as 18,000 troops in the territory could be true. "It may be true because now there are still many civilians who have been trained in military exercises and they also carry guns," he said. "On several occasions such as operations they wear military uniforms." He said if these trained civilians were included in the count there could be 18,000 troops in East Timor.
The number of military personnel in the territory has been hotly disputed over many years. Observers have suggested numbers as high as 12,000 to 15,000, while the government has admitted to less than 10,000. In July, more than 400 frontline troops were pulled out amid much fanfare as the government sought to prove it was living up to its promise to reduce troops and ease tensions in the former Portuguese colony.
Supadi said today that troops permanently stationed in East Timor (known as organic) and those who are brought in short term for exercises and the like (non-organic) would probably total around 15,000. "If we count, there may be 15,000 including both organic and non-organic troops," he said.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the reconciliation process could be threatened by the failure to reduce troop numbers in Indonesia's 27th province. "We very strongly urge the Indonesian government to reduce the numbers," Mr Downer said earlier today. "Remember though that the reconciliation process is at a very delicate stage in East Timor and our concern would be that if these reports were accurate it won't help that reconciliation process," he told ABC radio.
| Political/economic crisis |
Jakarta -- More than a third of Indonesia's key electronics, machinery, chemical and metal-based industries have been forced into temporary closure by the economic crisis, a report said here Friday.
A survey conducted by the trade and industry ministry's directorate general for metal, machinery, electronics and miscellaneous industries found that 34.4 percent of 163 companies interviewed between July and October this year had been forced to shut down temporarily, the Jakarta Post reported. Of the remaining companies, 28.3 percent said they had laid off workers, 30.7 percent had reduced the number of work days, and 31.3 percent had cut the number of shifts.
Jakarta -- Residents from seven villages in Lampung province destroyed part of a sugarcane plantation owned by Indonesia's largest business establishment, the Salim Group, after the company failed to settle a land dispute, a newspaper said Saturday.
The Suara Pembaruan evening daily reported that by Friday the villagers had chopped down some 75 hectares (185 acres) of canes in the 3,000 hectare plantation area, whose takeover in 1992 by Salim's Sweet Indo Lampungthey dispute.
In August SIL reportedly promised to settle the land dispute by September in a meeting between company managers, residents and local government. Residents claimed the disputed 3,000 hectares of land belonged to them, citing as proof one hectare of land in the plantation left untouched by the company because it considered the sacred land of the local people.
One of the village chiefs, Mohamad Adam, said he could not prevent the villagers from destroying the plantation because the company failed to fulfill its own promise.
Lands minister Hasan Basri Durin said this week that the government was contemplating limiting the size of plantations that an individual company could own, citing unfair distribution over the past years. Since the fall of president Suharto May 21, villagers in several districts have taken land disputes into their own hands, claiming non-existant or inadequate compensation.
| Labour issues |
Steven Greenhouse -- The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and a large union of department store workers announced Thursday that they were rejecting an agreement that a group of apparel manufacturers and human rights groups had reached to curtail sweatshops.
These two labor groups joined the nation's largest apparel union, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, which announced on Wednesday that it would no longer participate in an effort intended to reassure consumers that the clothing they buy was not made in sweatshops.
The agreement reached by Liz Claiborne, L. L. Bean, Reebok, Nike and other companies establishes numerous rules for their factories, including a minimum age for workers, a maximum 60-hour workweek, and a requirement that companies pay the minimum or prevailing industry wage in the countries where factories are situated. The agreement also calls for independent monitors to inspect the factories.
But the unions rejected the agreement on numerous grounds, asserting that the monitoring would not be frequent enough and that the accord did not require apparel companies to pay workers enough to meet a family's basic needs. The unions also criticized the accord for giving companies carte blanche to manufacture in countries, like China and Indonesia, which repress trade unions.
John Sweeney, the A.F.L-C.I.O.'s president, issued a statement with Lenore Miller, president emeritus of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, saying that "despite the seriousness of these deliberations" the labor movement "has concluded that signing on to an agreement with the participating companies is not possible at this time."
After two years of debate, the agreement was reached by members of the White House Apparel Industry Partnership, a group of 18 apparel companies, labor unions and human rights groups.
Roberta Karp, general counsel at Liz Claiborne and co-chairwoman of the presidential task force, said the effort would move forward despite the unions' rejection. She said that the task force would seek to enlist other companies and that members would observe the workplace standards and monitoring rules required by the agreement.
"This effort will still be successful," she said. "The unions were part of the deliberations. Their imprimatur is on the code and the monitoring principles. It really is an enormous step forward. While it doesn't satisfy on all scores an entire union agenda, it does satisfy what we set out to do, which is to improve working conditions around the world."
The apparel workers union has taken a tougher stance toward the agreement than has the department store union, which suggested it might someday sign on if it is pleased with how the pact is carried out. "Labor's job is to push the envelope a little further," said Ms. Miller of the department store workers. "Of all such agreements I've seen this is the best of them. In my view, the door is not closed to labor's participation."
While the National Consumers League and the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights helped negotiate the agreement, another task force member, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, rejected the agreement yesterday because it does not contain a requirement to pay a living wage. But Michael H. Posner, executive director of the lawyers committee, said the agreement was an important first step to hold companies accountable.
| Human rights/law |
[The following is an interview with Allan Nairn, Journalist and Indonesian Specialist by Danny Schechter.]
Schechter: Suharto is out. What happens now in Indonesia?
Nairn: Suharto is out, but the army is still there. It's the army who runs the police state. Until people break their power through protest, there is really no real chance for democracy.
Schechter: In what way did globalization help structure these crises?
Nairn: The Asian currency crises led to the collapse of the rupiah in Indonesia. That pushed already poor people over the brink, made Suharto vulnerable and the democracy movement took advantages of it. They staged protests. The army struck back with it's appearances, but then when the army opened fire on a group of students, Jakarta exploded and Suharto was ousted. But the battle continues because the army is still intact and they're the ones who run the torture centers and who have intelligence agents down to the village level. They are the real obstacles to free speech and to labor organization.
Schechter: Now what about the International Monetary Fund. Suharto was resisting the International Monetary Fund. What role have they been playing?
Nairn: The International Monetary Fund and Suharto clashed over the public subsidies Suharto gives his children. Suharto's children are billionaires. He shuffles them billions; the International Monetary Fund was against that. The International Monetary Fund has been pushing to move Indonesia from crony capitalism, dominated by the Suharto family, to global market capitalism, dominated by multinational investors. So they would own the roads and the factories instead of the Suharto children. That's been their clash. But the real impact of the International Monetary Fund plan is the mass lay-off ending the food and the fuel subsidies for the poor of Indonesia. Even though 45 percent of the 1-year-olds are malnourished according to UNICEF. When they upped the fuel prices by 70 percent (under pressure from the International Monetary Fund) that touched off the popular explosion -- ironically -- that brought down Suharto.
Schechter: So in a sense, the International Monetary Fund helped bring down Suharto?
Nairn: The International Monetary Fund was trying to phase in the subsidy cuts that would cause misery. They didn't want to do it so fast that it would bring down the regime, but it didn't work. They raised the fuel prices 70 percent and it helped touch off an explosion. It brought Suharto down. Now if Indonesia succeeds in creating a more democratic government, they are still going to deal with the International Monetary Fund. The International Monetary Fund is going to be ordering them to do mass lay-offs and ordering them to sell their assets to multinationals. It's the opposite of democracy. It's coercion and it's exactly the wrong thing for a country that's just trying to see it's political freedom.
Schechter: Can we see this as a kind of crises of globalization from above, leading to the globalization from below, rejecting what's been happening?
Nairn: Well, it's not clear yet whether the Indonesian public will succeed in defeating the International Monetary Fund and defeating the global corporate forces, but they have a chance. Indonesia is a very big country. It's a wealthy country. If Indonesia gets a democratic government they could stand up to the International Monetary Fund in a way that a small country like Haiti or Nicaragua never could.
Schechter: For years they were calling Indonesia one of the Asian Tigers and praising it's economy -- the next day it was a corrupt mess. What happened?
Nairn: The idea of the Indonesian economic miracle was largely myth. In the same period that Indonesia grew economically per capita, South Korea grew more. And they did it with fewer outside subsidies and a more equal distribution of income. The Indonesian system is based on personal control by the Suharto family; business partnerships between Suharto and multinationals. And most of all, the Indonesian system is based on repression of labor -- artificial holding down wages by crushing unions -- so companies like NIKE can come in and pay their workers a couple of dollars per day.
Schechter: NIKE now says that they are going to increase their minimum wages or at least not use child labor.
Nairn: Just to make up for the currency collapse, NIKE would have to double the wages in Indonesia. If they were going to give a real living wage to workers, they would have to do much more than that.
Schechter: The currency crises were also triggered by a lot of speculators and global forces, wasn't it?
Nairn: Yes, the currency crises started with the collapse of some banks in Thailand, then it spread to Indonesia. There was a run on the rupiah. In one day it lost 26 percent of its value. And suddenly the Suharto regime was in crisis and the democracy movement stepped in and took advantage of that.
Schechter: What about the American role here?
Nairn: The United States was the last one off the sinking ship of Suharto. Just hours before he left, the United States made a statement suggesting he should resign, but they backed off -- even off of that weak statement. The United States was trying to preserve Suharto but when he lost control of the population -- when he became bad for business -- they had to abandon him. They are still backing the Indonesian army. They're pressing the civilian democracy activists to make a deal with the army to have them be the basis of the new regime. The United States is still arming, training and financing the Indonesian army, which is one of the most ruthless in the world.
Schechter: What is this crisis in Indonesia going to mean for globalization?
Nairn: The tremendous pressures that the Suharto regime faced will now be brought to bear on any new regime, and if it is a democratic government in Indonesia, they will find that the International Monetary Fund will demand that they surrender control over their own economic and social policy.
Schechter: Why doesn't the International Monetary Fund call for a linkage with human rights?
Nairn: Because human rights cuts against the International Monetary Fund program. The International Monetary Fund program involves holding down wages. If you have human rights, you have free labor organization that drives up wages.
Schechter: So this whole idea of linkages -- which has been proposed and rejected by the American government -- do you see that as a continuing demand?
Nairn: It's a demand. I don't think the International Monetary Fund will ever do it because it cuts against the core of what they are about. They are about the profit of multinationals and holding down wages. Human rights means free labor organization and it's just impossible under the International Monetary Fund structural readjustment plans. You can't have both an International Monetary Fund structural readjustment and human rights and free labor organizations because they are pushing in opposite directions.
| News & issues |
Jakarta -- Thousands of people stormed an Indonesian police station in a West Java town where officers refused to hand over four suspected "ninja" killers, press reports said yesterday. Twelve policemen were injured in Kuningan as they fought off attackers with tear gas and rubber bullets in the disturbances on Wednesday.
About 200 people have been killed in murders committed by "ninja" attackers dressed in black. A large number of suspected murderers have also been killed, some by lynch mobs. The killings have raised tensions throughout Java, with some reports saying that there is a political link.
A neighbourhood watch in the Garawangi sub-district detained the four men at the centre of the latest disturbances early on Wednesday and took them to the local police station, the Media Indonesia daily reported. The four had been driving around the village in a car when they were stopped and challenged by villagers. The men could not say what they were doing at that time of night.
The watch group returned to the police station a few hours later and demanded that the four men be handed over to them again for questioning, the daily said. Police refused and the increasing number of onlookers were further angered when police transferred the four to Kuningan district police.
Thousands of people flocked to the district police headquarters demanding that the four be handed over. They pelted the building with bricks, stones and bottles when police there refused. Scores of Muslim scholars have fallen victim to the "ninja" killings, which initially targeted people suspected of being traditional Javanese warlocks.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- More than 10,000 Muslims yesterday gathered here to rally in support of next week's special session of Indonesia's highest legislative body which will set a date for the general election.
Mr Manarul Hidayat, the head of a Muslim boarding school, one of several speakers at the gathering, told the thousands packed in the Senayan Sports Stadium that Indonesians were facing economic hardship and that it was inhuman to block moves to improve their lot. "We call on those who plan to disrupt the special session in a violent, anarchist and unconstitutional way, to desist and refrain from their plan," he said.
The rally yesterday was the second show of support this week for the special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Earlier this week, 3,000 Muslims made a similar call.
Analysts and military sources here said that the "biggest security threat" next week would be a "bloody confrontation" between those for and against the special session.
Students and other groups opposed to the meeting say that the current MPR membership, which returned Mr Suharto to power for the seventh five-year term in March, is not representative of the people. A two-star army general told The Straits Times that the military had deployed 30,000 troops to keep watch on the situation.
At least 50 groups under the umbrella of the anti-government National Front -- an association of retired generals, officials and former Golkar leaders -- are planning to stage "massive demonstrations" in the capital.
Islamic leader and chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Amien Rais told foreign journalists yesterday that many politicians like him faced a dilemma on whether or not to support the MPR session. "If we support it, we will only strengthen the Habibie government which is trying to buy time and hold on to power," he said. "If we join forces to foil the session, the consequences will be worse. The anarchic situation will just drag on."
Mr Amien, a key figure in May's student protests which helped bring down President Suharto, said his party would not join the students in trying to halt the special session. He called for calm, saying that demands for the dismissal of the MPR and the Habibie government could lead to a vacuum of power. "The situation will become maybe very revolutionary and I don't believe revolution is appropriate for now," he said.
Yesterday's gathering, which is organised by several pro- government Muslim leaders, also called for unity among Muslims who make up more than 90 per cent of the 200 million population. Said Mr Manarul: "Do not let differences among Muslims be exploited by enemies of Islam, so that Muslims will become weak, disunited, powerless and become oppressed by the tyranny of a minority."
Mr Amien yesterday downplayed suggestions that there were serious splits between Muslims and non-Muslims and said that ideology and religion "has now been neutralised in Indonesia". He said: "Ideological politics has been cut down to size. We are no longer bothered by religion as a political factor anymore."
Beijing -- Both China and the United States yesterday urged the Indonesian government to pursue follow-up investigations as proposed in a fact-finding team's report on the May riots.
At a bi-weekly news conference here, China called on Indonesia to investigate fully the reports of rapes during the riots. "We have already taken note of such reports and expressed our concern," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said. "We are of the view that the Indonesian government has the responsibility to thoroughly investigate and handle the relevant issues and prevent similar incidents from happening again," he said.
Mr Zhu said that China, as a friendly neighbour, hoped that Indonesia "can maintain social stability and that Indonesian people of all ethnic groups including Chinese can enjoy equal rights and live in harmony".
A fact-finding team, which issued its report this week, confirmed gang rapes had occurred during the riots that rocked Jakarta in May and suspected the involvement of a military unit headed by the son-in-law of former President Suharto, Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto. The team said it had verified 85 cases of sexual assault, including 52 cases of rape of ethnic Chinese women during the unrest, but could not say if they had been organised.
Earlier, the US urged the Indonesian government to follow up on the fact-finding team report that "military leaders and others" may have been involved in the May riots. A statement issued by State Department spokesman James Rubin urged Jakarta to take steps to prevent intimidation of those who helped compile the report.
Mr Rubin welcomed the initiative of the government of Mr Suharto's successor, Dr B.J. Habibie, in setting up the fact- finding team, and said it found the results "credible" and "balanced" despite the difficult circumstances which had faced members, including receiving "anonymous death threats".
But he said it was "crucial in order to restore credibility and confidence that the... government implement the team's recommendations, including further investigation of military leaders and others alleged to be involved in fomenting or participating in the violence".
[In a separate report on the same day, the Times said two Indonesian newspapers have also supported the call for a full investigation. In an editiorial the Indonesia Observer praised the team for its work and urged armed forces chief General Wiranto to investigate the role of Lt-Gen Prabowo Subianto and senior military figures in the violence. A Jakarta Post editorial said the report's findings could help in bringing about a solution for the problem but it added that the team's suggestion that a power struggle was behind the violence raised the "nagging but potentially horrifying question" about the Java murders - James Balowski.]
Andreas Harsono -- While Indonesians await the People's Consultative Assembly convention next month, State Secretary Akbar Tanjung is maneuvering within the ruling party. Andreas Harsono writes.
When most media were busily covering the congress of Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party on the resort island of Bali, her main rival, State Secretary Akbar Tanjung, who is also the chairman of the Golkar ruling party, quietly announced in Jakarta that he had decided to recall 41 Golkar legislators. "We need to regenerate our cadres. There are a lot of Golkar cadres who need to be given an opportunity," said the soft-spoken Tanjung, adding that most of the dismissed legislators are also former cabinet members during the rule of strongman Suharto.
The decision to dismiss 36 legislators from the House of Representatives and five legislators from the People's Consultative Assembly was announced in a decree issued by the Golkar executive board on Oct 9 which was signed by Tanjung and Golkar secretary general Tuswandi.
Included on the list were Sarwono Kusumaatmadja and Siswono Yudhohusodo who used to serve in the Suharto cabinet until March and turned out to be the most critical members of the ruling party and joined student protests to force Suharto to step down from power two months later. "It's the biggest recall ever made in the Golkar history," said Kusumaatmadja.
But many political analysts believed that the dismissal was basically made to consolidate Tanjung's power base in the party which is making nerve-breaking preparations to anticipate the convention of the People's Consultative Assembly next month. The Assembly, the highest state institution in Indonesia, is expected to reinstate Habibie's presidency, to amend some previous decisions and to pass Indonesia's new election law drafted by the law-making House of Representatives.
Kusumaatmadja was among a few Golkar legislators who openly opposed Tanjung's election in the Golkar congress in August during which Tanjung had out-maneuvered candidate Edi Sudrajat of the Kusumaatmadja camp. Sudrajat, Kusumaatmadja and some other Golkar figures even set up a loosely-organised National Front after the congress to oppose the administration of President BJ Habibie. They frequently met with Megawati and made no effort to hide their sympathy for her camp. "The dismissal of former cabinet members who no longer support Golkar will help reduce Golkar's difficulties in the extraordinary session of the Assembly," said political scientist Indria Samego of the Centre for Information and Development Studies.According to Samego, legislators like Kusumaatmadja and Yudhohusodo have no "selling point" for Golkar. "They will even influence people not to vote for Golkar in next year's general election."
Political scientist JB Kristiadi of the Centre for International and Strategic Studies, however, said in an interview with the Jakarta Post that the dismissal could not be looked at separately from Habibie's efforts to maintain his presidency and to win the general election next year.
Kristiadi said the dismissal will do more harm than favour to the ruling party. "The active and former cabinet members were replaced by new and unfamiliar faces who do not know Golkar well. In the end, Golkar will only be capable of securing a maximum of 10 per cent of the votes.
"The dismissal also showed serious fragmentation within the military- backed Golkar which had never found difficulties to win more than 50 per cent of the votes during the carefully- orchestrated five-yearly elections organised by the Suharto regime since 1970. Dewi Fortuna Anwar, an aide to Habibie, even said in a seminar organised by a military-related think-tank that Habibie's main competitor for president is not Megawati but from within Golkar itself, as if trying to say that the Habibie camp had become more aware of Tanjung's political power.
Despite its internal bickering, Golkar is very likely to face tough competition in next year's election against at least three other big parties which include Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party, the liberal-left National Mandate Party of Muslim leader Amien Rais as well as the rural-based Nation Awakening Party of Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid.
Political observer Riswanda Himawan of the Gajah Mada University said that Golkar had been divided into five different factions. The Tanjung camp is the strongest whose supporters are mostly alumni of the influential urban-based Muslim Student Association (HMI). Tanjung himself was a student activist in the 1960s. The second strongest faction is the Habibie camp whose main supporters come from the influential Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI). According to Riswanda, active military officers tend to support the Tanjung camp rather than the Habibie one.
The third is of the Sudrajat and Kusumaatmadja camp whose supporters have been dismissed from Parliament but still gets a lot of support among retired army officers. Sudrajat himself used to head the powerful armed forces and is still widely respected among his peers. The forth and the fifth are respectively the camps of House speaker Harmoko and the Suharto family. They are relatively weak. The Suharto camp, who used to be very powerful during the rule of the old man, is now even finding difficulties to survive. Most of the Suhartos had been dismissed from Parliament weeks after his resignation.
It is still a big question mark whether the Tanjung consolidation might lead to a stronger Golkar which is going to win next year's election. Kusumaatmadja and many other heart-broken Golkar figures have vowed that they would like to fight against Golkar. Sudrajat himself still maintains his seat. He openly said that he wondered why Tanjung did not include him in the black list, as if challenging Tanjung to dismiss him.
Jakarta -- The Armed Forces (ABRI) has threatened to take stern action against anyone attempting to disrupt the Nov. 10 through Nov. 13 Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as it believes the event is the "only gateway" to a democratic Indonesia.
Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto maintained that the session as part of the national political agenda, must be secured and followed through. "If there are still groups in the community who want to disrupt the session, they are not democratic... ABRI will get tough with them," Wiranto said before attending a Cabinet meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office.
Some 30,000 Armed Forces personnel have been deployed to safeguard both the event and the city ahead and during the session. Thousands of civilians have joined forces with the Armed Forces to ensure the city remains secure.
The upcoming session has been scheduled to deliberate and pass 12 draft decrees, including one on the rescheduling of the general election from 2002 to May or June 1999. A stipulation in the draft decree, however, has sparked public protests as it guarantees the Armed Forces seats in the House of Representatives (DPR). Many have urged that the Armed Forces should be represented only in the MPR, while the House should comprise only members elected in general elections.
On Wednesday, 20 students from the University of Indonesia grouped in the Students Action Front (KAM-UI) filed a petition against the military's presence in the House to the legislators at the legislative building on Jl. Gatot Subroto Central Jakarta They met -- on two separate occasions -- with legislators Andi Mattalata, Marwah Daud Ibrahim, and Aulia Rachman of the dominant Golkar and Endin A.J. Soefihara of the United Development Party (PPP).
They urged the legislators to fight for their aspiration that the military be ejected from the House. If passed by the Assembly the draft decree would be superior to other laws and would dictate the making of lower-level political laws which touch on the same issue.
As the only faction lobbying for the removal of the military from the House, Endin of PPP told the students the party would fight on for the cause, even if it meant decision making through voting. "The PPP has no fear of losing in voting. The sure thing is that we will fight for people's aspirations, " Endin said as reported by Antara.
A dozen other activists led by playwright Ratna Sarumpaet arrived to strongly reproach the body. The activists -- including human rights campaigner H.J.C. Princen and Pius Lustrilanang -- challenged the Armed Forces faction at the Assembly to establish a "democratic transitional government" They walked out in anger because they found the legislators "not serious" about hearing their aspirations.
In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, some 100 Moslem students staged a protest in front of the provincial legislature On Wednesday to demand that the Special Session scrap the obligation that all political parties adopt state ideology Pancasila as their sole ideology.
In Padang, West Sumatra, former minister of transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo on Wednesday said public pressure must be amplified to keep the "questionable" Assembly's Special Session on the same track as public aspirations. "People should remind those within the Assembly building that their decisions will affect the interests of the whole nation (not one certain group only)," he said.
In Jakarta, a group of some 700 residents from nearby Tangerang regency threw their full support behind the Special Session. They demonstrated in front of former defense minister Gen. (ret) M. Jusuf 's house on Jl. Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta to demand that the 70-year-old statesman mediate rifts within society concerning the Special Session. However Jusuf was in Ujungpandang.
In Bali, Antara reported that thousands of Hindus plan to hold mass prayers on Friday at Besakih temple, calling for divine help so that the Special Session proceeds smoothly.
Jenny Grant, Jakarta -- The revelation that a member of the fact-finding team probing the May riots attended a controversial meeting in the middle of the crisis undermined the team's report, it was claimed yesterday.
Fadli Zon, director of the Institute of Policy Studies, said the fact that lawyer and team member Bambang Widjojanto had attended the crucial meeting at a military office cast doubt on the credibility of the report. "I was surprised with the analysis; it's very low quality. They have jumped to conclusions," said Mr Zon, a Muslim figure close to the military.
Mr Zon said he and Mr Widjojanto had attended a meeting of about 20 people at the army's Strategic Reserves headquarters in central Jakarta on May 14. The team's report, released on Tuesday, said the meeting had been crucial in identifying the roles of the leading figures within the struggle that led to the riots.
But Mr Zon said the meeting had played no such role. He questioned the report's credibility as the role of the meeting had not been properly determined even with Mr Widjojanto in attendance. Mr Zon is close to Prabowo Subianto, the retired lieutenant-general who was named in the report as a figure in the riots.
General Prabowo's brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, said in a fiery defence on Wednesday that he was sick and tired of the slander meted out to his brother over the riots and kidnappings. His brother was forced to resign from the military in August over the kidnapping and torture of activists.
Mr Djojohadikusumo said the meeting at Strategic Reserves had been initiated by human rights lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution. Mr Zon said that during the 90-minute meeting Mr Nasution and General Prabowo had done most of the talking. Mr Nasution allegedly called for the resignation of then-president Suharto because his credibility was low.
Members at the meeting condemned the shooting of students at Trisakti University on May 12. The team's report said the shootings had triggered the riots. Mr Zon said General Prabowo had agreed with others at the meeting that the killers had to be caught and said he had had no involvement. The meeting was also attended by businessman Setiawan Djody, poet W. S. Rendra, Indonesian Ulamas Council member Amidhan and lawyer Hotman Sitompul.
The participants began to arrive at the army building late in the afternoon and waited until General Prabowo was available at 7pm. "It was just a regular meeting, there was nothing secretive. It was a gathering of friends," Mr Zon said. A foreign diplomat said the respected Mr Widjojanto would not have insisted the team investigate the meeting if nothing extraordinary had taken place.
Jakarta -- A group of 50 retired military officials, former prosecutors and businessmen yesterday joined the popular faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) led by Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Megawati, accompanied by several of her key aides, presided over a ceremony to install the prominent figures as new PDI members at the party headquarters in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta. During the ceremony, she handed out PDI jackets, caps and membership cards to the new members, who are the latest in a long list of notable personalities flocking to the party.
Former police chiefs Sidarta Danusubroto, Sucipto and Hartoyo, all retired major generals, were among the newly-inaugurated PDI members. Other former policemen joining the party were retired brigadier generals Sukardjo Ismono and Tjuju Sumirat, as well as four retired colonels: Mochammad Sudarto, Martoyo, Hadi Susanto, Aksin Suwarno and Albert Lasy. Also taking the oath of loyalty to the PDI were retired Lieutenant Colonel A. Steendam, former Military Police official P. Sugeng, and ex-Navy officer Sunardi.
Nineteen former attorneys joining the PDI included Mustafa Djuang Harahap, Adam Nasution, Alfian Husin, Amir Effendi Hutapea, Dasuki Sastroatmodjo, Togatorup and Rustam Bachtiar. Also entering the party were 16 lawyers and human rights activists, including Max Yunus Lamuda, Petrus Salestinus, Didi Suprianto, Robert B. Keytimu, Liberti Sianturi, Benny K. Harman and Salmon Ginting.
Among the businessmen and professionals declaring their loyalty to Megawati were Tjahyo Kumolo, Nur Arifin Ntoma, T.S. Bunanta, Chriz Rizal, Robby Tandaki, Djoni Wibowo and I. Gusti Bagus Cakrawibawa.
It was the third time a large group of retired military officers, lawyers and businessmen had switched allegiance to Megawati, whose popularity has soared since the May 21 downfall of autocratic president Soeharto. Although Megawati believes the retired generals will be loyal to the PDI's ideals, some analysts fear they could negatively influence the party's commitment to democracy, human rights and law enforcement.
Retired Major General Theo Syafe'i, current deputy chairman of the PDI, said he joined Megawati's party because he sympathized with her struggle for greater democracy. He also joined the PDI to protest against the Soeharto regime's callous treatment of Megawati and her supporters.
Louise Williams, Jakarta -- Indonesia's military may reject the findings of an official investigation into May's devastating riots, which has found that some officers provoked violence so the then Soeharto government could activate extraordinary security powers to maintain political control.
The findings were another humiliating blow to the once all- powerful armed forces, which have faced a string of damaging human rights investigations since the fall of the Soeharto government.
The report on the riots paints a disturbing picture of a splintered military, dogged by dangerously politicised factions acting outside the chain of command. However, it stops short of holding the military responsible for the widespread chaos, which claimed at least 1,200 lives in Jakarta and more elsewhere.
The Chief of the Armed Forces, General Wiranto, warned yesterday against accepting the analysis of the riots by the Government- appointed fact-finding team as final.
The team found that not only had some members of the military acted as agents provocateur in the three days of mob violence which rocked Jakarta and other provincial cities, but that the military had failed to protect the city.
The riots followed weeks of growing student protests against the Soeharto government, as well as the kidnappings and torture of pro-democracy activists by some members of Kopassus -- Indonesia's elite special forces.
"A series of incidents of violence culminating in the outbreak of the May 13 to May 15 riots can be perceived as an effort geared towards the creation of an emergency situation which would require the invocation of extra- Constitutional powers [by Soeharto] to keep the situation under control, with the preparation towards this having started at the highest decision- making level," the report said.
However, General Wiranto said yesterday: "Please remember that this team was formed to look for facts, so the analysis they made is not necessarily the final analysis. We will take follow-up measures." He said the military would compare the fact-finding team's conclusion with the analysis provided by other government departments, such as the Ministry of Defence and the Interior.
The Government-appointed fact-finding team was made up of Government representatives, private citizens, human rights activists and representatives of the security forces.
The team recommended that Prabowo Subianto, son-in-law of former President Soeharto, be brought before a military tribunal for his role in the kidnapping and torture of anti-Government activists before the riots. It also called for the former Jakarta military commander, Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, to be held accountable for failing to secure the capital.
The report confirmed 66 rapes and 10 other cases of sexual assault against mainly ethnic Chinese women.
Jeremy Wagstaff and Puspa Madani, Jakarta -- A government- appointed team of generals, activists and officials has concluded its three-month investigation into riots that swept Indonesia in May, saying more than 60 women were raped and suggesting the unrest was stoked by a power struggle within the government.
It said that members of the security forces were involved in riots in the capital city of Jakarta and two other cities, and that senior military officers in charge of security should be held accountable. Named were then- Jakarta commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsuddin and Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, a son-in-law of former President Suharto who was himself removed as head of the army's special forces after admitting involvement in the kidnapping of activists earlier this year.
The report is likely to add to calls for the military to accept greater responsibility for the breakdown in law and order that left hundreds of people dead. Although the armed-forces commander, Gen. Wiranto, has asked for public forgiveness for not preventing the riots, there has been no investigation into allegations of military involvement in the riots themselves.
But diplomats and academics said the report appeared to fall short of providing the "smoking-gun evidence" that elements of the army were behind the riots, or of claims that the ethnic Chinese minority was intentionally targeted. The report acknowledged the ethnic Chinese, long resented by many Indonesians for their perceived wealth, "suffered the most materially" from the riots. But it said there was no evidence of systematic planning behind the rapes.
The report was to be released late last month. But internal bickering and difficulties arranging meetings with ministers to hand over the report delayed its publication until Tuesday. Even then, none of the five ministers was available to receive the report officially, and only a 27-page executive summary was presented to journalists. Diplomats said the muted finale contrasted with the launching of the investigation in July.
Outrage at reports of ethnic Chinese being harassed, raped and killed during the May unrest fired Chinese communities overseas and rattled Indonesia's relations with Beijing and Taipei. At the heart of this anger are allegations that more than 160 ethnic- Chinese women were raped during the riots. Diplomats said the report's conclusion of 66 rapes appeared to strike a balance between the higher figures and the report of the team's own researchers, who concluded that 16 cases could be verified using primary sources.
Jakarta -- The government line is that the Banyuwangi killing spree in East Java, which began in August and has since spread to Central and West Java, is a purely criminal case.
The government is playing with fire by pitting societal groups against each other a cross section of the public says. This explains why security officers have appeared so lackadaisical in tackling the Banyuwangi killings; the dragging of feet allows a sense of terror to reign and attention to shift from the government. It is a message conveyed loud and clear by 1,158 respondents in five major cities in the survey jointly commissioned by The Jakarta Post and D&R magazine. The Resource Productivity Centre conducted the poll from Oct. 22 to Oct. 27.
Not according to respondents in the survey of public perceptions of the killings: 91.6 percent believe it is a political issue orchestrated by the government. Their reasoning is varied, including "it is obviously an initiative to achieve their (the government's) narrow political goals" (56.7 percent); it is "a way to divide and pit one societal group against another" (30.8 percent), and "the way they divert people's attention from the government's failure or bureaucratic decay" (9.6 percent).
Respondents believe the Banyuwangi bloodshed has a different target from the 1982 "Petrus" mysterious killings and plays upon the people's acute poverty and their vulnerability to provocation and bribery. The Petrus killings, reportedly under the direction of former president Soeharto himself, targeted solely criminals, 50.8 percent responded, while the Banyuwangi carnage focuses on religious leaders, 40.8 percent believed.
The terror is widespread; 71 percent of all respondents believed the killing spree will eventually reach their cities. The survey was made of 242 people in Jakarta, 215 in Bandung, 256 in Yogyakarta 241 in Surabaya and 204 in Ujungpandang.
Of respondents believing the killings would spread, the most, 33.4 percent, said it was inevitable "because the people are easily incited" and "the scenario of violence is designed to move to other places" (22.9 percent). Another 15.9 percent said it would be the case "if the government did not take action".
Tellingly, respondents living closest to the site of the violence expressed the strongest rejection of the official line on the killings. Only 2.6 percent of respondents in Surabaya, the East Java capital, accepted the contention by some government officials that the killings were acts of revenge by former communists. Conversely, 21.1 percent of respondents in Bandung, West Java, supported the allegation.
Thus, the farther away respondents are from the site of the killing, the more likely they are to be carried away by emotional tugs of the murders and issues surrounding them. It begs the question of who is the real target is if engineering of the issue to manipulate the public is really going on.
A fat majority of respondents -- 86.1 percent -- also believed that they are the ones who suffer the most in the end from the murders and ensuing fears. Another 30.2 percent believed the government, including the Armed Forces (ABRI) and the police, benefited the most from the climate of fear. Figures are higher in East Java, with 88.6 percent believing the people suffer the most and 40.9 percent asserting it is the government who benefits the most.
The killings, the most prominent among many violent outbreaks in recent months, are now entering their fourth month. Initially, the victims were suspected black magic practitioners. Frighteningly reminiscent of the Petrus killings, the slayings were allegedly conducted by groups of six to 10 people who appeared to be well-organized and trained. The killings spread to Banyuwangi's surrounding towns before spilling over to Central and West Java. By September, the target widened to include members of the Moslem clergy. Perpetrators by then allegedly involved the masses, hired assassins' local village officials, agent provocateurs and former communists.
The country's largest Moslem organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), believes the real target of the killings is its members. They found that the number of Moslem preachers murdered far outstripped the number of suspected black magic practitioners.
By October, locals began to arm themselves as the target of the killings grew to encompass prominent local figures. People were terrorized through telephone calls and pamphlets. Acute fear descended over many towns. Locals, embarking on overzealous hunts for the socalled "ninja" killers, have resorted to lynching. In one instance, the decapitated head of a suspected killer was paraded around Malang, an East Java town near Surabaya.
The term "ninja" was coined because most of the killers were clad in black and their faces covered in the fashion of Japanese assassins. Dozens of suspected "ninja" have been detained, but police said they had yet to establish a motive behind the killings.
President B.J. Habibie vowed over the weekend to end the killings, and NU has pledged to take action should the military fail to solve the murders by the end of November. On Sunday, the youth wing of NU demanded responsibility from President Habibie over the bloodshed.
Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto has said that conflicts among the political elite might be behind the killing spree, a view shared by NU leader Abdurrahman Wahid. Wahid repeated his allegation at the end of last month, saying that Cabinet members and several "nonstructural officers" masterminded the murders.
In summation, the poll results show respondents believing the Habibie government has failed to align itself with the pepple, and is perceived as using political engineering to buttress its position against opposition.
Asked whether ABRI would be able to solve the killings, 43.6 percent answered in the affirmative and 36.3 percent said no, a tepid show of confidence at best. However, 56.4 percent still have hopes that ABRI will somehow be able to solve them in the future. Thus, the less trust there is toward ABRI now, the higher the hope for the military to guarantee security in the future.
Fears that the terror will spread are acute precisely because the public doubts the guarantee of security and its belief that the state is involved in the killings.
[On November 4 AFP reported that villagers fearful of "Ninja" assassins lynched a man in a township near Jakarta a day after black-clad, masked men attacked two local Moslem leaders. It said that the incident reinforced fears that the killings had spread west to the capital - James Balowski.]
Jakarta -- In a sudden about-face, Indonesia's ruling Golkar party Monday proposed that students and opposition politicians be included in a controversial parliamentary session next week, the first since the fall of Suharto.
"The Assembly's Extraordinary Meeting should be made to function as a forum for national reconciliation, where the diverse groups of people meet," Din Sjamsuddin, vice chairman of the Golkar faction in the Assembly, said. The state Antara news agency, which reported the proposal, called it a last minute "surprise," and said it was backed by a second parliament faction, the Moslem-oriented United Development Party (PPP).
The call by Golkar, Suharto's political vehicle during his 32 years in power, if accepted, would mean three post-Suharto giants, popular nationalist leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, Moslem reformist Amien Rais and respected moderate Islamic leader Abdrurachman 'Gus' Dur, would join the session.
The absence of the three from the November 10-13 plenary session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), was one of the main reasons that reformist students who had been instrumental in toppling Suharto, had called the session a "farce." They had threatened mass protests of the kind that brought thousands back onto the streets last week.
"I would like to suggest that a number of public figures who have real following in society, such as Amien, Megawati and Gus Dur be involved, invited, or even appointed to the Assembly membership," Antara quoted Sjamsuddin as saying. Sjamsuddin brushed aside the necessity for formalities, saying that the times demanded that the MPR meeting be one of "reconcilliation."
"There is no need for institutionalizing it on the agenda. But, as this Extraordinary Meeting is... the holder of the people's sovereignty... it would be commendable to make it also function as a forum of reconciliation where the diverse groups of people meet," he said. "So, I would like to suggest that a number of public figures, who have real following in society such as Amien Rais, Gus Dur and Megawati be involved, invited, and even appointed to the Assembly's membership," he said.
Sjamsuddin also suggested the possibility of appointing a number of university student representatives, Antara said. "It would only be reasonable if some of them, say three to five persons, (be appointed to the Assembly). Of course there would be some difficulties to select them, but just entrust the selection to the students, especially the formal student organizations in the campuses," he said.
"As the nation is faced with a crisis, I believe that the Assembly's Extraordinary Meeting should also be made into a forum of national get-together or national reconciliation."
The Chairman of the PPP faction in the Assembly, H. Faisal Baasir, when asked to comment on the proposals, was quoted by Antara as saying the PPP had "long nurtured a similar intention."
"I suggest to President B. J. Habibie to appoint Amien Rais, Megawati, and Gus Dur as Assembly members through representation ofthe functional groups," he said.
The MPR session is charged with drawing up a political blueprint for poast- Suharto Indonesia, including setting a date for elections next year and determining the rules for political parties.
[On November 4, the Indonesian Observer reported that Megawati and Rais have refused to attend the session because they don't want to be seen as endorsing the decisions made by parliament. It said that Gus Dur is yet to respond to the offer, as he's still suffering from poor health. but that sources close to him say he's unlikely to attend - James Balowski.]
Jakarta -- Villagers in the Indonesian island of Madura have lynched three policemen to death believing them to be part of a wave of "ninja" murders in East Java, a press report said Monday.
One was lynched on Saturday while two others were killed the following day as they ventured out of their hiding place near the village of Ombul-ombul in western Madura, the Kompas daily said.
The three policemen from Surabaya, the main town in East Java, had gone with six local police to Ombul-Ombul on Saturday with an arrested thief to try to track down his fence for stolen motorcycles, the daily said. The suspected fence however escaped arrest and yelled he was being pursued by "ninjas."
Hundreds of villagers alerted by the shouts mobbed the group of policeman ignoring their protestations that they were policemen. One of the policeman died on the spot while two others were killed the next morning when villagers caught them emerging from the hiding places where they had spent the night.
The police have sought the help of the local Moslem leaders to help find the suspected thief and fence but no arrest has yet been made, Kompas said.
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- Fifty organisations not represented in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) are planning to stage massive protests here during the assembly's special plenary session next week.
Sources here said that the powerful Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) had gotten wind of the plans and would deploy 30,000 military and police personnel in the capital "to counter demonstrations that might go astray", and safeguard the meeting of the country's highest legislative body.
An ABRI insider told The Sunday Times that the organisations were operating under the "umbrella" of the National Front (Barnas). This is an association of retired generals, officials and former Golkar leaders -- which senior government figures have branded as "radicals and revolutionaries" out to hamper the reform process.
Barnas, which was established in August this year, has declared itself to be a "moral force" in opposition to President B. J. Habibie. The source said that the 50 organisations represented a cross-section of students, human-rights activists, labourers, and the newer political parties such as the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) and the Democracy for Indonesia Party (Pudi), which mushroomed after President Suharto's fall in May.
He said that they were attempting to disrupt the MPR session and force Dr Habibie to resign by carrying out large-scale demonstrations. "Their ultimate goal is to force the government to set up a National Council or Presidium to run the country," he said.
PNI executive Usep Ranawijaya said the party had obtained the "signatures of 50 groups to take part in the demonstrations and are now waiting to map out our plans on the field".
Activists here said that the threat to take to the streets came after Dr Habibie's "cold response" for a plan to hold a national dialogue. They said that at least 20,000 people would take part in the protests outside the Parliament building, although many expected that the number would be much higher given that they would also be joined by student demonstrators from Medan, Lampung, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Ujung Pandang.
Sceptics, however, said that poor organisation plus a heavy troop presence could "hamper the dreams of protesters to cause chaos". ABRI chief General Wiranto said on Friday that his soldiers were prepared to protect the session against "any effort aimed at aborting it". He said that protests in the country were "no longer a demonstration but a show of force and anarchy which violated the law".
The military has brought troops from other parts of the country to beef up the security presence in the capital. Pockets of soldiers armed with M16 and light assault weapons have been deployed, particularly near the presidential palace and the central business district. They have also set up a military tent outside the Parliament building with more than 20 police officers forming a human barrier at the entrance of the MPR complex.
The Media Indonesia daily yesterday quoted MPR secretary-general Afif Ma'roef as saying that it would be possible for the plenary to be held away from the Parliament complex.
It said sources had confirmed that back-up preparations were underway to hold the session at the nearby Jakarta Hilton Convention Centre, which had an underground passageway to the Hilton hotel, where some 400 out of the 1,000 assembly members would be staying. The three-day session will debate laws pertaining to political parties, elections and the composition of the MPR and the lower house.
Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta -- As the sun sets in the towns and villages of East Java, men hurry home quicker than usual from their evening prayers. In some areas, a bell tolls to empty the streets of women and children. Windows will be shut and doors bolted till the next morning. In the darkness, wary men with swords or sickles patrol deserted roads. They are searching for the black-clad, masked men whom residents believe are responsible for the killings of over 150 locals. Since early August, the night here has been haunted by mysterious murders. The government cannot solve the slayings or put a stop to them. They have sent shivers of fear throughout the nation.
Jakarta residents began learning about the bloodshed in East Java in early October, by which time over 80 people had been reportedly murdered. The deaths began in Banyuwangi, a regency of 1.5 million people in Indonesia's second- most populated province. But in recent weeks, the shadow of terror has lengthened westward, with killings reported in more East Java towns as well as areas in Central and West Java. At first, the victims were accused of being dukun santet, or practitioners of black magic. Their purported power to hex and to heal has incurred the wrath of villagers. In the past seven years, there have been dozens of cases in which Banyuwangi residents have lynched a suspected sorcerer.
But this season of bloodshed has been highly unusual, not only in the number of victims but in the apparently well-organized nature of the killings. Eyewitnesses report bands of well-trained and equipped killers, whom they call "ninjas." They commit the murders themselves or incite neighbors to violence. Noha, 59, was one victim. About a month before his murder, his widow Sa'adah recalls, rumors of his dark powers started swirling. One evening as he was watching TV, the electricity went out. Noha then heard a harsh knock on the door. He answered it -- and quickly succumbed to blows and knife thrusts from masked marauders. They left in a minivan and cars. "They never said a word," says Sa'adah. "They did their job very quickly." Noha's throat was cut, his head nearly separated from his body.
Some say a bid by the Banyuwangi regent in mid-September to collect the names of accused sorcerers in order to move them out of the area backfired. Various versions of the list started circulating -- revealing new targets. Not only suspected deviants but devout Muslims and ordinary farmers, like Noha, became victims. The 30-million-strong Muslim mass organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which has its strongest support in East Java, says many of the deaths were among its members. Ulamas in Muslim boarding schools report threats over the phone, or unsettling visits by strangers.
Several investigative teams, from NU, the National Commission on Human Rights and the non-government Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), have found few clues to the puzzle. National leaders give the impression they know more than they are revealing. On Oct. 18, while visiting Banyuwangi, armed forces chief Gen. Wiranto described the murders as "a result of conflict in the political elite." The day before, NU chief Abdurrahman Wahid indicated a conspiracy at the highest levels against his organization: "The masterminds are everywhere, in the cabinet and outside the formal political structure."
Small Business and Cooperatives Minister Adi Sasono shot back: "Do you believe that a cabinet member has time to carry out the killings of alleged sorcerers?" Sasono, who is a leader of the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals, had been mentioned as one of those Wahid had indicated. National police chief Lt.-Gen. Rusmanhadi maintains that the culprits could be Communists or their descendants. Their purported goal: revenge for the killings that began in 1965 by local militias, comprising NU elements, of members of what was once the world's second- largest communist party.
His may be an unlikely theory. But the police chief's reference to the 1960s is instructive. "Indonesia has a tradition of violence," says political analyst Frans Magnis-Suseno. Suharto's New Order, he believes, heightened the tendency. "People have been managed by co-opting, intimidating or repressing them," he says. "They have learned they can only win when they play by these rules." One example might be the May riots in Jakarta, which some believe Suharto son-in-law Lt.-Gen. Prabowo Subianto helped stir up to prepare his ascent to power, or at his father- in-law's bidding. More recently, paid mobs attacked a home owned by oil tycoon Arifin Panigoro, who had backed student activists, and the offices of the Legal Aid Foundation. On Oct. 11, Wahid decried the "criminal political means" that have become acceptable in Indonesia.
Is this what is happening in East Java? Some NU members think their organization is being baited. NU is a bastion of traditional, syncretic Islam and has close ties to the opposition camp of Megawati Sukarnoputri. That gives it potential foes among Islamists, the government, the army and Suharto loyalists. A source close to Wahid says the killings aim to provoke vengeance by NU, creating rural chaos. Hasyim Muzadi, NU's East Java chief, says that suspicious characters have assaulted people, then fled to churches or Chinese temples. "They want NU followers to attack," he says. The resulting conflict would discredit NU, or force it to face the army. "It's a psychological war," Muzadi says. "We will eventually disclose who is behind this. Our concern is that if this becomes a real war, we will not lose our energy and abandon our strategy." The NU has given the army until the end of November to solve the killings or it will finish them "in its own way." Says Magnis-Suseno: "Indonesians tend to suspect a puppeteer behind what happens. Often there is."
As law and order evaporates in East Java, villagers have become judge, jury -- and executioner. The killings of accused sorcerers have been overtaken by assaults on suspected ninjas. Locals threaten to burn police stations unless suspects are handed over. In Malang, at least two suspected killers were beheaded. Three Madurese men were lynched after mobs found traditional daggers in their car trunk. Other suspects were beaten and burned alive. As the violence grows, clarity remains elusive -- and the darkness impenetrable.
How one dukun cheated death
Eighty-four-year-old Mateha lives in a village near Banyuwangi town. He admits he is a dukun santet. One afternoon, Mateha was killing time on his front porch. Suddenly, two mini-trucks full of masked men stopped in front of his house. They pulled him out and, without saying a word, beat him and cut him with sickles. Then they dragged him to a nearby river and pushed his head under water several times before jumping back into their trucks.
Mateha did not die. After waiting until he was sure the men had left, he crawled up the river bank and returned home in the middle of the night. His family was happy, but not the group of "ninjas." Rumors about his survival quickly spread. Police took Mateha into protective custody, as they had hundreds of other people they considered targets for the marauders. But he was "bailed out" by someone who claimed to be a family member. Mateha was beaten by several men and strangled with a piece of wire. His body was thrown onto a muddy road after he had passed out. One of his assailants returned to strangle him some more for good measure. The man pushed Maheta's face into the mud until he stopped breathing.
Still, Mateha did not die. The next morning, his face black and blue, he walked home. Before the ninjas could get to him yet again, the police put him back in custody -- and this time are keeping him there. Says a relaxed Mateha: "I thought I was finished, but it seems that my time had not come yet." Maybe his magic helped too.
| Arms/armed forces |
Bandung -- Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo vigorously defended on Monday the Armed Forces' business ventures, contending that all profits went to improve military personnel's welfare.
He cited how earnings from companies belonging to foundations under the Armed Forces (ABRI) funded construction of housing for soldiers. He spoke on the sidelines of a ceremony marking the induction of Maj. Gen. Sumardi as chief of Army Training Center (Kodiklat) to replace Lt. Gen. Luhut B. Pandjaitan.
He did not specify funding amounts, saying the amount allotted for soldiers' welfare depended on the profit collected by the foundations. The ventures are audited regularly, he added.
"Active soldiers are not allowed to do business, but they are permitted to work proportionally in the foundations." Subagyo stressed that the military abided by business rules and did not curry favor to land contracts.
A military observer at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Indria Samego, said last month that ABRI as a state institution was intrinsically precluded from involvement in the business sector. He contended its actual predominance in the realm over the last three decades damaged market mechanisms in the national economy.
Harry Tjan Silalahi, a political expert from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), recommended in October that the Armed Forces should be barred from business, its personnel's wages increased as compensation for lost ventures.
Indria's new book on ABRI's business says 40 companies are under the army's jurisdiction and 24 other enterprises, with eight under the Air Force, Navy and National Police.
Some of the companies developed under the Army's Kartika Eka Paksi Foundation are PT Aerokarto Indonesia, PT Asuransi Cigna Indonesia, PT Cilegon Fabricators, PT Kayan River Indah Plywood, PT Kultujaya Triusaha, PT Lukita Wahana Sari, PT Meranti Sakti Indonesia, PT Panca Usaha Palopo plywood, PT Pondok Indah Padang Golf, Bank Artha Graha and PT Private Development Finance.
Meanwhile, in Central Java's capital of Semarang, about 200 students grouped in People's Sovereignty Enforcement Forum staged a demonstration outside the provincial legislature, demanding the withdrawal of the military from the House of Representative.
| Economy and investment |
Jakarta -- The rupiah rose again to 8,450 against the US dollar on Friday and local stock prices inched down 0.4 percent on profit taking, currency dealers and stockbrokers said.
They warned, however, that sentiment on the local financial market remained bearish in the run up to the Special Session of the nation's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), on Nov. 10 to 13.
They said the market would be very quiet next week as investors would stay on the sidelines during the MPR Special Session. If the session went by peacefully, the rupiah and local stock prices would definitely rise in tandem, they said.
A dealer with a local private bank said the rupiah was boosted especially by news that the IMF would soon disburse US$1 billion in funds for Indonesia, possibly next week. Such news had driven foreign operators to sell dollars to reduce their long-term dollar position, he said.
"This time it was offshore operators selling the dollar. I think at one point they did this just to take profits. Besides, they also want to reduce their long dollar position ahead of the disbursement of IMF money," he said.
The government said on Thursday that the IMF board would convene on Friday to decide the fate of loans for Indonesia and would likely disburse them next week. However, some analysts did not expect the IMF to disburse funds when Indonesia had a critical political event like the MPR Special Session.
The MPR will set the date for the general election for the middle of next year. A lot of groups are planning to stage demonstrations in Jakarta during the Special Session, making the currency market nervous. "The market is increasingly nervous. Market players chose to stay long on the dollar rather than the rupiah," the dealer said.
The rupiah was fairly stable in moderate dealing on Friday. The currency closed in Jakarta trading at 8,450 to the dollar, slightly stronger than its Thursday close at Rp 8,600. The rupiah, however, ended the week lower than last week when it closed at Rp 7,700.
As the rupiah strengthened, stock prices on the local market lost 0.4 percent, with the JSX Composite Index falling 1.55 points to 353.978. Trading turnover totaled 289.22 million shares changing hands at Rp 412.19 billion.
Stockbrokers and analysts said a slight decline in share prices was mainly attributable to investors' profit-taking on the gains they made in the previous days. Besides that, certain investors had started to unload their stocks on lingering fears of possible violence ahead of the Special Session of the MPR.
Panin Sekuritas' head of research, Anton Karlam, said that investors just "think in simple terms and sell stocks in times of uncertainty." He said only short-term investors and risk takers would be trading next week. A broker with Trimegah Securindolestari said that some foreign fund managers started to cash in profits on Friday. "After purchasing stocks aggressively during the last few days, they were net sellers today," she said.
Head of research of Sigma Batara Securities, Fadjar Limin Sutandi, said certain foreign investors had actually allocated a certain portion of their funds to the country's market despite lingering worries in the run-up to the Special Session. "I think some investors are shrugging off the political uncertainties before the Special Session," he said.
But the general tone remain gloomy as most domestic and local investors would take a more cautious attitude in the coming days, he said. Brokers and analysts concurred that massive student rallies in the city on Friday dampened market sentiment. They said such student demonstration discouraged investors from the local market. They mostly feared that such demonstrations would turn violent in a fashion similar to the bloody May riots which toppled former president Soeharto.
Jakarta -- Indonesian inflation surged to almost 80 percent in October from a year ago, but dipped slightly from the previous month, official data showed Monday.
The consumer price index rose 79.1 percent in October year-on- year but declined 0.27 percent from September, with raw food prices dropping 1.85 percent, the Central Bureau of Statistics said. The inflation level in the 10 months to October was 75 percent and 37.67 percent in April-October, the bureau's deputy director for National Distribution and Accounts Kusmadi Saleh told a news conference.
Other than raw foods, housing prices were the only group out of the bureau's seven indices to post a decline in October, falling 1.89 percent month-on- month, Kusmadi said. Processed foods, beverages, cigarettes and tobacco prices rose 0.61 percent, while health products and services recorded the highest increase, rising 2.0 percent in October.
"In raw food products, the main contributor to the fall there was rice, which fell 0.58 percent and cooking oil which was down 0.20 percent," Kusmadi said.
The bureau also said in a statement that Indonesia recorded a trade surplus in August of 1.853 billion dollars, compared with 1.453 billion a year earlier and 2.208 billion dollars in July. Total exports in August were 4.034 billion dollars, compared with 4.711 billion dollars a year earlier and 4.655 bbillion dollars in July.
Non-oil and gas exports were 3.425 billion dollars as against 3.859 billion dollars a year earlier and 3.997 billion dollars in July. Non-oil and gas imports were 1.970 billion dollars, compared with 3.042 billion dollars a year earlier and 2.236 billion dollars in July. Exports in the eight months to August were 33.181 billion dollars and imports 17.929 billion dollars, giving a trade suprlus of 15.252 billion dollars for the period.