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ASIET Net News 30 – July 26-August 1, 1999
| East Timor |
Lindsay Murdoch, Dili -- Indonesia is strongly resisting United Nations pressure to further delay a ballot to decide the future of East Timor after boosting the number of police in the territory to 8,000.
The head of the UN mission in East Timor, Mr Ian Martin, said yesterday that it would be difficult to achieve ideal security for the vote on the proposed dates of August 21 or 22.
"Obviously it is going to be difficult to bring about ideal security conditions but we expect the Indonesian police to make considerable further efforts to substantially improve the situation over its present conditions," Mr Martin said.
A senior official of Indonesia's Foreign Ministry, Mr Dino Djalal, told reporters in the East Timor capital, Dili, that the President, Dr B.J. Habibie, must report the result of the ballot giving East Timorese a choice between autonomy within Indonesia or independence to the first sitting of Indonesia's Parliament.
Diplomats monitoring developments in the former Portuguese territory say the UN wants to see Indonesian security forces in the province do more to stop intimidation of voters before agreeing to a date for the ballot.
But the timing of Dr Habibie's report to Parliament is also in doubt because of delays in ratifying the results of the country's June elections. And Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, whose Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, won the biggest bloc of votes in the election, has made clear her opposition to East Timor breaking away from Indonesia, raising doubts she would agree to abide by the ballot result if she was elected president in November.
In a letter to the Security Council on Monday, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, outlined continuing security concerns and said the East Timorese were showing "laudable determination" to participate in the ballot, despite continuing intimidation, mainly by militia opposed to independence. Last month he decided to delay the ballot from August 8, citing violence and intimidation against pro-independence supporters.
Mr Djalal said an additional 1,300 Indonesian police arrived in East Timor on Monday and yesterday, bringing to 8,000 the number deployed around the territory to maintain security ahead of the ballot. They are backed by up more than 10,000 Indonesian troops.
Indonesian authorities in East Timor were determined all sides of the conflict should disarm to allow violence-free campaigning. But, despite agreement by their leaders, pro-independence guerillas had yet to come out of the mountains and take part in a peace reconciliation commission, he said.
Craig Skehan, Singapore -- Australia is urging Indonesia and the United Nations to consider upgrading security in East Timor in case violence worsens after next month's planned self- determination ballot.
This follows concerns that a big pro-independence vote will result in attacks by anti-independence militia which have been covertly backed by elements of the Indonesian armed forces. An escalation of violence would also risk reprisals by anti-Jakarta guerilla forces.
The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, has been discussing security planning with his Indonesian counterpart, Mr Ali Alatas, during the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in Singapore, and Australia has also taken the issue up at UN headquarters in New York.
And earlier this week, Mr Downer raised the question of security in talks with United States Secretary of State, Dr Madeleine Albright. He told a media conference in Singapore yesterday that despite generally improved security in East Timor there were "very significant" problems in western districts of the province.
Mr Downer welcomed the decision of the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, to continue the registration process pending setting a date for the ballot, already delayed to the weekend of August 21-22.
He said he would be speaking to Indonesia about reports of an arms build-up by anti-independence militias, including one involving the claimed transfer of 400 M-16 assault rifles.
While some allegations surrounding events in East Timor were well-founded, others proved to be inaccurate, so it was important all reports were "triple checked", he said. Mr Downer said he planned to directly raise the issue of post-vote security arrangements with Mr Alatas last night.
It was important to focus on "what will happen after the ballot takes place", Mr Downer said, but he declined to comment on the issue publicly. "I'd rather say more about that after I have had some discussions with the Indonesians rather than them reading my passionate views in the newspapers," he said. "Diplomacy is like that -- I am not a commentator. It is not my job to write articles day by day expressing a view on what I think should happen."
Mr Downer described as "absurd" a press report linking Navy exercises off northern Australia to contingency plans to evacuate foreigners in the event of post-ballot bloodshed.
He is due to fly to Jakarta today and will spend Friday and Saturday in East Timor. In Jakarta, Mr Downer is scheduled to meet President B.J. Habibie, the armed forces chief, General Wiranto, and the East Timorese independence leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, as well as presidential hopefuls, including Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri.
During what will be the first visit by an Australian foreign minister to East Timor, Mr Downer will talk to UN representatives involved in preparing for the ballot and meet community leaders who have called for an end to political violence.
Mark Riley, New York -- The United Nations is drafting plans for an administration to rule East Timor for up to four years if, as expected, the territory votes to break away from Indonesia.
In interviews with The Age, senior UN officials have revealed they are preparing to establish an elaborate interim government structure in the event of a yes vote for independence in next month's referendum.
The officials said that during the period Australia and other countries with a particular interest in the future of East Timor would have to be prepared to maintain large commitments of money, police and soldiers.
The most pressing issue, emphasised by the Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, this week, is getting an agreement with Jakarta on bolstering the UN police presence in the territory after the vote.
The first significant step towards achieving this was taken yesterday when the UN invited senior Indonesian military and police officials to New York next week for a series of crucial meetings on post-ballot security.
At the same time, Australia has begun a new push within the UN for a senior military envoy to be appointed to negotiate separately with the Indonesian army on increasing the international military presence in the territory after the vote.
The Australian proposal is to forge an agreement with the Indonesian generals to allow UN peacekeepers to gradually replace Indonesian soldiers in East Timor if there is a move to independence.
Another meeting of senior UN and Indonesian Government officials has also been scheduled in Jakarta in mid-August to finalise arrangements for post-ballot security.
UN officials said that all the discussions would relate to the period between the ballot on 30 August and the ratification of the outcome by the new Indonesian Parliament, between two and three months later.
The ultimate composition of the UN mission during this period, known as phase II of the self-determination process, will depend heavily on the outcome of the vote.
Observers believe the possibility of widespread violence will be greatest if, as expected, the East Timorese reject the option of autonomy within Indonesia and opt for independence.
Anti-independence militia have been responsible for several attacks in recent months, backed covertly by elements of the Indonesian military.
There are deepening concerns that those attacks could worsen and be met by reprisals from pro-independence guerrilla forces if a strong security presence is not maintained.
The magnitude of the task ahead was reinforced by Mr Downer, who today became the first Australian foreign minister to visit the Timorese capital, Dili. He described the post-ballot period as "very dangerous" and committed Australia to support plans to boost the UN force already in the territory.
He also hinted that Australian troops might be sent to East Timor if the vote is for independence. "As the Indonesian security forces withdrew the UN would be increasingly responsible for security," he said.
He said that while at first he thought it would be a miracle if the ballot could be held successfully, the security environment had improved and "I think there is a chance it can be achieved".
"But I am not calling the game over yet," Mr Downer said. "There is a long way to go. There are enormous risks ahead. There has been so much violence for so long it could very easily erupt again."
UN officials emphasised this week that the Indonesian army would retain the primary responsibility for security in the phase II period and that any build-up of UN forces would be gradual.
"There seems to be this growing misconception that we can just send in the cavalry if violence breaks out after the consultations [ballot], but that simply is not true," one official said.
It would take several weeks for the UN to mount a peacekeeping mission, which could be done only with the approval of the Security Council.
Contingency plans for such a mission have been discussed for several weeks in various departments of the UN, but no formal strategy has been finalised.
If the vote is for independence, Indonesia would maintain administrative control of the territory until the outcome was ratified by the Indonesian Parliament. It would then hand over responsibility to the UN in what would become phase III.
That part of the process is expected to be the most critical, requiring a new civil administration to take immediate control of all government services, including health, education, justice, electricity and water. The UN expects it will have to maintain a strong military, police and administrative presence in East Timor for up to four years after the vote to allow it sufficient time to establish an effective independent administration.
Diplomats voiced private concerns this week that the UN planning for such an outcome has been inadequate.
"I really don't think we realise the immensity of the task ahead of us if we move to independence in Timor," one diplomat said. "I mean, what criminal law are we going apply? What sort of contractual law, and what currency do we use? The questions are as fundamental as that."
UN officials said nations such as Australia that had particular interests in the East Timor issue would also have to be prepared to help a new government with the considerable costs of running the country.
Services such as electricity and telecommunications are provided by Indonesia under heavy subsidies, which would disappear if the East Timorese opt for independence.
Those subsidies would have to be picked up by member nations of the UN in the short term and new benefactors found for the longer term, officials said.
Jacinto Alves spent seven years in prison for organising a peaceful demonstration at the funeral of a separatist sympathiser in Dili in 1991. Indonesian troops opened fire on the crowd of East Timorese, killing between 100 and 180 people in the bloodbath that became known as the Dili massacre.
Mr Alves was released from the maximum-security Semarang prison near Yogyakarta last December, but another of the demonstration's organisers, Gregorio de Cunha Saldanha, is still serving a life sentence there for his part in masterminding the protest.
Saldanha and co-accused Francisco Branco are two of at least 80 East Timorese political prisoners languishing in jail for taking part in the independence struggle. A further dozen or so have been detained and await trial.
Unlike Saldanha and Branco, most prisoners have been convicted of acts of violence, such as throwing a grenade into a truck of Indonesian soldiers, attacking police headquarters or ambushing soldiers.
They are scattered throughout Indonesia and Yayasan Hak, a Dili-based human rights organisation, fears they have no access to detailed information on registration or the ballot.
Although Indonesian authorities have said that all prisoners, criminal and political, will be permitted to register and vote, no arrangements have been made. Indonesian officials confirmed yesterday that no prisoners would be released from jail "for obvious reasons".
A general amnesty for all political prisoners was announced by the Indonesian Government some months ago but, to date, there have been no moves in that direction.
"In theory," said Mr Alves, "East Timorese political prisoners should have been released as a sign of goodwill towards the popular consultation. But it hasn't happened."
The Indonesian Government, he added, had other agendas. "In East Timor there is a lot of land that is owned by Indonesians. That turns into an interest that has to be safe-guarded by Indonesia. The good name of the Indonesian army is also involved as an interest here."
Mr Alves said prisoners in Semarang had little contact with the outside world. Letters were censored and visitors limited to their families, who were flown to Java twice a year by the Red Cross.
But they received some information via an underground network, including morale-boosting letters from the jailed resistance leader, Xanana Gusmao.
Like many other political prisoners, Mr Alves never resiled from his support for independence. Two years ago, he was offered conditional release if he accepted integration, if he swore never to engage in rebellion and if he recognised Indonesian development in East Timor. He refused.
When he was released from prison he returned to his wife and five children in East Timor, but he cannot play an active part in the campaign for independence, because he is on effective parole and he can be immediately re-arrested by the Indonesian Government. Nevertheless, he said, he watched the developments eagerly.
"That the Indonesians have accepted the idea of a ballot is a huge step forward," he said. "No matter what happens, I think the Indonesians have to respect the outcome."
Marianne Kearney, Dili -- Armed militiamen in Maubisse, 70 km south of here, are patrolling the streets and threatening villagers with death if they vote for independence.
A local priest said militiamen in the coffee-growing mountains of the region, reportedly a stronghold of the pro-independence Falintil group, moved from house to house every night threatening to wipe out whole families if the villagers do not choose integration.
The priest said the 700-strong mostly-armed militia from the Mahidi or the Live or Die for Integration group, appeared to be backed by the local military.
He said Mahidi's third highest commander in Maubisse was also a member of the local army command, most of its members were locals and probably about half had been forced at gunpoint to join the militia.
Nine pro-independence supporters fled the area for the forest this week and at least two villagers fled to Dili following death threats the week before.
In violation of security agreements between the Indonesian police and the UN Mission in East Timor or Unamet, the priest said the police had not disarmed or arrested any of the militia routinely patrolling the streets, nor investigated any complaints about intimidation of residents.
He said the militia arrived in town yesterday morning and toured his parish buildings without any response from the police.
In this town where three people were killed by militia in April, the locals says it is hard to know whether people feel safe enough to choose freely in the referendum.
"It's difficult for people here to feel safe because there are two or three militia posts in every desa around here," said one local resident, referring to small villages.
However, enthusiasm for registration is still high -- in five days almost 1,000 people have arrived to receive identity cards from the local church. The Unamet registration booth has had a long queue of people lining for hours everyday since it opened last Friday.
Mark Dodd, Dili -- An attack against the United Nations office in the East Timorese town of Maliana last month was organised by a shadowy network of militia and army officers, according to information received by the Herald.
During the June 29 assault in the town, regarded as a pro- Indonesian stronghold, militiamen threw rocks at the UN office, injuring a South African electoral officer and forcing the temporary withdrawal to Dili of six electoral officers.
The attack made international headlines and embarrassed the Indonesian Government, already under fire for failing to curb militia violence.
The Herald has learnt from diplomatic sources that a report on the attack has been completed and copies passed to the Defence Minister, General Wiranto, and the head of Udayana (Eastern) Command, Major-General Adam Damiri.
It names among the suspects four senior sergeants in the army who it alleges control and regulate all militia activity in Maliana, a recently retired sergeant and the town's chief of army intelligence, Lieutenant Satrisno.
Three of the veteran sergeants have been based in East Timor since the 1975 invasion. The military commander in Maliana is Lieutenant-Colonel Berhanudin Syagian, while militiamen involved in the attack have been identified as members of the Dadurus Merah Putih (Typhoon) under the command of Paulos Ferreira. "The report implicates the Dandim [district military commander] by name and the chief of intelligence by title," said the source, who asked not to be named.
It concludes that the attack on the UN was a local initiative and its architects were unprepared for the resulting publicity.
Maliana, the south-west provincial capital of Bobanaro, has been the scene of frequent militia violence and voter intimidation.
There is close co-operation between local government officials, the militias and army, who have warned the UN that any attempt by the pro-independence groups to set up an office could provoke a violent confrontation.
Two pro-independence leaders are based in the local police station for their own security, although Colonel Syagian has authorised one pro-independence office to open in time for political campaigning.
The Herald has learnt that several senior officers were threatened with transfer orders over their involvement in the June 29 incident. Jakarta-based commanders are known to be concerned about the negative impact on the army's image as a result of the attack.
General Damiri is reported to have visited Maliana twice over the past 12 days to monitor the situation in the town, one of the biggest trouble spots for the UN Assistance Mission in East Timor.
In related developments, an acting UN spokesman, Mr Hiro Ueki, said two voter registration centres in Balibo, close to Maliana, were closed on Sunday as a result of militia threats.
Trouble started when a group of 20 to 30 militiamen approached the centres and tried to register using only a government-issued identity card.
They were turned away because they were unable to produce evidence of voter eligibility, Mr Ueki said yesterday. "The militia group threatened to destroy the centres and as a result they were closed," Mr Ueki said.
Yesterday all 200 voter registration centres across East Timor were open and UN sources said more than 180,000 people had been registered -- well above expectations.
[On July 26, the ABC also reported that the findings of a UN investigation into the incident found it was organised by the Indonesian military, specifically by Maliana's military commander and the town's deputy chief of intelligence. It said that the report has not yet been made public but has been seen by armed forces chief Wiranto - James Balowski.]
Dili -- The arrest of a gun-toting militia member at a United Nations registration post Thursday was the latest in a series of violent incidents in this Indonesian-ruled territory this week.
"There just seems to be a general upsurge of activity over the last four days," a well-informed local source said.
Indonesian police arrested an Aitarak militia member with a triple-barrelled homemade gun stuffed down his shirt at a school in the west Dili neighbourhood of Bairo Pite, sources said.
At the time of the incident, at about 8.30am, only a few residents had arrived at the school to register for the August 30 vote on East Timor's future being organized by the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET).
Another incident blamed on pro-Indonesian militias involved several men armed with homemade guns and machetes near Dili's Mercado Municipal Wednesday afternoon, according to a witness.
The market area has been tense since Monday when one man, whom Aitarak said was one of their members, received a severe stab wound. During the incident, at least two other men who happened to be in the area were slashed by militia swords for no apparent reason, witnesses said. They said militias threw stones and showed a grenade when a UNAMET car arrived in the area.
That night, a witness said, about 30 militiamen with homemade guns loitered across from a police station in the market area.
On Tuesday, Indonesian police recovered a mutilated body in the mountains just south of Liquica, a troubled district west of the capital. The corpse, which has not been identified, had almost been decapitated and both arms were nearly severed, sources said.
Another body turned up the same day near the southern East Timor town of Suai. A source said it appeared to have been there for two or three days.
Also Tuesday in the Suai region, a man wearing a grenade loitered outside a voter registration centre, the source said.
Mike Head -- The United States and the World Bank have both threatened Indonesia with diplomatic and financial retaliation if the Jakarta regime continues to support militia attacks on people in East Timor, in the lead-up to next month's scheduled UN- supervised ballot on autonomy or secession. The threats from Washington underscore the critical economic and strategic interests at issue in the former Portuguese colony and throughout the entire Indonesian archipelago.
Stanley Roth, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, spent two days in Jakarta late last week before touring East Timor for three days -- becoming the most senior US official to visit the island. Speaking in Jakarta after meetings with Indonesian President Habibie and other political figures, Roth warned that if the UN ballot were derailed by security problems, "that obviously will have consequences and affect relations with a number of countries around the world -- including my own".
As well as talks with Habibie, Defence Minister and armed forces chief, General Wiranto and Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, Roth met opposition leaders, including Megawati Sukarnoputri. Roth said he was now confident that she would accept the outcome of the UN ballot, a process that she stridently opposed during the June elections in Indonesia.
Roth also made a point of spending an hour with Xanana Gusmao, the jailed president of the East Timorese independence coalition, the East Timorese National Resistance Council (CNRT). Over the past two years, Roth has held several discussions with Gusmao, who aspires to lead an East Timorese administration under UN supervision.
On arrival in Dili, the East Timorese capital, the next day, Roth reiterated his warning. Accompanied by the US Ambassador to Indonesia, Stapelton Roy, Roth said: "The United States has been very clear, as have some other countries and UNAMET, in expressing concerns about militia violence and where they've gotten their support from. I think I made clear yesterday the fact that there was significant evidence that elements of the military have been supporting some of the militia groups, and that that was a large contribution to the lack of security."
An even more blunt threat came from the World Bank. Its representative in Indonesia warned on Wednesday that the bank and international donors could cut off funds to Indonesia if the UN ballot were disrupted. "I certainly understand from a number of donors that they share a strong interest in ensuring that the UN process in Timor proceeds smoothly, and that there is a peaceful election in East Timor," Mark Baird, World Bank country director for Indonesia, told a news conference in Jakarta.
Member countries of the Consultative Group for Indonesia are due to meet in Paris on July 27 and 28 to discuss loans for Indonesia. The World Bank said they were expected to pledge $5.5 billion to $6 billion to plug Indonesia's budget gap in the current financial year. "I'm sure the situation could be different if there was a change in the situation in East Timor, and I'm sure donors will be watching that very closely," Baird said.
While Roth was still in Jakarta last Friday, UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan announced that voter registration would commence that day for the ballot to be held on August 21 or 22. Annan, who had earlier postponed the voting, said he would again review the situation midway through the three-week registration process. This week he stepped up the pressure on Jakarta, declaring that militias were still posing a fundamental challenge to the vote.
Various other powers have raised the stake in the Timor conflict in recent days, including Portugal, Britain, Japan and Australia.
Portugal's Foreign Minister warned Indonesia not to make the ballot a farce. Senior officials from Lisbon were due to meet Indonesian representatives at the UN this Thursday to discuss the number of Portuguese and Indonesian monitors for the poll and also what would happen after the ballot. Under the UN plan, if the Indonesian autonomy scheme is rejected, East Timor will revert to Portuguese sovereignty, to be governed by a non-elected interim UN administration.
Britain sent a protest to Indonesia on Tuesday about the use of British-supplied war planes in East Timor and continuing violence by pro-Jakarta militias. The Blair government's move followed reports that a British-made Hawk jet belonging to the Indonesian air force swooped over Dili last Thursday in a show of force. The British Labour government has previously refused to halt the supply of 16 Hawk jets to the Indonesian military.
Japan, the largest single provider of aid programs in Indonesia, moved to reinforce its interests in the region. Its foreign minister, Masahiko Komura, announced a visit to Indonesia later this month, where he would raise the Timor issue with Habibie.
Not to be left behind, the Howard government in Australia said on Tuesday that Foreign Minister Alexander Downer would visit Indonesia and East Timor on July 30 and 31, becoming the first Australian minister to set foot on the island since it was invaded by Indonesia with Australia's connivance in 1975. Downer announced his trip in a speech to the Indonesian Business Forum in Melbourne.
Military preparations
Canberra has also prepared for possible military intervention, under the pretext of protecting Australian diplomatic staff or police serving under UN command. Unnamed military and diplomatic sources told the Melbourne Age this week that Australia's elite Special Air Services (SAS) was on standby in the northern Australian city of Darwin, just 600 kilometres from Dili. Moreover, the sources indicated, the SAS had already been engaged in on-ground reconnaissance in East Timor. Ironically, the sources expressed the hope that Indonesia might be favourably disposed to SAS personnel entering the island because of past joint training exercises between the SAS and Indonesia's own special forces, Kopassus.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Howard confirmed that thousands of troops were on alert to move into East Timor, if asked by the UN. The government has completed the formation of a 3,000-strong Brigade that is on 28-day alert in Darwin, with another Brigade on the same alert in Townsville, also in northern Australia.
This Wednesday, the Indonesian regime responded by accusing Australia of interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs and of seeking to dominate East Timor. "Australia cannot act as a godfather ... We reject Australian intervention," one of Habibie's advisers, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, told the Jakarta Post.
Anwar also denounced Canberra for the publication in Australian newspapers of an apparently leaked secret Indonesian report canvassing the prospect of a secessionist victory in the UN ballot. The document speaks of Indonesia losing the effort to "win the hearts of the people". It calls for greater Indonesian resources to "empower" the pro-integrationist militias, speaking of the necessity for "a new injection of strength".
The report is dated July 3 and signed by H. R. Garnadi, special assistant to General Feisel Tandjung, who is Co- ordinating Minister of Politics and Security/Internal Political Affairs and a previous armed forces chief.
It describes the militias -- who have killed more than 100 people since January -- as the "heroes of integration". It also forecasts a bloody payback by pro-independence Falintil guerillas if the vote goes against Indonesia. "In such a case, the Indonesian government will not be able to wash its hands of the problem, if later the integration forces are butchered." This could become the pretext for instigating a bloodbath, as the generals did in Suharto's 1965-66 coup and again following the 1975 Timor invasion.
The Indonesian regime, which is still essentially run by the military, is determined to cling to its rule and substantial business investments in East Timor. This was further demonstrated when General Wiranto and 15 other government ministers -- half of Habibie's cabinet -- visited the island last week, ostensibly to show their commitment to a fair ballot. Information Minister General Yunus Yosfiah warned Indonesian civil servants working in the territory that they would be sacked if they supported independence. Yosfiah, a former military commander in East Timor, was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying: "If a civil servant from the provincial ministry is pro- independence ... that person should be terminated from the civil service."
Aid agencies report that the militia terror is worsening. They estimate that 60,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, which have often been torched or ransacked by pro-integration militias. Most are living in terrible conditions, lacking proper shelter, food, clothing, sanitation and medical services. Malaria, dysentery, TB, diarrhoea, scabies and infected sores caused by malnutrition are rife. Militias have blocked UN-backed relief convoys seeking to deliver food and medicine to refugees.
Another 11,000 refugees are in Dili, unable to return to their villages to register for the ballot. And according to one report, 9,000 refugees have disappeared after fleeing from Liquica, 40 kilometres west of Dili. "This is a major hostage crisis," an Australian aid worker said. "They call them internally displaced persons but they are hostages to the militias. They have been told that if they vote for independence, they will be killed."
Timor leaders woo corporate investors
In the face of this humanitarian catastrophe, the leaders of the secessionist CNRT are urging the Timorese people to remain passive and place their faith in the Western powers and the UN. They are also becoming more open in their support for the US, Portugal and Australia, as well as the transnational corporations that control the huge oil and gas reserves off the Timorese coast.
Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra on July 13, the CNRT vice president and foreign representative, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, reiterated support for the Timor Gap Treaty signed between Indonesia and Australia in 1989 to carve up the underwater riches between them. In the event of independence, East Timor would want a stable investment and economic regime, he said. "Australian mining interests in the region shouldn't fear the change of political status of East Timor."
Horta extended his assurances to all sectors of the economy. An independent East Timor could be "relied upon to give the right signals" to investors. It would look for investment in oil, gas, agriculture and tourism. He also mooted special offers in the sphere of offshore banking, banking secrecy and flag-of- convenience shipping. "So I believe investors in Singapore, Hong Kong or in Australia would have an interest in investing in East Timor." It would also use its status as a former Portuguese territory to gain access to European markets. Horta had previously announced the use of the Portuguese currency and, ultimately, the Euro.
In his speech, Horta said pro-independence forces in East Timor would accept autonomy within Indonesia, if that were chosen at the UN ballot, and work with the pro-integration factions to implement it. This amounts to a pledge to share office with the same militia leaders who are killing and terrorising the Timorese people. Horta also restated the CNRT's desire for a power-sharing transitional government to administer the half island under UN supervision for at least three years in the event of a vote to break away from Indonesia.
Earlier, Horta gave a press conference at the New South Wales state parliament house in Sydney, where he called for the US and the World Bank to apply sanctions against Indonesia if the UN ballot were further postponed.
There is considerable discussion among oil companies about the prospects of fully exploiting Timor's oil and gas wealth under a new government. At an oil industry conference in Darwin late last month, Robert Mollah, the Australian executive director of the Australia-Indonesia joint authority for the Timor Gap, said a feature of the past year had been widespread recognition that the Timor Sea is a major gas/condensate province. He said 27 companies had spent more than half a billion dollars on exploration and development in the zone. The major company was Phillips Petroleum of the US, followed by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Australia's Woodside Petroleum. By current industry estimates, the region's known oil reserves are worth $11 billion.
It is this wealth, just a
portion of the immense natural resources across Indonesia that excites
the interests of the capitalist powers, the Indonesian generals and the
aspiring Timorese capitalists, not the plight of the Timorese people.
| Presidential succession |
Vaudine England, Jakarta - Efforts by the Muslim-based political parties to offer a new presidential candidate are gathering steam, partly to avoid having a woman in the top job and partly to avoid what Muslim leaders label a "polarisation" of society.
But the ability of a combined Muslim force to find a candidate who is neither Megawati Sukarnoputri nor incumbent president Bacharuddin Habibie -- the winner and runner-up respectively in recent parliamentary polls -- remains in doubt.
Amien Rais, leader of the National Mandate Party, which secured less than 10 per cent of the vote in the June parliamentary polls, is leading moves to form a so-called "axis force" -- a combination of his and several smaller Muslim parties.
If these parties can combine, they could gather a majority of seats in the prospective People's Consultative Assembly (the MPR) which must choose a president by November, thereby propelling a new candidate into the presidency.
But some are sceptical about the plan's chances. "As far as Islamic parties are concerned, they can work together, but if they have to decide among themselves [on a president], they will have difficulty," said Mohamed Fajrul Falaakh, a chairman of the country's largest Muslim organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama. "So we have conflicting political interests leading in to the presidential election."
Achmad Syafei Maarif, acting chairman of the second biggest Muslim group, Muhammadiyah, believes that Ms Megawati's candidacy is hampered by more than her sex.
"Megawati was also a member of parliament for two terms before," he said. "It would be very easy to say that Megawati is part of the past regime."
Both men admit that there is no single block of votes representing Muslim interests, and the political map is further complicated by the fact that Abdurrahman Wahid, known as Gus Dur, is both chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama and leader of the National Awakening Party.
He is personally committed to supporting Ms Megawati's candidacy, but he cannot guarantee her the support of his Nahdlatul Ulama followers. "Even though the kiyai [Muslim preachers] won't cite a religious reason [against Megawati], they do consider other factors," said Mr Falaakh.
Many Muslims felt Ms Megawati was not progressive or reformist enough to bring real change to the country, he said. "She has been silent for several months, which demonstrates she is not sure what to say," he said. "So the question for the religious leaders is: is she is capable enough to manage high office?"
Andreas Harsono, Jakarta -- Indonesian presidential front- runner Megawati Sukarnoputri broke her long silence after winning the parliamentary elections here and spoke for 80 minutes Thursday in a speech that answered critics on issues ranging from Islamic law to separatist movements in East Timor, Irian Jaya, Maluku and Aceh. The spech sparked a 2.9 percent rise in the nation's stock market.
Taxi drivers, street vendors and blue-collar workers in the streets of Jakarta stopped their activities to watch TV or to listen to their radios as Megawati delivered the nationally- broadcast, some of them applauding as she spoke.
The speech had moments of great intensity. When talking about Aceh, Megawati sobbed for minutes before wiping her eyes, and calling on the Acehnese people to be patient and to wait for her government.
"I always remember the struggle of the people of Aceh. I'm going to give my soul, I'm going to give Arun back to you and I'm going to see how beautiful is this 'Verandah of Indonesia'," as the region is sometimes known.
Arun is a resource-rich area of Aceh, the northernmost part of Sumatra, whose wealth has usually been channeled to Jakarta. Many Acehnese have demanded that income from the Arun natural gas fields be returned to the people of Aceh,
It was Megawati's first policy speech since her Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) topped the June 7 multi- party elections with 33.7 percent of the vote.
Megawati said that she had won the mandate of her party to fight for the the presidency later this year, vowing that her government will uphold the rule of law, promote non-violence and fight corruption in this, the world's fourth most populous country.
"Everyone who is guilty will be brought to justice, and it is not only former President Suharto but also his cronies, which include the incumbent president," said Megawati, referring to President B.J. Habibie. He was a close aide to Suharto who had allegedly used his power to enrich his children and friends while in power for 33 years.
The 700-strong People's Consultative Assembly is scheduled to convene in November to elect the next president. Megawati's main rival is Habibie, whose Golkar party took second place with 22 percent of the votes.
Critics say that Megawati should not be the president on the grounds that Islam prohibits women from becoming a head of state. They also say that non-Muslim legislators dominate Megawati's PDI-P party.
In turn, she accused her critics of manipulating the teaching of Islam, saying the charge that her party is dominated by non- Muslims is false. She also said that all of her legislators are instructed to pay attention to the needs of the Muslims.
"I just let these politicians use all of their intrigue and manipulations to see how far they could go," said Megawati, adding that the Indonesian people, however, did not buying into their manipulations and still voted for her party.
Megawati also mapped out her plan to take Indonesia out of the ongoing economic crisis, saying that her priority is to restore the confidence of the business world in Indonesia. She stressed the need to uphold current contracts and to reshape many economic institutions.
Political scientist Eep Saefulloh Fatah of the University of Indonesia said that the speech was a good one. Megawati finally came out with her political ideas, which are more liberal than many people thought, he said.
A number of foreign diplomats and leading politicians such as Edi Sudrajat and Matori Abdul Jalil, who preside over two other major political parties, also attended the speech at her party's headquarters in southern Jakarta. "I'm sure Megawati is going to be the president," Matori told reporters. His party is apparently prepared to support Megawati.
Megawati also said that her government would respect the results of a forthcoming UN-sponsored referendum in East Timor. "The agreement signed by Indonesia and Portugal is binding in nature for the whole Indonesian nation." Violence has repeatedly pushed back the date of the referendum.
The people of the former Portuguese colony invaded by Indonesia in 1975 are now due to vote on August 30 whether to accept or reject an offer of autonomy under Indonesia.
However, Megawati warned any other troubled areas of Indonesia, such as Aceh and Irian Jaya, against trying to use the East Timor referendum as an argument to try to break away from the republic her father, the country's first president, helped found.
She frequently lashed out at the regime of deposed dictator Suharto and "its successor" that she said has used the military to repress people in areas such as East Timor, Irian Jaya, Aceh and Maluku. She said her government is going to change the military into a defense force that is not involved in politics, as it is now.
Comments in the speech that backed free-market economic policies sent the moribund Jakarta Stock Exchange soaring 2.9 percent.
Jeremy Wagstaff and Puspa Madani, Jakarta -- More than half of Indonesia's political parties -- all but one of them without a seat -- have refused to ratify last month's election, citing allegations of fraud. While delaying by at least a week official release of the results, the setback, analysts and politicians say, isn't likely to do any lasting damage to the political process.
The election commission -- dominated by representatives of the 48 political parties -- was due to ratify the results Monday. That would have confirmed the allocation of seats in the country's parliament. This 500-member body would then form the bulk of an electoral college due to elect a new president later this year. Release of the results has been awaited for more than a month, mostly because of technical delays. Now, president B.J. Habibie has given a separate body, the official election watchdog Panwaslu, a week to investigate the claims. He then has the authority to approve the results himself, if necessary overriding the commission.
Monday's boycott wasn't unexpected. Two thirds of the parties had to approve the election results to make them official: On the day, 27 refused to sign and four didn't turn up to vote. The smaller parties are using their votes on the commission as "a bargaining chip," says Eric Bjornlund of the US-based National Democratic Institute.
The NDI and other election monitors say that while they have found some evidence of fraud, there is no sign it would have significantly altered the result: Those 17 parties who did sign account for 93% of the vote. Says Andi Mallarangeng, a government-appointed election commission member: "The result of the election has been acceptable and credible."
The election watchdog isn't likely to be sympathetic to claims of fraud either. Members don't believe fraud was widespread, and won't spend more than a week investigating claims unless they are specific -- and new. That means that the results of the election, announced by the election commission's sister body earlier this month, could become official early next month and allow political bargaining to begin in earnest.
Still, the news adds another layer of uncertainty to an increasingly drawn-out political process. The markets sensed the growing unease: Jakarta stocks fell by 5.3%, while the rupiah continued a slide begun last week. It was quoted at 6,995/7,015 against the dollar in late local trade compared with 6,800/6,880 at Friday's local close.
Monday's events mark another low in the short but controversial history of the election commission. Formed as an umbrella body linking official appointees, public figures and party representatives, it has been plagued by allegations of corruption, political self-interest and incompetence. Leaders of the smaller parties denied they were rejecting the results because they had won no seats. "No, no, no, it's nothing to do with it," said Nugroho Imam Santoso, deputy chairman of the Abul Yatama party, which won 0.2% of the vote. "We just want to be sure the election is free and fair."
Even the commission chairman himself, respected former general Rudini, came under fire Monday for joining those refusing to ratify the results. As a member of one political party which won no seats, "I was asked by my central board to do so," he said. Fellow commission members were critical: "It's a clear conflict of interest," said Hasballah Sa'ad, who as representative of the National Mandate Party ratified the results.
It is a reflection of the contortions Indonesia has gone through to introduce a credible democratic system after decades of authoritarianism. But when the results are eventually ratified, analysts and diplomats say, the episode will be quickly forgotten as the main political parties open more formal talks about coalition building ahead of the presidential election. What talks have begun have largely revolved around two camps: Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and incumbent president Habibie's Golkar and Islamic alliance. "This is the real game," said one diplomat. "This episode is a sideshow."
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri has launched a scathing attack on President B.J. Habibie, accusing him of being blinded by greed and trying to cling to power without listening to the Indonesian people.
Despite her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle finishing a clear first in the country's elections last month, Ms Megawati said the poll was "still befouled by money politics and other forms of intimidation".
This was particularly so in rural areas and islands outside the densely populated Java, where support for Ms Megawati was strongest. Dr Habibie's Golkar party, which came second at the polls, won most of its votes in the outer islands.
Ms Megawati, the 52-year-old daughter of Indonesia's first president, Dr Sukarno, and a staunch nationalist, chose the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun to give her most comprehensive statement since the elections.
The 700-member People's Consultative Assembly meets in November to elect a new president for the next five years.
Positioning herself for what she called a political tug-of-war between reformists and a small group of politicians representing narrow, vested interests, Ms Megawati linked Dr Habibie to the manipulative and allegedly corrupt practices of the former president Soeharto, who was forced to resign last year.
The small group of politicians which supported the Soeharto regime, including Dr Habibie, had not yet realised most Indonesians no longer wanted them, she said.
"After three decades of political and intellectual coma, Indonesia has now woken up and will not go back to sleep," she wrote in the paper.
Responding to a campaign by Muslim groups opposed to a woman leading the predominantly Islamic country, Ms Megawati said some people "have clearly adopted the view that the end justified the means, with no regard for the truth of their accusations and no respect for the holy teaching of Islam itself".
"In the same way, they also say that my party and I have no policies for rebuilding Indonesia. These are the same people who want to cling to power even though they have been so clearly rejected by the majority of the Indonesian people."
With the backing of small Islamic parties and perhaps the armed forces, Golkar's strategists say Dr Habibie will have the numbers to block Ms Megawati's bid for the presidency.
Golkar has re-endorsed Dr Habibie as its sole candidate for the next five-year term despite warnings by students and other groups that they will take to the streets if Ms Megawati is not elected to lead the country.
Ms Megawati said she must remain patient in the face of the "political irresponsibility" of people who wanted to cling to power despite being rejected by most Indonesians.
"My priority is not political point scoring, but the preservation of my country's unity. In my heart I have a feeling of sorrow that in this crucial time for my country there are those who are so blinded by greed as to try to remain in power without listening to the voice and heartbeat of the Indonesian people ... the people are no longer blind and deaf as they were in the past, now that their political blindfold has been removed."
Ms Megawati said the drastic drop of support for Golkar at the elections "illustrates that the educated, potential middle class, the backbone of the nation's political and economic future, have clearly said no to Habibie".
Sigit Widodo and Andrea, Jakarta -- Around two thousand people demonstrated at the National Election Commission (KPU) offices bringing the traffic on Jalan Imam Bonjol to a complete stop.
The demonstration started at 10am and included activists from Jabotabek KIPP (the Independent Election Monitoring Group), KPM (Mega Support Committee), FPR (Peoples Forum of Struggle), KOMRAD (Student Committee for a Democratic Society), KOBAR (Workers Committee for Reform Action) and KUBI (Greater Indonesian University Family).
FPR arrived with banners and a number of flags reading "The People's President Megawati". They also had demands including "The New President Megawati", "Disqualify Golkar", "Investigate the perpetrators of July 27" and "Stop Militarism and Abolish the Dual Function of the Military".
"The results of reformasi towards a new Indonesia was done by all of the people, not by [President] Habibie, not by the 700 members of the parliament because the people are the highest holders of the people's sovereignty. Vox populi vox dei", said an FPR activists.
KPM who also supported Megawati carried banners with "Megawati or Revolution, a New President Megawati". The song Revolution or Death could be heard being sung by students from KOBAR, KUBI and KOMRAD.
Meanwhile, around 500 police were stationed around 200 metres from the front ranks of the demonstrators. Around 50 metres from the traffic lights the police had already established a police line. This was in case the KPU offices were demonstrated against by large number of people. Before it was the People's Democratic Party [who's 2,000 strong demonstration was fired upon by police on July 1, injuring at 76, four seriously - JB]. There were also hundreds of riot police with water cannons and a truck carrying barbed wire barricades.
Around 100 KIPP activists renounced the political parties which are refusing to sign the election results saying that those who choose to reject the election results must give a detailed explanation.
KIPP also criticised the KPU for not being independent and called on the election body to give a guarantee to the people to investigate cases of election fraud before stating the results are official or not.
[Translated by James Balowski]
| Political/economic crisis |
Ambon -- Clashes between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia's troubled Ambon island killed 24 people, hospital sources said Wednesday.
They died in fighting between late Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, the hospital sources said, adding that most died of gunshot wounds. It brings the number killed in fighting there this week to at least 34.
Police and military officials were not available for immediate comment. About 800 marines arrived in Ambon city Wednesday afternoon and quickly tried to quell the rioting.
A local journalist said Wednesday's fighting between Christians and Muslims broke out in five different areas in Ambon city, about 1,440 miles east of Jakarta. Sporadic fighting were also reported in villages just outside the city. "They virtually used every weapon available, machetes, spears, bows and arrows -- even crude bombs," said the journalist.
Ambon island lies at the center of the Moluccas, or spice islands, which have been the scene of Indonesia's worst religious violence in decades. Fighting in the islands has killed around 400 people this year.
Geraldine Yeo and Yeoh En-lai -- Bustling Batam became a ghost-town yesterday as residents stayed indoors and shops stayed shut after at least nine people died in ethnic clashes that started over the weekend.
Singapore businessmen reported close shaves on the island, about a 45-minute boat ride from here, following clashes between two immigrant groups, apparently over control of a bus route.
And up to 8pm, the dead and wounded, including one man who had his head hacked by a parang, were still being brought to Budi Kemuliaan Hospital in the island's main town of Nagoya. The hospital had reported at least three dead.
In Sekupang, in the north-west of Batam, where passengers taking the Batam ferry service from the World Trade Centre disembark, security officers armed with shotguns were seen guarding the nearby Otorita hospital.
There were six bodies in its morgue and six people in its emergency ward -- victims of hatchets, steel bars, knives and other sharp weapons.
Residents said that the fighting was sparked off when immigrants from Flores, an island in eastern Indonesia, tried to muscle in on a bus route now run by the Bataks, originally from north Sumatra.
While most of the disturbances took place in Batu Aji, 30 minutes from Nagoya by car, there was at least one instance of trouble in the town centre of Nagoya itself, resulting in the Sentosa hotel locking its doors to the public.
A Singapore businessman who was there with four others on Wednesday recounted how a group of parang-wielding Bataks attacked the hotel in their search for Flores.
The troubles, however, have not affected Singapore-owned shipyards on the island's north-west or the Batamindo Industrial Park in Muka Kuning run by Singapore's Sembcorp Industries.
"The operations of our park have not been disrupted in any way, and the inflow of raw materials and the outflow of products are proceeding normally," Batamindo said in a statement yesterday. "We are monitoring the situation and have been assured by the Batam Police that they have everything under control."
The Nagoya town centre was quiet. Shops had closed by mid- afternoon as shopkeepers shied away, fearing trouble.
While most victims were members of the two immigrant groups, there may have been at least one case of mistaken identity.
Miss Hariyanti, 21, who was watching over a friend, a 25-year-old security guard who had been stabbed in the head and brought to Budi Kemuliaan Hospital last night, said: "I don't understand why he was hit, he is not a Flores, he is not a Batak, he is Malay. I am very angry that this is happening. It should stop."
Mr Ricky Lim, honorary secretary of the Batam Singapore Club, said: "Even though the riots are contained in rural areas, we are still taking precautions. We've told our members not to wander around alone at night and to avoid travelling in rural areas if possible."
Officials are playing down the disturbances, with policemen offering assurances to visitors to the island.
"There was trouble a few days ago, but there's nothing to worry about now. Stay in Nagoya and you will be safe," said policeman Arief Nargono, who was guarding the duty-free shop at the ferry terminal in Sekupang.
Semarang -- The long standing economic crisis in Indonesia since July 1997 has affected the lives of children nation wide, evidenced by the fact that around 10 million of them are suffering from malnutrition.
Unicef's Representative for Indonesia and Malaysia, Stephen J. Woodhouse, said here yesterday that it is a serious problem because malnutrition not only increases childrens' resistance to various diseases, but also results in reduced IQ levels.
"There are about 10 million children suffering malnutrition. This means that from 12,500 babies born everyday, 5,000 of those have the potential for lower IQ levels," Woodhouse stated, here in the Central Java capital of yesterday.
According to the Unicef official, from this total of babies born in Indonesia, 600 died from a a number of malnutrition related diseases.
He was speaking when he launched the Indonesia-Unicef partnership program to improve child nutrition, which also involves the Family Welfare Movement (PKK) and other non- governmental organizations in the country. The program will provide high nutritious level food for babies and children under 5 years old.
Woodhouse also commented that the integrated service for babies and mothers (Posyandu), which are available in every Indonesian villages, have a main role in helping improve the welfare of children and mothers, and their presence should be revitalized.
According to Woodhouse, as
many as 40 under-five-year olds die in Central Java as a result of malnutrition
and related diseases.
| Aceh/West Papua |
Jakarta -- Residents in the troubled western province of Aceh have dug up 51 bodies of civilians killed by Indonesian trooops last week for allegedly possessing illegal arms, a report said Friday.
The bodies were found in four separate places on Wednesday and Thursday by residents in the Beutong Ateuh valley in West Aceh, the Kompas daily said. Twenty bodies were found in two places Wednesday, and 31 the next day in two further mass graves.
Local military commander Colonel Syarifuddin Tippe has said the military launched an operation in the Beutong Ateuh area to sweep for illegal weapons.
The villagers said residents were told by the troops to gather in a field near a school for an identity check, but opened fire and massacred them in cold blood. Initial reports had put the death toll at 31.
The residents, family members and neighbours of the dead, found the corpse of Tengku Bantaqiah, a former political prisoner who ran the school, with 23 other bodies in the largest grave site on Thursday.
Seven others were buried 50 meters apart from the main grave, while residents Wednesday found five bodies dumped over a 20 meter cliff and 15 others that had been thrown on a roadside about a kilometer away from the cliff.
The residents washed the bodies and prepared them for a proper Moslem burial, Kompas said, while troops watched from a distance from security posts which had been set up around the village.
In the July 23 raid the troops seized a camera, documents and two kilograms of marijuana, Tippe reportedly said, adding they also found 10 hectares (24 acres) of hemp plants. But a local human rights worker Yacob Hamzah said the hemp plantation did not belong to Bantaqiah or his followers.
More than 100 military personnel from (TNI-AD; Indonesian Armed Forces) commanded by BKO (Operational Unit) of Korem 011/Liliwangsa, composed of Yonif 131 and 133 and backed by one platoon from Battalion 328 Kostrad, commanded by Intel Korem 011/Liliwangsa, LetKol Inf Sudjono, in initial report have massacred more than 39 civilian in the valley of Singgah Mata, Blang Merandeh village, Beutong Ateuh, in West Aceh District.
This group of Forces was known to the people of Aceh as "Pasukan TNI Pembantai Rakyat Civil" or "The Civilian Killers".
The units used 17 military trucks traveling from Takengon, Central Aceh on 21 July 1999, toward Beutong Ateuh where the religious school under leadership of Tengku Bantakiah resides.
Around 4pm in the afternoon, on July 23, Indonesian Forces whose faces were painted in black dressed in full military uniform arrived in Beutong Ateuh, where Tengku Bantakiah and his family lives. The Indonesian Military immediately ordered the village leader of Desa Blang Merandeh to gathered all inhabitants/villagers (including children and women) to the second floor of Bantakiah's home.
Eight of the men in the village were rounded up by the soldiers to the mountain side used as guide to search for GAM (Free Aceh Movement Personnel). During the search they torched two houses and ransacked a few others. Failing to find anything, the Indonesian soldiers came back to Bantakiah's premises and ordered all men to get out of the house with hands above their heads.
Around 11pm, all 70 men from the village were ordered to line-up in front of Tengku Bantakiah home. Then, the commander of Indonesian Soldiers ordered Tengku Bantakiah to come forward. Witnessed by all villagers, including his son and his wife the commander shot Tengku Bantakiah at point-blank.
Usman, 28, Bantakiah's son ran to hold his father, was also shot at point blank, as well as Bantaqiah's wife. The Commander ordered the villagers to bury Tengku Bantakiah under threat of automatic weapons. Once the burial is over, the soldiers ordered the villagers to line up again -- and using automatic assault rifles began shooting at everyone insight. 28 civilians were killed immediately on the spot, they were dumped and buried in a well, behind BantakiahFs home. And, the injured were dump into a truck. The other eight civilians, rounded-up earlier used in the search for GAM was also murdered. During their trip back to Takengon, the soldiers killed the remainder of the injured civilians inside the truck. About 60 Acehnese civilians were killed that day by TNI-AD Military Personnel from Yonif 131, Yonif 138 and Battalion 328 Kostrad commanded by BKO) Korem 011/Lilawangsa.
The news about the massacred was only known by the locals on the 24th of July, 1999. A couple of witnesses were able to avoid the military check points and headed to Meulaboh (Capital City of West Aceh District). Once the news were leaked to the press, only then the rest of the surrounding villagers began their exodus. The villagers just have learnt that their neighboring villages men has been killed by soldiers.
Commander of Korem 012/Teuku Umar, Kol. CZI. Syarifuddin Tippe, statement of the massacred: "It is true that Tengku Bantakiah and his 30 followers were killed. It is because our intelligence unit knew that he has arms with him. And we have taken to custody AK-56, AK-47, Colt 38 Pistol, FN45, 100 ammunitions, 60 pieces of arms, 1 antenna radio Rango, 1 unit HT IC-02N, 2 Kg of Ganja, and they have knives." He added "It is not true that we killed civilians. The truth is that there was a battle, where we were attacked at two points before getting to Bantakiah place."
Head of Staff Korem 011/TU, Letkol. Inf. IRO SUPARMO: " There was no women killed in that incident. All of them were men from GAM.
Head of Korem 011/LLW, Kol.Inf. Syafnil Armen: All I know it is not Kostrad (Special Forces) who massacred those men. I have no knowledge of any Kostrad forces in Acehw. He added: Only forces from Korem 011/LLW and Korem 012/TU were used."
Head of Police in Aceh, Kol. Pol. Bachrumsyah: Those who are killed are trouble makers and ganja farmers, but we are still checking. He added: "fights broke out between Special Police and Bantakiahfs group for about ten minutes.
Ben Bohane, Irian Jaya -- From the air, the Fly River looks like a vast brown intestinal tract, twisting its way through the tangled jungles of southern New Guinea. In the last century, European explorers navigated the river to see if it led to the heart of the island (it did). These days, the Fly is an estuarine highway for barges carrying gold and copper concentrate from a mine upriver. While most of the waterway is located in Papua New Guinea, in parts it acts as the border between P.N.G. and Indonesia. Camped along its banks are some 8,000 West Papuan refugees fleeing Indonesian rule in Irian Jaya.
After a meandering five-hour trip up the river, one arrives at the Southern Command headquarters of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM), or the Free Papua Organization. This year is the 30th anniversary of Indonesia's formal annexation of Irian Jaya. In 1969, under the UN-observed Act of Free Choice, West Papuans were supposed to decide whether to join Indonesia or become independent. But only 1,025 handpicked men were allowed to vote, after being bribed and intimidated. (Indonesia's then-president Sukarno threatened to have their "tongues cut out" if they did not vote for integration.) The OPM has been carrying out a low- level separatist insurgency ever since.
In charge of the OPM's Southern Command is Bernard Mawen, a tall, slim man with a gray beard. Accompanying him is a younger man, Commander John Nek Nek, who leads the OPM's "progressive" faction. Delegates from all over Irian Jaya have gathered in this riverside village for a conference to discuss strategy, draw up a list of demands for Jakarta and, as it soon transpires, allow Nek Nek to effectively take up the reins of the movement.
In a curious way, the situation in the OPM mirrors the momentous change sweeping the archipelago. Just as Indonesia is moving uncertainly toward a shift in leadership after three decades, so too is the OPM attempting a smooth transition of power to the next generation. It is an equally fraught process. The OPM has long been characterized by factionalism, due as much to geography as to politics. Given the sheer size and terrain of Irian Jaya, the seven "commands" of the OPM have operated autonomously with very little coordination. Today, it has been left to the three active regional commanders -- Kelly Kwalik (Central), Matthias Wenda (Northern) and Mawen (Southern) -- to continue the struggle. All three have at some point claimed the mantle of supreme commander, and tensions have existed for many years between Wenda and Mawen.
Thus, the emergence of Nek Nek, 41, and his progressives as the new driving force in the OPM is significant. They have already reconciled the Northern and Southern Command leaders for the first time, as evidenced by the presence of Wenda's men at the conference. Asked what his priorities are, Nek Nek replies: "The first is unity. The OPM has become all-inclusive to avoid the factionalism of the past. I have tried to introduce a more democratic process within the OPM, holding forums like this one where everyone can speak openly, including women. This is important because when we achieve independence, we don't want to be dominated by militaristic thinking. Otherwise we are no better than the current regime."
That Irian Jaya must be independent goes without saying for the 100 or so conference participants, notwithstanding the reformist noises emanating from Jakarta. "Even if Megawati [Sukarnoputri] gets elected with her promises of reformasi, she is still the daughter of Sukarno, the man who invaded West Papua," says one delegate. "We think it is unlikely she would go against her father's policy." Indeed, like the founding president, Megawati is a nationalist to the core and opposes any territorial break-up of Indonesia.
The OPM will continue to train fighters, says Nek Nek, but the focus will now be on small teams of special forces, "like the Sparrow Units" -- a reference to the urban hit squads deployed by Philippine communist rebels.
Nek Nek explains the reason for the special units: "I believe that militarily we need to put pressure on Indonesia by hurting their economy. We will soon begin economic targeting." He declines to name any such targets, but one of them will likely be US resources giant Freeport, whose gold-and-copper mining operation in Irian Jaya accounts for 30% of Indonesia's export earnings.
The OPM hopes to achieve its ultimate aim within a decade. "We are looking at a transitional period to independence of perhaps five to 10 years," says Nek Nek. "That begins this year." Lately, with the world fixated on pro-independence rumblings in East Timor and Aceh, the plight of the Irianese has been almost forgotten. But that does not make the struggle any less urgent for the likes of Nek Nek. Jakarta would do well to take note.
Yindee Lertcharoenchok -- After the first ever face-to-face talks, representatives of the Free Aceh movement and a government-sanctioned Acehnese delegation yesterday expressed hope that both sides could strike an agreement, as early as next week, to end the violence in one of Indonesia's worst strife-torn provinces.
Although the talks did not produce any concrete results, both the exiled delegates of the Aceh-Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF) led by Dr Zaini Abdullah and the Jakarta-blessed five-member team praised the "informal meeting" as a good start for both sides to continue peace dialogues.
Speaking at a press conference, Abdullah, the ASNLF health minister, said it was "clear cut" that the Acehnese people want "independence" from Indonesia. But the Jakarta-blessed team said "nothing concrete had been achieved in the informal meeting."
Noernikmat, a Medan-based shipping businessman, and his five- member team, which was approved by both the Governor of Aceh and the Indonesian government, was scheduled to leave late last night for Stockholm where they hope to hold further discussions with Hasan di Tiro, the ASNLF leader who has been living in exile in Sweden since 1979.
The team, he said, will report the outcome of the talks in Bangkok and in Sweden to the Indonesian authorities upon their return to Jakarta. Along with other group members, Noernikmat said he hoped both sides could reach an agreement that would stop the ongoing atrocities and violence.
Noernikmat said his delegation, which includes a medical professor and a political economist, has planned to stay four days in Sweden and hoped that Zaini and his team could help arrange a meeting with their leader Di Tiro.
The two opposing delegates were in Bangkok attending a conference on Aceh with the theme: "Fifty-Four Years Within Indonesia."
At the conference, both Acehnese and international participants agreed that Indonesian military brutality against the Acehnese people has worsened following the deployment of more Indonesian troops in the rebellious province early this year.
Carmel Budiardjo, a well-known campaigner against human rights abuses in East Timor and Aceh, told the conference that what happened in Aceh was not a religious war as Jakarta has tried to portray but "repression perpetuated by the New Order regime of Suharto."
"The Suharto regime did not pick its victims on the basis of religion," said Budiardjo, herself imprisoned for three years without trial by the government of former president Suharto.
She said successive Indonesian governments have been "strictly for unitary states serving the central administration in Jakarta. Anything different from this ideology will be bound to be attacked."
She said she hoped the emerging elected government from the June 7 general elections "will have a change in attitude towards dissent" in Aceh and West Papua or Irian Jaya.
The conference yesterday agreed to form a joint committee to support Aceh, in particular to look into humanitarian efforts for the people in Aceh and to carry out political advocacy for the Acehnese cause.
In separate interviews yesterday, several Acehnese leaders including ASNLF Information officer Bokhtiar Abdullah has urged the international community, particularly the Asean members to help mediate in the peaceful settlement of the problem in Aceh.
Shalahuddin Alfata of the Fight and Justice Forum for Aceh has urged Malaysia to mediate in talks and find a peaceful solution for the free Aceh movement and Indonesia in the same manner Kuala Lumpur had successfully helped in the peaceful settlement of the dispute between the Muslim Moro group and the Philippine government.
Rebellion is seriously brewing in Aceh province. With an overseas arms supply, substantial funding and popular support, the Aceh Merdeka movement could pose a threat much worse than East Timor's separatist struggle.
By John McBeth in Jakarta, Syamsul Indrapatra in Banda Aceh, Nate Thayer in Bangkok and Bertil Lintner in Stockholm
When the Dutch colonialists came back to Indonesia after World War II, there was one part of the sprawling archipelago they made no effort to reoccupy: the lush, mountainous territory of Aceh, in the far north of Sumatra. Trying to pacify the proud and fiercely independent Acehnese, the Dutch had learned from long and bloody experience, would be just too hard and too costly. It is a lesson the Indonesian government has yet to absorb. More than four decades after self-styled military governor Daud Beureu'eh led a nine-year campaign to turn Aceh into an independent Islamic state, the province is again in turmoil. In the past two months, with separatist guerrillas intensifying an offensive going back to the start of the year, more than 120 people have been killed, hundreds of state schools and other public buildings have been burned, and 70,000 refugees driven into improvised camps along the northern coast.
Indonesian military sources say the resurgent Aceh-Sumatra National Liberation Front, also known as Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh), now has more than 800 men under arms -- four times as many as in the early 1990s when a brutal government crackdown left a bitter legacy of summary executions and mass graves. Many of the guerrillas' weapons have been smuggled through Thailand and Malaysia from the now-silent battlefields of Cambodia -- a pipeline that also feeds Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, Sikh separatists in India and Muslim guerrillas in the southern Philippines. Aceh Merdeka is also believed to be well funded -- not only by local sympathizers, but by Acehnese businessmen in Malaysia and southern Thailand.
For Indonesia's generals, it is this outside support that makes Aceh's rebels much more dangerous than the ragtag, poorly armed independence fighters of East Timor and Irian Jaya. With an arms supply, financial backing and growing popular support, Aceh's separatist movement will be much more difficult to deal with than East Timor's. Indeed, diplomats and analysts believe the renewed surge of guerrilla activity in Aceh over the past six months may explain why the military has been so reluctant to go along with next month's scheduled independence referendum in East Timor.
Unlike East Timor, which as a Portuguese enclave never participated in Indonesia's nationalist struggle, Aceh is an integral part of the independent nation-state that emerged after World War II. It was at the forefront of the war of resistance against the Dutch colonizers. It is also of major political importance to a country that has long prided itself on ethnic diversity. And due to its abundant natural resources, it is economically important, contributing more than most provinces to overall state revenues, but getting back only a minuscule amount in return.
"Independence for Aceh is non-negotiable," says presidential adviser Dewi Fortuna Anwar, who once lived in the province. "It's part of Indonesia and that's that." But in the hinterlands of Aceh, surrounded by guerrillas toting assault rifles, Aceh Merdeka field commander Abdullah Syafi'i is equally uncompromising. "We don't recognize Indonesia," he told visitors recently. "It doesn't exist."
In a rare interview on July 16 in the suburbs of Stockholm, Aceh Merdeka's exiled leader, Hasan di Tiro, dismisses Indonesia's new autonomy legislation as irrelevant and calls the Javanese "barbaric and uncivilized". What sort of message would he send to a new Indonesian government, perhaps one headed by Megawati Sukarnoputri whose party won the largest number of votes in June's parliamentary elections? "No message. They're all the same. Uneducated fools."
Pointing to the 2,000 people who died in the 1989-1992 military crackdown, human-rights groups insist the only way to halt the renewed unrest is to ensure that the army's past abuses are fully investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted. That would go some way towards redressing Acehnese grievances. It was a promise that President B.J. Habibie made when he visited the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, in March. But as in East Timor, the military is dragging its feet for reasons which are all too familiar in a country struggling to come to terms with its past.
Armed-forces chief Gen. Wiranto told a recent parliamentary hearing that investigations of abuses in Aceh could open the floodgates to similar grievances left over from former President Suharto's regime. That in turn could further undermine military morale and impede its ability to deal with future disturbances.
"That's a consequence that has to be accepted," insists Acehnese publisher Surya Paloh. He warns that if the government mishandles the situation, it could be confronted with a "second Mindanao" -- the rebellious island where the Philippine government has been battling Muslim insurgents for more than 30 years. "The difference between the past and the current situations is that Aceh Merdeka now has the support of the people," says Surya. "Before, it was only supported by the ulemas" or Muslim preachers.
The chairman of the Indonesian Commission on Human Rights, Marzuki Darusman, is worried that the referendum in East Timor could fuel the crisis in Aceh. If the East Timorese elect to separate from Indonesia, he says, "it could have an impact on Aceh unless the government gets its act together in restoring justice -- that's what they want there, rather than compensation and the building of infrastructure and other development projects."
Local anger is only one reason for Aceh Merdeka's resurgence. The deportation of Acehnese activists from Malaysia back to their homeland in March 1998 gave the separatist movement renewed impetus. Five months later, the withdrawal of Indonesian combat troops gave Aceh Merdeka more room to move. Neighbourhood rallies and the open display of pro-independence banners, flags and even weapons became commonplace. And a student-led movement for a referendum on Aceh's political future quickly gathered widespread support.
In late April, alarmed by the deteriorating situation in Aceh and a rising clamour for autonomy in other provinces, the government rushed through local-autonomy legislation promising decentralization of power over the next two years and giving resource-rich provinces a greater share of their revenue. But any goodwill the legislation might have generated was destroyed two weeks later when troops fired on a threatening crowd near the industrial city of Lhokseumawe in northeastern Aceh, killing at least 45 people.
Since then, two battalions of locally based territorial troops -- backed by 1,700 paramilitary police reinforcements from Jakarta -- have mounted offensive operations in response to a wave of ambushes, assassinations and arson attacks that have disrupted bus and truck traffic between Banda Aceh and the North Sumatran capital of Medan. In one of the worst incidents so far, guerrillas killed five soldiers and wounded 20 in a July 19 ambush on a military convoy east of Sigli, the Pidie district capital.
Ahmad Human Hamid, deputy co-ordinator of Care Human Rights Forum, reports more than 70,000 refugees scattered across Pidie, North and East Aceh -- the districts worst affected by the unrest, which has now spread to West and Central Aceh. Most of the refugees are Acehnese villagers, but Aceh Merdeka's harassment has also driven 15,000 Javanese migrants out of resettlement areas they have lived in since the 1970s.
Acehnese historian Isa Sulaiman puts the overall strength of Aceh Merdeka at more than 2,000. He estimates that 500-750 Acehnese were trained in Libya in the late 1980s when the movement began its revival; it's not known how many are still active. Exiled leader di Tiro puts the overall figure at closer to 5,000, but claims the training in Libya has ended. Armed- forces deputy spokesman Brig.-Gen. Sudradjat says: "We suspect it is about to be intensified."
Sudradjat confirms what military and diplomatic sources in Jakarta and Bangkok told the Review: Aceh is the latest destination for weapons that have been smuggled from Cambodia to Asian guerrilla movements since the early 1990s. The quiet western Thai port of Ranong on the Andaman Sea is widely believed to be the exit point for arms shipments to the Tamil Tigers, whose operatives have opened restaurants, vehicle-repair shops and other front organizations in Phnom Penh to finance the trade.
Indonesian intelligence sources suspect that the Pattani United Liberation Organization, a separatist Muslim group in southern Thailand, is helping to channel AK-47 assault rifles through the Thai-Malaysian border area to points along the northern Sumatra coast -- from Tanjung Balai, south of Medan, to Padang on the Indian Ocean coast.
Habibie feels he has little choice but to listen to the military, which has given itself until November to put a lid on the violence in Aceh. "While we appreciate what the human-rights groups are saying, when it comes to a really determined separatist rebellion, there has to be a military pacification effort," says presidential adviser Dewi. "They want to cut down the insurgency first, then hand over to the civilians to deliver a political solution."
Marzuki, the human-rights-commission chairman, says paying lip service to human rights while cracking down militarily isn't the answer. "I think we've passed the stage of hypocrisy there," he says. "It needs a political solution rather than a military solution." Local officials say Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud is seeking contact with Aceh Merdeka leaders. But the outlook isn't encouraging, despite reports of a planned meeting between the governor and di Tiro in Bangkok.
Di Tiro's aides dismiss Mahmud
as a "puppet of the Javanese." Di Tiro says of the government in Jakarta:
"I don't want to talk to them. There'll be no solution until and unless
the Javanese occupation army leaves Aceh."
| Labour struggle |
Jakarta -- About 80 workers, representing thousands of fellow workers at PT Tripatra Caltex Pacific, in the Sumatra province of Riau, yesterday reported a string of military cruelties to the House of Representatives (DPR).
They said, military personnel has shot workers at two separate demonstrations, on July 15th and 23rd, causing dozens of workers to be injured.
The workers were protesting against insufficient compensation given by the company to the dismissed workers.
"We demand the Defense and Security Minister take action against the military personnel who have acted brutally," a worker named Sunarty told the Observer after her meeting with leaders of House Commission V, in charge of manpower affairs in Jakarta.
At the meeting, the workers also presented legislators with used bullets and tear gas which was utilized by the military personnel to disperse the protesting workers.
Sunarty, who is also secretary general of Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), said the incident took place twice and had caused dozens of workers to be injured. "Some of them are now being treated at the Tabrani hospital," she added.
Fellow worker, Nainggolan, confirmed that thousands of workers had staged two demonstrations, protesting the terribly low compensation given by PT Tripatra Caltex Pacific (TCP) to their dismissed workers.
On September 17th, last year, TCP dismissed 12,000 workers. But the oil company did not give sufficient compensation to those workers.
Prompted by their dissatisfactions, the workers continuously staged protests. "We have been organizing demonstrations since June 21. But, up to present, there is no light of hope," Nainggolan said.
The workers delegation said they have also met with officials from the US embassy and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Responding to the description of the workers, legislator, Marzuki Achmad said the parliament will soon summon TCP and will urge the company to explain its policies.
"We are really sorry for that incident. It must not take place," he added. Also present at the meeting were legislators Syamsuddin, Suparta Nida, and Sofyan Mile.
Tantyo Bangun and Jonathan Sprague -- The west wind shakes the jermal -- a fishing platform perched precariously on log stilts in the shallow seas off north Sumatra. It is some hours after midnight. "Wake up! Your turn to pull the net!" shouts the foreman, shaking Dian and four other boys. They head out into the pre-dawn dark. For the next 12, 16, even 20 hours they will work -- lifting the heavy nets filled with teri, a small, anchovy-like fish, sorting the teri from stinging jellyfish or seasnakes, then boiling, salting and drying the catch. Then, after snatching a few hours of sleep, they will work again the next day, and the next, month after month.
Dian is a jermal kid. He says he is 17 years old, although he looks 14 or 15. In distant Jakarta, rival politicians spar over who can form a government as voters wonder whether democratic hopes fired by the first free polls in four decades will be answered. But that is a different world from here, where more than 5,000 kids, 10 to 17 years old, live and work on 1,500 or so jermal. Their world consists of rickety wooden platforms not much larger than a tennis court, 15 to 50 km off the coast, perched meters above the waves. Perhaps 10 workers live on each. Usually there is little in the way of safety equipment. Living amenities are minimal. Often only the foreman has a proper bed.
Once aboard, the boys are cut off from families and friends. The minimum stay is three months. "Those who go home before three months won't get any pay -- that's the boss's rule," says Dian. And the wage is meager for all that backbreaking work. Beginners get $7.50 a month, while an experienced boy may get $12. Maybe. Owners usually deduct the cost of food, often without explanation. And since the money is handed over only when a boy is leaving, complaining is useless. The pay and conditions fall well below minimum levels required by law and may be illegal for children. Nonetheless the kids come, driven by necessity, often unaware of what they are getting into and sometimes tricked or virtually kidnapped by unscrupulous agents.
The poor pay and hard work are just the beginning. Jermal kids tend to be chronically tired from the long hours and irregular rest, increasing the probability of accidents and injuries. Nutrition is poor. Meals consist almost entirely of fish and rice; vegetables are a rarity. Medical treatment is primitive or non-existent. Isolation breeds emotional problems. There are fights among the children every day. Worst is the abuse -- emotional, verbal, physical, even sexual -- at the hands of older workers or the foreman. Not every jermal is so hellish, but none are places for a child. "The first three weeks I almost couldn't stand it," says Dian. "But since the boss's rule was that I could get my money only if I worked at least three months, I forced myself to stay." He has now been aboard five months, without once setting foot on land.
Some kids cannot stand it, but leaving requires the foreman's permission -- which is not always forthcoming. Some try to swim for shore. Last year, Husni Hasibuan, 14, and Amin Soleh Pangaribuan, 13, tried to escape their jermal, according to the Indonesian Institute for Child Advocacy. They used a large pan for boiling fish as a boat, but it quickly capsized and they were soon separated. Husni swam for an hour before he found the stump of an old jermal on which he clung until he was rescued by a passing fishing boat. Amin swam for five hours before he too was found by a fisherman. They were lucky. In October 1996, 13-year old Jumadi fell through a hole in the deck of his jermal while winching up a net; Miswan, 14, dove in to save his friend. Their bodies washed ashore a few days later.
Child labor was not a major concern for Indonesian authorities for decades, though Jakarta seems to have woken up to the problem since the fall of former president Suharto. The government last April finally ratified the 1973 Minimum Age Convention of the International Labor Organization. In October, the ILO, which has long targeted jermal kids as a priority concern, and Indonesian authorities will to start working together to get children off the fishing platforms and keep them off.
Operators say their days
are numbered for economic reasons. "We can't compete with the large trawling
net," one says. "The repair and maintenance cost is too big. Jermals can
only operate for five more years." But five years can be a lifetime for
a child trapped on a jermal in the middle of the sea.
| Human rights/law |
Ati Nurbaiti and Santi W.E. Soekanto, Jakarta -- Fifteen-year-old Ranti wept with pain when an elderly man deflowered her at a brothel in Jakarta, but she managed to stop crying upon being told he would pay her Rp 700,000 (US$106).
As it turned out, she received only Rp 50,000 because most of the money went to her "Mama Yuyun" who took her and her friend Santi as new additions into the collection of young girls between the ages of 14 to 20 at her brothel in the Kota downtown area. Most of the "guests" here are men aged about 35 years or older, who believe sleeping with teenage girls revive their virility and signs of manhood.
The "Mama" insisted most of the money went to Ranti's father and a procurer who brought the girls to Jakarta from a small West Java village where parents, aunts and uncles, and even village officials prepare girls for prostitution at an early age. Some mothers prefer to have their daughters work as prostitutes rather than see them "laze around" at home.
"He [the elderly first client] told me that if I did it often enough, it wouldn't hurt any more," Ranti told a researcher commissioned by the International Program of the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), which is an arm of the International Labor Organization.
"Every guest pays Mama between Rp 75,000 and Rp 100,000 for a date of up to three hours. I didn't know how much I made because Mama took some of it for my room and board," Ranti said.
Ranti went home when she felt she could no longer tolerate clients who demanded that she do "perverse things", but she could not stay home for too long because her mother nagged her to return and make money. She moved to another brothel, where she got her first experience of venereal disease. "I felt hot flashes, lots of pain down there," she said.
Ranti went back home, and her mother took her to a doctor who gave her three injections. Within two weeks, she recovered, and her mother again sent her away.
Santi recounted how her parents and elder sister Ira talked her out of marriage with a poor mechanic when she was 14. Instead, Ira took her to a procurer known by many locals as Pak Rahmat who then brought them both to Jakarta.
"I knew I would get a lot of money because I was still a virgin, unlike Ira who was already divorced," Santi said. "As far as I know, my father received Rp 1 million from Pak Rahmat for allowing him to take me with him."
Santi's father then took the girl to the village official, who took note of the brothel that Santi was being sent to and her alias. "When I had my first guest, I cried, because he was so rough," Santi said. "A lot of blood came out of me."
The Mama gave her two days respite, before making her return to work where she met her second guest, a 50-year-old man who wanted to be called Oom Roy and bought Santi clothes and gave her big tips on subsequent visits.
Every month, Santi's parents came to collect up to Rp 750,000 from her. "I am not afraid of the 'dirty disease' because I take herbal concoctions and wash myself after receiving guests."
Ranti and Santi were among the seven prostituted children studied by the researchers, who also studied five brothel owners, seven customers, 15 friends and relatives of the prostituted children and eight procurers in Greater Jakarta, Indramayu in West Java, Surabaya and Banyuwangi in East Java.
The ILO adopted in June the International Convention No. 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labor, which it defines as, among other things, "the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances". Schools
School is, of course, out of the picture now for Ranti, Santi and others like her. But in some areas, school has become a nonoption, no matter how temporarily, for children simply because there are no schools.
Some 15,000 children in the troubled regencies of East Aceh, North Aceh and Pidie could not go back to class in the new academic year that began on July 19 because around 110 schools were burned down in conflicts between the military and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
Some Rp 15 billion would be needed to rebuild and repair the torched buildings, Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud said. But every second of precious time is being wasted and formal classes will not be resumed for some time.
The list of child victims of violence is long. The Foundation of Indonesian Children's Welfare (YKAI) says 64 children between the ages of six and 18 were killed in the Santa Cruz military shooting in Dili, East Timor, in 1991.
In the clash between military personnel and followers of Warsidi, the leader of a religious sect, 66 children between the ages of one and 18 allegedly died.
In the May 1998 riots in Jakarta, one 13 year old and one eight-month-old infant died of gunshot wounds, while 20 other children between the ages of 12 and 17 died in burning buildings.
In the military shooting in Simpang KKA, Lhokseumawe, Aceh, on May 3, 1999, eight children between the ages of six and 17 died of gunshot wounds, while 22 others were seriously injured. During the unrest on May 15, 1999, in Ambon, two children reportedly died of gunshot wounds.
Child prostitutes and child victims of violence are indeed touchy subjects, but activist Panji Putranto of IPEC pleads for attention for the majority of children whose fate is never reported by the media. Some 70 percent of child workers labor long and hard in rural areas, where their economic contribution to their families is taken for granted.
These children do not go to school, but work in the fields, do chores at home and simply re-tread the path to poverty that their parents took before them. The domestic child workers, at the tender age of 10, are taken to the homes of richer folks where they serve their days away without adequate rest or play, which is their right.
There are organizations and activists who strive to assist the child prostitutes and street children, but the young people in rural areas are often not as lucky. They will grow up and struggle to escape poverty by seeking menial jobs in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia or Hong Kong.
One of the reasons there are no programs to help the silent majority is that people simply do not see any problems, Panji said. "How can you raise noise about a problem which people think is not a problem?" Panji said. "Many people employ children as their servants and do not see it is wrong."
Jakarta -- Experts are concerned by the increasing number of child prostitutes to be found on almost all major streets of Surabaya, the country's second largest city.
Growing demand by men over 35 for the sexual services of minors are blamed for the increase. Antara quoted legal expert Getrudis Angsana as saying the phenomenon developed in tandem with the onset of the economic crisis, unlike in Yogyakarta where the incidence of child prostitution grew whenever payment of school tuition arrived. "Their number has increased along with the increase in demand for their services, from clients who are mostly men aged 35 or older," Angsana said at a seminar held in conjunction with National Children's Day, which falls on July 23. "There is now the so-called 'golden triangle' (where child prostitutes operate), which covers Apsari Park, Simpang Dukuh and Embong Malang areas."
Angsana, who studied child prostitution for her thesis, said minors were in demand and could earn more than their adult counterparts. "Most of the prostitutes are 15 years of age, and their number continues to increase because they attract more clients than adult prostitutes do," she said. "They command prices ranging from Rp 100,000 to Rp 150,000 for one assignation, so they can collect up to Rp 500,000 a day."
Their procurers took "only 20 percent" of their payments, she said. However, they forced the child prostitutes to sleep with them as part of the relationship.
The seminar, held by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and Child Protection Institute (LPA), also featured health experts Sri Adiningsih and Soehartono. Angsana identified economic, social and psychological factors behind the teenagers' decision to enter prostitution.
They included peer pressure, the desire to earn easy money and an escape from uncaring family circumstance. Soehartono said the prostitutes faced health risks of unwanted pregnancy, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Social ostracism was another problem. Hargandono of the provincial office of the Ministry of Social Services noted policies introduced to curb prostitution, including the granting of scholarships, the establishment of halfway houses for street children and home care.
Recent studies in Greater Jakarta and Greater Surabaya found the institutionalization of child prostitution, with parents, neighbors and even village officials and chiefs involved. Girls were raised and treated as "capital" for later income for parents.
Children as young as 12 were sold by their parents to the highest bidder. The study was commissioned by the Jakarta office of the International Labor Organization, whose International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor has included child prostitution in its fight against the worst exploitation of working minors. Director of ILO Jakarta Iftikhar Ahmed opened a workshop on child labor in Bogor by noting that six million children between the ages of seven to 15 dropped out of school during the crisis.
Many of them have been forced to work to supplement their families' income. "This will cause a massive impact on the quality of Indonesia's human resources, [which will in turn] adversely affect the country's future."
He appealed for greater attention
to children who were exploited and forced to work in hazardous jobs. Minister
of Manpower Fahmi Idris said in his address that the problem of child labor
was complicated and needed an integrated, comprehensive approach. "This
is a problem that is associated closely with the social economic background
of our country, our cultural and educational background," he said. The
workshop will last three days.
| News & issues |
Jakarta -- Former Indonesian president Suharto was discharged from hospital and returned home Friday after 10 days of treatment for a minor stroke, witnesses said.
The 78-year-old former strongman was taken by wheelchair from Jakarta's Pertamina hospital to a waiting Mercedes sedan, accompanied by his eldest daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana, an AFP photographer said.
A journalist at Suharto's central Jakarta residence said the former head of state, whose right side was affected by the stroke, was assisted from the Mercedes by one of his younger daughters Siti Hediyati Hariyadi.
Suharto, who looked pale, managed to walk with help through his front door. He smiled at journalists, some of whom called out "Welcome home," she said.
A hospital spokewoman and Suharto's eldest son Sigit Harjojudanto said earlier Friday that a team of seven doctors and the hospital manager were meeting to determine whether the former president could go home.
Suharto ruled Indonesia for 32 years until he stepped down amid widespread popular unrest in May last year.
Paris -- Jakarta secured a pledge of $5.9 billion in foreign aid on Wednesday, despite demands from human rights groups that cash be held off pending a vote on self rule for the East Timor territory which Indonesia invaded in 1975.
The aid, to shore up Indonesia 's 1999 budget and bolster the government's efforts to pull the economy out of recession, was announced by the World Bank after a meeting with around 30 donor countries at the World Bank's Paris office.
"Indonesia 's donors delivered a strong message today with a pledge of $5.9 billion in foreign assistance for the Indonesian fiscal year 1999/00, in support of Indonesia 's staying the course of economic reform, continuing to protect the poor, and stepping up the fight against corruption," the World Bank said in a statement.
The World Bank, which hosted the meeting here, had called on both the Indonesian government and donors to "stay the course" on political and economic reform underway since the fall of strongarm president Suharto last year.
The outcome followed talks at which Indonesia 's top economics minister, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, promised the government would forge ahead unflinchingly with deep-rooted political and economic reforms.
Jakarta had been told during
the talks that it could count on continued financial support as long as
it continued to root out corruption, overhaul its banking and corporate
system and work on democracy following June's parliamentary election.
| Environment/Health |
Singapore -- Singapore was enveloped Thursday by haze from raging plantation fires largely in the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the meteorological service department said. It said the hazy conditions were expected to prevail over the next two days.
Southwesterly winds carried the smoke from "hotspots" observed in the province of Riau in central Sumatra, said Wong Teo Suan, a spokesman for the meteorological service department. Sumatra lies west of Singapore.
Hotspots were also noted by satellite in the large island of Borneo, in the Indonesian region of Kalimantan, particularly in the seaport of Pontianak, Wong said. Borneo, which is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, lies to the east of Singapore.
"Today the wind has changed in a southwesterly direction, that is why we are seeing some haze," Wong told AFP.
However, Thursday's haze was minor compared to the pollution in 1997 and 1998 when fires in Sumatra and Borneo caused health and transport problems in the region. The environment ministry said the pollution was at "moderate" level.
Wong said a shift of wind direction to the southeast could help improve the situation. The southwesterly winds blow until October.
The meteorological service department and the environment ministry said occasional hazy conditions were expected in the region until October because of the dry spell.