East
Timor
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conflicts
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Papua
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rights/law
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& issues
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forces
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& investment
Rebuilding
the aim with $100m budget
Sydney
Morning Herald - June 10, 2000
Mark
Dodd, Dili -- The de facto parliament, the National Consultative Council,
has approved a Budget of $US59.23 million to help the nation rebuild after
last year's devastating militia violence. The budget will be taken for
approval to an international donors' conference in Lisbon this month.
The
15-member council, chaired by Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, chief of the United
Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), has 11 East
Timorese members and decides on important UN regulations.
Last
week, Mr Vieira de Mello said this was neither a welfare nor a development
budget, but aimed at fiscal restraint. The main beneficiaries of the money,
to be paid from the UN and World Bank Trust Funds for East Timor, are the
health, education and infrastructure sectors, all hard hit after the September
bloodshed.
Health,
education and social affairs will receive $US13.65 million, and $US15.4
million will be spent on water, sanitation and infrastructure.
At
least $US14.45 million will be used to pay the salaries of an estimated
9,000 East Timorese public servants, and $US15.6 million will be spent
on capital works, UNTAET 's head of finance, Ms Fernanda Borges said yesterday.
A total
of $US4.66 million will be spent on training 516 East Timorese police and
337 gendarmes.
The
justice system has been allocated $US2.9 million, and $US2 million alone
earmarked for rebuilding four district courts in the 2000-01 financial
year. Funding for justice will be almost halved next financial year.
Ms
Borges estimated that revenue this year from taxes and charges would be
about $US22 million, rising to $US33 million next year. The budget assumes
income of $US1 million this year from a tax on exports of coffee, the country's
main crop.
East
Timor's Muslims bemoan new hostility
International
Herald Tribune - June 8, 2000
Rajiv
Chandrasekaran, Dili -- Lured by the opportunity to make it big in the
coffee trading business, Abdul Halim moved to this predominantly Roman
Catholic territory in 1996 from his largely Islamic hometown on Sumatra
island, settling in a small community near the Dili airport filled with
fellow Muslim migrants from other parts of the Indonesian archipelago.
At
the time, going from the religious majority to the minority did not concern
Mr. Halim and his neighbors. The Indonesian government, which ruled East
Timor with a stiff military fist, encouraged Muslims to move to the territory
under a policy aimed at diluting the strength of independence-minded Timorese.
But
now that East Timor is no longer part of Indonesia, having voted for independence
in a referendum sponsored by the United Nations last summer, the Muslim
minority has found the welcome mat yanked away.
"When
we go to the market, the Timorese tell us we are not wanted here," said
Mr. Halim, 51. "They say, 'Go back.' They call us troublemakers even though
we have caused no trouble here."
Many
Muslim families in Mr. Halim's neighborhood escaped the wave of violence
that erupted after the independence vote by taking sanctuary in the nearby
An-Nur Mosque. They have been unable to return home because their houses
have been occupied by Timorese squatters.
"We
have tried to go back, but when we arrive the people there tell us we cannot
have our homes back because we are not Timorese," said Jamal Chaniago,
a leader of the mosque.
The
intimidation is not just verbal. The An-Nur Mosque, which has been transformed
into a squalid encampment of 265 people, many of them families with young
children, is regularly pelted with stones thrown by young Timorese Catholics,
according to Islamic leaders and UN officials.
The
persecution of East Timor's Muslim minority is emerging as a key test of
religious and political tolerance in the new nation, raising fears that
this battle-scarred territory could see a wave of violence spawned by the
Timorese, who were the last round's victims, against Muslims, ethnic Chinese
businessmen and others who are believed to have initially opposed independence.
UN
officials who govern the country have condemned the intimidation and pledged
that residents before the vote are free to live there now. The UN also
has beefed up security at the mosque compound.
Several
key Timorese officials, including an independence leader, Xanana Gusmao,
and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Jose Ramos-Horta, have said that
non-Timorese should be allowed to return, but they differ on how that process
should take place, voicing fears that unchecked immigration could let Indonesians
and other foreigners snatch economic opportunities from the impoverished
Timorese.
"Indonesian
business people have come back and are injecting enormous amounts of money
into the economy," said Joao Carrascalo, a vice president of the National
Council of Timorese Resistance, the umbrella independence group. "They
have become provocateurs. They are doing it to destabilize the situation."
Mr.
Carrascalo said people who do not have a family connection to Timor, even
those who lived in the territory before, should be treated as new migrants
and subjected to "the proper scrutiny" before residency permits are granted.
The
UN's human-rights chief in East Timor, Sidney Jones, said the animosity
toward Muslims, Chinese and others was motivated more by political differences
than religious ones. "What you're really seeing is suspicion of people
who are still perceived as Indonesian nationals," she said.
Several
of the mosque dwellers privately say they would have preferred that Timor
remain part of Indonesia, but they insist they did not take part in the
violence or support the militias that caused it. Because they were not
born in Timor, they were not allowed to vote.
Despite
the 24-hour presence of armed UN peacekeepers at the mosque compound, the
level of fear is still high among those inside. They rarely leave the area
during the day and never at night, Mr. Chaniago said. Many of the men are
unemployed, he said, because the Timorese will not hire them.
The
tension highlights the steep challenges facing the UN as it also tries
to integrate in the new nation the tens of thousands of people, most of
them Catholic and native-born Timorese, who voted for the territory to
remain a part of Indonesia. With UN encouragement, those people have been
slowly returning to East Timor from refugee camps in western Timor. In
some cases, the repatriation has proceeded smoothly, but in others, the
returnees have been threatened and beaten up by independence supporters.
Indonesian
general denies military wrongdoing
Christian
Science Monitor - June 8, 2000
Dan
Murphy, Jakarta -- As Indonesian prosecutors stepped up their investigation
of soldiers for involvement in the atrocities that followed East Timor's
independence vote last September, a senior general signaled the military
is digging in.
Maj.
Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, Indonesia's senior commander in East Timor after the
August vote, denied last week that former Monitor contributor Sander Thoenes,
suspected to have been killed by Indonesian soldiers on Sept. 21, had died
of a gunshot wound.
"Even
the officers of the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET) said that
he didn't have gunshot wounds," General Syahnakri told reporters after
four hours of questioning by prosecutors over the rampage in East Timor
last September, while he was responsible for security in the territory.
Syahnakri
had acknowledged Thoenes was shot and killed last year. Analysts in Jakarta
said his comments appear aimed at creating the impression locally that
the circumstances of Thoenes's killing -- one of five East Timor cases
given priority by Attorney General Marzuki Darusman -- are not known.
He
also continued to deny widespread military backing for the violence. "Nothing
much happened" during 18 days of martial law under his command that September,
Syahnakri said. During that time, hundreds of East Timorese were killed
and more than 200,000 people were forced from their homes and across the
border into Indonesia's West Timor. The operation was conducted by militias
with the support of Indonesian soldiers.
The
general is now chief of the Udayana Military Command overseeing security
in Bali and neighboring islands.
His
comments sharply contradict the findings of INTERFET and various international
investigators.
Australian
coroner Gregory Cavanagh, working with the aid of INTERFET reports and
a detailed forensic autopsy, found that Thoenes had died from a single
gunshot wound to the chest and that "it is probable that a member or members
of the 745 Battalion of the [Indonesian Army] shot the deceased."
International
human rights groups, the United Nations, and Indonesian investigators have
all found that senior Indonesian officers were complicit in the killings
in East Timor.
Mr.
Darusman said in an interview with the Monitor at the end of May that prosecutors
would bring officers to trial by August on charges of involvement with
the violence in East Timor. Darusman and human rights activists have repeatedly
complained of military efforts to block the investigations, ranging from
refusing to produce key witnesses to intimidation.
Timor
still suffers
Sydney
Morning Herald - June 8, 2000
Dili
-- Is there a conspiracy of silence within our media about conditions in
East Timor? Sister Fabiol Gusmao, who runs Carmelite health clinics and
an orphanage in Dili and dispenses food and medical aid to starving people,
recently sent a despairing call for food to the Mary MacKillop Sisters
in Sydney.
She
said that up to 90 malnourished children per day were coming to one clinic
alone, which is in the town of Maubara, about 45km west of Dili. She reported
some horrifying statistics about the physique of three of these children:
a 12-year-old girl weighing six kilograms, and two brothers, four and six
years old, both weighing four kilograms.
Sister
Joan Westblade, who is in Timor helping with medical aid in the Catholic
clinics, says the Timorese are still desperately short of food, particularly
protein food like dried beans and peas, fish and meat.
The
former Independent MP for Manly, Dr Peter MacDonald, who recently returned
from East Timor , has released figures about deaths from TB which could
indicate that about 15 to 20 people die every day from this disease in
East Timor. Twenty-five years of starvation and malnutrition have contributed
greatly to the severity of diseases like TB, malaria and dengue fever.
[Ian
Hodges, Aid co-ordinator, Australia East Timor Association, June 5, Bundeena.]
Demonstrators
block Dili traffic over fuel hikes
Lusa
- June 7, 2000
Taxi
and van drivers blocked traffic in Dili with their vehicles and tried to
force their way into the central administrative building Wednesday to protest
recent fuel price hikes.
Numbering
about 200, the demonstrators agreed to disband after a delegation was received
by UN officials and promised another meeting Thursday. It was the second
such demonstration in the East Timorese capital since Friday.
One
youth was arrested after kicking the head of a UN policeman, an American,
when the crowd tried to force its way into the government building.
UN
legal code abysmal: lawyers
Sydney
Morning Herald - June 7, 2000
Mark
Dodd, Dili -- A draft UN legal code designed to serve East Timor's fledgling
judiciary was so flawed it would make a criminal conviction virtually impossible,
a visiting team of senior Australian legal experts said.
Mr
Robert Cavanagh, a barrister and senior lecturer in law at the University
of Newcastle, and Mr Liam Shaw, a solicitor with the NSW Department of
Public Prosecutions described the draft code as dangerous after being asked
to read and advise on any flaws and suggest amendments.
They
warned on Monday that implementing the proposed UNTAET regulation "On Provisional
Rules of Criminal Procedure" would probably result in "significant difficulties"
for the administration of justice. The draft code was to be ratified last
Friday by the UN-chaired National Consultative Council, East Timor's de
facto government, but has been deferred.
"This
is a dangerous and onerous document. It must not be passed if criminal
investigations are to have any chance of success," said Mr Cavanagh, a
defence lawyer with 16 years' court experience. A High Court judge would
find it impossible to interpret, he said.
The
concerns of Mr Cavanagh and Mr Shaw were supported by the NSW Deputy Coroner,
Ms Jan Stevenson, who is in East Timor to assess the state of the judiciary
for the Catholic Agency for Overseas Aid and Development.
She
said the draft's authors appeared to have little understanding of the law.
"If you are going to draft legislation for a new nation, then you should
try and make the legislation such that it can be adopted, used effectively
and amended when the new government comes in. This is an abysmal piece
of legislation and totally unacceptable anywhere. In fact, it is a frightening
piece of legislation. It does not appear to have any cultural relationship
to East Timor."
The
main concern is the imprecise language, resulting in a document full of
contradictory laws. But Mr Cavanagh warned that the UN draft was also inconsistent
with the the UN's human rights code and could be used as an instrument
of oppression.
Sub-section
29.3 refers to requiring a warrant for an intrusive body search but does
not stipulate conditions for the issuing of a warrant, such as "reasonable
grounds to believe that material evidence may be found in the person's
body".
Rules
covering hearing proceedings are riddled with potential problems. There
is no provision in the draft to shorten proceedings if an accused wants
to plead guilty.
The
draft has the potential to admit unreliable or fabricated evidence because
there are no provisions covering leading questions. On forensic examination
and exhumation, they warned that re-exhumation was forbidden under the
proposed UN law.
Yet
more than 200 bodies had already been exhumed and reburied by investigators
in late 1999 and early 2000 because no pathologist was available. "In effect,
these bodies cannot be the subject of an investigation if this regulation
is passed. We have been urged by those working in the area to bring this
oversight to the relevant authorities," the report said.
UN
and East Timorese human rights officials estimate as many as 1,500 independence
supporters were murdered in post-ballot violence last September.
UN
jails hold 112 detainees, about half of whom were members of pro-Jakarta
militias armed and trained by the Indonesian military but who now face
charges of murder or multiple murder.
Elections
will happen with or without pro-integration group
Surya
Timor - June 6, 2000
Kupang
-- Responding to an UNTAS statement which said that it would not participate
in the 2001 elections in East Timor if the UN didn't clarify UNAMET fraud
in the referendum, UNTAET representative in Kupang, Colin Stewart, stressed
that the elections will still be carried out even without the pro- integration
group. Colin said there are already several well- known groups like Fretilin
and UDT as well as other political parties that will participate in the
coming elections although there is not yet an official procedure for registering
for the election.
Concerning
the Popular Timorense Party (PPT) led by Herminio da Silva da Costa, Colin
said that if the leaders of that party are willing, they'll be invited
to East Timor to work together in determining the process for East Timor's
political future. He said that each political party that wants to participate
in the 2001 election must first accept the referendum results and the UNTAET
government now in East Timor. When asked if the PPT could register for
the election from Kupang, Stewart said he didn't know since official procedures
had not yet been issued by UNTAET, but he did say there was a strong possibility
this would not be permitted. In short, if someone wants to found a political
party to participate in the East Timor election, they would need to be
in East Timor in order to participate in the process.
Responding
to the statement by Florencio Mario Viera who accused Stewart of lying
about the referendum being held democratically, Stewart said, "Everywhere
in the world there is always some election fraud. But it is certain that
the small degree of fraud can't cancel the referendum results [in which
pro-independence got nearly 80% of the vote and pro-integration 20%]."
If UNTAS thinks he is a big liar, then the world is also a liar, because
he wasn't the only one who was involved in the referendum but there were
observers from other countries including from Indonesian NGOs.
Florencio
said that UNTAS was not questioning the results of the referendum so much
as the process of the referendum that was full of fraud. He said that the
2000 observers were all pro- independence and that UNAMET had rejected
the UNTAS suggestion so that there be witnesses at the polls and that the
vote be counted directly at the polls.
Kwik
Kian Gie: graft still endemic
Straits
Times - June 11, 2000
Jakarta
-- Coordinating Economics Minister Kwik Kian Gie admitted on Friday that
the culture of corruption, collusion and nepotism was still prevalent in
the bureaucracy under President Abdurrahman Wahid, and said it would take
a while to eradicate.
"If
the government is asked are they still doing KKN practices, yes they are.
I'm not surprised ... as it relates to a corrupt mentality," Antara quoted
Mr Kwik as saying after a seminar. KKN is the local term for corruption,
collusion and nepotism.
Commenting
on the allegations against Central Bank Governor Syahril Sabirin, the minister
said Mr Syahril was guilty of KKN practices during the regime of former
president B. J. Habibie and "not under the present administration". He
also revealed on Friday that an IMF team was arriving in Jakarta tomorrow
to review the government's economic-reform programmes.
Indonesia
central bank clashes with Wahid
Reuters
- June 6, 2000
Jonathan
Thatcher, Jakarta -- A growing feud between Indonesian President Abdurrahman
Wahid and his scandal-tainted central bank governor threatens more damage
to the country's already precarious chances of economic recovery.
On
Tuesday, the central bank accused Wahid of undermining both its independence
and the economy after Bank Indonesia governor Sjahril Sabirin was officially
named a suspect in a politically- charged banking scandal.
"This
isn't doing anything positive for the country. It's just more uncertainty,"
one financial analyst said, adding that investor interest in troubled Indonesia
had already dwindled to minimal levels.
Worries
of further instability pushed Jakarta share prices and the Indonesian rupiah
lower in Tuesday trading. Both have long lost all the gains that followed
the initial enthusiasm of Wahid's rise to power last year in Indonesia's
first contested presidential election.
Government
wants Sabirin out
Attorney-General
Marzuki Darusman said the central bank chief should effectively be suspended
from duty during the investigation into his role in the Bank Bali scandal.
But
one deputy central bank governor, bristling at the move against Sabirin,
accused President Wahid of trying to illegally unseat his boss and warned
that the consequences would take the rupiah even lower.
"According
to the central bank law, the governor will resign because he wants to.
In this case he has been put under pressure. It's not good to resign under
pressure," Achjar Iljas told Reuters. "We can not accept this ... We will
take action. Intervention in the central bank is against the law," Iljas
said.
Wahid
denies discussing the Bank Bali scandal with the head of the central bank,
but Sabirin says he has been pressured several times to step down.
The
scandal erupted almost a year ago and revolves around a huge loan collection
fee the bank paid to a firm close to the then ruling Golkar party. It has
already effectively claimed one top official by helping destroy then-President
B.J. Habibie's chances of re-election last October.
Adding
to Indonesia's troubles
The
naming of Sabirin adds to the country's economic woes, with both the rupiah
and share prices under weeks of pressure over fears that unrelenting political
uncertainty will prevent the government getting its economic recovery programme
to work.
Indonesia's
transition to democracy after decades of despotic rule has been marked
by repeated scandal. Much of it is left over from the days of disgraced
former President Suharto who towards the end of his rule made Sabirin central
bank chief. But new ones keep popping up too. The latest involves Wahid's
masseur, who is now being hunted by police over the theft of 35 billion
rupiah ($4.20 million) from a state agency.
Wahid
has publicly suggested Sabirin step down over yet another scandal involving
massive Bank Indonesia loans to firms at the height of the economic crisis
in 1997 and 1998, most of which have yet to be repaid.
This
week, the state audit agency refused to give the central bank a clean bill
of health because of those loans. Under a law passed last year, only parliament
can sack the head of the central bank.
Mixed
signals from parliament
But
on Monday, the legislature was giving mixed signals in what is likely to
become another political football in the jockeying for position ahead of
a crucial meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly, Indonesia's top
legislative body.
Wahid's
opponents have lost little time in jumping on scandals and controversy
to discredit the president ahead of the meeting of the assembly which has
the power to force him from office.
Parliamentary
speaker Akbar Tandjung said Sabirin would only have to step down if he
was found guilty. But deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar, a member of Wahid's
own political party, said parliament would meet soon to discuss a replacement
to Sabirin. "My reading is that Sabirin's gone," one senior treasury manager
said.
The
timing is particularly sensitive as the government comes under heavy pressure
to stop the rupiah from falling. Failure could mean its hopes for economic
recovery badly damaged.
And
if that happens, analysts warn that the rampant social unrest that has
accompanied the past two years of recession could well erupt again.
"When
the new government came in [last October] there was real hope it could
arrest this uncertainty and do more, but this year [it has shown that]
even if it has the will it doesn't have the ability," one analyst said.
My
brother the President
Straits
Times - June 7, 2000
[Gus
Dur's controversial brother speaks frankly to The Straits Times.]
Q:
Describe Gus Dur for us.
A:
Gus Dur is a great solidarity-maker, but he's not the best administrator
in town. His power came from various political centres, so he has to accommodate
them in his policy-making.
There's
a historical precedent for this, for example, Bung Karno (Indonesia's first
President Sukarno) from 1945 to 1959. For 14 years, Bung Karno was very
patient, balancing the extreme left and the extreme right. But finally
he had had enough.
This
is a presidential government. You have to let the President make his choices
and give him time before you judge whether he can do it or not. How do
you expect a blind man who's had two strokes to overcome Indonesia's problems
in six months? If you do, you're crazy.
Q:
Some politicians are now talking about letting Gus Dur choose his own ministers
instead of insisting on party representation. Will that work for Gus Dur?
A:
It will work. But he shouldn't choose opportunists. A lot of the people
around him just want to get jobs. People are going round claiming that
Gus Dur wanted this, or that he said that. People around Gus Dur have been
undermining him.
Q:
Does Gus Dur essentially have an "I have nothing to lose" attitude towards
life and governance?
A:
He's not like that. He still has some martyr syndrome. In wayang, it's
called kumbokarno, from the Ramayana stories.
Have
you realised that after 1492, when the Dutch fleet was defeated by the
Portuguese fleet, the Indonesian world view turned inwards. People of the
nusantara became landlocked in their minds. Gus Dur has been saying for
the last 20 years, we must turn maritime. So one of the first things he
did as President was to appoint a naval officer as Pangab (armed-forces
chief). He has noble aspirations.
Hasn't
it occurred to anyone that in his first six months, he visited the heads
of state of four of the United Nations security council's permanent five
members?
Q:
It is always assumed that he wanted to cut off any support for an independent
Aceh.
A:
Yes. And look at the way he asked former Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers
to be the chairman of the reconciliation team in Maluku. Lubbers refused,
but the gesture was there. You started the problem, you solve it. Holland
planted the seeds of the problem in Maluku centuries ago.
Q:
What's the key to understanding Gus Dur?
A:
He's very complex. You have two sides of a personality here -- a discursive
side which likes to explore ideas and a practical, opportunistic politician.
At one end, he's a noble thinker for his people.
People
always misread him one way or the other; they don't normally see his opportunistic
side. Take his proposal to revoke the MPR decree on communism. That was
a shrewd political move.
At
the next general election, some of the millions of voters, the descendants
of the communist purge in the 60s, who voted for PDI-P, won't be voting
for it again. He's trying to make the PKB (Nation Awakening Party) a strong
pillar of democracy. Those descendants form a huge number.
Q:
So, he is going for the presidency again in 2004?
A:
No. He's got two or three people as proteges. He's preparing them for 2004.
I can't say who they are. There has to be institution-building first.
Parliament
now is like a bunch of children, fighting for the sake of fighting. There's
an incongruence now between Parliament membership and ethno-religious differences.
There are no cross- cutting loyalties.
Q:
And this is necessary for a stable multi-party system?
A:
Yes. And the MPs now are looking after themselves and their factions, not
the people.
Q:
A sort of tribalism?
A:
Precisely, except the tribe is not clear-cut. It's strong personal and
money ties. If you look at Java, it's divided into three groups -- Mega's
(Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri) , Gus Dur's and Amien Rais'. Then
there are the 14 million Indonesian passport holders of Chinese descent.
They'll throw their weight behind Gus Dur, not PDI-P any more because now
the party is harassing Chinese.
Then
there's the group of non-Javanese and non-Muslims. They can be divided
between Mega and Gus Dur. Non-Javanese Muslims? They support Gus Dur and
Amien Rais. TNI? They're all for Gus Dur.
Our
representation at street level is incongruous with our parliamentary representation.
If Parliament forces Gus Dur to step down, people will react in the streets.
Why risk it?
Q:
Do you think he should go for another term?
A :
No. I was the first to object to his being President last year. It's too
exhausting for him to go for another term. I told him he inherited a debt
of 1,600 trillion rupiah (S$320 billion).
Q:
When his doctors said he had a cold earlier in the year, did he actually
have a third stroke?
A:
No, it was the flu. His blood pressure and temperature went up and our
physician brother Umar insisted he went to hospital and took preventive
medication.
Q:
Some observers say he's still behaving like the chairman of NU, rather
than as a president and that's a source of some of the problems.
A:
I agree, for security reasons. I don't like the way he allows people in
and out of the palace. He always thinks nobody will kill him. But his car
had three accidents, including the time when his wife became paralysed.
The car tyres were not punctured by stones, but sniper bullets.
Q:
Some think that he now relies only on a small and select group of people.
A:
No. He doesn't even rely 100 per cent on me and I've been there in the
streets for him for 20 years. He's very Javanese; he doesn't trust anyone
100 per cent.
Military
eyes wide shut on latest unrest in Maluku
Christian
Science Monitor - June 7, 2000
Dan
Murphy, Jakarta -- By omission or commission, the evidence is mounting
that elements of the Indonesian military are reigniting the religious conflict
in the Maluku islands. The motive? Political payback, perhaps.
As
government prosecutors prepare cases against dozens of officers alleged
to have ordered killings on the opposite ends of the archipelago in Aceh
and East Timor, aid workers, analysts, and even members of President Abdurrahman
Wahid's own Cabinet claim soldiers have done little to stop a renewed wave
of killing between Christians and Muslims. Touching off the latest bloodbath
has been the arrival of Islamic extremists based on the island of Java,
led by a secretive commander who claims to have fought and trained in Afghanistan
and to have financing from the Middle East. The little-watched conflict
has become deadlier than East Timor or Kosovo.
"If
it goes on much longer like this, you'll have once-mixed communities completely
segregated into different parts of the island," says an aid worker. "Once
that happens, you don't get peace easily."
Though
the roots of the conflict around the island of Halmahera are complex and
tied into tribal politics, it has boiled down to its least-common denominator
in the past two months: Christian versus Muslim.
Though
part of the same island chain as Ambon, which has been split by Muslim-Christian
fighting for almost a year, the local political, ethnic, and religious
dynamics are very different.
Some
of the president's aides allege the deteriorating situation -- particularly
the recent influx of Islamic extremist fighters into the area -- is being
encouraged by officers and politicians as a warning to Mr. Wahid to back
off on human rights and corruption investigations.
The
president "wants to get rid of the military, and of course they're resisting,"
says Hasyim Wahid, a younger brother and close adviser of the president.
He adds that Maluku's problems have evolved from local to national ones
as a result.
A Cabinet
minister points out the new fighters are well armed: "The only source of
guns in Indonesia is the Army." The theory may be hard to believe, but
analysts point to the military's rampage in East Timor last year and a
legacy of massacres in the provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya. Military analysts
also point out that the military is now deeply divided, with the command
structure barely operational in the field.
Fighting
first flared in North Maluku at the end of last year. It was a straight-ahead
power struggle between the followers of the sultan of Ternate and the sultan
of Tidore, the two volcanic islands and ancient rivals on Halmahera's west
coast which controlled the world trade in cloves and nutmeg for hundreds
of years.
Though
the sultans' economic power was broken by the Dutch in the 19th century,
they remained locally powerful until last year. Though Muslims themselves,
they were traditionally tolerant of other religions, so much so that most
of their subjects were Christians. But then the power struggle evolved
into something darker.
Mostly
Christian ethnic groups in northern Halmahera began to turn on the mostly
Muslim ethnic groups that had flooded into the area over the past 20 years,
in many cases as the result of a government resettlement policy.
After
a wave of Christmastime killings by Christians, the Muslims got organized
on a national basis. Still, the violence had cooled until the last half
of May, when a more violent, better organized group of Islamic militants
began to assert themselves.
Now
the Muslims have the upper hand, conducting well-coordinated raids by land
and sea on predominantly Christian villages, which are well armed and dug
in. Aid workers estimate the death toll has averaged 40 a day for the past
two weeks.
Well-financed
paramilitaries
The
goad to the latest fighting has been the Laskar Jihad (Jihad Paramilitary),
led by Dja'far Umar Thalib, an Islamic preacher from Java who fought in
Afghanistan in the late 1980s and also has ties to Pakistan and Yemen.
His
well-financed paramilitaries from Java and Sumatra have taken control of
the Muslim organizations on Ternate in the past month, snuffing out what
little hope there was that the conflict could be pulled back from the sectarian
brink.
Military
pullback
The
arrival of the Laskar has coincided with a disturbing pullback by the local
military, particularly the Navy. Wahid had ordered a naval blockade to
prevent the arrival of the jihad fighters. "Until May, the Navy seemed
to be doing their job," says a military analyst. "Now they're nowhere to
be seen." Sources on Ternate say sea-borne raids have been originating
from the island since the end of May, with no interference from the local
military command. Mr. Thalib himself freely moves between Ternate and Java
without interference from the government.
In
early April, Thalib emerged from obscurity, warning Wahid in a meeting
that he would take matters into his own hands if the president didn't do
more to help Muslims in Maluku. Wahid angrily dismissed him as a dangerous
fanatic.
There
has always been a real threat of the Maluku conflict spreading, particularly
to the large island of Sulawesi to the west. Sulawesi is mostly Christian
to the north, mostly Muslim to the south, and Maluku refugees have gone
to the island, choosing locations on religious lines.
Both
Muslim and Christian communities have sent fighters back to Maluku in sympathy.
Violence has already spread to smaller islands to the north and south of
Halmahera.
Juwono
Sudarsono, the defense minister, said last week that he suspects supporters
of fallen President Suharto, who ruled Indonesia for 32 years and is currently
under threat of a corruption trial, are funding the jihad fighters. No
high-level military officer has responded yet to Mr. Sudarsono's comments.
For
Indonesia, it's a dangerous game. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim
nation (about 90 percent of its 215 million people describe themselves
as Muslims) and has long prided itself as being one of the world's most
religiously tolerant. But there has always been a hard core of extremists.
The more they're allowed to take root and left free to act violently, analysts
fear, the more polarized Indonesian society will become.
More
troops arrive in Poso, clashes continue
Jakarta
Post - June 8, 2000
Palu
-- A fresh batch of reinforcement troops arrived in Poso on Wednesday to
help quell the continuing sectarian riots there.
Central
Sulawesi Police chief Col. Soeroso said 280 personnel from Jakarta's Police
Mobile Brigade (Brimob) who set their feet in the restive area would add
to 1,500 soldiers from Makassar, South Sulawesi-based Wirabuana Military
Command who came earlier.
"Another
1,500 are on their way," Soeroso said. "The troops' main duty is to launch
a gun sweeping operation. Up to present rioters are still making sporadic
attacks," Soeroso added.
Later
in the day, unconfirmed reports said that a Brimob officer died and two
others were injured during a clash with rioters.
Elsewhere
in North Maluku, armed mobs attacked Duma village in predominantly-Christian
Galela district at 7am on Wednesday, leaving four people killed and three
others injured, chief of Suara Peduli Halmahera T. Situmorang said later
in the day.
Pattimurra
Military Commander Brig. Gen. Max Tamaela confirmed the incident, but failed
to go into detail. Most of the victims were injured by stray bullets fired
by troops and traditional mines Sungga Sungga planted along the area, Tamaela
said by phone on Wednesday.
In
Ambon, a Brimob undercover named Second Sgt. Nazaruddin was mobbed to death
in the predominantly-Muslim Waehaong in down town Ambon on Tuesday night.
A solidarity
march was held by hundreds of Islamic Student Association (HMI) activists
in Makassar, but it turned violent with some of them stoning three churches
en route to the Wirabuana Military Command headquarters.
Their
anger multiplied as their demand to meet with military commander Maj. Gen.
Slamet Kirbiantoro failed. They pelted the Indonesia Baru Protestant Church,
which is only 50 meters away from the military office, with stones.
Rebel
group shoots police officer in Aceh
Jakarta
Post - June 10, 2000
Banda
Aceh -- Rebels shot and wounded a Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer
in a gunfight between security forces and Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the
third attack since a cease-fire was declared eight days ago, an official
said Friday.
Pvt.
Philipus was shot in the head and taken to Lilawangsa Military Hospital
after a 30-minute gunfight in Cot Krieng village in Muara Dua district,
North Aceh on Thursday, local police spokesman Capt. Ahmad Mustafa Kamal
said.
"The
incident was triggered by the hoisting of hundreds of GAM flags along the
five-kilometer route of Jl. Lem Pipa near Exxon- Oil company operations
in Blang Mangat early on Thursday. Rebels were escorting groups of people
who erected the flags," Ahmad said.
Later
in the afternoon, around 50 Brimob personnel arrived in Muara Dua area
in attempt to clear the area and pull out the flags. "Suddenly they were
ambushed and about 10 rebels escaped into the jungle after the gunfight,"
Ahmad claimed.
In
the past, rebels have often attacked police who removed their flags from
villages. In West Aceh, dozens of GAM flags in Kuala district were hoisted
along with the national red-and-white in several villages on Friday.
Meanwhile,
it was also reported that schools in North Aceh were closed on Friday following
a letter, reportedly issued by GAM, declaring Friday a school holiday,
officer Ahmad said, adding it remained unclear whether GAM was trying to
make Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, a public holiday.
From
the date the Geneva pact was signed until June 1, a day before the truce
came into effect, a total of 33 people were killed, seven of them security
personnel.
`They
could be friends in the afternoon, enemies at night'
Straits
Times - June 10, 2000
Although
Lieutenant Komaruz Zaman might be an emissary of "Operasi Cinta Damai"
or Operation Love Peace, he isn't taking any chances in one of Indonesia's
most volatile provinces.
As
he sits in a cafe in north Aceh, his machine gun at the ready, two friends
stand guarding their commander, their eyes searching the street for any
sudden movement. Outside another four mobile brigade police guard their
truck.
His
eyes scanning the street, Lieutenant Komaruz says his relationship with
the ordinary people, in one of Indonesia's most conflict-ridden provinces,
is good. "The Acehnese and we are all Indonesians so there is no problem,"
says the 25-year-old Javanese policeman.
However
the heavy security required for soldiers and police whenever they venture
into town, and the reports of plain-clothed troops shot by mysterious attackers,
belie the positive spin on the relationship between the two sides.
As
much as their operation is about providing security, it is also about the
politics of convincing Acehnese that the police sincerely want a good relationship
with the people during this three-month ceasefire. "The most important
thing is the people who have suffered," says one police chief.
To
prove the armed forces are not taking sides, these police remove an Indonesian
flag along with the offending separatist flag from a nearby flagpole.
However,
Lt Komaruz admits that winning over the hearts and minds of local people
is not easy as easy as lowering an Indonesian flag. Often his mobile brigade
unit is blamed for burning buildings and houses when he suspects the rebels
did it.
"They
want us to look bad, and so the people are more sympathetic towards GAM,"
he says of the Free Aceh movement's motivation for destroying people's
houses.
Operation
Love Peace is also a chance for the police to shine after the performance
of the armed forces has been discredited in places such as Aceh, Maluku
and East Timor, and show that the police, rather than the military, are
really capable of enforcing domestic security.
But
there are still significant hurdles to overcome, a senior police colonel
admits. "Security in this country must be provided by the police but we
are not ready. We don't have the equipment, the facilities, the training
or even the numbers. "The upper classes demand we respect human rights
but the police profession must be supported by education and enough training."
The
police have also been a lot faster than the military to hail Aceh's three-month
ceasefire, possibly because in this conflict the police have borne the
brunt of casualties. This year alone, of the 68 military personnel killed
in the conflict, more than two thirds were from the police.
Mr
Abdullah Sufi, from Bengkulu, Sumatra, a mobile brigade policeman who is
stationed outside Banda Aceh, says he learnt just how risky a policeman's
life in Aceh is.
On
his first day, here he was greeted with the news that one of his colleagues
had been killed during a patrol in West Aceh. "I was happy but afraid to
arrive in Aceh," says the 23-year-old.
Nevertheless
working in a small station a few kilometres from police or military reinforcements
takes its toll. "Every time we hear a blast we jump, even if it is not
gun shots," he says with a laugh.
Sitting
behind the barricaded local military station on the highway between Banda
Aceh and Medan, Mr Abdul says it is difficult to know when they will be
attacked and they believe their movements are watched.
Although
they are encouraged to be friendly with locals, they still don't know who
exactly is a member of the rebel army. "They could be friends in the afternoon
but enemies at night," he says.
But
as a native of Sumatra, unlike some of the Javanese troops, he says he
is able to trust some Acehnese and make real friends such as Mohammad,
who he calls brother, and Mohammad's sister, Nana.
Why
is Mohammad's house not burnt down and their family isolated as happens
to most Acehnese who befriend troops? "In the city, people are more intelligent
and more neutral and they don't side with either GAM or TNI," although
he adds that of course he only visits in plain clothes.
He
says he would have no problem marrying an Acehnese woman. But Mohammad's
sister disagrees. "You can't marry a soldier; people will reject you and
be suspicious that you are a spy," says Nuriah.
Howard
gives Gus Dur Papua reassurance
Agence
France-Presse - June 10, 2000
Jakarta
-- Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday reassured President
Abdurrahman Wahid that Australia respects Indonesia's territorial integrity,
and agreed to patch up diplomatic relations.
"Any
suggestions anywhere that Australia supports the Papuan independence movements
is wrong," Mr Howard was quoted by Reuters as saying after meeting Mr Abdurrahman
in Tokyo. "I don't think Papua is a problem between our two countries.
It isn't and it won't be," Mr Howard added.
Some
3,000 tribal leaders and activists last week held a congress in Irian Jaya
that ended with a declaration that the province's incorporation into Indonesia
in the 60s was invalid. Mr Abdurrahman rejected the decision and his government
also attacked the presence of Australian NGOs at the congress, accusing
them of interference.
However,
the Indonesian President said he hoped to visit Australia soon despite
the fact that many people in Indonesia now object because there were "certain
Australians who have aided the declaration of independence by the Papuan
people last week".
Ties
between Jakarta and Canberra have been rocky since Australia led a UN-sanctioned
peacekeeping force that quelled pro- Indonesian violence in East Timor.
The
European Union also reasserted its support for Indonesia's territorial
integrity on Thursday, after the Papuan Peoples' Congress declared that
West Papua was not part of Indonesia.
In
a statement, the European Union said: "The EU has repeatedly stressed its
support for a strong, democratic, united and prosperous Indonesia. It has
also stressed its support for Indonesia's territorial integrity, and for
efforts of the current Indonesian government to solve problems, such as
Aceh and Irian Jaya, through peaceful negotiation." The United States has
also rejected the Papuans' declaration of independence.
[On
June 9, Antara reported that Japan has also expressed support for Indonesia's
integrity and opposed the breakaway of West Papua - James Balowski.]
Independence
demand by 'invalid' congress rejected
South
China Morning Post - June 6, 2000
Chris
McCal, Jakarta -- Jakarta yesterday rejected a formal demand for independence
by a West Papuan congress, slamming the meeting as invalid and its declaration
as possibly illegal.
Separatist
leaders in turn lambasted Indonesian officials for refusing to recognise
reality, adding they could be pushing Papuans towards killing each other
in a repeat of last year's violence in East Timor.
Trying
to extract himself from the political conflict the meeting has landed him
in, President Abdurrahman Wahid said anti- independence voices had been
excluded from the seven-day meeting in Jayapura, the capital of the province
still officially called Irian Jaya.
Organisers
had also broken their word by allowing Westerners to take part, he said.
"The Government does not recognise this congress," Mr Wahid said, pointing
out that western New Guinea was internationally recognised as Indonesian
sovereign territory. But a top independence leader disputed the President's
claims. Thom Beanal said there simply were no anti-independence voices
among the thousands who took part, and pointed out that migrants from other
parts of Indonesia were among the participants.
"Jakarta
is trying to form pro-integration and pro-independence camps like in East
Timor, Mr Beanal said. Indonesia should be ashamed that they made East
Timorese kill each other. They want to make Papuans kill each other. They
must know what they are doing."
The
President is under heavy pressure over the congress, which he financed
to the tune of one billion rupiah (HK$1 million). At the last minute he
pulled out of a plan to open it, opening the way for it to turn into a
festival for independence, complete with singing and dancing.
Justice
Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra warned that the congress was flirting with
the limits of the law in its final statement, which insisted that the province
had attained independence from Dutch colonialists in 1961, two years before
it joined Indonesia in controversial circumstances. "It is tending towards
a breach of the law, because it involves national sovereignty," Mr Mahendra
said.
But
Mr Beanal attacked officials in Jakarta for failing to come and see the
reality for themselves, and said Mr Wahid's decision not to attend the
congress was disappointing. He also pointed out that Indonesia's own 1945
constitution stated that every country had the right to freedom.
"If
Mahendra does not agree with this, he must change the constitution of Indonesia,"
Mr Beanal said. "We asked the President to come. We wanted him to see for
himself what is happening. He cannot find it out from people in Jakarta.
A congress means the people talk and if the people talk, we listen."
Politicians
in Jakarta have been trying to play down the significance of the congress,
but analysts have warned that the Government must take its demands seriously.
They point out that the Government's good words about allowing autonomy
have so far not turned into anything meaningful. With a cabinet reshuffle
looking likely, it was essential that the new-look Government in Jakarta
put the Papuan issue near the top of its agenda, according to political
commentator Wimar Witoelar.
"They
need to be taken seriously, not just with a dialogue but first initiatives,"
Mr Witoelar said. "Nothing specific has been submitted to the Papuan people
and they cannot be expected to act on faith."
Can
Aceh still keep the peace?
Straits
Times - June 8, 2000
Marianne
Kearney, Banda Aceh -- Aceh's landmark ceasefire is in danger of faltering
as the two sides argue about how to monitor whether each side -- the Indonesian
army and the separatist rebels -- keep to the agreement which went into
effect last Friday.
While
the former enemies have agreed to end their military operations during
the duration of the three-month ceasefire, they still cannot, as one police
member joked, sit at the same table yet, and they still have not agreed
on what exactly is the definition of a ceasefire in the first place.
To
Indonesia's security team, raising of the red and blue striped Free Aceh
flags, now flying from telegraph poles from Banda Aceh in the north to
Medan, is a violation of the ceasefire. But to the separatists, who deny
that their soldiers erected all of the flags in dispute, this is just a
spontaneous expression of happiness at unfolding events or, at worst, political
campaigning.
The
mini-deadlock comes amid allegations from the separatists that police in
North Aceh stole motorcycles and extorted money from villagers when they
entered a village on Sunday. Indonesian police said yesterday that separatists
armed with grenades entered a government office and threatened to explode
the grenades if they were not given money and two government vehicles.
Both
sides claim they want the Humanitarian Pause, as it is officially called,
to run smoothly, but both teams are putting up significant obstacles to
actually reaching a workable agreement.
The
Free Aceh's security team said the police should only carry out their operations
according to international standards -- obviously an impossible request
within a three-month timeframe given the standard of training in the Indonesian
police service.
But
Indonesian spokesman Colonel Ridwan Karim said the agreement allows military
troops to participate in patrols or law enforcement if the police request
back-up troops, and they are under police command.
And
despite the huge concessions made by the Indonesian government in agreeing
to negotiate with the rebel movement, the separatists' security team accuses
Indonesian troops of not being serious about reducing tension in the province
because they continue to build roadblocks and search vehicles.
Meanwhile,
ordinary people here are sceptical of whether the Free Aceh leadership
is serious in keeping to the ceasefire agreement. A local activist who
declined to be named said: "One scenario says that GAM (Free Aceh Movement)
doesn't want the conflict to end because they become very powerful through
it."
The
more serious violations of the ceasefire have already dashed the high hopes
of people long tired of violence. "On June 2, hopes were very high, but
now they have begun to doubt a little whether they will see results," said
Mr Otto Syamsuddin, from a democracy institute. "I'm still a little confused.
I see the government's policy is good, but they don't carry it out," said
Mr Sharif Yusuf, a hotel manager.
But
analysts said that because of the presence of a "third force" -- criminals
and possible army deserters who have been blamed for much of the violence
-- both Free Aceh rebels and the military can carry out violent acts, but
blame it on this unknown group.
In
the region around Banda Aceh, this has already started. According to reports,
while police tried to remove a Free Aceh flag from the local police station
last Saturday, two masked men began shooting nearby. These men were caught
and found to have been soldiers whom they suspect erected the flag in the
first place.
Wahid
warns army against Papua violence
Agence
France-Presse - June 8, 2000
Jakarta
-- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has warned the military against
using violence in dealing with calls for independence in West Papua, while
one of his top officials yesterday warned Papuans against acts of "treason".
"We
must not act as we did in the past. Our soldiers were sent to Aceh and
they attacked the people," the President said. "Soldiers must be polite.
I do not believe the people are the enemy."
A week-long
people's congress in West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, ended on Sunday with
a declaration of the right to independence from Indonesia. Congress participants
said the incorporation of the province into Indonesia in 1969 was flawed
legally and was therefore null and void. They said they stood by a declaration
of independence in 1961.
Late
yesterday, Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak said Jakarta would maintain
both "defensive" and "passive" measures in dealing with the separatist
calls. "We will maintain a peaceful situation in Irian Jaya and will not
act in an excessive manner," he said. But he warned any action to win independence
would amount to "treason" and would be seen as a bid to invite "repressive
measures" by security forces.
Machete
militias clash as self-rule tensions heat up
Sydney
Morning Herald - June 8, 2000
Andrew
Kilvert, Jayapura -- Violence has broken out between militias supporting
independence and autonomy in the easternmost Indonesian province of West
Papua.
Fighting
broke out at Waena in the capital, Jayapura, on Tuesday evening when a
pro-autonomy militia known as Satgas Merah Putih (Red and White Taskforce)
attacked a group of independence militia with machetes.
One
person was taken to hospital and the independence militia Satgas Papua
(Papuan Taskforce) detained a number of prisoners at its headquarters in
Sentani, outside the city. During the fighting five shops were destroyed
by fire and a government office damaged.
While
there have been similar clashes in outer districts in recent months, this
is believed to be the first case of fighting in the capital between the
two groups. The independence militia numbers more than 7,000 and has a
high profile, often parading the streets wearing black uniforms and providing
security for political leaders who support independence. The pro-Indonesia
militia is a clandestine organisation with links to Indonesian authorities
through the provincial government. Their strength is not known, but researchers
put their number at between 5,000 and 10,000.
Tension
on the streets is rising following last week's historic congress at which
501 elected representatives from around the province voted for independence
from Indonesia and the formation of an indigenous government.
West
Papuan congress leaders sought to avoid breaching Indonesian laws forbidding
separatism by avoiding a direct declaration of independence. Instead, they
asserted that their independence, achieved from the Dutch in 1961, continued
to this day.
President
of the Papuan Government, Mr Theys Eluay, said he did not recognise Indonesian
rule. "We gained our independence in 1961," he said. "We are an independent
country, which has been occupied by an invading army." The Papuan leadership
has claimed a mandate to establish, among other things, an electoral commission
and a foreign affairs department.
Mr
Clemens Runaweri, who was yesterday elected foreign minister, called for
dialogue with Jakarta saying. "I would strongly urge the Indonesian Government
not to take a hard line with us. We [the Papuan congress] have taken the
peaceful path towards democracy in Papua," he said.
On
Monday Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid rejected calls for independence
and warned that security forces would act to maintain order."
The
Papuan congress and its elected leadership have received strong support
from several leading figures from the neighbouring Melanesian country of
Papua New Guinea.
Mr
John Tekwie, the Governor of PNG's Sandaun province, called on the Australian
Government to throw its support behind Papuan independence. This is unlikely,
given statements by the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, and Foreign Affairs
Minister, Mr Downer, last week, in which they endorsed Indonesian sovereignty
over the territory. Indonesian troop numbers in the province have been
bolstered in the past few months from 8,000 to more than 12,000.
Why
Aceh splinter groups are in trouble
Strathfor
Intelligence Updates - June 6, 2000
A leader
of a breakaway faction of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was killed in Malaysia
just hours before a "humanitarian pause" in Aceh was to take affect. Don
Zulfahri, secretary general of the GAM Government Council (GAM MP), was
shot twice by an unidentified gunman in a restaurant in Malaysia late on
June 1.
Elements
of the Indonesia military and other factions of GAM have been blamed for
his death. In either case, it is likely other factional leaders will face
a similar fate, or simply fade into the background. Both the government
and the GAM have an interest in eliminating the leaders of splinter groups
in advance of negotiations over the fate of the embattled province.
A resource-rich
province on Indonesia's Sumatra, Aceh sits at the mouth of the Strait of
Malacca, the gateway between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Torn by a Muslim
secessionist struggle, Aceh threatens to set off a domino effect, fueling
separatist and religious movements across the archipelago into neighboring
Malaysia.
GAM
has been fighting for an independent Acehnese state for two and a half
decades under the leadership of Hasan di Tiro, who is currently based in
Sweden.
In
November 1999, a rift that had been forming within the organization broke
open, and Zulfahri established GAM MP in Malaysia. Zulfahri claimed that
di Tiro was in poor health and unable to continue to lead the struggle,
something di Tiro supporters vehemently denied.
The
split gave the Indonesian government an opening. Di Tiro had insisted on
negotiations through a third party and firmly supported an armed independence
movement. Zulfahri was reportedly more willing to embark on a direct dialogue
with the Indonesian government, and opposed to the use of violence to achieve
independence.
Back
channel talks between the GAM and the Indonesian government began, but
with the larger di Tiro faction. These talks led to the signing of a "joint
understanding on humanitarian pause" in Switzerland on May 12. Hours before
the implementation of the nominal three-month cease-fire agreement took
effect June 2, Zulfahri was killed.
Members
of Hasan di Tiro's faction of GAM blamed elements of the Indonesian military,
claiming Zulfahri was working for the military to undermine the group from
the inside, and was killed off now that he was no longer needed. GAM's
allegations were backed by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid's special
representative to the group; he also suggested elements of the military
were involved.
Other
accusations have been leveled at di Tiro's GAM supporters, who had previously
labeled Zulfahri a traitor and called for him to be brought in, dead or
alive. In advance of the first direct talks with the government, di Tiro
needed to reassert his control over the entire Free Aceh Movement.
Whether
a victim of the Indonesian military or of another faction of the GAM, Zulfahri's
death sends a clear signal to other factional leaders in Aceh. Targeting
a high-profile but more moderate leader lessens the potential for a violent
backlash.
At
the same time, it makes it clear that for serious negotiations between
GAM and the government to proceed, a unified Acehnese leadership must be
established.
For
GAM, this situation provides a better, more secure bargaining position
in talks with the government. For Jakarta, more dead factional leaders
means that the chances of continued armed struggle will be minimized if
a deal is inked. While Zulfahri is the first factional leader to be killed,
he may not be the last.
Prospects
for independence in West Papua
Straits
Times - June 6, 2000
Why
is Irian Jaya such a hot issue, and are there parallels to be drawn with
East Timor? Indonesia analyst Dr John Taylor of South Bank University,
London, discusses its prospects for independence in a BBC programme, The
World Today, last Friday
Dr
Taylor: If you go a long way back, if you go before Indonesia became independent,
there was always a notion among West Papuan people that they would have
some sort of independence. I mean, the Dutch always promised them that
and they thought that was going to happen. I think that after Indonesia
became independent and they found that they were territorially part of
Indonesia, I think that was a tremendous shock to them.
So,
they fought to try and change it, but they didn't make it and so, there's
been this feeling for a long time that they should have been independent.
Q:
Can you take us through the events of what happened because the bulk of
Indonesia became independent at the end of the 1940s, but Papua didn't,
did it?
A:
Well, what happened after 1949 was that Sukarno insisted that Irian Jaya
should be part of Indonesia and a long tussle went on between the United
States, the Dutch Government and the Indonesians as to what should happen
and in 1962, an agreement was signed whereby there would be an act of free
choice in 1969 and between 1962 and 1969, it was occupied by a UN force
for a little while, but most of the time by the Indonesian Army.
So,
the concession to the Papuans was that they would have this act of free
choice, but the concession to the Indonesians was that it would be done
after, effectively, a nine-year period of Indonesian control.
Q:
During which time, effectively, it became Indonesianised?
A:
It became Indonesianised and at one stage, indeed, Sukarno, who was President
before Suharto came to power in 1965-66, wanted to get rid of this act
of free choice, but when Suharto came to power, to try and improve his
international image after all the killings that occurred in the coup, said
that there should be an act of free choice.
So,
this act of free choice took place in 1969 and the overwhelming majority
of the population voted to remain within Indonesia. But, of course, as
we now know by many people who were there, who reported on it, it was a
really shambolic thing.
Q:
It wasn't a free choice?
A:
It wasn't an act of free choice. People were just consulted through tribal
leaders and the tribal leaders delivered the vote.
Q:
But it's not as clear-cut obviously as the East timor situation in terms
of it not being a part of Indonesia?
A:
No because Indonesia has a territorial claim on Irian Jaya because from
1949 onwards, it was part of the Indonesian Republic, as we know. In 1975,
Indonesia invaded East Timor, which was a territory which was Portuguese,
which was going through a transition, was going through a process of decolonisation.
They're
entirely different and so, the problem for Indonesia is if most of the
people who attended the conference that we're looking at were in favour
of independence, then really, we have a similar situation to the one in
Aceh. And it's very difficult for the Wahid Government to know what to
do.
US
Embassy supports Indonesia's position on Papua
Associated
Press - June 5, 2000
Jakarta
-- The US Embassy in Jakarta said Monday that Washington didn't support
"independence for Papua or any other part of Indonesia."
It
said it had sent an embassy officer to a congress held by Papua nationalists
as an observer in line with standard diplomatic practice.
"We
find expressions of concern about the presence of foreign diplomats at
public gatherings unusual, especially given Indonesia's admirable progress
toward an open democratic system," it said.
In
recent days, fears on an anti-Indonesian backlash have grown in the province
among thousands of settlers from other parts of the nation. Indonesia annexed
West Papua, which covered the western half of New Guinea, in 1963.
The
act was formalized by the UN in 1969 following a vote by indigenous community
leaders. Independence activists now say that process of self-determination
was a sham and should be overturned by the world body.
Free
Papua Movement rebels have been battling Indonesian forces in a cat-and-mouse
guerrilla campaign for almost three decades.
Military
threat to curb self-rule move
Sydney
Morning Herald - June 6, 2000
Lindsay
Murdoch, Jakarta -- Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday warned
of a military crackdown in Papua after a landmark congress in the far-eastern
province declared it was no longer part of his country.
If
necessary, Indonesian police, backed by the military, would act to secure
the vast, resource-rich province, formerly called Irian Jaya, he said.
"If that means doing something to people without violating human rights,
they will do that."
Mr
Wahid and key figures in his enfeebled government are worried that Sunday's
declaration by 2,700 delegates at the week-long Papuan People's Congress
will lead to the disintegration of Indonesia.
Mr
Wahid also warned against international interference in the province's
affairs. Jakarta's relations with other countries would depend on them
declaring they would not support challenges to Indonesia's territorial
integrity, he said.
The
congress had urged The Netherlands, the United States and the United Nations
to reassess their recognition of Indonesia's rule of Papua, which followed
a 1969 UN-supervised plebiscite widely regarded as an Indonesian-orchestrated
sham.
The
congress moderator, Mr Franzalberth Joku, said at the weekend: "[The plebiscite]
... was conducted under threats of intimidation, sadistic killing, military
repression and other immoral acts." The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, and
the Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, last week ruled out Australian support
for Papua's independence following a claim by Indonesia's Foreign Minister,
Mr Alwi Shihab, that several Australian non-government organisations were
stirring up trouble in Papua. But Mr Shihab's comments puzzled Canberra
because no Australian agencies are operating in the province.
Mr
Wahid said yesterday that unnamed countries had apparently "expressed that
they admitted Indonesia's sovereignty, including Irian Jaya". He criticised
the congress for allowing foreigners to attend.
Indonesian
officials were particularly upset by remarks made by delegates from neighbouring
Papua New Guinea that were seen as supporting the province's independence.
A US diplomat attended the congress but kept a low profile. No Australian
representatives were present.
After
providing more than $A172,000 to fund the congress, held in the provincial
capital, Jayapura, Mr Wahid criticised it for not allowing Papuans who
supported Indonesia's rule to attend.
"The
majority obviously want to stay with Indonesia," he said. "Because of that
the Government will not acknowledge the congress." Mr Wahid said his government
must now maintain the country's Constitution and territorial integrity,
including Papua.
The
congress unanimously passed a resolution declaring that "West Papua has
been an independent nation since December 1, 1961". The date refers to
when the territory was granted independence from the Dutch as Indonesia
escalated its military campaign to claim sovereignty.
Indonesia
won the war in 1963 and Papua's annexation was given international recognition
in 1969 following the plebiscite. The congress set December 1 this year
as the date for countries to reassess their recognition of Indonesia's
sovereignty of Papua.
West
Papuans set up government
Sydney
Morning Herald - June 5, 2000
Andrew
Kilvert and agencies, Jayapura -- West Papua yesterday announced the formation
of a government and declared independence from Jakarta, as Indonesian soldiers
and riot police continued to patrol the streets of the capital, Jayapura.
The
announcement followed a week-long congress in Jayapura, where 3,000 indigenous
West Papuans have been debating a series of resolutions. While shying away
from using the term transitional government, the congress announced an
executive of 31 people to represent West Papua.
Mr
Clemens Runaweri, a member of the executive and a political leader under
Dutch colonial rule, told the Herald: "We want to shape our system along
the path of democracy." The executive planned to establish an electoral
commission and boundaries, appoint diplomats and draft a constitution.
It
also planned to challenge Indonesian sovereignty by calling for a review
of the 1969 United Nations-sponsored vote that saw West Papua incorporated
into Indonesia.
"[The]
Act of Free Choice was conducted under threats of intimidation, sadistic
killing, military repression and other immoral acts," the congress moderator,
Mr Franzalbert Joku, said.
The
congress called for crimes against humanity in the province to be investigated
and for those involved brought to justice. It named named a tribal chief,
Mr Theys Eluai, as chairman of the Papuan People's Presidium and Mr Tom
Beanal as deputy chairman.
President
Abdurrahman Wahid has often said that Indonesia will not countenance a
state within a state, so independence for West Papua is not on the agenda.
At the weekend he criticised the congress as unrepresentative and said
most people in West Papua wished to remain integrated with Indonesia.
But
Mr Runaweri reponded: "Whilst the congress is not a perfect democracy,
the people were selected by their own communities from the 14 regions throughout
West Papua with further international West Papuan representatives".
Last
week the Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, said: "If discussion goes too
far [the Government] will have to react".
Tension
is growing in Jayapura as West Papuans wait for a response from Jakarta.
Soldiers and riot police continue to patrol the streets of Jayapura, including
the mobile brigade units implicated in the shooting of 55 protesters in
the southern Papuan town of Timika last December.
Over
the past six months, the Indonesian authorities have tolerated the formation
of a pro-independence West Papua militia and there are fears that any intervention
could result in violent clashes between the authorities and the militia.
Villagers
from remote areas in traditional dress have flocked into the capital, and
protesters armed with bows and arrows, spears and knives have been seen
on the streets. Despite some heated debate at the congress, no violence
has been reported.
West
Papua achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1961. By 1963, the
Indonesian military under President Sukarno had seized the province, although
small bands of independent guerillas known as OPM continue to operate in
the province and along the border with Papua New Guinea. Some guerillas
attended the congress, further angering local authorities.
With
the fall of Soeharto, the West Papuan independence movement has become
more open in its call for independence. "There is no turning back from
here," Mr Runaweri said. "This will raise eyebrows in Jakarta, but the
people's will is our strength. The will of 2 million Papuan people worries
us more than Jakarta."
West
Papuans declare independence from Indonesia
Jakarta
Post - June 5, 2000
Neles
Tebay, Jayapura -- Defying warnings from Jakarta, the Papuan Congress ended
on Sunday with a declaration that West Papua, or Irian Jaya as the territory
is still officially called, is no longer a part of the Republic of Indonesia.
And
according to participants at the congress, it never was. "West Papua has
been an independent nation since December 1, 1961," the resolution of independence,
read by the congress' secretary-general Thaha Alhamid, stated.
The
date refers to when the territory was granted independence from the Netherlands
as Indonesia escalated its military campaign to claim sovereignty. Indonesia
won the war in 1963 and the annexation was given international recognition
in 1969, following a United Nations-supervised plebiscite.
Thaha
said the congress rejected the 1962 New York agreement on the plebiscite
between Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United Nations since the Papuans
were never consulted.
The
1969 plebiscite was attended by 1,025 tribal leaders who voted for integration
under intimidation, pressure and killings, he said. "We call on the United
Nations to revoke resolution No. 2504,19/12,1969," he added.
The
congress urged Indonesia, the Netherlands, the United States and the United
Nations to recognize the political rights of Papuans and to reassess their
position toward an independent West Papua by December 1.
In
spite of the exchange of harsh words between Jakarta and Jayapura, the
week-long congress at Cendrawasih stadium ended peacefully. Police stayed
away as the congress deployed its personnel to handle security in and around
the venue.
The
congress, originally due to end on Saturday, was extended for another day
because of debates over the wording of the independence declaration. There
were fears an outright declaration of independence would antagonize Jakarta.
They
settled for declaring independence dating back to 1961 in keeping with
the congress' theme to review the history of West Papua's integration into
Indonesia.
Meanwhile,
hundreds of military and police officers were deployed around town in anticipation
of trouble. The fears turned out to be unfounded.
Acting
Irian Jaya Governor Musiran Darmosuwito and provincial legislative council
chairman TN Kaiway attended the closing ceremony but military chief Maj.
Gen. Inkriwang and police chief Brig. Gen. SY. Wenas, however, were not
present.
Jakarta-appointed
Musiran avoided addressing the independence declaration but praised the
congress' participants for keeping order and peace throughout the meeting.
He appealed to West Papuans to respect the rights of non-Papuans living
and working in the territory. "I call on all people in Irian Jaya to continually
keep unity so that every one here can live and go about their business
peacefully." Tom Beanal, the deputy chairman of the Papua Presidium, also
assured non-Papuans in Irian Jaya that their rights would be respected.
"We need them to develop our country," Tom said.
The
Papuan Presidium will disseminate the results of the congress in a peaceful
manner, he said. "We will fight for the sovereignty recognition which we
had [in 1961]," he said.
Another
source of contention from Jakarta was the presence of many foreigners,
mostly representing non-governmental organizations, at the congress. Viktor
Kaisiepo from the Netherlands, representing the European delegates, promised
to explain the congress' results to major countries and the United Nations.
West
Papuan leaders at the congress meanwhile rejected President Abdurrahman
Wahid's claim that the independence aspirations did not have the support
of the majority of West Papuans, most of whom live in remote jungles. "Only
0.01 percent of Papuans want to remain in Indonesia, while 99.9 percent
want independence," Herman Awom, a member of the presidium, said.
Congress
delegates debated on Sunday the status of Yorrys Raweyai of the Pemuda
Pancasila youth organization, with his close links to the previous regime
of former president Soeharto.
A delegate
demanded that Yorrys be expelled from the Papuan Presidium but others felt
that he should be retained. "His status will be decided by the presidium
after the congress," Awom said.
Chinese
in Indonesia set to push for rights
Straits
Times - June 9, 2000
Ian
Timberlake, Jakarta -- Buoyed by overtures from Indonesia's democratic
President and emboldened by the nation's new climate of freedom, ethnic
Chinese here say they are ready to push for an end to years of discrimination.
"If
the Chinese want the same rights as the others, we have to fight for them,"
said Mr Benny Setiono, chairman of the Chinese Indonesian Association.
His people are believed to make up at least six million of Indonesia's
210 million citizens.
They
have been subject to discriminatory government policies and racist violence
ever since the archipelago of 17,000 islands and an estimated 300 ethnic
groups gained independence from the Dutch in 1945. Mr Setiono and other
community leaders are calling for an end to bureaucratic practices and
laws that they say target them unfairly, despite what they see as the sincere
intention of President Abdurrahman Wahid to embrace religious minorities.
In this mainly Muslim nation, most ethnic Chinese are Buddhist, Christian
or Confucian.
Although
some racist laws are no longer being enforced, the Gus Dur government has
revoked only one. The legislation is a legacy of the 32-year reign of former
strongman Suharto who stepped down two years ago amid violent civil unrest
centred in Glodok, Jakarta's Chinatown.
Gus
Dur was voted into office by legislators in October after Indonesia's first
free general elections in decades. One of his first acts was to revoke
a 1967 presidential decree that forbade the public celebration of Chinese
religious and traditional festivals.
"It
was revoked in January, just in time for the celebration of the Chinese
New Year," said Ms Mely Tan, a sociologist at the private Atma Jaya Catholic
University in Jakarta.
Mr
Abdurrahman, who claims to have some Chinese ancestry, attended the festivals
that featured lion and dragon dances. "We trust Gus Dur very much," said
Mr Setiono. "Now people feel freer."
Coinciding
with Gus Dur's reversal of the ban, new Chinese newspapers began appearing
and were sold openly on Pancoran Street, a crowed market area in Chinatown.
"I
think minorities don't feel afraid anymore," said Mr Cyrillus Kerong, a
Catholic and non-Chinese native of Flores Island in eastern Indonesia.
He is chief editor of Indonesia Shang Bao, a daily launched in April by
the long-established Bisnis Indonesia newspaper to target local and foreign
business people who speak Mandarin.
Shang
Bao is one of at least five new Chinese papers now published in Indonesia.
But Ms Tan pointed out: "Only one regulation has been revoked and that's
on cultural expression but the others are still there."
During
Dutch colonial rule, ethnic Chinese were, for a time, forced to live in
designated neighbourhoods. After Indonesian independence, they faced quotas
designed to limit their entry to state universities.
There
were other discriminatory laws and some violence in the first years after
independence but attempts to control the ethnic Chinese peaked during the
rule of Suharto.
The
general seized power in 1965 after what he claimed was a coup attempt by
the Chinese-backed Indonesian Communist Party. Many ethnic Chinese were
jailed or murdered during the massacre of thousands of alleged communists
and their sympathisers by soldiers and Muslim gangs.
Mr
Tedy Jusuf was a young ethnic Chinese army officer at the time. There was
never a law against ethnic Chinese serving in the armed forces, he said,
but he was given a different job to make his life difficult. "I did my
best and was patient so I could survive.
Many
Chinese friends in the armed forces quit ... They pretended they were not
Chinese or they became Muslim." He rose to the rank of brigadier-general
and retired from active service in 1996. He is now chairman of the Indonesian
Chinese Social Organisation.
Ethnic
Chinese say the Suharto regime seized their schools, refused to recognise
Confucianism, ordered them to adopt Indonesian names, forced them to carry
a special citizenship document, allowed only one Chinese newspaper, and
generally promoted ethnic Chinese assimilation.
"You
know how many regulations there are about the Chinese? Three books!" said
Mr Setiono whose family has been Indonesian for more than two centuries,
he said. "For more than 20 or 30 years, the Indonesian Chinese lost their
confidence," said Mr Jusuf.
Now,
some of that confidence is returning. In May, about 20 members of youth
group Simpatik staged the first public protest by ethnic Chinese. Marching
to the presidential palace, they demanded an end to the remaining discriminatory
laws, and asked that the government bring to justice those responsible
for the 1998 violence that left about 1,200 people killed and dozens of
women raped.
Mr
Setiono has talked about meeting senior government and security officials
after the latest outbreak of rioting in Chinatown. On May 13, the second
anniversary of the 1998 rampage, national police raided roadside peddlers
of pirated VCDs in Chinatown. The vendors, who are not ethnic Chinese,
went wild and were joined by a group of young men who damaged several nearby
businesses and shops in the Harco Glodok plaza. There is little evidence
this incident was directed at ethnic Chinese "but the Chinese are always
among the victims," he said.
Aside
from the May 1998 Jakarta riots, ethnic Chinese were targeted in November
1998, as well as in 1997, 1980, 1974 and 1973.
Mr
Syafi'i Ma'arif, national chairman of the Muslim Muhammadiyah organisation,
blames the violent history on "socio-economic jealousy". Muhammadiyah,
with about 30 million supporters, is a social and educational body.
During
the Suharto era, Chinese were estimated to control at least 70 per cent
of Indonesia's private sector and a small group of Chinese conglomerates
provided key economic support for Suharto's regime.
"This
gives us a big problem. People think all the Chinese are like that," said
Mr Setiono, a retired businessman. Mr Kerong said the Suharto regime exploited
social tension between the Chinese and pribumi (natives) to help entrench
itself.
Although
some Chinese are poor fishermen and farmers, many had no choice but to
go into business, said Mr Hasballah Sa'ad, Indonesia's State Minister for
Human Rights. "We blocked the Chinese in certain areas. They had no chance
in political activities, none in the bureaucracy. It's very unfair."
He
pointed out that ethnic Chinese Kwik Kian Gie holds a senior Cabinet post
as Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry -- a sign
of the present government's belief in equality.
Mr
Syafi'i said some ethnic Chinese are "trying to become true Indonesian
citizens" but others still view pribumi as inferior. But he agrees that
discriminatory laws must ultimately disappear. "As a democratic nation,
we have to treat every citizen equally." Mr Setiono sounds optimistic that
further legislative changes are coming. "One by one, I think. It takes
time."
Others
are not so convinced. "Maybe Gus Dur has ideas about human rights, democracy
and so on but the Indonesian elite doesn't think the same way," Mr Jusuf
said. In his Harco hardware store, Mr Edy Jan said Chinese cannot escape
discrimination. "If they don't want me here, okay. I'll go somewhere else."
[The
writer is a Canadian journalist based in Indonesia. He contributed this
article to The Straits Times.]
Human
Rights courts bill welcome, but flawed
Tapol
Press Release - June 8, 2000
The
Indonesian Minister of Law and Legislation, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, this
week formally submitted to the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR)
a bill to set up human rights courts to try "gross violations of human
rights". Special ad hoc courts will have jurisdiction over past violations,
including those connected with last year's murder and destruction in East
Timor.
Tapol
welcomes this move to bring human rights violators to justice, but fears
that the bill will face opposition in Parliament from the armed forces
members and their allies intent on protecting military personnel from possible
indictment.
Tapol
has submitted a detailed critique of the bill to the Minister and others
in the administration. A major concern is that the bill's definition of
"gross violations" does not include a requirement that the crimes be committed
pursuant to state policy, a central feature of international law on crimes
against humanity. As a result, the authorities will be able to treat offences
as ordinary human rights crimes and not as political or state crimes. It
is likely that a familiar pattern will be followed whereby lower-ranking
military officers will be targeted so that senior officers and political
leaders can avoid accountability.
The
bill gives the President alone, on the recommendation of the DPR, the power
to set up ad hoc courts for past violations and provides for ministers
and parliament to have a role in the appointment of investigators, prosecutors
and judges. This invites unacceptable political interference in various
stages of the judicial process, says Tapol in its submission to the Minister.
President
Wahid has already intervened by saying that he will pardon leading generals
if they are found guilty. Justice will not be done and be seen to done
unless appropriate punishments are administered, Tapol points out.
A complete
overhaul of the judiciary will be required before independent and impartial
trials can take place according to international standards. It is widely
acknowledged that very few judges are independent and untainted by judicial
corruption. The Law Minister himself has admitted there is a shortage of
"capable and clean" judges. He has set out a five-year plan to revamp the
legal system, but that timetable may be wildly optimistic given the immense
size of the task facing him. An international tribunal remains the only
viable option for the speedy trial of those responsible for the violence
in East Timor, insists Tapol.
Suharto's
libel case against Time thrown out
Agence
France-Presse - June 7, 2000
In
another blow to ex-president Suharto, a court yesterday rejected a multi-billion-dollar
criminal defamation case he had filed against the US magazine Time.
Judge
Sihol Sitompul, heading a panel of three judges at the Central Jakarta
District Court, ruled Mr Suharto's defamation suit could not be accepted
for lack of evidence.
"The
panel of judges deems that in the reports of Time magazine, there are no
elements of libel as has been alleged by the plaintiff. Therefore, the
charges of the plaintiff should be all rejected," Judge Sitompul said.
Mr
Suharto, now under house arrest, sued the magazine for US$27 billion over
a cover story the magazine ran in May last year that claimed his family
was sitting on a fortune of about US$15 billion. The report also alleged
Mr Suharto had hurriedly transferred about US$9 billion from a bank in
Switzerland to another in Austria shortly after he fell from power in May
1998 amid mass protests.
Endang
Sumarti, a member of the panel of judges, said the picture of Mr Suharto
on the cover of the magazine's issue on May 24 last year -- which showed
him, wearing an 18th-century wig, pictured on a US dollar note with multiple
zeros and the words Mr Suharto Inc stamped on it -- was "within the bounds
of reasonable fairness".
He
said that after the expert testimonies of journalists called to the witness
stand, the picture of Mr Suharto could not be construed as depicting him
being in control of a large business conglomerate, as Mr Suharto's lawyers
charged.
"It
is a victory for press freedom, for judicial independence and for the people
of Indonesia," said Time Asia's Hong Kong-based editor, Donald Morrison.
Morrison was one of those named in the suit.
Mr
Suharto's lawyer, Juan Felix Tampubolon, blamed the judges. The failure
of the court to provide what he called a "fair ruling" was because "of
the mistake of the judges in bringing in expert witnesses".
The
former strongman, who turns 79 tomorrow, suffered a mild stroke last year.
He has been barred from leaving either Jakarta or the country since April
12 and the authorities put him under house arrest last month. His lawyers
have taken the Attorney- General's Office to court over the house arrest
order and that case is due to open at another court in Jakarta today.
Five
men burned alive by mob in Jakarta
Jakarta
Post - June 11, 2000
Jakarta
-- Five suspected holdup men were mobbed and burned to death by an angry
crowd after being caught demanding money from passengers of a mikrolet
public minivan in East Jakarta on Saturday.
The
five gang members, already listed on the local police's most wanted list,
met their tragic deaths at the Jl. TB Simatupang and Jl. Raya Bogor intersection
at 2.15pm, shortly after their victims daringly screamed for help. By evening,
police had released the identity only one of the five men: Nurdin, 33,
of Cilandak, South Jakarta.
Ciracas
Police chief Capt. Titik Valentina said the five bodies would be taken
to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for postmortem examinations. "We're
still completing the administrative procedures," the policewoman said.
According
to witnesses, the five men were on board an M06 mikrolet plying the Kampung
Melayu-Gandaria route and had threatened the passengers, who then alerted
passersby in the area.
But
East Jakarta Police detective Second Lt. Ferdy Sambo quoted local residents
as saying that the five had just committed a crime in the area and got
away by taking a mikrolet.
Their
victim, who was in the area, yelled "thief ... thief ..." and pointed his
finger at the five men. "The people then blocked off the mikrolet and forced
them to get out and then mobbed them," Ferdy said.
The
angry locals recognized the five as robbers in the area. Witnesses said
the mob first beat the five before somebody poured gasoline over them and
set them on fire. All five died on the spot. The police arrived a few minutes
later.
Rio
Tinto gold mine to reopen after siege ends
Dow
Jones Newswires - June 9, 2000
Simon
Montlake, Jakarta -- Local activists protesting over land rights have lifted
a siege of a 14-ton-a-year gold mine in Kalimantan, owned and operated
by a unit of Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Ltd. (A.CRA), the company
said Friday.
The
agreement reached Thursday should allow the miner, PT Kelian Equatorial
Mining to restart operations Monday while negotiations on land claims with
community representatives continue, said spokesman Kasan Mulyono.
Kelian
Equatorial, which is 90%-owned by Rio Tinto and 10%-owned by local partner
PT Harita Jayaraya, suspended operations April 29 and has since managed
only three days of production during a brief respite in the siege. "The
road is now open again," Mulyono said.
The
protesters are demanding compensation from Rio Tinto and the Indonesian
government for land they allege was taken from them in the late 1980s.
The siege cut off supplies of fuel and lime to the mine, which has only
one access road.
Rio
Tinto Indonesia says it has paid compensation twice in the past, but displaced
communities claim that the amount was insufficient and that some households
weren't compensated.
The
company last month estimated it had suffered 20,000 ounces of lost production
during the first three weeks of the siege. Mulyono wasn't able immediately
to update this estimate.
The
April 29 suspension was the first time that Rio Tinto has stopped production
since it began operating the $250 million mine in 1992. It plans to close
the mine in 2004.
Soeharto
alone, far from the storm
Sydney
Morning Herald - June 10, 2000
Lindsay
Murdoch, Jakarta -- Not long ago feted as South-East Asia's greatest leader,
Indonesia's former president Soeharto knows little about the dramatic changes
taking place in the country he ruled for 32 years.
His
family do not allow Mr Soeharto, who turned 79 this week, to read newspapers
or watch television news, apparently for fear his blood pressure will rise.
Guarded
by 100 heavily armed soldiers, Mr Soeharto spends his days in the same
sprawling colonial house in an up-market Jakarta suburb where he has lived
for decades, watching cartoons or Discovery channel.
Under
house arrest pending corruption charges being laid against him and with
people needing a government permit to visit, Mr Soeharto looks a lonely
and forlorn figure, according to the few visitors who go to the house.
"When
I came there Soeharto was sitting all alone and I said happy birthday to
him," said Mr Juan Felix Tampubolon, one of his lawyers.
Only
a parrot perched in a cage near the Soeharto dining room now recognises
his leadership. It screeches "selamat pagi Bapak Presiden" (good morning,
Mr President).
Despite
slurred speech caused by a mild stroke and a claimed loss of memory that
is hampering government investigations, Mr Soeharto must still be able
to hear chants of "kill Soeharto, hang Soeharto" that often erupt on the
other side of barricades and barbed wire in Jalan Cendana, the street he
has made famous.
But
the soldiers, led by officers Mr Soeharto personally trusts, have orders
to shoot if necessary, to protect the man Time magazine accused of looting
the country of $US15 billion.
A few
times every week student groups gather near Cendana to demand he be jailed
for corruption and nepotism. Often the demonstrations erupt into violence.
The
Attorney-General, Mr Marzuki Darusman, who put Mr Soeharto under house
arrest a fortnight ago, has said he will lay charges against him by August
10.
Mr
Soeharto's lawyers argue he is unfit to answer questions in once-weekly
grilling sessions by government prosecutors. They hint that the stroke
damaged his brain.
But
prosecutors are not convinced. They say he tries every ploy possible to
frustrate the investigations, such as insisting on answering questions
in Javanese, rather than the modern Indonesian language he did much to
instil around the multi-ethnic nation.
His
lawyers say this is a sign of his infirmity. Mr Soeharto insists he does
not have a cent stashed in foreign banks and claims his wealth came from
thriftiness with his presidential salary and rent from two houses he owns.
However,
on Tuesday a court dismissed a multi-billion dollar libel suit he had brought
against Time, a humiliating blow to the man who presided over one of the
world's most corrupt judicial systems.
Mr
Soeharto insists under interrogation that his actions were in the country's
best interests. He told investigators, for example, that he had awarded
a lucrative national car project to his youngest son, Tommy, because no-one
else applied.
A former
governor of Jakarta, Mr Ali Sadikin, said Mr Soeharto's supporters were
trying to sabotage the Attorney-General's investigations. "They are afraid
they will be implicated and their wrongdoings uncovered," he said.
Mr
Sadikin said 60 per cent of MPs and Jakarta's businesspeople were part
of Mr Soeharto's so-called New Order. "Many of them are not much better
than bandits."
Government
lawyers complain that Mr Soeharto's high-powered and expensive team of
lawyers is using the courts to frustrate every step taken the Attorney-General
takes. Deep suspicions remain among Jakarta's elite that a group of rich
and powerful people close to Mr Soeharto, including his six children, are
fomenting trouble across the country.
The
Minister for Defence, Mr Juwono Sudarsono, said last week that a series
of riots and disturbances plaguing Indonesia were linked to Mr Soeharto's
supporters.
Until
then, president Abdurrahman Wahid, government investigators and police
had referred vaguely to unnamed provocateurs when talking about the outbreaks
of violence.
[On
June 9, Agence France-Presse reported that prosecutors had extended a house
arrest order imposed on Suharto by 30 more days. Suharto has been barred
from leaving Jakarta since April 12 and was first placed under house arrest
on May 29. The order was handed to and signed by Suharto's chief lawyer
Juan Felix Tampubolon. Tampubolon said he thought the extension was unnecessary
because Suharto had been cooperative and had not tried to go anywhere.
"We don't see the urgency," he said - James Balowski.]
Lawmakers
launch new probe into Bulog
Straits
Times - June 10, 2000
Devi
Asmarani, Jakarta -- Parliamentarians from the party linked to Indonesian
President Abdurrahman Wahid are spearheading a new probe into an estimated
2.7 trillion rupiah (S$513 million) allegedly stolen from the National
Logistics Agency (Bulog) under his predecessors.
And
heading their list of "witnesses" to testify about their roles in facilitating
the alleged irregularities is Parliament Speaker Akbar Tandjung -- currently
embroiled in a stand-off with the President over his attempts to oust central
bank governor Syahril Sabirin.
The
probe by Nation Awakening Party (PKB) legislators into Bulog's "off-budget
funds" comes hot on the heels of fears here that the government might quietly
shut down ongoing police inquiries into the latest Bulog money scam involving
some of Mr Abdurrahman's closest aides and his former masseur Suwondo.
As
much of the embezzled 35 billion rupiah has been recovered, speculation
is rife that this latest parliamentary manoeuvre is a gimmick to divert
attention from the Indonesian leader's woes.
PKB
legislator Imam Churmein, who sits on a parliamentary commission overseeing
Bulog, told The Straits Times yesterday that its new probe was triggered
by the 35 billion rupiah scam.
Mr
Abdurrahman has alleged since "Buloggate" surfaced last month that his
name was being besmirched by his political foes. They however point out
that he did indeed ask Bulog deputy chief Sapuan in January if he could
have half of the 185 billion rupiah in off-budget funds Bulog had in its
coffers.
Mr
Churmein said yesterday: "We are concerned about the lack of transparent
rules in the use of Bulog's off-budget funds. We want to find out what
sort of abuses went on in the past."
His
commission, backed by legislators from PKB and Indonesian Democratic Party-Perjuangan
(PDI-P) of Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, set up an eight-member
team to look into the alleged illegal use of Bulog funds by officials and
businessmen linked to former President Suharto.
Among
those it intends to question are four former Bulog chiefs, including Mr
Rahardi Ramelan, former Trade and Industry Minister, and Mr Jusuf Kalla.
According
to Mr Widjanarko Puspojo, head of the probe team, Mr Akbar, as state Secretary
under Mr Habibie, had to answer why he approved Bulog's request to continue
handling its own non- budgetary funds, despite a recommendation by the
State Audit Agency to incorporate the money into Bulog's official budget.
A recent report by the state auditors said that over 2 trillion rupiah
was withdrawn from the non-budgetary funds from 1994 to 1999.
The
"Buloggate" scandal involving Mr Abdurrahman's aides was exposed shortly
after he sacked Mr Kalla, prompting many to speculate that the expose was
related to the latter's dismissal.
At
a press conference yesterday, the non-government organisation GOWA, which
uncovered the scam, dismissed allegations that it was linked to the President's
political rivals.
"Yes,
we've been linked with General Wiranto, Habibie, Fuad Bawazier, and just
recently Arifin Panigoro, but none of it is true," GOWA's coordinator Farid
Faqih said. Mr Fuad was a former finance minister while Mr Arifin is a
PDI-P executive.
Jakarta
police get go-ahead to shoot rioters
Straits
Times - June 9, 2000
Jakarta
-- Authorities in Jakarta have given the go-ahead for police to shoot rioters
if other attempts to control them fail, according to reports published
here yesterday.
The
decision was reached at a meeting between administration leaders, the military,
police and civic leaders at the Jakarta governor's office on Wednesday,
the Warta Kota daily reported.
"One
of the conclusions of the meeting is that we agreed to give a legal and
political umbrella to the security personnel so that they do not hesitate
in taking action," Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said.
He
said soldiers and police were under a "psychological burden", afraid to
act firmly against law violators, including rioters, for fear of being
accused of human rights violations.
"We
will use bullets to shoot looters in the leg if we cannot control them
by other means," the chief of the police force's operational command, Colonel
Nono Supriyono, was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying. Mr Sutiyoso said
shooting would only be directed against rioters resisting orders from the
security forces and those attacking with fuel bombs.
Fuel
bombs have been used increasingly by protesters and rioters in recent cases
of unrest and demonstrations, resulting in casualties among security personnel
and damage to property.
The
meeting was held to discuss ways of securing the capital during the general
convention of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest
legislative body, in August. The measure was taken in anticipation of possible
outbreaks of violence during the convention, Col Supriyono said.
Meanwhile,
police used tear gas and traded blows with a small group of anti-government
student protesters near Jakarta's presidential palace yesterday.
About
50 demonstrators from a group calling itself the Universal Front of Indonesia
had demanded that the entire Cabinet of President be dismissed for failing
to fix the nation's economic and social problems.
Witnesses
said several protesters were arrested. During the melee, lasting only five
minutes, police officers assaulted Associated Press photographer Eugene
Hoshiko.
In
another protest, about 100 students damaged the main gates of the attorney-general's
office and demanded that former President Suharto be placed on trial immediately
for corruption.
Howard
looks to the future
South
China Morning Post - June 9, 2000
Agence
France-Presse in Tokyo -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard sought
to move beyond past acrimony at yesterday's summit with Indonesian President
Abdurrahman Wahid, the first since the East Timor crisis.
"My
meeting with the President of Indonesia was extremely positive," Mr Howard
told a news conference after the summit, held on the sidelines of a memorial
in Tokyo for deceased Japanese prime minister Keizo Obuchi.
"The
relations between the two countries, I think, have benefited enormously
from the meeting that we held today," the Australian Prime Minister said.
"Both of us agree that we should focus on the future and put the past behind
us. Neither of us pretended that there have not been problems in the past,
but neither of us wanted to dwell on that."
Relations
have been frayed since October last year, when Australia led an international
peace force to East Timor to put down a killing spree by Indonesian-backed
militias after the former Portuguese colony had voted for independence.
Mr
Howard described Mr Wahid as "a man of great charm" and said he had told
the Indonesian leader he would be welcome to visit Australia whenever he
wanted. Mr Wahid is expected to visit Australia in July.
Earlier
Mr Wahid agreed it was time for reconciliation, but he said any state visit
by him to Australia was still hostage to ill-feeling in Indonesia over
East Timor and alleged Australian backing for separatists in Irian Jaya,
or West Papua. "Many people in Indonesia now object to my visiting Australia
because there are Australians who have aided the creation of independence
for the Papuan people," Mr Wahid said.
Yohanes
Yakob denies he planned Solidamor attack
Surya
Timor - June 7, 2000
Kupang
- Head of an advocacy team for a legal aid organization, Yohanes Yacob,
did not design the attack on the Solidamor office that was carried out
by a delegation of East Timor refugees (DPTT) two weeks ago.
Yohanes
Yacob's denial was issued through a statement sent to ST at the end of
last week, responding to a statement made by UNTAS and former Vice Head
of PPI that was issued earlier.
According
to Yakob, if viewed in terms of the law, the attack on the Solidamor office
was clearly illegal because there was damage and beatings by the refugees.
However, DPTT had a logical solution because it is as if this republic
allows a country within a country. What more, DPTT feels Solidamor is a
provocative organization that has ruined actively free political values
including destruction of the source of Indonesia's economic order. Also,
the love of Solidamor activists is totally polluted.
Concerning
the problem of his name being mentioned as the mover behind DPTT's attack
on the Solidamor office, Yacob said that matter was very ticklish. "I remind
the person who mentioned my name in regard to that attack. As Secretary
General of the Informal Institute for Indonesian People's Training (LIPMI)
that has or oversees 153 social organizations throughout Indonesia with
a strength of more than 3 million members, if I want to destroy Solidamor,
I don't need to use the strength of DPTT, my 500,000 members who live in
Jakarta are enough. That doesn't include sympathizers," wrote Yakob.
This
former Soeharto lawyer explained that while in Jakarta, the DPTT program
had been sent to various groups, including to the office of the LPBHN Kedsindo
Advocacy Team. As DPTT's legal authority, KPBHN Kedsindo was limited to
the legal arena and [had nothing to do with] the political unit. He gave
as an example, if a DPTT member was to be processed according to law, then
LPBHN Kedsindo as an advocacy organization would give legal services in
accordance with the ethical codes of advocacy and the oath of office.
According
to Yacob, the existence and role of Solidamor has political interests that
play a role in destroying its own nation. He further questioned the presence
of Solidamor Director, Bonar Tigor Naipospos who is currently in Dili.
Because, according to Yacob, if he wants to demand justice, he doesn't
need to go to Dili because in Indonesia there is also an institution that
regulates such matters.
Concerning
the UNTAS statement that DPTT still uses an old pattern, Yacob said they
may be using an old pattern but at least DPTT members had proved they were
ready to sacrifice their lives for their country as compared to continually
holding meetings to point the finger at each other with using Pancasila
and the 1945 constitution as a shield.
Solidamor
Director, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, who was contacted via handy phone, responded
to Yakob's accusation that Solidamor is a provocateur said that Yohanes
Yakob knows nothing about Solidamor because Yakob is nothing more than
a tool that turns here and there. According to Bonar, the name of the organization
is certainly Solidamor, but the mission and vision of its struggle is not
just for East Timor but also for Indonesia in relation to efforts to uphold
democracy and Indonesia's image outside the country.
For
example, Solidamor greatly cares about the arbitrary arrests of democracy
activists during Suharto's regime. Concerning Yakob's accusation that Solidamor
is also an organization that has ruined the actively free political values
of Indonesia, Bonar thinks Yakob as a hired person wants to take advantage
of the Indonesian nation.
Solidamor
is precisely the opposite and wants to fix Indonesia's image in the eyes
of the international world. It has never sought to ruin the Indonesian
nation in any way.
Concerning
Yakob's accusation that Solidamor only uses Pancasila and the 1945 constitution
as a shield in its daily organizational activities, Bonar said he understood
Pancasila and the constitution better than Yakob.
Government
lifts ban on Miss Indonesia pageant
Straits
Times - June 6, 2000
Jakarta
-- The Miss Indonesia beauty contest, which has been banned for the past
four years following opposition from Muslim groups, is to be held again
this week with full government support.
Chairman
of the Miss Indonesia Foundation, Ms Mooryati Soedibyo, said the contest,
to be held from tomorrow to Saturday, would be attended by 30 women from
25 of the country's 26 provinces.
The
newly-elected Miss Universe 2000, Ms Lara Dutta from India, is expected
to attend the event. "The contestants will be judged based on their intellectual
ability, behaviour and beauty," said Miss Mooryati.
She
said the grand final of the beauty contest will take place on Saturday
at the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park)
and be attended by some 1,000 people.
The
State Minister for Women's Empowerment, Ms Khofifah Indar Parawansa, said
the government supported the event. But she said contests such as these
should view women as an asset, not a commodity to be exploited. "So, whoever
wins the contest will be one of the country's assets and not merely a tourist
commodity," Ms Khofifah said.
Minister
for Tourism and the Arts Hidayat Jaelani said he hoped the event would
help restore the country's image, which has been tarnished badly by social
unrest and political uncertainty.
US:
Training Indonesian terrorists in `anti-terrorism'
Green
Left Weekly - June 7, 2000
The
following is a statement presented by United States journalist Allan Nairn
to the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Human Rights on May
11.
Mr
Chairman and members of the subcommittee, my name is Allan Nairn. Last
fall, I testified before this committee after witnessing the final days
of the physical destruction of East Timor by the Indonesian Armed Forces
(TNI). I recently returned to free East Timor, and also managed to enter
Indonesia and examine military operations in the rural zones.
The
Indonesian military and security forces are now politically discredited,
and the movement against them -- that began in the streets -- has now reached
the Jakarta elites. Freedom and democracy are now within realistic reach
in Indonesia, but only if the illegitimate power of the armed and security
forces can be broken. The key determining factors in this struggle will
be continued protest on the ground and action by the US Congress to maintain
and strengthen the current ban on military aid.
Pro-democracy
action will have to come from Congress, though, because US President Bill
Clinton's administration is now attempting to shore up the politically
fading TNI. Unbeknownst to the US public, and to many in Congress, it is
looking for ways to aid a military that still pursues a policy of terror
against civilians.
Policy
of terror
In
Aceh, where I visited, the Army and National Police (Polri) are sweeping
through rural villages, sometimes killing civilians at a rate of three
to six per day.
Some
of the units leading this campaign, including the Polri's Gegana and Brimob
[mobile brigade] have now been slated for new lethal training from Washington.
In
several areas, including West Kalimantan, where I also was, military and
police intelligence have been stirring and exacerbating ethnic fighting.
Near one town I visited, the Polri were actually handing out a printed
hit list of eight individuals who were being hunted by a lynch mob of armed
young men who had seized the town.
The
police stood back and watched as they burned buses and ran wild. Local
residents said that this was a common occurrence in the zone.
These
tactics are consistent with the policy enunciated in secret TNI documents
recently left behind after the TNI quit East Timor. The documents, many
recovered by Yayasan Hak, the Timorese human rights group, include a covert
operations manual for TNI's notorious Kopassus red berets.
This
classified manual (Buku Petunjuk tentang Sandi Yudha TNI AD, Nomor: 43-B-01;
issued June 30, 1999) states that Kopassus personnel are to be prepared
in the "tactic and technique" of "terror" and "kidnapping". It is signed
and authorized by numerous senior officers including General Johny Lumintang,
the long-time US protigi touted by the US State Department as a "moderate",
who was recently served with a crimes against humanity lawsuit shortly
after attending a gathering at the US National Defense University. (After
the suit was filed, US Ambassador Gelbard expressed regret and praised
General Lumintang as a "friend" of the US.) The Kopassus manual meshes
with other recovered documents which make it clear that violence against
civilians is still a core doctrine of TNI.
Yet,
despite this, the administration is now trying to move on several fronts
to restore material US support for the Indonesian armed forces.
Unbeknownst
to the public and to many in Congress, the US administration is now going
forward with plans to stage a CARAT (Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training)
military exercise with the TNI this [northern] summer.
CARAT
CARAT
is a large-scale exercise, involving the US navy, marines and other forces,
that stages simulated amphibious invasions of Indonesian islands.
According
to a Pentagon memo ("Response to Congressman Lane Evans et. al", July 15,
1998) previous CARATs have included: "Amphibious landing, patrolling, live
fire cross training, parachute training, fast rope, small boat ops, reconnaissance
surveillance, raids."
The
1998 CARAT was cancelled after the congressional uproar over JCET (Joint
Combined Exchange Training), the program under which the US taught urban
warfare and sniper techniques in circumvention of the congressional ban
on US military training for Indonesia. But last year, as the Timor terror
built toward a climax, the Pentagon went ahead with another CARAT just
before the independence vote (CARAT was August 11-25. The vote was on August
30.).
Not
only, by this timing, did the US reaffirm faith in TNI at the crucial moment,
but it also explicitly prepared Indonesian officers, who immediately after
CARAT went straight into East Timor for the final weeks of the terror campaign.
One
of these officers, Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) Willem, helped coordinate
the Indonesian naval forces in CARAT and then went to Dili where he served
as a senior official in KOREM military headquarters, the very base from
which the Aitarak militias staged their terror raids during late September.
I saw this first-hand since I was a prisoner in KOREM and was interrogated
by Colonel Willem, who, since his Timor stint, has been promoted to head
the personal staff of Admiral Widodo, the new national TNI commander.
If
the Pentagon and TNI hold another CARAT this summer, they will not have
missed a beat: exercise in August, 1999; move on to destroy East Timor.
Then exercise again in summer 2000, as if nothing untoward had happened.
In
addition to CARAT, the administration has also approved TNI attendance
at a US-Thai exercise, Cobra Gold, that is under way right now (May 9-23).
In the recent past, according to the Pentagon's Asia-Pacific Defense Forum
(Spring, 1998 issue), Cobra Gold has involved "combined air assault", "combined
amphibious assault", infantry insertion, "unconventional warfare", "weapons
training, [and] camouflage techniques", simulated "guerrilla" bases, "direct
action, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense and counter-terrorism".
If
Congress lets the administration get away with this attempt to shore up
the TNI, they then intend to move forward with a multi- phased plan to
restore other types of aid.
FBI-trained
police
On
another bureaucratic track, the US embassy in Jakarta, the CIA and other
agencies are already planning new lethal training for the Polri, including
their notorious Gegana and Brimob special units. The police were an integral
part of the Timor terror. They took the lead in the mass abductions. And
they are at the forefront of the sweeps killing civilians in Aceh.
A 1999
US Marine Corps intelligence seminar (the Indonesia Joint Cultural Intelligence
Seminar, Wargaming Division, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. Seminar
held January 14, 1999) concluded, "The Indonesian Police Force is one of
the most disliked/hated organizations in the country -- on a daily basis
the Police are the most visible instrument of government oppression". It
categorised the Polri as being among the "Groups to Avoid" in Indonesia.
Yet
Polri documents indicate that the police have in the recent past received
training from the FBI and other US agencies in topics including "explosive
incident and counter measures". Now the administration is privately planning
to resume police counter- terrorism training with a specific eye to what
ambassador Gelbard has called Muslim extremists in Aceh.
Since
there is little dispute that Polri kills civilians for political ends --
and since such use of violence is, of course, the definition of terrorism
-- the Clinton administration is now, in effect, planning to train terrorists
in anti-terrorism. These are lethal skills that up to now have been applied
not to defend civilians but rather to abduct and kill them if the military
and police do not like their views.
TNI's
territorial function needs review: Legislators
Jakarta
Post - June 5, 2000
Ridwan
M. Sijabat, Jakarta -- Legislators and observers are calling for a complete
transformation of the Army's territorial function, which they say has aggravated
political and security instability nationwide.
Aberson
Marle Sihaloho, an outspoken legislator from the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), told The Jakarta Post that the long
series of violent incidents which had swept the country had a lot to do
with the uncompleted state of internal reform in the military, especially
the powerful Army.
"Despite
the military's withdrawal from day-to-day politics and the bureaucracy,
the presence of military commands, districts and soldiers in rural and
remote areas remains a serious obstacle to civilian rule," he said. "The
riots and social conflicts in many regions have been linked to these military
units".
Aberson
alleged that there should be a strong suspicion of Army involvement in
most of the riots that have broken out since former president Soeharto
stepped down on May 21, 1998.
He
suspected the Rp 1.4 trillion distributed by former president Soeharto
to various military commands on May 5, 1998, may have been misused to create
chaos. "So far, the funds have never been accounted for," he added.
Aberson
said the Army's territorial function, including the presence of military
commands and districts, should be phased out because it was no longer relevant
to the reform era and the geopolitical situation.
"To
be consistent with the Indonesian Military's defense function, the Navy
and the Air Force should stand at the front line to face threats from outside
the country because, naturally, threats will come from the sea and air,"
he said.
Arifin
Panigoro, chairman of the PDI Perjuangan faction at the House of Representatives,
agreed, saying police should be the ones responsible for maintaining security
and order.
"The
military is no longer in charge of security at home. It should mainly focus
on its defense function. Thus military commands and districts are no longer
needed in connection with the defense function," he said.
He
also suggested that the Army's lower-ranking infantry soldiers, whose number
reach an estimated 270,000, be transferred to the National Police force
to strengthen it in its duties.
He
also encouraged senior generals who were seen to support the former New
Order regime to retire ahead of their mandatory retirement age. "Such a
policy was made by the United States government regarding its National
Guards after the Vietnam war," he claimed.
Achmad
Faqih, secretary of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction said his
faction had proposed military reform to the House leadership. "Our faction
has lobbied other factions to make the military's internal reform the House's
main agenda," he said.
Meanwhile,
military observer Salim Said called on the House to issue a national decision
on the military's functions and position in the political system.
"A
new law is needed to replace the current ones on the defense system and
military doctrine, in order to describe the military's position and its
relations with other organizations and state institutions," he said.
Salim
said he would agree to a gradual phasing out of the military commands and
districts to allow TNI make necessary adjustments. "The presence of military
subdistricts in Jakarta and other big cities may be no longer needed, but
their presence in rural and remote areas should remain to help police maintain
order and security," he said.
Said
also said the military -- TNI Headquarters, the Army, Navy and Air Force
-- should be audited annually by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), and the
promotion of middle and high-ranking officers should be dependent on approval
from the House and the government.
"The
House could then control the TNI through its budgeting and the promotion
of officials to strategic positions in the military," he said. Indria Samego,
a political observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI),
said it was crucial that the military pulled out from politics and businesses
if it was to focus on its main defense function.
"The
military's involvement in politics and businesses has indirectly weakened
the civilian government," Indria contended. "Changes will be made if the
military commands and military districts are phased out and servicemen
are barred from running businesses," he said.
Harold
Crouch, an Australian Indonesianist, said during an international seminar
on the military here recently that all military commands and military districts
should be phased out because its territorial function had given the military
considerable capacity to intervene in local politics under the guise of
maintaining stability.
He
said in the past Soeharto used the military's territorial network to manipulate
civilian organizations and repress potential opposition.
Supermarkets
packed, car sales up - so where's the problem?
Agence
France-Presse - June 11, 2000
Jakarta
-- Shoppers pack the supermarkets in the Indonesian capital these days,
car and mobile phone sales are jumping, seven new airlines are ready to
hit the skies and companies are reporting solid first quarter profits.
Consumer
spending, the government says, will be the main engine behind an up to
four percent growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year after a dismal
zero growth last year and minus almost 14 percent the year before that.
So what's the problem?
And
if as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says, Indonesia is the country
farthest from being able to say it has turned the corner in digging itself
out of the dragging regional financial crisis, where is the money coming
from?
The
first thing to note, analysts caution, is that it is only the few well-off
-- maybe 20 million people out of the country's 210 million -- who are
on what can only be described as a spending spree, at least compared to
the austerity of 1998-1999.
The
rest, the majority, says National Institute of Sciences'economist Thee
Kian Wie, are still subsisting, hurting just as much as they were two years
ago.
Henry
Yusuf, managing director of Danatama Securities, agreed. "The ones who
are spending now are mostly the middle to upper class who profit from interest
rates or the exchange rate," Yusuf told AFP. Many of the upper crust have
US dollar accounts overseas, and are profiting nicely from the fall in
the rupiah, he adds.
"On
the other side it's the people exporting who earn US dollars, and that's
basically it. For the lower class people, they hardly spend, they just
buy things for their daily needs. It's quite tough for them right now,"
Yusuf said.
"The
rich in Indonesia," Wie says, "are still very rich," and demand which had
been deferred at the height of the crisis is showing itself now that people
are slightly more confident.
"Rather
than sitting on their money, they are spending it on consumer durables,"
he said, flocking in their thousands to places like Jakarta's new French
hypermarket, Carrefour. "It's astounding the number of people there," he
says, adding that he too estimates the moneyed at some 20 million people.
He
rejects the idea that the country's ethnic Chinese, brutally targeted in
the 1998 riots, are bringing money back into the country in any significant
amounts.
"Why
should they?" he asks, referring to the volatile security and political
situation in Indonesia which has left almost all potential foreign investors
glued to the sidelines, and putting their money elsewhere.
In
a country where the banking system is still in tatters though, small businesses
are keeping enough working capital to keep their operations running, he
says.
In
addition, 90 percent of all consumer spending in Indonesia is in cash,
Visa International country manager Ellyana Fuad told the Jakarta Post this
week -- a fact that residents joke helps the corruption and counterfeiting
industries.
Marie
Pangestu of the center for Strategic and International Studies, one of
the country's leading economists, says there are still "a lot of people
with cash." In addition many of them reaped comfortable profits from astronomically
high interest rates introduced during the crisis. "As soon as the [October
1999] elections came about and interest rates started coming down, people
started spending," she told AFP.
Official
figures reflect the rapid pick-up in production of such commodities as
cars, motorcycles, paper, cement and television sets, video recorders,
mobile telephones and other electronic goods to meet demand despite a banking
system still in rubble.
Motorcycle
sales are predicted to rise by 39 percent this year to 800,000 units, car
sales are expected to follow. Per capita paper consumption has increased
to its pre-crisis level of around 16.5 kilograms a year from 5.5 kilograms,
according to the Paper Producers Association (APKI).
Cement
production is soaring, seven new airlines have registered to start operations,
the Ramayana supermarket chain plans six new outlets, and electronics sales
have jumped.
But
Pangestu says not to be fooled, and that she is worried. "Companies are
using excess capacity, they do need working capital, but they are using
retained earnings and suppliers' credits," Pangestu said.
In
addition, small and medium sized businesses which had very little debt
with the banks, are managing. "Growth based on those variables [is good
for] only one or two years. Eventually you will get to where the investment
restrictions will be felt.
"We
are not out of the woods. There is a real worry about complacency setting
in -- unless [the government] can push through the reforms, banking and
corporate.
"We
may be able to get growth, but it is not sustainable," she says pointing
to similar earlier patterns of recovery in South Korea and Thailand which
were led by a return of consumer spending.
But
in their cases, she said, there is "a lot of foreign investment, new investment,
including domestic capital, either joint venture partners putting more
in shares, and in the case of South Korea mergers and acquisitions."
"That's
obviously driving their growth into a more sustainable path ... they have
made more progress ... they have more room" than Indonesia, where, she
said confidence is "still very low."
Investors
to shun mining sector
Reuters
- June 9, 2000
Grace
Nirang, Jakarta -- Little fresh investment will flow into Indonesia's mining
sector this year as companies hug the sidelines due to a host of problems
plaguing the industry.
Rampant
illegal mining, conflicts with local residents and uncertainty over implementation
of autonomy laws in outlying provinces made Indonesia's mining sector attractive
only to the brave foreign miner, industry sources and analysts said.
"Existing
investors will wait for the implementation of the autonomy laws, while
prospective ones will be waiting for better security," Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas,
president of state-owned tin producer PT Timah Tbk, told Reuters. "I don't
think anyone will dare to make major investments [in the industry] at least
until next year."
Such
an outlook poses another blow to Indonesia, once regarded as one of the
most lucrative mineral destinations in the world. Indeed, the mining sector
accounted for 10 percent of gross domestic product in 1999, according to
official figures.
Analysts
had hoped the mining sector -- which encompasses gold, tin, silver, copper
and coal -- would provide fresh impetus to an economy struggling to find
its feet after nearly three years of crisis.
The
Mines and Energy Ministry has said that at least 24 foreign mining companies,
mostly in exploration stages, had already delayed their operations in Indonesia
due to uncertainty over security and financial problems.
A ministry
official said overall new mining investment was worth $327 million last
year. "This year it will be much lower," said the official.
Host
of problems hobble miners
With
the breakdown of law and order in Indonesia following economic crisis and
the downfall of former president Suharto in 1998, illegal mining and tension
with disgruntled residents in mining areas has become widespread.
The
autonomy law, which takes effect in 2001, will give regional governments
more say in managing their own affairs, including mining, partly as a way
of easing tensions over who benefits from extracted minerals. The ultimate
impact of that law is unclear.
Mines
and Energy Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently said Indonesia had
lost around 30 tonnes of gold ore and four million tonnes of coal last
year because of illegal mining.
Rick
Ness, president director of gold miner PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, told Reuters
that illegal miners had hampered ore extraction and processing and also
damaged the environment.
"Big
mining companies are usually held to high standards when it comes to waste
control. But this is not the case for illegal miners, who operate in the
same areas and for whose actions mining companies are often blamed," he
said.
Newmont
Minahasa Raya, a unit of Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp, has had its
share of problems with regional authorities flexing their muscles in Indonesia's
new democracy.
In
Sulawesi last April a tax row with regional authorities threatened to close
the mine until a compromise was found after Newmont agreed to pay $3 million
for tax and community services.
Various
problems have also affected gold and silver miner PT Kelian Equatorial
mining, owned by Rio Tinto, and the giant Freeport gold and copper mine
in remote Irian Jaya, majority owned by Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold
Inc.
In
May, Kelian Equatorial was forced to temporarily halt production and evacuate
workers from its site in East Kalimantan after protesters seeking land
compensation blockaded all access roads to the site.
More
conflicts predicted
Ness
said implementation of the autonomy law could trigger more disputes between
local governments and mining firms because the new rules could contradict
existing mining contracts.
President
Abdurrahman Wahid has pledged to honour all international contracts, but
urged foreign firms to renegotiate any deals that resulted from corruption
under Suharto's regime.
"As
well, it will be difficult for regional authorities to provide the same
standards of expertise as the central government," Ness added.
South
Sumatra Governor Rosihan Anwar said the autonomy law was not enough to
settle problems between miners and locals. He said some conflicts during
the transition were to be expected. "Local expectations of the autonomy
laws are too high. More demands are likely because locals still feel what
they receive is too little," Anwar said.
Royalties
hike criticised
In
light of these problems, the government's recent move to raise royalties
poses another blow for the mining industry. "Foreign investors rely on
financing in order to develop or expand projects.
The
royalty increases reduce our ability to raise necessary financing because
they effectively reduce the level at which a project becomes financially
feasible," Ness said.
An
official at a foreign bank in Jakarta said problems and uncertainties would
make banks reluctant to finance miners. "Investment in the mining sector
in Indonesia is now categorised as high-risk. Mining companies will find
it more difficult to get loans from banks," the banker said.
Ness
of Newmont called on the government to show clear leadership during the
period of transformation for the sector. "Foreign investors, particularly
those in the mining industry where investments often have a 20- or 30-year
lifespan, must have an element of certainty in order to secure financing,"
he said.
Indonesia
government disarray threatens economy
Dow
Jones Newswires - June 8, 2000
Grainne
McCarthy, Jakarta -- The President's masseur embezzles money from the country's
key food agency; the President's talk of capital controls spooks the international
community; the President's showdown with the central bank governor sends
investors fleeing. You'd think that for Indonesia things couldn't get much
worse. Well, you'd be wrong.
President
Abdurrahman Wahid -- who left the country last night for another round-the-world
tour, this time taking in eight countries -- doesn't seem overly concerned
about the disarray that's crippling his seven-month old government. But
everybody else seems to have realized that decision-making in Indonesia
is in limbo, and Wahid urgently needs to do something about it.
Concerns
about Wahid's erratic style are fueling fears that Indonesia's new leadership
isn't that different from the autocratic rule of former President Suharto.
The criticisms of Wahid -- about allegations of corruption in his inner
circle, his weak economic team, his unexplained sacking of cabinet ministers,
his moves to place key allies in top positions in state enterprises and
institutions, including Bank Indonesia -- echo many of the charges critics
made against the former dictator.
But
it's also becoming clear that Wahid and his team of economic ministers
aren't prepared to take strong and united action to deal with the wide
range of serious economic problems the country faces.
The
government is way behind on reforming the sprawling state banks. And, in
a move that triggered alarm bells, Wahid recently sacked the respected
Robby Djohan from the helm of the country's largest bank, replacing him
with the president of struggling petrochemical plant Chandra Asri -- a
company that's defaulted on loans to state banks.
It's
also behind on cracking down on recalcitrant debtors -- if necessary prosecuting
some and throwing them in jail -- in appointing new, clean, judges to the
courts, and in speeding loan and asset recovery by the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency.
Jeopardizing
support from IMF, others
The
sluggishness is jeopardizing continued support from the International Monetary
Fund, which continues to threaten to delay loans if more deadlines for
key reforms are missed. Slow reforms and corruption concerns also puts
key international support for the 2000 and 2001 budget from the World Bank
and other lenders at risk.
The
biggest danger is that Wahid's fumbling with the economy will weigh further
on the rupiah, put pressure on inflation, and -- as has happened in Indonesia
so many times before -- send angry people onto the streets for more rioting
and violence.
To
be sure, a fragile, consumer spending-led recovery has started here, despite
the problems. The economy grew 3.2% in the first quarter and the government
expects it to grow 4% over the year as a whole.
But
given that the economy only grew 0.2% last year and contracted 14% in 1998,
4% growth isn't much, and certainly isn't enough to really push the country
out of the deep hole it has fallen into during the past few years.
Wahid
himself isn't the only problem, although his unpredictable leadership style
and the sense that he's running the country as a one-man show isn't helping.
Coordinating economics minister Kwik Kian Gie is also a major weak link
in the economic team's chain.
As
coordinating minister, Kwik is charged with implementing the economic program
and leading a team of ministers in tackling the country's deep economic
woes. But Kwik has made crystal clear in recent weeks that he doesn't believe
in the program, or even have confidence in Wahid's leadership.
A long-time
critic of government policy before becoming a minister last October, Kwik
argues that IMF-mandated policies weren't necessarily the medicine Indonesia
needed as it struggled with the world's worst banking crisis in modern
times.
But
instead of biting his tongue and getting on with the job, Kwik has done
exactly the opposite. On a trip to Washington last week, during which he
met World Bank Managing Director Sven Sandstrom, IMF First Deputy Managing
Director Stanley Fischer and US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, Kwik
spoke consistently of the government in the third person, as if he wasn't
part of it. "Disastrous," is how one finance official in Jakarta described
Kwik's performance in Washington.
No
secret Kwik wants to resign
It's
no secret that Kwik would like to resign from his post. But so far he's
been prevented from doing so by Wahid and Vice- President Megawati Sukarnoputri
-- chairman of Kwik's PDI-P party -- who say he can't. The result: Kwik's
already mentally stepped down, something which is weighing on international
observers' nerves.
"You
have an erratic president and a weak coordinating minister," said the finance
official. "It's a deadly combination." Indonesians increasingly recognize
the crucial crossroads at which the country stands. A group of leading
economic and political commentators are set to gather in Bali at the end
of June to come up with "urgent priorities" given "the critical state of
national affairs." It's not all negative. Wahid has made an excellent stab
at reforming the military and cementing civilian leadership of Indonesia.
He's respected as a leading democracy advocate and firmly opposes mixing
mosque and state, an important view in the world's largest Muslim country.
While he could well be attacked at a major meeting of the country's highest
legislative body on August 12, Wahid is a consummate political operator
and a brilliant puppet-master in the true Indonesian sense. He will most
likely survive his August test.
But
his main challenge remains the economy. If Wahid wants to seriously tackle
its problems, he needs to replace Kwik with someone more committed to leading
the economic reform program. He should also sack other ministers that aren't
performing, and thus end speculation that he's always on the verge of reshuffling
his cabinet. He should then come clean about his own business interests
and those of his close associates to silence speculation about corruption.
Most
people would agree that Indonesia currently has no alternative to Wahid
and most generally believe he is still the best person to lead Indonesia.
But
the most prevailing view in Jakarta now is that Wahid and his ministers
are suffering from a disease called complacency, an opinion perhaps reinforced
by the president's rambling trip abroad. If he wants to build a lasting
legacy, Wahid needs to firmly convince the international community -- and
more importantly millions of impatient Indonesians -- that he can carry
through in dragging the country out of its stagnation.
Steady
implementation of program will strengthen rupiah
Agence
France-Presse - June 5, 2000
Jakarta
-- A steady commitment by the Indonesian government to implement pleged
economic reforms will strengthen the ailing rupiah, a top official with
the International Monetary Fund said Monday.
"What
is needed to strengthen confidence in the rupiah is quite clear -- a steady
and feasible implementation of economic programs," visiting IMF managing
director Horst Koehler said.
Speaking
to journalists at the end of a three-day visit before departing for India,
Koehler said the weakness of the rupiah was related mostly to poor reform
implementation rather than deficiencies in the foreign exchange system.
His
comments followed an assurance by Indonesian President Abdurrahman earlier
in the day that the government would not introduce capital controls as
a means of strengthening the rupiah.
"Strongly
backed economic stability and forceful implementation of further structural
reforms will no doubt strengthen the rupiah," Koehler said.
Praising
Indonesia's accomplishments in implementing economic reform programs --
demonstrated by the IMF's prediction of a four percent economic growth
this year -- Koehler said the country's economic program was "working".
But
he quickly pointed out that the four percent projected economic growth
alone was "not enough," and that there had to be "more growth in order
to reduce poverty and give jobs to the people."
Koehler
also said President Abdurrahman Wahid's commitment to "closely monitor"
the implementation of the pledged program in his cabinet was "good news
particularly for investors."
"Because
[that way] they will know that the [government's] direction is clear and
it is fully backed by the president and the economic team," he said.
But
Koehler warned that he saw "an urgent need" for the Indonesian Banking
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to "accelerate its decision-making" policies.
"That means to sell assets, to restructure [state and private] enterprises
and banks in order to stimulate investments," he said. "A further delay
in the process to sell assets and restructure enterprises would lead to
a deterioration of IBRA's assets values," Koehler added.
The
IMF is the coordinator of a 46-billion dollar bailout package cobbled together
in 1997 along with a reform program to pull Indonesia out of the Asian
financial crisis, which started in mid-1997.