• Wahid quietly keeps extremists in check - South China Morning Post
• Indonesians guessing what Wahid's next move is - Straits Times
• Yusril reelection causes split in PBB - Jakarta Post

• Jihad fighters arrive in Maluku - Straits Times
• Radical jihad fighters board ship for Maluku - Straits Times
• Six killed in Ambon violence - Jakarta Post

• Aceh colonel admits 'dead or alive' order - Agence France-Presse
• Jakarta to keep troops in Aceh after accord - Agence France-Presse
• 'Let us correct the history of West Papua' - Green Left Weekly
• Tribal war in West Papau kills 100 - Associated Press
• Fresh allegations of brutality in Aceh - Straits Times
• West Papua in the grip of militia terror - The Australian

• Jakarta gives angry teachers 150% hike in allowances - Agence France-Presse
• Thousands of workers commemorate Labor Day - Jakarta Post
• Jakarta workers warm up for Labor Day - Jakarta Post

• Political prisoners record their experiences - Green Left Weekly

• New Zealand details Suharto's Kiwi assets - Agence France-Presse
• Try, Moerdani grilled over Tanjung Priok incident - Jakarta Post
• Wahid visits banned leftist writer - Agence France- Presse
• Lawmakers raise own salaries despite workers' protests - Channel News
• Suharto 'may escape on technicality' - Straits Times
• Two students shot dead in Medan - Jakarta Post
• Air interception shows lingering hostility - Sydney Morning Herald
• Poverty hampers RI social security system - Jakarta Post

• Forestry graft probe has no teeth: ICW - Jakarta Post

• Indonesia's future hinges on how military is handled - Agence France-Presse
• Renew Indonesian military links: Beazley - Sydney Morning Herald

• Rupiah undervalued due to volatile politics - Jakarta Post

Officer admits order to mobilize troops in Timor

Jakarta -- The former chief of East Timor's Battalion 745 in Los Palos, Major Jacob Joko Sarosa, confirmed yesterday his superior had told him to mobilize troops after the East Timor ballot on August 30 last year. He said barring an order from his superior, the troops would still remain in military barracks.

Sarosa made the confirmation while he was questioned by the Attorney General Office (AGO)'s joint investigative team for East Timor human rights abuses. His lawyer Herman Umar said the questions were about Sarosa's activities and working experiences during the post-ballot riots.

Herman said his client had also discussed the killing of Dutch journalist Anderson Thone. But he strongly refuted speculations that the journalist was killed by his troopss. Sarosa, as quoted by lawyer Umar, confessed that he told his troops to intimidate the press by damaging their cars and cameras.

On the killing of the Dutch journalist, he said as soon as he got the report he went to Los Palos to identifying the victim. He said he saw knife and spike wounds on the body. But after the body was flown to Australia, the UN Assessment Mission on East Timor (UNAMET) announced that there was a bullet lodged inside the body. "How could there be a bullet wound while the body was brought to Australia?" Sarosa told Umar.

Former Deputy of the Army Chief Lieutenant General Johnny Lumintang, meanwhile, denied allegations that he had sent a telegram to the local commander to wreak total destruction in East Timor after last year's ballot.

He made the statement to the press after being questioned by the AGO joint investigation team yesterday. Lumintang was accompanied by his lawyers Tommy Sihotang, Ruhut Sitompul and Hotma Sitompoel.

"My presence here is to clarify the telegram I had sent to the Udayana Military Commander. The telegram was about anticipating the worst in East Timor," he said. "At that time, there were two options. The second option, which is independence from Indonesia, means preparations for evacuation. The duties were handed over to the Udayana Military Chief in order to avoid a civil war," he said.

Sihotang said the telegram was sent to the military personnel and their families. "That had nothing to do with total destruction of East Timor," he said.

He strongly criticized the poor records of the Commission of Inquiry on East Timor Human Rights Abuses (KPP HAM). "The probe [into Lumintang] is the result of the non-professionalism of KPP HAM. The telegram was a message to TNI members that if there were chaos, TNI members told to leave East Timor. That had nothing to do with totally destructing East Timor," he said. Sihotang suggested that former Army Chief General Subagyo should also be summoned to clarify the matter.

East Timorese in Yogyakarta Meanwhile, a report says that hundreds of East Timorese who reside in Yogyakarta have no clear idea on whether they are Indonesians or East Timor citizens.

Speaking to the press after a meeting with Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengku Buwono, East Timorese Octavio A.J.O Soares confirmed that there are at least 150 East Timorese who live in Yogyakarta. "Eighty of them are civil servants," he told detikcom.

Octavio said the East Timorese left for Yogyakarta after the ballot that resulted in the secession of East Timor from Indonesia, and currently hold no IDs. "Even so, they are prepared to become Indonesian citizens. The problem is that they have no proper documents to verify their status," he said.

Octavio said neither the East Timor nor the Indonesian government has thought about the future of the refugees. They lead a nomadic life in Java, moving from relatives to other relatives in the last eight months, he said.

During the meeting, the East Timorese vowed to become Indonesian citizens and called on the Yogyakarta administration office to pay attention to their fate.

Albright urges East Timor punishment

Washington -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is demanding punishment for those responsible for an "orgy of violence" in East Timor after it voted for independence from Indonesia.

The prospects are promising, she said Friday, citing recent moves by Indonesian investigators to question top generals.

"The bottom line is those responsible for orchestrating this blood bath must be brought to justice," Albright said in a speech on war crimes to an editors group in Arlington, Va.

The United Nations took over administration of East Timor last year to end a campaign of violence by pro-Indonesia militias.

Albright said she was encouraged the Jakarta government has appointed a commission of inquiry, which means hard-liners cannot dismiss the process as Western-imposed, politically motivated justice.

Signs of progress emerge from rubble

The UN has made solid progress despite early snags, but problems persist, reports Herald Correspondent Mark Dodd in Dili.

Along the roads winding up into East Timor's highlands or meandering along the pristine coastline, the sound of nails being hammered into timber is becoming as familiar as the sight of shiny roofing iron replacing weathered sheets of blue emergency plastic.

More than seven months after local militia members and their Indonesian military backers rampaged through Dili and beyond on a binge of murder, looting and destruction, most of East Timor's 800,000 population can report some progress in rebuilding their lives.

In towns and villages stockpiles of imported timber and galvanised sheeting are a common sight, as the tiny half-island territory embarks on a construction frenzy. Is it time to give the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) a pat on the back?

The timber comes from Indonesia, so the country whose security forces allowed the destruction to occur in the first place has been rewarded with multi-million-dollar contracts. UNTAET justifies the purchase by the UN refugee agency, its sister organisation, on economic grounds.

East Timor, May 5, 2000: one year after the landmark agreement paving the way for a UN-supervised vote on self-determination, the Indonesians have gone and so has the much praised Australian-led International Force in East Timor that oversaw their departure.

The devastated territory is now administered by a Brazilian diplomat, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, a seasoned UN veteran who recently declared an end to the emergency phase of the operation.

Mr Vieira de Mello's team costs about $A1.2 billion a year to run, and employs an 8,200-strong peacekeeping force. Add to that 580 international staff -- more than a handful of whom might be said to be of dubious qualification and motivation -- an under- strength civilian police force (Civpol) of 1,100, mostly male officers, about 200 UN volunteers and 1,400 local employees, several hundred of whom are on strike.

Facing mass unemployment, East Timorese have pressed the UN to employ more locals through increasingly angry protests. Last week, about 200 local staff went on strike over pay and conditions.

Even the future of UNTAET's top officials has become the subject of debate. Several diplomats said the ambitious and talented Mr de Mello might well leave before the end of the mission.

One man he would like to see leave is his chief of police, Mr Carlos Lima, a Portuguese whose performance to date has been judged by his own senior officers as mediocre.

In its four months of operation, internal disputes, bureaucratic wrangling and power plays have hindered progress, but there is no denying the UN mission can claim marked improvements in human rights, police training, access to education, public health, electricity, water, roads, telecommunications, security and even law and order.

"There have been many achievements, things you don't see but without which nothing could go forward," an UNTAET spokeswoman, Ms Barbara Reis, said.

The perception that not much is happening is shared not only by the CNRT grouping that struggled for independence, but also a growing number of disenchanted UN employees.

Publicly, the independence leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, praises Mr Vieira de Mello. Yet senior CNRT officials say that he is losing patience with other UN officials. He and his Nobel laureate colleague Mr Jose Ramos Horta want more East Timorese involvement in the transitional process.

Outside Dili, it is the same story. UNTAET headquarters was too unresponsive to districts' needs, complained one senior UN official in south-western Suai who asked not to be named. The official queried the competence of UN staff after the appointment of a third district administrator in almost as many months.

Choking bureaucracy is a factor holding back reconstruction in Suai, probably the district hardest hit by militia violence last September.

The number of four-wheel-drive vehicles parked outside UNTAET's Dili headquarters gives the impression of an off-road convention. Yet in far-flung regions where roads are disintegrating by the day, two Civpol detectives investigating 500 murders and several hundred militia-related rapes have to share three 4WD vehicles with 17 police colleagues. Their assessment of UNTAET's priorities is unprintable.

A program funded by the World Bank that began in February has placed 160,000 children in classrooms in about 660 primary schools in all 13 districts.

The September violence hit schools hard. The UN Children's Fund estimates that 90 per cent of buildings were destroyed or damaged, with equipment looted or burnt. At least 80 per cent of the 2,000 secondary school teachers, mostly Indonesian, fled to West Timor and have not returned. Universities remain closed while the Catholic Church struggles to plug the gap in secondary education.

Portugal is likely to fund construction of new secondary schools while pushing for the language of instruction to be Portuguese -- not a popular decision among all the territory's students.

Law enforcement is becoming a popular profession. More than 12,000 applications were received from East Timorese who wanted to join the new police service, although only 150 were selected for the first training class. The UN plans to train 3,000 East Timorese police officers within three years.

They will have their work cut out. Crime is rife, from knife attacks, muggings and public disorder to petty theft and extortion. Jails are filled to capacity with murderers while East Timor's new courts have yet to hold a single trial. A new Canadian deputy police chief, fresh from Bosnia, promises change for the better.

The telephone system is working again, and East Timor has an international dialling code. And the fledgling Border Control Service has assessed more than $A1 million in customs duties in its first month of operation -- a long way from economic self- sufficiency, but a start.

Selfish bureaucrats ruining East Timor, says ex-UN planner

Mark Riley, New York -- The architect of East Timor's administrative blueprint for independence has accused United Nations bureaucrats of putting the territory's future second to their own careers in a way that "borders on criminal negligence".

Professor Jarat Chopra launched the stinging attack on former senior UN colleagues after walking out of his job as head of the UN's Office of District Administration in Dili just four months into a two-year appointment.

"I believe they have no sincere commitment to the spirit and the letter of the mission's objectives, nor any genuine consideration for the country or the people of East Timor," Professor Chopra said.

"The object of the game for these people is seeing what level they can attain in this mission to propel them up the power structure for the next. If the mission in East Timor ends in disaster, that is fine for these individuals as long as they attain a certain bureaucratic status and can move on." Professor Chopra is a veteran of more than a dozen UN missions since 1989. He is a research associate and lecturer in international law at Brown University in the United States and a former special assistant in peacekeeping at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. The UN gave him the crucial role of designing and implementing an administrative framework for the new East Timor.

Visiting New York for meetings with foreign affairs colleagues, Professor Chopra said the East Timorese should do all they can to wrest sovereign control of their country from the UN administration, known as UNTAET, either through their own representative body or by forcing an early general election and handover of power.

Professor Chopra said the experiment of investing sovereign control of the territory in the UN has failed because the interests of the East Timorese people have been secondary to the self-interest of the bureaucrats.

He claims the UN administrator in East Timor, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, has been insulated by his senior bureaucrats from the daily operations of the mission and from the obvious problems developing on the streets outside.

"The mission is not on top of the problems that are spiralling out of control in East Timor because the pattern for bureaucratic paralysis was set very early on and has become so deeply ingrained that not even [Mr Vieira de Mello] can stop it," he said.

"Sergio is like a pre-constitutional king with enormous legislative and administrative powers in his hands, but he is virtually powerless to control his own organisation."

Professor Chopra said the mission had the opportunity soon after its arrival in November to set a firm timetable for independence and establish clear milestones along the bumpy road to an ultimate transfer of power to the East Timorese.

He claims the senior bureaucrats blocked that move because it did not suit their own career designs. "They called themselves the Government of East Timor, this rather pathetic group of three or four people sitting around a table with an agenda of self- advancement and self-aggrandisement," Professor Chopra said. "I believe that acting this way at a time when you have the future of a country in your hands is bordering on criminal negligence."

Mr Vieira de Mello has responded to Professor Chopra's criticisms by saying it was a shame that the former district administration chief had not brought the issues to his attention earlier.

However, Professor Chopra claims he tried on several occasions to inform Mr Vieira de Mello, but his memos were intercepted each time by the same bureaucrats he held responsible for the mission's failings.

He walked out of his job after being frozen out of the power structure. "One day my computer disappears, and then my desk ... Is it with this childishness that we should fulfil a mandate that entrusts us with nothing less than the fate of a people and a territory?"

Tension rises in West Timor camps

West Timor -- Tjitske Lingsma, reporting from one of the most notorious of the refugee camps, considers West Timor may end up with the monster created by the Indonesian army: the East Timorese militiamen.

Three Indonesian soldiers escort journalists visiting the Tuapukan camp for East Timorese refugees on the outskirts of the West Timorese capital, Kupang. Tension hangs over the slum of huts made of palm leaves and plastic sheets provided by aid agencies. In makeshift dens basic products such as soap, eggs and oil are sold. Refugees walk in and out. But due to the volatile atmosphere, Western reporters are told before entering not to disclose their identities.

A group of five militants are positioned under a bamboo shed. The Timorese interpreter avoids them. Hard-core militias hate whites, whom they associate with the UN that organised the referendum last August.

The Indonesia-backed militia groups are part of the pro-autonomy movement that lost the vote, when 78.5 per cent of the East Timorese voted for independence. In the weeks following the referendum the Indonesian army and collaborating militia took revenge, destroying 70 per cent of East Timor, killing hundreds of people and forcing thousands of East Timorese to neighbouring West Timor.

Maria (31) opens the curtain that serves as the door of her hardboard barracks-style shelter. Being a widow, she stays with her brother's family and 10,000 other East Timorese refugees in Tuapukan camp, which accommodates mainly East Timorese who are serving in the Indonesian army or militia.

UNHCR staff responsible for repatriation don't enter the camp without a military escort. In the latest incident two Timorese were killed in Tuapukan -- one of the most notorious of the 200 refugees camps in West Timor.

Maria answers questions nervously. Through the thin walls neighbours and the three soldiers outside can hear every word she utters. "I'm fine," she says, in her shelter where the humidity reaches extremes. But her home in East Timor was made of concrete. In Tuapukan she has only a mattress, some bags with clothes and cooking material. Maria voted for autonomy and has no idea when she will return to East Timor.

UNHCR's massive information campaign explaining that East Timor is basically safe enough to return to has not reached Maria. Since October half of the 250,000 East Timorese refugees have returned home. They managed to escape the campaign of terror the militias and army were waging against pro-independence refugees. According to the latest census by the Indonesian government some 130,000 are still in West Timor, though international organisations suspect that number to be inflated. Since December the repatriation has slowed down dramatically.

Many factors account for the slow return. The intimidation by militias forcing refugees to stay as their power base in West Timor is one element. East Timorese culture, in which people do not take individual decisions but wait for village heads, is another. Furthermore, 12,000 exiled civil servants are still receiving salaries, which they would have to give up on returning to devastated East Timor. East Timor is still facing an emergency situation, with few jobs or schools and no functioning government or justice system. Some East Timorese refugees manage to cross the border to work their lands but make sure to be back for the next food distribution in West Timor. Most of the exiled autonomy elite can afford to live in houses in West Timorese towns. Most of the lower ranks have ended up in the 200 camps, where life is difficult. Despite relief efforts malnutrition is reported. Since last year more than 1,000 refugees have died, with malaria being one of the main causes of mortality.

But in West Timor, one of the poorest regions of Indonesia, the local population has become increasingly jealous of the East Timorese. In their hearts all Timorese refugees want to go home. But the UNHCR estimates that of the remaining 130,000, only 60,000 will eventually return. The Indonesian government is preparing the transfer of East Timorese military and civil servants to other parts of the archipelago. In West Timor the local government is creating resettlement sites. West Timor may end up accommodating a monster created by the Indonesian army: militias accused of gross human rights violations.

Evidence taken from 'torture centre'

Mark Dodd, Dili -- United Nations police and human rights investigators have begun inspecting what is claimed to have been a militia torture centre used last year to force independence activists to support integration with Indonesia.

The existence of the alleged torture centre, near the south coast town of Zumulai, was reported by local residents, Ms Barbara Reis, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Transitional administration in East Timor, said yesterday.

She said witnesses had told how two weeks before the August 30 referendum, about 70 members of the Mahidi militia group from Ainaro kept 29 activist leaders and pro-independence Timorese nside the house.

One of the objectives was to force them to sign statements in support of autonomy in East Timor. Civilian police said they had strong evidence that at least two people had been executed there.

Investigators are taking evidence from witnesses and former detainees. Other evidence includes manacles, clubs, blood- spattered walls and empty shell casings.

The Mahidi (Life or Death Integration) militia, led by Cancio Lopes de Carvalho, was one of the most extreme of the pro-Jakarta militias. Its members are also linked to the Suai Cathedral massacre which left -- by some accounts -- as many as 200 killed.

The UN's chief human rights official in East Timor, Ms Sidney Jones, said about 80 people were in detention linked to post- ballot violence, mostly murder or rape. Ms Jones said the best estimate of the number of people killed in last year's violence was between 1,000 and 1,500. "It is certainly higher than the number of cases currently under investigation," she said.

The transitional administration chief, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, yesterday officiated at a ceremony marking World Press Freedom Day in the Dili suburb of Becora, where on September 21 a Dutch journalist, Sander Thoenes, was murdered by soldiers from the Indonesian army Battalion 745.

Several days later, an Indonesian reporter, Agus Mulyawan, was shot dead in eastern Los Palos by pro-Jakarta militia. Other victims included an East Timorese radio reporter, Bernardine Guterres, murdered on August 26.

Refugees, worried by reports of harassment in East Timor, have virtually stopped returning from the neighbouring Indonesian province of West Timor, according to the UN refugee agency.

Many who remain in camps in West Timor are former Indonesian soldiers, pro-Indonesian militia members or their relatives. "What's holding them up is the fear of reprisals in East Timor," a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said. Only "several dozen" people had registered to go back over the past week end.

Our East Timor role not so noble

Australia failed to fulfil its duty of care to the Timorese people who were placed at risk by our Government's policy, says Tony Kevin.

On April 10, Radio Australia carried this news story around the Asian region: "A former diplomat says Australia sullied its reputation by being ready to sacrifice East Timor lives. Retired ambassador Tony Kevin told a Senate inquiry that Australia saw the Timorese as expendable in pursuit of big prizes and the rush to last year's vote."

"This is why I find Mr Howard's and Mr Downer's statements that they have no regrets for anything Australia did in East Timor last year indeed that they take great pride in what was done sad and disturbing. I am distressed that the Australian Government's high-risk and manipulative policy in 1999 effectively made our country an accessory before the fact in the deaths of large numbers of East Timorese, the deportation of 200,000 people and the almost total destruction of their society. I feel a sense of dishonour as an Australian."

Four senators attended the Foreign Affairs Committee session on April 10. Senator Ross Lightfoot closely interrogated my testimony. Other senators present (Hogg, Brownbill and Payne) also put searching questions. The session was on Parliament House closed-circuit television and is now in Senate Committee Hansard. There were no subsequent questions in Parliament. No newspaper or journal apart from The Australian carried any report of the testimony. No ABC news or current affairs program reported it. No public affairs institute registered the testimony. Is this not strange? Given the seriousness of the allegation and its presumably responsible source, why the huge silence? What does this say about Australian political culture? Perhaps we do not like to hear bad news about ourselves.

We were horrified at what we saw from East Timor on our TV screens through September. For a few weeks then, a terrible doubt almost broke through our comfort level. Some of Australia's top international affairs analysts and editors offered various versions of a disturbing critique: that the tragedy of East Timor during September ought to have been foreseen by Australia. Some of these commentators went further, suggesting that Australian policymakers had foreseen the possibility and had factored it into their planning: "Canberra's massacre we had to have". These concerns flickered briefly in the public consciousness, and then vanished.

The story was shelved as attention moved to the drama of Australia's InterFET deployment and, in foreign policy news, the meaning of the new "Howard doctrine" on Australia's regional relations. Little more was heard of the disturbing questions about Australia's possible share in accountability for East Timor's tragedy, until my April 10 senate testimony.

Senator Lightfoot's question whether I was "raking over the old coals trying to find some embers there" deserves a public consideration. My testimony was based entirely on published sources, including intelligence reports leaked and published during 1999. I made a detailed comparison of what intelligence and other reports were coming into the Australian Government and when, compared with what ministers were saying to Parliament, the media, and foreign governments at those same times. I concluded that a misleading information policy had been followed, at least from February to May and possibly also from May to August 30 [voting day].

The discrepancy between the intelligence and the policy articulation was so great over these seven months that it cannot credibly [however charitably] be attributable to naivety, gullibility or ineptitude. And there was logic in the policy. In the first phase, February-May 1999, the key Australian policy goal was to keep President B. J. Habibie's fast-track timetable to a UN-supervised August 30 referendum [without UN peacekeepers] on schedule at all costs. This required shrugging off as unreliable or inconclusive a huge quantity of hard intelligence and eyewitness reports warning of a likely scorched-earth campaign if the East Timorese voted for independence. After the May 5 Indonesian-Portuguese-UN agreement to hold a referendum on August 30, Australian ministers became a little more frank in admitting the dangers facing the East Timorese people. Now, the election program having been more firmly secured in the UN calendar, the policy priority was to build up international pressure on Indonesia to respect the outcome of the forthcoming election, to get the world more engaged in East Timor as a human-rights issue, and to address the credibility problem in Washington where East Timor was seen as internationally insignificant.

At the same time, Australia could not afford to excite international human-rights anxieties to the point where the UN or US might decide the risks to the East Timorese people were so great that the exercise must be postponed until after Indonesia had an elected president. Australia was determined to keep moving the process forward while we had the chance to do so. When the vote was held on August 30, it was certainly Australia's hope that despite all the prior threats and intimidatory violence, the Indonesian Army (TNI) and their outrider militias would accept the reality of the 80 per cent vote for independence, and logically abandon their opposition. But the fact that they did not do so that they proceeded with the scorched-earth policy they had threatened all along was evidently no great surprise to the Australian Government. Australia was ready with a swift diplomatic strategy to secure a UN-endorsed "coalition of the willing" peacekeeping force in record time, to convince President Bill Clinton who just happened to be in New Zealand at the time, and to have our soldiers ready to deploy to Timor at a few days' notice. In Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer's apt words on September 4, Australia had "calibrated this pretty much right all along". The only problem is: the Timorese people, who seemingly were never consulted by Australia as to whether they wanted their lives and society to be put at such terrible risk, fell victim to this failed policy of deterrence. East Timor became Australia's own "town we had to destroy in order to save it". And Indonesia not just the perpetrators of the criminal actions in Timor, but wide sections of the Indonesian educated community feel angry with Australia for having in some sense betrayed their country: first, by encouraging their weak interim President Habibie to maintain a policy that Australia must have known from its intelligence was being hugely subverted from within his own government and military; and then, finally, by humiliating Indonesia in the eyes of the world when General Wiranto's policy of intimidation ended so bloodily. Whether or not my critique is 100 per cent correct, it has raised important questions of Australia's degree of accountability which have not yet been answered (or, for that matter, asked at the political level). Having launched an active Australian diplomacy for East Timor in February 1999 in which, as Howard and Downer have said, Australia played a very large role did our country fulfil its duty of care to the Timorese people who were placed at risk by the policy? In my judgment, based on present public information, Australia did not. The question also follows whether it is appropriate for Australian ministers to continue to approach Indonesia on the premise that Australia played an entirely noble role in last year's East Timor events, and that any reconciliation between our two neighbouring countries must be based on eventual Indonesian acceptance of this self-evident truth. If my analysis of what happened last year has any validity, it may take more than just time to heal these Indonesian wounds.

The continuing frictions and disruptive incidents in our bilateral relations suggest that a more courageous pursuit of self-knowledge leading to reconciliation may be needed in both countries, and not just in Indonesia. Perhaps we all Australians, not just our present Government need to look more searchingly into what happened in our own country's East Timor diplomacy during 1999.

[Tony Kevin was Australia's Ambassador to Cambodia 1994-97. He is now a Visiting Fellow in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University). The full April 10 testimony is in the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Hansard.]

CNRT moves for constitutional conference next year

Acting for a speedy independence, the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) has proposed the creation of a joint commission with the territory's transitional United Nations administration to prepare a constitutional conference next year.

CNRT Vice President Jose Ramos Horta announced the initiative Wednesday during a seminar on Timorese, Indonesian and European Union relations in Bogor, Indonesia. He said the proposal had already been presented to UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mello.

"I don't know when [East] Timor may declare its independence. Perhaps August 30, 2001, or later. But we must have essential conditions in place before this, namely the formation of democratic and political institutions," Ramos Horta told Lusa.

He said the CNRT had altered its plans for a lengthy transition to independence, which some Timorese leaders had put at up to 10 years, because donors backing reconstruction "frowned" at a long timetable. "But when we speak of an 18-month or two-year transition, they are pleased," he added.

East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia last year in an August 30 plebiscite, which was followed by an anti-independence rampage led by militia groups with Indonesian military backing.

Ramos Horta also underlined that given the small size of the Territory's population -- with only some 400,000 adults, he said, the CNRT wanted the future constitution "analyzed and understood by each individual."

Workers confront discrimination, poor conditions

Akara Reis, Dili -- As workers prepare to celebrate their first May Day in a free East Timor, their pay and conditions of work remain very low, especially compared with the vast sums paid to foreign workers employed by the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET). Outbursts of worker unrest are increasing, as are protests by job seekers dissatisfied by the lack of available work for them. Timorese workers at the charity World Vision went on strike for a day on April 3, followed on April 7 by workers at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR); both sets of workers were demanding better conditions and treatment by their employers.

Personal disputes between employees and their bosses and between foreign and local employees are also becoming increasingly common. Organisations such as the East Timor Human Rights Commission are now frequently being asked to mediate, in the absence of enforceable labour laws.

Workers' bargaining position is relatively weak. Unemployment is high and employers are using this as a threat; many workers are afraid that strike action or any other challenge will cost them their jobs.

The economic chaos in East Timor, which make UNTAET, foreign non-government organisations and a handful of foreign-owned businesses the main employers, has created a new form of dependency.

This may even worsen when the emergency period ends in June and then worsen again when the UN transitional period ends, which is anticipated to occur in October 2001. Then the economy, now so dependent on the foreign NGOs and UNTAET, will be hit hard if a strong local economy is not built up quickly.

A major source of worker dissatisfaction is the disparity in working conditions between local and international labour. The guidelines for the employment of local workers by humanitarian agencies specify that the wage range for a worker deemed "unskilled" should be between 20-25,000 rupiah per day (approximately $5-6). Imported workers are paid far more.

"Unskilled" workers include those employed as wharf labourers, security guards, distribution workers, cleaners and office "boys". The wages they receive are insufficient, especially in Dili where the cost of living is very high.

Wharf labourers, for example, enjoy little job security. They are hired on a first-come-first-served basis each day and depend entirely on the schedule of ships requiring loading and unloading. On the wharves, workers are expected to carry 50 kilogram bags of rice, which are then distributed as humanitarian aid by agencies such as CARE. These workers are paid Rp20,000 per day.

Those employed to clean roads by UNTAET are paid daily rates of Rp25-30,000. Whilst they work a full eight hours, they are not provided any meal and transport allowance.

One reason for the massive gap between earnings for local and imported workers is that the local Timorese workers are deemed "unskilled". Computer skills and English are considered a prerequisite for the better-paying jobs.

Such skills were difficult to learn when there was a war being fought against Indonesia; educational opportunities were strictly limited. Even in spite of that, there are still many Timorese students and graduates who could be trained to perform some of this work; they're just not being given the opportunity.

There are many other jobs that Timorese could perform which are being given to imported workers, such as driving earthmoving machines, painting, construction work and security. There are even cases where two security guards are being paid different rates, because one is local and one is imported.

Discrimination also seems to stretch to management treatment of workers. On April 8 a disagreement between two workers at an UNTAET warehouse led to management immediately suspending the local worker -- without even investigating whether it was him or the imported worker who was at fault.

Timorese workers will need to organise themselves in each workplace if they are to stop this discrimination and win better wages and conditions. This is now starting to happen in a number of enterprises and offices in Dili and trade unions are beginning to form. Meetings are now occurring in many workplaces, discussing unionism and what a union should do.

Workers' knowledge and consciousness will need to be raised even further than this, though, to understand the need for a workers' political party which can fight to replace the system of workers' oppression with another system, socialism, under which workers are in control of their own lives.

[Akara Reis is the vice-president of the Socialist Party of Timor, the PST.]

Timor refugees fear return home over harassment reports

Geneva -- The flow of East Timorese refugees signing up to be repatriated from camps in West Timor is "grinding to a halt" because of fears they could be harassed on their return, the UN's refugee agency UNHCR said Tuesday.

Most of those remaining in West Timorese camps -- 40,000 to 50,000 people -- were linked to the Indonesian government and feared possible reprisals once they return to East Timor, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said.

"There's increased fear of reception in East Timor with reports of harassment of those returning to East Timor and being accused of being former collaborators of the Indonesian armed forces and militias," Janowksi told reporters.

"Essentially we are now dealing with the most difficult group of people. We're down to those people who were actually working either for the Indonesian government or were somehow involved with the Indonesian government," he added. "Of course for them, return to East Timor is a very, very tough decision."

Only several dozen people have registered to return to East Timor over the past week, UNHCR said, adding it was organising "go-and- see" visits for some refugee leaders to get a first-hand look at the situation in the territory.

About 160,700 people have returned to East Timor since the UNHCR and the International Organisation for Migration began a repatriation programme last October.

Some 250,000 refugees fled or were forcibly deported to West Timor during a wave of Indonesian army- backed militia violence which swept East Timor in September after the territory voted for independence from Indonesia.

UN fears emergence of local vigilante groups

Mark Dodd, Dili -- A day after United Nations riot police swooped on armed gangs running amok in Dili, UN peacekeepers have raised concerns about another potential law and order problem: military-style neighbourhood watch groups.

The groups of East Timorese independence activists are mostly concentrated in the western border districts, where they watch for militia movements or infiltration.

In Suai, in the south-west, about 500 are active. They are known locally as the FSP (Political Security Front). In adjacent Ainaro a similar number are identified by the Portuguese acronym SSR, and in western Maliana the group is called SISN (National Security Information Service).

Under the terms of the UN mandate covering East Timor, law and order is the responsibility of Civpol (Civilian Police), while external security threats are dealt with by the multinational peacekeeping force.

The peacekeepers and UN police have received good co-operation from the indigenous security groups, but there are concerns they could take law and order into their own hands.

"It is a neighbourhood watch that could in time develop into something more militarised," Brigadier Duncan Lewis, the Australian commander in charge of the UN's western border sector, said yesterday.

Civpol officers in Suai said they had detected increasing numbers of pro-Jakarta militia trying to return to East Timor, often by changing their names. Groups like the FSP in Suai are active in screening new arrivals.

About 250,000 East Timorese were forcibly taken to Indonesian West Timor during the violence that followed last year's independence ballot. About 100,000 remain in West Timor, including ex-militia now wanting to return home.

Brigadier Lewis said he was waiting for a report from Indonesian authorities over their claims last week that armed independence supporters had crossed into West Timor to harass the families of militia.

"It is the first report we've had of something like this. I am not saying it could not happen. It is under investigation by Indonesia, and I am anxious to hear what the results are."

On Sunday night and Monday morning, armed UN riot police backed by peacekeepers worked to clear Dili's central market area of scores of armed youths after the worst violence seen in the capital since last year's militia killings.

The UN's top military commander in East Timor, Lieutenant-General Jaime de los Santos, is likely to quit this month and return to the Philippines and a senior defence staff appointment, a UN official said.

Militia leader hobnobs as prosecutors dither

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Reports that Indonesian authorities are serious about bringing to justice Eurico Guterres, East Timor's most notorious militia commander, appear to be premature.

The long-haired, black-clad, former gang leader in Dili is often seen mingling with Indonesia's elite at a official functions in Jakarta.

Since retreating to West Timor last September, after thugs of his Aitarak militia group had finished their killing, looting and raping rampages in East Timor, Mr Guterres has been pushing himself as a pop star, producing a cassette tape that sells in the local markets.

The songs are mostly anti-independence for East Timor, the words mocking of the United Nations, which now administers the newly independent nation.

According to reports last week, Mr Guterres had run into trouble with police in Kupang, the capital of Indonesian-ruled West Timor, apparently for possessing a machine-gun. "There is a possibility of taking the case to court," West Timor police chief Mr Yusuf Sudrajat said.

But despite Jakarta's promises that authorities would punish the militia leaders and others responsible for the East Timor violence, Mr Guterres appears to be getting special treatment.

While a court in West Timor last week sentenced another militia leader, Moko Soares, to 18 months in jail for a similar offence, Mr Guterres was allowed to go free. "He is a suspect now," was all Kupang police officer Mr Salah Saaf would say.

Monsoon and mobs block the road out of hell

Seth Mydans -- People here have got used to the scene: a mob of unemployed young men shoving, shouting and weeping in anger outside the headquarters of the United Nations, held back by an impassive multinational police contingent.

"Nothing has changed!" they shouted the other day, and their complaint has become a theme for critics -- both foreign and East Timorese -- as the United Nations passes the six-month mark in its first experiment in building a new nation.

As monsoon rains bring added misery, whole towns and villages still lie burned, roofless and silent, devastated by the rampage of destruction that followed East Timor's vote last August to end 24 years of Indonesian rule. As many as 80 per cent of the territory's 700,000 people have no jobs. Another 100,000 or more remain in camps across the border in Indonesian West Timor, too afraid to return.

The desperation of East Timor's unemployed, and the first spasms of violence it has spawned, are the sharpest signs of a swelling discontent in this physically and emotionally traumatised land.

Aid workers and diplomats say they fear that this discontent could lead to lawlessness and political disarray, and could open the door to trouble from the Indonesian-backed militias that crossed the border to West Timor after laying waste to the territory last September.

Despite an invasion of peacekeepers, bureaucrats and aid workers in the months since, much of this battered land remains, as officials like to say, at ground zero. There is still no working police force or justice system, no government structure, few schools, no working water or power or transport system, no post office, not much of an economy, little reconstruction.

The slow pace of recovery has called into question the capacity of the UN, with its lumbering centralised bureaucracy, to address urgent needs and operate as the government of a nation in crisis.

Dili today does not present a pretty picture, with a separate expatriate world superimposed on a scene of destruction and poverty. The foreigners are rich, with cars, offices, hot running water, Sunday barbecues. The East Timorese have almost nothing.

"They can't take a table out to the side of the road to sell things," one UN official said, "because not only do they not have anything to sell but they don't have a table."

Gusmao acts on gang rampage

Mark Dodd, Dili -- United Nations riot police backed by soldiers from the peacekeeping force launched an extensive security operation yesterday to clear Dili's central market area of scores of armed youths, after the worst violence seen in the capital since last year's militia rampage.

East Timor independence leader Mr Xanana Gusmao held emergency talks on Sunday with senior UN officials on how to restore stability. He gave strong backing for firm measures by the UN to restore law and order in the capital, a senior official from the pro-independence CNRT umbrella group told the Herald.

Three people were arrested for possessing illegal arms, mostly concealed knives or swords. Earlier, police made 11 arrests after several hours of unchecked gang violence resulted in the destruction of property and confined terrified residents to their homes.

Asking not to be named, the senior official said rising social tensions linked to mass unemployment were a factor in the rioting, but the main issue was violence between rival gangs.

"It's a mix of things," he said. "Certainly socio-economic problems haven't helped. The market is a logical place for this to start because it is where you find the poorest and the most marginalised people. There have also been criminal elements associated around the market. But I think it has more to do with the gangs, generally troublemakers and louts. They threaten people and look for trouble."

At least five people were injured, two seriously after wild brawling erupted at the end of a soccer match between a UN Brazilian team and a local club.

Eyewitnesses said that a gang of youths from western Baucau, armed with knives, machetes and clubs, started the fight that initially was aimed at members of a martial arts club.

Angered by the street anarchy and the UN's slow response to stem the violence, Mr Gusmao threatened to bring Falintil fighters out of their cantonment on Sunday to restore order.

But in talks later on Sunday evening, he had apparently cooled down. Along with fellow independence leader Mr Jose Ramos Horta, UN chief Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello and senior UN police and military chiefs, Mr Gusmao agreed on a joint operation of East Timorese security officials, police, UN soldiers and Portuguese personnel from the special Tactical Response Unit based in Dili.

Almost four hours after the outbreak of violence there was still no sign of the tactical response unit. On two-way radios, orders came from police headquarters reminding officers that sidearms were to be used only for self-defence.

Compounding the situation was a strike over pay and conditions by many UN staff, including drivers and interpreters. By 7.30pm, most bars and cafes had emptied as news of the violence spread.

Streets became eerily quiet and the few shops quickly closed. At the Turismo Hotel, Australian and New Zealand members of the UN Civilian Police (Civpol) ordered a "lock-in" for security reasons. US servicemen were ordered to remain at their lodgings.

Late Sunday evening, in an address on UNTAET Radio, Mr Gusmao warned gang members to clear off the streets or face stern action. He said violence in Dili would prevent foreign investment and set back East Timor's recovery.

UN police struggle to catch up with murder backlog

Mark Dodd, Suai -- When Detective Senior Sergeant Matt Reynolds took part in a recent murder case in Canberra, about 20 detectives were assigned within 24 hours to solve the killing.

Now based in south-west Suai, serving with the United Nations Civilian Police (Civpol), Sergeant Reynolds and an American colleague, Detective Dan Jankowski, are trying to solve up to 500 homicides and several hundred cases of rape.

The crimes were committed in Cova Lima district by pro-Jakarta militia and members of the Indonesian security forces in September after East Timor's vote for independence.

"We're looking at anywhere between 300 and 500 murder cases -- 200 of these could be from the Suai Cathedral massacre," Sergeant Reynolds said. "We just won't know until we find the bodies."

Pointing to a crammed filing cabinet marked "Homicides", he said additional murder cases were piling up at the rate of between three and five a week. "I'm looking at dozens of murder cases at the moment -- it's just beyond normal police experience. A lot of murder cases haven't been reported because we're having a hard time getting up into some areas.

"Separate from the church massacre there is a 14-person massacre site at Lactos," he said. Lactos is a small hamlet north-west of Suai in mountain country about 12 kilometres from the border.

Detective Jankowski, in charge of investigations in Suai, said: "We haven't had a chance to concentrate on the rapes -- we're still trying to catch up with the murders."

He emptied a yellow envelope detailing the latest atrocity. "We've found a militia torture house at Beco, 10 kilometres east of here."

Locals say that for two weeks the former Indonesian government building held 27 men and one woman suspected of being independence activists.

Polaroid photos show what appears to be bloodstained walls, a club, manacles, and some graffiti including the words "I love you darling" scrawled on the wall. Empty shell casings at the site support claims that two people were murdered there.

However, it was the Suai Cathedral massacre on September 6 that galvanised international attention and remains one of the worst of the documented post-ballot atrocities.

In a four-hour killing frenzy supported by Indonesian troops, militia armed with automatic weapons, clubs, machetes and hand grenades rampaged through the cathedral grounds, killing suspected independence activists and their supporters.

Civpol investigators believe at least 100 people were killed, but that figure is a conservative estimate and at odds with claims by locals.

Both Civpol investigators said they had strong evidence linking known militia leaders to the crimes. "We've identified suspects in about two-thirds of the cases," Sergeant Reynolds said. "The problem is getting them out of [Indonesian] West Timor.'

Heading the list of suspects is Ezieo Maneh, a Laksur militia commander who has a penchant for changing his name. A Mahidi commander, Antoine Lemos, who tried to sneak back into East Timor, was arrested in nearby Zumulai on charges of murder and is being held in the UN detention centre in Dili.

Generals grilled over East Timor

Jakarta -- The Attorney General's Office kicked off on Monday their official investigation into last year's violence in East Timor by questioning several Indonesian Military (TNI) officers. Former East Timor military commander Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman was grilled for more than six hours while his immediate superior, former Udayana Military commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, Tono's successor Col. Noer Muis and former East Timor Police chief Brig. Gen. Timbul Silaen were all quizzed for more than eight hours.

Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes M. Rahman, who leads a 64-member investigation team, said former East Timor governor Jose Abilio Osorio Soares was also scheduled to be questioned but he failed to appear.

Rahman said Tono will again be questioned on Tuesday while Adam, Muis and Timbul will face another round of questioning on Thursday.

"At this stage, they are still being questioned as witnesses. We should wait for further developments because the investigators still need to go to Kupang, Atambua and East Timor to meet other witnesses and gather more evidence," Rahman said.

Rahman said the five were among the 21 military officers and civilian officials on the list of people to face questioning over the East Timor debacle. They would be summoned in groups of five people.

He added that the status of each person would be decided after the team of investigators return from East Timor. Rahman refused, however, to disclose the date of the visit. "We already have the schedule. But if I disclose it to you right now, I am afraid that the witnesses on the ground will flee," Rahman said.

Rahman would not confirm if former TNI chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto was among those who would be questioned. "We will announce that later," Rahman said.

Earlier this year, the government-sanctioned Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM) in East Timor implicated Wiranto and 32 other military and civilian officers in the violence that erupted after the Aug. 30 ballot in the former Indonesian province. The ballot itself resulted in an overwhelming victory for the independence movement.

Wiranto, who has been suspended as coordinating minister for political affairs and security by President Abdurrahman Wahid pending the investigation, has denied any wrongdoing.

The team will have three months to report its findings, with the possibility of further three-month extensions. The findings will become the basis of the Attorney General's Office decision to pursue or drop the charges against the alleged rights abusers.

The investigation team comprises 38 officials from the Attorney General's Office, 10 from the Military Police, six officers from the National Police and 10 officials from the home affairs ministry. Another 15-member team of experts has been appointed to consult and review the work of the investigation.

Initially, the investigation will focus on five cases which will be considered for prosecution.

They are: an April 17 attack on proindependence leader Manuel Carrascalao's house in Dili which left at least 12 people dead; the September 6 attack on the home of Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo; a refugee massacre in a church in Liquica in April; a massacre in a church in Suai in September where at least 26 people died; and the shooting of Financial Times correspondent Sander Thoenes in the East Dili area of Becora on September. 21.
 

Government/politics

Wahid quietly keeps extremists in check

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- With little fanfare, President Abdurrahman Wahid's Government has so far managed to forestall efforts by radical Muslim groups to send a "jihad" fighting force to the Maluku Islands.

The Ahlus-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Forum, a loose grouping of hardline Muslims, admitted at the weekend that its attempts to send 10,000 fighters to the islands were being successfully foiled by police in the port of Surabaya in East Java.

At the same time, Mr Wahid fired a broadside at people claiming to be true defenders of Islam, slamming those who abused Islamic symbols and ideas for their own interests.

"Now there are people, who just because they wear robes, use swords and wear turbans, claim themselves as religion [Islam] defenders," said Mr Wahid. "In fact, they are not defenders at all, Those who claim to defend the religion by carrying swords, actually do not know much about the religious teachings."

Mr Wahid, a revered Muslim preacher, is well placed to quash more extreme elements of a faith which he personally interprets with tolerance and learning. True defenders of Islam, he said, are those who work to improve people's welfare and prosperity.

He appeared to be criticising the Front for Protectors of Islam (FPI), which has assumed the role of moral guardian by brutally attacking prostitutes and transvestites, and forcing the closure of bars. During Ramadan fasting month this year, it held the administration of Jakarta hostage until demands on bar closures were met.

FPI members also helped mount the recent demonstrations by white-robed, sword-wielding men in front of the presidential palace. Then, too, Mr Wahid's distaste for their version of the Islamic faith was apparent -- he ejected FPI representatives from his office after just five minutes.

Last week, the FPI again attracted public attention, this time for its alleged involvement in an assault on a karaoke bar in Ciputat, South Jakarta. Police said 135 FPI members took part.

At first, observers were concerned at the jihad (holy war) demonstrations and the delay in the Government's response, seen in the police refusal to disarm FPI members in public.

But negotiations secured the removal of a jihad training camp at Bogor, near Jakarta, and concentrated efforts by security officers are preventing any chance of a mass-scale fighting force reaching the Malukus.

"There are many obstacles in the port of Surabaya, with police carrying out sweeping operations and checks against people going to the Malukus," Ayip Syafruddin, leader of the Ahlus-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Forum, said from Yogyakarta.

On Wednesday, East Java police arrested three members of the forum at the port but were forced to release them the next day when hundreds of hardline Muslims stormed the police offices.

Indonesians guessing what Wahid's next move is

Susan Sim, Jakarta -- After six months of trying to fathom if their President is merely a nicer clone of their former leaders or truly unusually democratic, some Indonesians think they have him figured out.

"I closed my eyes for 15 minutes the other day and realised that to make my own way around, I would have to keep throwing stones," confessed a senior government official.

"That's what a blind man does if he wants to know if what's in front of him is a wall or a river -- throw stones and listen. A splash and it's water. No noise -- there's nothing there."

The besieged and perplexed army generals, too, are learning the phrase "psychology of the blind": A blind man trusts only those constantly around him, because they are his window to the world, they comfort themselves whenever he scolds them for something the "whisperers" claim they have done.

So, feel ill-used by your leader? You have a choice of using, as your personal lobbyists, either of two groups he has surrounded himself with for years -- the Nahdlatul Ulama kyiais, who still jostle for his attention, or the non-governmental activists, whose opinions he respects because they dare to disagree with him.

These people form the key pillars of the myriad network of independent sources of information, including family members, he has always relied on, leading many a nervy Cabinet minister to conclude that they need to see him as soon and as often as possible to counteract any whispers against them.

"The President works out from a constant flow of information, and sometimes the informal sources supercede the official and intelligence sources," confides one minister.

"The only way to counteract the President's view then is to come up with your own information and views immediately. It is always important to see him as soon as possible and not rely on previously agreed-upon policy." But he adds: "Gus Dur does make decisions based on real facts."

Increasingly, however, no one is too sure. Parliament leaders were so stunned when he accused former State Enterprises Minister Laksamana Sukardi of nepotism and defrauding him in a private session on Wednesday, that they declined to formally share this "presidential explanation" of the sacking with the media, lest the repeating validated the charge.

The obvious is clear: the President is legally blind and so is much more dependent on personal aides to gather and interpret information for him than most ordinary mortals.

His unique situation is compounded by the fact that this is a huge country trying to shake off old habits and become more responsive to public needs, but without the benefit of any of the tools for measuring public sentiment, like reliable opinion polls, nor opposition parties able to challenge the government for public attention with alternative programmes. Here, even the sighted sometimes feel like they are playing blind man's bluff.

And Gus Dur is a real character. He has all these paradoxical instincts that come from being a traditional preacher well-used to instant obeisance while brought up on a diet of more eclectic liberal and leftist egalitarianism.

And much as he appreciates the necessity of getting the economy back on track, he does want to be remembered as a universalistic humanist first, able to reunite his fractious country in the peaceful manner which Archbishop Desmond Tutu led South Africa's reconciliation efforts.

Christians, Muslims, victims, abusers, communists, Chinese, Javanese, outer islanders -- all are stakeholders in his new Indonesia. But what the Indonesian people see first is a bundle of contradictions, a leader so accessible in so many ways, so modern and legitimate, and yet so opaque in his decision-making, exasperatingly meddling and arbitrary while professing not to be a details man, arrogant in his intolerance of the incompetent and the corrupt, yet as prepared to dole out pardons as he does accusations.

The elites are left gasping for air whenever he speaks, as they try to suss out his intentions, or sometimes whether he is even serious or simply tweaking their noses.

It is almost like the Suharto days, some lamented over a diplomatic lunch recently. Despite all the buzz now about transparency and good governance, they are still reduced to trying to second-guess their President. The only difference is that everyone is wondering out loud now, raising the decibel levels to new highs. Seminars titled Understanding Gus Dur are huge draws.

The masses too are no longer submissive. When State Minister for Regional Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid went on the road recently to explain to local leaders throughout the country how the centre will now share powers with the regions, many sought clear assurances that their confusing national government was not simply engaging in empty rhetoric.

At a town-hall meeting in South Sulawesi recently, a young legislative councillor could not wait to voice his displeasure with the talkative President.

Everyone talks about the need for solidarity-building to solve our problems, so why is Gus Dur creating problems by saying things that set us off against each other, he asked trenchantly.

Because he is so smart, you don't understand him, came the swift retort from Professor Ryaas. "The President believes that democracy is a matter of fusion, democratic government is governing by discussion. He wants to prove to people that no negative consequences will come from having different ideas," he told the district officials and legislators of Pare-Pare, which once produced the country's third president, Dr B.J. Habibie. The fourth president is less into marathon dialogue sessions, but no less tiring.

For Gus Dur, Indonesia is a giant classroom and each of his public appearances is a Socratic lesson, a chance to get his people thinking about their values and their future, to think the unthinkable even.

"He wants to test the people, to find out if they can handle some ideas and discuss them rationally or simply react emotionally. So, when he finds that people are still very emotional about some matters, he will back down.

On some matters, he will say, even if you don't agree, I don't care because Parliament will make the decision," Prof Ryaas continued, setting the audience muttering under their collective breath.

It is the same in Cabinet meetings, ministers say. When his controversial proposal to revoke the 34-year-old ban on communism was discussed in Cabinet recently, and Law Minister Yusril Mahendra declared he would not draft the enabling legislation for the government, Gus Dur assured him: "No, you wouldn't have to. We're not revoking the ban."

But the next day, he was back gnawing at the topic again, raising the hackles of Islamic groups which equate communism with atheism, a violation of the Pancasila state ideology, which mandates belief in God.

Is Gus Dur's real purpose to undermine the basis of the old New Order, built as it was on the graves of hundreds of thousands of so-called communists, as he himself purges the new hardliners in his new regime? Or is he obliquely reminding society of the ills of extremist fundamentalism, of whatever ilk?

Or is he just being compassionate, seeking to redress the wrongs done to those whose only crime is to be a relative of someone suspected of being a communist 30 years ago?

Whatever his specific goals, he has already achieved one key one: he has got people thinking and talking about these hitherto-taboo issues. There are risks, of course, that he will end up alienating even moderate Islamists and military generals tired of having to calm down the furor each time even as they themselves are as confused.

For not only is he breaking the mould of statesman-like national leaders who provide a comforting certainty to their people, but there are also the added fears for his health.

Although the issue is seldom discussed and palace aides take pains to brief the media if he so much as catches a cold, while assuring the public he is in excellent health, Cabinet ministers and aides have noticed two recent changes: His attention span has shortened from 15 minutes to a mere five minutes and he is increasingly temperamental, lashing out at his ministers in meetings for contradicting him.

Taking refuge in good humour, some are now sharing tactics: Does one stop talking when he falls asleep or continue talking and progressively raise your voice until he wakes up? Few, of course, would want to do what Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri does -- squeeze his knee.

Most, however, are not sure what the protocol should be when he wakes up and asks a completely off-the-wall question. Just take it in stride, some have decided.

"He once woke up and, remembering I had recently come from a foreign visit, asked me how that country was," recalled a minister of a recent briefing he gave the President. "I told him, Pak, that country is very nice, but it's not within my purview."

All of Indonesia, its problems and prospects, are within Gus Dur's purview. A sense of personal urgency appears to be driving him to defy the doomsday assumptions of the cautious and take his people on an extraordinary experiment in democratic life.

Would Indonesians prefer to start with just an ordinary leader who can get the factories working, the schools running and the sewers unclogged for now, before moving onto the visionary stuff? Who can say?

Yusril reelection causes split in PBB

Jakarta -- The re-election of Yusril Ihza Mahendra as Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman has brought about a split within the party. Sixteen senior members said they would reject the results of the congress and hold a separate special congress of their own.

Hartono Mardjono, representing the 16 detractors, all of whom were previously party executives, said another congress would be held in accordance with the party's statute. "We are in the preparation stage. We will invite the executive board members and all functionaries from provincial chapters and branches," he told journalists here on Monday. Hartono further claimed that the executive board -- established when the party was declared in 1998 -- is still valid.

So far no date has been set for the special congress. Hartono, known as a moderate figure in the party, said he sided with the dissident group because he could not agree with the violations against internal rulings during the congress which ended on Monday.

"According to the party's statute, the first congress should be held in 2004," he pointed out. "The executive board has never held an official meeting agreeing to hold congress ahead of schedule." Money Hartono even revealed that Yusril accepted a total of Rp 1.5 billion from former president B.J. Habibie but has kept most of the executive board in the dark about it.

"He [Yusril] accepted donations from Habibie twice, Rp 1 billion for the party's national meeting in February 1999, and Rp 500 million for the general election in July 1999," he said.

Yusril has acknowledged that he accepted Rp 1 billion from the former president but contended that he did nothing wrong as regulations against such donations were only issued after he had received the money.

Abdul Qodir Djailani, a party deputy chairman, accused the pro- Yusril supporters of engineering the congress to their own advantage. "Yusril and the congress' organizing and steering committees did nothing to prevent the presence of 60 thugs equipped with machetes in the congress. Despite not being invited, they were able to take part in the congress with an official card," he said, claiming that the thugs were financed by Niko Lumanauw, Yusril's close friend in West Java.

Asked to comment on the split in the party, Yusril, who was re- elected as chairman and given 30 days to form a new executive board, said he regretted it. Yusril called on all sides defeated in the congress to be "democratic" by accepting and respecting the results of the congress. "We should learn to accept our losses and respect the other's victory," he said.
 

Regional conflicts

Jihad fighters arrive in Maluku

Jakarta -- The first wave of hardline Muslim jihad fighters arrived in Indonesia's bloodied Spice Islands yesterday with the army saying it was powerless to stop them.

Regional military chief Brigadier-General Max Tamaela was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying his troops could only act if the fighters caused trouble. "We could not prevent their arrival. But if they behave negatively, they will have to deal with security officials," he said.

He added that the fighters, numbering less than 200, will be under close surveillance. Their ferry, which left from the East Java port of Surabaya on Friday, was escorted by two navy patrol boats as it arrived.

The men are from the radical Ahlus-Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Forum which plans a jihad, or holy war, against Christians in the islands.

Human-rights groups say thousands of people have already died since fighting broke out in January last year. Hundreds more jihad warriors left Surabaya on Friday bound for Ambon and Forum leaders say another 3,000 will follow, possibly as soon as today.

The authorities fear that the arrival of hardline Muslim fighters will spark increased bloodshed between Christians and Muslims in the islands, located about 2,300 km east of Jakarta.

Antara did not say if the jihad fighters were armed, but guns, machetes, bows and arrows and homemade petrol bombs are widely available on the islands.

Earlier, the agency also reported that government soldiers shot four Muslim militants as they tried to intervene in the sectarian fighting in the Jailolo sub-district of Halmahera island, in Maluku.

A witness, Mr Sarif Mohdar, told Antara the soldiers from the "Bull Raiders" army unit opened fire on the Muslim fighters at point blank range. He said four other militants were caught and tortured by the troops and later taken to a hospital on neighbouring Ternate island.

Friday's clash was the second deadly encounter last week between security forces and members of the Jihad Force. On Wednesday, four militants were killed and 17 wounded in clashes with troops in Ternate, the main town in North Maluku province, when the soldiers tried to block them from travelling to Halmahera.

Meanwhile, the head of the Jihad Force based at Yogyakarta in central Java, Mr Jaffar Umar Thalib, denied his group's involvement in recent clashes in Maluku.

"The victims were locals and our group has no formal alliance with the Jihad Force in Maluku led by Abu Bakar Wahid," Mr Thalib told The Jakarta Post daily newspaper.

However, he said 149 volunteers from his group had travelled to Maluku last month. They were unarmed, he said. "The purpose of our jihad mission is to restore the morale of the Muslim community, which has been destroyed. "Our mission is to reawaken their mental spirit," he said.

Radical jihad fighters board ship for Maluku

Surabaya -- Police at Indonesia's second biggest port of Surabaya yesterday allowed hundreds of hardline Muslim jihad fighters to board a commercial ship sailing to the strife-torn spice islands or Maluku.

Police admitted knowing the men came from the radical Ahlus- Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Forum, which plans a jihad, or holy war, against Christians in the islands, but said they could not bar them because they had no weapons.

"We did not have any reason to arrest them because no weapons, walkie-talkies or bullet-proof vests were found when we frisked them," Major Yoyok Subagyono told Reuters.

Authorities fear the arrival of hardline Muslim fighters will renew tensions between Christians and Muslims in the spice islands, about 2,300 km east of Jakarta. Human rights groups say thousands of people have died since fighting broke out in January 1999.

The forum is a loose group of hardline Muslims who had trained thousands of fighters. The group had originally planned to ship 3,000 fighters last week but was forced to delay their departure after the police tightened security at Java island's eastern ports.

Police told Reuters they believed the Muslims would pick up weapons from Makassar port in Sulawesi when the ship stops there. "We know that they will get weapons at Makassar port where they will continue the trip via traditional boats," said Maj Subagyono. Surabaya, 700 km east of Jakarta, is the main port serving Indonesia's scattered eastern islands.

On Friday, the forum's commander told reporters they had already sent scouts ahead. Mr Jafar Umar Thalib said another 3,000 men would be sent tomorrow.

Meanwhile, earlier reports said that soldiers attacked Muslim extremists and killed four of them in the latest sectarian clash in the eastern Indonesia province.

All of the victims were shot by troops trying to disperse battling gangs in Jailolo subdistrict on Halmahera, the main island in North Maluku province, Antara news agency said. It said dozens of people had been injured. Antara quoted an eyewitness as saying the troops directly fired on a group of militants known an "Laskar Jihad," or holy war troops.

Last week, members of another extremist group clashed with soldiers in the provincial capital of Ternate, as troops tried to prevent them from travelling to Halmahera to fight the Christians. Six Muslim fighters were killed.

Six killed in Ambon violence

Ambon -- At least six people were killed and 50 others injured on Sunday when security personnel opened fire to disperse warring groups at the border between Batu Merah and Mardika districts.

Witnesses said the clash, which began at around 3pm local time, also resulted in at least four houses in the predominantly Christian Mardika district being set alight. They said the conflicting groups used homemade weapons and bombs.

The wounded, mostly suffering from gunshot wounds, were taken to Dr. Haulussy General Hospital, Protestant Maluku Church (GPM) Hospital and Al Fatah Hospital. Many were injured by stray bullets from security officers.

The fatalities were identified as Steven Ruhulessin, 40, Ibrahim bin Umar, 60, Wawan, 18, Effendi Kiat, 35, Muhamad Saleh, 23 and Ahmad Alu, 50. The six were reportedly shot by troops in an attempt to scatter the crowds. Four officers were also injured in the fray, three of them military members and one a police officer from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit. It was the second clash within less than a week to rock the provincial capital. At least three people were killed when mobs threw homemade bombs at a speedboat off Benteng Gudang Arang on Friday.

Tension gripped the town following the shootings, but Pattimura Military Commander Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela said as of 8pm local time the situation in the area was under control.

In a bid to quickly restore order, the usual 10pm curfew was put forward by an hour. "The 9pm curfew will remain until further developments. I have issued a shoot-on-sight order to anyone who instigates riots," Tamaela said on Sunday night. "It is very obvious that certain parties don't want peace to return in Ambon. I urge people to stay calm," he said.

When asked whether the incident was related to the recent campaign by Muslim hardliners for a jihad in the province, Tamaela simply said: "Leave that matter to us [the security forces]. We have all been suffering for quite sometime and I personally will not let this reconciliation effort break into pieces." The violence took place in the same area where 15 months of sectarian conflict across the Maluku islands started in January last year.

More than 2,000 people were killed in the prolonged violence, which also left thousands of homes and buildings destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to safety in other islands and provinces. Clashes have subsided in recent months but tension remains in some regions, particularly North Maluku.

It is reported that the Sunday fray was sparked by a bomb blast near Victoria theater in the predominantly Muslim Batu Merah area earlier in the day. Angry residents later attacked the neighboring Mardika area to seek revenge.

Sammy Waileruni, a local lawyer, speculated that the security forces let the mob trespass between 200 meters and 400 meters into the territory of the rival camp. "They should have passed three security posts watched over by the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) of the 303 Battalion. How come they got so far?" Sammy said.

The violence took place just a few days after Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri's third visit to Maluku, which included a trip to Ambon and several other islands in the area to promote reconciliation and peace.

During her visit, Megawati also launched the Navy's Surya Bhaskara Jaya operation to help rebuild towns and villages destroyed during the unrest. The Rp 6.5 billion project, involving 11 Navy ships, is said to be the biggest of its kind ever launched by the Navy.
 

Aceh/West Papua

Aceh colonel admits 'dead or alive' order

Banda Aceh -- One of the two military commanders in the restive Indonesian province of Aceh admitted yesterday to having ordered his troops to catch a traditional leader and his followers "dead or alive".

But Colonel Syafnil Armen told a court trying 24 soldiers charged with the massacre of Tengku Bantaqiah, an Islamic boarding school leader, and 57 of his followers in West Aceh last year that his troops were not guilty as they had only been following his orders. The colonel heads the North Aceh-based Lilawangsa military command.

The soldiers could face the death sentence if found guilty of the massacre which took place in the Beutong Ateuh area of West Aceh in July last year during an operation to seize arms allegedly hidden by Mr Bantaqiah.

Three military witnesses on Wednesday told the court that the troops opened fire on the civilians because they were under attack. The military at the time described the operation as a raid on armed separatists.

The colonel said the July operation had been carried out based on information extracted from one of Mr Bantaqiah's aides, who had been caught by the military, that 100 firearms were hidden in the boarding school. "What was found were only two firearms and a number of sharp weapons," he said. The trial resumes tomorrow.

Jakarta to keep troops in Aceh after accord

Jakarta -- Indonesian troops will remain in Aceh after the government signs a truce with separatist rebels next week and there will be no referendum on self-rule for the troubled province, Foreign Affairs Minister Alwi Shihab said Friday.

Briefing reporters on the accord, due to be signed in Geneva on May 12, Mr Alwi said it would not involve a pullout of government troops, who have been accused of gross human rights atrocities during operations aimed at crushing the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

"What we are trying to do is to see how violence can be reduced," he said. "What we are going to do with GAM in Geneva is form some kind of joint understanding." Both sides, he added, had agreed to create "a humanitarian peaceful situation."

He was referring to the planned signing of a truce accord, announced by Human Rights Minister Hasballah Saad on Thursday, between Jakarta and the Sweden-based leadership of the Aceh separatist movement.

Mr Hasballah said the accord would stipulate that both GAM and the Indonesian military (TNI) "will lay down their weapons." But Mr Alwi refused to say whether or not a ceasefire would be stipulated by the pact, saying only that the government would "not use the term ceasefire because the term ceasefire could create a idea that there are warring parties in Aceh."

He said the government's focus was to "reduce the violence" in Aceh but that it would not discuss the "pullout" of Indonesian troops from the province. He also said there would be no discussion of GAM's demands for a referendum on self- determination.

On Thursday, GAM's spokesman in Aceh, Mr Ismail Syahputra, told AFP by phone that the group's military wing was in favour of the pact as as it would be "the first step towards gaining independence."

"Our headquarters in Sweden has already confirmed to us about the peace accord. We support it because everyone wants to have peace and independence," Mr Ismail said from Lhokseumawe, North Aceh. Once the accord is signed, "we can guarantee peace" said Mr Ismail, but he added that he did not expect the TNI to keep its end of the bargain.

Mr Alwi also said it was hoped the May 12 agreement could "restrict the movements of a third party which has been causing problems" in Aceh. This was an apparent reference to a statement by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in which he accused groups of rogue ex-military personnel of stirring up violence.

Indonesia and GAM would also form small joint committees to find a safe method to distribute aid to the people in Aceh. A joint forum -- whose task is to formulate policies -- will also be formed under the peace accord, the foreign minister said without giving further details.

'Let us correct the history of West Papua'

Mark Abberton, Sydney -- Representatives of the West Papuan freedom movement, meeting at a conference here on April 19, expressed hope about new openings for greater unity and organisation in their struggle for independence from Indonesia.

Wim Zonggonau, an exiled West Papuan living in Papua New Guinea and a member of the presidium of the newly created Papuan Council, outlined how the situation has changed: "People see the political developments in Indonesia as a new possibility, as an opportunity to begin to reveal their own aspirations and to pursue their independence.

"The reality in West Papua at the moment is that people are geared up and ready to be united. I think this is important for our supporters ... to know that we are organising ourselves, we are uniting ourselves."

In February 1999, a delegation of West Papuan leaders presented a declaration to former Indonesian president BJ Habibie calling for independence for the occupied province; the demand was ignored. According to Zonggonau, this was the start of the movement re- organising.

Zonggonau described the structures which are now developing in West Papua.

On February 23-26, a breakthough national consultation occurred in West Papua, attended by 2000 people. Previously, West Papuan organisations had been forced underground; their activists faced imprisonment, torture or death at the hands of Indonesia's military.

Four hundred elected and appointed representatives from churches, political parties, women's organisations, youth organisations, student groups, ex-political prisoners, local chiefs, prominent leaders and professionals participated in the consultation, which ended with an unanimous rejection of the fake 1969 UN-sponsored "Act of Free Choice" which gave West Papua to Indonesia.

A Papuan Council of 200 was elected, which in turn elected a presidium to prepare for a larger congress to decide on an approach for gaining self-determination. At a meeting in Jayapura from April 16-18, the presidium scheduled the Papuan Congress for May 29-June 3.

The theme of the Congress will be, "Let us correct the history of West Papua; the Papuan people are determined to promote democracy and human rights based on the principles of truth and justice towards an independent West Papua".

"At the moment the West Papuans have adopted a non-violence move and [called for] more dialogue with Indonesia [and] dialogue with those parties involved in deciding West Papua's case in 1962, for example the United Nations, the Dutch government and the Americans, and also Australia", Zonggonau said. "But it could be that the congress may decide otherwise than just to go slow".

John Ondawame, the international spokesperson for the Free Papua Movement, OPM, told the Sydney conference of the limited international support given to West Papua over the past 38 years. Particularly disappointing, he said, was the silence from Pacific nations.

Ondawame also spoke of OPM's present goals. "OPM and people inside West Papua must establish a new effective political structure that can represent the voice of the people inside West Papua and abroad", he said.

The establishment of the Papuan Council and Papuan Congress "is one way to mobilise people in West Papua", he said, "and the OPM will also play that role ... by guiding people through grassroots organisation".

The Sydney conference also formally launched the West Papua Project to research and provide information on the country. The conference was jointly organised by the West Papua Project and the Australia West Papua Association.

Tribal war in West Papau kills 100

Jakarta -- A tribal war between two villages in the remote mountains of West Papua has left more than 100 people dead in the past year, the official Antara news agency reported Monday.

The conflict pits indigenous people from Wampe and Bilaga villages in the Puncak Jaya region of the Indonesian province, Antara said.

Peace had proved difficult to bring about because a Wampe leader was killed early in the fighting, meaning his followers would not accept a truce until they had killed the Bilage leader, Antara cited officials saying. A total 106 people have died since the blood feud erupted almost a year ago, a local official quoted by the news agency said.

The region is about 2,100 miles east of Jakarta, on the western half of New Guinea island. Some of its people live a near-Stone Age existence in the mountainous interior. The tribesmen traditionally use poison arrows and spears in their conflicts.

West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, is Indonesia's largest province. The former Dutch colony was occupied in 1963 and incorporated into Indonesia six years later by an assembly of village chiefs.

Pro-independence activists say the process was a sham, and rebels belonging to the Free Papua Movement have been battling Indonesian rule ever since.

Until last year, Indonesia's army ran the province with an iron hand. Thousands of locals were killed and tortured during a series of anti-insurgency operations.

Fresh allegations of brutality in Aceh

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- A human-rights group alleges that soldiers raped and beat villagers in north Aceh last month while they were conducting raids in search of separatist Free Aceh rebels.

Mr Maimul Fidar, the chairman of a non-government investigation team, said 20 non-local troops had conducted an early morning raid on March 7.

He said his team had interviewed four women who had been raped, one of whom was raped in front of another young girl. Three of the women were raped by soldiers inside their house while their husbands were tied and beaten outside the house, said Mr Maimul.

Revelations of the security forces' alleged brutality under the administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid, which has professed great concern for human-rights abuses, cast doubts on the President's ability to negotiate with the Acehnese.

Mr Mohammad Nazir, head of the pro-referendum group Aceh Referendum Information Centre (SIRA), has called on the President to cancel next week's proposed trip to Aceh if he cannot end the security operations there.

"If Gus Dur wants to pray for the Acehnese it is better he does it from the palace, it doesn't need to be publicised to the Acehnese people," he said.

Local and international aid groups have criticised the security forces' operations in Aceh over the past three months, accusing them of committing as many human-rights abuses as during the brutal military campaigns under former president Suharto.

Since January this year at least 300 people have been killed in clashes with security forces or by unidentified men.

The abuse claims have come to light only this week because the soldiers allegedly threatened to shoot the villagers if they reported the incidents. The Indonesian Human Rights Commission has appointed Mr Maimul to head an investigation into the incidents.

Free Aceh spokesman Ismail Syahputra said the soldiers belonged to Yonif 403 division from the Lhok Sukon command in North Aceh. He said brutality by police forces had continued over the past week, with four people shot in north Aceh.

In a statement signed by Mr Muhammad Nazir, Sira said Mr Abdurrahman's government continued to practise the same "colonial and violent" tactics used by previous Indonesian governments in dealing with the Aceh conflict.

"Gus Dur as President and the highest Indonesian military commander has never uttered a distinct commitment and issued a consensus in comprehensively solving the political conflict and humanitarian crisis in Aceh," Sira said.

It said Mr Abdurrahman had made no effort to halt harsh military operations in Aceh and had rejected international mediation for the conflict.

"Gus Dur's action against Acehnese people ... are just the same as a new war criminal, after Mr Sukarno and Mr Suharto, who also organised a number of state violence and colonialist practices," the group said.

West Papua in the grip of militia terror

Alastair McLeod, Jayapura -- West Papuans have emerged from the far west town of Fak Fak with reports of East Timorese style militia threatening and attacking the local people.

In recent weeks 50 supporters of the movement for an independent West Papua have fled Fak Fak to the capital Jayapura in fear of the newly formed Sargas Merah Putih -- the red and white militia.

Lazarus Wannaggahus, a spokesman for the group, said that there were striking similarities between the Fak Fak forces and the East Timorese militia. "Like their brothers in East Timor, they intimidate and attack us and wear red and white colours of the Indonesian flag, he said.

Suspicions that the Indonesian army and police force have been covertly establishing militia groups in Fak Fak and Nabire have been circulating in the West Papuan independence movement for the past year. Eyewitness reports and information gathered by the Jayapura based human rights group, Elsham, have now given credence to what were once considered rumours.

John Rumbiak, an Elsham coordinator, wrote to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, detailing abuses that have occurred in West Papua since the election of President Abdurrahman Wahid in October 1999.

Following peaceful demonstrations and Papuan flag raising ceremonies, at least 4 people have been shot dead, 80 held and tortured and 165 injured over the past eight months, according to Elsham. The militia stepped up their activities after a meeting of 500 West Papuan independence delegates in late February, Mr Rumbiak said.

Elsham is tabling a report to the UN Commission for Human Rights on the events in Wayati, a village 5km from Fak Fak on March 19th and 20th. The report says that a convoy of trucks carrying militia, police and Indonesian troops (TNI) arrived in Wayati singing the Indonesian national anthem. The police and militia then ransacked homes and witnesses say militia men urinated on their rice and other foodstuffs. Many villagers ran to the jungle to escape being attacked by the militia, who were armed with machetes and clubs. "The police arbitrarily rounded up 66 men who were taken to a nearby police station and beaten and tortured," Mr Rumbiak said.

Andy Burdam, a 45 year old Papuan teacher at a Fak Fak elementary school gave a chilling account of his treatment by the militia and police. He and his family were about to sit down to their evening meal when police and militia entered his home, punched him and dragged him away. Militia and police took him to the local police station, where he was put in a cell.

Militia men threw large stones at him while Indonesian police looked on. "They did nothing to stop them", he said. He was held for four days by the police who continually punched and kicked him in the chest, head and back. "They hit my head against the wall many times and I bled a lot. I felt sick and afraid", he said.

Mr Burdam will not return to Fak Fak as he fears he may be attacked again by the police and militia, and his wife and four children have left the town and now live in the southern coastal town of Sarong.

Mr Rumbiak says that there is evidence the Fak Fak militia are supported by the police and army. "We believe that the army are supporting the militia," he said. "But we can"t investigate the situation in Fak Fak because we have received threats from the militia that if we go there they will attack our personnel".
 

Labour struggle

Jakarta gives angry teachers 150% hike in allowances

Jakarta -- Indonesia will more than double monthly allowances for impoverished state teachers, Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo said yesterday, but rejected their demands for a 300-per-cent wage hike.

The increase replaces a planned 100 per cent increase announced earlier. "Allowances for teachers will be raised by 150 per cent," the minister told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

He also announced that the government would increase health workers' allowances by 125 per cent instead of 100 per cent. The 250,000 rupiah (S$54) average basic salary of government teachers is even lower than the official minimum wage in Jakarta.

With the new increase, allowances for costs such as food and transport will rise to 137,500 rupiah a month, bringing the teachers' total pay to an average of 387,500 rupiah.

Meanwhile, the government's decision on a 100 per cent pay rise for members of the House of Representatives (DPR) amid widespread protests by teachers over low salaries has brought on an onslaught of criticism.

"It is very clear that the political elite are merely thinking of their own interests. They don't care about the interests of society, social injustice and inequality," political analyst Arbi Sanit told the Kompas daily newspaper.

The government said the rise was to lessen the temptations of corruption. The government decision took effect last month alongside another controversial decree to raise the "structural" allowances of senior officials in administrative posts.

A public outcry caused Indonesian financial authorities yesterday to state they would slash by half steep rises of up to 400 per cent in allowances awarded to some senior officials.

Economist Tony Prasetiantono said MPs should be sensitive in reviewing government policies and that the MPs' pay increase reflected the absence of a "sense of crisis" among government officials and the legislature.

Thousands of workers commemorate Labor Day

Jakarta -- Workers across the country rallied in observance of International Labor Day on Monday to voice their demands, including a 100 percent pay increase. At least 1,500 workers from various organizations grouped under the National Front Struggle for Indonesian Workers (FNPBI) held a demonstration at the House of Representatives to air their demands.

Apart from the salary hike, the workers urged the government to reinstate International Labor Day as a national holiday, as it was during the administration of founding president Sukarno. "We demand the day dedicated to workers be a paid holiday," FNPBI chairwoman Dita Indah Sari said.

Dita, who is also an activist from the People's Democratic Party (PRD), said workers were also calling on the government not to increase fuel prices.

Artists and students joined the rally, as did a number of PRD branch organizations, such as the People and Workers Committee for Reform, the National Farmers Union and the People's Art Network.

Hundreds of dismissed workers from Reebok shoe producer PT Kong Tai Indonesia, who have been gathered at the House for weeks, mingled with the rally participants.

A worker from private firm PT Tongkyong Indonesia tied himself to a statue in front of the House building to protest his and his friends' dismissals. With the House on recess, no legislators were present to meet with the workers.

Separately, hundreds of workers from the Greater Jakarta Workers Union marched from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle on Jl. Thamrin to the National Monument, voicing the same demands as those workers rallying at the House.

Labor Day was also observed in the major cities of Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung and Medan. In the East Java capital of Surabaya, demonstrators included workers from plasticware company PT Maspion and cigarette producer PT Gudang Garam. They rejected the labor bill which is now being deliberated in the House, saying it restricted workers' rights.

Some 150 workers took to the streets of Semarang, the capital of Central Java, to demand better treatment. Gathering at the provincial legislature building, the demonstrators, who claimed to represent the North Coast Workers Association and at least six non-governmental organizations, demanded the government declare May 1 a national holiday. They were received by a group of legislators, led by the deputy speaker of the legislative council, Ircham Abdurrochim.

In Bandung, about 200 people from the People's Coalition of FNPBI staged a protest at the provincial legislature building on Jl. Diponegoro, demanding a 100 salary hike and freedom to create labor unions. The group sang anti-capitalism songs and waved banners before meeting with councilors, who promised to deliver their demands to the government.

Some 3,000 workers from the Medan Independent Workers Union also held a rally to demand wage increases.

Jakarta workers warm up for Labor Day

Jakarta -- Hundreds of workers from various companies across Greater Jakarta took to the capital's main streets on Sunday as they geared up for International Labor Day on Monday. Under the close watch of police, the workers marched from the Proclamation Monument to a roundabout near Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta's main business district on Jl. Thamrin.

The workers stopped for a while in front of the official residence of Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri to voice their demands for better treatment. They then gave a copy of a statement to vice presidential security guards.

Labor activist from the Greater Jakarta Workers Union (SBJ) Komaruddin said on Sunday more employees would rally in the capital on Monday to celebrate International Labor Day.

"I cannot estimate the number of workers, but there has been coordination among trade unions to take their members onto streets in commemoration of May Day," he said.

In 1996 the Jakarta administration recorded more than 2,600 industrial companies with nearly 450,000 employees in Jakarta.

Komarudin said some 1,000 workers from the SBJ would join Monday's demonstration. Also participating will be 100 activists from nongovernmental organization the Urban Poor Consortium.

Komarudin said the SBJ had given prior notification to city police about the rally, but was not aware that workers had done the same to their respective employers. "We are prepared for bad consequences for joining the street rally," he said.

The Greater Jakarta and Serang Workers Union Forum (Forum Jatabekser) will also take part in the demonstration, one of its activists, Sugianto, said. "We remain undecided whether to call on all of our members to join in or just send representatives to the event," he said.

The workers plan to flock around the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle before heading for the House of Representatives and other places, including the National Monument compound.

They will demand, among other things, the government rename May 1 National Labor Day and declare it a national holiday. Founding president Sukarno's government passed a law in 1951 stipulating May 1 as national labor day and a national holiday. The law was scrapped during the New Order regime under Soeharto.

The workers will also demand pay rises; and an end to arbitrary dismissals, part-time working schemes and the use of violence to stop strikes.
 

Human rights/law

Political prisoners record their experiences

Helen Jarvis, Jakarta -- April 15 marked the first anniversary of the establishment of an extraordinary organisation, the Indonesian Institute for the Study of 1965-1966 Massacre (YPKP).

Its chairperson is Sulami, who was second secretary-general of Gerwani (the Indonesian Women's Movement) when the dreadful repression began on October 1, 1965. She spent 20 years in prison, 13 in solitary confinement, without even specific charges being made against her, let alone a conviction.

Among the co-founders is the noted writer and former political prisoner Pramoedya Ananta Toer.

Burning with a desire to expose the crimes committed against themselves and millions of other Indonesians, Sulami and many former political prisoners ("ex-tapols") have decided that the years of enforced silence and discrimination must be broken. They have begun a concerted effort to document the killings, disappearances, tortures, rapes, inhuman and unjustified imprisonments, sackings, seizures and destruction of property that took place in 1965-66, and the years of discrimination and harassment that followed, even up to this day.

Forty ex-tapols gathered outside Jakarta from April 5-15 for a 10-day research training workshop. They were joined by a number of their children and even grandchildren, as well as others who wish to support their project.

In the past year, the YPKP has begun its work in many different provinces, gathering the names of those who were killed, disappeared, jailed or otherwise harmed. The workshop was to increase their expertise in various research techniques -- interviewing, analysis of fact and opinion, image and sound recording, establishment of databases, preservation of evidence, location of graves and forensic examination of human remains. Several speakers also gave historical and legal talks to place the work of the YPKP in context.

A particular edge to the discussion came from Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid's recent, and controversial, proposal to annul the 1966 decree banning the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and all teachings and writings of communism, Marxism and Leninism. Clearly such a ban runs completely contrary to any principle of democracy and its annulment would help break the repressive structure of Suharto's New Order -- which is precisely why many people and organisations have supported it.

The proposal has angered more hostile and threatening elements, however. On the eve of the workshop a demonstration was held outside the parliament building by militant Muslim youth, who burned the PKI flag and announced their intention to go into battle to prevent a proposal they believed to be tantamount to the party's reestablishment. The workshop itself had to be moved from its planned and announced location, due to intimidation of the owners of the site. One local official even stated that he personally would kill one by one any former PKI members who attended.

One of the speakers at the workshop was Asmara Nababan, a member of the government's National Human Rights Commission. He encouraged former political prisoners to assert their rights and asked that the Commission be informed of violations, such as local authorities continuing to affix the ex-tapol code to identity cards or illegally requesting permits to carry out inquiries and research into human rights violations.

He even urged people to carry copies of Law No.39/1999 on Human Rights with them, to show to any local official hindering their work or continuing to harass and intimidate them.

The National Human Rights Commission has undertaken some important investigations, such as in Aceh where it has exhumed the bodies of massacre victims and is now trying several military officers for war crimes.

But the Commission has not yet categorised the 1965-66 massacres to be an "event" worthy of its concern and several of its members have also argued that, if a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is established, it should begin its investigations at 1967, excluding the anti-PKI massacres.

But YPKP is determined that 1965-66 should be thoroughly investigated. Most of those at the workshop have experienced first-hand all kinds of human rights abuses. Only one of those present had ever been formally charged, tried and convicted for their offences. Most were not even members of the PKI, but belonged to a trade union, professional association, women's or youth group that was deemed suspect. Some were only high school students or peasant youth in 1965, many had been teachers.

Yet they had all spent years in jail, some over 10 years on the horrific prison island of Buru, where they watched many of their fellow prisoners die of starvation, illness and torture. The 12,000 prisoners exiled there not only had to build roads and barracks with their bare hands, but when their vegetable gardens and corn fields gave a yield, much of it was taken to feed the 3,000 guards and soldiers or sometimes seized and sold for the soldiers' private gain.

Those who survived these horrors now wish to reclaim their lives, no longer as second-class citizens but as full participants in building a new and democratic Indonesia. That cannot take place without telling the truth about what happened in 1965-66, the foundation years of Suharto's New Order regime. Their courage and strength, and the support of their families, is one of the most inspiring features of today's Indonesia.
 

News & issues

New Zealand details Suharto's Kiwi assets

Wellington -- Foreign Minister Phil Goff Friday sent Jakarta a list of assets held by former Indonesian president Suharto and his family in New Zealand. The list was sent to Indonesia's Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and included a multi-million dollar alpine lodge, Lilybank Station.

Lilybank in the South Island was owned by one of Suhartos six children, Tommy, but was sold to a Singaporean last year for one dollar (50 US cents). Another two holiday homes near Queenstown were previously owned by Suharto's daughter, Siti Hediyanti Haryadi.

Indonesia is investigating Suhartos interests outside of Indonesia. In a statement Goff said known assets formerly held in New Zealand by Suharto and his family were small in relation to the estimated 8 billion US dollars thought to have been pocketed by Suharto's family.

"However, handing over what we know about Suharto's holdings in New Zealand may assist the Indonesian authorities to bring to account those responsible," said Goff.

"The need to bring those people to justice is an important step in eliminating the almost endemic corruption in the country. This was a recurring theme mentioned by senior ministers during my visit to Indonesia last week. "President Wahid himself listed corruption as Indonesia's most critical problem when I met with him."

Goff said the current Indonesian government had made genuine efforts to implement reform. "This material may help Indonesia better establish whether the money to purchase these assets was obtained legally. If the Indonesian authorities believe a crime has been committed, we will look into the matter under New Zealand's Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act," said Goff.

Try, Moerdani grilled over Tanjung Priok incident

Jakarta -- Former vice president Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno and former armed forces commander Gen. (ret) L.B. Moerdani were questioned on Wednesday over their roles in a 1984 shooting in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, that left at least 40 people dead.

Try, who was the Jakarta Military commander when the incident took place, was quizzed for around three hours starting from 10.30am. Moerdani, popularly called Benny, was called for after Try and finished his one-hour session at 3.30pm.

The questioning was conducted by the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights violations (KPP HAM) in Tanjung Priok, a special team established in March by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to investigate the September 12, 1984, bloodshed.

Try, who served as vice president between 1988 and 1993, is the highest former state official ever to face the rights body's questions. In the media conference following the inquiry, Try said he had told all he knew about the incident to the commission. "I explained to them about the background to the Priok incident, which included the political situation at that time," he told journalists.

The clash between civilians and military personnel erupted following emotion-charged lectures at Tanjung Priok's Rawa Badak Mosque by preachers who had reportedly criticized the government. The military claimed 40 people were killed; eyewitnesses said they saw a truck loaded with charred bodies.

Try, who was accompanied by his team of lawyers led by Maj. Gen. Timur Manurung, maintained the military had responded properly to what he called "the brutal crowd".

Try told the inquiry commission that he never gave the order to shoot on the crowds. "The shootings began after someone fired a warning shot. The shot then triggered other warning shots to calm the crowd," Try was quoted as saying by one of the inquirers Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsudin.

Another member of the inquiry team, Albert Hasibuan, said during the questioning Try insisted that nobody should be blamed as the shooting had followed standard military procedures. Try said there were 23 fatalities during the incident and 60 injuries. He said only 14 of the dead had been identified, including nine Tanjung Priok residents.

The military buried the bodies in several graveyards in North Jakarta, such as Sukapura, and Condet and Pondok Rangon Kranggan in East Jakarta. One of the fatalities was buried by his family.

Try added that a gun holster was found on one of the bodies. Syamsudin also said Try admitted he had anticipated the community's feelings following the incident by explaining to Tanjung Priok residents about the killings and holding Koran recitals with them.

According to Albert, Try said he had received information about the bloodshed from his aides and that no complaints were ever raised by residents about their missing families.

Moerdani, who recently suffered from a stroke, left the commission building looking unsteady on his feet, without giving any statement to the media. Albert said Moerdani mostly gave written answers to the commission's questions as he had difficulty in communicating orally.

He said the former top military officer also denied allegations he gave a direct order for the troops to fire during the incident. In his testimony, Moerdani said he was informed of the incident by Try half-an-hour after it had taken place.

During the questioning, dozens of students and the families of victims of the incident staged a noisy demonstration in the rights commission's parking lot. The students, grouped under the Committee of Anti-Violence Students (KOMPAK), demanded the commission stay independent and speed up inquiries.

Wahid visits banned leftist writer

Jakarta -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid on Tuesday visited Pramoedya Ananta Toer, the country's greatest modern writer whose works remain officially banned here.

Pramoedya described the meeting as "good" but said he did not ask Wahid to restore his name or grant him compensation for the work that was destroyed while he was in jail.

He was first imprisoned under under the regime of fouding president Sukarno and later spent over a decade in a forced labor camp during the reign of former president Suharto.

"I have no bad name. It was just mudslinging, so there is no need for my name to be restored. I'm clean," Pramoedya told journalists.

The 74-year-old author's works, including manuscripts destroyed by soldiers and jailers, consist of about 36 books, several of which are as yet unedited. Pramoedya presented two of his works to Wahid, who admitted to have been an avid reader of his writings since the 1950s.

The author said he still could not accept the idea of national reconciliation as promoted by Wahid, despite the president's reconcilatory gesture and his insistence on lifting a ban on communism. "Reconciliation is difficult for someone who has suffered a lot like me. I don't understand what it means," he said.

"What about my works, freedom, which were forcibly taken from me? What about 10 years and two months of forced labor?" Pramoedya said. "No one in this country can restore my destroyed works."

Commenting on Wahid's proposal to lift the ban on teaching communism, Pramoedya said: "I agree to everything which is good for the people. Why can't we respect other people's beliefs?" he asked.

Pramoedya said he had now stopped writing and would refuse to speak in public. "I'm old," he said.

The bans on Pramoedya's books has remained in place after the fall in 1998 of the Suharto regime which first imposed it, but the enforcement of the ruling has relaxed and some of his books can now be bought openly in bookstores.

Pram, as he is commonly known, was first nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986 and his name has regularly been mentioned since then.

It is easier to find his books in English overseas than here in Indonesia, notably those he wrote in the forced labour camp on Buru island -- "The Glass House" and "This Earth of Mankind" which retrace the emergence and growth of Indonesian nationalism at the beginning of the century.

His complete works began to be republished last month by a small publishing house, Hasta Mitra, which has consistently supported Pramoedya during his difficult years.

Pramoedya, who has spent the past years as a semi-recluse in his residence in East Jakarta, did not gain full freedom of movement until 1998.

He has never denied that his sympathies lie solidly with communist theses and analysis, and he remains a scathing critic of the government of president Abdurrahman Wahid, whom he puts on the same plane as Suharto.

The award in 1995 of the prestigious Ramon Magsasay prize to Pramoedya revived the debate here over his role in the harsh repression, from 1960 to 1965 of "liberal bourgeois" authors. The government did not allow him to travel to Manila to receive the prize.

In 1999 he was allowed for the first time in 40 years to leave Indonesia for a trip to the United States with a stop-off in Europe. His spokesman said Pramoedya would visit Singapore on Thursday in connection with the publication of one of his works.

Lawmakers raise own salaries despite workers' protests

Indonesian legislators have "doubled" their own pay despite protests from trade unionists and student organisations. Local media reports say the average monthly wage of the 500 members of the House of Representatives is now about US$1,200. This came after the Legislature voted to approve the bill last month and the pay hikes took effect on 1 April.

The Indonesian government has said that a 100 percent pay rise for legislators is necessary. It argued that the massive salary hike for the president, ministers, legislators and other senior officials will help eradicate corruption. Although there are no available statistics on the average monthly salaries in Indonesia, some reports say the minimum wage ranges from US$30 to US$45 a month.

This is clearly not enough as highlighted by street demonstrations by Indonesian workers and students in recent weeks. They have been demanding pay raises for themselves.

At the same time, the protestors were against senior officials and legislators who have granted themselves much larger pay rises than those given to lower-level civil servants.

On Monday, hundreds of workers took part in a May Day march through Jakarta, urging the government to double minimum salaries.

Lawmakers themselves have admitted that salary hikes will face public opposition, which helps explain why the salary increase was not publicized last month. The government agreed to raise civil servants salaries by 30 percent on average during the current budget year. But it is still discussing with the International Monetary Fund on when to push the pay increases through.

Suharto 'may escape on technicality'

Jakarta -- A law enacted last year by the Habibie government was designed to ensure that former president Suharto and his cronies would be immune to corruption charges, says a senior lawyer.

Indonesian Advocates Association chairman Mr Sudjono said the law, enacted on August 16, was designed to keep Mr Suharto out of court because it nullified a previous corruption law of 1971 under which the former ruler should have been charged.

"I feel the law was designed to protect Pak Harto and his cronies," Mr Sudjono told reporters after addressing a discussion at the launch of the Indonesian Court Monitoring (ICM) group in Yogyakarta on Sunday.

The new law was not applicable to any corruption crimes or misdemeanours that were committed before August 16 last year, so Mr Suharto could escape corruption charges on a technicality, he said, according to the Indonesian Observer.

Mr Sudjono said he was deeply concerned that legislators had passed the August law. "We all know that the legislators during that period were smart. This situation might have been planned to achieve certain goals," he said.

The lawyer said he had raised the issue with Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman and explained the weaknesses of the corruption law. However, the Attorney-General had not said what he thought about the matter. "To me, his attitude could mean either approval or ignorance," he said.

Mr Sudjono said legislators must soon revise the 1999 law by inserting an "escape clause" that would allow the 1971 law to be applied to the wrongdoings of Mr Suharto and his friends. If there was no revision of the law, he said, the legal process against the former autocrat would continue to pan out like a long television serial drama.

Two students shot dead in Medan

Jakarta -- A violent clash on Monday between student protesters and police in Medan, North Sumatra, claimed the life of at least two students and injured 17 others.

Both victims were reportedly shot in the neck. The dead were identified as Kelvin Nababan and Rikardo, both economy faculty students from Nomensen Christian University.

Kelvin died on the spot while Rikardo died in Saint Elizabeth Hospital. North Sumatra Police spokesman Lt. Col. Amrin Karim said the clash erupted after three policemen were abducted by students on the university campus. The students were protesting the arrest of a fellow student detained a few days earlier for alleged gambling.

Amrin said the students vented their frustration by seizing the three policemen and wrecking campus buildings and vehicles parked inside.

He claimed that after failed negotiation efforts, police had to use force to quell the violence and rescue their fellow officers. Amrin admitted that shots had been fired.

However, Nomensen student Aries Nasution told The Jakarta Post that it was police that provoked the incident, storming the campus and wrecking the compound. He also denied that students had taken three policemen hostage.

Antara reported that the university's Rector Rickson Simarmata had reported the deaths of the two students to the Bukit Barisan Military Police.

Air interception shows lingering hostility

David Lague -- Hostility towards Australia in the Indonesian military is undermining efforts to rebuild ties between Canberra and Jakarta and threatening the safety of Australian service personnel and equipment.

Indonesia's menacing interception of four RAAF FA-18 fighters and its Boeing 707 in-air refuelling tanker last week shows that this suspicion and antagonism arising from Australia's military role in stabilising East Timor could lead to a confrontation or an accident that would be damaging for both sides.

It remains unclear why the Australian aircraft were challenged if, as the RAAF says, they were in acknowledged international air space and their flight plans had been cleared by Jakarta's aviation authorities.

Similar difficulties could arise for Australian warships and submarines using the many recognised international waterways of the sprawling Indonesian archipelago. Indonesia has long sought to tighten control over the sea lanes crossing its territory.

Last week Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, encouraged speculation that recent orders for Jakarta's navy to become more alert were directed at the operations of Australian submarines.

There is also the potential for confrontation in East Timor while Indonesia continues to train and arm militia in West Timor for raids across the border, where Australian troops are deployed with the United Nations peacekeeping force.

Senior Australian Army officers say that the Indonesian Army's behaviour in West Timor and along the border is far from peaceful.

Any hostile act by Jakarta, or damaging accident, particularly where air safety was involved, would be another blow to an international reputation already in ruins after its military's bloody exit from East Timor.

The Howard Government is trying to play down Wednesday's encounter, and had not bothered to inform the public until it was reported in the Indonesian press at the weekend, but the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Downer, yesterday acknowledged that hostility in Jakarta over East Timor was harming ties.

This resentment is unlikely to ease in the near future if Australia is conducting covert reconnaissance flights over Indonesian territory, as some influential members of Jakarta's elite regularly claim.

Mr Downer was unable yesterday categorically to deny these so-called black flights. "I can only tell you what the RAAF and the Defence Department and the Defence Minister have told me ... that we have mounted no black flights over Indonesia," he told Channel 9's Sunday program.

Jakarta is well aware that, with vulnerable troops on the ground in East Timor, Australia's military and intelligence services are using every tool at their disposal to probe Indonesian military movements and intentions, particularly in West Timor.

Poverty hampers RI social security system

Jimbaran, Bali -- Aside from mismanagement, poverty and overpopulation have aggravated the development of a social security system in Indonesia.

Bambang Purwoko, the director of program development and member service affairs at state-owned social security company PT Jamsostek, said disadvantageous economic and demographic conditions impeded government efforts to provide people maximum social security protection.

He noted that the successful development of a social security system often depended on economic and population growth, apart from the government's political commitment.

It is generally easier for a social security system to develop in a steadily growing economy with low unemployment, said Bambang, who earned his doctorate in social insurance at Australian National University in 1994.

Bambang said that in Indonesia around 60 percent of the 207 million population currently lived at or below the poverty line, while some 80 percent of the 80 million workforce were still earning the regional minimum wage.

Bambang, who was in Bali last week to attend the ASEAN Social Security Association's annual meeting, further remarked that the current situation was aggravated by the millions who had become unemployed due to the economic crisis.

He cited as an example the fact that Jamsostek could only extend limited benefits to workers, because 60 percent of employees participating in the social security program were only able to contribute a limited amount of money due to their low wages.

Jamsostek has collected Rp 10.29 trillion from around 10 million workers participating in its programs. Much of its assets have been invested in Bank Indonesia certificates, commercial papers and bonds, banking deposits and stocks.

Bambang said Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had been more successful than Indonesia in developing their social security systems because of their higher per capita incomes.

Malaysia, with a population of 22.7 million, has a per capita income of more than US$3,000; Singapore, with a population of 3.9 million, has a $22,000 per capita income; while the per capita income in Indonesia is about $460, he said.

According to Bambang, in Malaysia the social security program -- consisting of occupational accident coverage, health care and death benefits -- was compulsory for workers earning 2,000 ringgit or less a month.

Malaysian employers are obliged to confer an equivalent of 1.25 percent of their employees' gross salary to the Social Security Organization.

Workers in Malaysia pay 11 percent of their monthly wage into a pension fund, while their employers contribute 12 percent to the scheme under individual employees' names.

"Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Singapore's Central Provident Fund have played a dominant role in the two countries' stock exchanges because of the huge amount of assets raised through their workers," Bambang said, adding that EPF recently purchased a small number of shares in Indonesia's PT Astra.

He said Indonesia should learn from these two countries, where the investment profits were accumulated to provide benefits for workers. He further highlighted the fact that social security institutions in these countries, unlike in Indonesia, were not taxable.

Bambang also said it was vital that Indonesian social security companies were revamped. He argued that the five state-owned social security companies -- PT Jamsostek, PT Askes, PT Taspen, PT Asabri and PT Jasa Raharja -- should be dissolved and a single independent organization be established to handle social security programs for workers, civil servants and servicepeople. "Such a merger is an urgent need in order to make the companies efficient in social security management," he said.

He said the new independent organization should be run by an executive board comprising representatives of the government, workers, civil servants, servicepeople and professionals.

The executive board should have full authority in managing and investing all funds raised from participants in the social security program, he said. He lamented the fact that the government had yet to show the political commitment to provide better social security for the people.

"According to the Constitution, it is the government's obligation to provide social security protection for the people, and not to use [social security] for business purposes," he said, adding that a lack of monitoring contributed to past mismanagement of social security funds.

Bambang claimed financial leakage in the five state-owned social security companies was still rampant. The financial leakage has a lot to do with the government's intervention in the five companies, he charged without elaborating.

He said the government should strictly enforce the 1992 Law on Social Security, which makes it compulsory for companies employing 10 workers or more to participate in social security programs.

"Of the 80 million workforce, only 8 percent, or around 10 million, participate in social security schemes," he said, adding that most workers were unaware of the advantages of joining a social security program.
 

Environment/health

Forestry graft probe has no teeth: ICW

Jakarta -- The government effort to probe prominent businesspeople's alleged involvement in corruption in the forestry sector is doomed to failure because of the probability investigators are also corrupt, experts said.

Coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Teten Masduki said he doubted offenders would be tried and prosecuted despite strong evidence because the country's law officers could be "bought".

"I doubt that any of the tycoons will be punished because the attorneys and judges can easily be bribed. As long as [the former president] Soeharto lives, none of his family or acquaintances can be touched by law officers," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Director of Forest Watch Indonesia Abdon Nababan also expressed skepticism, saying that the process of verifying documents and collecting hard evidence was hampered by the uncooperative attitude of officials at the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations.

He told the Post on Saturday many ministry officials were accustomed to taking bribes. "Many officials are afraid the investigation of the corruption cases will lead to [evidence of] their own involvement," he said. He called on the ministry to first deal with its corrupt officials before going into battle against powerful timber companies.

Teten and Abdon were commenting on the ongoing investigation into timber magnates Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, Probosutedjo and Prayogo Pangestu and the eldest daughter of former president Soeharto, Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana by the Attorney General's Office on allegations of corruption, collusion and nepotism, known locally by the acronym KKN, under the patronage of Soeharto.

The office has put Bob Hasan in custody since early this month as a suspect for US$87 million in misuse of reforestation funds through his forest aerial mapping company PT Mapindo Parama. The office has also begun an investigation of Tutut's younger brother Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra for allegedly diverting Rp 54 billion ($6.9 million) of the forestry ministry's project funds through his air charter company PT Gatari Air Service.

Several officials, including former ministers of forestry and plantations Hasrul Harahap and Djamaludin Soerjohadikusumo, have been questioned in relation to Hasan's case.

The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations recently revealed the names of 12 high-ranking officials who were allegedly involved in collusion and bribery with Hasan.

Minister of Forestry and Plantations Nur Mahmudi Ismail said in early April that several businesspeople currently under investigation attempted to hamper the process by lobbying and attempting to bribe officials both at his office and at the Attorney General's Office. Mahmudi also said that someone had tried to bribe him by transferring some Rp 25 billion to his bank account.

Teten said he believed the tycoons were guilty of corruption. "It's impossible for them to obtain such oversize timber plantation areas if it were not for their close association with Soeharto." He said the four tycoons' timber companies controlled about 58 million hectares, or about 30 percent of the country's total forest areas allocated for timber plantations or industrial forest estates.

He argued it would not be difficult to bring the cases to trial because the documents and evidence were already in hand. He added both the ICW and the ministry conducted investigations and collected sufficient data.

According to the ministry's investigative report, which Teten said the ministry had tried to conceal, Hasan along with Tutut, Prayogo and Probosutedjo were allegedly involved in corruption and misuse of reforestation funds totaling Rp 784 billion.
 

Arms/armed forces

Indonesia's future hinges on how military is handled

Jakarta -- The future of post-Suharto Indonesia hinges on how the nation handles its military, according to a report by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) released Thursday.

In its annual report the London-based IISS said Indonesia's two main problems now were safeguarding its drive towards full democracy and cementing its territorial and national integrity.

"Yet, while the future and durability of Indonesian democracy is less assured than the [1999] election results seemed to promise, the country's integrity is less imperilled than some pessimists believed," the institute said.

The IISS was referring to the country's freest and fairest elections since 1955, which culminated in the election of Muslim scholar Abudrrahman Wahid as the country's fourth president in October.

The 1999 poll organizers, the government of former president B.J. Habibie who was handpicked by Suharto to succeed him after more than three decades in power, had already begun the process of reform and democratization picked up and amplified by Wahid.

One of the key reforms taken up by the new president has been to wean the military away from Indonesia's political life and return them to the barracks.

"The success that Wahid has achieved in his slow and careful campaign to put the military back in the barracks needs to be followed up before Indonesia can be certain that its transition to electoral democracy has been completed," the IISS report said.

It warned that the military, which under Wahid has begun to relinquish its long-held influential role in politics, could still step in and reclaim its earlier position.

"At worst, it [Indonesia] could fall apart into mutually hostile nation states, destabilizing the entire region, or to prevent that outcome the army might reassert the dictatorship it seemed to have relinquished so recently," the institute said. But it also said that any such move by the military would create a resistance by large numbers of Indonesians against such "a retrograde lurch."

"At best, it could still become a vibrant pluralist country with far more power devolved from the centre in Java."

Renew Indonesian military links: Beazley

Lindsay Murdoch and Tony Wright Jakarta and Jerusalem -- Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has urged that Australia's defence forces resume cooperation with Indonesia's military just six months after the country's soldiers were involved in widespread violence and destruction in East Timor.

Speaking during a two-day visit to Jakarta, Mr Beazley said any future cooperation between the two country's armed forces should be part of a more diverse relationship. He said military cooperation "must be supportive of Indonesia's democratic transition".

But Prime Minister John Howard said from Jerusalem yesterday that he believed it was too early to start rebuilding defence ties with Indonesia.

Mr Howard dismissed Mr Beazley's trip to Indonesia as having little impact on the effort to rebuild Australia's relationship with Indonesia. "I don't think it has mattered a great deal either way," he said, adding that he did not wish to politicise the matter.

Mr Beazley referred to remarks by Mr Howard last week in which the Prime Minister said that relations between Indonesia and Australia would never be the same again. "Our relationship will indeed never be the same -- for one very positive reason: we are no longer just neighbors in geography but today we are also neighbors in democracy," he said.

Mr Beazley, a former defence minister in the Keating government, pushed the idea of Australian forces undertaking "cooperative endeavors" with Indonesian forces, such as trying to combat the growing problem of piracy at sea.

Relations between the Australian Defence Force and the Indonesian armed forces have been effectively frozen since Australian troops led international forces into East Timor last September to end violence, looting and destruction in the territory by Indonesian troops and their militia allies.

Almost all the senior military commanders blamed for the violence have been promoted and still hold key jobs in the Indonesian armed forces. Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has said that the chief of the armed forces at the time of the violence, General Wiranto, will be pardoned even if an Indonesian court finds him guilty.

Mr Beazley, who presented himself in meetings in Jakarta as the likely next prime minister of Australia, ruled out Australian troops resuming the training of Indonesia's elite Kopassus forces, who are blamed for sponsoring much of the East Timor violence.

But he said: "I think you can see from the things I am saying that we need a mature defence relationship that is based on confidence building."

Mr Beazley said there should be an opportunity to "nut out" problems or concerns that arose with aspects of either Australian or Indonesian security. "This type of talk is important," Mr Beazley said. "When it comes to more cooperative endeavors with forces perse I think we should explore things like the piracy issue, which I think is actually a serious problem."

Mr Beazley criticised Mr Howard for failing to visit Indonesia since Mr Wahid, the country's first democratically elected president, took office last October. "Our national interests ... dictate that we cannot step back from each other just because the going gets tough," Mr Beazley said during a breakfast meeting of the Indonesia-Australian Business Council. "Neither of us can afford to put the other on the shelf for a few years."

Mr Beazley played down problems that have highlighted tensions between Canberra and Jakarta in recent weeks, including the interception by two Indonesian jet fighters of five Australian warplanes flying over eastern Indonesia last week. The Australian planes had proper Indonesian clearances, he said.

He urged Mr Howard to take up Mr Wahid's suggestion of a tripartite commission to solve problems in the region between East Timor, Indonesia and Australia. Mr Wahid told The Age last weekend that he hoped to visit Canberra, Melbourne and Darwin in late July or August, the first visit by an Indonesian president since 1975.

Mr Howard said Australia and Indonesia had to approach their relationship with goodwill and with an eye to the future. But it had to be recognised that the future would be influenced by the past. "I think you just take one thing at a time," he said. "The relationship has gone through strain, that's understood. It is recovering, it is repairing, it is rebuilding."
 

Economy & investment

Rupiah undervalued due to volatile politics

Jakarta -- The rupiah is undervalued due to lingering volatility on the Indonesian political front, according to an executive of a foreign hedge fund.

"Theoretically the rupiah is still undervalued. It should range between Rp 6,500 and Rp 7,000 [against the dollar]," Calvin Y. L. Ho, senior portfolio manager at Citicorp Investment Bank Ltd. of Singapore, said on Wednesday.

Selling pressure on the Indonesian currency continues because there are concerns with the inconsistency of the country's policymakers, he said.

He acknowledged the pressure on the rupiah was also due to high demand for the dollar, but said the major factor behind the rupiah's weakness was uncertainty in the country's political climate.

"Policymakers continue to have their games," he said, adding that policies in Indonesia were based too much on political considerations. "There is now a tendency [by policymakers] to adopt populist policies."

The Indonesian currency fell to a six-month low against the dollar on April 21 to Rp 8,005, from Rp 7,780 on the previous day due to rumors of an alliance to oppose President Abdurrahman Wahid. The rupiah inched up on Wednesday to close at Rp 7,970 against the dollar from Rp 8,045 on Tuesday.

Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin said on Monday the domestic political situation was still weighing on the exchange rate of the rupiah against the US dollar.

Sjahril reiterated that once the political uncertainty subsided, the rupiah should return to the 7,000 level or stronger against the dollar. "The market is still waiting for more favorable developments in politics," he said following a meeting with senior economic ministers. Ho said investors were turned off if policies changed too frequently over the medium term of investment.

He said Indonesia's fundamental indicators had showed improvement in the past several months reflecting a growth in the economy. For exporters, the crisis made Indonesia very competitive not only due to the depreciation of the rupiah, but also because of the lower costs of labor and raw materials, he said.