• Rais: Sjahril case reflects intervention - Dow Jones Newswires
• Banker held over $133 million poll scandal - Sydney Morning Herald
• Politics may be behind Tanjung Priok probe report - Jakarta Post
• PKB wants compromise over spat on communism - Jakarta Post
• Indonesians critical of political leaders: survey - Channel News Asia

• Maluku mobs break into police HQ - Straits Times
• At least 20 dead, over 100 hurt in Ambon - Agence France-Presse
• Military officers role in Poso riots investigated - Jakarta Post
• Police major killed in new clashes in Maluku - Straits Times
• Q&A: Trying to find answers to the Maluku conflict - Straits Times
• Navy evacuates 768 terrified Christians - South China Morning Post
• Defence minister blames unrest on Suharto loyalists - Agence France-Presse
• More than 150 dead in Halmahera: report - Agence France-Presse
• Who are the Lashkar Jihad? - BBC
• Communal violence leaves over 765,000 refugees - Agence France-Presse
• Violence hits Indonesia's East Java, Medan - Reuters

• Mass grave found in Aceh - Detik
• 'Illegal' polling on Irian's fate underway - Jakarta Post
• Activists demand referendum in Aceh - Detik
• 97% of Acehnese support referendum: Survey - Detik
• Rallies against Aceh parliament - Agence France- Presse
• Aceh: Governor replaced after students protest - Agence France-Presse
• West Papua activists face life in jail - Agence France-Presse
• Aceh Parliament `occupied' - Agence France-Presse
• Congress shows broad support for independence - Green Left Weekly

• Human rights commission's office attacked - Straits Times
• Students attack rights body headquarters - Indonesian Observer
• Background to the Tanjung Priok Massacre - ASIET
• Reinvestigate Tanjung Priok bloodshed: Kontras - Jakarta Post
• Observers urge war against KKN in judiciary - Jakarta Post
• Suharto's lawyers lodge complaints against Jakarta with UN - Agence France-Presse
• Silenced voices speak volumes - South China Morning Post

• Ibra to be probed for holding back funds - Straits Times
• Disappointment leads to birth of new moral movement - Jakarta Post
• Protests at Borneo parliament over fate of governor - Agence France-Presse
• Swiss under pressure on dirty money - South China Morning Post
• Indonesia to open new areas for paddy fields - Straits Times

• Indorayon Conflict: one dead and forty missing - Detik

• Defense deptartment audit reveals many irregularities - Detik
• Threat to Indonesian army reform - Financial Times

• Budiman Sujatmiko tours Europe - Green Left Weekly

• Sjahril case blow to investor confidence - Dow Jones News
• Restructuring body `works at snail's pace' - Straits Times
• Looting, land rights keep investors out of Indonesia - Business Times
• Local governments told not to scare off investors - Straits Times
• Misleading economic indicators - Asiaweek

UN arrests suspected militia after grenade attack

Tim Johnson, Dili -- UN peacekeepers in East Timor have arrested two suspected anti-independence militiamen and confiscated rifles and grenades in the wake of a grenade attack on peacekeepers Wednesday, a UN peacekeeping force (PKF) spokesman said Friday.

Col. Brynjar Nymo told a press conference Australian peacekeepers manning a temporary checkpoint set up just south of the town of Batugade, near the border with Indonesia's West Timor, found the weapons during a search of a vehicle Thursday afternoon.

Two automatic rifles, an M-16 and an SKS, which are common weapons throughout the area, and two hand grenades, along with ammunition, were found concealed in the jeep-type vehicle, which was being used as a local bus. More ammunition was found in the bags of two of the vehicle's nine passengers, bringing the amount of ammunition to between 350 and 400 rounds. Nymo said seven of the passengers were released after being deemed innocent locals.

During questioning, the two suspected militiamen initially claimed to be members of the Falintil former guerrilla group that resisted Indonesia's occupation of East Timor for 24 years. But while they carried Falintil leave passes, papers issued when the former guerrillas leave their sole cantonment at Aileau, in the mountains south of Dili, they were unable to produce Falintil ID cards. "Under continued questioning, their statements grew increasingly self-contradictory, and we do have reason to believe that these may be militia individuals," Nymo said.

The spokesman said it has yet to be determined if the two suspected militiamen were linked to Wednesday's attack on the peacekeeping force when a small group of suspected militiamen fired upon and threw six grenades at a PKF position. No injuries were sustained on either side.

He said the confiscated rifles have been sent to Australia to check ballistics to see if a link can be established with Wednesday's attack.

Since the August 30 vote for independence, there have been numerous incidents on the borders between West and East Timor involving the use of military weapons fired at international troops, of which there are 8,029 from 23 countries, and East Timorese civilians.

The next step: East Timor deserves democracy

Jim Della-Giacoma -- In one of the most courageous acts of self- determination in recent history, the people of East Timor went to the polls last August to reject an Indonesian offer of greater autonomy in favor of a transition to independence under the stewardship of the United Nations.

The independence struggle was waged for almost 25 years by a small guerrilla army, but the final battle was won at the ballot box. Defying months of violence organized by the Indonesian military, almost 450,000 registered and voted in record numbers at that August referendum.

The fact that 98.5% of East Timorese voters turned out polling day clearly shows voters appreciate electoral power more than most people in Western democracies. Yet the UN is denying them an opportunity to extend that power into where it matters most: the development of a functioning democracy.

After seven months of governance under the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, no concrete steps have been taken by the UN to elect local officials to take part in the decision making processes of this billion dollar operation. If the UN is to fulfill its mandate to "support capacity building in self-government" and "assist in the establishment of conditions for sustainable development" it must not hesitate in supporting democratic methods of choosing East Timorese to lead this fledgling nation.

As donors gather in Lisbon this week to consider further aid for East Timor, they should also give a thought to the nonmaterial needs of East Timor. Untaet has done much to restart government since arriving, but already there are foreboding signs of a growing frustration among East Timorese who feel excluded from the UN operation.

To be sure, Untaet has appointed many East Timorese to a number of advisory bodies, including district advisory councils, and reportedly will soon appoint East Timorese "ministers." But by doing so, the UN has shown a bias toward old Lusafone elites and alienated East Timor's youthful majority. By their very nature, appointed bodies are antidemocratic. The only way to bring the entire community legitimately into the decision making process -- and thus to build a broad-based democracy -- is to hold elections.

What are the arguments against elections? Some say it would unnecessarily complicate the political landscape of East Timor, fragment the coalition of parties that is the National Council for Timorese Resistance and politicize the community. It would undoubtedly make the situation more complex for Untaet's overworked staff and bring new and competing voices to the fore.

But there is a patronizing tone to such arguments that the East Timorese are not ready for democracy. The turnout for the August referendum, often under the threat of death, undermines that argument.

Some worry about the expense, but the cost would be a fraction of what is spent feeding and fueling the more than 8,000 peacekeeping troops in East Timor. Elections would silence many critics of Untaet's unrepresentative nature, a flaw that some ungenerous souls say verges on neocolonialism.

Like it not, the community in East Timor is being politicized with little guidance or political laws as small parties set up branches and larger ones reorganize in the districts. At the same time, without fanfare and no violence the World Bank-funded Community Empowerment Project has run 123 village level elections in recent weeks for committees to decide on the distribution of between $15,000 and $45,000 for each village.

Even if there are problems, democracy is learned by practice, not from textbooks. Why not start by electing district councils starting with the capital Dili? This would be an achievable short-term goal. In turn, this would prepare the electorate for the trickier task of choosing a constituent assembly to write a constitution and elect a government before the transition to independence. It would also produce a cadre of experienced elected officials at the time of the transfer of power.

Of course, Untaet will need to stick around for some time -- probably another two or three years until the constitution is finished and national government elected. But over that period, East Timorese can work on the good habits of democracy as an insurance against autocracy, one-party rule and the ravages of corruption.

Democracy is slow and can be painful. But if it's good enough for the UN and the key donor countries, then the East Timorese deserve a chance to experience the good and the bad of representative government of their own. That is ultimately what so many of them lived and died for last year.

East Timor 's former guerrillas could revolt

Lisbon -- East Timor 's independence leader Jose Alexandre Gusmao said Thursday the guerrillas he once led against Indonesian troops are living in squalid conditions and could revolt.

Hundreds of former guerrilla fighters, who still have their weapons, have been living for the past nine months in designated areas monitored by the United Nations.

Gusmao warned officials at an international donors' conference here that the pro-independence soldiers, known by their movement's acronym Falintil, are "almost in a state of revolt."

"If we continue to offer no support for the Falintil, relegating them to a subhuman existence, we will all pay a high political and social price," Gusmao warned.

UN bows to pressure and gives Timorese more power

Mark Dodd, Dili -- Under pressure to give East Timorese more responsibility for their own affairs, the United Nations announced yesterday it would more than double the size of the country's de facto parliament and make it all Timorese.

The UN chief in East Timor, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, will step down as chairman of the National Consultative Council but retain ultimate authority in the territory. No timetable has been agreed for the changes.

The announcement represents a concession by the UN transitional authority (UNTAET) and follows widespread dissatisfaction from East Timorese leaders that they were not being sufficiently involved in shaping their future in the lead-up to independence, expected within two years.

Under the new agreement the consultative council will expand from 15 to 33 representatives. Members will be paid a salary and allowances following a request by the President of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), Mr Xanana Gusmao.

A senior UN official said the expanded role for the council was the equivalent of a power-sharing coalition between the UN and East Timorese. The current line-up includes 11 East Timorese and four UNTAET officials, including Mr Vieira de Mello. Of the Timorese, seven are members of the CNRT, three are from the pro- integration side and one is from the Catholic Church.

Before departing for an East Timor donors' conference that opens in Lisbon today, Mr Vieira de Mello conceded that the existing council was unrepresentative, too small and lacking in transparency.

The new members will be drawn from the 13 districts plus individual officials representing youth affairs, women, the Timorese NGO Forum, Protestant and Muslim religions, professional groups, farmers, local business and labour.

An UNTAET spokeswoman said it would be several weeks before the changes were implemented because of the absence of UN and Timorese leaders at the donors' conference. The conference will hear details of East Timor's first national budget, and a request from Mr Vieira de Mello for additional funding.

UN setting bad precedent in East Timor: Environmentalists

Dili -- The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) is sending a wrong message to the devastated territory by failing to allocate funds for environmental protection in its new budget, according to local environmentalists.

"UNTAET doesn't seem to care much about the environment," eco- tourism specialist and environmental advocate Vicente Ximenes said regarding UNTAET's $59 million budget to be submitted to an international donors' conference in Lisbon next Wednesday for approval.

"It's very sad and disappointing," said Ximenes, who handles environmental affairs and tourism at the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT), East Timor's main pro-independence umbrella political grouping. "If they only want to speed up reconstruction, I'm afraid it will have a very negative impact on the environment," he said.

Ximenes' views were echoed by Demetrio Amaral, executive director of Haburas, an East Timorese nongovernmental organization dealing with environmental issues, who said, "Zero budget for the environment is a wrong decision. It sets a bad precedent for East Timor. It also doesn't reflect the real situation now in East Timor, where we now face pollution and other environmental problems."

The two environmentalists expressed concern UNTAET's five-member environmental protection unit (EPU) may be disbanded under a new administrative structure to be introduced July 1 after donors endorse the budget.

In the draft budget, covering the fiscal year starting July, priority is given to health, education, infrastructure and agriculture. To the dismay of environmentalists, it was also approved by the CNRT despite their lobbying activities.

"It has been a very difficult exercise in which the Timorese have been fully involved. In fact, it is they who presented the final proposal, a very courageous proposal," UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mello told reporters last Monday in presenting the budget.

"This will be an austere budget, a budget that will demonstrate to donors in Lisbon that we are serious, that the East Timorese leadership is serious, and that we are not intending to rely indefinitely on external budget support to East Timor," de Mello said.

Amaral lamented, however, that because East Timor faces the immense challenge of rebuilding from ashes, "there is an overwhelming danger that in national development plans, protection of the environment will be accorded least priority."

Indeed, environmental problems are already becoming increasingly evident, with questionable waste disposal practices by overseas contractors receiving scant attention, unregulated vendors springing up all over Dili and dumping waste plastic packets and garbage into the sea becoming common.

Large chunks of rare coral are being openly sold from roadside stalls to UN staff and soldiers, while the high prices of fuel and kerosene have led to intensified destruction of forests and mangroves for firewood.

Problems inherited from the pre-UNTAET period include large-scale logging, shifting cultivation, use of chemical fertilizers and the Indonesian military's deliberate deforestation to deny cover to Falintil pro-independence guerrillas.

Amaral said only a small amount of funding is needed to help start programs to educate the East Timorese about the importance of protecting their environment, strengthen environmental advocacy and promote reforestation.

De Mello said that while he personally attaches "great importance" to the environment, the sheer scope of East Timor 's requirements after the militia-perpetrated devastation that followed the Aug. 30 independence vote means, "We have to prioritize."

"If I have to choose between sale of coral and registering all the vehicles that go around East Timor without number plates, without any known owner, I would opt for the latter," he said.

While the top administrator said EPU would "in all likelihood remain" in UNTAET's new structure, both Ximenes and Amaral expressed serious doubts. Ximenes warned that if the unit is disbanded and its staff absorbed by other sections, the environmental watchdog role in UNTAET will disappear altogether. "If you leave something for everyone concerned, at the end nobody is concerned. We need an EPU as a watchdog for all parts of the government. We need to start protecting the environment now," he said.

Amaral urged donor nations "to pressure UNTAET and the CNRT not to remove the EPU under the new structure, and to show their concern about environment through action and not just rhetoric."

Timor Gap deal set to deliver windfall for Dili

Mark Dodd, Dili -- Negotiations between the United Nations and Canberra for a new Timor Gap treaty could see up to $US100 million a year in oil and gas revenue flowing to East Timor, senior UN officials say.

A team from the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) finished a second round of negotiations in Canberra on Saturday. The talks have been working towards a new treaty between Australia and East Timor, which is soon to become independent.

If successful, East Timor could receive double the amount of revenue it was entitled to under the old agreement negotiated in 1989 between Australia and Indonesia, UN officials said.

The latest bargaining follows a first round in March that got off to a frosty start. The so-called Timor Gap covers a coffin-shaped parcel of the Timor seabed containing large deposits of oil and gas.

Two of the main oilfields have estimated reserves of 130 million to 250 million barrels of oil. Estimates of the total amount of gas in the Zone of Co-operation are the energy equivalent of 1.4 billion to 1.8 billion barrels of oil, the measurement used by the industry. By comparison, Bass Strait has oil reserves totalling around 370 million barrels.

On February 25 Australia and UNTAET signed a $US1.4 billion agreement for the development of gas recycling and exploration covering the Bayu Undan fields. Production is expected to start in January 2004 and under the old 1989 agreement could generate up to $US40 million in revenue for East Timor. "UNTAET is acting as the agent of the East Timorese people," said Mr Peter Galbraith, the head of the administration's political department. "What UNTAET seeks is what the East Timorese seek.

"The East Timorese leadership has made it clear that the critical issue for them is to maximise the revenues of the Timor Gap. The legal situation is this: UNTAET has to continue the terms, but only the terms of the old Timor Gap Treaty and only until independence. Therefore a new regime will have to be in place on the date of independence."

A new treaty is required because East Timor voted overwhelmingly last August for independence from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, a bloody land grab that went unrecognised by the UN and most Western countries -- but not by Australia.

In 1978, Canberra declared its support for the Indonesian occupation, a move which allowed negotiations to start for rights to the Timor Gap.

After 10 years of tedious bargaining, in December 1989 the then Australian foreign minister and his Indonesian counterpart signed the Timor Gap Treaty, which carved up the seabed into three areas, with the zone in the middle -- the richest area, about the size of Tasmania -- to be jointly developed.

"It was the triumph of politics over morality," said Dr Keith Suter, president of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. "Australia negotiated with a country that had taken over East Timor by force, whose occupation was accepted by only a minority of the world's countries and an occupation resisted by the East Timorese themselves."

A more equitable share of Timor Gap wealth in East Timor's favour would be extremely important in helping the impoverished territory achieve a measure of economic self-sufficiency and could double the nation's budget by the end of the decade, one expert predicted. The next round of bargaining is scheduled for December and an agreement is believed to be close.

Rolling stoppages hit public transport system

Vanya Tanaja, Dili -- This city has been rocked by snap public transport stoppages since June 2 in response to a rise in the price of fuel. Small minibuses, "mikrolets", that provide cheap public transport around Dili, and private taxis have all taken part, leaving the city with only private vehicles, United Nations cars and a large number of pedestrians.

The dispute started when the price of fuel rose from 2500 rupiah (60 cents) a litre to 5000 rupiah a litre overnight. The drivers, demanding a reduction in the fuel price, blockaded the headquarters of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor at the old governor's office that morning for several hours.

The demonstrators also criticised UNTAET's seeming inability to reconstruct facilities useful to ordinary Timorese or provide employment to local people.

The protesters then drove in a convoy to Tibar, 45 minutes west of Dili -- where the National Council for Timorese Resistance were holding a pre-congress meeting to prepare for its official congress in August.

But the drivers did not get the answers they were looking for -- a CNRT representative told them that the organisation did not know about the price rises and that it was not a matter for it to address.

The newly formed Timor Leste Labour Union issued a statement supporting the drivers. The union demanded that prices on fuel and nine other basic commodities, including rice and cooking oil, be lowered; it also called for higher wages, increased employment opportunities for Timorese and for politicians to pay greater attention to the concerns of the people.

On June 14 the flare-up intensified when, for the first time, an organised political force took up the issue. The Socialist Party of Timor led a demonstration of 300 people outside UNTAET headquarters, demanding lower fuel prices, the importation of agricultural implements instead of luxury cars and higher wages for Timorese workers.

Farmers from Liquica, Aileu and Manatuto districts took part, as well as a smaller number of workers and unions, such as port workers, those at the coffee exporters NCBA, and the Timorese Labour Association, LASETI.

The demonstration also demanded to know what would be presented at the Lisbon donors' conference, which will be attended by CNRT and UNTAET representatives. Akara Leon, demonstration organiser and PST vice-president, told Green Left Weekly, "We want to know where the money will be spent and how much -- the people still need to fulfill basic needs, so we want to know where the money is going to."

UNTAET agreed to respond in writing to the demonstrators' petition and to provide 340 tractors to rural areas, offers which were cautiously accepted. Further demonstrations are planned if no progress is made. Whilst Pertamina, the Indonesian-owned corporation supplying much of East Timor's oil and gas, blames new import taxes for the increase, there has been no explanation given of why fuel prices doubled overnight. Taxes on fuel have been in place since March 20 and have collected US$400,000. It seems likely that Pertamina has sought to pass the cost of these taxes onto Timorese consumers.

In a press conference, David Haeri from UNTAET's political affairs section said that the issue of fuel price rises was a "difficult" one. He said the Timorese were "used to having subsidised fuel" and that UNTAET had to balance this with "allowing the free market to operate and making it easier for foreign investment to enter the country". He indicated that UNTAET would "have a discussion with fuel companies" to seek some form of compromise.
 

Government/politics

Rais: Sjahril case reflects intervention

Jakarta -- The chairman of the Indonesia's upper House of Representatives, Amien Rais, added his voice Thursday to the chorus protesting the detention of Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin, saying it smacks of political intervention.

"The detention means that the existing law is based on intervention from authorities rather than justice principles," Rais told local television station Surya Citra Televisi.

He said he "was surprised" with the detention. "It's also almost unbelievable and the process [to detain] him was too fast,", he said.

Rais said the detention of Sjahril appeared to be politically motivated. "This is political intervention or power intervention," he added. "This is, I am sorry ... too much."

Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman detained Sjahril Wednesday, marking the first high- profile casualty of the Bank Bali lending scandal. Sjahril has been detained for 20 days at the attorney general's jail house to question him further on his alleged involvement in the Bank Bali scandal, which rocked Indonesia's markets last year and led international lenders to suspend loans to the country.

A public dispute between Sjahril and President Abdurrahman Wahid has stoked speculation that the case against the governor is politically motivated and driven more by Wahid's wish to oust him than by any hard evidence against Sjahril. Marzuki has denied this and stressed that Wahid didn't order the detention. Marzuki said Thursday he has enough evidence to charge Sjahril with corruption.

Rais claimed the move by the attorney general to detain Sjahril was discriminative and reflects the fact that existing laws also discriminate. Rais said Wahid's government has already lost much of the momentum in its efforts to gain more support from at home and abroad.

Banker held over $133 million poll scandal

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Authorities yesterday arrested a top Indonesian economic official over a $US80million banking scandal linked to Golkar, the former ruling party.

The governor of Bank Indonesia, Sjahril Sabirin, was held at the Attorney-General's office hours after President Abdurrahman Wahid returned from overseas. For weeks Mr Wahid has been demanding that the banker quit over the scandal involving the former state-owned Bank Bali.

A source at the Attorney-General's office said Mr Sjahril would be detained for an initial 20 days to facilitate investigations into the scandal, in which money is alleged to have been channelled to help the re-election chances of the former president, Dr B.J. Habibie.

Mr Wahid had earlier announced plans to shake up his fragile Government, declaring that some of his ministers "give me headaches". Speaking in Egypt at the end of a two-week world trip, Mr Wahid said the ministers he planned to replace in August after the annual sitting of the People's Consultative Assembly were "still tied to their parties".

Confirmation of the reshuffle, which had been widely predicted, will further antagonise Mr Wahid's political rivals, many of whom want the assembly to impeach him over his performance in running the country.

After returning to Jakarta yesterday, Mr Wahid, 59, went straight into talks with the armed forces commander, Admiral Widodo, and the Vice-President, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri.

In Egypt, Mr Wahid said Ms Megawati and others in his Government had approved his decision to reshuffle the Cabinet. "I will be free to choose the Cabinet members," he said. When Mr Wahid won office last October he was forced to choose ministers from parties that had supported his presidency ahead of Ms Megawati, whose Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle had won the most votes in the country's first real democratic election.

But analysts say Mr Wahid has never been happy with the way the Cabinet operated and his instructions to ministers have been ignored. In April, Mr Wahid sacked two economic ministers, including the respected state enterprises minister, Mr Laksamana Sukardi. The decision provoked a storm of protest and a sharp drop in investor confidence.

Mr Wahid is expected to bring into Cabinet people he sees as loyalists, probably from his own National Awakening Party. He did not name the ministers he intends to replace.

Antara also quoted Mr Wahid as saying that former president Soeharto had amassed a $US45billion fortune during his 32 years in power.

Mr Soeharto, 79, claims he has "not once cent" stashed in overseas banks, and his lawyers have denied suggestions by Mr Wahid that the Soeharto family was prepared to give money back to the state.

"First the Government will ask for 50 per cent," Antara quoted Mr Wahid as saying. "If the students are not satisfied, they will protest. Soeharto will get scared. And then we will tell him: 'We will protect you as long as we get more'. Eventually we will get 95 per cent of it."

Politics may be behind Tanjung Priok probe report

The National Commission on Human Rights' committee for the 1984 mass killing in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta (KPP HAM Tanjung Priok), has come under fire for its report to the House of Representatives (DPR) suggesting to summon parties related to the killings instead of recommending a trial. Political scientist Arbi Sanit of the University of Indonesia thinks it is politically motivated.

Question: Why didn't the committee make a report that would make it possible for the culprits to be taken to court?

Arbi: It seems that the long held fear of families of the Tanjung Priok victims has come true. When the team was established [earlier this year], the families -- suspecting that some of its members had political interests -- demanded that they be replaced. The way it has turned out now, the team's report is neither accurate nor transparent.

Because those responsible for the killings are not clearly identified in the report, they can not be taken to court. The police and the Attorney General's Office will have no evidence to further pursue a legal process.

Actually, the suspects of the human rights violations can be put into two categories -- the decisionmakers, who ordered the raid, and field commanders who ordered the shootings or stabbings. Records can show who shot or stabbed whom to death.

Do you think that the team members -- Djoko Soegianto, Sulistyowati Sugondho, Aisyah Aminy, Samsuddin, B.N. Marbun, Charles Himawan, Saafroeddin Bahar, Mohamad Salim and Albert Hasibuan -- were not professional in carrying out their tasks?

I believe the team members have high integrity. That's why I don't think the unclear report was caused by a lack of professionalism. It might have been influenced by political considerations.

What are the political considerations?

The Tanjung Priok incident was full of religious sentiment. Because religious conflicts are now prevailing in Maluku and other parts of the country, the team members are apparently apprehensive of triggering a new nationwide conflict between Muslims and Christians, if they clearly identify those responsible for the killings.

Perhaps they were forced to take this political consideration to avoid the prospect of being blamed in the event of nationwide conflict by refusing to be frank in their report.

Do you think the team's alleged March 24 meeting with the Indonesian Military (TNI) forms the basis of a conspiracy?

The political consideration might have trapped them in a conspiracy because TNI officers feared the legal processing of those responsible may affect the military's reputation. But the conspiracy might have also indicated that former military chief L.B. Moerdani still has influence over military officers.

But the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has accused the Tanjung Priok committee of having manipulated data related to the case, hasn't it?

The political reason, if it is true, has apparently discouraged the team from continuing to identify those responsible for the instruction and the killings. As a result, the team appears to be unprofessional in the case, even though its members are usually professional with other cases.

Then what should the team do?

If the disclosure of those responsible for the killings will not cause any rioting or national conflict, the investigation must be continued. Otherwise, the investigation must be stopped or, at least, delayed. We have been facing various problems and, therefore, we must not create a new problem. But such a reason must be made known to the public.

How can we know that the disclosure will or will not cause a conflict?

The Tanjung Priok committee, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) or the DPR must hold hearings with religious leaders. If the leaders can guarantee that the disclosure will not cause any rioting or conflict, the investigation can be continued.

The unsubstantial report of the Tanjung Priok committee may have been purposely tabled to delay [a prosecution]. If the public or any party wants a trial for the culprits, Komnas HAM will have to appoint a new team to start a new investigation all over again. If Komnas HAM is no longer trusted, the police and the Attorney General's Office will have to do the investigation by themselves from the very beginning.

How can the victims' families, who used to be very vocal, keep silent about the team's unsubstantial report?

I don't know exactly. But in other places, vocal protesters usually receive concessions, politically or financially, from the authorities and they are silent after that. Some organizations, like the Muslim Students Association (HMI), may protest or hold demonstrations but their protests will concern the legal aspects only.

PKB wants compromise over spat on communism

Jakarta -- The National Awakening Party (PKB) Faction in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is proposing a compromise in the heated debate over communism by allowing such teachings in academic circles but not the growth of communist political parties.

If acceptable, the compromise could be a way out of the debate which has pitted President Abdurrahman Wahid and several Islamic leaning politicians. Faction chairman Yusuf Muhammad told journalists on Monday, that amendments should be made to allow communist and Marxist teachings to survive based on the freedom of knowledge.

However such freedom of knowledge should not foster alternative teachings, which can endanger the existence of Pancasila and 1945 Constitution. He added that amendments should also contain an article which rehabilitates those who have unfairly suffered due to the implementation of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly Decree No. 25/1966.

President Abdurrahman has suggested that the decree banning communism be revoked, much to the chagrin of many critics. The decree was the legal basis to dissolve the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) which was accused of masterminding the abortive coup in 1965. The decree also prohibited all communist teachings in the country.

The President has maintained that educating people about the threat of communism, instead of conducting unlawful and inhumane practices, is the best way to prevent the spread of communism.

Instead of generalizing all communist activity and teachings, a revision has been proposed which specifically stipulates that organizations affiliated with the PKI and other communist political parties be considered illegal.

Indonesians critical of political leaders: survey

Indonesians have spoken out against their politicians in a newspaper survey. They say their leaders show little regard for the country's 200 million people and have not done enough to bring former president Suharto to justice.

There were 680 respondents to the survey conducted by Media Indonesia daily on the Internet earlier this month. More than 95 percent of respondents say they believe politicians were preoccupied with maintaining power or the interests of their political parties. Half of them also say that their leaders had no sense of priority about what needs to be done to help the country recover from the economic crisis.

But the issue that most annoyed them, was the corruption investigation involving Mr Suharto. For them, bringing the former leader to account is vital for the country to move away from the shadow of his iron rule.

The survey underscores the level of disappointment at the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid who took power in the country's first contested presidential election last October.

His most unpopular decision, according to respondents, was his plan to end a decades-old ban on communism. And that the issue most likely to bring him down, was a scandal involving the theft of US$4.1 million from state commodities regulator Bulog. They added that the key issue for the country now was to revive the economy.
 

Regional conflicts

Maluku mobs break into police HQ

Jakarta -- Mobs broke into a police headquarters and took away cash, ammunition and police uniforms, raising concerns of an escalation of violence in the week-long unrest plaguing the troubled Malukus Islands.

Maluku police chief Brigadier-General Dewa Astika said on Friday that rioters had broken into two ammunition warehouses during communal clashes and burned a housing compound occupied by about 2,000 police members and their families.

Besides guns, they also took away dozens of Police Mobile Brigade uniforms, said the police chief. "This is dangerous because rioters can now disguise themselves in police uniforms," he was quoted as saying by the Indonesian Observer.

He also warned that the stolen ammunition could be used to launch another attack. He said the police had been working closely with the Pattimura regional military command in controlling the riots and recovering the stolen ammunition.

Theu would investigate the possible involvement of police personnel in the attack. "If we find police personnel to be involved in it, we will take stern measures against them as they have betrayed the police and their duty to protect the people," Brig-Gen Astika stressed.

Fierce fighting between Muslims and Christians flared for a fourth day in the capital of the Maluku Islands yesterday, leaving at least six dead, officials said.

Hundreds of Laskar Jihad members have continued to arrive in Maluku since May, ignoring President Abdurrahman Wahid's repeated warnings about travelling to the province.

Acting Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Lieutenant-General (Ret) Surjadi Soedirdja has told the group to withdraw its volunteers because their presence was contributing to the violence there. Meanwhile, TNI spokesman Rear Marshal Graito Usodo said the military would intensify its sea and land patrols.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle proposed tougher action by asking the government to declare a state of civil emergency in Ambon. "The emergency law could be applied soon in Maluku, especially in Ambon," said Mr Heri Akhmadi, an executive of the party.

He said imposing a civil emergency status will "prevent the fall of more victims" and urged the government to prevent outsiders from entering Ambon and for all sides to engage in a ceasefire.

The party is led by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who also called on the government to consider relocating one party in the conflict to other regions in Indonesia.

The President said on Friday he had banned outsiders from entering the Maluku Islands in an effort to quell the sectarian violence. He said he had also ordered police to help the military search for weapons in the islands.

At least 20 dead, over 100 hurt in Ambon

Jakarta -- At least 20 people were killed and more than 100 seriously injured Friday in an eruption of deadly street fighting between Muslims and Christians in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, reports and hospital officials said.

The state TVRI television showed panicked residents fleeing down the rain-soaked streets of Ambon, amid billowing clouds of black smoke, some with children in their arms, others with old people on their backs.

The Christian University, the offices of the state electricity company and the central telecommunications office, were all burning, torched by the warring mobs, TVRI said.

The state Antara agency said the Christian and Muslim victims died from gunshot wounds, some caused by troops trying to separate the two sides. Antara put the casualties at 20 dead and more than 100 injured by 4.30 in the afternoon and said more than 100 were seriously injured.

"The bodies of seven Christians were brought into the hospital in the afternoon. All them died from gunshot wounds," Turki, an official at Ambon's Haulussy state hospital, told AFP earlier in the day before telephone lines went dead. He said 53 injured people, "most of whom were wounded by gunshots and bomb explosions, were also admitted here."

Malik Selang of the Muslim Al-Fatah emergency command post told AFP that "ten Muslims were killed by military snipers" who were roaming through buildings in Talake area near Ambon port. "We have also taken the names of fifty people [Muslims] who were injured in the shootings," Selang added.

Military officers and police in Ambon were not immediately available for comment on the new clashes, and Antara said in its latest report from Ambon that the area commander Brigadier General Max Tamaela's telephone had also gone out.

Since the clashes in the Malukus islands began nearly 18 months ago, some 4,000 people have been killed, thousands of homes and buildings gutted and almost half a million people have been forced to flee to other islands and provinces.

Earlier Friday, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said he had ordered the Malukus to be closed to outsiders from other Indonesian islands in an effort to stem the violence there. Wahid conceded the situation was "out of control" and said it would take time to restore order, referring to the lethal cycle of vengeance in the Maluku islands and those whom he said did not want peace.

Military officers role in Poso riots investigated

Makassar -- Wirabuana Military Police are investigating the alleged involvement of 28 soldiers in the Poso riots which began on May 23, regional military commander Maj. Gen. Slamet Kirbiantoro disclosed on Thursday.

"The 28 military members are being questioned as there are strong indications they were involved in the unrest," Slamet said after attending a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the military command which oversees Sulawesi.

Among the suspects are four junior officers, including a captain who is the operational chief of the Poso military district. The remaining suspects are noncommissioned officers, Slamet said.

He said he was informed of the officers alleged involvement in the riots by the military commander of Poso, a remote tourist destination. "Actually, the Poso military commander detected their activities quite some time ago but he didn't want to take abrupt action as he was alone. If he played the hero, he would have been badly beaten. "He waited for backup from us before making a move," Slamet said.

Meanwhile, Wirabuana Military Police chief Col. Sudirman Panigoro said his office was gathering evidence on the officers, who have been withdrawn to the Southeast Sulawesi capital of Palu. Sudirman said the suspects were not being detained, citing a lack of personnel to replace them if they were made inactive.

Security in Poso is improving after weeks of violence that left 126 people dead. However, in Palu scores of Chinese-Indonesians fearing a spread of the violence have begun to flee the province, Antara reported. The news agency said on Thursday that since early June at least 25 percent of the more than 200 Chinese- Indonesian businesspeople in Palu had evacuated their families to Java, Batam and Singapore.

Police major killed in new clashes in Maluku

Jakarta -- The latest eruption of violence between Muslims and Christians in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon has left up to 20 dead over two days, including a police major.

The state news agency, Antara, quoted Maluku military chief Brig-General Max Tamaela as saying that two army soldiers and two members of the elite police mobile brigade (Brimob) were killed when Muslims attacked police barracks in the Tantui area of Ambon on Wednesday. "I have received reports that four members of the security forces were killed in the clashes," he said.

Brig-Gen Tamaela said Major Edi Susanto, the deputy chief of Brimob was among the officers killed. Antara said Major Susanto was killed by a bullet that went through his hip. Two Brimob policemen were also injured. A worker at the Al Fatah Muslim hospital said 13 people were admitted with injuries, while three bodies were brought in.

Meanwhile, a Muslim cleric claimed that police attacked a boat carrying Muslims near Ambon yesterday. "Conditions heated up today after a mob of Christian police using three speedboats attacked a Muslim boat, killing two passengers and injuring 10 others," said Malik Selang from the Moluccas chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council. "Up until now, six Muslims have been killed." No independent confirmation of the police attack was available.

Ambon, the capital of Maluku province, remained tense early yesterday as security forces fired shots to disperse clashing armed mobs of Christians and Muslims. Sounds of home-made bombs exploding were heard in several areas of Ambon and clashes were spreading to the centre of the city. Schools and offices were closed.

On Wednesday, Mr Sammy Weileruni, a lawyer for the Maranatha church support group, said thousands of Muslims attacked a police housing complex in Tantui, setting fire to two churches there.

He accused elements in the army of supporting the attackers through inaction. Christians have accused sections of the army of siding with Muslims, while Muslims have charged Brimob of bias towards Christians.

In the North Malukus on Wednesday, troops opened fire on armed Christians. The mob wanted to avenge the deaths of two Christians in an attack by Muslims on the island of Halmahera on Monday.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the armed forces and police were trying their best to control the situation and more troops were being deployed. However, he admitted it was hard to stop provocateurs and weapons from being smuggled into the area where more than 2,500 people have been killed in the past 18 months.

The United States State Department called for dialogue among followers of the two faiths and said it was "deeply concerned about the intensifying cycle of violence and retaliation".

Spokesman Phil Reeker said: "We're troubled that the security forces are unwilling or unable to stop large-scale attacks on communities, so we're urging Indonesia to take immediate and effective measures to prevent further bloodshed."

Q&A: Trying to find answers to the Maluku conflict

There seems to be no end in sight for the wave of sectarian violence plagueing the Maluku islands for the past 18 months.

Why is the Indonesian government apparently unable to get the situation under control and just how serious is the latest violence in the Maluku islands? An edited BBC interview with Nugroho Wisnumurti of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and BBC's South-east Asia Correspondent Jonathan Head tried to find some answers.

Q: WHY is the government unable to control the situation in Maluku islands?

A: Actually, the government is indeed trying very hard to control the situation by various means. Not only by dealing with the security threat at the moment where conflict is still going on but institutionally, we are trying to promote reconciliation among the different communities, especially the Christians and Muslims.

Q: But not with very much success, it would seem?

A: It takes time because it's very complex. As you know, there was the group of radical Muslims who succeeded in entering Ambon and the Malukus to stir further problems. It was very difficult because they entered into the islands from different parts of the archipelago. We are now trying to deal with the problem. The Muslim communities rejected the entry of these people because they only cause further bloodshed.

Q: Let's broaden it out then, for a moment. How worried is the government now that the sort of communal strife, which has been seen in the Malukus now for really quite a long time, is going to spread throughout Indonesia, because there have been signs, haven't there, of similar problems occurring elsewhere?

A: We are not very concerned about the spread of this intercommunal conflict, simply because different situations have different conditions for a threat to the security and Ambon is basically not a inter-religious conflict. It is more of a conflict triggered by the economic disparities between the locals and the migrants and this is something very unique to that particular island.

We are trying to deal with it by promoting reconciliation among our community leaders as well as among our religious leaders in the Malukus. We have also reinforced the police force in Ambon and have replaced the military commander there, simply because this former commander was seen to be taking sides against one of the groups on the island. We are trying to comply with the requests of the local Muslim community that these people be expelled from Ambon.

Q: So is there now a growing fear in the region that Indonesia may be under such strain because of these different problems that there is a genuine risk of it just falling to pieces?

A: Well, there's a lot of concern among Indonesia's neighbours, but to be honest, they've watched Indonesia unravelling for the last two years and I don't think they feel there's anything they can do. It's not a matter of the country splitting up and breaking up, despite the focus on separatism. It's much more that law and order is breaking down quite catastrophically.

The Malukus are a very extreme example of it, where local communities have taken the law into their own hands, but we are seeing it in many other parts of Indonesia, not just where there is religious violence.

You only have to look at Jakarta, the capital, where more than a hundred people have been either bludgeoned to death or burnt to death as alleged criminals by local communities and the police have often just stood by and watched it happening and this is really what we are seeing.

I don't believe that the whole military is taking sides in this religious conflict in the Malukus. I suspect the majority of them don't want to, but when Muslim soldiers, who are demoralised and underpaid and have lost faith in their commanders, are faced with a well-armed Muslim group appealing to religious solidarity, they are very unlikely to do anything to stop them and that's exactly what we have seen in the Malukus.

Navy evacuates 768 terrified Christians

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- The navy yesterday evacuated more than 750 terrified Christians from the village of Duma on Halmahera, as large groups of Muslim fighters rampaged across the North Maluku.

Military spokesman Captain Asson Sirait said 768 men, women and children were taken by ship from Duma to Halmahera's main town Tobelo, just 25km away. "They have to be evacuated by warships because going across land is not safe as the area is surrounded by Muslim villages," said Jerda Djawa, a Christian preacher based near Duma.

Military-run evacuations are unusual in the Maluku conflict, but these follow public criticism of both the Government and military for failing to halt the fighting. Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the armed forces and police were trying their best to control the situation and more troops were being deployed. But it was difficult to stop outside provocateurs and weapons from being smuggled into the area.

Meanwhile, armed Muslims attacked a police station and set houses and a church ablaze in fresh clashes in the Maluku capital, Ambon, leaving five people dead, Indonesian police said yesterday.

The deputy head of the province's mobile police brigade, Major Edi Susanto, and a three-year-old child were among those killed. "Major Edi Susanto was shot in the back. There are several other civilians and police personnel who are seriously injured," police spokesman Major Philips Jekriel said from Ambon. Major Jekriel said the reason behind the attack was unclear. But the Maluku chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas Council said it was triggered by the murder of a Muslim man.

The clashes continued yesterday morning, with mobs throwing homemade bombs and grenades, but the situation had been brought under control by midday, though the city remained paralysed, with banks, offices and schools closed.

Foreign and Indonesian relief and religious leaders said the outside world wrongly thought fighting in Halmahera had only flared in recent days. "Since the middle of May, fighting has been more or less continuous somewhere on Halmahera," said one source in daily touch with the island.

"There has been nothing in the newspapers about it, except the Mamuya attack in early June. Yet reports from Manado [in neighbouring Sulawesi] and Ternate [in North Maluku], and from both Muslims and Christians, show fighting has just been going on and on." Recent arrivals of armed Muslim "jihad" fighters, grouped under the Laskar Jihad, have lead to the assumption that these extremists are largely to blame for recent killing sprees. But their arrival is only one factor, added to an already volatile mix. "The Laskar Jihad is only reinforcing what was already there and already happening on Halmahera," a local relief source said.

Several Christian sources expressed fears in January that a deliberate move by armed Muslims was underway from the Muslim sultanates of Ternate and Tidore, just south of Halmahera. "They cleaned up Ternate and Tidore of Christians, then they attacked the mainland. We are very afraid they will just keep coming," a Christian from Halmahera said.

"Those predictions seem to be coming true," a diplomat said."There are many more trouble-makers in the area. There are individuals, both in Jakarta and in the Maluku, who want to see the conflict continue."

Thousands of people displaced by the fighting have moved, sometimes only just ahead of their aggressors, into the next village or town for refuge, only to move on again when fighting got closer. Officials said they could not guess the number of displaced people in North Maluku as populations were constantly shifting and access to information was difficult. "All this could have been foreseen, but everyone kept their heads in the sand. It's been wilful self-delusion," said a Manado-based church source.

Confirmation of details of the conflict in the Malukus is made more difficult by the barring of independent observers from Halmahera while fighting rages. International relief groups are also banned from the area.

Defence minister blames unrest on Suharto loyalists

Jakarta -- Indonesian defence minister Yuwono Sudarsono on Wednesday blamed loyalists of former president Suharto for formenting outbursts of bloody violence wracking several Indonesian provinces.

"I don't think it's the Cendana [Suharto] family but I think it's the doing of people who once were in the New Order government," Sudarsono told journalists, commenting on a bloody sectarian attack in the Maluku islands on Monday that left up to 150 dead.

"Because of their interests, they want to destabilize [the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid]," the minister said, speaking on the sidelines of a parliamentary hearing. The loyalists, he added, were "financially strong."

It was the third time in two months that Sudarsono, who was a minister for education in the Suharto or "New Order" government, had laid the blame for repeated outbreaks of communal and sectarian violence in the country since Suharto's fall on his loyalists. The same charges were aired by Maluku governor Saleh Latuconsina in an interview with AFP in Ambon last month.

Suharto stepped down in May 1994 amid massive student protests, and is now under house arrest pending a trial on charges of corruption during his 32-year rule.

Monday's attack on Halmahera island in the Malukus, the latest outburst of savage Muslim-Christian violence there, left up to 150 dead and scores injured, according to church activists.

The military put the death toll at 114, and called the church reports exaggerated. They also said their 30 men on the spot were outnumbered and helpless when faced by the some 4,000 attackers. Sudarsono agreed, and said security authorities lacked the funds and personnel to deal with the unrest plaguing the country.

"But we will overcome that [problem] little by little," he said, adding that security forces in Maluku, who have been accused of bias in the conflict by both Christians and Muslims, were facing a dilemma.

"It's not easy to take stern action on [warring] people because they [security personnel] are confronted with a very sensitive situation," he said, without elaborating.

Sudarsono also said it was difficult for authorities to prove legally allegations that weapons, fighters and funds had been supplied to the Malukus from other islands.

Security forces as well as port authorities have been criticized for failing to prevent thousands of Muslim activists from Java island, calling themselves "Holy Warriors," from entering the archipelago. Their presence in the Malukus has fuelled suspicions that they are behind the recent attacks on Christians.

Sudarsono, speaking to a parliamentary commission on defence and security also rebutted charges aired by some newspapers that elements of the military were deliberately stirring-up the violence.

"In the case of Maluku, it is possible that one or two personnel, due to emotional conditions in the field, are trapped in the conflict and directly or indirectly siding with one of the conflicting forces," he said.

"[But] I would like to stress that there is no official policy to create a murkier situation [there] as suggested by some media reports, which talk as if there are several members of the armed forces or police who are deliberately involved or carring out orders from Jakarta."

More than 150 dead in Halmahera: report

Jakarta -- More than 150 people were killed and many more injured in Monday's attack by Muslims on Christians on the island of Halmahera in Indonesia's Maluku islands, a report said Wednesday, as the military expressed helplessness in the face of constant anarchy.

A church activist was quoted by the state Antara news agency as saying that 152 people were killed and 160 others wounded when around 4,000 Muslim fighters attacked the mainly Christian village of Duma in Galela district on Monday.

Yerda Jawa, the activist at a church synod in neighboring Tobelo district, also said a number of women and children were taken hostage by the Muslim attackers.

But the military in neighboring Ternate, the capital of North Maluku, called the church report one-sided and insisted the death toll from the violence was 114, as first reported on Tuesday.

Sergeant Eka Satria of the North Maluku Task Force based in Ternate confirmed reports from security forces posted in Galela which stated 114 people were killed in the clashes. "The synod's report is one-sided. Our official death toll remains at 114," Satria told AFP.

He denied suggestions that security forces had not done enough to quell the violence but conceded his troops were outnumbered by the attackers. "We have tried every possible means to end the unrest. But if the people don't want peace, there's nothing we can do."

"We had only 30 personnel in Duma [during the attack] while the attackers numbered in the thousands," Satria added. "It's impossible to deploy a battallion of troops in a village while at the same time we are short of personnel to be deployed in other violence-prone areas," he said.

An Indonesian battalion normally consists of 600 personnel. But Satria said 100 personnel had been sent to Duma as soon as his office received report of the attack.

Muhammad Nonci Ismail, an official at a Muslim emergency post told the Republika daily the Muslim side had taken Christians hostage. "Now they are being detained in Soasio," he was quoted as saying.

He claimed Monday's deadly raid was in retaliation for several attacks by Christians on Muslim villages. "Even though they [Christians] have surrendered before, they have continued to create disturbances in Muslim villages," he charged.

The initial reports of the attack which reached Jakarta Tuesday had said more than 200 houses and a church were burned by the attackers in the bloody raid.

The wave of sectarian violence which has plagued the Maluku islands for almost a year and a half started in the Malukus' capital of Ambon in January 1999 and quickly spread to surrounding areas.

Since the clashes began, more than 4,000 people have been killed, thousands of homes and buildings gutted, and almost half a million people have been forced to flee to other islands and provinces. On Tuesday the government said the Maluku violence had driven 107,910 families or 486,797 people out of their homes into refugee centres. Another 11,065 Maluku refugees have already been resettled by the government.

Who are the Lashkar Jihad?

The recent escalation of fighting in Indonesia's Moluccan Islands has been blamed on the arrival of more than 2,000 fighters from the Lashkar Jihad.

The Lashkar Jihad is a paramilitary organisation which has threatened to wage a holy war against the region's Christians. The governor of the Moluccas has suggested allies of former president Suharto may be behind their infiltration into the islands.

The militants began pouring into the Moluccas in early May after receiving military training at a camp 2,500km away in Java, where the Lashkar Jihad are based.

Their leader Jaffar Umar Thalib is believed to have close ties to the former regime of ex-dictator Suharto. He has repeatedly warned his group will send 10,000 members to the islands to wage a jihad or holy war.

The security forces have failed to contain the fighting Regional governor Saleh Latuconsina said it appeared the Lashkar Jihad were "connected to some political elite" because no one was stopping them travelling to the region. And he told the French news agency AFP he believed the fighters could have been sent by people linked to Suharto loyalists.

Christian leaders have also repeatedly accused the security forces of turning a blind eye. Some people believe the military may even be arming them as well.

Violence

Religious fighting has claimed some 3,000 lives in both the Muslim and Christian communities since first erupting in January 1999.

But there had been a lull in the violence before the infiltration of the Lashkar Jihad. Violence erupted on the islands 18 months ago The violence blew up again in the capital Ambon shortly after their arrival, leaving more than 30 dead.

Since then the jihad have been linked to several raids on Christian communities in the north of Halmahera island, in which at least 200 people have been killed and many more injured.

In each attack, the assailants swooped down from the sea and the mountains in pre-dawn raids. Christian leaders said the attackers came in speed boats and were armed with military issue firearms.

Sociologist Tamrin Amal Tomagola said he understood the recent attacks had been carried out by jihad warriors from Java and South Sulawesi. I have a strong suspicion that the rioters in Halmahera are linked to a group of political elite.

He also speculated that the unrest might be linked to the investigation of former president Suharto for alleged corruption and of army generals implicated in last year's violence in East Timor.

'Peaceful jihad'

Before their arrival in the Moluccas, the Lashkar Jihad had accused President Abdurrahman Wahid of favouring the islands' Christians.

Soldiers in Ambon were told to shoot snipers during May's violence However, there appears to be some confusion over what the volunteers intend by their holy war.

Their leader, Mr Jaffar, has said their mission is to forge a spiritual form of jihad through preaching, not fighting. But he has also warned more ominously that the volunteers are prepared for "attacks by enemies".

Training

The warriors were trained at a military style camp at Munjul village near Bogor on Java. Lashkar Jihad set up the base on a seven-hectare plot of land belonging to an organisation called the Al Irsad Foundation. The militants trained at Bogor. But the minister of religious affairs ordered them to disband in mid- April because of their questionable intentions in the Moluccas.

The militants handed in nearly 500 weapons to police before heading for the organisation's headquarters near Yogyakarta, in central Java.

But Mr Jaffa insisted days later that they would still go ahead with plans to deploy 10,000 volunteers in the Moluccas. He also said that he would be visiting countries "such as Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Jordan" to discuss the jihad.

Deceived

Mr Jaffa has said married volunteers will spend four months in the Moluccas, while those who are single will probably stay there for good.

However, there were reports last month that many volunteers were now seeking refuge and asking to be deported from Ambon. According to a local official, they felt deceived by their leaders because they had been told they would be conducting humanitarian activities. "It turns out that they were ordered to join the battle and many have sought help to go home," the official added.

Communal violence leaves over 765,000 refugees

Jakarta -- Communal violence in several parts of Indonesia has left over three quarters of a million internal refugees across the country, an official of the Population and People's Movement Administration Agency said Tuesday.

Joko Sidik Pramono, the agency's deputy director for migration, told a parliamentary commission that communal violence in the regions had forced 170,142 families, or 760,298 people to seek refuge away from their original homes.

The figures were based on reports from various government offices up to June 15 and covered those who are still in refugee camps or temporary shelter. Another 6,579 families or 29,849 people have already been resettled by the government.

Pramono said that refugees in Aceh, where government forces and separatist rebels have fought since 1976, accounted for 13,115 families or 54,816 people.

Refugees from the ethnic violence, pitting the local Malay and Dayak communities against the migrant community from Madura island, in Sambas district, West Kalimantan last year, stood at 13,287 families or 64,035 people.

More than 15 months of Muslim-Christian violence in the Maluku islands have left 107,910 families or 486,797 people in refugee centres. Another 11,065 refugees have already been resettled by the government.

The violence that followed a UN-held ballot of self determination in East Timor has left 34,692 families or 154,650 people in camps in West Timor and in several other islands.

Another 1,493 familes or 6,840 people have already been resettled outside of East Timor, it said, without mentioning the some 100,000 refugees repatriated to East Timor by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The official breakdown of the total left some 5,000 refugees unaccounted for.

Violence hits Indonesia's East Java, Medan

Surabaya -- Indonesian police have shot dead two farmers and wounded scores more in two days of clashes over land compensation claims in East Java province, police and witnesses said on Monday.

Police said they opened fire on 400 machete-wielding farmers near the town of Blitar on Monday. The farmers were protesting close to a clove plantation owned by local firm PT Perkebunan Branggah. They claimed the plantation company forced them to give up the land 20 years ago.

"One person was killed and about 16 others were injured," Blitar police chief Lieutenant-Colonel Anang Iskandar told Reuters, insisting that police only used rubber bullets.

It was the second clash in 24 hours. On Sunday one farmer was shot dead and seven wounded when some 400 protesters went on a rampage, burning several buildings on the plantation compound. It was unclear if police made any arrests.

Land clashes and other violence have become common across Indonesia since the fall of former autocratic president Suharto in 1998 amid widespread economic and social chaos.

Many disgruntled villagers have staged protests against plantation companies and mining operators demanding greater compensation for land. They often complain they were not involved in the signing of past contracts. Blitar was the birthplace of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno.

In a separate attack, a soldier threw two grenades at a hotel in the north Sumatran city of Medan on Monday morning, damaging 11 rooms, police said.

No one was hurt in the attack, which police said was triggered after the soldier believed his wife was in the hotel with another man. The soldier had been detained. Medan has been the scene of numerous attacks in recent months, including bomb and grenade blasts.
 

Aceh/West Papua

Mass grave found in Aceh

D. Sangga Buana/ Swastika, Jakarta -- Local police officers in Aceh believe they have discovered a mass grave site located in Simpang Kramat, Kutamakmur sub district, North Aceh. Two skeletons were unearthed in one of spots yesterday and today the police are searching for another 30 burial sites nearby.

As reported in the Serambi Indonesia daily, the police officers led by Police Subprecinct Chief Let. Col. Pol. Syafei Aksal and North Aceh Sector Chief of the Cinta Muenasah Operation Let. Col. Pol. Fajar located the mass grave after "sweeping" through the area for three-hours.

Two complete human skeletons were unearthed about one metre from the surface. The bodies were placed on top of each other and it is claimed they have been buried for at least six months. Identifying the bodies will be very difficult. A Red Cross team on the spot then took the bodies to the Lhokseumawe General Hospital.

Based on information from local people, there are at least 30 sites where bodies are buried in the Simpang Kramat area. The Police have postponed exhuming the bodies until preliminary investigations are complete.

"First we will find the sites before digging them all up," Let. Col. Pol. Syafei Aksal said. According to Syafei, all the victims were kidnapped by an armed civilian group which is still threatening the Kutamakmur people. "Amongst the victims were a worker of PT Satya Agung Plantation and a contractor who was murdered after his car was stolen," added Syafei Aksal.

'Illegal' polling on Irian's fate underway

Jayapura -- Biak Military chief Lt. Col. Bayu Purwiyono confirmed on Thursday reports that residents of at least 10 villages in the regency had been asked to respond to a poll checking their attitude toward a campaign to set up an independent state in the province.

The officer said people in the districts of West Biak, West Numfor and East Numfor received the forms from certain people, who claimed to be carrying out a government-sanctioned survey. Bayu denied the military's involvement in the polling. "I never ordered the distribution of any such questionnaires. And I do not know from where they came," he added.

Oschar Kabarek, head of West Biak district, alleged that some military personnel were involved in distributing the forms to the Papuans. The polling has been conducted since the day after the Papuan Congress agreed on June 4 to the separation of Irian Jaya from Indonesia.

According to Oschar, the respondents are asked to reply whether they choose a special autonomy for the province or to become an independent state. "I have informed the West Biak Military chief about the polling, and he promised to withdraw the forms quickly from the villages," Oschar told The Jakarta Post by phone.

Leo Wamafma, a Protestant church leader, and Izhak B. Wamafma, chief of Wansra village in West Numfor, claimed to see on June 11 a soldier visit the village and ask the people to fill out the forms.

During the door-to-door survey, the soldier told the villagers to participate in the state polling, said Leo. "Some of the villagers accepted the forms while many just returned the empty forms," said Izhak.

Ottis Alber Msen, a member of the Biak legislative council, deplored the polling because it could provoke new unrest in the territory. "The purpose of the polling is just to create chaos," said Ottis.

Activists demand referendum in Aceh

Iwan Triono/FW & LM, Jakarta -- 350 activists from the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) demonstrated at the House of Representatives building, Central Jakarta, Wednesday demanding that a referendum be held immediately in the troubled province of Aceh.

Tensions rose in a brief meeting with MPs from Aceh as the activists charged that they had utterly failed to protect and fight for the interests of Acehnese people. They demanded that the Aceh Provincial Legislative (DPRD) and Aceh Local Administration (Pemda) be dismissed and claimed that the MPs in the national parliament could no longer speak or act on behalf of the Acehnese.

Security guards stepped in when the activists became aggressive. One MP was chased by several SIRA activists but a security guard managed to secure the unlucky MP. A SIRA activist claimed that they chased several MPs, apparently representatives from strife- torn Aceh, because they had never fought for the Acehnese. Several activists also started kicking a glass door at the Nusantara III Building. Before breaking the door, security guards stepped in to guard it.

Karimun, an Aceh representative from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), tried to hold a dialogue with SIRA activitists but they refused him unless he took off his coat. "If you want the dialogue, take off your coat," an activist shouted at him.

At the time of publication, SIRA was still demonstrating and delivering orations at the Nusantara III Parliament building, Central Jakarta. They also unfolded a banner reading "Referendum For Aceh."

97% of Acehnese support referendum: Survey

A Andri/Swastika & LM, Jakarta -- The chairman of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), Muhammad Nazar, stated that, based on the results of some 30,000 surveys distributed throughout the province, 97% of Acehnese support a referendum.

"We found that 97 percent of the people of Aceh want a referendum. We distributed some 30,000 questionaires throughout Aceh province wand one of the questions was `Do you agree with referendum in Aceh?'. The answer for that question was 'yes', 97 percent of the respondents agreed upon the referendum," explained Nazar contacted today, Thursday 22/6/2000.

Commenting on their demonstration which was held in Jakarta yesterday, Wednesday 21/6/2000, involving hundreds of students which demanded Speaker of the House Amien Rais support the referendum proposal in Aceh, Nazar said that the demonstration had been planned.

However, he could not confirm whether the Muslim scholar and Peoples' Mandate Party Chairman supported their aims. "I thought Pak Amien really stated his support for a referendum in Aceh [in the past]. But we think it's impossible for him to keep his promise. We have seen and given them chances but the result is just the same. They spoke out for a referendum only to gain sympathy from Aceh people," said Nazar.

Nazar also stated that the group is also seeking the disbursal of the Aceh Provincial Legislative Council because the majority of Acehnese demand it. "There's no other way, we ask for the dismissal of the Aceh Provincial Legislative Council," reiterated Nazar.

Rallies against Aceh parliament

Jakarta -- Huge convoys of cars and motorcycles criss-crossed the capital of Indonesia's restive Aceh province yesterday in a mass protest demanding the dissolution of district and provincial parliaments, reports said.

The noisy convoys started from the front of the provincial parliament building in Bandah Aceh, which has been occupied by hundreds of protesters since Saturday to press for the disbanding of the legislature, said the Antara news agency.

The convoys, packed with local residents, students and pro- democracy activists, drove through Banda Aceh's main streets with the participants displaying posters and banners and shouting their demands.

No incidents of violence were reported, and uniformed Indonesian security forces appeared to be absent from the streets used by the convoys. Calls for the dissolution of the legislature in Aceh have been mounting, with protesters alleging that legislators served only the central government's interests and failed to contribute to solving conflict in the violence-plagued province. The demonstrators have also urged native Acehnese serving in the national parliament to resign.

Aceh: Governor replaced after students protest

Banda Aceh -- A caretaker governor of the strife-torn Aceh province was installed Wednesday amid student protests against the Indonesian government. The outgoing governor, Mr Syamsuddin Mahmud, was replaced by Mr Ramli Ridwan, a senior official at the Home Affairs Ministry.

Home Affairs Minister Suryadi Sudirdja, who presided over the ceremony in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, said Mr Ridwan would have to prepare for the election of a governor in six months at the latest.

Mr Mahmud was dismissed by President Abdurrahman Wahid early this month following a motion of no-confidence by the regional legislature. His replacement came amid unrest despite a three- month ceasefire between troops and rebels fighting for independence in the region.

A statement issued by the students said: "Acehnese people no longer need a provincial legislature ... What they need is a referendum." In the capital, several thousand Acehnese people staged a protest with a similar demand at the parliament building.

West Papua activists face life in jail

Jakarta -- Five civic leaders, who organised a landmark congress calling on Jakarta to recognise the independence of the Indonesian province of West Papua, face life imprisonment for suspected treason.

The five were questioned by police in the West Papuan capital of Jayapura on Monday over their involvement in the week-long Papuan National Congress. Under Indonesian law, fomenting separatism is a crime that carries a maximum punishment of a life sentence.

The congress called on Jakarta to recognise the sovereignty of the province, formerly known as Irian Jaya. Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said the meeting was illegitimate as it had failed to represent the entire spectrum of society in West Papua.

The five are congress secretary Herman Awom, head of the organising committee Agustinus Alua, chief of the congress's steering committee Thaha Al-Hamid, head of the Papuan Independent Committee Don Al Flassy and former political prisoner Joh Mambor.

The activists' lawyer, Mr Demianus Wakman, said: "My clients came to police headquarters and were questioned separately on the Papuan Congress of Feb 23 to 26 and the Papuan National Congress of May 29 to June 4."

Aceh Parliament `occupied'

Banda Aceh -- Hundreds of protesters yesterday occupied Parliament in Indonesia's rebellious Aceh province, demanding that the local legislature be dissolved.

Some 500 protesters charged that provincial and district legislators had only served the central government's interests and had failed to contribute to solving conflict in the plagued province.

"The legislators are only serving their own interests while the Acehnese people are in a constant misery," they said in a statement. The statement urged the provincial Parliament to disband or face popular anger and demanded the resignation of Acehnese legislators in the national Parliament.

Mr Teuku Bachrum Manyak, an MP, reminded protesters that the legislators were elected by the Acehnese people. "It must be realised that legislators in this House of Representatives were chosen by the people through the elections," he said.

The protesters -- local residents, students and pro-democracy activists -- said they would stay in the Parliament building until today and would move to the Blang Bintang airport here tomorrow.

On Friday, some 100 Aceh students protested against the sacking of Aceh Governor Syamsuddin Mahmud, claiming it was done by force and disputing the choice of his successor.

They charged that Mr Mahmud's replacement, Mr Ramli Ridwan, was a crony of former Aceh Governor Ibrahim Hasan, who has been accused of condoning human rights abuses by the Indonesian military in Aceh during his term in the late 80s and early 90s.

They also demanded that the legislature be dissolved, arguing that "there has been no significant contribution from the local Parliament in solving the conflict in Aceh".

In April, 29 legislators in Aceh's Parliament upheld a no- confidence motion against Mr Mahmud, saying he lacked a clear vision on how to solve the problems in Aceh and that he had failed to protect the Acehnese people caught in the conflict.

Congress shows broad support for independence

James Balowski -- Defying warnings from Jakarta, the week-long Papuan People's Congress ended on June 4 with a declaration that West Papua was no longer part of the Republic of Indonesia. The congress was extended for a day because of debates over the wording of the declaration; there were fears an outright declaration of independence would antagonise Jakarta.

The congress, held in the West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) provincial capital of Jayapura, was attended by some 2700 participants from 14 districts. It was convened by the West Papuan Council, which includes Free Papua Movement (OPM) members and members of the Forum for Reconciliation drawn from churches, universities, traditional leaders and other organisations. More than 20,000 people observed the proceedings.

The declaration's final wording stated that West Papua's incorporation into Indonesia in 1969 was invalid and that the province had attained independence from the Netherlands on December 1, 1961. The 501 elected representatives voted unanimously for the declaration.

While shying away from using the term "transitional government", the congress announced the formation of an independent government and a 31-member executive to represent West Papua. The executive plans to establish an electoral commission and boundaries, appoint diplomats, draft a constitution and establish a foreign affairs department. It named a tribal chief, Theys Eluay, as chairperson of the Papuan People's Presidium and Tom Beanal as deputy chairperson.

John Otto Ondawame, a member of the West Papuan Council's presidium and the OPM's international representative, told Green Left Weekly that the congress debated strategies for achieving independence, including the importance of armed and political struggle, alliances with the Indonesian democratic movement and other liberation movements in the Indonesian archipelago.

West Papua achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1961. By 1963, the Indonesian military under President Sukarno had annexed the province. In 1969, a United Nations-supervised "Act of Free Choice" incorporated West Papua into Indonesia.

Papuan People's Congress secretary-general Thaha Alhamid told the June 5 Jakarta Post that the 1969 plebiscite was attended by just 1025 tribal leaders who voted for integration because of intimidation, pressure and killings. "We call on the United Nations to revoke resolution No. 2504,19/12,1969", he said.

The congress also called for crimes against humanity in the province to be investigated and for those involved brought to justice.

Jakarta reacts

Jakarta immediately rejected the congress declaration, described the meeting as invalid and its declaration illegal. According to the June 6 South China Morning Post, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid claimed that "anti-independence voices had been excluded from the meeting", that "organisers had also broken their word by allowing Westerners to take part" and that "the government does not recognise this congress".

Indonesian justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra warned that the congress was "tending towards a breach of the law, because it involves national sovereignty".

Wahid is under considerable political pressure because his government provided more than A$172,000 to fund the congress. He had planned to open the congress but pulled out at the last minute.

The June 6 Sydney Morning Herald said that Wahid claimed that the majority of West Papuans "obviously want to stay with Indonesia". West Papuan leaders rejected the claim. "Only 0.01% of Papuans want to remain in Indonesia, while 99.9% want independence", Herman Awom, a member of the congress presidium, said.

Clemens Runaweri, who was elected West Papua's foreign minister, said that, "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". Beanal added that was nobody at the congress who opposed independence and nobody was excluded.

`Like East Timor'

Beanal told the June 6 South China Morning Post that "Jakarta is trying to form pro-integration and pro-independence camps like in East Timor ... 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."

Indonesian troop numbers in the province have been bolstered in the past few months from 8000 to more than 12,000. Jakarta is believed to have been funding an East Timor-style pro-integration militia for some time. The pro-Indonesia militia is a clandestine organisation with links to Indonesian authorities through the provincial government. Researchers have estimated the militia's strength at between 5000 and 10,000.

Wahid's initial reaction was to warn of a "military crackdown". According to the June 6 Sydney Morning Herald, Wahid said that, if necessary, Indonesian police and military would act to secure the vast, resource-rich province.

Wahid later softened his stance when quoted by Agence France- Presse on June 8 warning the military against violence. "We must not act as we did in the past.

Our soldiers were sent to Aceh and they attacked the people ... Soldiers must be polite. I do not believe the people are the enemy", he said.

On June 7, cabinet secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak warned that any action to win independence would amount to "treason" and would invite "repressive measures" by security forces.

Simanjuntak's threats became reality on June 13 when, according the June 14 Indonesian Observer, police charged Eluay and AlHamid with treason. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Jakarta also accused Australian non government organisations of undermining the territorial integrity of Indonesia. Wahid said that, while he hoped to visit Australia soon, many people in Indonesia object because there were "certain Australians who have aided the declaration of independence by the Papuan people". President Wahid has agreed to meet representatives of the West Papuan people on June 26.

West Papua's huge mineral resources include the world's second largest copper mine, the Freeport mine. It also contains huge gold and silver deposits.

Freeport, part-owned by Anglo-Australian multinational Rio Tinto, is estimated to contribute up to 20% Indonesia's tax revenue and makes profits in excess of US$1 million a day. Only 4% of its employees are West Papuan. The Freeport mine dumps millions of tonnes of toxic tailings into the nearby Otomona-Ajkwa river system each year. The Indonesian military has committed gross human rights violations in its efforts to defend Freeport from the local people.

West backs Jakarta

The United States quickly rejected the Papuan People's Congress declaration. On June 5, the US embassy in Jakarta, which sent an observer to the congress in line with "standard diplomatic practice", declared that Washington did not support "independence for Papua or any other part of Indonesia". US President Bill Clinton repeated this during a meeting with Wahid in Washington on June 14.

On June 8, the European Union also stated support for Indonesia's territorial integrity: "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".

Australian Prime Minister John Howard immediately threw Australia's support behind Jakarta when he met with Wahid in Tokyo on June 9. "Any suggestions anywhere that Australia supports the Papuan independence movements is wrong ... I don't think Papua is a problem between our two countries. It isn't and it won't be", Howard said.

Japan has opposed the breakaway of West Papua. The congress did, however, receive support from several leading figures from neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

The fact that all three major economic blocs have moved so quickly to support Jakarta is hardly surprising. The US and Britain played a significant role in ensuring that the UN decision to accept the results of 1969 plebiscite. Then as now, foreign capital knows that continued exploitation of the province's massive natural resources could be jeopardised by an independent West Papua.

In an attempt to appease the West Papuans, Indonesian minister of human rights affairs Hasballah M. Saad on June 10 announced the establishment of a special team to probe humanitarian crimes in West Papua. He said the team would cooperate with local non- government organisations and human rights organisations but admitted that it could be a "tough task" to prove past crimes. He also stressed that the investigation could not be concluded overnight.

Alhamid expressed West Papuans' distrust by noting that Jakarta had launched several investigations before without any concrete results. "Several times members of Komnas Ham [National Commission on Human Rights] visited Irian Jaya and gave a dozen recommendations. But the reports were never followed up. So it is simply time-wasting, money wasting", he said.

The OPM is continuing its guerilla struggle. Ondawame told Green Left Weekly, "In the short term we need a cease-fire and talks, but if this fails [we will] put all our efforts into regionalising and internationalising the issue". He called for solidarity from Australians: "We need to expose the militia activities in the mass media, put pressure on the Howard government to stop military aid to Indonesia, and mobilise mass protests when President Wahid visits Australia in July."

Broad support for independence

The OPM has been waging a low-scale guerrilla war since West Papua's annexation by Indonesia. Like Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh, separatist demands have been fueled by a combination of human rights abuses by the Indonesian military, economic inequity between Indonesian migrants and the indigenous people, and exploitation of the province's massive natural resources.

Before Indonesia won its independence in 1949, the Dutch authorities had promised the West Papua independence. From the 1980s, pro-independence "flag-raising" ceremonies have become common. The Indonesian military has responded violently to pro- independence actions, with scores being killed or wounded over the last few years.

Considering the wide spectrum of West Papuan society represented at the Papuan People's Congress and the consensus reached on the congress declaration, the gathering is solid evidence that there is genuine, broad and popular support for West Papua to break free from Indonesia.
 

Human rights/law

Human rights commission's office attacked

Jakarta -- About 200 Islamic protesters attacked and damaged a restaurant in a well-to-do Jakarta neighbourhood after throwing rocks at offices occupied by Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission on Friday.

Members of the group, calling itself the Islamic Defenders' Front, accused the state-appointed organisation of bias and said it should be dismantled. Several windows were smashed. But there were no reports of injuries.

The group, many of its members wearing white Islamic uniforms, later paraded through Kemang, a suburb popular with expatriates and middle class Indonesians. They attacked the Jimbani restaurant and smashed its windows with wooden poles.

Jimbani's manager Rabin Iman Sutejo said: "I couldn't do anything as it was carried out by the masses." The group also broke signs advertising beer along the suburb's main street.

They were angered by a report released last week by the human rights commission that found no evidence to support claims that soldiers deliberately massacred dozens of Muslim protesters in Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port district in 1984.

The commission accused the military of some human rights abuses, but said troops shot 24 people to death only after mobs had attacked them. Nine other people were killed by crowds.

The Islamic Defenders' Front also complained that the commission was not properly investigating current human rights violations against Muslims in the restive province of Aceh and in the Maluku islands, where Muslims and Christians have been fighting a bloody sectarian conflict for 18 months. They demanded that the commission be abolished.

Commission official Bambang Suharto condemned Friday's protest and urged groups with grievances to approach the commission peacefully. He denied the claims of bias.

The bloody Tanjung Priok shootings claimed the lives of 33 civilians with as many as 24 people killed by security officers. Another nine died at the hands of angry masses. However, it is believed that the number of people killed by security officers is much greater than the official count.

Students attack rights body headquarters

Jakarta -- A group of some 50 students calling themselves the Inter-Campus Muslims Students Association (HAMAS) yesterday attacked the office of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), damaging Komnas HAM's board in front of the office.

The students broke through the Komnas HAM gate on Jalan Latuharhary in South Jakarta which was only manned by civilian guards. Several students even jumped over the fence and sprayed the Komnas HAM billboard with red paint.

Noted human rights activist Munir slammed the student's action against Komnas HAM office, saying that such vandalism and violence were not necessary in expressing their dissatisfaction.

After covering the billboard with red paint, the students tore it down and damaged it. The students were protesting against the results of the Komnas HAM investigation into the shootings on September 12, 1984 by security officers who were believed to have killed around 100 people.

The rights body announced last week that the casualties during the incident totaled 33. Quoting the results of its inquiry team, Komnas HAM Chairman Djoko Soegianto stressed that the Tanjung Priok incident was not a massacre.

Two trucks full of police personnel, who came to the location after the incident, could only watch the student's barbaric behaviour. But, after the students began throwing stones at the Komnas HAM building, the police moved in to protect the building from further damage.

But, the student's vandalism continued as they painted the wall of the Komnas HAM building. They called for disbandment of the Komnas HAM because it has disappointed the Muslims over its reports on the Tanjung Priok incident. They called for the establishment of a new independent inquiry team to investigate the Tanjung Priok case.

Previously a smaller group of Muslims students also visited the Komnas HAM headquarters with similar demands and rejected the Komnas HAM reports on the Tanjung Priok case.

Munir, who is founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), supported the student's demands for the reinvestigation of the Priok incident, but slammed their vandalism.

He also disagreed with their demand for disbanding the Komnas HAM, saying, "What they should call for is the replacement of the incapable members of the Komnas HAM." According to Munir, there are only three members of Komnas HAM who deserved to be kept on the investigative team; Asmara Nababan, Saparinah Sadli and HS Dillon.

"They are not affiliated to any political parties. They have a good track record. They want to work hard, not like the other members," said Munir. He said that the weaknesses of the National Commission is that its members are linked to political interest groups.

Meanwhile, the Faction of the Crescent and Star Party (PBB) at the House of Representatives (DPR) yesterday rejected the result of the Komnas HAM investigation on Tanjung Priok. The faction Chairman Achmad Sumargono said the Komnas HAM's reports have disappointed Muslims because it has ignored objectivity.

Background to the Tanjung Priok Massacre

James Balowski -- On 12 September 1984, dozens of people were killed and injured when troops fired on Muslim demonstrators in the port district of Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

This was the climax of a series of incidents which began on September 7, when a preacher held a sermon at a local mosque condemning government policy. Leaflets were also distributed and anti-government slogans painted on walls.

When a local security officer entered the mosque and ordered that the slogans be painted over, he was ignored. He then soaked paper in drain water and used this to black out the signs. Feelings were further incensed because the officer entered the mosque in muddy boots (shoes must normally be removed before entering a mosque). As the angry crowed swelled, the officer made a hasty retreat. Police returned later and arrested four people.

Five days later, a well-respected Muslim leader, Amir Biki, set up a street podium repeating the criticisms before a large crowd and demanding the release of the four detainees. The authorities ignored requests for their release and by evening, a huge crowd had gathered and marched to the police station where their colleges were being held.

Eyewitness reports say the demonstrators were stopped before they reached the police office by a company of air artillery troops which had barracks in the area and three truckloads of soldiers with automatic weapons. Without warning, troops began firing directly into the crowd. Some of the injured who rose to their feet were killed by bayonets and bystanders who tried to help the injured were also shot.

Soon after the massacre, army trucks arrived to remove the bodies, the injured being taken to the Jakarta Army Hospital -- other hospitals were instructed not to accept casualties. Fire engines arrived soon afterwards to wash away the blood. Since all of the killed and wounded were taken away by the military, the exact number of victims is still unclear. The most comprehensive report, compiled by the Al Araf Mosque put the number at 63, with more than 100 seriously wounded.

The following day, then Armed Forces Chief, General Benny Murdani, summoned editors of all of the Jakarta newspapers to give his version of events. Admitting that troops had fired "in the direction of the mob", he claimed that only nine people had died and 53 has been injured. Most reports in the Indonesian press supported Murdani's version of events.

The following October, a spate of bombings and fires rocked Jakarta which many believed was motivated by widespread anger at Murdani's statements. The targets of the bombings and fires were businesses owned by either long-term business partners of Suharto such as Liem Sioe Liong or members of his family.

Nine people were later tried and given heavy sentences for the bombings. In April 1985, sentences of one to three years were passed against 28 people accused of participating in the Tanjung Priok demonstrations who were charged with "waging resistance with violence" against the armed forces. Many of the accused were seriously wounded -- some crippled for life -- and calls for a public enquiry were ignored.

[This material was drawn from an article by the author titled "The Crimes of Suharto" which originally appeared in the ASIET pamphlet "No Australian military ties with Indonesia", first printed in July 1998. The full text of the pamphlet is available on the ASIET Web site at: www.asiet.org.au/military/index.htm.]

Reinvestigate Tanjung Priok bloodshed: Kontras

Jakarta -- The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has demanded the national rights body reinvestigate the 1984 Tanjung Priok bloodshed.

Amid protests that the rights body be dissolved, Kontras also demanded on Friday that the reinvestigation be conducted by a different set of people representing the National Commission on Human Rights.

Munir, the coordinator of the Kontras' board, told a news conference that the report from the investigation team should be retracted, echoing earlier demands from protesters and other activists. The rights body has been "busy seeking justifications and excuses for forgiveness for the rights abusers," he said.

Kontras stated earlier that the National Commission had committed a "political and legal scandal" following the investigation team's meeting with officers at the military headquarters in Cilangkap. The meeting reportedly stressed concessions which Kontras charged would affect the investigators' neutrality. The investigation team's recommendations, Munir said on Friday, "contrast with the obligation [of the team] to push for legal accountability".

On June 16, National Commission chairman Djoko Soegianto reported to the legislature that the team which was formed to investigate the 1984 shootings found no evidence of intentional mass killing. The rights body also said it had no legal power to conduct a further investigation, and said the report would soon be submitted to the central government, the military chief and the House of Representatives.

However, Munir said, "Legally, it is the National Commission on Human Rights which should conduct a [further] investigation." A new law on the national rights body gives it more power than it previously had.

Munir added that the investigation into the 1984 incident made "fatal" and "substantial" mistakes because the National Commission failed to base inquiries on conventions regarding crimes by the state. The use of conventions on ordinary rights abuses contrasted the commission's claim that it was investigating "severe" human rights abuses, he added.

Munir said the commission should have included conventions on war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide. The international conventions used by the commission included the code of conduct for law enforcement officials and the declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power.

Munir cited statements in the investigation report which he said were irrelevant. "[The report] said severe human rights abuse done by the masses included provocation," Munir said. "There is not one international convention which states provocation is a human rights abuse." He also cited a statement in the report on one of the causes of rights violations which refers to the negligence of security officers, which it said led to excessive reaction.

"This would simply mean that there was no human rights abuse, because negligence only leads to inaction, it cannot induce overreacting," Munir said.

The report said 33 lives were lost, including nine killed by the masses, and 36 others were tortured by soldiers in the September 12, 1984 incident. The results showed that the national rights body, Munir said, "does not know what should be investigated from a crime by the state through to its elements".

Observers urge war against KKN in judiciary

Jakarta -- Legal observers called on authorities in the country's legal circle on Wednesday to apply thorough and strong measures to combat chronic and acute judiciary mafia practices.

Speaking at a law discussion, they said the measures must not only target changing the judiciary system, but also battle the areas of the law allegedly involved in corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) practices while exercising the supremacy of the law.

"There were indeed strong efforts taken during the reform era to improve the judiciary system. But stiff measures against officials taking advantage of the laws must also be conducted to assure a clean law environment in the country," head of the National Ombudsman Commission Antonius Sujata said while addressing the discussion on combating judiciary mafia through a clean, independent and responsible judiciary system, organized by the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel in Central Jakarta.

Other speakers were chairman of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin) Sudjono, secretary-general of the Indonesian Judges Union (Ikahi) Djoko Sarwoko, spokesman of the Attorney General's Office Yushar Yahya and head of LBH Jakarta's operational division Daniel Panjaitan.

The country has seen efforts either to amend or create new laws within the judiciary system since the initial stages of the reform era in the middle of 1998.

Muladi, then law minister during former president B.J. Habibie's era, had established 60 laws during his term of office, including on the judiciary system. The country has also seen the establishment of independent institutions overseeing the judiciary system, such as the ombudsman commission and the National Law Commission (KHN).

However, Sujata, a former deputy attorney general, is concerned over "dirty" practices by law officials in the country's judiciary system, including the courts' administrative staff, the police, lawyers, prosecutors and judges. "Since the establishment of the ombudsman commission early this year, we have received about 750 cases and complaints lodged by the people, some 35 percent of which were about KKN practices in our judiciary system," he told the participants, which included legal practitioners, members of the media and activists of non- governmental organizations (NGOs).

Yushar Yahya conceded that weak supervision within the state institutions had stimulated rampant KKN practices in the judiciary system. "Since the launch of the adhere to supervision campaign in 1994, most state institutions have failed to comply with the criteria of clean governance as the institutions' top officials never put them into effect," he said.

He, however, was optimistic that the country could eradicate KKN practices in the country's judiciary system, since the drive to combat such practices originated from the government's top officials. "The war against law officials committing dirty practices has just begun. Recently, the attorney general reported to the police six prosecutors allegedly involved in KKN practices," he said, adding that the Attorney General's Office had also revealed over 200 KKN practices within the institution this year.

Sudjono said the judiciary mafia would not lose its pace in the judiciary system, while the law apparatus: the police, prosecutors, lawyers and judges, were not serious about law enforcement. "It all rests on the law apparatus. Although the government and scholars established good laws and regulations, they are useless if the morale of the apparatus remains poor," he said.

Suharto's lawyers lodge complaints against Jakarta with UN

Jakarta -- Lawyers of former Indonesian president Suharto have turned to the UN human rights commission in a bid to end his house arrest and weekly questioning, reports said Monday.

Lawyers Juan Felix Tampubolon and Otto Cornelis Kaligis told the daily Kompas newspaper they filed a "human rights abuse" complaint against the Indonesian Attorney General's office with the Geneva-based commission last Thursday.

"Mr. Suharto is sick ... he is suffering from permanent brain damage and [his personal] doctors have said the same thing," Kompas quoted Tampubolon as saying.

"Mr. Suharto is not fit to be questioned due to his health but the attorney general's office still insists on questioning him ... and this is a human rights abuse," he said. Neither Tampubolon and Kaligis could be immediately reached for confirmation.

The Attorney General's office has had the 79-year-old Suharto under house arrest since May 29, and barred him from leaving Jakarta since April 12 in a move prosecutors said was aimed at facilitating his weekly questioning.

The investigation of Suharto on suspicion of corruption during his 32 years in power was closed last year the former government of president BJ Habibie, but later reopened by Attorney General Marzuki Darusman. Under the probe, Suharto is undergoing weekly questioning by officials from the attorney general's office.

Tampubolon said the UN human rights commission was "the most perfect" institution for them to report the alleged rights abuse. "Indonesia is one of the members of the UN as well as one of the signatories of the UN human rights charter ... so that's why we filed our complaints to them," he said.

"We have submitted all necessary documents such as the one that is related to the house arrest status of Mr. Suharto. We have reported everything that has happened ... but excluding the [state prosecutors'] questioning materials," he added.

Tampubolon said he would also take Suharto's case to Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) "as soon as possible."

Suharto has lost two cases in court this month, one demanding the lifting of the house arrest order and another, a libel suit against US Time magazine over a May 1999 report on the alleged wealth of the former president and his family.

Suharto's lawyers have repeatedly stressed Suharto's health problems to avoid summons for questioning or to shorten or prevent questioning sessions.

But Suharto, hospitalized twice last year for an intestinal bleeding and a mild stroke, on Saturday underwent a brain scan which revealed that his brain cells were not damaged.

Silenced voices speak volumes

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- "In Indonesia, silence often speaks louder than words ... You have a nation of silenced voices and muted expressions."

So writes John McGlynn, editor-in-chief of Jakarta's Lontar publishing foundation, in a collection launched last night of writings by former political prisoners, alleged communists and intellectuals.

Hidden among the poetry, photographs and even a libretto are items such as I, the Accused, part of the defence statement of former colonel Abdul Latief, an insider during the 1965 coup attempt that brought former president Suharto to power.

There are also gruelling first-hand accounts of the Dili massacre in East Timor, and a dramatisation of the rape, torture and murder of Javanese labour activist Marsinah.

In Indonesia, where the unravelling of former president Suharto's repressive rule has raised hopes of new freedoms, such literary efforts have political significance.

Many of those involved are consciously exposing and debating the events and attitudes that shape current political instability -- such as the 1965 coup, the subsequent murder of perhaps half a million people, along with the demonisation of communism and the Chinese.

Many of these writers also believe that only when all sides can freely discuss past traumas will the country be able to even consider things such as democracy and the rule of law.

For now, they have a president, Abdurrahman Wahid, who supports such moves and has insisted that decrees banning the study of communism be lifted. Parliament, and especially the Islamist political parties often aligned against him, refuses to countenance such a notion, saying communism remains a threat to the state. Many power-holders are fearful of what revelations may appear to shatter views of the recent past or of their own standing.

Frank Stewart -- the University of Hawaii editor of the Manoa literary journal, which published the new writings under the title Silenced Voices -- notes that laws still give the Government arbitrary powers to ban books, censor the media and arrest authors.

The authors featured "are united by their resistance to a government-enforced amnesia, their search for the truth, and their outspokenness on such banned topics as religion, sexuality and politics", he says.

Colonel Latief, for example, spent 30 years in jail as a result of the 1965 coup attempt. Though sentenced to death by Suharto, he survived to see virtually anyone else involved in the mid- 1960s trauma die off or be killed. Only now can his story be published, replete with details about the maggots growing in a leg wound inflicted by arresting soldiers.

Similarly, a contribution by a Ms Sudjina revolves around her memories of three women with whom she shared some of her 17 years in jail after her arrest in 1967 by Suharto. Now 72, Ms Sudjina feels an urgent need to get these stories out before her generation dies and any hope of honest history is lost.

McGlynn said: "Not until today's young people have unlearned the ways of repression and a new generation has been educated to respect and defend its right to freedom of expression will true openness and democracy come to Indonesia."
 

News & issues

Ibra to be probed for holding back funds

Robert Go, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra) would be investigated for holding back nearly eight trillion rupiah (S$1.68 billion) worth of funds that should have been deposited into the state treasury, said the agency's supervising cabinet minister.

Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo first raised public questions regarding the existence of an undeclared 7.8 trillion rupiah in Ibra's accounts last Monday.

"All incomes and interests received by Ibra has to be handed over to the state treasury," Mr Bambang said on Thursday during a meeting with parliament's Finance Commission.

"Ibra should have deposited at least 3 trillion rupiah by March 31, 2000. But they clearly withheld the money and that was a mistake," he added. For the fiscal year ending in March, Ibra was obligated to submit 17 trillion rupiah to the state's coffers. The agency, however, only paid out 14 trillion rupiah in cash and tendered recapitalised assets worth 4.2 trillion rupiah to make up the difference. Mr Bambang now wants to know why Ibra did not pay out its full budgetary target in cash when it clearly had the money.

Ibra Deputy Chairman Arwin Rasyid explained the extra money is kept in the form of interest-generating time deposits and Bank Indonesia bonds. "We will deposit 4.5 trillion rupiah to the state's accounts soon and submit the remainder according to the Finance Ministry's schedule," he said. "Ibra has not broken any law," Mr Arwin added, "as without proper management, the money was dead money".

Asked to explain what would happen to the rest of the extra funds, the vice chairman said Ibra is entitled to use the sum for operational costs and to finance future restructuring programmes.

Mr Arwin is already under fire from the administration for admitting earlier this week the agency has been able to sell only 2.5 per cent of its US$66 billion in assets during its two-year history.

Finance commission member Dudi Makmoen Moerad criticised Ibra's procedures and called for a full independent review of the agency. "The amount of money in question is too large to be ignored. We need to have more details on Ibra's operations, specially in light of its poor achievement so far," he said.

In addition to discussions on the extra Ibra funds, the parliamentary commission also received reports from the Finance Minister on the status of an oversight board planned for Ibra in accordance with Indonesia's agreements with the International Monetary Fund.

"Ibra would be more transparent and effective in its decision- making process," Mr Bambang said, projecting more development on this issue by early July. Ibra was formed in 1998 in order to help revamp Indonesia's banking sector. Its current mandate ends in 2003.

Disappointment leads to birth of new moral movement

Jakarta -- A new moral movement made up of some 33 public figures is emerging out of the growing disappointment at the slow pace of reform under the administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The group, led by Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid, made its public debut on Thursday, announcing a major gathering in Bali next week to find solutions to Indonesia's problems. "Through this meeting, we hope to gather ideas on how to end many of the uncertainties in this country," noted political columnist Wimar Witoelar said at the announcement.

He stressed that the movement had no political motive and had emerged "because of our disappointments". The group feel that the high hopes after the election of President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri in October have turned into disappointment because none of the country's problems have been properly solved.

Among the 33 noted public figures named as initiators of the National Dialog Forum are chairman of Indonesian Transparency Society (MTI) Mar'ie Muhammad; former economic minister Emil Salim; Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X; National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Albert Hasibuan; chairman of Muslim organization Muhammadiyah Syafi'i Maarif; military observer Hasnan Habib; former Indonesian ambassador to Australia Sabam Siagian; and Teddy P. Rachmat, from the giant Astra International business group and realtor Ciputra.

Some 300 people have been invited to take part in the dialog to be held on June 30 through July 1 at Kartika Plaza Hotel in Bali.

Mar'ie said the group was a form of civil society expression and would act as pressure group on the government and political elites to start thinking of the country instead of their own narrow political interests.

"We are not going to be a political party. This forum will unite our concerns and ideas, convey them to the country's decision makers and correct the current system," Mar'ie said.

Hasnan Habib, a retired Army general, said endless political bickering among the country's elites had prevented the military from dealing with the threat of national disintegration. "The political elites have deprived the military of clear-cut rules and guidelines to conduct their duty," Hasnan said.

Teddy Rachmat said Indonesia often created its own dilemmas that confused foreign investors. "The government keeps saying we need foreign investors, but when they do come, people start to protest against them," he said.

Lawyer Arief Surowidjojo said that there had been no significant progress in the judiciary and that all high-profile legal cases remain unresolved. "Although we are outside the structure [of the state], we hope to provide input into the decision making process, and maybe we can help put reform back on track," Mar'ie said.

The meeting's agenda will be divided into six major topics: the nation's political life, social problems, legal certainty, the rise of regionalism and threats of disintegration, clean government and economic recovery. The results of the dialog will be presented to President Abdurrahman Wahid, who has accepted an invitation to attend the closing ceremony, the organizers said.

People Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of Representative Speaker Akbar Tandjung will also be presented with copies of the meeting's results.

The dialog plans to be more than an intellectual exercise. It will forge shared concerns and commitments and will result in the measures Indonesia should take to lift itself out of the crisis, the group said in a statement. "This forum is expected to give birth to a concrete plan of action and a moral force to implement it," it added.

Protests at Borneo parliament over fate of governor

Jakarta -- A series of peaceful protests at the provincial parliament in Indonesia's West Kalimantan on Thursday forced the postponment of a meeting to decide on the fate of the governor there, an official said.

"The plenary session was postponed before noon today [Thursday] because the assembly had to deal with several protests," the Secretary of the West Kalimantan provincial parliament, Morni Sahidan, told AFP by telephone.

The session had been scheduled to decide whether the parliament would accept or reject the annual accountability speech of Governor Aspar Aswin. A rejection would lead to the dismissal of the governor.

Speaking from Pontianak, the main city in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan in Borneo, Sahidan said the protestors had been both pro- and anti-Aswin.

The first group of hundreds of people, claiming to represent the population of Pontianak district, had arrived shortly before noon and demanded to be able to meet all MPs. The MPs obliged and suspended their meeting to meet the demonstrators outside the building, he said.

The protestors were in support of West Kalimantan Aspar Aswin, who has been under mounting public pressure to resign. "The protestors said that the governor's resignation would not solve the problems faced by the province," Sahidan said.

The first delegation of protestors was immediately followed by two separate demonstrations by student groups demanding Aswin's resignation, and urging authorities to immediately conduct an investigation into the death of a student last week, Sahidan said.

Calls for Aswin's resignation have redoubled since a student protestor was shot to death while returning from a peaceful protest at the parliament on June 14. Students accused security forces of having shot the victim while doctors attributed the death to the penetration of a blunt object in the head, a category that could also include a bullet.

Aswin's critics have also accused him of being incapable of addressing the problems faced by the province and of being the product of the old regime, since he was elected by the parliament while former president Suharto was still in power in 1997.

Others said Aswin has failed to bring progress and peace to the province, citing the bloody ethnic conflict that swept some districts of West Kalimantan in 1998 and left thousands dead and tens of thousands of refugees.

"Both protests were peaceful and they left the parliament after conveying their respective demands," Sahidan said. The leaders of the parliament will convene Friday to decide when the plenary session will be resumed, he added.

Swiss under pressure on dirty money

Agence France-Presse in Jakarta -- Jakarta yesterday issued a fresh appeal to Switzerland to help recover cash that may have been stashed there by former president Suharto, suspected of embezzling billions from state coffers during his 32-year rule.

"Our ambassador in Switzerland is now trying to convince Swiss monetary authorities that some of the conditions they put forward have been met," Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman said. He said a demand by the Swiss Government that Suharto, who is under house arrest, be named a suspect before they helped had been met.

"[Naming Mr Suharto as a suspect] had not been intended to fulfil their wish but was based on the due legal process in Indonesia," he said.

However, Mr Darusman said Jakarta was unable, in such a short time, to meet a demand by Swiss authorities to provide account numbers under which Suharto might have deposited the cash in Switzerland. "We don't want the people to misunderstand that ... we know exactly the whereabouts of what is suspected as [Suharto's] wealth parked overseas," he said.

Mr Darusman also said that the negotiations with the Swiss Government, which followed a request for co-operation by President Abdurrahman Wahid in February, were in their early stages.

Mr Wahid said this week that Mr Suharto's wealth was estimated at US$25 billion, but Mr Darusman said he could not confirm that figure. "We have neither an official nor an unofficial estimate," he said.

On June 6, an Indonesian court rejected a US$27 billion defamation suit filed by Mr Suharto against the American magazine Time, which reported last year that his family had amassed US$15 billion. Time also alleged that Mr Suharto hurriedly transferred about US$9 billion from a Swiss account to an Austrian one shortly after he stepped down in May, 1998, amid mass protests.

But Mr Darusman said the court ruling did not necessarily mean the US$15 billion allegation was true. He also said his office would summon Indonesian lawyers representing Time and the magazine's editor in Hong Kong to explain the information in the article.

On Tuesday, Mr Darusman told Parliament that, based on testimony from 101 witnesses, it was evident Mr Suharto had siphoned off funds from seven non-profit charity foundations he once controlled. The witnesses included the foundations' officials, state and private bankers, and officials from companies linked to Mr Suharto and his business associates.

In a report, the Attorney-General said large amounts of the foundations' money was invested in the Nusamba group, controlled by Suharto's crony, Mohammad "Bob" Hasan.

Some funds were also used to buy shares in companies owned by his cronies or family members and to salvage Bank Duta, in which two of the foundations and Nusamba have a stake. The report said Mr Suharto also lent some of the funds to recapitalise Bank Umum Nasional, also owned by Mr Hasan.

Indonesia to open new areas for paddy fields

Jakarta -- The Indonesian government plans to develop two million hectares of new paddy fields outside Java to secure rice supplies for the nation's growing population.

Mr Atos Suprapto, the director-general for facilities and infrastructure at the Agriculture Ministry, said the ambitious project would be completed next year and would focus on the provinces of South Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, Bengkulu and West Kalimantan.

"Opening new areas and maintaining the present agricultural areas are important programmes at this moment," Mr Atos was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency. He cited data from the Central Statistics Office which revealed that one million hectares of paddy fields had been converted into non-agricultural areas from 1983 to 1993.

According to Mr Atos, the Japan Investment Cooperation Agency said an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Java had been converted into housing and industrial projects.

Without new paddy fields, he warned, the country's rice production would not be able to satisfy the growing demand from the nation's 210 million people.

Indonesia's annual rice consumption was 135 kilograms per capita, he said. "If domestic rice production fails to meet the population's demand, we may be in danger of becoming the world's largest rice importer," he said. Indonesia imported 3.5 million tonnes of rice -- or 10 per cent of the domestic demand -- from India, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar last year.

Mr Atos said the Agriculture Ministry would work together with the Ministry of Settlement and Regional Development and the Ministry of Transmigration and Population to implement the paddy fields project.

Financing was expected from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and donor countries, he said. China was expected to provide modern technology for the project.

However, Mr Atos refused to specify the amount of investment needed for the project, saying his ministry was still calculating the cost. "For sure, we will have concrete details of the project by December 2000, and we will issue a joint ministerial decree," he said, referring to the Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of Settlement and Regional Development and the Minister of Transmigration and Population.

Former president Suharto initiated a similarly ambitious project in Central Kalimantan after the country lost its self-sufficiency in rice production in the early 1990s.

Known as the "one-million-hectare peat land project", the 1996 proposal came to a sorry end as the land was found to be unsuitable for rice cultivation. Some 63,000 farmers from outside the province had migrated to the area.
 

Environment/health

Indorayon Conflict: one dead and forty missing

A Ismail/Swastika & LM, Jakarta -- The continuing conflict between the people of Porsea village, North Sumatra, with PT Inti Indorayon Utama (IIU) has claimed the life of Herman Sitorus, an engineering highschool student shot by a North Tapanuli police subprecinct officer in a heated brawl Wednesday.

This bloody confrontation was triggered by a group of "ninjas" who kidnapped at least 13 people from several villages from the Joint Community Post at Sirait Uruk, North Sumatra on Tuesday night.

According to a press release issued by the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) early on Thursday, so far only the fact that 13 victims were taken has been established. The condition of a further 27 people remains unknown.

Once news of the kidnappings spread, 2000-3000 people from Porsea demonstrated at the Parparean city centre demanding the release of the 13 people fom their village on Wednesday at 9am local time. Mass looting broke out and casued an extensive traffic jam.

North Tapanuli police subprecinct and mobile brigade officers arrived on the spot at noon and immediately tried to disperse the demonstrators. The people resisted by yelling and throwing stones.

The confrontation continued to escalate until shots fired by an officer killed the young man and injured several others. The officers then immediately fled. 5 houses belonging to people who supported the Indorayon factory were utterly destroyed.

Publicly listed pulp, fiber and rayon firm PT Inti Indorayon Utama was given the green light to continue operations at it's pulp plant in Porsea, North Sumatra, following the government's recent decision to allow it reopen the factory.

Indorayon's pulp and fiber factories have been closed since mid- 1998 when then president B.J. Habibie decided to suspend operations following prolonged protests from local residents who complained of extensive environmental damage. The factory is around 50 kilometers from the majestic Lake Toba.

Walhi condemned the senseless death and urged the government to establish an independent team to investigate the case. Walhi also urged the Police Chief of Staff to immediately clarify the use of force against the villagers and claimed that the police were legally, morally and materially responsible for the incident.

Furthermore Walhi urged the government, especially the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Industry and Trade to postpone the reopening of the pulp and fiber factory until they have conducted a comprehensive study into the damage sustained by the environment as a result of Indorayon's activities.
 

Arms/armed forces

Defense deptartment audit reveals many irregularities

Shinta NM Sinaga/FW & LM, Jakarta -- The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has admitted that they have found many irregularities in their audit of the Ministry of Defense. While the Ministry has vowed to follow up the irregularities found, the Agency has stated that it is about to look into whether the information provided is accurate.

The audit, began just last week, found many administrative irregularities particularly regarding book-keeping practices as well as matters relating to the procurement goods through bidding or through direct deals with suppliers.

According to Gede Artjana, the head of the audit team, the Ministery is planning to clean up it's act. "The Ministry of Defense has promised to follow up this result," he told the press before meeting the President at his office today..

The audit covered various business ventures owned by the different branches of te Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), including around 50 companies, as well as their foundations. According to Artjana, the Ministry of Defense currently owns two foundations which belong to the Indonesian Armed Forces headquarters, one foundation belonging to each of the military services (Army, Navy, Air Force), one foundation belonging to the Army Strategic Reserves (Kostrad) and one foundation belonging to the Army Special Forces (Kopassus).

The armed forces have had an active role in Indonesia's economy since the withdrawl of the Dutch in the 1940's and the businesses and foundations have since then provided funds for the military's development.

Last week the Minister, Juwono Sudarsono, defended their business interests. He argued that the official government budget, Rp 10.9 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in the nine month period till June representing 5.59 percent of the total state budget, was insufficent to support their operations and social programs. Juwono remarked that the state budget only covered 25 percent of minimum operational costs and that the additional nonbudgetary funds were needed to improve soldiers welfare.

In fact, Article 2 of Government Regulation No. 6/1974 clearly states that all military officers with a rank of lieutenant or higher, and their spouses, are prohibited to own or be connected with any businesses, unless official Presidential consent is given.

The Supreme Audit Agency estimates that the audit process will be completed by the end of July. "In the resulting report, we will also include recommendations which will be submitted to the House. We are currently examining whether the data provided by the Ministry of Defense is accurate or not," Artjana said. Artjana also made a point of stating that the Agency has met no resistance from the Ministry of Defense which has been very cooperative and open.

The audit is by no means the result of a new openness on the military's part but has come at the behest of the IMF which included in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies signed on May 17 a passage which holds the BPK responsible for taking account of all extrabudgetary funding in it's audits of public institutions, including the military.

Meanwhile, Chief of the BPK, Satria Budi Hardjojoedono, reiterated that they are currently preparing to comprehensively audit nonbudgetary funds which have proven a lucrative source of funding for consecutive Indonesian governments. "We have started with the Ministry of Defense, the Military Services and National Police. The next step will be the central bank and Bulog (State Logistics Agency) until eventually, we will cover all public institutions," he said assertively.

Threat to Indonesian army reform

Tom McCawley, Jakarta -- Indonesia's military will keep operating many of its illegal businesses because the state budget is inadequate to fund a reform programme aimed at reducing the military's extensive influence.

Juwono Sudarsono, defence minister, said the defence budget of $1.2 billion, or 2 per cent of gross domestic product, would not be enough to fund the professionalisation of the armed forces.

Ending the armed forces' 40 years of involvement in government, Mr Juwono said, would greatly depend on providing realistic salaries for junior officers.

"You can't have a professional military without proper pay for the rank and file," said Mr Juwono, Indonesia's first civilian defence minister in four decades. "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. And monkey business."

The Indonesian armed forces have become part of a sprawling, semi-underground business empire that spans property to mining, corporate boardrooms to rural marketplaces. Legal military interests include co-operatives, charity foundations and companies such as Bank Artha Graha. So-called "non-budget" sources of army funding include illegal logging, prostitution, gambling, narcotics and urban protection rackets.

Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian president, has promised to curb the influence of the powerful military by scaling back its role in public life.

Part of the reform process will be an effort to clean up the military's finances. This will begin with an audit of non-budget financing, which was part of Indonesia's May 17 agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Over the next 18 months, government accountants will audit about 320 yayasan or charity foundations linked to military businesses.

Mr Juwono, who admits the government faces immense obstacles, including a severe shortage of qualified staff, a bureaucracy prone to graft and powerful vested interests, says he expects only a "60 per cent enforcement rate". He says government funding constraints will make it impossible to stamp out all legal and illegal army business entirely but some will be restructured to become legal commercial entities.

The idea is popular with many within the armed forces, who say the spoils of businesses are unfairly divided between top brass and junior officers.

Analysts such as Hasnan Habib, a retired general and former ambassador to the US, says that formalising military businesses would allow for better regulation.
 

International solidarity

Budiman Sujatmiko tours Europe

Harry Otten, Amsterdam -- "The policy demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for loans leads to an increase in poverty.

Subsidies on electricity, education and public transport are being cut ... There's already 80 million Indonesian people living below the poverty line. IMF policy will push even more people below it."

Sixty people listened with great care to Budiman Sujatmiko, chairperson of Indonesia's People's Democratic Party (PRD), at a meeting here on June 2. The meeting launched a new organisation, SOLITIN (Solidarity with Timor and Indonesia), to build support for the PRD and the struggle in Indonesia and inspire people in the Netherlands to become involved in radical politics.

Sujatmiko told the meeting, "The government should start to cancel foreign debt. The loans during the Suharto period were not loans to the Indonesian people but to a corrupt dictatorship that oppressed the people. The assets of Suharto and his cronies should be seized and there should be a progressive income tax.

"The Indonesian government should work with other Third World governments to oppose the policies of the IMF and World Bank. We need another type of international funding, one that puts the needs of the poor countries first." Sujatmiko toured Europe from May 26 to June 11. He met with political parties, solidarity groups, Indonesian exiles and journalists. The visit was organised by SOLITIN together with PRD supporters from the large local community of exiles from the pre-1965 Indonesian left.

In the Netherlands, Sujatmiko also addressed an Indonesian- language public meeting of more than 200 people. A farewell party organised by the Indonesia solidarity movement and held at Amnesty International offices attracted 40 people.

The Dutch organisers of the tour are very happy with the results. Geert Jan Wielinga of SOLITIN commented: "The fight of the Indonesian people and the PRD has been a big inspiration for us, not just to build solidarity but also to discuss perspectives for radical politics over here.

"The struggle for democratic change in Indonesia has been led by Marxists. They've been hunted, put in jail and oppressed, but they only grew stronger.

"At the SOLITIN meeting in Amsterdam, we showed footage from last May Day in Jakarta. It was great to see all these red flags waving through the streets and to hear Dita Sari say that it's time to put Marx's slogan "Workers of the world unite" into practice.

"We hope there will be interest in Marxist ideas in the Netherlands. There is no genuine Marxist party here; we would like to build one."

In Spain, Sujatmiko held meetings with ACSUR (an umbrella organisation of Spanish non-government organisations), United Left and a movement for peasants' cooperatives. United Left is interested in attending the Asia Pacific Solidarity Conference in June 2001 in Jakarta, organised by the PRD and others.

In Portugal, Sujatmiko met with Fransisco Louca and Louis Fazenda, members of parliament for the Left Bloc, an electoral alliance of the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the People's Democratic Union. The Left Bloc was active in mobilisations last year to demand that United Nations troops be sent to East Timor to stop the genocide by Indonesian-backed paramilitaries after the referendum on independence for East Timor.

Around 30 people attended the Left Bloc-organised public meeting and the main daily newspaper, Diario de Noticias, published a feature interview with Sujatmiko. In Belgium, Sujatmiko met with the Belgian Workers Party and the Socialist Workers Party. He also visited the European Parliament for discussions with members of the United Left faction, the alliance of parties in the EP which are to the left of social democracy and the Greens.

In France, Sujatmiko held meetings with the Communist Party, Socialist Party and Revolutionary Communist League. A solidarity dinner and meetings with Danielle Mitterand, the widow of the former president, ADIL (a French NGO) and Indonesian students were also held.

In Germany, Sujatmiko met with the Democratic Socialist Party and attended a meeting with Indonesian students at the Technical University of Berlin.

[The author is one of the initiators of SOLITIN.]
 

Economy & investment

Sjahril case blow to investor confidence

Leigh Murray and Grainne McCarthy, Jakarta -- Criticism of the detention of Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin mounted Thursday amid suggestions of political interference, with analysts and business executives saying the case has dealt another blow to already shaky investor sentiment towards Indonesia.

Swift complaints about the detention by Parliament Speaker Akbar Tanjung and the chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, or MPR, Amien Rais, also stoked talk of a growing rift between them and President Abdurrahman Wahid, who must appear before a key MPR gathering in August.

Indonesian Attorney General Marzuki Darusman detained Sjahril Wednesday, marking the first high-profile casualty of the Bank Bali lending scandal. Sjahril was detained for 20 days to question him further on his alleged involvement in the scandal, which rocked Indonesia's markets last year and led international lenders to suspend loans to the country.

His detention comes two weeks after prosecutors named him a suspect in the so-called "Baligate" scandal, which centers around the transfer of around $80 million out of Bank Bali last year to a company linked to the then-ruling Golkar Party. The money was ostensibly paid as a debt-collection fee on government-guaranteed loans extended by Bank Bali.

Coming amid a feud between Sjahril and Wahid, Sjahril's detention -- in a jail house adjacent to the attorney general's office -- stoked speculation that the case against him is politically motivated and driven more by Wahid's wish to oust him than by any hard evidence.

Marzuki denied this Thursday and said that Wahid didn't order Sjahril's arrest. Marzuki added that he now has sufficient evidence to charge Sjahril with corruption in relation to the case.

Defends decision to detain sjahril

Defending his decision to detain the governor, Marzuki said: "Our office found new evidence that the suspect already conducted corrupt, criminal acts, as stipulated by the law. "In this case, Sjahril Sabirin, as an official of monetary authorities and governor of the central bank, already disbursed the Bank Bali claim guaranteed by the government without a proper verification," Marzuki said. "In fact this disbursement violated some conditions."

Just what new evidence Marzuki has against Sjahril is unclear. Several witnesses have placed Sjahril at a February 11, 1999, meeting in which an aide to ex-President B.J. Habibie and other suspects in the Bank Bali slush-fund scandal "requested the governor to have Bank Indonesia examine bank claims more closely." Sjahril has denied attending the meeting. An international audit report last year also raised other questions about Sjahril's dealings with the Bank Bali interbank claims.

Despite Marzuki's comments, analysts and business executives say the very hint that Wahid may have intervened in the legal investigation doesn't bode well for future reform in Indonesia and adds to a barrage of uncertainty in the country in the lead up to the August MPR meeting, at which Wahid must give a speech on his achievements to date.

Wahid's critics are already threatening to unseat him over, amongst other things, alleged corruption in his inner circle, his bid to lift a long-standing ban on communism and a lack of progress by Wahid's government in implementing key economic reforms.

"This is one more reason for foreign investors to pull back from Indonesia," said David Cohen, economist at S&P MMS Emerging Asia in Singapore. Cohen said the Sjahril drama comes at a time when Indonesia's economic data are showing reasonably positive signs, with particularly strong exports. He said investors are worried about possible interference by Wahid, who was reportedly angry with Sjahril after the governor failed to approve the appointment of a friend of the president to head state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia. "You would like to think that Wahid would hold the course for Indonesia above any petty get-even motive," Cohen said.

Clouds business environment

An investment relations manager with a leading Indonesian oil producer said the impression that Wahid may be abusing his power further clouds the country's business environment and raises questions about the central bank's independence.

Parliamentary Speaker Akbar questioned Thursday the attorney general's move to detain Sjahril, saying it was done for "inappropriate reasons." "The legal reasons given by the attorney general are inappropriate," he said. "So far, as the attorney general said to me, Sjahril has been cooperative."

MPR speaker Rais also lashed out at the detention, saying it is tantamount to political intervention. "It's almost unbelievable and the process [to detain] him was too fast,", he said.

Rais said the detention of Sjahril appeared to be politically motivated. "This is political intervention or power intervention," he added. "This is, I am sorry ... too much."

Acting Bank Indonesia Governor Anwar Nasution meanwhile, appealed to the attorney general Thursday to improve the accommodation for Sjahril, arguing that his current conditions are "inappropriate." Nasution told reporters that Sjahril was being held in a "bad room, full of mosquitos. "We don't ask for a room like in a five-star hotel," Nasution said. "But at least, it should be comfortable for Sjahril."

A guard outside the attorney general's jail house said the governor is being held in one of six detention rooms at the jail and measures roughly three by four meters. The doors of the room have bars similar to a regular jail house. The guard said the room has one small bed, with an old synthetic sponge mattress. The room has no fan, air conditioning or private bathroom. He said there is no telephone access. The room has a small air vent that allows mosquitos to enter.

Restructuring body `works at snail's pace'

Robert Go, Jakarta -- The country's top economics minister has berated the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra) for working at a snail's pace and said it was a long way from meeting its projected contribution to this year's national budget.

In a televised interview on Tuesday, Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie expressed anger that Ibra had generated only 3 trillion rupiah (S$630 million) this year from selling assets under its control.

That sum is a far cry from the 18.9 trillion rupiah the agency has promised to inject into the government's coffers during the fiscal year ending in December.

"I am frustrated and angry with Ibra's progress and I have expressed this to its management," he said. If Ibra failed to meet its financial obligation to the state, Indonesia might have to revise its governmental budget, he said.

Calculated using an exchange ratio of 7,000 rupiah to the US dollar, the budget is already in danger of being revisited because of the currency's 20 per cent depreciation during the past two months.

In addition to its failure to speed up its asset disposal programme, Mr Kwik took issue with Ibra's soft treatment of some Indonesian conglomerates. "How is it possible for conglomerates that clearly wrecked the economy to retain control of their companies?" he asked.

His comments followed a report by Ibra vice-chairman Arwin Rasyid that revealed the agency had sold only 2.5 per cent of all assets under its control during its two-year history. The most recent estimate puts Ibra's holdings at US$66 billion.

Mr Arwin also admitted that compared with similar asset-disposal agencies operating in other countries hit hard by the Asian economic crisis, Ibra has turned in a sub-par performance. According to his figures, South Korea had unloaded 38 per cent of its US$55 billion, while Thailand has sold 78 per cent of the US$22 billion assets under state control.

Mr Arwin further indicated that Ibra's plans include raising 23 trillion rupiah during the 2001 fiscal year, but that the agency might have to revise that forecast downward. "Perhaps Ibra must be more realistic in forming its projections," he said.

Although he did not provide explanations for his agency's poor record, he said that political and economic stability remained crucial to the process of getting foreign investors to snap up Ibra's sale offers.

Ibra has a five-year deadline and has been given the task of helping revamp Indonesia's chaotic banking industry by 2003. Its mission is to take over and restructure troubled banks and dispose of their assets and collateral quickly to finance the economic-recovery effort. However, the International Monetary Fund joined the agency's critics recently and said Ibra held on to assets under its management for too long.

Looting, land rights keep investors out of Indonesia

Jakarta -- Indonesia's inability to guarantee land security is blocking foreign investment in farm-based businesses in Asia's third-largest agricultural producer, analysts said.

"Security of land rights is the main concern among foreign investors," said Rachim Kartabrata, head of research and planning at the Association of Indonesian Coffee Exporters and an official of agriculture group PT Prasidha Aneka Niaga. "While the potential is there, the risk is high."

The Indonesian government wants to attract foreign investment in the country's underdeveloped agriculture to boost exports, but potential investors in businesses such as coffee, rubber, cocoa, sugar, tea and spices are wary of ownership disputes, looting, corruption, economic turmoil and the slow pace of reform.

The problems have hurt the coffee, cocoa and rubber planters that provide most of Indonesia's farm-based export revenue. Plantation companies face growing theft of produce, while local inhabitants are making ownership claims on their land.

"Foreign companies find it difficult to invest in a country where the agriculture industry is still subject to looting," said Rachman Koeswanto, an analyst at BNP Prime Peregrine in Jakarta.

Many Indonesian companies went bankrupt and defaulted on loan repayments after the rupiah lost 80 per cent of its value in the six months to February 1998. These companies are being forced to sell plantations at bargain prices to repay debt.

"This is the cheapest [plantations] will ever get" for overseas investors, said Fayaz Achmad Khan, a marketing manager at PT Bakrie Sumatra Plantations, a member of the Bakrie Group, some of whose companies went bankrupt following the Indonesian economic crisis.

"Local companies are not so strong anymore," said Mr Khan. "The government wants foreign companies to invest. But no one is in a hurry to buy." Indonesia's agricultural production totalled about US$29 billion in 1999, accounting for a fifth of the country's US$142 billion gross domestic product.

Last year Vietnam overtook Indonesia as the world's third-largest coffee exporter and the largest producer of the bitter-flavoured robusta beans. Indonesia may also lose its place soon to Vietnam as the world's second-largest rubber and pepper producer, officials said.

"Indonesia is far, far behind even countries like India, Malaysia and Vietnam in processing, storing and marketing facilities," said KPG Menon, executive director of the Jakarta-based International Pepper Community which promotes global pepper trade.

The country needs more coordination between the government and private businesses to control the quality of its farm products so that it can fetch a higher price for its produce globally, he said.

The government hopes that initiatives such as the two-day Agribusiness Indonesia 2000 Conference in Bali will help attract foreign investors. Indonesia's top bureaucrats from the Agriculture Ministry, farm commodities business associations and companies are meeting at the conference, organised by IBC Asia Ltd, to address the issue of Indonesia's competitiveness with other producers.

For that, Indonesia needs technology from abroad for storage, processing and transportation. Indonesia also needs a government-backed marketing effort such as the ones provided by the coffee, tea and spice boards in India, rubber, palm oil and pepper marketing boards in Malaysia and rice export organisation in Vietnam, said Mr Menon.

In the absence of organised marketing, Indonesia is dependent on a few buyers. It sells 60 per cent of its black pepper to the US and 80 per cent of its white pepper to Singapore which re-exports the spice.

Local governments told not to scare off investors

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Local governments have been warned not to abuse new regional autonomy laws or they risk losing both domestic and foreign investment, high-level central government officials have warned.

On Monday, State Minister of Regional Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid met a parliamentary commission overseeing domestic and legal affairs to express concern regarding how provincial and municipal authorities would react to regulations granting them new economic powers scheduled to take effect in January 2001.

Topping his list was the fear that regional officials would illegally impose extra taxes illegally and drive away both domestic and foreign investors.

"If regions burden foreign investors with extra levies, they simply would not come to Indonesia," he told The Straits Times yesterday.

Mr Cahyana Achmadjayadi, Deputy Minister for Investment at the Regional Autonomy Ministry, similarly cautioned that Jakarta would need to strictly monitor implementation of regional autonomy regulations to ensure compliance with consistency and transparency standards.

"There should be a coordinated system to make sure local governments can't abuse their powers," he explained. "Clearly limiting how much tax and other business costs local authorities could legitimately impose is part of our effort to make sure foreigners feel secure about investing in Indonesia," he added.

Responding to complaints that Jakarta has dominated much of the country's economic revenues at the expense of development in resource-rich outer provinces during former president Suharto's rule, the central government agreed to redraw the fiscal balance lines last year.

Beginning next January, each province would theoretically exercise more control over economic development and share a greater portion of revenues.

Head of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce's Investment Office, Mr Bambang Sujagad Susanto, stressed, however, that success of the regional autonomy programme depends on how well Jakarta formulates its national policies now.

"The central government needs to establish clear and cohesive guidelines and to verify local governments' readiness to take over administration of trade," he advised.

In addition to excessive taxing, the authorities would also need to look at security and labour issues, making sure that local officials do not make unreasonable demands on companies interested in doing business within their jurisdiction, he added.

He also warned against inconsistencies between provinces, saying it would reflect badly on Indonesia as a whole, and not just on badly administered regions themselves.

A report in yesterday's Jakarta Post said that Mr Ryaas's warning to parliament mentioned Singapore as one of the countries put off by irregular practices in some of Indonesia's provinces.

But Industry Counsellor Dr Lim Chuan Poh of the Singaporean Embassy in Jakarta denied the existence of an official provincial blacklist. "There is no formal government policy on the issue and investment from Singapore is still up to the private sector," the Industry Counsellor added.

Misleading economic indicators

Jose Manuel Tesoro, Jakarta -- Ever since the beginning of the Asian financial crisis, a country's currency and its publicly traded stocks have been used by journalists the same way we use shorthand to record interviews -- as quick and dirty ways to reflect complex realities. In late 1997, it was easy enough to associate a plummeting baht, rupiah or peso with the collapsing fortunes of once-darling investment destinations. When other indicators like growth rates, investment approvals and consumer confidence turned sharply south soon after markets collapsed, some of us were persuaded that currencies and stocks were the most telling indications of economic fortunes. Two years later, those habits remain -- even as the realities have become a lot more ambiguous.

As of June 13, the rupiah has fallen by 13% since the beginning of the year. The Jakarta Composite Index has meanwhile dropped by more than 27%. Evaluated on their own, these numbers seem to indicate an economy in the doldrums. Yet economic growth in the first quarter this year topped 3%.

Meanwhile, inflation is nearly nonexistent, exports have surged, and car sales jumped 28% between April and May, indicating a significant revival in consumer confidence. Cement consumption and building permits are also up -- a small boom in home construction.

What's going on? Simple. The exchange rate and stock index can sometimes reflect forces outside the country and the economy more directly than they do its internal dynamics. "These two indices are very sensitive to global adjustment as well as market sentiment," says Raden Pardede, a research officer at Jakarta's Danareksa Research. Look again: Bangkok's SET index is down over 23% since January; Manila's Composite Index 24%. The rupiah is no worse off than the New Zealand dollar, also off by 13% since January 1, and comparable to depreciation against the greenback suffered by the peso (11%) and even the euro (9%). Part of the rupiah's slide and the stock index's drift can be attributed to events that have very little to do with Indonesia: the global correction in stock markets linked to falls in US technology stocks and rising US interest rates, which (for the moment) make dollars and dollar deposits attractive.

The rupiah's drift and the JSX's doldrums however do echo the growing frustration and pessimism with President Abdurrahman Wahid's eight-month-old government. They indicate storm clouds ahead should Wahid fail to achieve a radical shift in his administration. But those same indicators mask a consumption-led recovery in the Indonesian economy. As consumption-led recoveries often are, it is a fragile one, dependent on the balance between consumers' optimism and pessimism. But it is a recovery nonetheless. Don't let our old shorthand habits stop you from seeing that.