• New Zealand troops kill another Timor militia member - NZPA
• Militia leader grilled over killings retains support - South China Morning Post
• Militia linchpin Guterres arrested - South China Morning Post
• Fearful and uncertain, Timorese refugees head back home - The Age
• Militia still armed and dangerous - Green Left Weekly
• Documents assert `we can't block Jakarta' - Green Left Weekly
• Finger pointed at West over refugee, militia problems - Agence France-Presse
• Militia leader warns of attack if he is arrested - Agence France-Presse
• Free but jobless - East Timor revisited - Straits Times

• Militant union calls for international solidarity - Green Left Weekly
• 300 truck drivers strike at port - Detik

• Dismissal of Suharto case heightens power struggle - World Socialist Web Site

• 'Army elements behind violence' - Straits Times

• Raiders torch ten houses in Aceh - Agence France-Presse
• 95 killed in Aceh in last 24 days - Jakarta Post

• Most JSX bombing suspects likely to be freed: PHBI - Jakarta Post
• Wiranto to escape charges over Timor atrocities - Sydney Morning Herald

• Rent-a-crowd turns on rally organiser - South China Morning Post
• Students attack paramilitary students - Jakarta Post
• Foreigners' health and wealth hazard - Sydney Morning Herald
• Government reviews history textbooks - Straits Times
• Staff of closed ministries face shaky future - Straits Times
• Killed for sleeping at fiancee's house - Straits Times

• Regents charged with selling forest concessions - Jakarta Post

• TNI blasted over commercial interests - Jakarta Post

• Will revenue-sharing plan work - Reuters

Makassar students detain six government employees

Makassar -- The conflict between the Alauddin State Islamic Institute (IAIN) and the South Sulawesi gubernatorial office continued on Wednesday with the detention of six civil servants by the students.

The students pledged to hold the six civil servants hostage until Governor HZ Palaguna arrived and openly apologized to the students for the excessive force "initiated by the office employees" on Monday. The six 'detainees' are identified as Kahar, Ahmad Djufri, Iwan, Buyung, Bakri and Slamet Riyadi.

"The governor must come here to apologize, or the students will not release the six people and the four cars being held," Olleng, an IAIN student, told The Jakarta Post.

The aggressive actions of the students were arbitrarily conducted by the IAIN students on Tuesday during a demonstration by thousands of students from several universities protesting the 12 percent increase in fuel prices. The students examined ID cards of passersby to learn if they were civil servants.

South Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Pol. Sofyan Jacoeb called on the students on Tuesday to stop the vandalism. "We cannot condone any brutality. Eighteen students have been detained for burning gubernatorial office cars and for other acts of violence during the demonstrations. They are all students of Makassar University and Universitas 45," said Sofjan.

The students finally released the six detainees at about 8pm local time after the IAIN rector Abdul Muin Salim met with Makassar City Police chief Sr. Supt. Aryanto Boedihardjo and Governor Palaguna.

Soon after the meeting at Palaguna's office, the rector assured the students that the governor would come on Thursday to apologize. "If he [Palaguna] does not keep his word, I will step down. I mean it."

On Tuesday night, governor HZ Palaguna said that South Sulawesi would not accept the fuel price hike policy. "We herewith ask the central government to delay the decision. Increased fuel prices always result in increased prices in other goods, including staples," Palaguna said after a three-hour meeting with concerned institutions in response to the students' actions on Tuesday. He said another official letter asking for a delay would be sent to President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Also on Wednesday, in the West Sumatra capital of Padang, a large group of students called Front Padang marched to the provincial legislative council denouncing the fuel price hike effective on October 1. Waving banners and posters, the protesters congregated at the council building and held orations.

"Fuel price increases also means increases in prices of other goods. This is burdensome to the people," Muhammad Mahfuz, the students coordinator, told Antara.

In Semarang dozens of students from the state Diponegoro University, Tujuh Belas Agustus 45 University and the Soegiyopranoto Catholic University launched a peaceful rally protesting the fuel price increase.

The students, calling themselves the Democratic Students League (LMD) distributed leaflets calling for the people to go against the government's 'notorious' wisdom.

"Fuel prices increased this month and in five months they will increase again, and other commodities will become more expensive. What will we eat then?" Ade Ruli, the students spokesman lamented.

Scores injured after Suharto goes free

James Balowski -- Some 30 people were injured and at least 46 arrested in Jakarta on September 27 in a series of clashes between anti-Suharto and pro-Suharto protesters and the police, following the dismissal of corruption charges against the former Indonesian president.

The September 29 Jakarta Post also reported that, according to police, at least one anti-Suharto protester was killed in a clash with police near the trial venue in south Jakarta. Police however were unable to identify the victim and there were no reports of bodies being admitted to any hospitals.

Sources in Jakarta said that a number of different groups were involved in the protests, including the People's Democratic Party (PRD), the National Student League for Democracy (LMND), City Forum (Forkot), City Front (Front Kota), the Student Action Front for Reform and Democracy (Famred) and the Students' and People's Committee for Democracy (Komrad). The groups are demanding Suharto be jailed immediately for human rights abuses and corruption during his 32 years in office.

The first clashes in front of the trial venue began at around 10am -- 30 minutes before the trial was due to begin -- and continued late into the night near Suharto's residence in central Jakarta. A number of buses used by pro-Suharto demonstrators and police vehicles were burned and there were reports of a soldier and police officer being beaten when locals joined with students at a demonstration near the National University campus in Salemba.

Unlike demonstrations at the two previous hearings, police reacted quickly and violently. The Post said that when protesters at the trial were blocked by a cordon of some 200 police, they began pelting them with stones and Molotov cocktails. Police then marched on the crowd, firing tear gas and rifles to disperse them. Protesters scattered in different directions and sporadic fighting continued for more than three hours.

In what the September 26 Associated Press news service described as "stunning TV footage", one police officer aimed his grenade launcher into the face of a cowering protester and fired point- blank. AP said the victim was one of many fleeing from the police charge and at the time was crouched on the sidewalk covering his head with his hands.

"Police surrounded him, and one officer aimed a tear gas launcher into his face. The round burst in a yellowish-white flash -- the impact pitching the young man over his side. At least 10 other officers then began beating and kicking the prostrate victim.

"One officer tried to beat him with another grenade launcher, which discharged and enveloped the group in a cloud of gas. Bleeding and semi-conscious, the victim was taken to a hospital. It was not possible to immediately determine how badly hurt he was".

Equally violent behaviour by police was also reported later in the evening near Suharto's residence, when police charged anti- Suharto protesters who, according to the Post, were actually preparing to leave.

The Post said the situation quickly spiralled out of control as dozens of police officers moved in, arbitrarily firing tear gas into the demonstrators. Several of the demonstrators attempted to hide in surrounding homes.

"As the situation deteriorated, some officers were seen angrily shouting, ignoring their commanders' orders to stop firing. Several police officers became so enraged they hurled their batons at the houses", a Post report said.

PRD leader Anom Astika told Green Left Weekly that they were "very disappointed by the [court's] verdict" and that it was a "betrayal of the will of the people" engineered by remnants of Suharto's New Order regime. "Moreover, [Indonesia's] legislators are failing to take any action on this issue, it is as if they don't care about the decision", he said.

"What happened yesterday is very saddening for the people of Indonesia, they are the victims of Suharto and the military. The military and those who supported Suharto must be brought to trial for their crimes."

Peasants march for justice

Jim Mcilroy, Jakarta -- One thousand peasants from various regions of Indonesia rallied and marched here on September 24 to demand government action on human rights and economic justice.

Organised by the National Peasants Union (STN), the rally brought together peasants from Java and south Sumatra to rally outside the Presidential Palace, followed by a march to the Bank of Indonesia and then through city streets to the Proclamasi Monument.

The peasants demanded the return of lands illegally seized from them by the government and military; provision of new technology, especially tractors, to the peasants to allow them to increase their productivity; and a guarantee of a living income for all rural families, including abolition of all taxes and duties which cut into peasant incomes.

Although the demonstrators faced a substantial police presence outside the Presidential Palace, they were able to complete their protest peacefully.

Violence continues in Makassar over fuel price hike

Makassar -- Chaos and brutality continued here on Tuesday as thousands of students protesting the fuel price hike vandalized the governor's office, burned more cars and clashed with provincial administration civil servants.

Dozens of students were injured in the disturbances, which started at 11.30am local time when thousands of students from various universities tried forcibly to break through a police cordon and invade the gubernatorial compound.

The students, disappointed over failing to meet Governor HZ Palaguna, turned more violent after local civil servants detained and beat AM Yusuf Bakri, who was about to negotiate with the security forces.

"Seconds later the students threw stones at the governor's office before they entered the office compound and smashed the doors and windows of the building," an eyewitness said. The vandalism, which lasted for about 10 minutes, left ten students injured.

In retaliation for the earlier beating, the students detained two local employees, Gunawan and Habuddin, at about 4pm. Later, after darkness had fallen, the students hijacked two official cars belonging to the governors' office. No news was forthcoming as to the whereabouts of the two kidnapped civil servants and the two cars. The students said they could not excuse the civil servants' action in detaining and beating their colleague for unclear reasons.

Before the clash with the officers, the students rallied and blockaded most of the main streets in Makassar. They burned a car belonging to the governor's office and destroyed another car belonging to Pelni, the state-owned shipping company.

Makassar City Police chief Sr. Supt. Aryanto Boedihardjo regretted the clash, saying that the students had gone too far. He said the police would act firmly to deal with any further anarchy.

Separately, Governor Palaguna said he supported the South Sulawesi people's move to reject the fuel price hike, but he said that vandalism and such rebellious actions were not to be condoned.

Strike In the West Java town of Bogor, some 50 kilometers from Jakarta, hundreds of public transport drivers went on strike, demanding that councillors approve a 40-percent hike in fares from the current level of Rp 500. The drivers said the 12-percent hike in the fuel price had forced them to increase fares. Hundreds of public transit vehicles, called angkot, had been jamming the main thoroughfares, such as Jl. Kapten Muslihat and Jl. Pajajaran, and around the Air Mancur area, since morning.

The drivers met with the council speaker, M. Said, who said that the council had agreed to raise fares to Rp 600. The non-violent strike ended soon after the meeting.

In Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, people complained about rocketing fuel prices. Local resident Lukas Carvalho told Antara that a drum of kerosene (containing 190 liters) now cost Rp 95,000, or Rp 22,500 more than the old price. "Kerosene now costs between Rp 600 and Rp 700 per liter," Carvalho said.

In Bandung, poultry businesses used the fuel price hike to increase the price of Day Old Chicks (DOC) from Rp 2,500 to Rp 3,000 each. An specialist with the Indonesian Poultry Breeders' Association, Ashwin Pulungan, told reporters on Monday that the increase was unreasonable. "The price of Day Old Chicks has nothing to do with fuel prices," Pulungan said, adding that he assumed the increase was a trick by the businessmen.

"The DOC price has increased three times since July. It was Rp 1,500 each in July, then Rp 2,500 and now Rp 3,000," he said. According to Pulungan, the poultry business had been monopolized by certain big companies. "Unfortunately the government has never taken the necessary steps to deal with this."

Yogya students demo over recent shooting

Bagus Kurniawan/BI & GB, Yogyakarta -- Thousands of students from the Muhammadiyah High School in Yogyakarta, Central Java, have staged a rowdy protest on Monday at the Provincial Legislative Council building demanding the police take responsibility for the shooting of a student.

Under the banner of the Muhammadiyah Youth for Reform Front (Formasi), the students are demanding that the Yogyakarta Police Chief, Brig. Gen. Logan Siagian, fully investigate an incident when police opened fire on brawling students after a game of basketball. A Muhammadiyah student identified as Hasan Alwi (17) was wounded in the back. He is currently still in intensive care at a local hospital.

Formasi strongly condemned the overzealous reaction of the Mobile Brigade in handling the highschool brawl which started after an inter-school basketball game on September 27. The group has given the authorities one week to solve the case. If the police fail to solve the case, the students demanded that the Provincial Legislative Council intervene and seek the dismissal of Logan Siagian. The group also asked that the local Military Police handle the case.

Formasi also demanded that Logan Siagian make a public apology to Muhammadiyah to be printed in the media for one week and that the police pay financial compensation to the victim's family.

Muhammadiyah Youth Association (IRM) general secretary, Arif Jamali Muis, said the case has to be dealt with properly and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. Arif believed the students did not confront the officers, on the contrary, the officers " acted barbarously towards the students". Arif also claimed that Muhammadiyah students were not involved in the school brawl.

Yogyakarta Police Resort Chief, Happy Kartika, said 10 personnel were deployed to the area where the brawl occurred. Four Mobile Brigade officers were armed with assault rifles while the rest carried only batons.

Kartika said that he had received the report on the shooting, but that he suspected the bullet might have ricocheted when the officer fired a warning shot. He said this had yet to be confirmed. Kartika did not say if the officers used rubber bullets or otherwise.

Five students shot and wounded in fuel demo

Jakarta -- Five Indonesian students were injured when police opened fire on a protest against a rise in fuel prices, in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province, witnesses said.

Police used live ammunition and rubber bullets to disperse the some 1,000 protestors from the Indonesia Muslim University in Makassar, according to a student activist at the scene of the clash. "They were using two kinds of ammunitions, rubber and live bullets. I still have 10 cartridges with me," UMI student activist Iwan Anarkhi told AFP by telephone from Makassar.

Police moved in after the students beat a plainclothes officer who had been trying to pass himself off as a student at the protest, Anarkhi said.

He said that all five students were rushed to the police hospital in Makassar. Four were later released. Anarkhi said the injured policeman had also been taken to the same hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

The students later rampaged through the streets and burnt two cars, thought to be government vehicles. "Nobody was killed by the students, they were just aiming for the cars," Anarkhi said. The Makassar city police could not be immediately reached for comment.

The student protest was backed by hundreds of minibus drivers who went on strike over the government's decision to raise the price of fuel by an average of 12 percent.

Fuel rises spark demonstrations

DSB, DS & TS/GB, Jakarta -- The increase in fuel prices, effective today Sunday 1 October 2000, have sparked demonstrations across Indonesia while the President has called on the people not to be `reactive'. A massive national demonstration is planned for 10 October.

Labour leaders Dita Indah Sari and Mochtar Pakpahan lead a `long march' of 500-odd demonstrators from the Indonesian Unions' Solidarity Forum (FSUI) to the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta. The Forum, comprising 18 unions demanded the price rises be dropped and a 100% rise in the minimum wage, slightly over US$ 1.20 a day in Jakarta which has the highest rate according to a new regionally differentiated system passed by the government.

Earlier, the group came from the `Proclamation Monument' where hundreds of other demonstrators from NGOs and student groups had gathered to reject the price rises.

Representatives of the action, which in the end gathered together 26 organisations, were received at the Palace by the Minister for Transmigration and Manpower, Al Hilal Hamdi, for 10 minutes. He reiterated that the price rises would stay in place. The demonstrators then returned to the `Proclamation Monument' vowing to hold a national day of action on 10 October.

Meanwhile, from Chile where President Abdurrahman Wahid is currently visiting on another of his whirlwind round-the-world jaunts, he has asked the people of Indonesia not to go over the top in their reactions to the increases.

"I implore the people to be calm, study the problem carefully. The people must respect the endeavor and for the poor we have already prepared subsidies. So because of that, I hope the people won't have too much of a reaction," he said.

The government has prepared Rp 800 billion for subsidies for the underprivileged although doubts remain about the distribution, due to Indonesia's endemic corruption, and the effectiveness of channeling the money through three Ministries. Price hikes were to be introduced in April but were later postponed after mass demonstrations and the government recognised its unpreparedness.

Despite the time lapse, many politicians are now claiming the government failed to alert the general public about the rises, its impact and the scheme for distributing subsidies.

The President also stressed that the price increases were agreed by the government. "This plea from those who don't agree to the price rises, we respect. But in a comprehensive sense, the cabinet has decided. Last night at 7 before the prices were increased, there was a meeting of the Vice President, Minister for Energy, Chief of Police, Coordinating Ministers and the decision was made. I hope it is respected," he added.

Minor rallies mark fuel price hike

Jakarta -- The first day of the fuel price hike passed without major public upheaval on Sunday, despite a few protests in Jakarta and Bandung, and rumors of bigger demonstrations in other towns.

In Jakarta, about 1,000 people from several labor unions protested in front of the Presidential Palace demanding that the government cancel the fuel price increase.

Protesters came from, among other groups, the National Front for Indonesian Workers Struggle (FNPBI), the Reformed All Indonesian Workers Union (SPSI Reformasi), the Indonesian Prosperous Labors Union (SBSI), and the Confederation of Indonesian Labor Unions (Gaspermindo).

Jakarta Police declared on Saturday an Alert One status for the capital. As many as 18,000 police personnel were placed on alert until Tuesday to anticipate possible disturbances.

No problems occurred in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar on Sunday after eighteen students of the Makassar State University were arrested on Saturday for hijacking three gasoline tank trucks loaded with fuel.

In Medan, North Sumatra, students' plans to hold a huge demonstration on Sunday turned out to be an empty threat. But on Saturday, students there did set a gasoline station on fire. No one was arrested in the incident and no fatalities were reported.

Semarang was also quiet with no lines of motorists waiting to buy gasoline.

In Bandung dozens of students grouped in New Alliance for Democracy protested the increase in fuel price by an average of 12 percent. The non-violent action was filled with orations, calling for people to be aware of the government's mistake. In Yogyakarta, everything was also under control.

Jakarta protesters threatened on Sunday to stage massive and continuing rallies if the government refused to cancel the price increases. "It's impossible for us to make the government call off the policy through discussions. That's why we have to go to the streets," FNPBI coordinator Dita Indah Sari said in her oration. "If the government still refuses to cancel the new policy, we will continue to stage rallies tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and so on," Dita said.

In Makassar, students and public transport drivers threatened to stage huge protests on Monday. "The students want the government to delay the policy, while the drivers want the local administration to allow them to increase fares," a student, who wanted anonymity, said on Saturday.

Makassar students have shown persistence by staging at three sequential rallies. The provincial legislative council also expressed disagreement with the fuel price hikes. Bandung students vowed to continue protesting should the government fail to delay or cancel the policy.

Jakarta demonstrators also demanded wages to be raised by 100 percent saying that it had become more and more difficult for laborers to buy daily needs with their current minimum wage of Rp 344,500 per month in the Jakarta area.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Alhilal Hamdi who met with the protesters in front of the presidential palace said that the fuel hike was appropriate. "Seventy percent of the government's fuel subsidy went to those who do not need it, such as those who own expensive cars, while only 30 percent of the subsidy went to the poor," Alhilal said.

Alhilal said that postponing the policy, initially slated for April, cost the government Rp 41.3 trillion instead of Rp 22.4 trillion to subsidize the fuel.

"We will continue to protest. We will stage a massive rally all over the country on October 10," labor activist and SBSI chairman Mochtar Pakpahan said. The rally ended peacefully after Alhilal left the site.
 

East Timor

New Zealand troops kill another Timor militia member

Dili - A small group of New Zealand soldiers shot and killed an armed militia member near Suai, East Timor, last night. The New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement today that none of the soldiers were injured in the 11pm incident about 4.5km north of Suai, where New Zealand troops are based near the West Timor border.

Senior national officer Brigadier Lou Gardiner said the militia member was patrolling towards the soldiers when they spotted him. "The contact was initiated by our soldiers when the militia member approached their position. "The militia member was clearly identified by his actions in the manner that he was carrying his small arms weapon. "He was then engaged by our soldiers."

Brig Gardiner said the soldiers had been stationary at the time to help them observe militia movements from east to west, which had been occurring in their patrol area over the past week.

The troops had received three reports of militia member sightings earlier in the day. It was the second shooting of a militia member by New Zealand troops in the past three weeks.

A militiaman was killed late last month after a small group of them approached a hidden New Zealand patrol with their weapons raised. They were fired on by the New Zealanders and one was killed.

A radio report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the militiaman killed last night was carrying a military-issue SKS assault rifle, grenades and a large amount of rounds. He was also wearing an Indonesian military-issued uniform.

The army is believed to be concerned the contact was only 4.5km north of Suai, where the New Zealand battalion is based, and well inside the New Zealand contingent's area of operations. It was also close to the areas visited by Prime Minister Helen Clark last weekend. Under United Nations rules of engagement, the Kiwi troops have the right to shoot first without challenging a hostile contact.

Army spokesman Captain Mark Richards said the New Zealand troops were not surprised by the presence of armed militia and were prepared for them. "We have trained for this type of thing. They know what to expect over there and they are going about it in the most professional manner they possibly can."

He said the army has been getting good intelligence about militia groups, partially because the Kiwi peacekeepers were well liked by the East Timorese people and had developed a close rapport with them.

Many of the militia groups were still thought to be operating out of refugee camps on the western side of the border. Brig Gardiner said the dead militiaman was well-armed and well-trained. "These guys are not just one or two-days-trained people. They know what they are doing."

The man was thought to be carrying an SKS 7.62mm assault rifle, grenades and a lot of ammunition. The last militiaman shot by the army 10 days ago was also carrying an SKS assault rifle, grenades and 16 loaded magazines. However, Brig Gardiner said it was unlikely the two militiamen were from the same group. "We reported that other group had gone back to West Timor. We can't say categorically but it is unlikely."

The army has begun an investigation into the shooting but it was still in its early stages. He said the New Zealand peacekeepers were working closely with the Indonesian Army (TNI) and there was nothing to support suggestions that the TNI or its elite special forces command, Kopassus, were arming or training the militia. He said the TNI was also telling the peacekeepers it was working towards the disarming of the militia.

Although the army was concerned that the contact was only 4.5km from its headquarters at Suai there was a lot of heavy bush in the area. The contact and shooting was not a surprise. "We know they are there so no, we are not surprised."

The peacekeepers do not have the authority to cross the border in pursuit of militia into Indonesian-controlled West Timor, nor would they be seeking that, Brig Gardiner said. "It is not appropriate. The security of Indonesia is Indonesia's responsibility." He said he was happy the troops were doing a very good job of protecting the East Timorese people. "That is what it is about."

Militia leader grilled over killings retains support

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- Eurico Guterres, the well-connected militia leader, was questioned by four Indonesian prosecutors yesterday about his role in an East Timor massacre last year and more recent violence in West Timor.

Witnesses claim he incited his followers to "cleanse" the East Timorese capital of pro-independence activists and sympathisers in April last year. But his lawyer says the charges of incitement to violence in Dili on which the militia chief was arrested in Jakarta on Wednesday are spurious.

Guterres was said to have led the attack on the Dili home of independence supporter Manuel Carrascalao, in which at least 13 people were killed. Since his arrest, support has come from some of the highest rungs of Indonesian politics for the man who calls himself "The Patriot".

Guterres, 27, who is being held at police headquarters in Jakarta, is accused of thwarting the disarmament of militias in West Timor, a step demanded by the international community as a pre-condition for the resumption of aid for the 130,000 East Timorese refugees there. Aid workers quit the province after militiamen murdered four UN aid staff in the border town of Atambua on September 5.

"Eurico Guterres was arrested after there was enough evidence for him to become a suspect in the destruction and burning of the UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] office in Atambua," police Senior Superintendent Saleh Saaf was quoted as saying.

But Amien Rais, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, defended the man blamed for a history of mob violence. "He's our friend. He's the leader of the pro-integration militia and he lost his homeland. If he's arrested for the sake of the UN, then what a nasty country that makes us," Mr Rais said.

A Golkar legislator, Ferry Mursidan Baldan, said: "Don't make him [Guterres] a scapegoat but a representative symbol of the East Timorese who want to integrate with Indonesia."

House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung said if Guterres was found to have broken the law he must be punished. But he urged the authorities "not to overreact when handing down a punishment, considering his dedication to Indonesia".

Guterres has admitted being sponsored by Jakarta and holds a senior position in the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle led by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

President Abdurrahman Wahid began the process that led to Guterres' arrest last week while he was still on a foreign tour. Mr Wahid said Guterres should be detained and that there was evidence to justify it. Some sources suggest Guterres is being eyed as a potential informer against his more senior paymasters in the army and elsewhere.

Guterres' armed followers have threatened violence if their leader is victimised, but the regional military commander has reported calm.

Militia linchpin Guterres arrested

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres was arrested yesterday, two days after being named as a suspect in the violence that followed last year's independence vote in East Timor.

His arrest in Jakarta on weapons charges, announced by new police chief General Bimantoro, came less than an hour after President Abdurrahman Wahid returned from a 10-day overseas trip.

At first glance, the arrest appeared to assuage fears that the Government was unable or unwilling to move against the Jakarta- backed militias that rampaged through East Timor last September and still hold about 130,000 refugees hostage in West Timor.

But diplomats fear the arrest was mere theatre, like other events surrounding West Timor, where disarming and disbanding the militias are prerequisites for the return of United Nations staff and aid groups.

Some observers blame Guterres and his men for the mob attack in which four United Nations aid workers were beaten and burned to death on September 6 in Atambua, West Timor. Those killings sparked international outrage that threatens to limit or delay Indonesia's next batch of overseas aid, which the country is relying on for budget support.

"This arrest is a month late. Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman promised this to the United Nations a month ago," one Western diplomat said. "And we must not be distracted by this arrest from what is happening on the ground in West Timor. Estimates are that less then 10 per cent of the modern weaponry which was seen crossing the border last year has been given up so far."

Other sources said there was method to the seemingly sudden arrest of Guterres. It was the murder of Olivio Moruk -- also officially linked to militia violence -- that sparked the mob attack and police may have wanted Guterres kept alive until he was in Jakarta.

"There's a possibility that Guterres is willing to shop a lot of people," a source said, suggesting police might try to use the militia leader as a state witness. Such a possibility cannot be discounted considering Guterres has already changed sides once. As a young man he was a courier for the East Timorese pro- independence Falintil. "Eurico Guterres was one of the key thugs behind the violence in East Timor and we've been waiting more than a year to see him behind bars," said Joe Saunders, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao reacted with scepticism and caution to Guterres' arrest, saying he believed in the "good intentions" of Indonesian authorities but that these were merely "attempts to please the international community" if the militia remains active.

Fearful and uncertain, Timorese refugees head back home

Mark Dodd, Malibaka -- It is only 8am but the sun is scorching, and the 23 East Timorese refugees squat in the shade at the Malibaka River checkpoint after crossing back into their homeland. Australian soldiers offer water and search their belongings for hidden weapons, but those returning are mostly old men, women and children. Nothing suspicious is found.

The refugees are glad to be back, but are nervous and unsure of the reception that awaits them. "I've come back because East Timor is my country -- I used to live here," says Semedio Tovares. His clothes are grubby, and he wears a huge bronze crucifix around his neck. Mr Tovares is quivering with fright, and grasps my hand to his chest when I greet him.

Major John Mcaffrey, in charge of the checkpoint, gestures to the refugee's bundles of possessions -- a cooking pot, old wooden bed heads, cane sleeping mats, a plastic stool, oil lamp, plastic jerry cans and a grubby tooth brush. One whiskered old man nurses a hen cradled in a sarong slung off his shoulder.

"A lot of refugees coming across say the militia stole everything of value," Major Mcaffrey says. "Others bring an Indonesian army flag as a safe pass to get through militia roadblocks, then they pull them out and drop them in the river before they get here.

"Quite a few have malaria and dengue. Some have bruises from beatings, and are absolutely terrified." By late morning officials from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are taking names and registering the refugees. They begin to relax when told that trucks will soon arrive to collect them and they will be home within 24 hours.

The Malibaka crossing, one of six authorised crossing points between East and West Timor, is heavily guarded by Australian troops. Major Mcaffrey says cooperation with the Indonesian military on the other side of the river has been good.

The Indonesian soldiers are from 502 Airborne Battalion, a unit that once trained in Australia. There is a direct phone link to the Indonesians, who used the connection early yesterday to alert the Australians that the refugees were on the way.

"They are proud to wear their parachute wings, and were not mixed up in last year's violence," Major Mcaffrey says. "I think they want to show that they were not part of it."

He says there is some evidence the Indonesian army is losing its patience with the militias. Two days ago, a notorious militia leader, Armindo Soares, was seen at the nearby Nunura Bridge checkpoint being beaten up by refugees in circumstances that are unclear. Indonesian soldiers arrived on the scene to restore order and also began kicking the man before leading him away.

Militia still armed and dangerous

Jon Land -- Nothing can highlight more the failure of the Indonesian government to rein in the pro-Jakarta militias operating in West Timor than the sham weapons handover that began on September 22. The first three-day "persuasive" phase of the handover has been followed by an equally farcical "forceful" seizure of weapons by Indonesian security forces. President Abdurrahman Wahid has ordered the disarming of the militias in an attempt to stave off pressure from the United States and the United Nations Security Council. During his recent visit to Jakarta US defence secretary William Cohen warned that there would be serious economic and political consequences for the Wahid government if the militias are not disarmed.

On September 24, vice-president Megawati Sukarnoputri led a high-level delegation to the West Timorese town of Atambua to oversee a weapons handover presentation. The delegation included the coordinating minister for social, political and security affairs, the state affairs minister, the minister of justice, the commander of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) and several top generals.

The visit by the delegation was intended to give the impression that the weapons handover was working and that the Indonesian government is serious about responding to international concerns about the militia-caused humanitarian crisis in West Timor.

But, according to an eyewitness to the proceedings, there was nothing to indicate that the government or the TNI really want to disarm or disband the militia.

"The weapons, which were mostly hand-made ones, were already laid out on large tables at the police station before Megawati arrived. The ceremony was supposed to go for several hours, but only lasted about ten minutes", the eyewitness, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, told Green Left Weekly.

"Apart from some local dignitaries, most of those gathered at the police station were militia members or leaders", the eyewitness said . "Megawati made a symbolic presentation of rice and farming implements meant for the refugees. The person she gave them to was not a refugee, but a militia leader from UNTAS", the Union of Timorese Warriors, a pro-Jakarta umbrella group.

The eyewitness also told Green Left Weekly that the police did nothing to prevent militia leader Eurico Guterres and others from taking back automatic weapons from the cache. "Eurico and his men were angry because they were not able to meet with Megawati. They began yelling and pointing at the small delegation from UNTAET [United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor], who were forced to shelter in the police station".

"I also overheard general [Kiki] Syahnakri [TNI commander for the region which takes in West Timor] and the head of police say that if they intervened to stop the militia taking back their weapons they would run amok and start burning villages", the eyewitness added.

Guterres and other militia leaders vowed that they will resist attempts to have their weapons taken from them and will hide in the hills if necessary. According to the September 25 Indonesian Observer, Guterres was "invited to negotiate" in the Kostrad (Strategic Reserves Command) headquarters so that "chaos" could be prevented.

Coordinating minister for social, political and security affairs Susilo Yudhoyono announced on September 25 that the militias had three more days to hand in their weapons or they would be taken by force. According to Yudhoyono, by the evening of September 27 there had only been nine weapons handed over by the militias.

Sweeps by mobile police and soldiers on the following day throughout a number of refugee camps, including some of the large ones near Kupang, failed to retrieve any weapons at all.

Kostrad chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu has played down the number of arms that the militia have in their possession and admitted that it is unlikely that the military will use force to disarm them because of the close ties between the two.

The September 29 Jakarta Post quoted Ryacudu as saying "we will only press them to disarm because of the emotional relationships".

There is no fundamental difference between this view expressed by Ryacudu and the attitude of most -- if not all -- the civilian political elite in Jakarta, including Wahid and his ministers. The militia gangs are treated more as patriotic fighters than terrorist thugs. It has even been proposed that the militias be absorbed into the TNI itself.

At the root of the crisis in West Timor is the fact that none of the members of the civilian elite supported the referendum on independence for East Timor or have made any public statement recognising that the invasion and occupation of East Timor by Indonesia was wrong. The recently appointed defence minister, Mohammad Mahfud, for example, believes that "independence has been a disaster" and that "foreign elements" are behind the problems in West Timor. Mahfud, who is a close confidant of Wahid, claims the referendum was rigged and that foreign governments and the UN are preventing East Timorese from returning to Indonesia by creating "violent situations".

Similar statements have been made by Amien Rais, the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, the Indonesian parliament. During a speech at a conference on defence and security on September 26, Rais said that the September 6 murder of UN personnel in Atambua "reeks of international engineering". Rais beat the nationalist drum by calling on the Wahid government to "act like a tiger" in response to international criticism over the violence in West Timor, Aceh and West Papua.

As the fake disarmament of militias drags on, reports of food shortages in the refugee camps are increasing. While the World Food Program estimates there is a three month supply of rice in government stores across West Timor, local government authorities have stated that these stocks have been exhausted.

Documents assert `we can't block Jakarta'

Max Lane -- The release of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) documents on East Timor for the period 1974-76 has provoked former Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and former Australian ambassador to Indonesia Richard Woolcott to try to defend their abandonment of democratic principles in relation to East Timor.

Whitlam's pathetic defence in the September 21 Melbourne Age consisted of a string of attacks on other politicians for doing more or less the same things he did. He reminded readers that he told Jakarta that Australia did not necessarily agree that East Timor should be integrated into Indonesia.

"The 1974-76 documents on East Timor, released this month, show Australia did take principled positions on self-determination and the use of force", was what Woolcott told the September 25 Age in his own defence.

While it is true that the documents show that politicians and diplomats repeatedly told Jakarta that the Australian government could not condone the integration of East Timor into Indonesia by force, the intention of these statements was not to block such action by Indonesia. The intention was to ensure that the Australian government had stated its disapproval for the record, so as to manage public disquiet at home. Australian government policy was succinctly summed up in a minute written by Woolcott, dated September 24, 1974, five months after the revolution in Portugal -- a time when the future of Portuguese Timor began to be discussed more intensively: "It is worth recording -- for limited distribution only -- that the Prime Minister [Whitlam] put his views on this subject frankly in the following way: `I am in favour of incorporation [of East Timor into Indonesia] but obeisance has to be made to self-determination. I do not want it [East Timor] incorporated in a way which will create argument in Australia which would make people more critical of Indonesia'."

The same policy was restated in a secret cable to Australia's Jakarta embassy, dated August 25, 1975, where Woolcott was ambassador: "Discussions with the Prime Minister [Whitlam] indicate that in his view we should not, repeat not, be in a position where we could be held to be approving in advance Indonesian intervention without a Portuguese request or in effect giving a signal to undertake it. On the other hand, we should equally not wish to be made responsible for blocking Indonesian intervention if the Indonesians for their own reasons have decided they must undertake it."

However, Whitlam's discussions with Suharto had been seen by the dictatorship as approval. In a DFAT submission to foreign minister Don Willesee in October 1974, DFAT bureaucrat GB Feakes advised that the head of Suharto's black operations outfit, OPSUS, General Ali Murtopo "told our ambassador in Lisbon on October 14 that Australian support for the idea of incorporation had helped Indonesia crystallise its own thinking".

A DFAT minute on October 15, 1975, at a time when Jakarta's intentions were even clearer, stated: "We should be able to seek Indonesian understanding of our wish to express disquiet [at Indonesian military action]. We would not be doing anything physically to prevent Indonesia from doing whatever it might believe it has to do. We would simply be asking the Indonesians to allow us publicly to disassociate ourselves from Indonesian military intervention."

Throughout 1974 and 1975, Australian government policy was based on the knowledge that the Suharto dictatorship had decided that, one way or another, East Timor would be integrated into Indonesia. This was confirmed to the Australian embassy in Jakarta many times by Harry Tjan, an OPSUS operative based in the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). As early as September 1974, Tjan began providing details of Jakarta's subversive activities in East Timor.

From then on, Australia's policy had two strands: first, supporting East Timor's integration into Indonesia and, second, "minimising argument" in Australia by continually repeating support for the East Timorese people's right to self- determination.

Not a `party principal'

Underlying the first policy was the government's adoption of a position that Australia was "not a party principal" to the situation in Portuguese Timor and that it should minimise its involvement there. The Whitlam Labor government and DFAT officials maintained this stance right up until, and after, the invasion on December 7, 1975.

As Portugal was in political crisis and was withdrawing from its colonies, Canberra's position amounted to leaving the East Timor at the mercy of Jakarta, and isolating the East Timorese national liberation movement.

The "not a party principal" stance resulted in many decisions, recorded in the DFAT documents, that included: not initiating any action in the United Nations; not opening a consulate in Dili; (unsuccessfully) opposing a visit by a Australian parliamentary delegation to East Timor; not providing development aid; not initiating any meetings between East Timorese, Indonesian and Portuguese parties in any way or at any time; and not receiving East Timorese foreign affairs spokesperson Jose Ramos Horta during his first visit to Australia in 1974.

Formal Australian government "representations" to Jakarta continued to refer to "self-determination", and even to alternative scenarios to integration itself. But the embassy was told repeatedly by Tjan and others that "Australia's views did not matter". What Indonesian officials were concerned about was not what Australian officials said in their private representations but what concrete diplomatic or political steps the Australian government would take.

Canberra's policy in practice was to keep both the UN and Australia out of diplomatic moves in relation to East Timor and thus avoid the danger of obstructing Indonesia's plans.

Foreign minister Don Willesee, for example, wrote to Whitlam in December 1974 arguing against a parliamentary delegation visit to East Timor. A part of the explanation read: "Not only Horta but some other Timorese leaders are looking to Australia to provide some kind of balance to Indonesia. Australian reticence could only disappoint them, while denying us the opportunity of influencing the Timorese leaders away from harmful courses of action. Nevertheless, on balance, Australian interests would be best served by remaining politically detached."

Ultimately, this approach meant that the situation would only be resolved through a direct confrontation between the Timorese liberation front, Fretilin, and the dictatorship in Indonesia. As the Australian government knew that Jakarta had decided for integration and that Fretilin was committed to independence, neither Woolcott nor Whitlam can avoid responsibility for the invasion.

Whitlam and Woolcott at the time, as well as now, tried to blame Fretilin for Indonesia's invasion. They argued that Fretilin did not want to work with the other parties, the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and Apodeti, the pro-Indonesian party. (This position was later reiterated by Andrew Peacock when he became foreign minister in Malcolm Fraser's Coalition government.)

But documents recording the briefings by Tjan to the embassy, especially in 1975, show clearly that Woolcott knew that Apodeti and UDT were under the influence of Jakarta.

Whitlam and Woolcott also criticised Fretilin's declaration of independence on November 28, 1975, as a refusal to come to an accommodation with its "powerful neighbour". In other words, the decision of the dictatorship taken in early 1974 to integrate East Timor was accepted and independence for East Timor was illegitimate.

Woolcott regularly argued that relations with Jakarta should not be held hostage to the issue of self determination. In fact, the policy of the Whitlam government and DFAT was that support for the principle of self-determination should be held hostage to good relations with the dictatorship in Jakarta.

`Inevitability'

In Woolcott's September 25 Age article he again asserted that "incorporation had become inevitable by 1975". All the documents indicate that Whitlam and DFAT's view was also that incorporation was always inevitable.

In one sense, it was -- not because the dictatorship in Jakarta had made a firm decision, but because both Jakarta and Canberra had decided it should be so.

In Australia, both the federal Coalition parties and the ALP adopted the same position.

What motivated the Whitlam Labor government, and later the Fraser Coalition government, to so consistently support incorporation? The documents do not deal with this question in any depth.

There is the occasional reference to the fact that it would be easier to negotiate the Timor Gap seabed boundary with Jakarta than with either Lisbon or an independent Dili. There are some documents which refer to the danger of intervention by other "powers", but the Australian government also frequently told Jakarta that there was little danger of interference in East Timor's affairs from either the Soviet Union or China.

The assertion that appears like a mantra throughout the cables, records of conversation, letters, memorandum and minutes is that not standing in the way of Suharto's plans for Timor was essential for the "Australian national interest".

In a minute dated October 15, 1975, discussing the nature of Fretilin, the head of the Indonesia section of DFAT, M. Curtin, put down on paper why "Indonesian fears [about developments in East Timor] are not entirely without basis".

Curtin wrote: "The Indonesians believe that the region simply cannot afford the luxury of an independent East Timor. If an independent and politically radicalised East Timor were to make a go of it, with political and economic help not to Indonesia's liking, it would certainly be something for discontented Indonesians to look to."

For Whitlam, Woolcott, Fraser and Peacock, and later Labor Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, helping the Suharto dictatorship maintain "stability" (i.e. oppression) in Indonesia was always the main priority. The Australian embassy boasted about its close relations with Harry Tjan and OPSUS, the outfit that formulated repressive policy in Indonesia.

Failure to act

At any time after the revolution in Portugal, the Australian government could have taken steps that would have ruled out Jakarta's invasion by Jakarta.

An Australian government proposal at the UN for a UN-supervised referendum or another form of UN-sponsored decolonisation process would have immediately internationalised the issue of East Timor and limited Jakarta's options.

The early recognition of the East Timorese political parties, Fretilin and UDT, as necessary participants in UN initiatives would have likewise restricted Jakarta.

Clear offers of practical support for a self-determination referendum or a similar process would have helped ensure it took place -- as it eventually did.

The reason none of these steps were taken was because both Labor and the Coalition identified Australia's "national interest" with preserving the dictatorship in Indonesia, rather than helping an "independent and politically radicalised East Timor" which might offer an example to "discontented Indonesians".

Long before East Timor emerged as a problem for Australia's rulers, the philosophical basis for Australian government policy was set out in a secret despatch from Australian ambassador Furlonger in January 1973: "The New Order in Indonesia is vastly better than the other likely alternatives with which we were faced with in 1965 (or, if development fails, could be faced with in the future) ... However, Australia's main interest is an Indonesia experiencing reasonable economic growth and a benign and stable government and pursuing policies of good relations with its neighbours. The Suharto government fulfills these criteria."

For the Australian governments, both Labor and Coalition, in East Timor they had to choose between the Suharto dictatorship and Fretilin. Despite the fact that DFAT officials reported that Fretilin's credentials "as the legitimate representative of the people of Portuguese Timor" are "potentially strong", all Australian governments, from Whitlam's to the present Howard government, opted for Suharto -- until the Indonesian people swept him away.

Whitlam was, and remains, an apologist for one of the most murderous dictators of the 20th century. As one of the top DFAT officials reminded Whitlam in a note one month before the invasion: "The government has in fact gone to considerable lengths to resist domestic pressures that it should intervene politically in Portuguese Timor out of deference to our wish not to complicate any further Indonesia's problems."

Finger pointed at West over refugee, militia problems

Jakarta -- Under international pressure to rein in troublesome militias, Jakarta extended security operations to disarm the West Timor population but on Monday firmly laid the blame for the problem with the international community.

House Speaker Akbar Tanjung, said the international community was partly to blame for the explosive situation in West Timor which led to murders of three foreign UN relief workers there last month.

"What has taken place in Atambua was a reflection of the international community's inability in handling problems in East Timor following the direct ballot," Tanjung told a plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR), held to hear the government's state draft budget for the year 2001.

He was referring to the brutal murder of three UN relief workers by militias in the West Timorese border town of Atambua on September 6. The incident has led to mounting political and economic pressure from the UN Security Council and the international community for Indonesia to disband and disarm the militias.

"No matter what, the problem of refugees is not under the full responsibility of the Indonesian government since those refugees are an inseparable part of the result of the direct ballot which was not carried out in full honesty," Tanjung said.

Tanjung said the parliament also hoped that foreign countries "could provide concrete assistance" in solving problems of refugees and armed civilian group in West Timor.

He added that the parliament would be "very appreciative" if the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and the National Resistance Council of East Timor (CNRT) were willing to "work together with the Indonesian government" on the issue of the refugees and the militias.

Militia leader warns of attack if he is arrested

Jakarta -- Former leader of East Timor's Aitarak militia Eurico Guterres warned here Monday that his supporters in West Timor could try to take over an East Timor district if he was arrested.

"If I am arrested or put in jail, there is no guarantee that they would not launch an attack. To take one district in East Timor is easy, because there are 130,000 of us," Guterres told a press conference, referring to the number of East Timorese refugees reported to be in West Timor.

The former deputy commander of the officially disbanded pro- Indonesian East Timorese militias was responding to comments by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in Latin America on Friday that he be put in jail. "People like Eurico Guterres if necessary ... should be arrested," Wahid was quoted as saying by the state Antara newsagency on a flight from Venezuela to Brazil.

Muhammad Rachman, who heads official team probing human rights violations in East Timor, had told journalists on Friday that Guterres was named a suspect in cases of human rights abuses in East Timor. Two other militia leaders and one Indonesian officer were also named at the same time.

The militias went into a frenzy of murder, terror and destruction in East Timor following the overwhelmingly pro-independence ballot there on August 30 last year.

Guterres, who had headed the feared Dili-based Aitarak militia group, said his supporters would not accept his arrest. Claiming that he was being victimised and made into a scapegoat, Guterres said Wahid had ordered his arrest because of international pressure.

"Wahid's desire to arrest me is based on orders from the outside world ... the president and Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said that arresting Eurico would show to the world that Indonesia is serious -- even though I myself have never done anything wrong," he said. "I feel innocent."

Guterres said he had flown to Jakarta to make it easier for authorities to arrest him. "It's better that they arrest me in Jakarta, rather than in my neighbourhood," he said. "I've been here for two days now, but no one has come to arrest me. Hopefully after seeing me on television they will realise I am here and hopefully summons me," he said.

A spokesman for the attorney general's office, Yushar Yahya, had told AFP that prosecutors were preparing a renewed summons for Guterres to appear for questioning in "the next few days."

Guterres was originally summonsed to appear on September 14 but failed to show up, claiming he had never received the summons. He appeared on the island of Bali instead, at a meeting with Indonesia's chief political and security affairs minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "The summons was delayed the first time because Guterres had to attend a meeting in Bali," Yahya said.

Guterres said he was ready to answer "any summons for any case" as soon as he received it. "If they want me to come now, that's fine, if they want me to come tomorrow that's fine too." "I've done nothing wrong," he said.

Guterres' home in the West Timor capital Kupang was searched at the weekend by police looking for weapons, as part of the second phase of efforts to disarm militias in the province. Guterres told reporters in Jakarta he had no weapons left. "I've handed over 132 weapons. There are no leftovers," he said.

Indonesia's treatment of Guterres came under scathing criticism from the UN's chief administrator in East Timor, Sergio Viera de Mello, when he addressed the Security Council in New York on Friday. Calling Guterres a "thug" and a "well-known suspect of crimes against humanity", De Mello said he "should be behind bars instead of being invited to attend meetings with high-level Indonesian officials."

De Mello said he doubted the ability of the Indonesian army to disband militias in West Timor. "Where resolution and a certain degree of ruthlessness would seem to be required, we are witnessing hesitation and prevarication," he told the UN Security Council in a public meeting.

Free but jobless - East Timor revisited

Chong Chee Kin, Dili -- In a soft, quavering voice, Mr Jose Armando pleaded for a job in front of a group of journalists who had stopped at Kampung Baru, a village in the capital of Dili in East Timor.

Barely 23, Mr Armando's voice cracked and he stumbled over his words several times when he addressed the group. "I want to work. I need a job. I go out every day and I looked everywhere. But no job, no money. Why? I am very confused," he said.

"Freedom is good for us and good for the country. But we don't like the system. Nothing has changed much since we gained independence." He is not alone in feeling impatient.

His sense of loss and his distrust of foreigners are shared by many East Timorese. They are suspicious of the foreigners and wonder why they are there. They complain about the United Nations' lack of speed in implementing changes.

Despite these sentiments, there are signs that the country is now literally rising from its ashes. Water and electricity have been restored. Schools and hospitals are reopening their doors. Houses and roads are being rebuilt. Fresh coats of paint are applied over the blackened shells of torched buildings.

Those who had fled to the hills and to West Timor during the bloody rampages by pro-Indonesia militias are now returning. For those who lost their homes, the UN has issued shelter kits to build temporary structures.

The ravaged streets of Dili, which recently echoed with gunfire, are now ringing with the cries of hawkers selling their wares. Trucks and flashy sedan cars now zip along the once deserted streets.

However, not all is well with the country. For many East Timorese who voted for independence a year ago, the initial euphoria is wearing off. One of these is former radio broadcaster Mr Angki, who said he would take whatever job he could find. He added that many people like himself roamed the streets daily, hoping desperately just to find work.

While some are hired as translators, cleaners and builders, others turn to selling whatever crops they grow or the fish they catch. But not all are as lucky.

A recent recruitment attempt by the UN Civilian Police for the local police force drew nearly 10,000 applicants competing for 2,500 places. Unemployment in the country stands at about 70 per cent.

Dili's district administrator John Ryan said his main priority now was to help East Timorese get jobs. His team is working closely with several organisations such as USAID and the UN Development Programme to create work.

Investors from countries in the region, such as Thailand, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, are starting to enter the country. Car dealerships, restaurants and hotels are sprouting all over in Dili.

But the situation is likely to worsen before it gets better because of an expected increase in the number of refugees returning from West Timor, most of whom make a beeline for Dili. Mr Ryan said: "We tried persuading them to move to other districts, but they refused."

Dili's population has nearly doubled from 80,000 last year to 140,000 this year and squatter settlements are dotting the landscape. The streets in Dili are filled with traffic hazards because some squatters build their tents right beside the roads.

According to the Dili Police Station, there have been 420 traffic accidents since January, with at least one death a week. Privately-owned vehicles in East Timor are not registered, making it difficult for CivPol officers to track down errant motorists.

While the burden of finding jobs weighs heavy on the minds of many East Timorese, there are those, such as the National Council for Timorese Resistance, who are turning their attention to rebuilding their nation. The party is led by its charismatic leader Xanana Gusmao, who is widely tipped to be the president after next year's election.
 

Labour struggle

Militant union calls for international solidarity

It was the movement which finally toppled the dictator Suharto in 1998 which made Romawaty Sinaga realise that workers and students had to unite to achieve any lasting fundamental change. In that year, she left her position as an assistant lecturer at the University of Indonesia to build KOBAR, the Workers' Committee for Reform Action, which at the time was the only union prepared to work with the radical student movement.

She was then involved in the May 1999 establishment of the independent and militant Indonesian National Front for Workers' Struggle (FNPBI). She was re-elected the union federation's international officer at its second congress in July.

While still new, the FNPBI is already seen as the most militant of the trade union confederations leading campaigns for a 100% wage rise for all workers, against the subsidy cuts on fuel, electricity, fertiliser and other essentials and against the privatisation and sackings currently being sought by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for more loans.

Sinaga was invited to Australia by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET) to take part in the discussions on "globalisation" and workers' rights which occurred in the lead-up to the S11 actions in Melbourne.

Australian unions, many of which made a financial contribution to Sinaga's tour, showed a high level of interest in the situation facing Indonesian workers, and some are considering the FNPBI's request for Australian unions to sponsor an organisers at $75 a month, as a concrete way of strengthening international solidarity.

The FNPBI is also inviting Australian unionists to participate in the May Day 2001 actions in Indonesia.

ASIET national secretary PIP HINMAN spoke with Sinaga for Green Left Weekly while Sinaga was in Sydney.

Which sectors does the FNPBI organise and how many workers does the FNPBI cover?

We are doing that calculation now by re-registering our membership, so it is not possible at this moment to give an exact figure. Roughly, the FNPBI covers 30,000 workers, of which some 10,000 work in the garment and textile industry.

We also organise some 5000 maritime workers and about 5000 automotive and metal workers. We also cover workers in the chemical, food, mining, forestry, plantation and electronic industries.

Can you give us an example of the sort of disputes the FNPBI has been involved in recently.

Recently, IndoMobil workers, who assembly Suzuki cars, succeeded in setting up their independent union, getting rid of the former government union (the SPSI) in the process. They had launched a two-week strike to demand a 30% increase in their wages, as they had the lowest wages among the whole automotive sector despite the fact that IndoMobil is a large company. The workers had been asking their former union for assistance, but this didn't happen. The FNPBI became involved and helped them win this reform.

How is your union is different to the other main independent union, the Indonesian Workers Prosperity Union (SBSI)?

The main difference is the way we approach disputes. We always assess the problem from the workers' point of view. Currently, some workers face threats for being union members and of course they are suffering under the economic crisis in which living costs are rising and yet wages are still low. These problems are the starting point for the union to help defend workers' rights.

For example, our demand for a 100% wage rise is based on the minimum cost of living, which is around Rp 400,000 a month ($88). Before the government-decreed wage rise of April 1, workers were earning on average around Rp 238,000 a month ($52). The government increased wages by 25% on average, bringing the average monthly wage up to Rp 286,000 ($63), which still isn't enough to make ends meet. On top of this, the government's policy of cutting subsidies on fuel and electricity will hike up living costs even more.

We will not compromise on the demand for an across-the-board 100% wage rise. It's only a fraction of the pay rises received by senior politicians, whose pay packets increased from around Rp 5,000,000 ($1111) to Rp 10,000,000 a month ($2222) and that's not counting their allowances, which were raised by almost 2000%.

Some argue that our demand for a 100% pay rise will destroy the government's economic recovery plan and that workers should be supporting the government in this objective. But the FNPBI argues that a wage increase would increase workers' purchasing power and in so doing give a kick-start to the economy.

How does the FNPBI intervene in a dispute? For instance, do you send in organisers or do you wait until a local union gets in touch with you?

We do both. Organisers regularly visit workplaces and workers' neighbourhoods and they visit factories where there are disputes. In some instances, where workers have no union and little idea of how to go about changing their conditions, we help them organise actions such as for a pay rise. But before this can happen, we have intensive discussions to hear their ideas and gain their support for any such action.

However, it's a different story when workers ask us for help when they've already begun industrial action. Sometimes workers haven't done the necessary preparation before embarking on their campaign and then find themselves in a difficult situation.

Non-government organisations in the Third World, often with Western government funding, are tending to assume the role unions once traditionally played in the workplace. What is your opinion of this phenomenon?

NGOs have a long history in the movement for democracy in Indonesia. They have sometimes challenged the government, including taking up the working conditions of Indonesian workers.

But the main problem with most NGOs is that they seek to promote consensus between workers and their employers. This promotes the illusion that workers can rely on their boss to do the best for them, and that in return they should do their best for their boss.

In Indonesia, most NGOs do not have an industrial background and they do not involve themselves in workers' rights campaigns. They generally provide education and training to workers which focusses on what they can do once there is a dispute.

But they forget one important issue: the question of workers' rights being defended through their own mass actions. This is one way NGOs reduce workers' resistance to employers and even the meaning of trade union work.

Workers' "training" is reduced to education in labour legislation and a reliance on lawyers to advocate on their behalf. Strangely though, NGOs never seem to carry out evaluations on whether their programs succeed or not, that is, whether workers manage to defend their rights or not.

The whole purpose of NGOs is to protect the interests of those forces which back them. In Indonesia, many NGOs are supported by US-AID, whose funding comes from the US state department.

What would you say to some leaders of the union movement in the First World who argue that the best way workers here can help lift labour standards overseas is give more power to bodies such as the World Trade Organisation to arbitrate on fair labour standards in countries?

I don't agree with giving the WTO more power to arbitrate over labour rights in any country, especially the underdeveloped countries.

The most powerful forces inside the WTO (such as the US government) will use the labour rights issue to penalise their competitors in Third World countries, without this benefiting workers in those countries.

For instance, the WTO complained that the Wahid government should not allow special conditions for PT Timor, a local automotive company owned by Suharto's son. The WTO said it would penalise the government, but said nothing about the appalling conditions workers there had to endure, nor anything about the lack of a union to defend those workers' rights.

The WTO will do everything it can to ensure that profits keep flowing to the First World-based transnational corporations. At the same, it cares nothing for workers, anywhere in the world.

When unions in Australia campaign in solidarity with labour rights in Indonesia, they also have to respect the rights of all workers. What is the meaning of solidarity when some workers benefit from the exploitation of the other workers? If the WTO wants to impose more barriers on the importation of goods, will they allow the proceeds of the import tariffs to be given to the workers? I think not.

The FNPBI did not support the call to boycott Indonesia's goods or exclude them from the flow of trade during the height of the Timor crisis last year. We argued that such a move would hit workers the hardest and would have minimal impact on the government.

In most cases, boycotting certain products because the company violates workers' rights generally only puts workers in a more difficult situation. The company can use the boycott not to pay workers overtime or at all. It may even close down the factory, without any compensation to the workers.

In other situations, a boycott can lead to workers being more repressed and being scared to speak out or join a union.

Those concerned about labour rights in Indonesia have to help us pressure our government to formulate laws which protect labour rights. So far, the International Labour Organisation has only been able to pressure the government to ratify the convention standards; they have never been able to ensure that it enforces them in practice.

300 truck drivers strike at port

Maryadi/BI & GB, Pontianak -- Hundreds of truck drivers at the Dwikora port in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, went on strike Monday. The drivers have conveyed their demand for an increase of 100% to the tariff for the rental of transport vehicles at the port to the Indonesian Expedition and Forwarder Group (Gafeksi) in Pontianak. Much to their disappointment, the drivers settled for a 50% increase.

Their strike action apparently had the support of local water- side labourers. The laborers require the truck drivers to bring the goods to unload and with the truck drivers striking, the laborers were left helpless.

One of the striking driver, Mulyono said that the minimum wage paid to the driver is too small for the maintenance of the truck. Currently the trucks are rented at Rp15,000 per load (US$1.50). He said that with the announcement of fuel price hikes, "the drivers are having difficulties covering costs."

Mulyono believed that the minimum fee must raise at least by 100% to cover the "maintenance and fuel costs." He said that a lot of his fellow truck drivers are having difficulties in keeping their vehicle in running order. Following negotiations with Gafeksi, the minimum fee has been increased by 50% and will come into effect on Thursday.

Secretary of Gafeksi, Retno Pramudya SH, told Detik that the negotiation on the fee had been discussed between the drivers, the users of the service and Gafeksi on the 23 September. During this negotiation only seven drivers were present and they all agreed to increase the minimum fees per load by 50%. Retno said that the increase will be effective after the approval from several government authorities.

Retno also said that the 100% increase demanded by the drivers was unachievable as the opinion from the users of the service have to be considered as well. "What's important, however, is not the users, but public in general have to bear the cost later on," Retno said. He said that Gafeksi had been a mediator between the drivers and the service users.
 

Government/politics

Dismissal of Suharto case heightens power struggle

James Conachy -- A week after the September 28 Jakarta court ruling that former Indonesian dictator Suharto was "medically unfit" to stand trial, the government of President Abdurrahman Wahid is seeking to have the decision overturned.

Indicted by the Attorney General's office in July, the 79-year- old Suharto was to face charges that he channeled $US571 million from charities into corporations controlled by his family. On each of three dates subsequently set for the trial, Suharto failed to appear in court. Despite being seen in public in apparent good health, his lawyer's claimed that a series of strokes have left him mentally and physically incapacitated.

The five judges of the South Jakarta District Court used Suharto's third non-appearance last week to throw out the indictment. A panel of court-appointed doctors, who had examined and questioned him for 10 hours the weekend before, reported that he was unwell, depressed and had been reduced to the mental capacity of a child. After only one hour's deliberation, the judges rejected a prosecution motion that Suharto be tried in absentia and ordered the lifting of house arrest restrictions placed upon him.

In their ruling, the judges stressed that Suharto's medical condition was "permanent". Hailing this aspect of the decision, one of Suharto's lawyers declared that it ruled out any future trial on any charge.

The recriminations were immediate. Reflecting the broader anger among ordinary Indonesians at Suharto's apparent escape from any prosecution, thousands of Jakarta students demonstrated in the streets demanding that the trial proceed. Students clashed repeatedly with riot police outside the court and later near Suharto's Jakarta mansion.

The Jakarta Post editorialised last Friday: "The decision has caused untold, irreparable damage to the nation's quest for truth and justice, to the nation's struggle to wipe out corruption, and most of all, to the credibility and public standing of President Wahid." The Republika insisted: "The Suharto case must not stop here. The people will certainly be angry if all cases involving Suharto are closed. Trying Suharto's cronies and children will also satisfy the people."

Wahid, who was touring South America when the ruling was brought down, told the media: "Even a thief stealing a chicken can end up in jail. [Suharto] was not locked up in jail, but left at home". He said the government would appeal against the decision, accused the judges of bias and declared that he would instruct the courts to "look for judges who are clean, strict and can't be bought".

Wahid's motive in seeking Suharto's prosecution is not a desire for justice. He has repeatedly guaranteed the former military strongman an immediate pardon were he ever to be convicted. There has been no suggestion of putting Suharto on trial for the 1965 US-backed military coup, in which some 500,000 members of the Communist Party of Indonesia, workers and peasants were murdered, or for the numerous other crimes of his dictatorship.

Rather, the trial is an attempt to meet the demands of Western powers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the Indonesian government break the entrenched corporate and financial interests established during Suharto's 32-year regime and open up the economy to foreign investors.

Suharto, his family and close business associates presided over a vast business empire that relied on state-sanctioned monopolies, subsidies and investment restrictions and which also benefited top state officials and sections of the military with their own businesses. Suharto's family alone amassed an estimated fortune of some $US40 billion through its ownership of various companies and banks. According to the Jakarta Post, Kartika Eka Paksi, one of the many military-controlled foundations, still owns 26 companies.

In July, the Economist magazine bluntly explained the relationship between the agenda of international investors in Indonesia and a trial of Suharto: "The powerful still act with impunity and use bribes or muscles to get their way. President Wahid needs rapidly to show that this is going to change, by bringing one of the most notoriously corrupt to court, and thence to prison. Ex-president Suharto would be a fine place to start, but failing that one of his family would do."

Major transnational banks and corporations operating in the Asian region, as well as aspiring Indonesian business layers, hope to dramatically extend their domination over the rich resources and markets of the Indonesian archipelago at the expense of the Suharto family and the military apparatus.

Wahid is under pressure from the IMF and major powers to act against the military. On October 17, Indonesia will attend an international donor's meeting in Tokyo to seek $US4.8 billion in new loans to finance the national budget brought down this week. Donor countries such as the United States and Australia have already warned that the money will not be available unless the military disarm Timorese militias. Suharto will no doubt also be discussed.

An editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald on September 30 emphasised that Suharto had to be put on trial. "The ruling ... [is] a serious blow to the historic attempt to renovate the Indonesian political, economic and judicial systems. Just as it has been symbolically important to see Suharto removed from political office, so, too, is it important to see Suharto face trial for the grave economic crimes alleged against him. That can only now happen if Thursday's ruling is overturned."

The judges' decision highlights the fact that while Suharto may no longer hold power, the political and military apparatus he presided over still exerts considerable sway. To meet the demands of international capital, Wahid is engaged in a power struggle for control of the Indonesian state.

According to Singapore's Straits Times, two of the five judges hearing the Suharto case had been threatened with death if they found him guilty. The day before each scheduled court appearance by the ex-dictator, a bomb constructed with military ordinance exploded in Jakarta. The most devastating was the September 13 blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

When Wahid publicly accused Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, of masterminding the bombing campaign and ordered his arrest, the police refused to carry out the instruction. Wahid then sacked the national police chief and the deputy commander of the armed forces. Police also detained dozens of people from the province of Aceh, where a separatist movement is fighting the military, but have been forced to release some due because they have no evidence linking them to the bombings.

However, on September 26, a pro-Wahid bench on the Supreme Court sentenced "Tommy" to 18 months imprisonment on corruption charges. The decision overturned two previous not-guilty verdicts handed down by lower courts, including the South Jakarta District Court where his father's case was heard.

This week Wahid categorically rejected an appeal for clemency and a presidential pardon for Suharto's son. While various legal wranglings and appeals are underway, the 36-year-old playboy appears likely to be the first member of the ex-ruling family to go to prison.

Leading Timorese militia figure Eurico Guterres was also arrested in Jakarta on Wednesday and is to face charges over last year's militia violence in East Timor. Rumours are now circulating in Jakarta that Wahid is preparing to sack the commander of the armed forces, General Widodo, and the commander in chief of the army, General Tyasno Sudarto.

There are also indications that Suharto will soon face charges again. In a backdown from last week's ruling, Judge Lalu Mariyun, the head judge in the case, declared on Wednesday that the reason the trial had been closed was because the prosecution had failed to produce Suharto in the court, not that he was medically unfit. Mariyun told the Jakarta Post: "Whether tomorrow, a week or a month later, if prosecutors want to bring back the case into this court, the case will just get a new number".

The following day government prosecutors lodged a formal appeal against the ruling. Wahid is no doubt keen to be seen to be acting against Suharto prior to the IMF donors' meeting on October 17.
 

Regional conflicts

'Army elements behind violence'

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- Defence Minister Mahfud M.D. yesterday conceded that army elements were behind the spate of violence in Indonesia to destabilise the government. He said that the problems in outlying provinces like Aceh and Maluku and the recent explosions in the capital were the doing of generals linked to former president Suharto.

"I believe these officers stand to lose a lot if there is political and economic reform in the country," he told The Straits Times in an interview on the eve of the Indonesian military's, 55th anniversary. "They are engaging in 'military terrorism'. They want to fight reform by resorting to covert means to undermine the government."

Mr Mahfud, who was only appointed to his defence portfolio in August, maintained, however, that the TNI as an institution did not support what was being carried out by "rogue elements" in the army. He was quick to point out that the conservative faction represented a minority in the TNI. Most of the other generals, he added, belonged to the mainstream group that served to "neutralise" the actions of the hardliners. "They agree with the reform drive, but want it to be carried out gradually," he said. "But they do not sanction the use of force to grab political power."

He warned that despite doctrinal changes in the embattled armed forces to withdraw from politics, the military as a whole could "lash back in an unexpected way without any consideration of the risks involved" if it continued to be pushed into a corner.

"The likelihood of a coup d'etat is extremely slim but it is still a possibility if people keep whacking an institution that is extremely proud of its past as a saviour of Indonesia," he said. "We need to be aware that their fear of being persistently criticised will disappear at a certain point and their self-worth will return. They will feel that they have the right to defend themselves."

He took pains to point out that the military's past misdeeds were the "collective responsibility" of all Indonesians. "The misdeeds were the consequences of our former corrupt system and mistakes which were the errors of individuals and rogue soldiers."

Mr Mahfud's comments on the possible involvement of army elements in the recent violence appear to be a bit of a backtracking from his earlier controversial statements where he said foreign spies were inciting problems in the country.

But he maintained that Western countries like the United States and Australia stood the most to benefit from Indonesia's crippling problems. "The more disasters we face, the easier it is for them to control our destiny," he said. "Control does not need to take the form of the direct involvement of foreign intelligence officers. But I continue to believe they are meddling in our internal affairs in one way or another."
 

Aceh/West Papua

Raiders torch ten houses in Aceh

Jakarta -- An armed group set fire to 10 houses in a pre-dawn attack on a village in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province. More than 1,200 people fled the village of Paya Tampah, in the Bandar Baru sub-district of East Aceh after the attack, which took place about 2 am on Sunday.

There were no casualties, the Antara news agency reported, quoting the deputy spokesman of Aceh police operations Superintendent Yatim Suyatmo. Those who fled were reported to have sought safety with friends and families in neighbouring villages, Supt Suyatmo added.

The attackers fired shots into the air to wake up the villagers before the attack. Residents of the village, about 15 km east of the district capital of Langsa, were ordered to leave their houses before 10 were torched.

The group also burned a truck belonging to a local palm-oil plantation, Supt Suyatmo said. The assailants left after burning the houses, he said. Several members of the police elite force, Brimob, had been deployed to help keep the area secure, he added.

95 killed in Aceh in last 24 days

Jakarta -- As many as 95 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Aceh in the last 24 days despite the extension of the Humanitarian Pause between the government and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) a local rights group said.

"It means that at least three people are killed every day," Bathilimus, chief of investigation of the Aceh Forum for Human Rights Concerns (FP- HAM), said on Sunday.

According to data compiled by FP-HAM, the victims were killed between September 3 and September 27 in increased violence after the extension of the Humanitarian Pause, Bathilimus explained.

He said the dead comprised 68 civilians, 20 members of the Indonesian Military (TNI)/Police and seven GAM rebels. He further claimed that his organization had noted that at least 125 people had been tortured during the same period, including 75 civilians and 50 soldiers and police officers.

"Thousands of people took refuge in the same period because of the violence," Bathilimus was quoted by Antara. He said people who didn't feel safe in their own houses, took refuge in mosques and schools. Bathilimus said that his non-governmental organization recorded 40 cases of kidnapping -- 39 civilians and a policeman.

There were at least 329 cases of arson, vandalism and robbery during the same period, he added. He said 146 houses, 25 motorcycles, seven fishing boats, four cars, 20 bicycles, nine cold storage buildings, nine kiosks, a hotel and a mosque were set on fire. On Saturday, a police bomb-squad on patrol reportedly clashed with GAM members in Limpok village, Darussalam district, Aceh Besar.

Aceh Besar Police chief Supt. Sayed Hoesainy said the GAM rebels started the battle by throwing a grenade at the police patrol, injuring one officer. The police patrol then returned fire on the armed group, wounding one of the attackers. The man is now being treated in a local hospital, Hoesainy said.

He said the police patrol hunted their attackers and arrested 12 young men believed to be GAM members. "They are now being questioned. They will be released if they are proved not guilty," he added. Hoesainy said the police also found an old Japanese bomb in a van which was earlier dumped by the armed group.
 

Human rights/law

Most JSX bombing suspects likely to be freed: PHBI

Jakarta -- Coordinator of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) Hendardi said on Wednesday that the police were likely to soon release most of the suspects in the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) building.

Hendardi said that the 22 suspects arrested from the Krung Motor Baru auto repair shop in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, would be released for lack of evidence. "I think the police will not be able to detain those men too long without sufficient evidence," Hendardi told reporters during a meeting with families of six of the 22 suspects.

In addition to the 22 suspects arrested from a workshop located about 200 meters from President Abdurrahman Wahid's residence, police also arrested several men in Jakarta and in Bandung, West Java, including two soldiers.

Police said the people were linked to the September 13 fatal bombing which killed 11 people, injured dozens, and damaged some 200 vehicles. PBHI officially represents eleven of the 22 suspects arrested at the workshop.

PBHI would not accept evidence the police claimed to have collected from the suspects' residences since the searches had been conducted unlawfully. "The police never had a warrant to conduct a search. We told them but they kept doing it over and over again," Hendardi said. PBHI expressed suspicions on Monday that the police were trying to frame the suspects using fabricated evidence.

On Tuesday, former National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dadang Garnida said that police had found Free Aceh Movement (GAM) flags at the residences of some of the suspects but did not name the suspects. The evidence showed that the separatist group was involved in the bombing, Dadang said, referring to a discovery earlier that the money used by the bombers was linked to marijuana dealers from Aceh.

PBHI has claimed that the police had no preliminary evidence when they arrested the suspects at the workshop. The police even arrested several men who had come to the workshop to have their cars repaired.

Twenty-nine-year-old Maini, the wife of Tabrani, one of the suspects arrested at the workshop, said that her husband, a 35- year-old driver, was at the workshop to fix his boss' minivan on the day he was arrested. "There was something wrong with the van and a friend of his suggested that he take the car to the repair station. Getting approval from his boss, he went there. Then he was arrested," Maini said.

"They said the bombers were from GAM. My husband is not even Acehnese. He is from Padang (West Sumatra)," Maini said. "I don't have any business with other suspects. If they are found guilty, then punish them. But my husband knows nothing about the bombing. They should release him." Maini said she came to the Jakarta Police headquarters to see her husband on Monday but the police allowed her only to speak with him by phone.

Teti Herawati, 30, wife of suspect M. Saleh Daud, said that her husband was only a public transport driver who stopped at the workshop for lunch. "There was a food stall. He went inside to eat, then he was arrested," Teti said.

Four other wives admitted that they and their husbands had come from Aceh and attended religious gatherings at the workshop several times with other Acehnese. "We come from Aceh and are interested to attend religious gatherings where other Aceh people attend. So what?" Fatimah, 22, wife of suspect M. Rizal Abdullah said.

Wiranto to escape charges over Timor atrocities

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Indonesia is set to clear the former armed forces chief General Wiranto over last year's violence in East Timor, despite intense international pressure for his prosecution.

A spokesman for the Attorney-General, Mr Yushar Yahya, has confirmed that prosecutors have no intention of including General Wiranto on a list of suspects named over atrocities committed in the former Indonesian territory. "There is no indication he was involved in the crimes," Mr Yahya said in Jakarta.

General Wiranto's escape from prosecution will intensify pressure on the United Nations to launch independent investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for the killing of more than 1,000 Timorese and the destruction within East Timor last year.

General Wiranto was the commander of Indonesian's security forces, which backed the anti-independence militia responsible for much of the violence. His soldiers at times took part in killings, looting and the destruction of the territory after most East Timorese voted to reject Indonesian rule.

General Wiranto was also in charge of the military operation that saw military planes, ships and trucks relocate -- often by force -- a quarter of the East Timorese population to West Timor and other parts of Indonesia. Military transportation was also used to take millions of dollars worth of looted goods from East Timor.

Legal sources in Jakarta said they believed the Indonesian Government did not have the political courage to prosecute General Wiranto for crimes against humanity. Wiranto, who has retired from active military service, remains a powerbroker in the anti-reformist faction of Indonesia's discredited and demoralised armed forces.
 

News & issues

Rent-a-crowd turns on rally organiser

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- A protest organiser who hired demonstrators to rail against fuel price rises became the target of the mob he had rented when he failed to pay them and they missed out on a free lunch.

The protest had been going well, with about 500 people, including mothers with children and unemployed men, carrying banners and shouting against the Government's imposition of a 12 per cent rise in fuel prices.

But the organiser, named by protesters and police as Heri Siregar, made a serious mistake. He had promised to pay each protester taking part in the demonstration on Monday at the national parliament complex 30,000 rupiah (HK$27) and give them a free lunch and water.

But he failed to deliver. "He left two hours ago saying he would come back with the money. But he hasn't reappeared," one distraught demonstrator, Ati, said. "We are hungry and thirsty and have no money to buy food and drink."

The result was mayhem. The crowd grabbed sticks and tools from Mr Siregar's parked van and attacked it. Some tore the doors off while others tried to set it alight. Police intervened, but the crowd only dispersed after one of Mr Siregar's men arrived to pay the protesters.

Protesters said they were hired by Mr Siregar and his group of recruiters from their homes in poor areas around Jakarta. They said they had little idea what they were protesting about and were only there for the money.

"It's better than sitting around doing nothing," one man said. "I'm only a scavenger, I need the money," said another. Several men stripped off to their underwear and cooled down in the large fountain in front of parliament.

"Some of the demonstrators replied with clueless smiles when asked if they were really at the [parliament] compound to protest the fuel hike," the Jakarta Post newspaper reported.

Student groups wanting to see former president Suharto convicted and jailed are probably the only demonstrators who are not paid to protest in Jakarta. The people seen demonstrating in support of former president Suharto last week said they were paid 20,000 rupiah for their pains, and had not even known which side they were on until reading the banners on the buses brought to ferry them to the barricades.

Students attack paramilitary students

Jakarta -- Hundreds of students of privately-run Krisna Dwipayana University mobbed four members of the student paramilitary regiment (Menwa) and razed two campus facilities to the ground on Wednesday. The violence erupted at the end of a peaceful protest by the students demanding the abolition of Menwa in their campus in Jatiwaringin, East Jakarta.

When their demands to speak to rector Sudarji Darmudihardjo went unheeded, the students marched towards the Menwa post, dragged out and beat four members guarding the place and then set fire to the facility. They also razed a clinic for the university's employees and vandalized a printing facility as they searched for other Menwa members, including its commander Dwi Antoro. The four injured Menwa members were taken to the rectorate office for treatment.

Menwa runs training in military discipline for university students. The organization has become unpopular among other students because of the abusive behavior of its members. Several universities, including state-run ones, have abolished the Menwa units in their campuses.

The rampage stopped when Sudarji appeared to meet with students. Regretting the violence, the rector agreed to their demand to disband the regiment and signed a statement prepared by the students to that effect.

Foreigners' health and wealth hazard

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- They arrived without warning in two minibuses, brandishing clubs, swords and guns and wearing black masks. JeJe's nightclub, the most popular place for foreigners to meet in Jakarta, was packed with 600 patrons.

As people scrambled for the rear exit doors the attackers stormed inside, thrusting a gun at the chest of at least one stunned patron and smashing furniture and windows. At least two foreigners were taken outside and beaten up.

The attack early last Saturday in the increasingly lawless Indonesian capital has raised fears of a campaign of violence and intimidation against foreigners.

One group that calls itself the Anti Luxury Car Movement says it plans to vandalise, starting this week, all luxury cars in Jakarta, targeting shopping centres, office buildings, main streets and hotels.

A popular scam aimed at foreigners is to set up a road block on a busy street. Foreigners are asked to present their passports, which many of them do not carry. If a foreigner does not have one he or she is threatened with jail. But there is a way out: paying a bribe.

The targeting of foreigners coincides with violence linked to Islamic militants against whom the police and military are reluctant to take any action. For months a group calling itself the Defenders of Islam has frequently attacked nightclubs and bars in Jakarta, describing them as places of depravity. Police have failed to arrest any of them who, like the JeJe's attackers, travel in buses and appear highly organised.

Anti-Western sentiment has been on the rise in Indonesia recently, partly because of strong international criticism of the country's failure to disband pro-Jakarta militia in West Timor following the killing of three United Nations aid workers on September 6.

Government reviews history textbooks

Jakarta -- Indonesia's reformist government is reviewing official histories of key moments in the country's past that it says were misrepresented by former President Suharto's regime.

Education Minister Yaha Muhaimin said that a government team was looking at school history textbooks to make sure they reflected accurately what happened in the country. "This is important, so that our children can get to know the facts," Mr Muhaimin was quoted by The Indonesian Observer as saying.

Critics say that Mr Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years, justified and bolstered his authority by falsifying history. He was ousted in street protests fuelled by the economic crisis in 1998.

Mr Muhaimin said that an attempted coup on September 30, 1965, blamed on communists, needed to be reassessed. The abortive coup triggered a backlash by the military and the right-wing that ended in the deaths of an estimated 500,000 people accused of being communist sympathisers. Many were ethnic Chinese.

The events discredited founding President Sukarno and enabled Mr Suharto, who was an obscure general before the coup, to rise to power. Speculation continues over the role of the different personalities and camps in the coup attempt and the true facts remain murky, historians say, according to the Observer.

Mr Muhaimin admitted that years of government indoctrination were to blame for the lack of knowledge about the event. "The children should also know that this incident happened because of our own negligence."

Mr Muhaimin also cast doubt on a 1949 attack by independence fighters, opposed to Dutch colonial rule, on the Javanese city of Yogyakarta in which Mr Suharto was cast as the hero, the Observer reported.

Indonesia marked the 35th anniversary of its victory over communism on Sunday with a scaled-down ceremony that marked the end of an era in the 35-year history of the commemoration.

Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri presided over the ceremony in silence at the Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Hole) Monument in East Jakarta. The site was used by the Indonesian Communist Party to launch the coup attempt in 1965.

Staff of closed ministries face shaky future

Jakarta -- The city administration is having trouble providing jobs for some 40,000 government employees whose ministries were closed down by the central government.

According to the deputy governor for administrative affairs, Mr Abdul Kahfi, his office would be very selective in recruiting government employees from dissolved ministries.

"Of course, this is a burden for us. But the law on regional autonomy states that it is compulsory for us to take care of these employees, so we just have to find a way to give them jobs," he noted on Friday.

He said the city administration would give priority to those who were young, well-educated and able to pass tests conducted by its recruitment team. "Those who are already of pension age, we will not accept. So they will have to take their pensions," Mr Kahfi stated.

The administration of President Abdurrahman Wahid has liquidated several ministries and offices of state ministers since coming to power last October. The Ministry of Information and Ministry of Social Affairs were dissolved in the same month, leaving some 78,000 people across the country jobless and facing uncertain futures.

In a major overhaul last month, the President reduced his Cabinet from 32 ministers to 26, merging several ministries and dissolving others.

In an amendment to this year's city budget, the administration has allocated funds to hire 1,136 employees from four dissolved offices of state ministers. Said Mr Kahfi: "We want to settle the placements as soon as we can, but we all know the city has just recovered from the economic crisis and we have other priorities. "So we have to be very selective about this," he added.

Killed for sleeping at fiancee's house

Jakarta -- An angry mob has killed a man in Central Java for sleeping at his fiancee's house, while another man was stabbed to death after dancing erotically with a woman.

Villagers in Jambon, Temanggung, dragged Mr Supriyanto, 30, out of his fiancee's home on Friday, cursed him for being immoral, and kicked, beat and stabbed him to death because he had slept regularly at the house, the Indonesian Observer reported.

Meanwhile, in the Central Java city of Purworejo, a motorcycle taxi driver was stabbed to death after engaging in a traditional erotic dance with a woman.
 

Environment/health

Regents charged with selling forest concessions

Jakarta -- The government will take to court four regents from East Kalimantan for allegedly selling forest concessions, a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said on Tuesday.

Secretary-General of the ex-ministry of forestry and plantations Suripto said that one of the four regents have sold up to 370 concessions, each covering 100 hectares of forest land.

The concessions were sold at around Rp 10 million ($US1,200) to Rp 600 million depending on the type of forests, he said. "It is more expensive for permits for virgin forests," Suripto said after opening a workshop on forestry here.

The four regents were not only charged with "commercializing" the permits but have also violated the law, he said. According to him, the concessions issued by the four regents are not valid because they were issued after the government introduced a new forestry law late last year.

Although the government has yet to issue guidelines on the mechanism of the issuance of new forestry concessions, the government regulation No. 6/1999 which allowed regency administrations to issue forestry concessions on areas of up to 100 hectares were no longer valid with the implementation of the new law, he said.

Suripto, who will end his term in January next year following the merger of the ministry with the ministry of agriculture into the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, said that the issuance of the new forestry concessions had also encouraged the smuggling of heavy logging equipment from Malaysia.

At least 700 units of heavy logging equipment, with a capacity of felling 5,000 cubic meters of trees per month, had been illegally imported from the neighboring country. He said that his office was currently coordinating with the Customs and Excise Office to find out what kind of import permit they use.
 

Arms/armed forces

TNI blasted over commercial interests

Jakarta -- Experts and activists strongly criticized the Indonesian Military (TNI) for alleged unaccountable profits gained from commercial activities in the private sector and called for a transparent account of the matter.

"Never in history has the military been willing to be straight with the public on its financial resources, apart from the official state budget," said political analyst Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

"Why? It's due to the past New Order political culture. From the very beginning the military has been given a portion of business. Now, who dares [query it]? Even taxation officials can't check on the Yayasan Baret Merah [Red Beret Corps Foundation] or any other military-related foundations," Indria said.

Political analyst J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said that in order to become completely professional, the TNI must withdraw from business.

"This may sound impossible but the military has to return to its original function, which is to defend the country and to master warfare," Kristiadi said, adding that a case of alleged graft at the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Foundation was only the tip of the iceberg and that TNI would not want its Kostrad commander to be tried for such a case.

He further said that TNI's excuse that it was conducting business to augment the limited budget the state allocates to it was untrue as in reality only the military elite enjoy the luxury and profit from these businesses. "It has been known for some time that once a military member gets a star [becomes a general], they begin to gain privileges. While thousands of other troops are living in poverty at modest barracks," Kristiadi said.

Munir, head of the executive board of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) pointed out that a large military-linked foundation like Kartika Eka Paksi allegedly has 26 other companies dealing in a variety of businesses, ranging from shrimp and electronics.

"The Inkopad [the Army's Cooperative Center] allegedly has 12 affiliated companies. The Air Force, the Navy and the police are also more or less the same. The Red Beret Corps Foundation even joined training held by Ikadin on how to master business," Munir said. Munir claimed that some of the profits from these funds were also financing military operations. The structure of the military hierarchy command must be removed from business, he said.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch's (ICW) Agam Fatchurrochman further suggested the funds gained from the private sector by the military be inserted into the state budget. "The Supreme Audit Agency [BPK] has to audit all funds managed by the Ministry of Defense and the Indonesian Military Headquarters to make the usage of the funds clear and make proposals".
 

Economy & investment

Will revenue-sharing plan work

Robert Go, Jakarta -- The new revenue-sharing formula between Jakarta and regional governments presents a medium-term Pandora's box, but its immediate effect is the reduction of the central government's ability to jumpstart the economy at the national level.

The 74.9 trillion rupiah (S$16 billion) plan will take effect next January and is aimed at quelling separatist sentiments in some of the country's resource-rich areas, which have protested against the siphoning off of revenues from local constituents to Jakarta for decades. "The government will focus on fiscal decentralisation as a way to avoid national disintegration," said Coordinating Economics Minister Dr Rizal Ramli.

Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo similarly indicated on Sunday night that regional governments would have more authority to determine their fiscal agendas and oversee development at the local level.

The plan, called Balanced Fund in the government's budget proposal to Parliament, features an 18.3-trillion-rupiah Revenue Sharing Plan that will reward resource-rich regions such as Aceh, West Papua and East Kalimantan.

The bulk of the programme, the 56-trillion-rupiah General Allocation Fund, will finance development programmes and routine governmental expenses.

But critics voiced concerns over the programme's practicality and focused their questions on the regional administrations' ability to use their new authority in a transparent and accountable fashion.

"The focus for this Budget is in guarding social stability, but as many of the regulations governing regional autonomy is not yet clear, the potential for corruption and other violations is substantial," said Dr Sri Adiningsih, an economist from Gadjah Mada University.

"For the central government, handing off what amounts to 25 per cent of its yearly budget to regional administrators means less flexibility to spend on economic recovery," she added.

A foreign banker based in Jakarta also warned: "The government can't stop at transferring more money. It has to set clear guidelines as to how the money should be used and monitor the entire process."

Even the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, two key supporters of Indonesia's struggle to climb out of the crisis, have suggested that implementing fiscal decentralisation presents a major challenge to the government.

Under current and past arrangements, Jakarta oversees all development programmes in the regions and manages revenues from exploitation of natural resources. But since the resignation of former President Suharto in 1998 and the relaxing of control by the central government, regional constituents have openly accused Jakarta of stealing local revenues.

The regional autonomy plan was hatched by President B. J. Habibie's administration and finalised during President Abdurrahman Wahid's term.

The following are the key figures and measures of the budget:

• Total expenditure will be 295 trillion rupiah (S$62 billion) while total revenue is expected to be 243 trillion rupiah.
• The largest single spending item is the 74.9 trillion rupiah funding for provincial and local governments to give them more economic autonomy and responsibility.
• Fuel prices will be raised an extra 20 per cent from April as the government continues to cut a range of costly fuel subsidies.
• Total subsidies in 2001 will be 48.27 trillion rupiah, covering a range of essential commodities, but mostly fuel -- including kerosene, which many Indonesians use for cooking and lighting.