• Soldiers may have `encouraged' East Timor militias - Agence France-Presse
• New broad-based party gathering influential support - Lusa
• East Timorese still live in fear of their lives - The Australian
• Militia attacks increase - Green Left Weekly
• Don't blame us for the militia attacks: Jakarta - Sydney Morning Herald
• Cafe culture only for East Timor's new elite - South China Morning Post
• Drawing the line with Jakarta - Australian Financial Review
• Indonesia concedes it can't control Timor border - Reuters

• MPR approves nine decrees, TNI's presence included - Jakarta Post
• Indonesia's MPR ends with hardly any fireworks - Straits Times
• Golkar stirs the party pot - Asiaweek
• Confident Gus Dur regales MPs in top form - Straits Times
• Thumbs down for politicians - Straits Times
• Who is looking out for the `little people' - Straits Times
• 'Gang of four' Wahid's latest bid to counter critics - South China Morning Post
• Indonesia's back-room constitutional reform - Asia Wall Street Journal
• Thousands storm MPR in protest over power-sharing - Indonesian Observer

• Six killed, 18 injured in fresh Ambon fighting - Jakarta Post
• Indonesian troops slaughter Christians - London Times

• Rights groups appeal for US-based activist in Indonesia - Agence France-Presse
• Jakarta losing patience over Aceh - Associated Press
• GAM claims to have special links with TNI - Jakarta Post
• Marauding groups confiscate Indonesian flags in Aceh - Detik
• Aceh prayers for referendum end in clashes with police - Detik
• No national flags hoisted in Aceh for Independence Day - Kyodo News
• Jayapura tense, but calm - Indonesian Observer
• Cops attack civilians over soldier's death - Straits Times
• Troops reportedly run amok in Aceh following shooting - Jakarta Post

• Labour union demands 100% wage increase - Detik
• Workers of KPC coal mining firm lift blockade - Jakarta Post
• Dita Sari: new labour regulations inadequate - Green Left Weekly
• Workers' protests threaten Badak natural gas supply - Jakarta Post

• MPs slammed for protecting human rights violators - Agence France-Presse
• Blanket amnesty for officers: they were only issuing orders - Sydney Morning Herald
• Police name 22 suspects for 1996 party attack - Agence France-Presse
• Suharto thought likely to escape - Green Left Weekly

• Independence Day passes peacefully across the country - Jakarta Post
• Riau's separatist leader prefers peace - Christian Science Monitor
• A fair share of the spoils - Time Magazine
• Bound to wander - Time Magazine
• Jakarta vigilantes kill with impunity - Washington Times
• Civilian security forces protest disbursal - Detik
• Councillors question lack of police on raids - Jakarta Post
• Wahid visit to Iraq will harm Indonesia's stature: Albright - Agence France-Presse

• Indonesia `can't stop powerful illegal loggers' - Agence France-Presse
• NGOs and students demand state forestry enterprise closure - Detik

• US$8.4 million missing from Kostrad foundation - Detik
• General urges army clean-up - Sydney Morning Herald
• Military to retain role in politics until 2009 - Straits Times

• Assembly offers few answers on economy - Straits Times

Violent treatment of protestors by police

Abdul Haerah HR/BI, Makassar -- Up to a hundred low paid workers and waterside labourers who demanded a 100% pay rise have been forcefully removed from Makassar harbour side in Makassar on Saturday . Security officers from the Makassar Police force have removed the protestors who have been conducting their protest in the area since Friday.

The protest is being supported by the People's Democratic Party (PRD), an Indonesian socialist party who has been active in the struggle for the betterment of low paid workers. PRD members who were involved in the protest were also removed from the area and will be taken to Police Headquarters in Makassar.

The protest was directed at the flour milling factory, PT Berdikari Sari Utama, where the low paid workers and labourers involved in the protest are employed. The factory has not yet answered their demands.

Representatives of the protestors and factory spokespeople had a meeting in which no agreement was reached. due to the request of the protest party's representatives to include all of the protestors in the dialogue. The factory only allowed 20 representatives from the protestors' party to participate in the meeting.

The Makassar Regional Police Chief, Senior Superintendent Arianto Budiharjo, offered to provide a neutral meeting place for the dialogue between the two parties. His offer was ignored by protestors. Several protestors were beaten before being thrown into two police trucks because of their refusal to move. They were then taken to Makassar Police Headquarters.

PRD and workers demonstrate at legislature

Aulia Andri/Swastika & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta -- The People's Democratic Party (PRD) did not just demo on the final day of the annual parliament session in the capital, Jakarta.

In Medan, capital of North Sumatra, the PRD held a joint action with local laborers at the North Sumatra Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) office. As in Jakarta, they demanded a 100% salary hike for all laborers and the repealing of the Armed Forces' dual function, which allows them a defense as well as a social- political role from the highest to the lowest levels of government.

Beginning at around 10am, around 250 demonstrators `long marched' from Merdeka field and headed to the Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) office, a distance of one kilometer, Friday. The march caused a long traffic jam.

Singing as they marched, the demonstrators also carried posters condemning violence against workers. Many demonstrators wore red head bands marked FNPBI-SU (Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle -- North Sumatra). They eventually arrived at the DPRD office and immediately occupied the office's main steps.

From the steps, many speakers addressed the crowds. They sang songs of struggle and waved posters demanding a 100% salary increase for all workers, the repeal of Armed Force's dual function, including the abolition of their allocated seats in the parliament, and an end to violence in labour matters.

Hundreds rally as search for activists continues

Jakarta -- Hundreds of people from various groups rallied outside the compound of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to express their disappointment with the results of the Annual Session, which concluded on Friday.

While most of the protesters came from the National Front for Indonesian Labors of Struggle (FNPBI), the Democratic People's Party (PRD), the National Students League for Democracy (LMND) and the Union of All-Indonesia Social and Political Students (ILMISPI) criticized the MPR, some 150 farmers from West Java demanded an inquiry into the status of four activists who remain missing after being taken by Mobile Brigade police from the Assembly compound on Monday.

The activists, identified as Anton Sulton, 26, Idham Kurniawan, 24, Usep Setiawan, 28, and Mohamad Hafiz Asdam, 23, were staging a hunger strike to demand agrarian reforms when the police forced them into two ambulances belonging to Kramat Jati Police Hospital in East Jakarta, witnesses said.

The Coalition of Nongovernmental Organizations (Koalisi Ornop) condemned the National Police for the incident and demanded an explanation of the whereabouts of the missing activists. In its joint statement, the group said MPR leaders should also be held responsible for the activists' disappearance.

A similar statement was issued by the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), which demanded security authorities release the four people and the National Police take action against the kidnappers. "We were told by the police that the four men were taken to Kramat Jati Police hospital. But when we checked, the hospital staff said there were no patients with those four names. We even went to Jakarta Hospital but to no avail," Yudi Bahari Oktora, a KPA executive, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He said the police claimed to have dropped Anton and the others in front of the General Election Commission (KPU) building on Jl. Imam Bonjol after being taken from MPR compound. "We have been combing the area since but there is no sign of their existence," Yudi said.

In Bandung, dozens of students from the Bandung Indonesian Youth Front (FIM-B) staged a solidarity protest demanding the return of the activists.

City Police Chief Insp. Gen. Nurfaizi denied on Friday that his troops were behind the disappearance of the four activists, but admitted that some medical police personnel left with them for the Kramat Jati Hospital by ambulance due to their worsening condition following the hunger strike.

"But the students insisted they be dropped in front of KPU building, saying they already felt better. Since our personnel released them, we know nothing about their whereabouts," said Nurfaizi as quoted by Munir, an executive of the Committee for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Munir said Kontras believed the City Police was not behind the probable kidnapping of the four activists. "However, they, as law enforcers, are responsible to search for the missing activists," he said. Munir asserted the disappearance of the four activists could be categorized as abduction. Kontras has tried contacting one of the missing people but to no avail, according to Munir.

Knowing of the way student activist Andi Arief was abducted in his hometown of Lampung in 1998, Munir speculated certain individual security personnel might be behind the kidnapping of the agrarian reform activists. "Andi was taken by police personnel then he was picked up by Army Special Force [Kopassus] soldiers," he said.

Students face jail for pulling down flag

Jakarta -- Six students who pulled down the Indonesian flag at the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta yesterday could be imprisoned for up to four years.

The students, three of them female, were among 37 demonstrators staging a rally in front of the Attorney General's Office in Blok M. The protesters were demanding that former president Soeharto and his cronies be tried for corruption as soon as possible.

South Jakarta Police Chief Senior Superintendent Edward Aritonang said the six students violated Article 154 A of the Criminal Code, which states that it is illegal to desecrate the national red and white flag. He said the students had also entered a government building without permission.

The six are: M. Ismail Sambas, Reni Erlina and Rinita from Professor Dr Moestopo University; Boni Zeki from Achmad Yani University; and Dwihananto Setiawan and Riska Waili Sahalong from the Sunan Gunung Jati Institute of Islamic Studies in Bandung, West Java.

The demonstrators, grouped in the City Forum (Forkot) and Students Action Committee (KAM), came to the Attorney General's Office at midday, making speeches and chanting slogans.

At 1.15pm six of the demonstrators climbed the main fence and pulled down the national flag that had been flying in the complex's carpark. Police, who had been keeping an eye on the protest, at that point arrested the six youths.

Kebayoran Police Chief Assistant Superintendent Sujatmo, who led the arrest, told reporters the students had to be arrested for trespassing and desecrating the national flag. One of the students, Sambas, said they had not destroyed the flag, but had simply wanted to put it on one of their own flag poles.

"We carried out our action to show that we still don't feel independent, even though the country is celebrating its 55th anniversary of independence," Sambas was quoted as saying by satunet.com. "The country is still encountering many problems. The trial processes for former president Soeharto and his cronies and other KKN [corruption, collusion and nepotism] cases are very sluggish," he said.

The six students were interrogated at the Public Service division of Jakarta Police headquarters. The other 31, who were also arrested, were questioned at the Detective Unit division.

Aritonang, who attended the interrogations, said the students admitted their actions had been spontaneous. "They climbed the fence and hauled down the red and white flag spontaneously, as they were disappointed with the Attorney General's Office, which according to them is not serious in dealing with KKN cases that took place during the New Order regime," Aritonang was quoted as saying by Antara. "However, desecrating the national flag was a serious mistake," he added.

[On August 19 the Jakarta Post reported all six had been released without charges. Acting city police spokesperson Alex Mandalika said that "the students were released from all charges since the police didn't have sufficient evidence that they had really humiliated the national flag" - James Balowski.]

Celebrations and protests mark Independence Day in Kalimantan

Maryadi/Fitri & Lyndal Meehan, Pontianak -- Today is Indonesian Independence Day. In West Kalimantan, thousands of people are expected to mark the day with a mixture of celebration and protest involving all elements of society, including Madurese refugees of sectarian violence which erupted in 1997. Demonstrators also plan to reiterate their demand that Governor Aspar Aswin be removed for corruption.

The day's activities have been coordinated for some time by student and other organisations and the festivities have been launched with the name 'West Kalimantan People's Independence Day Action'. The proceedings began at 8am Thursday at the Digulis statue at the Untan roundabout, Jl. Ahmad Yani, in the capital, Pontianak.

Students, farmers, fishermen, labourers, NGO members, community leaders, youth organisation members, scholars and ordinary people plan to hold hands at the cite in a show of solidarity.

Head of the organising committee, Encep Endan, told Detik on Wednesday night that students had constructed a giant stage at the Digulis Statue as the center of the action. "We received donations to build this stage from students and community members who have supported the student's cause," Encep said.

He said the action was intended so that the people could stress that they have not felt free despite 55 years of independence. For the grand celebration, Encep said, the people would come together for a `Reflection on Independence' as well as a mass prayer and flower offering, orations by representatives of the people and people's art shows. Each event would focus on such themes as poverty, suppression, ignorance, discrimination, people's welfare, human rights, the environment and anti violence and the military.

The mass prayers and flower offerings would be followed by a longmarch from the Untan roundabout to the West Kalimantan Governor's office where Syarifudin, a student demonstrator, died on 14 June during a demonstration to demand the resignation of West Kalimantan governor, Aspar Aswin.

Encep further explained that at 10pm the action would finish with a mass show of disappointment and frustration at the suppression of the people by local and national leaders.

Meanwhile, the head of the Madurese Student Association in West Kalimantan, Nagian Imawan, told Detik that they would involve a thousand child refugees who had fled from sectarian clashes in Sambas in 1997.

While Kalimantan is an ethnically diverse island, with hundreds of indigenous groups and a large and well-established community of non-indigenous Malays, Madurese only began arriving under the transmigration program of the former regime.

"We are coordinating with our volunteers in the refugee camps to prepare for the action" he said. "All volunteers and refugee children are ready to join with students," Nagian said.

August 17 celebration at palace marred by rally

Jakarta -- President Abdurrahman Wahid led on Thursday a solemn commemoration of Indonesia's 55th anniversary on the grounds of the official residence, Istana Merdeka, as students staged noisy demonstrations in the Monas Square nearby the palace.

Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri assisted the President during the ceremony, including handling of the country's first official flag, made by her mother the late Fatmawati.

Some 5,000 guests, including members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), former vice presidents, veterans, and foreign envoys, joined the celebration.

The 45-minute ceremony began at 10am, four minutes before the founding fathers, Sukarno, and Muhammad Hatta, proclaimed Indonesia's independence in 1945. The ceremony was opened with a siren and a 17-gun salute. Sounds of bells from the nearby Catholic Cathedral and drum beats from the Istiqlal Great Mosque could be heard clearly at the palace.

Assembly Speaker Amien Rais read the text of the Proclamation and the flag was raised. A minute of silence was then observed to honor the nation's heroes.

It was unfortunate that as Minister of Religious Affairs Tolchah Hasan led a prayer for guidance, a group of students could be heard demonstrating at Monas Square, a short walk from the venue.

When the minister prayed, "Forgive the sins of our leaders", the students were heard shouting, "Bring the corrupt leaders to court". The President then handed over the duplicate flag to Desiani Victoria, a member of a group of selected senior high school students from across the country to perform the flag raising. The original flag has not been used since 1968.

Then president Soeharto kept the original flag at his residence until his resignation in 1998. The original and duplicate flags are now kept in Sukarno's former bed room at Merdeka Palace.

A senior Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leader, Ali Maschan Moesa, suggested the President throw away the duplicate flag saying he is convinced the flag has been the source of all the troubles faced by Gus Dur, as the President is popularly called.

Besides Megawati, the ceremony was attended by five other of Sukarno's children, including Guntur Sukarnoputra, Sukarno's wife Hartini, and siblings of the country's first vice president Muhammad Hatta.

Conspicuously absent were former president Soeharto and B.J. Habibie. According to palace officials, the two former presidents were invited, but had informed the President that they could not come. "Regarding Soeharto, we thank him for not coming as his presence here could cause a problem," said a palace official.

Guests left the ceremony with a stronger spirit of patriotism and a complimentary bag of souvenirs containing several products of the giant food company PT Indofood. Foreign diplomats, including British Ambassador Robin Christopher and Singapore's Ambassador Edward Lee, also accepted the gifts.

For many, particularly businessmen, the event was also an opportunity to meet with their favorite ministers. Two ministers tipped to retain their Cabinet posts, Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Minister of Mines and Energy Lt. Gen. (ret.) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, were the most popular of the guests. Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak laughed when a reporter told him that "The more people ask you to pose with them the stronger your chance to remain in the Cabinet".

Following the ceremony, The President and Vice President jointly hosted a lunch with independence fighters and veterans at the State Palace. During the ceremony, the President handed over the legal documents for Sukarno's land and building in Bogor, the Batutulis Palace, to Sukarno's eldest son Guntur.

Soeharto's regime seized the property not long after replacing Sukarno in 1967. Soeharto buried Sukarno in Blitar, East Java, despite Sukarno's request to be buried near his home in Bogor. "Alhamdulillah [Thanks God]," Guntur whispered after receiving the document from the President, while his sister Megawati tried hard to hide her emotions. In the evening the President presided over the lowering of the flag.

The protesters, a group of a few thousand people claiming to be students from several major universities in Java, such as ITB in Bandung, IPB in Bogor, and ITS in Surabaya, expressed their disappointment with the government's progress implementing the reform agenda.

The students began the demonstration at Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta at about 8am before marching the few kilometers to Merdeka Palace. During the march, the students were escorted by hundreds of police under the watchful eyes of Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Nurfaizi. The protesters repeatedly chanted the word "disappointed". The rally ended at about 1pm with the students dispersing peacefully.

Students rally for reform to mark 55th national day

Jakarta -- About 1,000 university students staged a peaceful demonstration in Central Jakarta yesterday, to celebrate Independence Day with calls for further reform.

The demonstrators, grouped in the Indonesian Students Network (JMI), walked 1.7 kilometers from the Hotel Indonesia roundabout toward the Istana Merdeka presidential palace, hoping to meet with President Abdurrahman Wahid. But dozens of police stopped them about 500 meters from the palace. The demonstrators told police they had no intention of causing violence.

After about 20 minutes, the students were allowed to resume their rally, following the conclusion of a flag-raising ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of dignitaries at the state palace. The students criticized the government and People's Consultative Assembly for failing to accomplish the goals of the reform movement.

Before dispersing at 12.20pm, the students went to the Supreme Court building, nearby the palace complex, where they cursed the poor performance of the nation's top judicial body. They also went to Istiqlal Mosque, where they prayed for national unity.

Earlier in the day, the students held a free speech forum outside Hotel Indonesia on Jalan Thamrin, starting at 8.30am. They voiced three main demands: amend the 1945 Constitution in line with calls for reform; remove all remnants of ex-president Soeharto's New Order regime from the government and parliament; and expel the military and police representatives in the MPR.

The protest did not disturb traffic on the street. Some of the demonstrators, using rock-climbing equipment, scaled the Welcome Statue standing in the circle's center and after reaching the top, unfurled a black banner conveying the three demands. The students wore the distinctive jackets of their universities, including the University of Indonesia, Trisakti and Pancasila.

Delivering speeches, the protesters called for the prosecution of former president Soeharto for corruption and abuse of power. They also called for Soeharto's cronies and relatives to be put on trial. The demonstration was entitled the "Mourning Day of Reform" because of the MPR's "failure" to heed the people's calls for total reform.

Students and youths on Wednesday staged rallies in front of the parliament building, also calling for an end to the military and police presence in the nation's legislative bodies.

The protesters were grouped in the Islamic Students Association (HMI), Guna Dharma Student Group, Indonesian Students Network and the Jombang People's Action Committee, Antara reported. The rallies caused congestion on Jalan Gatot Subroto as most of the demonstrators came to parliament on foot.

The Jombang People's Action Committee unfurled a 100-meter banner containing thousands of signatures asking the military and police to leave the MPR. MPR Commission B on Sunday proposed the presence of the military and police in the highest law-making body be maintained until 2009 and in the House of Representative until 2004.

"We have reached an agreement to keep the military and police in the assembly until 2009. We are concerned that the servicemen may not be ready to use their right to vote," Commission B Chairman Ramjbe Kamarulzaman of the Golkar Party told reporters on Sunday.

About 30 street singers grouped in the Kampus Diakona Modern Foundation also held a rally outside parliament on Wednesday, demanding the MPR issue a decree guaranteeing the rights of street kids. "We want to change the awareness of the people's representatives about the issue of street children. We should not let their number increase, because street children are susceptible to free sex and narcotics, as well as persuasion to commit crimes," the foundation's coordinator, Lumi, was quoted as saying by Antara.

Students burn suharto's coffin at Cendana

Hestiana Dharmastuti/Hendra & Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta -- Disgraced former dictator Suharto and his cronies can not yet breathe easily. Once again, students gathered together with the City Forum (Forkot) have demanded they be taken to court and again planned to besiege his residence, known as Cendana after the street on which it is located.

Around fifty student activists from many groups gathered on Wednesday at the intersection of Jl. Dipenogoro, Central Jakarta, in front of the Megaria building, waiting for more protesters to arrive. Orators stood resolutely on top of a minibus and delivered speeches demanding Suharto and his cronies be put on trial immediately. A huge banner was carried reading "Bring Suharto to Trial and Seize His and His Cronies' Assets." The protesters also distributed pamphlets listing twenty one `suspects to be arrested and taken into the court'. The pamphlets included pictures, addresses and mentioned the accuseds' sins.

At the top of the list was the former president. Others mentioned were cronies, such as Bob Hasan, Liem Soe Liong and Ibnu Hartomo, brother of the late Mrs. Tien Suharto. Leaders of the Golkar party which ruled Indonesia in cooperation with the armed forces under Suharto were also mentioned, such as former information Minister Harmoko, Ginandjar Kartasasmita and Moerdiono as well as Suharto's hand-picked successor, Habibie.

On this occasion, the protest was unusually creative. Students brought five bamboo coffins covered by white cloth and splattered with blood. Each coffin bore an inscription, either Suharto, Tommy, Sigit, Tutut or Bambang, that is, Suharto and four of his six sons and daughters.

Students claimed that more than two years had passed since the dictator had been brought down and yet the institutions meant to uphold the law can not taken serious action against Suharto and his cronies. They were particularly critical of the current Annual Session (ST) of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Orators maintained that parliament members were neglecting the people's interests and that all were hell bent on securing better positions for themselves.

"No party wants to abolish the military presence in the parliament, they have done the opposite and accepted their presence till 2009. Suharto is laughing about this now. Golkar is happy and the Armed Forces are obviously lapping it up," a student during his speech.

In the end, around 100 demonstrators marched to Cendana shouting slogans. The coffins were placed on the road in front of the house, heavily guarded by police, and set on fire amid cries of anger and elation.

Although the Attorney General has began legal proceedings against Suharto and a number of the aforementioned cronies, these measures are failing to satisfy the students who vowed to be back to push for the realisation of the will of the people of Indonesia.

Clowns and democrats meet at parliament

Djoko Tjiptono/BI & LM, Jakarta -- During the busiest day of demonstrations yet seen during this year's session of the People's Consultative assembly, the Indonesian Parliament grounds have been the perfect arena for democracy activists wishing to become actors, actors pretending to be politicians and politicians disguised as democracy activists.

Nevertheless, this is also the place where people have come to express their concerns about the future of their nation. On Monday there were countless protests staged in and outside the parliament grounds.

The various demonstrations were distinguishable by the degree of emotion, imagination and the number of supporters behind their cause. The main objective od all protesters was to make the politician inside the building aware of the fact that it is the general public that the politicians should be protecting and discussing.

Up to 2000 members of the Banser force, the paramilitary group affiliated to the Nahdlatul Ulama once headed by President Abdurrahman Wahid, and their supporters marched to the parliament grounds to show their support for the President and his deputy Megawati Sukarnoputri.

They marched from the grand mosque in central Jakarta in full military-style uniform creating a major traffic jam in the already congested streets surrounding the parliament. They carried banners, placard, and flags and shouted 'Reject Assembly Interference in the Executive' and 'If President Ousted the People Will Fight' and other slogans.

A group calling themselves the True Supporters of Megawati People's Front, which also supports the Wahid-Sukarnputri leadership team were held up by the security forces but managed to join the massing protesters.

Another demonstration at the parliament stood out for its humour and irreverance. Around 150 people under the auspices of the 'Islands Gate' and 15 students from the Young Protectors of Indonesia Students' Committee (Komppi) brought their own 'political clowns' to the parliament grounds.

The clowns were adorned with oversized backsides with the names of several politicians written on them, including Arifin Panigoro, Ginanjar Kartasasmita, Alvin Lie and Zulvan Lindan. Both groups demanded the parliament be purged of these political chameleons, opportunists and political clowns.

Protesters from the Information Center and Reform Action Network (PIJAR) especially targeted Golkar, the party which ruled Indonesia in cooperation with the armed forces under former President Suharto. Pijar demanded Golkar take full responsibility for the 32 years of oppression under the Suharto regime.

Their banners read "Golkar [flag] is flying, Indonesia is falling", "Get Rid of Suharto and Habibie Cronies from the Parliament" and others. Pijar also demanded the armed forces and police be removed from the parliament, that the military's dual political-social and defense function be abolished and for the political elites to refrain from creating further anxiety through their inflamatory comments.

A similar sentiment was expressed by the Indonesain Student Action Network (JAMPI). This group demanded that the Wahid administration and cabinet lineup be free of Golkar and military elements.

Meanwhile the Greater Jakarta Student and Youth Council warned the general public to be aware of political consensus emerging which is robbing the President of his political power. According to Jampi, the military should be the defenders of the nation and the protectors of the people and not the other way round.

Jampi also demanded that all criminals from the New Order regime of Suharto be brought to trial and that the scandals involving monies from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and Brunei be dealt with immediately. They demanded an immediate amendment of the Constitution and to inhibit national disintegration.

Banned banners taken down

Surabaya -- Dozens of the banners denouncing political figures and parties which have been erected since the start of the People's Consultative Assembly Annual Session are being taken down by police in a bid to cool the climate in the city.

Police have been conducting a sweep of the banners since Monday. Just exactly who is responsible for the erection of the banners is unclear. "Go to hell with Golkar", "Amien Rais, where is your promise of reform", and "MPR-DPR don't fool the people" were among a few of the bold inscriptions on the banners taken down.

Senior Supt. Sri Koesno of the Surabaya police said the authorities would closely monitor if the banners are re-erected over the next few days. "All of these banners have political messages which could incite unrest between the various political forces in the community," Sri Koesno explained.

City Front protesters tear down parliament gate

Djoko Tjiptono/BI & LM, Jakarta -- A large metal gate at the parliament was torn down by members of the City Front (Front Kota) student group when their protest turned tense and nasty after a lively demonstration at the parliament building on Tuesday. Approximately 150 supporters of the Front, consisting mainly of high school and university students, assembled at the parliament.

The group held orations before the grounds rejecting what they described as a compromise with forces of the New Order regime of former President Suharto. They particularly demanded that seats allocated to the military and police in the parliament be abolished. The parliament is currently moving to legislate for their inclusion at least until 2009.

As the situation grew increasingly heated, protesters pelted the security forces with plastic bottles and then managed to pull down the front gate of the parliament building. The police, however, held their ground and did not retaliate, which proved to be an effective tactic. In the end, the protesters realised that the police would not be provoked and started to retreat, promising they would return tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, members of the Muslim Student Association (HMI) rallied at the same spot. They demanded that the Bruneigate and the Bulogate scandals, involving suspected illegal trasfers of funds by the President and his 'inner circle', be dealt with properly. These two scandals have been prominent features in many demonstrations since the People's Consultative Assembly convened on 7 August.

As well as the physical show of force by the students protestors, many were also seen handing out flowers to commuters and passersby around the parliament complex in what turned out to be an eventful day.

More than 1,000 rally at Assembly session

Jakarta -- Over 1,000 people from different groups rallied on Monday in front of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), voicing various demands ranging from support for the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid to the expulsion of the military/police faction in the nation's highest law-making body.

It was the largest demonstration since the Assembly's Annual Session started last week. Less than 100 people had turned up on average for previous rallies. No incidents were reported during the rally, expect for ensuing heavy traffic jams on access roads to the MPR compound.

In an apparent show of force, some 700 protesters linked to the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama dominated Monday's rally. They yelled support for Abdurrahman, or Gus Dur as he widely known, who chaired the organization for 15 years before elected president last year. "Gus Dur-Mega tergusur, rakyat siap tempur [Gus Dur-Mega ousted, people ready to fight]," a banner read.

Al Zastrouw Ng, a former close confidant of Abdurrahman, said the protesters were simply expressing their disappointment with the maneuvers engaged in by Assembly members. "This is only our way of expressing our demands. We are sick and tired of seeing the Assembly members maneuver to topple the President," he said.

A group of Irianese stole the show during the joint rally. Wearing traditional costumes, the Irianese, who prefer to call themselves Papuans, thronged the gate and asked to be admitted to the Assembly compound. They said they wished to deliver their demands directly to Assembly members. But no members appeared saying that the Annual Session had not slated a discussion on Irian Jaya's problems.

Other groups of protesters consisted mainly of students, including the Greater Jakarta Students Council (DMJ), the Jakarta Union of Youth and Students (SPPJ), and the Indonesian Association of Muslim Students (PMII).

The students tried to force their way into the MPR compound, but dozens of police personnel kept them at bay. The dejected protesters battered the entrance gate, while chanting "revolution to the death." Police officers took the precaution of lying down a line of barbed wire in case the protesters managed to break through and enter the MPR grounds. Several officers were seen carrying tear gas launchers.

Despite their different agendas, there were no clashes between the protesters groups because as each of them gave sufficient time to others to air their aspirations.
 

East Timor

Soldiers may have `encouraged' East Timor militias

Jakarta -- Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab on Saturday said some soldiers might have encouraged the pro-Jakarta militias in the border area of East Timor.

"It is possible that certain individual [soldiers] have encouraged the militias' operations, but as an institution it is obvious that the military doesn't want the incidents to happen," Shihab told journalists.

Tensions have risen in East Timor following a spate of armed encounters and the killing and mutilation of a New Zealand peacekeeper in the border area last month -- thought to have been carried out by West Timor-based anti-independence militia.

Shihab said Jakarta was determined to close camps in West Timor where East Timorese refugees and militia have sheltered since last year's vote for independence from Indonesia, to enable the government to put an end to the violence on the border.

The foreign minister had said on Monday the goverrnment would set up an inter-departmental task force to prepare the closure of the camps, which he said would take place within three to six months.

"We don't want to be blamed. But the truth is there are people who have engaged in violence, which has caused fatalities," he said. "Closing the camps is intended to avert accusations that we are not willing to solve the problems on the border," he added.

He said authorities in West Timor had recently found arms hidden by militias. But "it is not easy to disarm all of them," he added.

Shihab also said his counterparts in New Zealand and Australia had expressed their support for the plan to dismantle the camps and repatriate or relocate the refugees. The United States and the European Union have also pledged financial support for the program, he said.

According to the UN High Commisioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 103 attacks against humanitarian workers and refugees have been recorded in West Timor since the aid programs there began in September 1999, apparently to prevent the emptying of the camps.

The most recent spate of intimidatory attacks on the aid workers has forced the UNHCR to slow down its refugee repatriation activities in the West, where militiamen mingle with, and often control, the refugees in the camps.

Some 250,000 East Timorese fled or were driven out of East Timor after the independence ballot. Pro-Jakarta milita followed them when UN peacekeepers arrived to quell the wave of militia violence launched to avenge the vote. Some 170,000 of the refugees have since returned home.

New broad-based party gathering influential support

A group of prominent East Timorese leaders, spanning the territory's historical political spectrum, are organizing a new center-right political party with the apparent blessing of independence leader Xanana Gusmao, a key organizer said Wednesday.

To be called the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the new group will make its formal debut on Sept. 3-4, the first anniversary of the announcement of the pro-independence results of the plebiscite last August 30, Mario Carrascalao, a CNRT vice president, told Lusa in Dili.

The PSD "will be one more option for those who do not have one and for those who do not feel mobilized for the period of reconstruction", said Carrascalao, a former governor under Indonesian rule.

"About 10" leading personalities, he added, were involved in organizing the party, including fellow CNRT vice president Jose Ramos Horta. Ramos Horta confirmed his involvement to Lusa. Other sources said both Gusmao, the CNRT president, and the territory's two influential Catholic bishops backed the initiative.

Observers said the new party would seek support among people tired of "the revivalism of the past" of the historic Fretilin and UDT parties, whose brief but bloody 1975 civil war served Indonesia as a pretext to invade and annex the territory.

East Timorese still live in fear of their lives

Andrew Perrin, Ainaro -- Fearing UN peacekeepers cannot guarantee their safety, villagers in East Timor's mountainous central south-west have fled to the forest or formed vigilante groups against possible militia attack.

The exodus to the mountains last Friday of 1200 people from the remote village of Maununo, about 40km from the West Timor border, is the first time villagers have left their homes since international security forces began arriving in East Timor last September.

Hundreds of thousands of Timorese sought refuge in the mountains as militia violence swept the territory after the August 30 independence vote. Most returned to burned-out villages and towns after the Australian-led Interfet forced militia groups into West Timor.

But in the past month security along the rugged border separating UN-controlled East Timor from West Timor has steadily deteriorated. Incursions have left two UN peacekeepers dead and plunged already traumatised Timorese living near the border into a state of panic.

In Maununo, the sighting of a militia group close to the village last Thursday caused alarm in the small farming community. When the people heard militia were in the area they ran straight to the forest, Maununo's village chief, Afonso Da Cunha, said. Maununo is where local militia last September killed 12 people in what was one of the worst single massacres recorded in the central south-west. The town's population is now camped in the open air along a river valley not far from the village, returning only by day to stock up with provisions.

"I will not return until the peacekeeping force sends us some soldiers to live in the town," said Marguerido Bianco, a mother of six, who is camped in the same arew where her family lived for a month last year before the peacekeepers arrived.

Mr Da Cunha said the Portuguese unit of the UN peacekeeping force based in Ainaro, 10km to the north of the village, was reluctant to base soldiers in the village because of its inaccessibility by road.

"They came here for 10 minutes on Saturday and told us we should not be scared and then they left," he said. "But we are all still living in the forest." The people's fears appear to be justified following many confirmed militia sightings in the area this week. In the town of Cassa, 20km to the south of Maununo, a militia group on Sunday night harassed the residents and left.

More worrying for UN peacekeepers was the presence of about 40 militia near the town of Hatu Buliko, high in the mountains of central-west Timor, on Sunday night. Cesar Opricio -- a senior inspector for the UN's civilian police Civpol, who travelled to Hatu Buliko on Monday to investigate the sighting -- said the frightened people had formed a vigilante group ready to defend the village against militia attack.

Nobody slept in the village on Sunday night, he said. "They all huddled together and the men formed their own security. They were all heavily armed with machetes and scythes. They said they did not want a repeat of last year. Things are getting worse. It's bad." UN officials in Dili said the upsurge in militia activity was expected to continue over the next few weeks, with key events to take place.

There are fears that the anniversary today of Indonesia's Independence Day may prove an opportunity for militia to launch attacks to show their allegiance to Jakarta.

And next week East Timor's political leaders, including the likely first president Xanana Gusmao, will gather in Dili to discuss the nation's future. On August 30, the territory marks the first anniversary of its rejection of militia and Indonesian army intimidation to choose independence.

Lieutenant-Colonel Brynjar Nemo, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor, said yesterday that security in the border areas was being revised: "Based on the increase in the number of reports [of militia activity], the tempo of our operations will increase."

[On August 17, Associated Press reported that UN troops have boosted security in Dili after pro-Jakarta militiamen infiltrated into the town, Peacekeepers set up roadblocks on the three avenues leading into Dili. Peacekeeping spokesperson Brynjar Nymo said the militiamen could have returned among groups of refugees from West Timor - James Balowski.]

Militia attacks increase

Jon Land -- Pro-Jakarta militia operating out of refugee camps and other bases in West Timor show no sign of scaling down their attacks upon refugees or United Nations soldiers and humanitarian staff. The increasing number of clashes between the militia and UN patrols is further delaying East Timorese refugees return home and fuelling fears that security in the border region will continue to deteriorate.

The fatal August 10 firefight between Nepalese UN soldiers and militia near the town of Suai, 30 kilometres inside East Timor's territory, followed a spate of militia incursions along the West Timor border over the last two months.

While UN representatives in East Timor believe they can "contain" militia activity, they have also stressed that they cannot totally secure the border and expect further attacks to take place. "There could well be some militias who have already infiltrated ... and who might be lying low to hit some pre- designated targets on certain dates. But what those targets are we don't know", warned General Mike Smith, the deputy chief of UN forces in East Timor.

Senior Indonesian government officials have also said they are unable to halt militia activity or secure the Indonesian side of the border, primarily because of the direct support the militia gangs receive from the Indonesian military (TNI).

Indonesian defence minister Juwono Sudarsono told Deutsche Presse-Agentur on August 11 that "rogue" Indonesian soldiers are "possibly" supporting the militias, "but I can say for certain it's not the formal commander, General Kiki Syahnakri. There may be problems below him, especially in the camps."

Despite recent promises by Syahnakri, not one of the refugee camps which were ordered shut at the end of July by President Abdurrahman Wahid have closed.

Increasing intimidation of staff from the International Office of Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has resulted in an indefinite halt to repatriation of East Timorese refugees from the camps. In an incident on August 11, 50 machete wielding members of the Aitarak militia surrounded the IOM office in Atambua, not far from where some of the largest refugee camps are located. The staff were under siege for several hours before TNI soldiers and police intervened.

Similar attacks and protests by militia members have occurred in recent weeks outside the main IOM and UNHCR offices in West Timor and the UN offices in Jakarta.

"The militia terror campaign in West Timor and along East Timor's border mirror those attacks launched by the TNI and militia more than a year ago across East Timor in the lead-up to the referendum on independence", said Max Lane, national coordinator of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor. "The militia gangs are well armed and trained, and they appear just as brazen and dangerous as they did last year when they carried out their `scorched earth' policy after the vote", he told Green Left Weekly.

Much more needs to be done to halt the terror: "There is a lack of consistent political and diplomatic pressure from the UN and Western governments upon the Indonesian government and military to end the militias' activities", Lane said.

Lane added that the admission by Indonesian government officials that they could not control the militia gangs in West Timor makes it "even less likely that militia leaders and TNI officers and soldiers responsible for mass murder in East Timor will be punished as a result of the Indonesian government investigations under way at the moment".

Don't blame us for the militia attacks: Jakarta

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Indonesia yesterday denied responsibility for intensified attacks by militias on international forces inside East Timor.

The Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, told journalists in Jakarta that his Government was not willing to take the blame for continuing violence and intimidation by the militias operating from refugee camps inside Indonesian West Timor.

"Actually, the Defence Minister [Mr Juwono Sudarsono] has stated if any incident happens in East Timor it is the responsibility of UNTAET [the UN Transitional Administration for East Timor]," Mr Shiwab said.

The United Nations has made clear in high-level representations to Jakarta over the past fortnight that it expects Indonesian authorities to hunt down, arrest and punish militiamen responsible for the killing of two UN peacekeepers, a New Zealander and a Nepalese, in the past three weeks.

The head of the UN in Dili, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, has launched a blistering attack on the inability or refusal of Indonesian authorities to disarm and remove bands of militias from the border areas.

Mr Vieira de Mello said he believed between 200 and 300 people in West Timor were committed to violence against UN troops deployed along East Timor's border. "Surely they are easily identified," he said. "Remove them from the border. Remove them from refugee camps, if that is where they are. Or remove them from West Timor altogether."

Mr Vieira de Mello said repeated pleas to Indonesian military regional commanders to disarm the militias were supported by the UN Security Council. He did not say what action would be recommended to the council if attacks continued.

UN officials say privately that they have lost faith in Indonesia's repeated promises to disband the militias and close the camps. "Enough is enough," one of UNTAET's top military commanders said from Dili. "Punish the killers of our people. Disband the militias. Close the camps or else the UN will be forced to act."

After meeting West Timor-based pro-Indonesian figures in Jakarta, Mr Shihab said a "comprehensive plan of action" to clear the camps of an estimated 120,000 East Timorese would be completed within three to six months. But yesterday's announcement comes 10 months after Mr Shihab's Government first promised to close the camps and end militia violence and intimidation.

Staff of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Migration Office were forced to leave West Timor last weekend because of intimidation and violence directed against them by militias.

Mr Shihab said: "We would like to close the camps in order to demonstrate that we as a government are not willing to be accused as the culprit. The military was annoyed at being blamed for the violence and intimidation. "There are many factors," he said. "Bitterness sometimes comes out past experience ... even if you close the camps you will still find such bitterness."

But UN officials have information, including from a captured militiaman, that elements of the Indonesian armed forces are behind the attacks. Mr Sudarsono was reported by a German newsagency last weekend as saying rogue elements of the Indonesian armed forces were backing militia groups.

Asked why the camps had not been cleared of troublemakers, Mr Shihab said there was not have enough money to separate and repatriate former soldiers and their families from other refugees in the camps. "Until now we did not get sufficient funding from the international community," he said. "We are not quite convinced they [former soldiers] are the culprits."

Cafe culture only for East Timor's new elite

Joanna Jolly, Dili -- With its chrome chairs and international menu, the City Cafe could be in any modern capital around the world. But it is in the burnt-out city of Dili, two doors up from the site of a brutal massacre and just strolling distance from the former headquarters of one of East Timor's fiercest militias.

On this street, cafes and restaurants are flourishing in what was once forbidden militia-ruled territory during the final months of the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.

One year after the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence, leading to the systematic destruction of the territory by pro-Indonesian militias and the Indonesian military, the City Cafe is a symbol of successful private enterprise in the world's newest country.

Charging an average A$15 for a main meal and A$30 for a bottle of wine, the cafe caters for the hundreds of United Nations staff and Western workers now living in Dili. But sitting outside at the designer tables, the only East Timorese you are likely to see are those from the privileged political and economic elite.

Like many new businesses in East Timor that cater for the Western market, the City Cafe is owned and run by members of the East Timorese diaspora who have returned to rebuild their lives, now that the Indonesians have left. Using finance from countries such as Australia and Hong Kong, often in conjunction with foreign business partners, they are able to import goods to sell them at a price far above the earnings of the average East Timorese. "We work without salaries and we eat in our homes. We cannot afford these places," says student Fransisco Cancio, who speaks of frustration among East Timorese youths who are desperate for training and jobs.

Under the governance of the UN transitional administration, East Timor has become a country of four languages and three currencies. Despite the adoption of the US dollar as the official currency, locals continue to use the cheaper Indonesian rupiah to buy goods in markets selling locally produced vegetables and goods brought in from Indonesia.

This world of open-air stalls and small street-side cafes stands in stark contrast to the air-conditioned supermarkets and chic restaurants that cater for UN staff, international aid workers and businessmen, where the prices are marked in US or Australian dollars. The disparity between these two economies has led to criticism from East Timorese, who worry that they cannot afford to support themselves because of the inflated prices.

"If we do have jobs, we only earn a little. But here prices are in Australian or US dollars and everything is very expensive. People are not angry with the UN, they are just angry because there are people without money and jobs who do not have enough money for their families," says Ina Bradbridge, an East Timorese charity worker who runs an orphanage for victims of last year's violence.

In particular, this criticism is directed against the UN transitional administration. Friction is caused by the disparity between the average Timorese wage of around US$5 a day, and high salaries for UN staff, which include a daily living allowance of just over US$100.

"It is so different from the situation for the Timorese. I have been working since January and I have not yet received any salary," says Mari Barreto, a security worker at the headquarters of the East Timorese umbrella political organisation, the National Council for Timorese Resistance.

As the slow process of reconstruction begins in East Timor, foreign workers are beginning to move away from expensive foreign-run hotels and into the community, helping to rebuild houses rented from locals. But there is still a sense among the population that the foreign community is living an elite life removed from the people.

In her recent visit to East Timor, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, added her own voice to the debate criticising the international presence for its distance from the population. "There is not that empathy of really understanding how much the people of East Timor suffered."

But UN workers say this criticism is unfair, pointing out that in order to attract top professionals from around the world to East Timor, the UN has to pay professional salaries, and that in many cases, there is no alternative to living and eating in expensive foreign-run businesses.

"There are many people in this mission who are devoted to East Timor and who work very hard and it would be unfair to say they are just here to make a profit," says one UN worker recruited from Darwin.

UN staff also point out that many East Timorese are hired and trained by the transitional administration for professional work, such as judges, teachers and architects, and the perception that all East Timorese are reduced to working in menial service jobs for little money is not true.

The owners of the City Cafe say they plan to be in East Timor for a long time, not just for the period of the UN administration, which is due to hand over to an East Timorese-run government next year. However, they do wonder how they will survive when the money brought in by workers from the UN and other international agencies leaves East Timor. By then, they say they hope to be catering for a broader cross-section of the community.

Drawing the line with Jakarta

Brian Toohey -- Well-trained soldiers dressed in Indonesian battle fatigues, and carrying Indonesian semi-automatic rifles, are trying extremely hard to kill Australian and other UN troops in East Timor. Yet influential commentators persist in urging Australia to ignore this malevolent behaviour in an effort to repair relations with Indonesia.

These commentators are living in a fantasy world. The Indonesia they have in mind no longer exists. More importantly, it is most unlikely to be reincarnated in the foreseeable future.

The soldiers crossing the border to attack the UN troops are reportedly members of militia groups which the Indonesian military previously established, funded, trained and armed. Even making the dubious assumption that Indonesian Special Forces no longer directly participate in these militia units, we are now supposed to believe the military can't stop the murderous cross- border raids.

The invaders recently killed and mutilated a New Zealand peace keeper, killed a Nepalese peace keeper and wounded three others. Unless the cross-border raids are stopped, it can only be a matter of time until some Australian troops are also killed and mutilated.

Obviously, the Indonesian Government has a lot more on its plate to worry about than East Timor. Which is all the more reason for it to order the military to disband the militia. The Indonesian military's command structure is still intact. The military could stop the raids if it wanted to.

But there are disturbing signs that it doesn't. Worse still, it has the support of many other members of the Indonesian elite, apparently including the Vice-President, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The position of the Indonesian elite is much the same as if a democratic German government regarded it as perfectly normal after World War II to keep sending para-military forces into France to murder Allied troops.

Yet former diplomats, who hanker for the era when Australia enjoyed "good relations" with the Soeharto dictatorship, want to turn a blind eye to the continuing raids across the East Timorese border.

The argument runs that Australia was somehow at fault for leading the UN force which stopped the carnage after the August 30 independence ballot. From this perspective, Indonesia is entitled to be upset at Australia for allegedly betraying a friendship.

The reverse is the case. Indonesia should be profoundly grateful to Australia. Without Australia's intervention, Indonesia would have gone on to suffer even greater ignominy over its appalling behaviour in East Timor.

Last October's election of President Abdurrahman Wahid gave Indonesia the chance for a fresh start on the road to democracy. Although Wahid shows signs of wanting to respect East Timor's clear vote opposing occupation by Indonesia, he has been continually frustrated by friend and foe in the Indonesian elite.

The attitude of many members of the elite -- ranging from the Soeharto old guard to Wahid's reformist rivals -- does not bode well for the future of Indonesian society. Although on a lesser scale, it is as if key politicians in Germany and Japan in 1946 refused to accept that their wartime leaders had done anything wrong, preferring instead to blame the Allies for an embarrassing loss of face.

Even Megawati, supposedly a friend of Wahid, has encouraged those who refuse to accept that the occupation of East Timor was wrong. On Wednesday, Wahid tried to respond to criticism of the chaotic nature of his Government by giving Megawati greater responsibility for domestic policies. But few regard Megawati as more competent than Wahid, let alone more committed to human rights and democracy.

At this stage, it is difficult to see how the move will do much to prevent Indonesia descending further into turmoil and economic ruin. Just as in Russia, those who benefited from the previous dictatorship are reluctant to surrender power and economic privilege, while the reformers often seem united only in their ineptitude and tolerance of corruption.

Whether Indonesia is in serious danger of disintegration, as Wahid warned last week, is unclear. But the stability imposed by Soeharto's brutality seems just as unlikely to be restored as the stability enforced by Stalin. This doesn't mean that authoritarian measures won't be tried -- merely that they will no longer yield the sort of stability so admired by Australian policy makers in the past.

It will certainly be much more difficult to create stability at the point of a gun. No-one can confidently predict what will happen. But there is a reasonable chance that Aceh will break away from Indonesia. Likewise for West Papua.

Even if Australia could influence the outcome, no vital interests are served by a policy which insists that the arbitrary boundaries inherited from the Dutch should be maintained at almost any price. So far as many people in Aceh or West Papua are concerned, Javanese colonialism is no improvement on the Dutch version.

If they succeed in breaking free of Jakarta's control, Australia will have to get used to dealing with a couple more countries in the region. While this will require a little more willingness to adapt to change than is common among backward-looking Australian policy makers who regard the Dutch borders as sacrosanct, other countries have managed to live with the emergence of new neighbours in the post-colonial era.

Even if another strongman doesn't try to hold the old Dutch empire together, the importance attached to meetings with shaky leaders such as Wahid is easily over-rated. More practical assistance to pro-democracy forces at the grass-roots level might help at the margin, but visits from foreign leaders are not likely to count for much.

On Wednesday, a former US ambassador to Jakarta during the reassuring days of the Soeharto dictatorship, Paul Wolfowitz, joined the chorus of critics slamming the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, for not going to Indonesia to meet Wahid. Although couched in terms of the need to support democracy, Wolfowitz echoed the tired line about the dangers of letting the tail (East Timor) wag the dog (Indonesia) in policy formulation.

There would be no problem if Indonesia were prepared to behave like a responsible member of the international community and accept East Timor's territorial integrity. But what is Howard supposed to say to Wahid: "Here's a bag of money as a token of our friendship. And don't worry, I won't be so impolite as to mention the ongoing efforts to murder Australian troops."

Indonesia concedes it can't control Timor border

Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta -- Indonesia conceded on Friday it could not fully control its border with East Timor where another UN soldier was killed in a gunfight with pro-Jakarta gangs, and said the only solution was to close refugee camps in West Timor.

Indonesia has come under mounting international pressure to rein in the miltiamen who operate with near impunity in and around refugee camps just across the border inside Indonesian West Timor.

We have been quite open about this problem ... we cannot give 100 percent control, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sulaiman Abdulmanan told Reuters.

He said the government had always barred armed people from entering East Timor, which last year voted to break away from Indonesia. But once the people have crossed the border they are not our responsibility anymore ... they may store their weapons somewhere on the East Timor side, he said.

A Nepalese soldier was killed and three others wounded on Thursday night in the latest in a series of clashes between UN peacekeepers and pro-Jakarta militias. A New Zealand soldier was killed in similar circumstances last month. Thursday's clashes broke out northeast of the town of Suai.

Earlier this month, the UNHCR suspended repatriation of refugees to East Timor, accusing the militias of intimidating its staff.

Speaking in Singapore, Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said on Friday the only solution was to close the refugee camps, where thousands still live. By closing down the camp, the source of all those problems -- killing, tension could be abated, he said.

He said registration of refugees was a problem but Jakarta was determined to get it done and would not let the militias get in the way. Shihab said Indonesia was drawing up a plan to close camps in West Timor and would call on international agencies, including the United Nations, to help with the repatriation.

About a quarter of East Timor's population of 800,000 was forced to flee after the impoverished territory overwhelmingly voted a year ago to end 23 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.

The result of the vote triggered a wave of violence and destruction by the pro-Jakarta gangs and international troops eventually went in to bring it under control.

UN officials and diplomats have pressed Jakarta to end the cross-border incursions and disband the militias.
 

Government/politics

MPR approves nine decrees, TNI's presence included

Jakarta -- Concluding its Annual Session on Friday, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) endorsed nine decrees, two of which certified the military's presence at the Assembly until 2009 and the new tasks for Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The decrees, which take effect on August 18, 2000, regulate the changes made to the Assembly's internal rulings, legal sources and the hierarchy of the national legal system, regional autonomy, national unity, separation of the National Police from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and state institutions' annual progress reports.

Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said the decrees were a reflection of the Assembly's positive response to the myriad of problems the nation was facing.

"The amendment to the Assembly's internal rulings is expected to improve our performance, while the separation of the National Police from TNI is aimed at leading the personnel of the two institutions back to their profession." Commenting on the Assembly's issuance of the decree on recommendations for all state institutions, especially for the government, Amien said: "This first Annual Session was a good experience for us in learning democracy."

The following are the decrees unanimously endorsed by the MPR:

• The decree on the first change to the Assembly's internal rulings, which regulates the Annual Session is held not only to listen to the progress reports submitted by the government and other state institutions, but to evaluate them.
• The decree on the second change to the Assembly's internal rulings, which stipulates, among other things, sanctions against MPR members proven guilty of violating the code of ethics, formal requirements for legislators and the working committee's main tasks to prepare the agenda for General, Annual and special sessions. According to the decree, the House could call for an MPR special session if a president was considered violating the Constitution, state policy guidelines or law. The decree, however, prevents an Annual Session from recommending a special session to impeach a president.
• The decree on regional autonomy recommends a full implementation of autonomy as of January 1, 2001 and asks the government to issue regulations needed for the full implementation. It also recommends that the government issue two laws on special autonomy in Aceh and Irian Jaya.
• The decree on national unity instructs the government to facilitate dialogs both at the national and regional levels to promote tolerance among different groups of people, and to seek a comprehensive solution to numerous problems developing in a number of regions in order to strengthen national unity. The decree also recommends the establishment of a national truth and reconciliation committee to investigate past abuse of power and human rights violations. The Assembly also assigned the working committee to formulate the country's vision of the future and a code of national ethics in politics, economy, law and government.
• The decree on the separation of the National Police from TNI regulates that the police are in charge of security affairs while the military is responsible for the defense.
• The decree concerning the roles of the two institutions states that the police and the military were subordinate to the President while the police chief and TNI commander could be appointed or dismissed by the President upon House approval. The two institutions are obliged to support democracy and respect the law and human rights, while servicemen are obliged to comply with the Criminal Code. Both are also obliged to stay out of politics and remain neutral. The decree maintains the military/police's presence at the Assembly until 2009, on the grounds that servicemen do not vote in the general election. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the Golkar Party, which between them hold more than half the 700 seats at the MPR, have defended their support for the decision as a compromise among factions at the Assembly. This decision sparked protests from many sides during the Annual Session. Lt. Gen. Hari Sabarno, MPR deputy chairman, said the military was in principle ready to quit the Assembly. The military and police will end its presence at the House, provincial and regency legislatures in 2004.
• The decree on state institutions' progress reports instructs the President to reform political, legal, economic and social fields to defuse the crisis and establish political stability. Other state institutions are also asked to improve their performance to uphold democracy. The decree also orders the President to issue a detailed decree on the Vice President's new tasks in running the government. This follows the President's promise to empower the Vice President after many factions criticized the President's lack of management skills.
• The decree assigns the working committee to prepare a draft amendment of the Constitution's material, which will not be deliberated on until the Annual Session is over.
• The remaining material deals with the Assembly's tasks, executive power, Supreme Advisory Council, provincial and regency legislative councils, the general election, finance and budget, Supreme Audit Agency, justice and law enforcement and religions.

Indonesia's MPR ends with hardly any fireworks

Devi Asmarani and Robert Go, Jakarta -- No fire on the streets and smaller fireworks than expected in Indonesia's parliament complex. The first annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) ended with an anti-climax yesterday with the last tap of Speaker Amien Rais' gavel.

For months anticipated as a major test of President Abdurrahman Wahid's grip on power, the MPR session produced few ground breaking decisions.

But despite the negative report card legislators issued for the 10-month-old administration's achievements, the Assembly also facilitated political compromises, which perhaps promise some stability for the near future.

This at least is the hope of many observers, who say that only political stability can spur economic recovery and entrench the country's fledgling democratic roots.

In substantive terms, the MPR passed 10 decrees yesterday, not all meaningful, but an impressive start.

President vs the assembly

After months of bitter skirmishes between President and parliament, it was feared that radical legislators would use this MPR session to initiate impeachment procedures, plunging the country into further turmoil. How did the battle royale fizzle out? The President apologised profusely for his administration's shortcomings. He also pledged to give more power to Vice- President Megawati Sukarnoputri. The MPR ordered Mr Abdurrahman to back this up with a separate presidential decree elucidating her new tasks.

The Assembly adopted a twin-track mechanism for impeachment procedures against an errant president. Not only can Parliament call a special session of the MPR to take the president to task, but the MPR too can call for such a special session during its annual meetings.

Military vs civil supremacy

Many of today's political parties won parliamentary seats with pledges to send the military back to the barracks, if not now, then by the year 2004. But in what appeared to be a necessary compromise given the current fragility of national stability, the MPR decided to let the military keep its 38 seats there until the year 2009. But it also made sure the military knew what its primary duties were.

The MPR approved the structural separation of the police from the armed forces, with the former responsible for maintaining order, the people's safety and the supremacy of the law. The responsibilities of the Indonesian Defence Force (TNI) were defined as the defence of the country and protection of national unity.

All executive decisions affecting security issues now require parliamentary approval, although the TNI commander and the police chief remain accountable to the president only.

Back to the backburner

One of the Assembly's most significant agenda items was to amend the 1945 Constitution, but it only managed to deliberate on 12 of the 20 chapters suggested by a preparatory commission last month. In the end, only seven of these chapters passed through the MPR this year with the rest deferred to next year's session.

These were put on the backburner: Direct presidential election: Most major political parties wanted the president to be elected by the entire electorate with a simple majority. But Vice- President Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) blocked the proposed amendment over concerns that the president in such a system would then be too powerful.

Institution of Islamic law for Muslims: Known as the Jakarta Charter, seven words requiring Muslims to obey strict Syariah law were excised from the original constitutional draft 50 years ago for the sake of maintaining a secular and united Indonesia.

During this MPR session, two Muslim factions supported the charter's reinstitution. The issue, however, was deemed "too sensitive" for a vote at this time.

The independence of state agencies including the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General's office, the Central Bank and the State Accounting Agency: In order to prevent improper manipulation of state agencies by the administration, some legislators proposed amendments specifically stipulating their independence.

There was also a novel proposal to introduce more regional representation into Indonesia's law making bodies in keeping with the country's political and fiscal decentralisation programmes, which are to kick in in January.

The amendment would have turned the MPR into a bicameral assembly with one house consisting of representatives from Indonesia's provinces and the other elected legislators from the House of Representatives.

Golkar stirs the party pot

Warren Caragata, Jakarta -- If anything represents the uneasy muddle that is Indonesian politics these days, it may well be Golkar, the party of discredited ex-president Suharto.

For three decades, Golkar was Suharto's loyal lapdog. So when Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a Suharto protigi, says Golkar "must cleanse ourselves from the habits of the old system," does he mean it? Can the leopard change its spots? By some measures, it already has. Three of Wahid's ministers are Golkar members and the party -- the second-largest in parliament -- played a key role in his election last year. Golkar's Marzuki Darusman, the attorney- general, has spearheaded the corruption investigation against Suharto and ordered the arrest of Bob Hasan, a Suharto business crony. But recently Golkar chairman Akbar Tanjung told a party congress that if the government could not turn things around, Golkar would consider withdrawing its ministers from the cabinet.

This could have advantages both for the government and Golkar. Several observers have noted that Wahid has saddled himself with a coalition cabinet in which the parties are under no obligation to support him. "It is not clear who is the government party and who is the opposition party," says Jusuf Kalla, one of two ministers dumped from the cabinet in April. For Golkar, leaving the government would make it easier to address the process of reform and restructuring. Kalla and Ginandjar say this must happen if the party is to win another election. A spell in opposition, Kalla says, would also help young people elected last year to move up the party ranks. This "fresh young generation," he says, "is not contaminated by the old regime." Skeptics, of course, are not convinced. "It's quite deceptive to those who do not know the history," says Wimar Witoelar, a political commentator and leading member of the reform movement. Tanjung and Marzuki, he says, are just window dressing for a party that remains what it always was: a patronage machine. "They put on a good public relations front." Says legislator Mochtar Buchori: "Golkar is Golkar. It hasn't changed."

Confident Gus Dur regales MPs in top form

Marianne Kearney Jakarta -- President Abdurrahman Wahid's pre- Independence Day address to Parliament yesterday began and ended with his trademark humour and, this time, legislators laughed with him, indicating that much of the tension between the two sides had dissipated.

The speech, that is given annually by the President ahead of Independence Day today, showed a much more confident and controlled President. In a speech that stressed religious and cultural tolerance, he had the legislators doubled over in laughter when he joked about cultural differences in Indonesia.

Without referring directly to the political manoeuvring that had taken place over the last fortnight, he joked that they should be wary of Javanese and Sundanese political culture because Javanese and Sundanese people appeared generous on the surface but were scheming behind the scenes.

He also signalled that he welcomed the political debate consuming legislators inside and outside the current session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which has focused on whether it should issue a decree limiting the powers of the President and empowering the Vice-President.

He stressed that it was the role of the Parliament to control the President's power. "The spirit of this system is that the power of the President must be limited because the Constitution has given enough room for the President. And this is the spirit we should maintain," he said to applause from legislators.

On Monday, the MPR pulled back from issuing a legally binding decree which would require him to hand decision-making power to his Vice-President and will, instead, now ask him to issue a presidential decree detailing the Vice-President's tasks.

He also told legislators that it was not up to him but up to the House of Representatives (DPR) and the MPR to limit any political discussion. He called on legislators to continue making amendments to the Constitution because, he said, that was part of its original concept.

Unlike the two previous speeches he gave to the MPR, yesterday's was delivered by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri. This suggested that the political differences which had marked the opening of the MPR session 10 days ago, were resolved. She may also have agreed to read the speech because it was not a political account to the legislators.

The thorny issue of revoking the ban on the communist party was also raised by the President, who said he had a right to call for an end to the ban -- just as the House had the right to disagree with him, and that it was normal for the two sides to have different ideas. "This open-mindedness will guarantee our diversity."

Touching on the issue of sectarian violence rocking provinces such as Maluku, he said the government needed to begin a process of national reconciliation. "Our tasks ahead are, therefore, to rebuild inter-group relations in a more creative and humane format," he said. But he blamed the violence on "dirty hands who maliciously manipulate society's ignorance of its own cultural values."

Thumbs down for politicians

Robert Go, Jakarta -- If a recent Tempo Magazine poll is correct, Indonesians have little patience left for the manoeuvrings of Jakarta's political elite. The people crave concrete signs that economic and social conditions are improving.

"Indonesia's democracy is maturing," said some analysts who drew the positive view on the lack of violent demonstrations during the current session of the top legislature, the People's Consultative Assembly.

But Tempo's statistics, gathered from a survey of 1,301 people living in five major Indonesian cities (Jakarta, Surabaya, Semarang, Medan and Makassar), show that the people are perhaps too occupied with practical living concerns to take to the streets and to express their dissatisfaction with the government's performance. The answers seem to also indicate that Indonesians generally feel their politicians strike deals for themselves.

Who is looking out for the `little people'

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- As politician after politician attacked President Abdurrahman Wahid during this week's general assembly for failing to care for the welfare of Indonesia's "little people", the irony was not lost on these "little people".

As part of the clean-up operation for the annual general assembly, these people -- street singers, beggars and prostitutes -- were cleared from central Jakarta's streets.

As members of the political parties slept in five-star hotels, people such as Ms Carmel, a 24-year-old prostitute, will spend tonight and every night for the next three months at one of Jakarta's social rehabilitation centres.

The prostitute professes not to know much about what has been discussed at this week's special session. Her locked dormitory is without a television, so the 30 women there were not able to watch Tuesday's parliamentary broadcast where politicians said Mr Abdurrahman had failed because he had no solutions for people such as her.

She just knows that the police have been particularly vigilant in the streets around Kemayoran over the last fortnight. Some 40 to 50 women have been picked up in the last week, more than the usual two or three women picked up weekly, she says.

The security operation was launched by Jakarta's Governor Sutiyoso who, with the support of the local military and police, vowed to "take stern action against all street people doing their business on the streets".

Many of the politicians for whom the security operation was launched also think that the tradition of cleaning up Jakarta for the special assembly session, a hangover from the Suharto era, is a dated practice.

"It should not be done for the sake of the MPR session but if it is an ongoing policy and carried out in a very responsible manner, we support that. We need law and order but we also have to find a solution for these lower income people, otherwise they will have to turn to crime," says Mr Alvin Lie, a legislator from the PAN party.

In fact, the security forces, including council officers, have been so vigilant in this operation that they have even hauled in some women who say they are neither prostitutes nor beggars. Ms Romiati, a 24-year-old mother of two children, says she was picked up for being alone late at night. Despite her husband's plea that she was a drink seller, she was detained.

In the shadow of Blok M, one of Jakarta's glitzier shopping centres, the prostitutes and their pimps are also feeling the pinch of the security operation.

As council security trucks patrol the streets, young girls grab their pimps' hand and sit at a warung -- a roadsite foodstall -- pretending to be ordinary Jakarta teenagers sipping tea with their boyfriend on a Saturday night.

While the elaborate network of signs and whistles between the warungs allow these girls to escape the security dragnet, the less organised beggars and street children have not been so lucky.

According to one of the local security guards, at least 50 children who used to beg around this plaza have been moved out, along with illegal mobile noodle vans.

Dr Toto Hartono, a social worker from the Street Children's Assistance Unit, agrees that sending children onto the streets to beg is far from ideal but says many of their families rely on the 5,000 rupiah (S$11) the children make everyday.

"Perhaps the children are forgotten by the government," he says, arguing that instead of sending the children to rehabilitation centres, the government should concentrate on providing basic education for the children.

Meanwhile, at the Hilton hotel, all the executive suites have been booked by members of the general assembly. The rooms with views of the palm-fringed poolside cost US$180 a night or four times what a factory worker earns in a month.

In the simplest cafe, a glass of orange juice costs rupiah 25,000 and a sandwich costs rupiah 40,000, or about nine times the cost of a soup in a warung. Politicians say they feel uncomfortable with the extravagance of accommodating all the general assembly members in a hotel.

'Gang of four' Wahid's latest bid to counter critics

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- Amid loose talk of a constitutional coup, President Abdurrahman Wahid says he will run his Government through a gang of four.

While stressing that he would still be helped by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Mr Wahid said yesterday decisions would be made after consultation with four individuals: himself, Ms Megawati and two "co-ordinating ministers".

He also continued to refer to Ms Megawati's new role as "implementing technical daily jobs of cabinet" rather than as any redistribution of power.

"The cabinet will be led by two co-ordinating ministers -- one for economy, industry and finance and the other for politics, security and welfare," Mr Wahid said at the Presidential Palace on the eve of his State of the Nation address, which precedes Thursday's Independence Day ceremonies.

Over at the parliament building, an assertive group of younger members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) continue to threaten to pass a decree, or at least a recommendation, that Mr Wahid should hand power to Ms Megawati.

But neither Mr Wahid, nor political analysts, seem to be taking the threat seriously. "Moves in the MPR are really losing steam," said a close observer of the past week's parliamentary procedures. "Last week, [former ruling party] Golkar and [Ms Megawati's party] the PDI-P united to make their point to Mr Wahid about the need for better governance. But Wahid knows a decree won't work and believes he can negotiate his way out of this regardless."

A large part of negotiations are over who will gain which seats in cabinet. Mr Wahid is due to announce a new line-up after the MPR session on August 21.

Local reports describe Ms Megawati as insisting on a return of her lieutenants to prominence, namely putting retired General Wiranto back in charge of security and returning former economics chief Kwik Kian Gie and investment minister Laksamana Sukardi to their former jobs. But firm predictions in the present melee would be unwise.

Mr Wahid described the apparent confrontation in parliament as a positive process, saying parliamentarians' work should be seen in the context of improving the country's system of "checks and balances", in which matters of the executive, judiciary and the legislature are kept separate. "If we look at it in this perspective, we have to thank them," Mr Wahid said.

The embattled President also chose to play down a demonstration on Monday by the Banser civilian militia, attached to the Nahdlatul Ulama organisation which Mr Wahid once chaired. "I regretted there was a demonstration organised to support my position," he smiled. "Of course we understand and I thank them for this. But there is also the danger that members of the MPR would think I organised this. But I knew nothing about it."

Indonesia's back-room constitutional reform

Matthew Draper -- Political elites who sit on a low-profile committee of Indonesia's highest legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), are jeopardizing the nation's attempts at constitutional reform. The efforts of PAH I, the secretive group charged with drafting amendments to the constitution, a number of which will be considered this week, could have long-lasting implications for the health of Indonesia's fledgling democracy. Indeed the upcoming debate could prove more crucial than last week's struggle over the political future of embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid. This year's drafting of amendments leaves little room for optimism. PAH I has met behind locked doors; its members have made little or no effort to either educate or engage the Indonesian public. For example, when the Strategic Alliance, a non-partisan team of academics and legal experts organized by the Indonesian Institute of Science, invited PAH I to a conference on constitutional reform, only two members bothered to show up.

With the exception of draft proposals released in June, followed by final proposals in July, there has been no other attempt by the lawmakers at transparency. The assembly's different political factions appear to be cutting back-room deals on the new constitution.

No doubt, Indonesia's search for constitutionalism is likely to be a slow and arduous process. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the Suharto regime was its disregard for the country's 1945 Constitution and the rule of law. With the exception of Suharto himself, virtually all of the bureaucrats and generals that thrived under his rule remain in positions of power. In the MPR and government -- the two institutions from which any substantial movement for constitutional reform is likely to come -- many lawmakers and bureaucrats are committed to maintaining their influence and prestige.

But today's political elite is not driven simply by self- interest, or by a failure to understand its role in building a democracy. There are several issues lying just below the surface of Indonesia's political and constitutional history which the old regime is trying its best to keep out of democratic forums.

First and foremost, many lawmakers want to avoid reopening controversies allegedly "solved" by the preamble of the 1945 Constitution, which enshrined the limited role of Islam in public life and a declaration that Indonesia is a "unified state." Many fear calls for the adoption of Syrariah law from Islamic groups like the Mujahiddin would lead to an Islamic state. North Sulawesi, which is predominantly Christian, has already said it would secede if such a change were made. Similarly, if constitutional reform were used as a chance to reconsider all aspects of national life, then people of rebellious provinces like Aceh and West Papua would also insist on a say in its drafting.

Second, many legislators and government officials want the role of the military kept out of public debate. Despite near universal agreement among Indonesians that the military must be reformed and stripped of its political role, the security forces look set to emerge from the current assembly session with their status enhanced. Separately, Mr. Wahid appears ready to quietly put his imprint on the "State of Emergency" law, apparently hoping to avoid a repeat of the massive protests and student deaths that occurred last year when the emergency law was passed by the parliament.

Less controversial are proposed human rights amendments reminiscent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One proposal, for example, loftily calls for justice, but provides little in the way of enforcement. As currently written, the proposals allow the government to escape its responsibilities all too easily. Political rights, including guarantees of freedom of the press, speech, association and privacy, are altogether missing from the draft amendments.

Given the poverty, corruption, and ethnic and sectarian conflict tearing at their society, the drafters of Indonesia's constitution may be excused for making national stability a priority. But the rule of law with public consent is essential for that stability. PAH I's secrecy may make it easier for the parliament to reach a consensus on some important issues, but it won't in the long run help resolve the nation's key constitutional problems.

Indonesian leaders would be wise to look to the experiences of other nations that have made the transition from feudalism to constitutional democracy. Thailand, for example, adopted a new constitution in 1997 that is widely hailed as providing both ideals and mechanisms for ensuring respect for human rights, public participation in government and a limited role for the military. But Thailand's success came after three years of hard work, during which draft proposals were considered by independent commissions and a constitutional drafting assembly consisting of indirectly elected provincial representatives and legal experts.

Will PAH I continue to exclude the Indonesia people from debate about their constitution and rule of law? Will the Indonesian people demand greater participation in the process? Thailand's experience with public hearings to discuss proposed constitutional amendments remains a model. To be successful, a drafting commission must be charged with drafting a comprehensive set of changes on all issues, not just the ones the political parties cannot agree upon. Only if Indonesia's civil society is genuinely engaged will its people accept the drafting process as fair and consider the constitution a piece of paper worth respecting and defending.

[Matthew Draper, a student at Columbia Law School, is researching constitutional reform at the National Law Reform Consortium, a Jakarta-based non-governmental organization.]

Thousands storm MPR in protest over power-sharing

Jakarta -- After eight relatively peaceful and calm days outside the Parliament building, the ninth day of the current annual general session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) yesterday was marred by a major turnout of demonstrators.

About one thousand National Guard (Garda Nasional) members, the youth wing of the National Awakening Party (PKB) flooded the parliament in Senayan, central Jakarta. Abdurrahman Wahid helped found the PKB prior to his election as president. Demonstrators came from West Java, Central Java and East Java.

Demonstrators said they wanted to deliver a concerted protest against moves within the MPR to issue a separate decree on the power sharing arrangement between the president and the vice president, which they consider to be inconstitutional.

A Nahdlatul Ulama Central Executive Board (PBNU), executive later threatened to impose sanctions against the protesters. PBNU's Rois Syuriah, KH Hafidz Usman, told reporters yesterday that the NU had earlier warned its members against staging protests over the MPR session, and had told them sanctions would be imposed if they went ahead with their plan.

At 10pm, around 300 protestors from Indramayu, Sukabumi and other districts in West Java, arrived at the entrance to the Parliament building. A second group from Central Java and East Java arrived at noon, swelling the ranks of demonstrators to around 1,000. After voicing their aspirations -- through banners and posters as well as speeches -- the groups dispersed at about 3pm, without incident.

Field coordinator Karim said the demonstration was aimed at protesting the partisan attitude of delegates to the MPR's annual general session. He added that demonstrations would continue if the MPR persisted in its move to issue a decree formalizing the proposed delegation of the day-to- day tasks of government to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Other groups attending yesterday's protest were: Pijar Indonesia, the Action Front of Indonesian Students and Youths (JAMPI), the Indonesian Islamic Student Association (PMII), and the Nahdlatul Ulama Girl Student Group (IPPNU).

Pijar Indonesia Chairman Sulaiman Haikal accused the MPR session of trying to carry out a "constitutional coup" and "political blackmail" in its attempt to appoint Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri to run the day-to-day affairs of government, based on a proposed decree to be approved by the MPR.

"The delegation of the day to day affairs of government to the vice president, for which she will be accountable to the MPR, will make it easy for the Assembly to get rid of the Gus Dur -- Megawati duo," Sulaiman said.
 

Regional conflicts

Six killed, 18 injured in fresh Ambon fighting

Ambon -- Ambon was still tense on Sunday following clashes between troops and armed rioters at the border between Batu Merah and Mardika areas that left at least six people dead and 18 others wounded, officials and witnesses said.

Public minivan driver Daniel Kaya and speedboat passenger Beny were also severely injured on Saturday in separate clashes in Pohon Pule in downtown Ambon and off Rumah Tiga beach.

"The incidents at the Batu Merah-Mardika area late on Friday will become a lesson to any parties instigating an attack. Stern measures will be taken against rioters, regardless of their religion," Pattimura Military Commander Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa said on Saturday.

Most survivors suffered gunshot and shrapnel wounds and were being treated at Al Fatah Islamic Hospital.

The Friday episode began when youths from the predominantly Muslim Batu Merah subdistrict reportedly stole roofing materials from abandoned houses in the Christian Mardika area.

"Reports said a group of men from Mardika forcibly took a motorbike from a Muslim woman shortly afterwards," Yasa said. Witnesses said armed Christian and Muslim mobs then took to the streets.

The warring groups had reached about 150 meters into the Mardika area before troops divided them and tried to disperse them, a local reporter said.

"Troops fired warning shots and the Mardika camp backed away. But attackers from Batu Merah continued their assault by launching mortars, homemade bombs and spraying bullets at security personnel. Open fighting became inevitable." the reporter said.

General Yasa said that casualties were unavoidable. "The troops in the field had their lives on the line. We have already warned the rioters," Yasa added.

Later on Saturday, the cause of Friday's rioting -- a Yahama motorbike -- was handed over to the civil emergency administrator by the Maluku Protestant Church (GPM). It was later transferred to the secretary of the Maluku chapter of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), Malik Selang. Up until Sunday morning, explosions and gunfire were still being heard from several abandoned housing complexes in Ambon.

Yasa also said that a fresh batch of 450 personnel from the Navy, Army and Air Force special forces arrived in Ambon on Aug. 9.

"The group, which comprises of members of the Air Force Elite Unit (Paskhas), the Marines, the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) and the Army's Special Force (Kopassus), will function as a tactical combat unit and only be used in certain emergency situations.

"They won't be placed in security posts and will remain as special reserved troops," Yasa said. Yasa said Kopassus' main function would be intelligence.

"As the Pattimura Military Command was only reestablished on May 15 last year, we badly need a special intelligence unit's expertise.

Therefore the military headquarters formed a task force, consisting of three military units, including Kopassus.

"Intelligence is the basis of a military command, so its (Kopassus) function here is to become the eyes and the ears of the (Pattimura) military command," Yasa said.

Daniel Kaya, the public minivan driver who was shot on Saturday met Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina three hours after being operated on. "We demand the authorities wipe out all snipers roaming our route," Daniel said. He then gave the projectile taken from his back to the governor. "I will coordinate this with security troops," Latuconsina told the group of protesting drivers.

Indonesian troops slaughter Christians

Michael Sheridan, Manado -- The martyrdom of the village of Duma began with the gathering of spectral figures in white shrouds chanting about holy war and death. By the time it ended, 208 Christian villagers taking refuge in a church had been slaughtered by Muslims who call themselves the Laskar Jihad, or holy warriors.

The most sinister aspect of this mass murder in the Spice Islands of Indonesia comes from the consistent testimony of the survivors who escaped in boats and now fill a hospital in Manado, where most of the population is Christian, on the island of Sulawesi.

They say soldiers of the 511th and 512th battalions of the Indonesian army, who were supposed to keep the peace, put on the ghoulish robes of the jihadis, wrapped the barrels of their weapons in white cloth and joined in the massacre.

The Sunday Times has interviewed numerous survivors of the massacre, which took place on June 19. Their statements bear out detailed allegations compiled by Alexander Mellerse, a reporter in Manado.

No police officer or state attorney has bothered to collect evidence from the victims. Yet the butchery at Duma signifies a campaign of extremist Is-lamic violence that is tearing at the fabric of Indonesia.

Both Muslims and Christians have committed atrocities during violence in the great arc of islands across the north of the archipelago. But the Duma murders demonstrate the difference between flare-ups of old vendettas and a new campaign by Muslim extremists imported to kill and expel Christians from the Spice Islands.

The plan is tacitly endorsed by Muslim politicians in Jakarta, the capital, who have just failed to impose shariah law on Indonesia's 210m people. There is evidence of arms, cash and tough young militants flowing to join the fray from the Abu Sayyaf terrorists in the Philippines, whose members have reaped millions of pounds from taking foreign hostages.

In turn, the Abu Sayyaf group has well-established connections with Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi terror suspect, and fundamentalist groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Their agenda is simple: destruction of Indonesia's traditions of religious tolerance through chaos and terror.

The implications for western trade and strategy are now causing serious concern to governments from Canberra to Washington and Tokyo.

Such hard politics would have seemed as remote as the moon to the simple folk of Duma, pursuing their farming and worship in their isolated corner of the island of Halmahera. "There was never any trouble with our neighbours," said one village headman, Johannes Bahang, 44, "until the 'white group' came to the island."

The "white group" were the Laskar Jihad, young men brought in by ship from Aceh and Java in their trademark robes of war.

Playing on local animosities, they soon set village against village. "On June 18 we were warned by the army that the village would be attacked the next day," said Bahang. "We asked for protection but got none."

The villagers, who belonged to a number of evangelical Christian sects, often gathered for safety at the Nita church. It was a big building that could hold 1,000 and there was a 7ft perimeter wall which made them feel safe. Night after night, the Christians had slept behind the wall while men kept watch. But on the morning of the 19th their luck ran out.

Samuel Kukus, 42, was one of the village leaders who had armed themselves with old or home-made weapons. "We had resisted two of their attacks but this time they came back in much greater numbers. There were soldiers who had joined them, and they all had better guns. We had no alternative but to surrender, so the village chief and I walked out with a white flag."

The jihadis refused to accept their surrender. One account says that one of the surrender party was cut down with a sword. Within minutes, atrocious violence erupted.

"They threw bombs over the wall and I started to run away from the church," said Alji Nusa, 24. "Then came a second wave of bombs which struck me with shrapnel and I fainted. Before I ran, I looked around and saw that nobody was left alive. There were people whose arms had been cut off, people who had been slashed."

Among the dead was her husband, Lukius, 26. "I saw who did it," she said. "Some were in the white jihad clothes and others were in camouflage uniforms."

Sutarsi Selong, 29, said she was confronted by a soldier who screamed at her to shout "Allah akbar" ("God is great"). When she failed to do so, he put his gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger, blowing away her left cheek. Then he pulled out a bayonet and slashed from the bridge of her nose down through her lips.

Bathsheba Sumtaki, 32, saw her daughter Moisari, 8, collapse from three wounds in her right leg. She picked up the child and ran. "She still needs an operation to get out bits of the bomb," the mother said. The child is one of 290 people said to have been injured.

The survivors were saved, they said, by the arrival of a unit of Indonesian air force troops. They did not shoot but there was a standoff with the jihadis that stopped the killing. It took those interviewed more than two weeks to struggle to the coast and make it in small boats to Manado.

Megawati Sukarnoputri, the vice-president, visited the survivors in Manado hospital. They booed and shouted at her to do something. "It's not my responsibility," she told them.
 

Aceh/West Papua

Rights groups appeal for US-based activist in Indonesia

Washington -- Human rights groups on Tuesday voiced deep concern over the fate of a New York-based activist missing in Indonesia's Aceh province, and demanded more action from US officials on his case.

Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, a permanent resident of the United States and director of the New York-based International Forum on Aceh (AFA), vanished in the city of Medan on August 5.

His friends say they fear he may have been kidnapped because of his vocal campaign against killings and torture in Aceh, which has been consumed by violence linked to a drive for independence.

"We are not hopeful, we cannot say we are optimistic," said John Miller of the US-based East Timor Action Network, which has worked closely with Hamzah. "Frankly we believe the military is responsible," he added.

Senior officers have denied abducting Hamzah, but human rights groups here put little credence in their claims of innocence. "In the past, military denials have meant absolutely nothing," said Sidney Jones, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch Asia in New York. "We don't have the sense that the military is using its various contacts to find out where Jafar is."

The United States has expressed concern over Hamzah's disappearance and diplomats in Jakarta have been meeting Indonesian officials to try to trace him. But Miller called on the US government to do more, saying an expression of concern was needed from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"We would argue that the United States should take it up a notch or two diplomatically," he said. "They need to say something much clearer out of Washington itself."

A State Department official said Tuesday that Washington had been "making queries" over Hamzah's welfare. "We continue to press them," he said.

Hamzah, a native of Lhokseumawe in North Aceh, campaigns for the redress of massive human rights abuses during 10 years of military operations against the Free Aceh (GAM) separatist rebel movement.

A student and part-time taxi driver, he left New York for Aceh in late June to set up the Support Committee of Human Rights for Aceh (SCHRA). The GAM has been fighting for an independent Islamic Aceh state since 1976 and more than 5,000 people have been killed in the fighting over the past decade.

Jakarta losing patience over Aceh

Jakarta -- Indonesia yesterday demanded that separatists drop demands for independence for Aceh, and warned that it was losing patience in the search for peace for the troubled province.

Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab accused guerillas within the Free Aceh Movement of repeatedly breaking the three-month ceasefire that went into effect on June 2 in northern Sumatra. "We need to discuss substance," he said, adding that "they must understand that we will not tolerate separatism and that there is a limit to our patience."

Earlier this month, the two sides said they were "strongly inclined" to extend the unprecedented truce concluded in May in Geneva, Switzerland. The truce has been marred by sporadic violence. Yesterday, government forces shot dead two civilians, bringing to 59 the death toll in the province since June 2.

Meanwhile, talks between the Acehese rebels and the government were deadlocked, said Mr Alwi. "There will not be any results if they keep insisting on discussing independence," he said. "Let us discuss the substance of autonomy instead."

GAM claims to have special links with TNI

Banda Aceh -- A commander of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels in restive North Aceh regency Abu Sofyan Daud conceded that the movement has special links with officers in the Indonesian Military (TNI).

"We have special links with members of Kopassus [Army's Special Force] as they have been supplying us with weapons, information and other logistics. The officers [who helped us] are the ones who sympathized with our struggle and the suffering of the victims of violence in Aceh," Abu Sofyan told a local journalist on Thursday night.

He was commenting on a weapons raid conducted by the police on Thursday around 1pm local time in a mosque in the restive Kandang area of Lhokseumawe. "The munitions [found in the raid] are ours. We thought keeping it in the mosque was the safest place," Abu said. Security forces found a total of 400 GLM bullets and a rocket-launcher along with 100 pairs of Malaysian-made boots and four sacks filled with combat fatigues on the roof of the mosque.

It is also reported that several documents allegedly belonging to a military unit were among the items confiscated in the raid. "We believed that this belonged to GAM and we'll proceed with the case in accordance with the prevailing law," North Aceh Police chief Supt. Abadan Bangko said.

In Jakarta, TNI spokesman Rear Marshall Graito Usodo rejected GAM's claim, saying that GAM was merely going through the motions through an attempt to smear the military and shift the blame to Kopassus. "They [GAM] were cornered as the authorities had found these weapons. It is impossible and illogical for Kopassus as an institution to go against other military/police units," Graito told The Jakarta Post by phone on Friday.

"So their [GAM] claim is not true. It's just a ruse. "We would be digging our own grave if any Kopassus officers were involved in illegal activities here. Therefore, in Aceh the TNI never sends out any special force units without coordination with the Police as the civil power responsible for restoring law and order in the disputed area," Graito said. An uneasy calm returned to Banda Aceh as residents resumed their activities one day after the celebration of Independence Day on Thursday.

Public transportation as well as business activities returned to normal, but a trail of violence still marked the province, leaving at least three people killed. "In Aceh, Independence Day scared people. Now we have a bit of respite, but we will have to start watching out for GAM's anniversary on December 4," a local reporter said.

In South Aceh, an alleged GAM member named Agus Salim was killed and another named Irsyadin injured when a bomb they planted exploded on a road in Kampung Tengoh, Trumon district, on Thursday afternoon, local police chief Supt. Supriyadi Djalal said on Friday.

A teenage boy named Ermiza Khaliansyah, 18, was shot dead during an armed skirmish in Sago village in Peusangan, Bireun regency, on Thursday around 5pm.

A military officer Second Lt. Adeli Faisal, 25, of the 113 Jayasakti Infantry Battalion, was also killed in an accident on Thursday when cleaning his gun in his dormitory. "The gun fell, went off and he was hit in the chest," a staff member at Bireun hospital said.

Also on Thursday, a mother named Ainal Mardiyah and her four-year-old son Moh. Rizal Pahlevi were severely wounded after being gunned down by three unidentified men at a warehouse in Siron village, Padang Tiji district, Pidie regency.

Earlier in the day, an earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale rocked Banda Aceh, sending panicked residents running into the streets. There was no immediate report of casualties. The first quake struck at around 1.45am and an aftershock at 2.15 am, Armen of the Meteorology and Geophysical Bureau (BMG) in Banda Aceh said. Armen added that the quake's epicenter was in the Indian Ocean, some 144 kilometers north of Banda Aceh.

Marauding groups confiscate Indonesian flags in Aceh

Iin Yumiyanti/Swastika & Lyndal Meehanm, Jakarta -- As commemorations to mark the 55th anniversary of the declaration of independence on 17 August approach, groups of local people in North Aceh have begun confiscating and forbidding locals from raising the `Red and White' Indonesian national flag. Many in North Aceh are now frightened because the Aceh City Police had instructed them to raise the national flag on August 17.

The Serambi Indonesia daily newspaper reported Wednesday that the marauding groups had confiscated flags in almost all sub districts of North Aceh within this last two days. Groups of between 7-10 people civilians appraoched local houses and seized flags by force. They also forbade the raising of the national flag on August 17, celebrated throughout Indonesia as Independence Day.

Meanwhile, the police have admitted that they have not yet been informed about the actions of the groups. North Aceh Police Chief Superintendent Drs Abadan Bangko said he would check the facts before taking action. Aceh Police Chief Brigadier General D Sumantyawan said this confiscation was a crime.

"Even though the confiscation was conducted without violence, if as a result people become fearful, this action can be considered as a crime," stated Sumantyawan. He also encouraged Aceh people to report the identities of the perpetrators. "Please inform us of their identities so we can track them. We are deeply sorry for this incident," he added.

Lieutenant Colonel Inf. Iskandar MS also stated that the raising of the `Red and White' national flag would not be forced upon the general public. He said there would be no officers knocking on people's doors to command the flag be raised.

"Independence Day commemorations are a national phenomenon, but we should also consider the real conditions. Flag raising ceremonies will still be held in the capital of each municipality, considering their facilities," Iskandar said.

While government branches are required to raise the flag on 17 August, civilans usually partake in the occasion as a sign of their nationalist pride, something which runs low in Aceh. In recent years a significant movement for independence has developed as a result of the repression and brutality of the former regime and the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI).

On Tuesday, the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) asked the people of Aceh not to fly the Indonesian national flag but to unfurl banners and flags bearing the United Nations' emblem. "The UN flag is to represent all nations," Alfian, a Coordinator of SIRA, explained when contacted by Detik in Banda Aceh.

Aceh prayers for referendum end in clashes with police

Rayhan Anas Lubis/Swastika & Lyndal Meehan, Banda Aceh -- A mass prayer for those killed, raped and abused by the Indonesian Armed Forces and government organised by pro-referendum groups in Banda Aceh on Wednesday, has ended in clashes with police.

Around 2000 people gathered for an istighotsah, a mass prayer held to ask for good fortune in times of trouble, at the Darussalam Statue in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's troubled northern-most province of Aceh on Wednesday. The people also gathered to express their desire that the future of the province be decided through a referendum.

The istighotsah itself went smoothly at the Darussalam Statue. Hundreds of motorised becak or pedicab drivers joined the mass for the prayers and ceremony.

Wearing white shirts, black trousers and sashes marked `REFERENDUM' 12 people raised the UN and referendum flags while they sang Hikayat Prang Sabil (The Legend of the Sabil War).

The Shalawat badar and other passages of the Holy Koran were recited. The participants were carried away by the atmosphere and many women, children, and elderly people eventually cried listening to the speeches in their native language.

"We are here to pray for those who were killed for no reason, we pray for our sisters and mothers who were raped by the army," said one speaker. "The Aceh nation needs a country. We need independence. For that reason, let's fight for a referendum towards independence," the coordinator of the istighotsah cried out loud in the Acehnese language.

Following the completion of the prayers at around midday, the group began to leave and formed a convoy headed towards the city centre.

On Jl Daud Beureueh, directly in front of the Greater Aceh Police headquarters, police officers stopped the convoy. According to several eyewitnesses, police confiscated all pro-referendum and UN flags carried by the protesters. Two becak drivers were beaten by the officers while two reporters were prohibited from taking pictures of the incident.

"We confiscated 24 referendum flags, 31 UN flags and one banner of the Front for Aceh Referendum Struggle (Barisan Siaga Perjuangan Referendum Aceh)," said SuperIntendent Sayed Husaini, Head of Public Relations with the Aceh Police.

Commenting on the violence which erupted, Husaini said "Well, beating with rattan canes is a common way to disperse [crowds] and we had to confiscate those flags. Neither the pro-referendum nor the UN flags are allowed to fly. The referendum itself is forbidden, let alone the convoy for it. We were only preventing them from entering the city."

No national flags hoisted in Aceh for Independence Day

Banda Aceh -- Residents in Indonesia's troubled Aceh Province began a strike Wednesday, refusing to conduct any activities or to hoist the red-and-white Indonesian national flag to mark Independence Day on August 17.

The strike follows a call Sunday by the Aceh Referendum Information Center, a student organization, for people to pray in mosques Wednesday for a solution to Aceh's problems and to ignore Independence Day.

An "Acehnese Action for Struggle" rally took place at the Darussalam Monument in the provincial capital Banda Aceh and about 5,000 students gathered there.

They hoisted the flag of the United Nations and the "Referendum Flag" made by a student organization seeking an independence referendum in Aceh. Late last year, the students organized a similar rally that attracted hundreds of thousands of Acehnese.

Last week, local authorities in Aceh officially banned the hoisting of the flag of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), warning that violators would face "stern action." They also called on Acehnese to fly Indonesia's flag Thursday.

Earlier in the day, in an annual speech to commemorate Independence Day before the House of Representatives, President Abdurrahman Wahid once again said he might invoke "harsh actions" against separatism and social conflict "if all peaceful efforts fail to overcome the conflicts." On Wednesday, only government offices and the military and police headquarters hoisted the national flag in Banda Aceh. Most government offices and shops were closed, while few public or private cars or buses were seen on sown and conducted patrols.

For more than three decades, mainly under the rule of strongman President Suharto, thousands of people died and tens of thousands were displaced as Indonesian security forces fought independence guerrillas in Aceh. Frequent clashes between the military and GAM rebels have also led to an increasing number of civilian casualties and sporadic fighting continues despite the signing of a "humanitarian pause" between GAM and the Indonesian government in May to halt the violence.

[On August 16, AFX-Asia reported that around 5,000 students and civilians rallied at the Darussalam University campus near Banda Aceh on the eve of Indonesia's national day to demand a United Nations-supervised referendum on self-determination. Group leaders said the protest is planned for two days and they have issued statements urging the UN and international groups to intervene in Aceh to end "the political, humanitarian and security crisis in Aceh" - James Balowski.]

Jayapura tense, but calm

Jakarta -- Hundreds of people staged a peaceful rally in the West Papua (Irian Jaya) capital of Jayapura yesterday, demanding the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) cancel its decision to issue a decree that would prevent any parts of Indonesia from seceding and declaring independence.

Military and police officers said the situation in Jayapura was tense but calmed down after around 600 protesters dispersed after having gathered at the city's Imbi Park, Antara reported. The MPR has agreed to order President Abdurrahman `Gus Dur' Wahid to be more serious in dealing with separatism in Irian Jaya and Aceh. The protesters, led by separatist rebel leader Theys Eluai, dispersed after staging a free-speech forum.

Most locals stayed indoors during the rally and public transport services stopped operating. Theys had on Monday threatened to occupy state buildings, including the governor's office and the local parliament complex.

Fearing the protest could escalate or turn violent, the governor's office and provincial legislative assembly building were tightly guarded by security forces, police said. Many shops were closed and hundreds of people had difficulty finding public transport. Local authorities later provided commuters with two vehicles.

Yesterday's protest marked the 38th anniversary of the so-called New York Agreement of 1962, in which the Dutch agreed to hand over the territory to the United Nations.

In 1963, the UN -- apparently acting under US pressure, gave the region to Indonesia, with an understanding that by the end of the decade the West Papuan people would have a chance to vote as to whether they wanted to remain part of Indonesia.

However pro-independence activists say that the so-called "Act of Free Choice" in 1969 was a sham. All 1,022 selected village chiefs supposedly decided to remain part of Indonesia. Since then, rebels belonging to the Free Papua Movement have been battling Indonesian rule.

Until last year, the military ran the province with an iron hand. Torture and murder were reportedly common. But thanks to the leniency of President Abdurrahman Wahid, the natives of Irian Jaya can now peacefully express their aspirations for independence without having to fear they will be shot. Trikora Regional Military Commander Major General Albert Inkiriwang and Irian Jaya Police Chief Brigadier General S.J. Wenas led security patrols around Jayapura.

Antara reported that the provincial administration had ordered all schools and offices to suspend operations for the day. During the rally, protesters hoisted the rebel movement's Morning Star flags alongside Indonesian flags at Imbi Park, which is located near the local parliament building and the office of the Irian Jaya Arts Council.

Inkiriwang and Wenas ordered their officers to confiscate weapons carried by the protesters. According to Antara, the security forces seized a number of sharp weapons, molotov cocktails, grenades and handmade bombs from the protesters. Theys has threatened to force the local parliament to officiate the changing of the province's name from Irian Jaya to West Papua because Wahid has agreed to the change.

Papuan separatists finished a congress in June declaring that their territory had never been part of Indonesia. Wahid refused to recognize the results of congress because it had not included representatives of all groups in the province. Wahid has ordered the military to take repressive measures against separatist activity in West Papua.

Residents of Puncak Jaya district in Irian Jaya yesterday lowered the separatist movement's Morning Star flag out of their own volition, an official said. Puncak Jaya district chief Andreas Coem said the flag lowering took happened in Bioga subdistrict, three days after a ceremony on Saturday to mark the end of a long-standing conflict among members of the Damal tribe.

Rival factions in the tribe ended their six-years of internal feuding and expressed their loyalty to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, he said.

Members of the tribe had previously hoisted the West Papua flag, but solely because of pressure from a rather small clique of people and because of ignorance, Coem said.

"After we approached them persuasively, they realized their mistake and lowered the flag themselves," Coem said, adding what the locals want is to free their region from isolation and focus on development.

In other parts of the country's easternmost province, including Jayapura, the West Papua flag was still seen flying alongside the Indonesian flag.

Cops attack civilians over soldier's death

Jakarta -- Over 100 civilians in Indonesia's East Aceh regency were assaulted by Indonesian police and soldiers who went on a rampage of shooting and arson in retaliation for the death of a fellow soldier, a local daily Serambi Indonesia reported yesterday.

East Aceh Police Chief Supt. Abdullah Hayati confirmed the incident, but said his subordinates were only acting "emotionally and in panic" when villagers in the town of Idi Rayeuk would not tell them where the soldier's killers were hiding.

On Sunday, Pte Ahmad Ridwan Siagian was slain in a fish market in Idi Rayeuk, while his colleague Pte Try Sugianto was injured. The attackers also stole the soldiers' guns.

Quoting local hospital figures, the daily reported that over 100 civilians were hospitalised with broken bones and gunshot wounds, including eight- and 12-year-old girls and a 10-year-old boy. Angry security forces also torched the fish market when they failed to locate the soldier's killers, the paper said.

The daily quoted members of the pro-independence guerilla group Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the area as denying the attacks against the soldiers. "During the humanitarian pause, GAM members don't hang around in town, let alone making attacks," Abu Khalifah, a GAM spokesman in the area, was quoted as saying, referring to the May 12 agreement between Jakarta and GAM to halt all violence in Aceh from June 2 to September 2 to allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

The daily also reported that violence broke out on Sunday in the village of Desa Tanjong Meunjee in North Aceh regency's Tanah Jambo Aye district, leaving two men dead. Police there accused the victims of being rebels, but a GAM spokesman in the area denied it, saying they were civilians. Both GAM and Jakarta are charged with conveying humanitarian help to needy people during the humanitarian pause.

Troops reportedly run amok in Aceh following shooting

Banda Aceh -- A large number of residents were injured after a gang of soldiers and police officers reportedly ran amok on Sunday, destroying shops and markets in the Idi Rayeuek district of East Aceh on Sunday. Unconfirmed reports said three civilians were killed in the melee.

Locals said the incident started minutes after two soldiers were shot dead in a local fish market by unidentified persons, who then stole their guns. The assailants are still at large, while the two deceased soldiers have yet to be identified. East Aceh Police chief Supt. Abdullah Hayati was not available for comment on Sunday.

On Saturday, a skirmish between police and armed civilians occurred in the Krueng Sabe district of West Aceh, killing a suspected rebel identified as 32-year-old Zulkifli M. Zein, local police chief Supt. Satrya Hari Prasetya said on Sunday.

A convoy of police vehicles, including a troop-carrier transporting Satrya, was intercepted at two separate locations as it was heading from the main West Aceh town of Meulaboh to Krueng Sabe.

"The first attack took place around 12.15pm some 14 kilometers from Krueng Sabe, while the second took place around 1.45pm in Jurek village, about 24 kilometers away from the first site of the incident," Satrya told The Jakarta Post by phone on Sunday. A Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman in West Aceh Abu Tausi, however, denied that his men had ambushed the convoy.

Two men were also found dead with gunshot wounds late on Friday night and on Saturday in North Aceh and the Peuribu area of Samatiga district in West Aceh, respectively. The first victim was identified as Asnawi Alamsyah who was shot by rebels, North Aceh Police chief Supt. Abadan Bangko said. Meanwhile, the body of Utoh Teh, 30, was found under a bridge on the main Meulaboh- Banda Aceh highway on Saturday by Peuribu villagers.

Meanwhile, fresh soldiers arrived in the North Aceh port of Krueng Geukueh as part of a troop rotation, police said. A total of 414 infantrymen from West Java landed while another 214 men continued on to Malahayati, the port serving Banda Aceh, the main city in Aceh, Abadan said.

GAM armed-wing commander Tengku Abdullah Syafii, however, urged his troops to respect the ongoing humanitarian pause in Aceh. "Jakarta tried to split us apart," he told the Serambi Indonesia daily from his hiding place in Pidie regency.

In a related development, Sentral Informasi Referendum Aceh (the Aceh Referendum Information Center, Sira), called on Acehnese people on Sunday to hold a half-day Istighotsah (special mass gathering) at their respective mosques on August 16. SIRA called on the people to hoist the United Nations' flag and banners demanding a referendum.

Sira Presidium chairman Muhammad Nazar said in a press release distributed to journalists that the people should stay indoors on August 17. "The Indonesian government and its military must not force the Acehnese to hoist the Red-and-White Banner to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day," Nazar said. "Force will not work, but will rather result in new crimes."
 

Labour struggle

Labour union demands 100% wage increase

Shinta NM Sinaga/Swastika & LM, Jakarta -- The Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI) led by Dita Indah Sari marked the final day of the annual session of the Assembly by amassing workers and members at the parliament to express their frustration with the so-called representatives of the people.

Friday was a busy day for protests at the parliament and the FNPBI's was amongst the biggest. The organisation is an umbrella group of workers' unions committed to comprehensive reform of Indonesian labour laws and practices. Dita Indah Sari was jailed by the New Order regime of President Suharto for her work in the Indonesian Labour Union, an arm of the People's Democratic Party (PRD). As in the demonstration launched by the People's Democratic Party (PRD) at the parliament Friday, the FNPBI demanded a 100% increase in worker's wages

"As we had suspected earlier, right till the end of the annual assembly session there has been no signs that the Indonesian people will overcome the truly perplexings problem they are facing now," said Dita in a press release received by Detik.

According to Dita, the People's Consultative Assembly should focus on labour issues which are central to the Indonesian economy. She cited statistics which indicate that around 86 million laborers are struggling to meet basic living standards. At the same time, hundreds of billions of rupiah have been spent to fund the annual session where politicians merely claim to be reformers.

"The representatives are negotiating to strengthen their bargaining power and fighting for positions instead of trying to find the best solutions which will not further harm the people and which will allow them to escape the crisis," Dita reiterated.

She said that the most pathetic aspect of the whole session was the obvious political battles within the elite which had nothing to do with the urgent plight of the people. This was merely an indication that regulations continued to be made for the benefit of the elite and not the people, similar to the former dictatorial regime of Suharto.

"These conditions have compelled the FNPBI together with other labour unions to hold a national mass action of Indonesian laborers demanding that the government to implement a 100% salary hike for all laborers," said Dita.

Workers of KPC coal mining firm lift blockade

Jakarta -- Employees of coal mining firm PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in Sangata regency, East Kalimantan, ended their strike on Friday after assurances were made that the company would not fire them.

Chairman of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI) Muchtar Pakpahan said on Friday the striking workers, all of whom are grouped under SBSI, agreed to end the blockade after the local government guaranteed in a meeting on Thursday evening that KPC would keep them in employment.

"The governor of East Kalimantan, the local police chief and military commander gave the guarantee in the presence of KPC's management," he said. Pakpahan noted, however, that the guarantee was not written but oral. He said during Thursday's meeting that the striking workers said they were ready to accept disciplinary measures by the company, including a decision not to hike salaries during a sanction period, but they were afraid that the company would be quick to fire them for minor mistakes.

"I can guarantee that there'll be no more blockades at KPC. We have resolved all the problems," he said, adding that the employees would resume work by Monday.

The workers' decision to end the blockade, came after the police threaten to forcefully expel them from the mine on Friday. KPC's Jakarta representative, Bambang Susanto, confirmed the end of the blockade.

"They cleared the blockade on Friday morning between 10am and 11am, after reaching an internal agreement last night to end the strike," Bambang told The Jakarta Post, failing to mention, however, the guarantee given by the local authorities to the workers. He said that KPC and the striking employees had yet to sign a formal agreement on the latter's return to work, but he did not specify when the agreement would be signed.

KPC was now checking whether any of the heavy vehicles used during the blockade had been damaged, he said. He said the striking workers had finally agreed to accept disciplinary measures, which the company insisted on imposing for breaking company working regulations.

The workers started their strike in mid-June, demanding among others things, salary increases. They occupied KPC's production facilities, forcing the company to declare a force majeure on its contracts with buyers.

Both sides reached an agreement in late July but the workers went on strike and occupied the production facilities again in August, protesting the company's plan to impose disciplinary measures. The blockade forced KPC to declare a force majeure once again. Bambang said he was not sure whether the workers would strike again and reestablish the blockade as they had promised.

"What we have here is the good intention of the workers to end the dispute, but let's see whether this will last," he said. The company said it lost the opportunity to produce 2.2 million metric tons of coal worth US$58 million during the blockade. Bambang said KPC would not immediately lift its force majeure status as it was still unsure whether the workers could keep their word.

KPC president Grant Thorne said in a statement the company would build up a modest stock of coal at the port site before deciding to lift the force majeure status. "We don't want to divert vessels from their new destinations, only to frustrate them again. The meeting will simply formalize the earlier agreement so that none of the workers will resume the blockade," he said.

KPC is jointly owned by Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto and British-American oil and gas company Beyond Petroleum (BP)

Dita Sari: new labour regulations inadequate

On July 10, a new labour rights bill was unanimously passed by the Indonesian House of Representatives. It still requires President Abdurrahman Wahid's approval to become law. The Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI) and seven other unions, grouped under the banner of Indonesian Solidarity Forum, have rejected the bill because it is inadequate and will legalise state interference.

FNPBI Chairperson DITA SARI issued the following statement:

Our position and demands have been consistent. Labour laws have to protect the rights of trade unions, not control or have authority over them. The FNPBI rejects the articles in the new bill which give the government the right to intervene in the unions' internal matters thereby allowing the state to control an organisation of the working class.

The council which drafted the bill has been forced to acknowledge the growing push from a number of Indonesian trade unions and the international community that Indonesian workers be able to form unions. It is important for the council members' creditably that they are not associated with the past restrictions on unions.

On the other hand, this law is not entirely free from authoritarianism, in particular the articles which give government institutions the right to intervene in internal trade union matters. Article 43 states: "Violations against articles 20 and 31 can incur an administrative sanction of withdrawing the registration of a trade union."

Article 20 makes it mandatory for unions to report any changes to a union's statutes or rules of association, its leadership and the names of its founding members to the local ministry of labour. Article 31 requires trade unions to advise the local ministry of labour, in writing, of any international assistance received.

The obligation to inform the government of internal changes is no different from the old regulations which tried to control trade unions by obliging them to submit such reports. If a trade union does not fulfill this obligation, the local ministry of labour has the right to deregister the union.

A deregistered trade union no longer has the right to carry out the following activities:

1. To make work agreements with management;
2. To represent workers in the resolution of industrial disputes; and
3. To represent workers before industrial institutions.

The obligation to report any external funding provides another opportunity for the authorities to investigate the trade union. This kind of financial control should only be able to be carried out by union members through agreed mechanisms, not by the government. Such intervention by the authorities not only conflicts with international conventions on the freedom to organise, but also contravenes the Indonesian constitution which states that a trade union should be independent.

This is a clear contradiction which indicates the half-hearted character of the "reformists" who are also half-hearted in applying the principles of democracy.

This law's procedures for the establishment of a trade union have been simplified.

Previously, trade unions were required to register with the government; now they simply notify it. However, because of the ministry of labour's power to intervene in and de-register unions, this simplification has no real meaning. The freedom to organise remains uncertain, vague and illusive.

We anticipate harm for the trade union movement if the regulation is passed into law.

However, it is true that not all of the articles in the new regulations are anti-union and undemocratic. It must be acknowledged that there are a number of progressive elements in the regulations. The decision to form a trade union is now left up to workers themselves.

Whether the trade union is based on one particular sector or trade is also a workers' decision.

The articles which regulate sanctions against those preventing workers from becoming union members or part of a union leadership are also positive. Article 43 provides for a minimum one year's jail or a fine. However, it is not clear that this provision will be consistently applied given the corruption still prevalent in the Indonesian legal system. But at least this particular article provides written protection for workers to organise.

[Translated by James Balowski]

Workers' protests threaten Badak natural gas supply

Jakarta -- Workers' protests at gas company Vico Indonesia Ltd might cause a total cut in the natural gas supply to the country's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer PT Badak in Bontang, East Kalimantan, a spokesman of state oil and gas company Pertamina said here on Saturday.

Spokesman for Pertamina's Foreign Contractors Management Body (BPPKA) Sidick Nitikusumah said that workers for one of Vico's subcontractors PT Perdana Karya, were trying to gain control over Vico's main gate in order to interrupt the gas supply.

He said that some 250 workers have been on strike since early August but the police managed to disperse them on Friday as they were trying to gain a full control of Vico's operation. "The workers have been working here for many years and know what to do to hurt the company's operation," he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

The Badak plant, which has a production capacity of approximately 22 million metric tons of LNG per year, is jointly operated by Pertamina and its production sharing partners Vico, Unocal Indonesia and Total Indonesie. The plant receives its gas supplies from nearby gas fields operated by Vico, Unocal and Total.

A pipeline running through Vico's main gate supplies the Badak plant with 3.4 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas per day, of which Vico supplies 1.4 bcf and Total Indonesie 2 bcf.

"If they manage to take over the main gate for a longer period, it will also threaten Badak's operation," Sidick said. He said that although the blockade had not affected the company's production, supply of raw material and logistics had been disturbed during the blockade. Meals, Sidick said, could only be delivered under police protection as the company's vehicles were frequently stoned.

According to him, the striking workers intend to disrupt Badak's operation by blockading gas supplies from Vico's pipeline.

The LNG plant faces its second threat to operations after local farmers temporary blockaded Vico's main gate earlier this year to demand compensation for damages the company allegedly caused to their farms. Sidick said that Pertamina and Vico were currently seeking a legal solution to the farmers' demands and accusations at a local court.

The unrest surrounding Badak's operations comes amid Pertamina's all-out effort to find LNG buyers.

India had shown interest in purchasing LNG from the Badak plant, and sent last month a delegation here, but it fell short of signing a contract.

"At present the workers have gathered around the gate, mingling with locals," Sidick said. He said that even the locals had lost their sympathy for the striking workers because of their harsh attitudes.

He said the striking workers were harassing their colleagues who wanted to keep working. "If it weren't for the company, the locals would have attacked the workers themselves," he said, explaining that Vico had persuaded the locals to keep out of this affair.

Sidick said that the striking subcontractor's workers were demanding a salary increase equal to that of Vico's workers. Furthermore, the workers wanted assurance that they would not be dismissed once their contract expired, he said. "These are indeed difficult demands," Sidick added.

However, he said the company expected negotiations with the workers to start next week. He said a tripartite negotiation would be held that included the Indonesian Prosperity Labor Union (SBSI), which was organizing the strike.

SBSI is also the labor union that forced giant coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) to close down its operations in East Kalimantan. KPC's operation remains shut despite high level efforts by the company, SBSI and the government to reach an amiable agreement. "We hope we can resolve this problem quickly and in a peaceful manner," Sidick added.
 

Human rights/law

MPs slammed for protecting human rights violators

Jakarta -- Human Rights Watch on Saturday slammed Indonesia's MPs for passing a law that could let former president Suharto and senior military officers escape punishment for gross human rights abuses, including those in East Timor.

In a statement received here, the global rights body said the ruling "makes it far less likely that former president Suharto or any army officer could be charged with crimes against humanity."

The constititional amendment passed by the 700-member People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Friday would also protect Suharto and the officers from prosecution for "any atrocities committed by Indonesian troops from 1965," it said

The amendment invokes the principle of non-retroactivity -- "meaning that no one could be charged with a crime that did not constitute an offence in law at the time it was committed," Human Rights Watch said.

The statement, entitled: "Lawmakers let perpetrators off the hook", said that as Indonesia did not yet have a human rights law "the most serious charge that anyone involved in the scorched- earth campaign in East Timor or the atrocities in Aceh could face is murder."

"Crimes against humanity are so serious that non-retroactivity doesn't usually apply to them," the organization quoted Rights Watch Asia director Sidney Jones as saying. "This is the prevailing trend and Indonesian judges should go along with it."

The new constitutional amendment -- Amendment 28 (I) -- could mean that the "masterminds of the 1999 violence in East Timor will be judged less harshly than rank and file militia members," it said.

East Timor was devastated by Indonesian military-backed militia in retaliation for its vote for independence from Indonesia on August 30 last year, prompting the United Nations to dispatch an international force to quell the violence.

In Jakarta on Friday Indonesia's Attorney General Marzuki Darusman told the press that the trials of those suspected of masterminding the Timor violence would go ahead anyway.

"It can be guaranteed that current investigations into human rights violations in East Timor and several other cases will be exempt from the amended article 28 in relation to its clause on retroactivity," Darusman told journalists.

Darusman said his guarantee that prosecutions could go ahead was based on information from the leader of the assembly commission which debated the constitutional amendments.

"[The commission leader] said that the people who put forward that amendment had no intention of erasing anything to do with the planned human rights tribunal [for East Timor]," Darusman said. "So in principle the human rights tribunal on East Timor can still take place."

Former Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto is among those named by a preliminary Indonesian probe into the East Timor violence, which left at least 600 dead, whole towns razed and more than 200,0000 people forced out of the territory.

But Rights Watch said that "if and when" Darusman succeeds in bringing any senior officers to trial, they would be tried "for the common crime of murder" -- in short under the existing criminal code.

Rights Watch urged the MPR in its next annual session to uphold the right of the judiciary to set up ad hoc courts which would not be bound by the retroactive principle to try gross human rights abuses.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson, speaking after a meeting with Darusman here last week, warned again that the UN would unilaterally call an international war crimes tribunal if Jakarta failed to bring the perpetrators of the Timor violence to trial.

Blanket amnesty for officers: they were only issuing orders

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Indonesia's discredited military yesterday won a blanket amnesty for past human rights abuses. Human rights activists are furious that a decree blocking prosecution of troops involved in abuses in provinces such as East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya was passed by the People's Consultative Assembly with little debate.

Top serving and retired officers, backed by Golkar, the party of former president Soeharto, put enormous pressure on politicians to pass the decree banning retroactive prosecution of human rights cases, parliamentary sources said. Some hardline officers used the threat of provoking unrest across the country, the sources added.

The ban effectively rules out charges against senior officers, because Indonesia's criminal code does not recognise culpability by those in command. Only those who carried out orders could be charged and prosecuted.

The Assembly Speaker, Dr Amien Rais, admitted that an amendment introducing the ban was an oversight unnoticed by many legislators. He also admitted he was unaware of the legal implications of the decree when it was approved by an assembly sub-committee.

An amendment detailing the ban was originally knocked back by committee members, who, Mr Rais said, had little knowledge of legal and human rights issues.

The move is a blow to efforts by President Abdurrahman Wahid to bring to justice members of the security forces accused of abuses.

It is almost certain to prompt new calls for the United Nations to set up its own war crimes tribunal to try Indonesians over last year's violence in East Timor.

The UN has set up a major crimes unit in the East Timorese capital, Dili. UN officials say it is possible that Indonesian soldiers could be extradited to East Timor to stand trial for crimes committed in the former Portuguese territory.

Prosecutors and experts appointed by the Attorney-General have spent months preparing evidence against senior officers, including the former armed forces chief General Wiranto.

The Government has drafted a separate bill aimed at creating a special court to deal with past human rights abuses by the security forces. The future of this bill, which is still being debated by the lower House of Representatives, is now in doubt.

The chairman of Indonesia's Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Mr Munir, dismissed claims by some politicians that soldiers or police could still be tried over past abuses under the criminal code.

"All laws and bills which carry a retroactive principle will be defeated by this article of the Constitution," he said. "The criminal code does not recognise human rights crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity."

When Mr Munir confronted Dr Rais about the implications of the decree, Dr Rais replied: "Unfortunately, you came when the food has already been served ... probably you should come earlier so we can discuss it for a longer time."

But the chairman of the sub-committee, Mr Jacob Tobling, insisted that past abuses could still be brought to court. "I will be personally responsible if these cases cannot be processed," he said. "We could also revoke [the decree] in the future if it proves that way."

The decree states: "The right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right of freedom of thought and consciousness, the right of religion, the right not to be enslaved, the right to be recognised as an individual before the law, and the right not to be prosecuted based on a law which can be applied retroactively are human rights which cannot be diminished under any conditions."

The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said: "If this [constitutional amendment] is done it will poison the legal system and set an extremely bad precedent in the matter of justice."

The Assembly also passed a controversial decree allowing the security forces to retain seats in parliament until 2009 -- five years after a deadline set by the country's reform movement.

Police name 22 suspects for 1996 party attack

Jakarta -- Indonesian police on Wednesday said they had identified 22 suspects in connection with a violent military- backed attack on the then-party headquarters of Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri in 1996.

Deputy police spokesman Senior Superintendent Saleh Saaf said the 22 men -- 12 military and police personnel and 10 civilians -- had been on a possible list of suspects since July.

Saaf declined to release the full identities of the military and police suspects but he gave their initials and ranks. However police sources told reporters the highest-ranking suspect was Major General Zacky Anwar Makarim, who was chief of the military's intelligence body under former president Suharto.

They said the civilian suspects included Yorrys Raweyai, the head of the Suharto-era Pemuda Pancasila youth group and four senior members of the government-supported faction of the Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI).

The former PDI members included former PDI chairman Suryadi, former party secretary general, Buttu Hutapea, former deputy chairman Alex Widya Siregar and party executive Jonathan Marpaung.

Saaf said the identification of the suspects was based on a thorough investigation by a joint team of military and national police formed by the Attorney General's office.

The 22 men were suspected of orchestrating and leading the July 27 attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI) in central Jakarta in 1996.

The attack led to massive rioting in the Indonesian capital which left at least five dead and more than 100 injured. Police at the time blamed members of the government-supported PDI splinter faction for the headquarters attack, and the rioting on Megawati's supporters.

Megawati was elected to the helm of the PDI in 1993 but a government-orchestrated party congress held by a splinter PDI faction ousted her and installed Suryadi to replace her in June of 1996.

Megawati and her allies never recognised the results of the rebel congress and continued to claim the leadership of the party as their popularity grew.

After Suharto's fall in 1998 Megawati's faction changed the party's name to Indonesian Democracy Party for Struggle (PDIP) to be able to take part in the first post-Suharto elections in Indonesia in 1999. PDIP took the largest number of votes, some 34 percent, in the election, the country's freest since the 1950s.

Suharto thought likely to escape

James Balowski -- After months of delays, false starts and a performance to rival Christopher Skase's "Now I'm sick, now I'm not", former president Suharto is finally to stand trial for embezzlement of Indonesian state funds.

On August 3, the 79-year-old Suharto was formally charged with siphoning off US$570 million through a complex network of charities that he controlled in his capacity as president. Through the foundations, the granting of monopolies and sweetheart deals, the former first family diversified its holdings across the economy, from toll roads in Jakarta and tourist hotels in Bali to chemicals, petrol., telecommunications, real estate, cloves and chicken and pork farming.

Suharto, who is under house arrest, will probably avoid attending the largely procedural hearing on the grounds of alleged ill health.

Independent investigators, Indonesian human rights lawyers and international human rights groups agree that the proceedings are little more than a sham.

Agam Fatchurrochman, from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), was quoted by the August 5 South China Morning Post as saying it is "just a drama". "You know Indonesia -- you can buy lawyers, judges, even [a government department] itself". He added: "In our view, this Suharto process now will go on for about two or three months only. After that the case will be dismissed; they will say something like the charges are not suitable because anyway the charitable foundations were not part of the government bureaucracy."

Scepticism has been fuelled by the timing: the charges coincided with the opening of a special parliamentary session on August 7 to grill President Abrurrahman Wahid over the slow pace of economic reform and allegations of corruption and lack of accountability. Although Suharto's lawyers can be expected to latch on to any excuse to question the legitimacy of the charges, Juan Felix Tampubolon, head of Suharto's legal team, said what many already suspect -- that the case was timed to bolster Wahid's flagging popularity.

After previous pronouncements by attorney general Marzuki Darusman that his office is "finally" ready to bring Suharto to account, the move is also designed to appease widespread public anger. Student protesters have been picketing Darusman's office or demonstrating at Suharto's house -- demonstrations which have often degenerated in to violent battles with security forces.

Agam also points out that Darusman "is a politician". "Personally and institutionally, Marzuki is part of the [formerly ruling] Golkar party ... As part of Suharto's New Order, he will still back his friends ... We know Suharto can buy judges ... anyone."

Last April, ICW released a scathing report on the country's Supreme Court.

Only three of 31 justices were found to be free of corruption; the problem is so blatant that fixers walk up to the cars of defence attorneys as they arrive at the Supreme Court.

According to ICW director Teten Masduki, 80-90% of all legal officials - including prosecutors -- accept bribes. With the attorney general's office still staffed by appointees of the Suharto regime, it is doubtful that Suharto can be ever be prosecuted effectively.

Likewise, human rights lawyer Hendardi, head of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, told the July 28 Jakarta Post that the charges were "too vague". "If Suharto is only mentioned in the charges as the founder of the foundations, then I am afraid this is a ruse or scenario to let him walk free", he said.

Regardless of the outcome, Wahid has repeatedly said that, should Suharto be convicted, he will be pardoned if he confesses and returns his ill-gotten wealth to the state.

Crimes against humanity

Even more than by the prospect of Suharto being pardoned, critics are angered by the slow pace of investigations of numerous human rights abuses.

The United Nations and Indonesia's own human rights commission blame Suharto allies in the military for the wave of violence and destruction which followed the vote for independence in East Timor last year.

The number of people killed, tortured or jailed during the Suharto years may be as high as 4 million, according to human rights groups.

But so far, no major figure from the Suharto years has been convicted of anything. Just one human rights trial has been completed, and then only low-ranking soldiers were convicted for a massacre of civilians in Aceh.

Even the establishment media admit that the trial will barely scratch the surface.

The August 4 South China Morning Post said, for example: "On the issue of money, and the ties with the bureaucracy and business which allegedly earned the Suharto family billions, this case is little more than one drop in a large bucket.

"Conservative estimates of the Suharto wealth start at US$10 billion. Many bankers and even Wahid [claim it is a much as] US$45 billion ...

"But no matter how much money was siphoned away from the 200 million mostly poor Indonesian people, human rights groups, students and observers say this is nothing compared with murderous behaviour by Suharto."

Mass murder

On Suharto's orders, Indonesia invaded East Timor on December 7, 1975.

Thousands of East Timorese, mainly civilians, were killed. More than 200,000 - almost one-third of the population -- died in the ensuing years from Indonesian military activity and disruption to agriculture. Arrest, torture and murder of independence activists continued unabated during the 24-year occupation.

Suharto's rise to power was accomplished at the cost of even more lives. In 1965-66, more than 1 million communists and left-wing sympathisers were massacred and hundreds of thousands interned without trial after Suharto and the military seized power.

Scores were killed and more than 200 arrested on January 15, 1974, during riots in Jakarta following massive student demonstrations against corruption and military abuse.

On October 16, 1975, five journalists reporting on Indonesian preparations to invade East Timor were murdered by Kopassandah (secret warfare) troops in Balibo, East Timor.

As many as 63 people were killed and more than 100 injured on September 12, 1984, when troops fired on peaceful demonstrators in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

An estimated 10,000 petty criminals were murdered during the 1983 "mysterious shootings" (the Petrus campaign) in Jakarta and other major cities.

In his 1989 autobiography, Suharto confirmed that he had authorised the killings.

On February 7, 1989, as many as 100 people were killed when troops surrounded a village in Lampung, South Sumatra, opened fire and set fire to homes. The government claimed the villagers were members of a "deviant" Muslim sect and that troops were "defending themselves".

At least 270 died during the November 12, 1991, Santa Cruz massacre in Dili, the capital of East Timor. Independence movement reports assert that as many as 200 more were rounded up and killed in the following days.

In July 1993, two Muslim scholars were shot dead and a number of others badly wounded when police attacked another alleged "religious sect" in Haur Koneng, West Java.

Four people were killed by troops in Nipah in September 1993, on the Island of Madura, as they were demonstrating against land being cleared for a dam project.

In 1993-94 a number of worker activists were killed. The most notorious case was the May 8, 1993, murder of Marsinah. She was killed three days after leading a strike in Surabaya, and was found dead in a remote hut, having been tortured and raped before being killed. There was extensive circumstantial evidence that she had been kidnapped and killed by the military.

Another wave of the Petrus campaign occurred in Jakarta in 1994, this time far more blatantly, uniformed officers carrying out the shootings. More than 100 people were killed or wounded.

On July 27, 1996, paid thugs backed by the military attacked and destroyed the offices Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party in Jakarta, resulting in the death of as many as 50 people. Popular outrage at the attack sparked several days of mass rioting and violent clashes with police.

Journalists investigating corruption linked to Suharto have been targeted. A Yogyakarta-based journalist, Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin, was murdered in 1996. He was investigating corruption involving the regent of Bantul, Central Java, who had made a large "donation" to one of Suharto's "charitable" foundations, allegedly to ensure his re-election.

Between January and May 1998, as many as 23 activists were kidnapped by the army's special force, Kopassus, then headed by Suharto's son-in-law, Lieutenant General Prabowo. Many of the nine who "resurfaced" said they had been tortured. One was found dead, and 13 remain missing.

On May 12, 1998, security personnel shot into student protesters from the Trisakti University near their campus in West Jakarta, killing four students and injuring several. Over the following three days, as many as 2000 people died during riots orchestrated by the military. Many of the victims were Chinese Indonesians targeted by organised gangs to deflect anger away from the regime.

Hundreds of Chinese women were raped and a number killed.

Between 1980 and 1992, as many as 2000 were killed and hundreds more jailed, accused of being members of the Free Aceh Movement in Indonesia's northern most province. Hundreds of independence activists have been arrested, tortured or killed by the Indonesian military in West Papua since it became part of Indonesia in 1969.

`Inadequate'

In its 1992 country report, the US State Department concluded, "Torture and mistreatment of criminal suspects, detainees, and prisoners are common, and the legal protections are violated by the government".

Aside from those detained in 1965-66, Amnesty International reports that at least 358 prisoners of conscience were detained by security forces during Suharto's rule.

In an August 3 press release, the British human rights group Tapol said that bringing Suharto to trial on charges of corruption "is a totally inadequate response to the horrendous crimes for which he was responsible".

Tapol director Carmel Budiardjo said: "The corruption charges ... do not measure up to the need to indict and punish Suharto for presiding over a systematic campaign of killings and repression ... My recent visit to Indonesia convinced me that people want to see Suharto in the dock and behind bars for the crimes against humanity perpetrated during his regime of terror."
 

News & issues

Independence Day passes peacefully across the country

Jakarta -- People across the country, including those in troubled areas, marked the 55th Independence Day on Thursday with solemn ceremonies and traditional games. No reports of violence were recorded. Groups of students rallied in Jakarta and Makassar, calling for further reforms and demanding that the political elite focus on ways to improve the country's economy and avoid national disintegration.

Several people in Aceh and Jakarta were detained by police for lowering national flags from poles.

In Maluku, some 3,000 Christian and Muslim locals cast aside their differences to salute Independence Day in the historical Merdeka field under tight security, calling for peace, following an overnight peaceful meeting between Maluku civil emergency administrators and seven representatives of Laskar Jihad Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jammaah (Jihad Force) led by Haris Mustafa at the governor's office on Wednesday morning.

The Indonesian Navy in North Maluku also tried to reconcile two warring groups in Galela and Tobelo districts on board the KRI Singa battleship on Wednesday, but failed when an explosion occurred at a house of a Jihad Force leader in Galela, an official Navy statement said. "We will continue trying to facilitate the peace effort," Eastern Fleet security chief Commodore Djoko Sumaryono said.

During the ceremony in Ambon, at least nine armored vehicles guarded the 15,000-meter-square Merdeka field. Authorities as well as local residents shed tears upon hearing the prayers of two 10-year-old children, a boy and a girl, who implored God for an end to the bloody conflicts.

"We want to ask God where lies our future, where are our families and friends ... we want our peace back. Why are the political elite playing with our lives? Please God, stop this. Why this is happening to our land?" the children prayed.

After the prays, Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina said the children's prayer was the wish of the Maluku people. "This Independence Day is the starting point of the reconciliation effort for all of us. This message is meant especially to the warring camps. Don't be stubborn. Listen to your hearts," Latuconsina said. Cries and tears broke out as residents from both warring camps embraced each other when the Sampe Jua song was played at the end of the ceremony.

A minor incident, however, took place shortly after the event ended at about 11.30am local time when hundreds of students from Jl. Soa Bali and Jl. Baru between Pohon Pule and Trikora areas pelted stones at passing vehicles, leaving a man named Herman Latuni severely injured. The students were quickly dispersed by security troops.

Governor Latuconsina, Pattimurra Military commander Brig. Gen. I Made Yasa and Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Firman Gani went straight to Haruku island in Central Maluku regency on board the KM Mayang to mark Independence Day on the islands.

In Aceh, most activities were suspended on Thursday following widespread rumors of a possible clash between security authorities and rebels.

In the morning, some 6,000 people attended a flag-hoisting ceremony led by acting governor Ramli Ridwan at Blang Padang field in Banda Aceh capital.

Most of the streets were deserted. "It's hard to find food as all shops are closed too," a local reporter said. Public transportation owners from the neighboring North Sumatra capital of Medan reportedly have stopped operations until Friday.

A mosque in the Kandang area of Lhokseumawe was raided at about 1pm by the police, North Aceh Police chief Supt. Abadan Bangko said. "A total of 400 GLM bullets and a launcher along with 100 pairs of Malaysian-made boots and four sacks filled with combat fatigues were found on the roof of the mosque," Abadan said, adding that the police suspected the equipment belonged to Free Aceh Movement (GAM) troops. Several people were arrested for pulling down flags in North Aceh and Bireun.

The quiet day was in contrast with Wednesday, when Aceh Besar Police seized hundreds of United Nations (UN) and Referendum flags hoisted in a protest held by some 5,000 students and civilians who gathered at Darussalam University campus, about seven kilometers northeast of the capital, in support of self- determination for the province.

Teuku Umar Military Commander Col. Syarifuddin Tippe, however, signaled on Thursday that it was possible that a state of civil emergency would to be imposed in Aceh if there was no extension of the humanitarian pause in the restive province.

"It is a fact that most of the administration activities in Aceh have been paralyzed following threats from GAM. There is also rampant disregard of the law and high crime rates." Provincial council speaker Muhammad Yus, however, quickly disregarded Tippe's remark. "We don't want to talk about a civil emergency as it would only worsen conditions in Aceh. I'd go for the humanitarian pause to be expanded," he said.

In Irian Jaya, separatist leaders attended independence celebrations but residents defied the government and flew the secessionist flag across the territory, an activist was quoted by AFP as saying.

"In the towns of Wamena, Sorong and Serui residents only flew the Morning Star [separatist] flag at their homes," Timothius Tanem of the Institute of Human Rights said from the capital, Jayapura. But a Wamena resident said that locals were indeed flying both the separatist and Indonesian flags.

In Yogyakarta, Independence Day was celebrated in a modest ceremony in the front yard of the Gedung Agung presidential palace led by Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. Similar celebrations were also held at government offices and schools.

The day was celebrated in various ways in villages, such as the staging of performances or bazaars. On Wednesday night, most villages witnessed traditional tirakatan performances, or villagers stayed up late recalling what happened back in 1945 when Indonesia announced its independence. A similar performance was also held at the governor's office compound in Kepatihan.

In Jakarta, dozens of tourists and expatriates added to the color of August 17 when they gathered in front of Memories Cafe in the popular backpackers haven of Jl. Jaksa in Central Jakarta to take part in a series of games held by locals. "This event is even better than politics," said one of the foreigners.

In South Jakarta, six protesting students were apprehended for insulting the red-and-white flag while protesting at the Attorney General's Office. "The six students lowered the national flag to half-staff and were found to have drawn some other small flags with their group's names, acts which violate Article 154 of the Criminal Code," South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Supt. Edward Aritonang said. The article carries a four-year prison sentence.

One of the students argued that their action was simply to prove that there was not yet any freedom in the country. "Democratization has failed to meet optimum results as the military is still present in the legislature," he said.

As part of the annual tradition to mark Independence Day, the government granted sentence reductions to 23,680 prisoners in jails across the country, roughly 72 percent of Indonesia's 32,580 prisoners.

Last year, only 17,361 prisoners received sentence reductions. "The reductions are given to lessen frustration among prisoners, which will also diminish security problems in prisons," Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra said in a ceremony at Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta.

In line with the sentence reductions, 2,739 prisoners will soon be released. President Abdurrahman Wahid granted special sentence reductions to 69 prisoners who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, Yusril announced. Based on the special reductions, the prisoners, most of whom have spent at least five years in jail, will now have to spend 20 years in jail.

Riau's separatist leader prefers peace

Chris McCall, Pekanbaru -- When Indonesia's politicians and pundits talk about the separatist movements that plague the country, two provinces on the opposite ends of the archipelago are mentioned first: Aceh and Irian Jaya. But tagged on to the end of the discussion is Riau.

According to rebel leader Tabrani Rab, the separatist Free Riau Movement (GRM) now has 20,000 fighters ready to take up arms for independence.

But any would-be liberation forces are keeping a much lower profile than colleagues in Aceh and Irian Jaya, also known as West Papua. Lacking the strong ethnic and religious resentment toward the Javanese leaders of the country that is common in both of those provinces, sentiment for independence runs at a lower level here. And, while claiming 250,000 supporters, Rab and other Riau separatists say they'll accomplish their goal peacefully.

Like other disgruntled Indonesian regions, little of the wealth from Riau's abundant natural resources stays in the province. Every week the flat, scrubby plains of east Sumatra pump out millions of barrels of crude; Riau produces about 65 percent of Indonesia's oil. For decades thousands have flocked here from all over Indonesia in search of work in the oil or forestry industries.

"The people believe Riau's economic resources have been exploited and almost none of the profits have come back," says Alazhar, a literature lecturer at the Islamic University of Riau.

To rectify that inequity, Rab talks of five options, including a proposal to join the United States. Other suggestions include integration with neighboring Malaysia or Singapore, outright independence, or renting its strategic coastline on the Straits of Malacca as a US naval base.

"There is no choice for us," says Rab, a medical doctor who also teaches at the University of Riau. "We were a kingdom before. It is easy for us to get members." Any one of Rab's options is Jakarta's nightmare. Until the 19th century, Riau was an independent kingdom linked in a loose confederation with the sultanates of Malaysia. But today it is Indonesia's lifeblood. Without Riau's oil revenue, Jakarta cannot balance its state budget. Riau is also highly strategic territory, straddling the world's busiest shipping lane and including islands stretching to Borneo.

No stranger to controversy, Rab took up arms in a rebellion against Jakarta in the 1950s. In 1985, he was jailed by then- president Suharto for leading a failed bid by Riau's provincial parliament to elect its own governor.

More recently he hosted a meeting at his home with separatists from Aceh and Irian Jaya to form a common front aimed at lobbying the international community to consider allowing Indonesia to break up peacefully. "I told the [Riau] students that anyone who takes down the flag of Indonesia will be shot by the military," says Rab.

Indonesia's current government is far more open to new ideas than its predecessors. President Abdurrahman Wahid even persuaded Rab to sit on a committee on regional autonomy. In January, new laws will take effect to give more power and revenue to the regions, but there are few details on their implementation. Jakarta is now at least listening to plans to take over the running of one major oil prospecting area, or block. Rab's brother, Eddy Saputra, an official in the local mining department, says a new local operation could be used as a model when contracts expire on other blocks. "We don't need very sophisticated technology [to keep extracting]." For the people here, oil revenues are not the only cause of irritation.

Every year more forests burn in fires blamed on forestry firms, working under license from Jakarta. In Batam Island, south of Singapore, quarrying by Jakarta-sponsored industry has caused serious erosion.

A few months ago a people's congress met to consider these complaints. While not a majority, the largest vote on the preferred form of government was for independence. A delegation from the Riau islands, part of the province off Sumatra, walked out after the congress refused to consider their suggestion that they form their own province.

Mr. Alazhar, chair of a working committee, admits there is a long way to go before Riau's fate is clear. The congress adopted 54 action points, including demands that Riau control 100 percent of its oil revenue and that the central government restore expropriated land.

Unpalatable as these ideas may be to Jakarta, Alazhar suggests that if the 53 points were properly addressed, Indonesia could win back the hearts of would-be separatists. If independence does come, it will not be any time soon, he says. "Maybe in 10 years time, it could happen."

A fair share of the spoils

Jason Tedjasukmana, Pekanbaru -- Syaparudin, a former logger, stands next to the Caltex oil pipeline that stretches for 900 km across the central Sumatra province of Riau. Locals call it the "giant snake," and many of them -- including Syaparudin -- would like to kill it. A member of the Sakai people and a recent convert to the crusade against the American oil giant, Syaparudin knows just how he would do it. "If I were to shut off the water and electricity, the oil would stop flowing," he says. Fear of military reprisal keeps him from acting on his threat, but he warns that his people are getting impatient with Caltex. "We know how to cripple them and will not hesitate if they don't start giving something back to us soon."

As the largest multinational operating in Riau, Caltex Pacific Indonesia, owned by US oil firms Chevron and Texaco, has become a favorite target among locals demanding a better deal in return for their natural resources. Despite Riau's vast supplies of oil, natural gas and timber, more than 40% of its 4.3 million people live below the official urban poverty line of $240 a year. Residents demanding jobs have staged sit-ins and demonstrations in front of the company's main offices in Rumbai. Six Caltex vehicles in Duri were burned in July, prompting the firm to tighten security. "We're concerned," says Caltex senior vice president Robert Galbraith. "In Indonesia there isn't a strong line drawn between demonstrations and anarchy." Officials in Jakarta should also be worried. Two new autonomy laws go into effect next May, requiring the central government to share fiscal and administrative powers with regions and districts. But the necessary financing, staff and infrastructure are not likely to be in place by then, which should only lend momentum to the growing independence movement.

"More empty gestures from the central government will only radicalize the people," says Tabrani Rab, 59, a Riau University professor who became head of the Free Riau Movement in February, when a majority of community leaders voted in favor of independence.

A quick look at the numbers reveals why people in Riau are so angry. The provincial government estimates it sent $8.4 billion in revenues to Jakarta last year but got back only 2% of that in its provincial budget. Resources from Riau account for nearly one-fifth of the central government's total budget, yet Riau has a per capita income of only $500.

The Caltex oil fields produce 715,000 barrels of crude a day, just over half of the country's total and nearly four times the entire output of Brunei. "We have crude oil beneath the ground and palm oil above, yet most of us can't afford to buy kerosene for our lamps," says Gusmar Hadi, a student activist at the National Institute of Islam.

The new law will allow provinces to keep up to 80% of revenues from mining, forestry and fishery, as well as 30% from gas and 15% from oil. Locals remain skeptical that the law will be observed. "Autonomy would work only if the central government didn't have so many needs," says Al Azhar, 39, a professor of comparative literature and an independence activist. Those needs are found chiefly on the nation's most populous island, Java, which consumes more than 60% of national expenditures. Says Azhar of autonomy: "It will never happen." Azhar took over the Free Riau Movement in July, when Rab decided to join the government's Regional Autonomy Council. Local media labeled Rab an opportunist and even a traitor. He insists he will use his position on the council to make sure the government keeps its promise of fiscal decentralization. Says Azlaini Agus, vice chairman of a committee following up on the results of February's independence vote: "The movement will continue without Tabrani Rab." With cracks appearing in the independence movement, Riau is not likely to witness the separatist violence that has hit Aceh or Papua just yet. But Azhar says activists in the three provinces set up an informal alliance in June to expand their overseas lobbying, and several hundred members of the Free Riau Movement are said to have received military training in Aceh.

"People will rise up if the government does nothing," warns Ribut Susanto, head of a local advocacy organization. "In the meantime, Caltex needs to be more proactive and responsive to the community." Caltex is quick to cite the $600 million it has spent over the past 40 years building roads, hospitals and schools as proof of its commitment to community development. The company says 21.5% of its 6,000 employees were born in Riau, though it concedes that most are given "lower-skilled" jobs. A Caltex official admits: "If Riau gets independence, we'll all have to get passports." That is a prospect neither Caltex nor Jakarta wants to consider, given Riau's vast mineral wealth. The province has an estimated 19 billion barrels of oil reserves still in the ground. The largely undeveloped Natuna islands in the eastern Riau archipelago sit atop the world's largest natural gas fields, with proven and potential reserves of 1.4 trillion cubic meters. Caltex expects to sign an agreement with the central government to begin exploring a new field in Riau this year. "We have very high expectations," says Galbraith. In a province with only 2% of the country's population but nearly 20% of its wealth, locals are wondering why they shouldn't be as prosperous as the citizens of Brunei. "If we can support Indonesia, why couldn't we support ourselves?" asks Eddy Herman, an unemployed machine operator who lives in a tiny shack on the Siak River. That is a question Jakarta will soon have to answer.

Bound to wander

Anthony Spaeth -- If you stand at the harbor of Surabaya, Indonesia's famed port and second-largest city, you can see the island of Madura only 4 km across the water. For a decade, there was a plan to connect the city and the island with a bridge, but financing never came through and the only progress was a few premature concrete pillars that now stand forlornly in the sea. A bridge would certainly be useful: every day, thousands of people from Madura cross by ferry to Surabaya, jammed in with livestock, cargo, cars and buses. The ferries run 24 hours a day. "I've been making this trip every day for 13 years," says Hasmat Nabiri, 64, a Madurese day-laborer. The reason for the exodus is simple. "We come to work," says Nabiri.

Madura is home to a unique language and culture that sets its natives apart from the people of Indonesia's other islands. And yet it is barely home to its own people. Of an estimated 10 million Madurese, 6 million have relocated permanently to places that offer more work. Others, like Nabiri, spend a good part of their lives on ferries back and forth to Surabaya. This makes the Madurese the most itinerant of all Indonesian ethnicities, a people banished from their home by economic circumstance.

To a lesser extent, and for varying reasons, other Indonesian groups share that destiny. For decades, the central government in Jakarta has promoted large-scale "transmigration" to alleviate overcrowding. Java is the country's most densely populated island, so its people have been officially moved across the map: to Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya. There were social engineering ambitions within the plan.

Javanese culture was expected to take over, especially in troublesome spots like East Timor. In its defense, the concept could also have forged a common identity among Indonesia's varied peoples.

It hasn't worked that way. In West Kalimantan, brutal warfare between the local Dayaks and immigrant Madurese has flared intermittently for the past three years, claiming thousands of lives. East Timor has left the Indonesian fold entirely. The biggest challenge facing Indonesia is to quell various ethnic conflicts and hold together as a nation.

Surabaya contains the mix of people one would expect in a bustling port town: Javanese bureaucrats, Chinese traders, even a small Arab community descended from seafaring merchants. When the eye adjusts, one notices the Madurese and their place on the lowest rung of Surabaya's employment ladder. They number about 800,000 -- a fourth of the city's population.

They peddle cigarettes, pimp for brothels, collect scrap metal and, with their fearsome celurits -- a kind of machete -- help the city's underworld run smoothly. "Madurese work the jobs the Javanese don't want," says Hamad Mataji, one of the most prosperous figures in the Madurese community.

Mataji arrived here penniless 25 years ago. He dug trenches, pulled a pedicab and retreaded tires to make money. When he had enough, he bought a 3,000 sq m lot that has become the city's central exchange for scrap metal. Now 50, Mataji carries a mobile phone, and his smile reveals a mouthful of teeth made from white gold. But he still works the yard every day, signing receipts from scrap-hauling scavengers -- a great many of them fellow Madurese -- and getting a different kind of visit from local politicians and cops. "Everyone these days is asking for a loan," he laughs.

Many things have changed in 25 years, Mataji says. The Madurese have been driven out of the local gambling and prostitution businesses. (Those trades are now backed by Chinese-Indonesians and the Indonesian military and police.) But their reputation as proud and rough characters hasn't diminished. "The Madurese would rather steal than beg," says Mataji. Sapan, 42, used to run with a Madurese gang in the Surabaya underworld until the early '80s, when thousands of suspected criminals were mysteriously murdered.

Sapan says he has killed 20 men, mostly in disputes over women. "We are fearless," he says. "We die when we are meant to die." Sapan found religion after too many years in jail, he says, and has returned home to Madura to work as a farmer. But his story fits the Madurese stereotype: a people brave and clannish, with their own code of honor (known as carok) -- and a propensity for violence. "Treat them well and they'll be even nicer," says Fachrul Rozi, a Madurese doctor. "But if you're mean to them, they'll be even meaner."

Dede Oetomo, an anthropologist at Surabaya's Airlangga University, observes, "With the Madurese, it is a very thin line between gangsterism and normality." That's not all bad. Most of the city's security guards are Madurese, and they're known for protecting premises with fierce loyalty. Says Nazirman, who has Madurese guards at his office supply store, "What they bring is their courage and a will to work." In the center of the city is Surabaya's largest red-light district, Dolly, named after a pioneering madam from the 1960s. Ronny, a native Madurese, has worked for the Wisma Jaya Indah brothel for 25 years. It's the only job he has ever had. Ronny used to go to the countryside on recruiting missions for the brothel, but these days he spends his days on the pavement outside. "I mainly do security and try to bring guys in." The night is slow, and a group of visiting Koreans are reluctant. "Only 50,000 rupiah [$6] an hour," Ronny promises them. One of the Koreans takes the bait, the others move on.

In the industrial port of Gresik on the outskirts of Surabaya, Madurese work together to get by. The remains of a decommissioned Indonesian warship are sunk in shallow, oily waters close to the shore. For six months, a group of 20 Madurese have been carving it up for scrap. Covered in oil and up to their waists in sludge, the men use propane torches and heavy saws to disembowel the vessel. "There won't be anything left of this ship when we're done with it," foreman Syaiful Bakri says proudly. The pieces will then find their way around the country, thanks to the extensive network of Madurese traders. That's good for the scavengers: the process cuts out the middlemen who usually skim off so much profit in the Indonesian economy.

The Madurese network helps newcomers find jobs in Surabaya, too, whether it's selling fruit or cigarettes on the street or collecting discarded plastic bottles and bald tires. The community is centered in the northern part of the city, where Madurese live together in tiny, makeshift houses.

"They believe in coexistence, not assimilation," says Daniel Sparingga, a sociologist at Airlangga University. Such aloofness can cause problems: in tough economic times such as these, Madurese are often blamed for increasing car thefts, pickpocketing and other petty crimes. That leads some to predict real friction if the economy continues to stagnate, not a happy thought considering the Madurese and their fearsome celurits.

"We're not afraid to use them if we have to," says Sapan, the former convict. So far, though, the mix has worked. However humble, the Madurese have their place in Surabaya, where the ethnic balance remains far healthier than in many other troubled Indonesian cities -- a land of millions of people living far from their homes.

[Reported by Jason Tedjasukmana/Surabaya]

Jakarta vigilantes kill with impunity

Ian Timberlake Indonesia -- Vigilante mobs have slain more than 100 people on the streets of Jakarta already this year, reflecting a loss of faith in the police since former dictator Suharto stepped down two years ago.

The 200,000-strong police force, known as Polri, "isn't capable of keeping things secure and enforcing the law," said Munarman, coordinator of the human rights watchdog agency Kontras.

"The result is that people see no need to go to the police. They'll just carry it out on their own," said Munarman, who, like many in this archipelago nation of 210 million people, uses only one name.

The breakdown of law and order was evident on a recent afternoon when rival groups of teen-age students battled alongside a nearly deserted highway, throwing rocks and swinging long sticks at one another.

As a Western journalist watched, a police car approached and sped on past without even slowing to check on the disturbance. In the absence of effective policing, the people themselves have become judge, jury and executioner.

Consider just a few cases reported recently in local newspapers:

• Zulkarnain, 20, was caught trying to steal a motorcycle. A mob stripped him naked and burned him alive on a South Jakarta street.
• Five men were beaten and burned to death near an East Jakarta bus terminal after someone yelled "thief" and accused them of robbing passengers.
• Inung, 20, was dragged into a field and set alight by a crowd in Central Java. He had been accused of stealing a cooking pan, some spoons and forks.

That compared with 93 cases seen at the hospital in 1999, when the vigilante killings appeared to have started. Earlier, they were almost unheard of, said Dr. Budi Sampurna, a forensic pathologist at the hospital.

The emergence of the vigilante killings followed the fall of former strongman Suharto in May 1998. Analysts cite a number of social and economic causes but say lack of confidence in the police and judicial system is key.

Brig. Gen. Dadang Garnida, chief spokesman for the Indonesian police, said the lack of trust may stem from the force's former role as a branch of the armed forces, which during Suharto's 32- year rule were used to brutally quash dissent.

The police were separated from the armed forces in April 1999 but remained under defense ministry supervision. On July 1 this year, President Abdurrahman Wahid ended defense ministry control and said police would be placed under his direct supervision on January 1.

Police immediately abandoned their military rank system and announced plans to restructure their police academy programs. They say their goal is to become a professional law-enforcement agency that serves the public.

"Police are a part of society," Gen. Garnida said. "All around the world, the police task is based on how to serve and protect." Despite the talk of change, legal experts and advocates of reform say the police have done little to dispel public perceptions that people with political connections, or the money to bribe officers, get favorable treatment while the poor are locked up, beaten and killed. The force "still behaves and acts like one of the state's repressive institutions," said Munarman, a lawyer.

Kontras states that Indonesian police killed 112 persons and wounded 286 in the first six months of this year. Some of the victims include farmers and workers attacked by police assigned to guard commercial farms and manufacturers, which pay for their police protection, Munarman said.

Johanes Sardadi, an instructor in the faculty of law at Atma Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta, said police are simply short- staffed. "The result is, if the masses run amok the police are late because there aren't enough of them," Mr. Sardadi said.

When police do arrest somebody, there is little faith the case will be professionally investigated in a country where traffic offenses are routinely resolved with a quick cash transaction.

Corruption within the police force is reported to reach the highest levels. Several top Jakarta officers, including the city police chief, were accused earlier this year of receiving a portion of illegal fees charged for processing drivers' licenses.

The government has begun to improve police salaries in order to reduce the incentive to take bribes. Gen. Garnida said he got a raise three months ago that tripled his salary to $335 a month. There are also plans to confront the personnel shortage by hiring 12,000 officers every six months until 2004, he said.

But real reform can come only after a revamp of Polri's education system to end the military approach, said Patra Zen of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation. "This is a prerequisite to other reform." Gen. Garnida conceded that ending the military culture is Polri's biggest challenge. "Modifying the behavior is the most difficult thing. That's cultural," he said.

Civilian security forces protest disbursal

Bagus Kurniawan/BI & LM, Jakarta -- The nightmare of unemployment has been weighing on the minds of thousands of members of the state-sponsored civilian security forces, known as Kamra, which are set to be officially disbanded at the end of the year. As a result, Kamra members from two districts in Yogyakarta have taken to the streets and marched to the provincial Legislative Council to plead that their fate be considered.

Around 700 Kamra members from the Sleman area and 300 from central Yogyakarta city marched in full uniform to the Legislator's office in the heart of Yogyakarta on Monday from 10am. The guards formed a convoy of motor cycles and cars which blocked traffic in the city's main road, Malioboro street.

"We have come to the Council to ask for their assistance and that they continue to fight for our cause," Kamra member Budi Raharjo told Detik during the rally. He explained that Kamra members had families to support.

"If we were fired we would add to the poverty problem in Indonesia," he said angrily. Budi also said that the existence of Kamra was of benefit to the general public. "We have a sound basis of militarism, it's a pity if we're disbanded", he said.

Budi and his fellow Kamra members are requesting that the provincial legislators assist them by allowing members to join Indonesian Police units or the military.

"We have already taken part in training exercises over the past two years. We're also sure that the armed forces and the police still require Kamra's services. Therefore if the government wants to disband Kamra without channeling [our expertise], it's best if the disbursal be postponed," Budi said.

As of 11am, Kamra members gathered on the front lawn of the Provincial Legislative Council in Yogyakarta patiently waiting to meet with representatives of the Council who are meeting to discuss the murder of a journalist named Udin.

Councillors question lack of police on raids

Jakarta -- Jakarta City Councilmen questioned on Saturday the absence of police officers on several raids conducted recently by local officials against gambling dens in the capital.

Council Deputy Speaker Djafar Badjeber of the United Development Party said the presence of the police during such operations is necessary to avoid any unexpected obstacles.

He said the Council has received complaints from city officials, who deplored the reluctance of police to accompany personnel from the City Public Order Agency on the anti-gambling raids.

Senior police officers have told city officials that their personnel were currently deployed to help safeguard the ongoing Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

But, according to Djafar, "the police could have assigned five or so officers to accompany the raids against the gambling dens. After all, it's their duty to fight crime and maintain security." Binsar Tambunan, chairman of Council Commission A on government affairs, worried that the city's efforts to curb gambling would be useless without the support of the police.

In the past three years, the city, particularly along Jl. Hayam Wuruk and Jl. Gajah Mada in downtown Kota, has witnessed a mushrooming growth of amusement centers, which actually offer several slot machines for gambling. Last Wednesday, at least nine personnel of the City Public Order Office were slightly injured by guards of several amusement centers during efforts to seal gambling dens at Mangga Dua Harco electronic center complex in Central Jakarta. According to the officials, the guards -- armed with batons -- fought the city officials during the raids.

It remains unclear why the city administration prefers to raid such places after the illegal business is already mushrooming. Councilman Binsar from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) reminded the police that such places have always been "guarded by hoodlums, who will do anything to maintain the centers' operations." Sharing the view, another councilman from PDI Perjuangan Pantas Nainggolan warned that the police are not only responsible for maintaining security but also to enforce gubernatorial decrees and city ordinances.

The councilmen urged the police to investigate the incidents and arrest anyone involved in attacking the city officials. "It's illegal business and it must be stopped. If the police and the administration fail to take stern action it will give bad precedence in the future and people in the gambling business won't take official raids seriously," Binsar said.

Separately, councilmen from the United Development Party (PPP) said in a statement on Saturday that they wanted Governor Sutiyoso and executives of the City Public Order Agency to take appropriate action against any official suspected of tipping-off the management of the centers.

"We observed that every time the administration is about to conduct a raid, operators of the dens seemed to have been aware of the plan and hastily ordered guards to face the officials," PPP chairman M. Zayadi Musa said.

Wahid visit to Iraq will harm Indonesia's stature: Albright

Santa Fe, New Mexico -- Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid will harm his country's stature if he follows through on plans to visit Iraq this year, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Saturday.

Albright said such a trip would be inappropriate and ill-advised and urged Wahid to heed Washington's advice which was pointedly ignored by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez when he traveled to Baghdad on Thursday and Friday.

"It's not up to me to tell Wahid what to do, I think, however, it does not enhance the stature of any country to go there," Albright told AFP in an interview here after the annual US-Mexico-Canada foreign ministers' meeting.

"I think it would be very useful [for the Indonesian leader to listen to US advice], President Wahid has a great deal to do in Indonesia," she said.

"We obviously give advice, other countries give us advice, if countries don't want to take it, that's their problem," Albright said, cataloguing the reasons why visiting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was a bad idea.

"I don't believe that countries gain in stature by going to visit the head of a state who has invaded a neighboring country, who has gassed his own people, who has tried to acquire weapons of mass destruction and who has not returned Kuwait property or made an accounting of Kuwaiti prisoners of war. I don't think that that improves the standing of any country," she said.

Earlier Saturday, Wahid said he would visit Iraq in the coming months, telling reporters that like Chavez, who became the first head of state to meet the Iraqi president since the Gulf War in 1991, he would not be bowed by US objections to the trip.

"I will visit Baghdad at the end of the summer," Wahid said at a joint press conference with Chavez, who arrived in Jakarta Saturday as part of a tour of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries nations.

The United States, through its third-highest ranking diplomat, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Pickering, had already asked Wahid not to visit Iraq or other countries Washington regards as state sponsors of terrorism, but the Indonesian leader rejected the request.

"We are not a lackey of the US," Wahid said after Pickering made his comments. "We are free to go anywhere." That reaction is similar to the feeling expressed by Chavez when Washington advised him not to travel to Iraq early last week.

Albright said she was unimpressed with countries that pursued controversial activities for the sake of standing up to Washington.

"Doing something to spite the United States is not exactly great policy," Albright said, adding that she was "surprised" Chavez had gone ahead with the visit. "What we're trying to do is show that Saddam Hussein is not the kind of leader who has earned the respect of other leaders," she said. "I'm surprised that President Chavez wanted to have the dubious honor of being the first leader to go to Baghdad" since the Gulf War, Albright said.
 

Environment/health

Indonesia `can't stop powerful illegal loggers'

Jakarta -- An average of 1.6 million ha of Indonesia's forests are being destroyed every year, mostly by illegal loggers with powerful connections here and abroad, a report said yesterday.

Forestry Ministry secretary-general Suripto said illegal loggers formed mafia-like international networks and that their operations were hard to track down.

According to the Jakarta Post, the conclusion was revealed on Friday by a seven-month-old team set up by the Forestry and Plantations Ministry to stop the crime and probe the untouchable figures behind the seemingly-endless smuggling of the country's timber overseas, particularly to China, Hongkong and Singapore. "If we succeed in curbing timber thefts in a certain area, the network just shifts operations to other places," he said.

"It is obvious that the timber thefts are backed by financially powerful people. But we can't give out the names yet because we're worried that these people will flee," Mr Suripto told a press conference.

He also said that the ministry has already sent another team to probe the possible role of a member of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) from the Golkar party.

Mr Suripto said if the person is proven guilty, the ministry would ask President Abdurrahman Wahid to expel him from the assembly. He added that the Golkar legislator is also suspected of playing a significant role in the abduction and assault of activists from several non-governmental organisations.

Mr Suripto said the tree felling had worsened since the economic crisis hit in mid-1997, but they had been unable to stop it. "During the crisis, forest destruction has taken place in protected and conserved forests as well as national parks," he said.

He also said the financial loss incurred by the deforestation, through lost taxes and forest resources as well as funds spent for reforestation, stood at 1.2 trillion rupiah (S$260 million) annually.

In July, the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said in a report that illegal logging in Indonesia had now reached "catastrophic" levels, with 70 per cent of timber processed derived from illegal sources.

It said that at the current rate, it was estimated lowland forest areas on the island of Sumatra and the Indonesian provinces on the island of Borneo -- East, South and Central Kalimantan -- would disappear in a decade. The EIA report also said the government's failure to stop illegal logging at national parks has resulted in the shrinking population of endangered orang- utans.

Earlier, the authorities in the province of North Sumatra had said they planned to take at least 18 companies to court for burning tens of thousands of hectares of rain forest. However, Environment Minister Sony Keraf had confessed in another report that he was helpless in tackling the haze.

NGOs and students demand state forestry enterprise closure

Arifin A/Lyndal Meehan, Jakarta -- NGOs and students in the province of Jambi, Sumatra, have called on the Minister of Forestry and Plantations, Nurmahmudi Ismail, to immediately close PT Inhutani V due to the extensive environmental damage caused by the state- owned enterprise and that the local Forestry Ministry official be sacked for corruption.

The activists met with Ismail in Jambi on the third and final day of his visit to the area on Sunday. Two spokesmen for the delegation Cecep and Sigit Ekoyuwono related to the media their determination to see the closure of PT Inhutani V. They claimed the environmental conditions at their sites were worsening while the company made little real contribution to the community.

The also related their determination to oust the head of the forestry authority in the area, Sujatno, an ethnic Javanese, because he showed no ability to protect forests. Quite the opposite, he was widely believed to be party to corrupt practices in the operation of PT Inhutani V. They also claimed he was involved with a number of other timber companies clearing forests illegally in collusion with the company.

"The report prepared by the Jambi Ministry of Forestry head [Sujatno] which stated that 56% of forests in Jambi remained is absolutely incorrect, in fact the destruction of forests in Jambi is serious with only around 15% left," Cecep said.

The students and NGO reps also wished to see the division of funds for reforestation reallocated so that the funds be taken over by the provincial government with the central government receiving only 15% of the funds.

"The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations does not need to stand fast and protect the money from the reforestation funds, the matter should be handed over to the provinces and the centre should wait for the allocation of monies from the provincial government," Cecep continued.

The meeting between the Minister and environmental activists did not proceed smoothly. The Minister had only put aside half an hour, 11-11,30am, to meet them while he was scheduled to return to Jakarta on a flight departing at 11.30am. The news prompted activists from several groups, particularly the Conservation Information Forum (Warsi) and the Jambi Forest Protectors Forum (PPHJ), to walk out of the meeting before it began.

The meeting room was then filled to capacity by demonstrators originally amassed outside the building. In his discussion with them, Nurmahmudi Ismail, acknowledged that the destruction of Indonesian forests was serious and that whatever information was received by his Ministry would be considered and included in their evaluation of current conditions.

"The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations is experiencing a difficult time and needs to reevaluate solutions to end the problems," Ismail told the angry protesters. The Minister also acknowledged that the degradation of forests had reached 28 million hectares.
 

Arms/armed forces

US$8.4 million missing from Kostrad foundation

Irna Gustia/Swastika & LM, Jakarta -- A Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) investigation into a foundation owned by the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) has uncovered corruption to the value of Rp 70 billion (US$ 8.4 million). The BPK has promised to complete their investigation next week.

Head of the BPK investigation team into Kostrad Foundation I, Gede Arcana, told reporters at his office on Gatot Subroto St., South Jakarta Friday that the Rp 70 billion corruption case involves several Army Generals.

Amongst the leaders mentioned was former Kostrad Commander Djaja Suparman who reportedly channeled funds into Mandala Airlines where he serves as commissariat. Suparman has also been mentioned in investigations into a counterfeiting ring linked to the funding of the pro-integration militia in East Timor where Kostrad was one of the most active army units.

This amount is far less than the Rp 135 billion (US$ 16.23 million) reported in Tempo magazine. In their report, Tempo mentioned several former high-ranking Kostrad officers suspected in the manipulation of the foundations' funds.

"The findings on the Kostrad fund irregularities was not worth Rp 135 billion but Rp 70 billion instead," Gede was quoted saying. This reduction was due to the fact that the BPK audit team noted several fund transfers back into foundation's principle fund.

Gede further admitted that the Rp 70 billion was used by former Kostrad leaders for commando and other field operations without elaborating on the particulars. "Mark-ups and misuse were carried out to fund the operations," he said.

He added that next week the BPK will make two recommendations for managing Kostrad funds so that the organisation will have a more organised administration mechanism. "So there will be no more fund misusage by top leaders who have extensive authority," Gede reiterated.

As may be expected, further legal or disciplinary actions will not be the responsibility of the Audit Agency. They will be listed as persons who have conducted misdemeanors and the list will be submitted to the Armed Forces Central Command (Puspom), said Gede.

Commenting on the foundation's principal fund, Gede said that all Kostrad leaders were required to contribute a certain amount of their wages to the collective fund.

General urges army clean-up

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- A leading armed forces reformer has made an unprecedented attack on corrupt generals.

Lieutenant-General Agus Wirahadikusumah called on the Government to cleanse the military and police of what he called the cancer of corruption. "It's now up to the Government -- to act or not to act," he wrote in the latest issue of the magazine Tempo .

General Wirahadikusumah said the military "can no longer hide behind the shield of military secrecy to avoid demand for transparency in all sectors of life. What should be kept secret from the public should be limited only to such information as a military operational plan and armaments," he said.

President Abdurrahman Wahid last month removed General Wirahadikusumah as commander of Kostrad, the army's main combat force, after he had sacked two officers for alleged corruption and questioned the withdrawal of millions of dollars from military-owned businesses.

Mr Wahid is believed to have come under enormous pressure from serving and retired anti-reformist officers, including the former armed forces commander, General Wiranto, to remove General Wirahadikusumah. The general's appointment to the Kostrad job early this year was widely seen as a boost for the military's fledgling reformist movement.

During the 32-year rule of former president Soeharto the armed forces set up a network of companies that reaped hundreds of millions of dollars a year from monopolies and protected businesses. They have operated in almost complete secrecy and are not subject to government auditing.

General Wirahadikusumah said subordinates who acted under orders in committing crimes such as kidnapping and other human rights abuses should be put on non-active duty. "Their willingness to accept the decision will be acknowledged as a form of sacrifice for the sake of restoring the military to the people's army," he said.

"Only those corrupt generals need be arrested and put on trial. This will have a deterrent effect on those who might entertain the same idea of making themselves rich by crooked means."

The general warned that the country's leadership faces grave risks as it moves away from Soeharto's authoritarianism. "Unless the nation's leaders cope wisely with the challenges, there is the risk of Indonesia disintegrating into smaller states," he said.

General Wirahadikusumah said that "old forces", deeply entrenched and possessing enormous resources, contrasted with new forces which have little money and have to start from scratch.

"Unfortunately many people who are guilty of corruption do not consider themselves doing any wrong," he said. "They even compete with one another for more power in order to amass even more wealth, further widening the gap and making reconciliation more difficult to attain."

Yesterday, in his first independence day speech, Mr Wahid promised to rid the country of what he called "evil" corruption.

"In the past the full participation of the public at large in the process of producing the prosperity and enjoying the fruit of development was very limited due to the highly centralised decision-making process and power-sharing that were entailed by the KKN [corruption, collusion and nepotism] practices," he said.

Mr Wahid pleaded for peace among the country's warring ethnic and religious groups, saying that 50 years after independence "blood still sheds, vengeance and hatred loom large in the hearts of some of our supposedly independent guards, despite the fact that our nationalism is being seriously engulfed by world globalisation".

In a speech read by the Vice-President, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, Mr Wahid said that "dirty" hands were behind much of the communal violence that has killed thousands and driven off investors.

"We need to formulate a national agenda for reconciliation, dialogue and communication to repair relations between people in every region," he said.

Military to retain role in politics until 2009

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Removing the military from politics was one of the key agendas of the reform movement in 1998, yet legislators on a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) committee recommended this week that the military retain its dual role until 2009.

Analysts say that an unwarranted fear by political parties about how the armed forces (TNI) would react if it was removed from the MPR, coupled with the military's own ability to lobby the parties, has allowed it to maintain the status quo.

The military, which has already agreed to give up its allocation of seats in Parliament by 2004, has argued in favour of continuing to retain seats in the MPR as a means of having a say in the decision-making process and minimising the potential for political conflict.

But as political analyst Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar saw it, the military conned parties into believing that its personnel were not yet ready to be given the vote -- hence the need to retain its allocation of seats in the legislature.

If the military did lose its 38 seats, then its personnel must be allowed to channel their political aspirations by having the vote.

But the TNI warned it could not be responsible for the consequences if that happened. "Nobody wants to be on the wrong side of the military," Dr Dewi said. "Although they all agree on the need to contain it, they don't want to upset it. Nobody thinks it is capable of a coup, but it can do a lot of damage."

Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said he was surprised that parties which had previously vowed to remove the military from Parliament by 2004 had allowed the military to keep its MPR seats until 2009. However, he agreed that fear of the TNI may have been a major reason.

Numerous military and police leaders have hinted at the consequences of allowing the military to take part in polls as ordinary citizens. "It will be dangerous if differences occur among groups of armed people. The military and the police should stay neutral by not voting," said Mr Hari Sabarno from the military faction.

The military, obscuring the issue somewhat, has also equated the right to vote with the right to join a political party -- and noted that, as armed members of a political party, they could be very dangerous.

Political analyst Tomi Legowo said: "There is a strong perception that if you give them the right to vote, this can easily be manipulated by the political parties. And I think this is the dilemma in the Indonesian context." He argues for a five- year transitional period before troops be given the vote.

Ironically the strongest reformist party, the Indonesian Democratic Party-Perjuangan (PDI-P), which has suffered most at the hands of the military, has been behind the push to allow TNI to retain its seats.

Dr Dewi said the PDI-P has been one of the most conservative parties on the issue, despite party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri's unfortunate history with the military.

PDI-P legislator Panda Nababean said in response to questions about the party's position: "The assembly represents all layers of society throughout the country. What will happen if certain groups of people are not allowed to vote?"

Whether party members have been persuaded to allow the military to retain their seats out of fear of violent conflict or because of backroom horse trading, many commentators regret what they see as a backward step on the path to full democracy.

And as The Jakarta Post said in an editorial, the military's efforts to hold on to political power until 2009 could be a sign that it has no intention of leaving politics.
 

Economy & investment

Assembly offers few answers on economy

Robert Go, Jakarta -- One of the most amazing outcomes of the recent MPR session must be that the rupiah continued to strengthen even as legislators bashed President Abdurrahman Wahid's 10-month-old government over the sluggish pace of economic recovery.

Attacks on the economic team started on day one of the MPR session and continued unabated throughout the two weeks. "The progress report was actually a report of no progress," legislators complained of the President's first speech. He was a poor manager and had little grasp of economics, they said. "Conditions were better under the interim administration of BJ Habibie," one person claimed.

But for all their criticism, the legislators themselves offered little advice on how to solve the country's problems. To be fair to Indonesia's lawmakers, Mr Abdurrahman was long on generalities and short on concrete statistics in his progress report.

Eventually he provided figures on increased foreign reserves, an improving GDP and rising exports. Then, in mid-session, a frustrated top economics minister, Mr Kwik Kian Gie, resigned, and insisted criticism directed at his team's performance had been unfair, given the short time span and the high expectations.

Lawmakers offered few solutions, just platitudes. Examples include: On the rupiah's fluctuating exchange rate, the MPR wanted the president to "take the right step to help Bank Indonesia improve and stabilise the currency". On the ineffectiveness of debt restructuring, legislators advised the administration to "speed up restructuring of private and state debts".

On the privatisation of state-owned enterprises, the MPR members wanted him to "perform wholeheartedly and transparently the restructuring and privatisation programme". On the slack investment climate, the MPR suggested creating "political stability and security, and increase efforts to promote investment".

Instead of a laundry-list approach, why did legislators not try to formulate concrete recommendations that the new economic team could consider? The problem perhaps was that showing what is wrong is easier than actually coming up with an answer. Observers noted that legislators either catnapped, read newspapers or chatted on their cell phones during the commissions' deliberations on economic issues.

Ms Sri Mulyani Indrawati, secretary of Mr Abdurrahman's National Economic Council (DEN), said, there is "overwhelming pressure on the government to deliver real, tangible and public outcomes". Ms Sri, a university lecturer tipped to earn a Cabinet post next week, advocates focusing on the domestic market by privatising state-owned enterprises in addition to restructuring corporate structures and debts.

Economist Hadi Soesastro at the Centre for Strategic International Studies agrees, even though such an approach could mean that Indonesia would require up to ten years to reach its pre-crisis economic activity level. "This is not the time to expect miracles, but to focus on building the foundation for future growth," he told The Straits Times.

The process, he argued, involves encouraging banks to issue loans once again, concentrating on restructuring nationalised assets now managed by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, and renewing commitments to the International Monetary Fund's programmes. The key question is, why didn't the country's top lawmakers address some of these bitter options?