• UN offers assistance to set up East Timor tribunal - South China Morning Post
• 30,000 watching as former soldiers return to East Timor - Sydney Morning Herald
• Scars of vote violence remain real for East Timor women - Agence France-Presse
• Digging up the past in bid to solve Balibo killings - Australian Associated Press
• Evidence links top brass with post-poll slaughter - Sydney Morning Herald
• Australian envoy lashes Wiranto over Timor - Sydney Morning Herald

• Entertainment workers protest closures during Ramadhan - Detik
• 500 North Sumatran workers rally for wage hike - Detik
• Workers rally against bogus manpower agency - Indonesian Observer
• SBSI chairman sues police for arrest - Jakarta Post
• Caltex warns strikers of salary cut - Indonesian Observer
• One thousand PT Caltex laborers stage a strike - Detik

• Megawati affirms support for ailing Wahid - Sydney Morning Herald
• Politics impairs Wahid's attempts to reform military - Asia Times

• Police probe 20 corpses hanging from trees - Indonesian Observer
• 'Black shaman' murders terrorise West Java - Straits Times

• Learn from East Timor, Jakarta told - The Age
• Jakarta to issue ultimatum to Aceh rebels - Straits Times
• Separatists tell Australian FM to stay out of Papuan affairs - Agence France-Presse
• West Papuans to ignore warnings - Sydney Morning Herald
• Jakarta threatens to get tough against separatism - Agence France-Presse
• Acehnese youths demand release of SIRA leader - Indonesian Observer
• Arrest accompanies threat of emergency rule - South China Morning Post
• West Papua - Howard repeats Timor crimes - Green Left Weekly
• Traumatized settlers leave Wamena in Stone Age - Indonesian Observer

• Tommy's gone, and so is justice - Far Eastern Economic Review
• Nine top officers named suspects - Jakarta Post
• Evidence of graft found in oil deals - Straits Times
• Forest of death gives up massacre secrets - South China Morning Post

• Low-priced CD makes it to the top racks - Straits Times
• Indonesian police, protesters clash - Associated Press
• Indonesia faces imminent collapse: official - Xinhua
• Indonesia: PRD rejects split group's claims - Green Left Weekly
• Regional autonomy needed 'to keep country united' - South China Morning Post

• Riau's disappearing islands - Detik

• Indonesia confronts unruly past - Christian Science Monitor

• Indonesian protesters attack Australian ambassador - Sydney Morning Herald

Women activists rally in Central Jakarta

Djoko Tjitono/Fitri & GB, Jakarta -- Around 200 activists under the banner of the "Women's Pledge" or "Kaulan Perempuan" held a lively demonstration at Hotel Indonesia roundabout in the centre of Jakarta, Friday, to celebrate "Anti Violence Against Women" day. The demonstrators demanded an end to all violence against women.

Many community groups and NGO's participated in the demonstration, notably the Bureau for Women and Children, STSI Reformasi, the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Apik Legal Aid Foundation, Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, TRUK and Women's Partnership (Mitra Perempuan).

Before marching to the Hotel Indonesia roundabout which is a favourite spot for demonstrators, they rallied at the Proclamation Monument from 1pm local time. Similar to other rallies, they were equipped with large posters and banners. Their purple banners read "Stop violence against women", "Create a peaceful culture" and "Free the world from violence".

Along their way to the HI roundabout, the rally participants shouted slogans such as, "Stop violence against women, long live Indonesian women". Purple ribbons, the symbol of peace, were tied to left arms of demonstrators.

The rally became even more interesting when some of the demonstrators performed a small play or display known in Indonesia as "happening art". A woman was tied up with yellow, white and blue cloths. On the colorful cloths, passersby could read "You have to accept the second position", "Sexual Object" and "the Law does not side with you". Slowly, the woman was unwrapped from the cloths, which symbolized the liberation of women from their shackles.

Indonesia: Activists plan anti-globalisation conference

Max Lane, Jakarta -- Leaders of the struggle against neo-liberal globalisation here are preparing a major gathering of activists to discuss strategies to stop the imperialist onslaught on the Indonesian economy and people.

"The gathering", Kelik Ismunanto, a conference organiser told Green Left Weekly, "is not just for Indonesian activists. We are inviting activists from the region, the world even, to join the discussions."

The Asia Pacific People's Solidarity Conference, to be held in Jakarta, June 7-10, is being organised by Indonesian Centre for Reform and Social Emancipation (INCREASE), a new activist organisation of students, workers, peasant farmers, urban poor, artists and others.

"We are behind in coming to grips with the full nature of neo- liberalism and how to deal with it", said Ismunanto, a member of the INCREASE Board. "We hope that the discussions at the conference the experiences from other countries in the region will deepen our understanding." Leaders from the progressive and labour movements from South Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines and East Timor will participate. Leaders of activist groups in India and Nepal have also been invited.

Anom Astika, the conference organising committee chairperson, is in Europe to invite activists in the anti-neoliberal globalisation movement there.

"We are glad to hear that there will be a large delegation from Australia", Ismunanto said. "We hope there is good attendance from activists in the First World because the movement in the First and Third Worlds must link up."

Coordination

"We hope that a commitment will emerge to continue these gatherings. We really need greater coordination among progressives in the whole region. Australian activists must be involved as the upheavals in the region have an impact on it.

Asia faces a situation where First World capital is on the offensive to increase its already massive privileges", Ismunanto said.

At least 10 Indonesian movement leaders will address the conference and scores more activists will present workshops.

"Well known leaders such as Budiman Sujatmiko, the head of the People's Democratic Party, and Dita Sari from the Indonesian National Front for Workers Struggle will speak.

"The conference is also being supported by the National Peasants Union, the National Students League for Democracy, the Popular Youth Movement and the Artistic Workers' Network.", Ismunanto said.

"We have an exciting radical and activist cultural scene here at the moment.

Many of our protest actions have what we call `the people's stage' and we will try to organise something like that for the conference.

"We have never before organised an international gathering like this and it will be a big challenge for our young activists. We need to do it, and there's a need for more such gatherings to strengthen the anti-imperialist movement here and around the region. The participation of workers', urban poor and peasant farmers' organisations will ensure that the conference discussions and resolutions will be taken up by the grass roots organisations", Ismunanto told Green Left Weekly. Ismunanto added: "Cuba is taking the lead globally against capitalist globalisation with President Castro's call for the cancellation of the Third World debt, the abolition of the IMF and the World Bank, and a tax on international financial flows that is controlled by a financial institution under Third World control. We appeal to all those who can help explain the gains and achievements of the Cuban alternative to attend the conference."
 

East Timor

UN offers assistance to set up East Timor tribunal

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, yesterday offered to help Indonesia set up a special court to hear cases against suspects accused of atrocities in East Timor last year.

Mrs Robinson discussed preparations for the trials, scheduled for next year, with Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman. "We discussed the detailed steps that will be taken for the training of judges, and also for the prosecution and defence and for the necessary steps ... for trial of perpetrators of human rights violations," she said.

Mrs Robinson, who ended a two-day visit to Indonesia, said the trials would be a major test of Indonesian democracy. "And that is my responsibility as High Commissioner -- to help Indonesia to meet this serious challenge," Mrs Robinson said.

The Attorney-General said the prosecution of the 22 suspects, some of them Indonesian military personnel and government officials, could start as early as January. "We are ready to prosecute. We are just waiting for the [human rights] court to be established," Mr Marzuki said.

Fifteen months have passed since Indonesian generals helped East Timorese militia gangs to lay waste to the territory, which had just chosen independence. Most rights activists are deeply frustrated by the lack of progress in getting anyone behind bars for the massacres and destruction.

Indonesia has named 22 suspects in the violence, but former armed forces chief General Wiranto and other key figures will avoid prosecution.

Legislation has been provided for an ad hoc rights court specifically to try those accused of forming, training and inciting East Timor's gangs, and it is awaiting the presidential signature. The question is whether Indonesia has the will and capability of bringing its own rights violators to book.

Mrs Robinson has said that a failure by Indonesia's own judiciary to secure justice in the East Timor case would cause the holding of an international war crimes tribunal instead.

Indonesia's armed forces have successfully created enough nationalist fervour to produce strong public resistance against any efforts by Mrs Robinson and other foreigners to lecture Indonesia on its rights record.

The meeting was a key part of a busy two days spent by Mrs Robinson in Indonesia. She first attended the annual workshop of Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission (Komnasham), held in Surabaya. She said there that she was ready to co-operate with anyone in securing convictions of senior generals.

30,000 watching as former soldiers return to East Timor

Mark Dodd on the Patricia Anne Hotung -- As dawn broke yesterday scores of refugees scrambled up to the deck of this former Australian Navy survey ship for their first glimpse of Dili since the violence of September 1999 in East Timor.

While the children were excited, one group of middle-aged men was muted; there were a few smiles, but most exchanged pensive glances and talked in hushed tones, pointing to familiar landmarks, as the ship sailed east.

The men are former Indonesian soldiers returning with their families to their home villages in what is the most politically sensitive repatriation undertaken so far by the United Nations mission in East Timor.

A total of 410 men, women and children will land at Com and be taken by truck to the the villages of Viqueque, Los Palos and Lautem. One man will be turned over to UN Civilian Police for suspected involvement in last year's violence. No details are being given about his case.

"It is the first major repatriation since August and it is a politically sensitive group whose safe return should send a positive message to those refugees still living in West Timor," Chris Lom, of the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM), said.

The operation, which began in June, has been organised by the IOM, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, East Timorese independence leaders and the Indonesian army and police. It marks the first return of UN agencies to Indonesian West Timor since the murder on September6 of three foreign UNHCR staff in the border town of Atambua.

Security concerns were uppermost in the minds of senior UN officials during several tense days of negotiations in Kupang, the West Timorese capital, before the ship's arrival on Monday. The thorniest issue finally was payment of salaries and pensions to the former soldiers and public servants, many of whom were owed two or three years' arrears by Jakarta. If this first repatriation of ex-soldiers is successful then up to 30,000 others, a number that includes family members, are likely to follow.

The UNHCR's senior Dili-based operations officer, Bernard Kerblatt, travelling with the refugees, said the organisation had noticed a change in the Indonesian attitude to refugee repatriation. "It took the Atambua tragedy to get them to react," he said. "On [refugee] numbers they are delivering much more than before. We have to ensure what they are doing is sustainable."

He said the UNHCR sought a bigger role for Indonesian authorities, particularly the military, in helping refugees to return to East Timor, and so far the signs were encouraging. "Let the international community give them some support. I think we must give the Indonesians a little time to do this in their own way."

Increased co-operation by Indonesia on refugee repatriation follows the recent replacement of several senior police and army officers, including that of the army's Eastern Region Commander, Major-General Kiki Syahnakri, with Major-General Willem da Costa, a native of nearby Flores. "There is a completely different understanding of the situation now. Clearly the police are playing a stronger role in encouraging the refugees to decide for themselves whether they want to go home," Mr Kerblatt said.

The UNHCR estimates that 80,000 to 100,000 East Timorese refugees remain in West Timor, most of whom are considered to be likely returnees. "Look, at the end of the day, these poor buggers don't have a choice. They can go back to their villages in East Timor, rot in a refugee camp or get involved in some shitty transmigration program. I would be taking my chances on returning to my village," said one aid official who asked not to be named.

Scars of vote violence remain real for East Timor women

Dili -- Women's groups and rape investigators say the victims of militia rape and sex slavery continue to bear the scars of post- ballot violence in East Timor, facing ostracism on their return home.

After her rape, "L", 15, was taken by her rapist and captors, pro-Indonesian militias, as a war trophy to Indonesian-controlled West Timor when the militia fled the advances of international peacekeepers.

She was picked from hordes of refugees sheltering in a church in the southern border town of Suai in September last year. Her militia captors killed her sister, 13, and up to 200 of the refugees, in one of the worst massacres to follow East Timor's vote for independence last year.

She became pregnant after a year as the sex slave of her captors in a refugee camp in West Timor and her parents in Suai were frantically trying to get her brought home.

But the flight of aid workers from West Timor in September, following the brutal slaughter of three UN relief workers, severed any contact her parents and social workers in Dili had over the border. "We don't know what's happened to her now. There is nobody we can work through there," Abuelda Alves, chief of advocacy at East Timor Women's Forum (Fokupers) told AFP. "We've lost all contact."

Fokupers has documented 46 cases of rape during last year's violence: nine of them by Indonesian soldiers, 28 by pro-Jakarta militias, and nine of them joint attacks by militias and soldiers. Eighteen were categorized as mass rapes.

The Special Crimes Unit set up by the United Nations administration in East Timor (UNTAET) is investigating more than 100 cases. "Many of these crimes were carried out with planning, organisation and coordination," a Fokupers report states. "Soldiers and militias kidnapped women together and shared their victims."

In eight cases known to Fokupers the women were forcibly taken to West Timor and turned into virtual sex slaves, raped on a daily basis and forced to do the domestic work of their captors.

Fokupers has documented four cases of rape victims falling pregnant, and two separate cases where militias have taken their pregnant victims to clinics in West Timor and forced them to undergo abortion.

But for the victims, some bearing the babies of their rapists, the suffering does not end even on their return home. Ostracism awaits them. "They are viewed as rubbish," Abuelda says. "Their families are embarrassed. Women who were already married, their husbands reject them."

A woman brought her militia-fathered baby to UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson when she visited East Timor earlier this year. "The mother said: 'Here, this is the product of a militia rape, what are we supposed to do?" Alves said.

Victims returning from the West Timor camps have to contend with the frequent perception that they complied with their militia captors, said David Senior, sexual violence investigator at the Special Crimes Unit.

"It's usually not a situation where they've experienced one rape, usually they've been put in a situation, over in Atambua or Betun, where offenders had easy access to them once a week or three times a week.

"Whether they acquiesced or were just so terrified they had to continue, after a while that was perceived as acceptance," Senior said. "When they come back here the fingers are pointed at them."

Senior has interviewed victims who have been refused support in their community. "In a lot of cases they've been forced to leave their village because they're seen as militia wives."

In all but one of the cases examined by Senior, the victims were the wives, daughters or sisters of pro-independence guerrillas and activists. "I believe that it's hand in hand," Senior says.

Fifty-six East Timorese suspected of serious crimes, including rape, have been locked up in Dili's Becora prison. Thirty-five have been released because resources are inadequate to keep investigating them. Dozens more are believed to be living in West Timor. Justice may be far off for East Timor's rapists, but their victims are suffering plenty of punishment.

Digging up the past in bid to solve Balibo killings

Catharine Munro Balibo, East Timor -- Forensic investigators are looking for the remains of five Western journalists murdered here 25 years ago during Indonesia's occupation of East Timor.

Darwin police investigator Senior Constable Kym Chilton is leading a team of four in the painstaking task of looking for proof that the five men died in this strategic border town while attempting to cover the Indonesian attack on October 16, 1975.

The five who died in Balibo were reporter Greg Shackleton, 27, and soundman Tony Stewart, 21, both of Australia; British reporter Malcolm Rennie, 28, and British cameraman Brian Peters, 29; and New Zealand cameraman Gary Cunningham.

The circumstances of their deaths have created controversy ever since. A senior Indonesian minister under the Habibie government, Yunus Yosfiah, who led the attack on Balibo as a young Indonesian commander, stands accused of being responsible for the deaths of the Balibo five.

Documents recently released from Australian archives show that Australia knew of the planned attack but did not warn its citizens.

The forensic team's evidence will form part of an investigation by the UN transitional administration in East Timor and could lead to charges being laid against senior members of the Indonesian military.

The UN is administering East Timor after a vote for independence from Indonesia last year. Senior Constable Chilton is relying on the evidence of East Timorese witnesses who allege the reporters were killed by Indonesian forces and their bodies burnt.

He is working on the possibility that their remains were dumped at the back of a house in Balibo, where the investigators are now working. "What we are trying to do is just confirm witness stories," he said. "At this stage what we are looking for is possible minute remains, like bone particles. The best outcome is if they find evidence that they died there but we're also just looking for evidence that they were here."

The team is sifting carefully through soil covering an area of five metres by 20 metres and digging to a depth of up to 30 centimetres.

The house, neighboring one in which Mr Shackleton was famously filmed painting the Australian flag on the wall, is now abandoned. An old wreath of bougainvillea resting against the wall of a room pays tribute in the East Timorese language of Tetum to "the five murdered Australian journalists".

According to Senior Constable Chilton, it would not be hard to find a 25-year-old skeleton if the killers had not tried to destroy the evidence. Identifying any remains is also a difficult task: they must first be confirmed as human bones and then the DNA must be matched up with several relatives' DNA. There is a possibility that the bodies were taken to Jakarta, where a memorial service was later held for the five.

UN investigator Jim Osborne said it would be three to six months before he could submit a file to the UN general prosecutor. Asked about the chances of bringing charges against the suspected killers, Mr Osborne said: "Very remote."

Evidence links top brass with post-poll slaughter

Mark Dodd, Dili -- Indonesian military officials actively directed and organised last year's murderous political violence in East Timor, according to new evidence uncovered by a United Nations official investigating war crimes in the soon to be independent territory.

Foreign affairs consultant James Dunn, 73, a former Australian consul in Dili in 1963, has been appointed "special rapporteur" by the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to investigate Crimes against humanity committed by army-backed militias last year.

"I'm getting more and more evidence of deep Indonesian military involvement. I'm getting much closer to the [Indonesian] military," Mr Dunn told the Herald at the weekend.

He said an army colonel had been positively identified as directing the mayhem in Suai including the massacre of up to 200 people at the Ave Maria Cathedral on September 6, days after the announcement of a pro-independence victory.

"He was not just an ordinary military officer. He was a full colonel in the infantry, and that was the highest army rank in East Timor," Mr Dunn said, adding: "He was carrying a weapon and giving orders." Mr Dunn said the officer had been identified in a photograph handed to him as evidence.

"The people who organised this violence, it is now very clear, were the TNI [Indonesian army]. They paid the militias and issued them with arms," Mr Dunn said.

He said his report, which will be finished by January, will name those responsible for last year's violence who could be subject to UN or Indonesian prosecution. One of the tasks facing Mr Dunn will be an investigation of repeated claims that bodies of militia victims were taken out to sea and dumped to hide the evidence.

On August 30, 1999, East Timor voted in a historic UN-organised ballot to end 24 years of Indonesian rule. In the three weeks of mayhem that followed, human rights investigators estimate about 1,000 East Timorese independence supporters were killed and more than 250,000 people deported to West Timor.

A controversial UN mission to bring home as many as 30,000 demobilised Indonesian territorial soldiers and their families got under way yesterday marking the first return to West Timor by the UNHCR since three of its staff were killed there last September.

Australian envoy lashes Wiranto over Timor

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Australia's senior diplomat in Jakarta, Mr John McCarthy, has accused Indonesia's former military chief, General Wiranto, of having "broad knowledge" of the violence and destruction in East Timor last year.

In the most direct claim by Australia that Indonesian military leaders were complicit in the bloodshed, Mr McCarthy said General Wiranto knew of terror tactics, including plans to intimidate and injure Australians and other foreigners.

In an interview with the Herald , Mr McCarthy dismissed General Wiranto's claim that he was unaware of the campaign aimed at blocking independence and intimidating foreign observers.

He said there was international expectation that General Wiranto should be punished. So far only 33 soldiers and militia members, all based in in East Timor, have been investigated by Indonesian authorities.

Until now Australian ministers and officials have avoided blaming General Wiranto directly for the violence, saying publicly that they believed "rogue" elements of the military were responsible.

Mr McCarthy said he also believed that Indonesia came close to breaking off diplomatic relations with Canberra when Australian troops led an international force into East Timor to stop the violence.

If large numbers of militia, or Indonesian soldiers, had been shot by the arriving United Nations forces, relations would have turned "very sour indeed". Mr McCarthy's naming of General Wiranto coincides with comments by Mr James Dunn, the UN- appointed "special rapporteur" on war crimes in East Timor, that he has uncovered new evidence that senior Indonesian military officials "actively directed and organised" the political violence .

The Jakarta Government, wanting to head off an international war crimes tribunal, is preparing to put on trial in January 22 suspects, including senior military and police commanders who served in East Timor.

Mr McCarthy's comments will increase the pressure on Indonesian authorities to also charge General Wiranto, whom they have so far failed to name as a suspect, but they will also anger anti- Australian elements in Jakarta.

These elements often accuse Australia of interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs. They also oppose any trip by President Abdurrahman Wahid to Australia to help repair relations that collapsed over East Timor.

Mr McCarthy said that the Indonesian military was not a "totally incompetent" organisation. "I do not believe that the sort of activity that was taking place in East Timor in the lead-up to the ballot could have taken place without the broad knowledge of the senior commanders in that organisation.

"They might not have known the details or were being kept up to date on everything that was being done," he said. Mr McCarthy was the highest-ranking foreign diplomat to remain in East Timor as pro-Jakarta militia, soldiers and police rampaged through the territory.

Asked whether it was just good luck that no Australians were killed in East Timor at the height of the violence, he said: "What Timor showed was a very carefully calculated exercise ... intimidating the foreigners and driving them out straight after the ballot. I think it was lucky ... they were trying to frighten people, injure people without killing them, so in that sense we were lucky that a mistake wasn't made."
 

Labour struggle

Entertainment workers protest closures during Ramadhan

Khairul Ikhwan D/BI & GB, Medan -- Tens of entertainment workers gathered at the Medan Tourism office in North Sumatra province to urge the Medan City Council to revoke the Mayoral decree on the closure of their workplaces during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri celebrations.

"Don't you respectable gentlemen feel concern to see us starving?" read one of the large banners displayed in front of the office Thursday. Around 60 entertainment workers attended the protest headed by the Leader of the Entertainment Workers' organisation, Eddy Lubis.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and many leaders see the closure of the entertainment venues as a sign of respect. Many also maintain that the venues are dens of iniquity and illicit activities.

Certain groups, such as the Front for the Defense of Islam (FPI) have stated that they will be ensuring such places are closed, through force if necessary. A variety of, as yet, not entirely clear regulations are set to come into effect in the provinces across Indonesia at the beginning of Ramadhan which most Indonesians will be celebrating on November 27, 2000. In addition to non- Muslims and non- practicing Muslims, workers in the entertainment industry are the most affected by the onset of the fasting month and large demonstrations were held this week in Jakarta.

The protest by entertainment workers in Medan coincided with a dialogue between the Municipality Head of Tourism, Khairul Anwar, and the owners of entertainment venues, including nightclubs, karaoke bars, massage parlors and games venues.

The dialogue was intended to convey and promote understanding of a Decree released by the Mayor of Medan concerning the closure of all entertainment venues. It was signed on November 1, 2000 to come into effect November 26, 2000. However, the meeting was ultimately fruitless and both sides appeared dissatisfied with the overall result.

With the Head of Tourism against their cause, however, the protesters may be fighting a losing battle. "It's unacceptable for night venues to open during Ramadhan and the decision is final," Khairul Anwar told Detik at the conclusion of the dialogue.

It was reported that the protesters were heading to the Municipality Legislative Council to further express their opposition of the Mayor's Decree.

500 North Sumatran workers rally for wage hike

Khaerul Ikhwan/Fitri & GB, Medan -- Up to 500 workers and NGO members staged a rally in front of the North Sumatra Governor's office on Jl Diponegoro in the capital Medan, Thursday. They demanded a rise in the provincial minimum wage and that the Board established by the government to determine the wages be disbanded.

The protesters gathered at around 10am local time and the orations proceeded quite peacefully with demonstrators unfurling large posters. The posters read: `Dissolve The Regional Wages Board', United Labors Unbeatable' and `Establish New Payment Board.'

The action was supported by the Indonesian Prosperous Labour Union (SBSI), North Sumatra Labour Union (SBSU), Indonesian Independent Labour Union (SBII) and Independent Plantation Labourers' Association (Perbuni).

While, the workers' representatives met with the Governor's secretary those outside held lively orations demanding a rise in the regional minimum wage to Rp 743,000 per month.

The workers took particular exception to the Regional Wages Board which determined the level of minimum wages in the province because it is not representative. The orators Thursday said the members of the board were only drawn from a few organisations such as the Indonesian Entrepreneurs' Association, the Ministry of Manpower and the All Indonesia Labour Union (SPSI) -- the only labour union permitted under the dictatorial regime of former president Suharto.

"This puts restrictions on democracy because labour unions are not only the SPSI which has tended not to side with labourers," said a demonstrator. The workers demanded the Board be reconstituted and their wages increase.

The demonstrators came in several buses. Most wore black and white headbands emblazoned with `Perbuni'. This action was not the first. They held a similar rally last October at the North Sumatra Provincial Legislative Council and the Governor's office.

Workers rally against bogus manpower agency

Jakarta -- Hundreds of women yesterday staged a rally against a phony recruitment firm that swindled them out of millions of rupiah.

The illegal manpower agency, PT Shaymma based in Lampung province, had promised about 250 women that it would provide jobs for them in Saudi Arabia, providing that they each paid a registration fee of Rp4 million (US$423).

Most of the duped workers were from Lampung, while a handful were from Java. PT Shaymma had three months ago promised the women that it would register them with an East Jakarta-based company, PT Suma Jaya, which would then send them abroad as soon as possible.

After each handing over Rp4 million, the women were sent to a dormitory on Jalan Kramat Aris in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. For weeks on end they were neglected by both companies and had to use their own money to buy food.

Eventually they grew tired of waiting and yesterday staged a protest outside the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry on Jalan Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta.

They also issued a complaint to the Lampung provincial government, which informed them that PT Shaymma was a bogus company. Its office in Bandar Lampung has been abandoned, and the firms president director Yusuf Hambali is nowhere to be found.

The womens plight has been taken up by the Legal Aid Team for Indonesians Working Abroad. A member of the team, Wahyu Suliso, said PT Shaymma and PT Suma Jaya had clearly been in cahoots to dupe the women.

Although PT Suma Jaya is a legal company, the women are having difficulty getting any money out of it, because it claims their registration fees are with PT Shaymma.

Suliso said the dormitory at Jalan Kramat Aris, No. 48, does not belong to PT Suma Jaya. The company had merely been renting it and the rent expired this week, causing more problems for the women.

The gypped workers urged the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to force PT Suma Jaya to return the money they had paid and to compensate them for the three wasted months they spent in the dormitory.

Many Indonesian women are lured to jobs abroad by the promise of high wages. But there are pitfalls at every corner. Not only may recruitment firms here try to rip them off, local civil servants may also attempt to extort them.

And once they are abroad, they may be subjected to excessive hours of work, poor treatment, beatings, rape and even execution. Upon returning home, some female Indonesian workers are ripped off by unscrupulous airport officials.

SBSI chairman sues police for arrest

Jakarta -- Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI) chairman Muchtar Pakpahan filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro and East Kalimantan Police chief Insp. Gen. Togar M. Sianipar over the recent arrest of the union's top executive in the province.

In the suit, filed with the South Jakarta District Court, Pakpahan alleges the November 12 arrest of Wuaya Kawilarang, the SBSI coordinator for East Kalimantan, was illegal.

Pakpahan is seeking the immediate release of Kawilarang, Rp 2.5 billion (US$266,000) in compensation to be paid to the union and a public apology from the officers to be printed in all newspapers published in East Kalimantan.

According to Pakpahan, Kawilarang was detained in the provincial capital of Samarinda when a number of SBSI members at oil mining company PT Paiko went on strike to demand access to facilities guaranteed in regulations issued by the Ministry of Manpower. "It is legal for laborers and employees to go on strike, but the East Kalimantan Police chief prevented them from doing so," Pakpahan said.

Sianipar, a former National Police spokesman, said earlier his office wasprepared to face any legal action taken by Kawilarang or his union. "We had adequate evidence to make the arrest," he said at the time. Sianipar could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Pakpahan said the police charged Kawilarang with inciting workers to go on strike, and attempting to resist law enforcers. Under Article 160 of the Criminal Code, these charges are punishable by a maximum sentence of six years in prison.

During the strike, Samarinda Police officers fired rubber bullets at the strikers in an attempt to force them back to work, Pakpahan alleged. After the arrest of Kawilarang, Sianipar made a number of statements in which he threatened to eliminate SBSI entirely from East Kalimantan, saying he viewed the organization as having disrupted peace and order in the province, Pakpahan said.

He also said Sianipar had asserted that SBSI had violated the so-called SARA policy in its recruitment. SARA is the acronym for suku (tribal affiliations), agama (religion), ras (race) and antar golongan (societal groups). The past administration urged the media to avoid these topics in order to prevent unrest.

He alleged that Sianipar's statements triggered East Kalimantan youth organizations such as the Indonesian National Youth Committee, the Youth Renewal Generation of Indonesia and the Pemuda Pancasila youth organizationto stage a rally demanding SBSI immediately leave the province.

Caltex warns strikers of salary cut

Pekanbaru -- No work! No pay! Thats the message from embattled oil company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) to its striking contract workers in Riau province, central-eastern Sumatra. CPI yesterday warned some 3,000 striking contract workers they will not be paid and there will be no negotiations until they go back to work.

CPI, along with our business partners, is extremely disappointed in the workers decision to leave productive discussions and to begin striking.

In the last month, we have in good faith worked with the Riau government, local legislative assembly and manpower department to resolve these worker compensation issues, CPI Managing Director J. Gary Fitzgerald said in a statement yesterday. The striking workers yesterday discontinued negotiations over their demands for higher pay and benefits. The strike commenced on Monday at Jengkol, near the township of Duri, around 120 kilometers from the capital of Riau, Pekanbaru.

Caltex described the strike by 3,000 of its 26,000 employees as illegal. The strikers had worked with several Caltex contractors, including Schlumberger, Dowell and Tripatra.

Fitzgeralds statement emphasized that CPI cares about the welfare of workers and respects their right for better compensation. But any demands must be conducted through the existing fair and transparent negotiation process, he noted. The striking workers have been asked to discontinue their disruptive and illegal strike and to have their representatives return to reasonable negotiations.

Local workers are angry that foreign employees are paid much higher salaries. Although current local salaries are described by CPI as competitive, the workers have demanded a 360% increase in overall pay and other benefits.

CPI claims this is unfair, unreasonable and simply not realistic in todays fragile economy. Any business attempting to absorb such a significant cost increases would be injured competitively and forced to lower other operating costs in order to survive. Such measure would also backfire on workers, since job layoffs become the most likely remedy for reducing costs, argued Fitzgerald.

The strike is disrupting the production of oil, which decreases the largest source of government revenue for Indonesia. This harms the people of Indonesia, including the very workers and their families, which participate in this illegal activity, said the statement.

We encourage all workers to return to work and to allow your representatives to continue productive discussions, without further loss of pay, appealed Fitzgerald.

One thousand PT Caltex laborers stage a strike

Haidir Anwar Tanjung/ Hendra & PT, Jakarta -- It is clear that PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia's luck continues to decline. Previously, their oil pumps which are located in the Riau province had been seized and burnt by locals. This time, thousands of contract laborers have staged a strike demanding a hike in their living costs.

The strike started at 7am local time and took place at the township of Duri, around 120 kms from the capital of Riau, Pekanbaru. They have accused that there has been a discrimination of living costs between native and foreign laborers. Head of the Reform Committee on Native Riau People's Rights Struggle Syafrudin, revealed this information to Detik, Tuesday.

When contacted by Detik, the spokesperson of Riau Police, Superintendent S Pandiangan admitted that strikes had been going on. The Public Relations Manager of PT Caltex, Poedyo Oetomo also admitted that strikes were taking place. However, Poedyo has yet to clarify the laborer demands. He promised to send information to Detik about the strike.

It has been reported that thousands of laborers have been gathering and siting in front of the Duri Military Sub-district Command in Pekanbaru. However, according to Syafrudin, the laborers have remained calm.

The latest information reported is that PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia announced that three out five oil pumps in the Riau province oil field are back in operation. The pumps were badly damaged after hundreds of angry local set pumps on fire during a stand off between the oil giant and local residence last Monday . Caltex is yet to determine when to repair the rest of the oil pumps.
 

Government/politics

Megawati affirms support for ailing Wahid

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri has reaffirmed her support for President Abdurrahman Wahid amid growing calls for his resignation.

Ms Megawati, Indonesia's most popular politician, said though she is ready to become president, she does not want to see Mr Wahid removed from office. "I worry that if a president is toppled ... then such action could happen with future presidents," she told a meeting of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Influential members of the political elite have been calling for Mr Wahid to resign over his erratic style of leadership and corruption scandals at the presidential palace. The economy is floundering, reform of the military has stalled, demands for independence are growing in restive provinces, and the value of the rupiah continues to fall.

But Mr Wahid is showing no sign of giving up the job he was elected to in October last year by a shaky political coalition that ended decades of authoritarian rule.

Observers say attempts by the President's political rivals to unseat him would almost certainly fail unless Ms Megawati, whose party controls the biggest number of seats in parliament, abandoned support for him.

"I have no reason to refuse if nominated to become president," the state-owned Antara newsagency yesterday quoted her as telling supporters. "The readiness of a vice-president to become president isn't a requirement for the resignation of the President."

But Ms Megawati's relationship with Mr Wahid has been stormy at times and remains strained, government sources say.

Politics impairs Wahid's attempts to reform military

Kanis Dursin, Jakarta -- Opposition from civilian politicians is stalling efforts by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid to assert civilian authority over the military, blocking efforts to curb rights abuses and resolve past violations, analysts say.

"The enemy of President Wahid is not the military but civilian politicians in the House of Representatives," said Munir of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

In August, members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest legislative body, passed a regulation requiring the president to obtain House approval before replacing chiefs of Indonesian military and police force. Likewise, Munir cites the example of how many Parliament members came to the defense of former armed forces chief Wiranto when Wahid fired him, accusing the president of "bowing to international and Western pressures at the expense of national interest".

Wahid had removed Wiranto from his post as coordinating minister for political and security affairs in February for his alleged involvement in gross human rights violations in East Timor last year. Wahid has taken moves designed to control the military -- moves that the institution with a political role does not like.

Analysts say Wahid's problems with the military have made it difficult to curb human rights violations in restive provinces, get to the root of past abuses where justice has been delayed and put the armed forces under full civilian control. "This is a much bigger problem because some civilians protect the military against other civilians," said Munir.

Army Chief of Staff General Endriartono Sutarto shared Munir's opinion, lashing out at bickering civilian politicians. "What has come to the fore is how to get power," Endriartono said. "It is under this situation that the Indonesian military, even though it has asserted its commitment not to enter practical politics, it is still viewed as a primary political force," he said.

Critics say that violence and torture by the military continue -- and have tended to escalate since Wahid took over. The Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), founded by Munir, pointed out that throughout 1998, there were around 59 cases of human rights violations by the military, mostly by the Indonesian army. The figure went up to 85 in 1999 and reached 63 cases from January to August 2000. In the past three years, the Indonesian army committed 131 gross human rights violations out of 207 human rights violations, said Kontras deputy coordinator Ikravany Hilman.

Of the abuses committed by the military, torture accounts for 117 incidents, extra-judicial killings 40 cases, arbitrary arrest 23 cases, intimidation 23 cases, and robbery and destruction of property 17 cases, Kontras said. Aceh, at the tip of Sumatra province northwest of Jakarta, has the highest human rights violations with 114 cases. This is followed by East Timor with 63 cases, and Ambon 12 cases, according to Kontras.

"Every day we see violence in Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia such as in troubled provinces Aceh, West Papua, Maluku, and the government does not do anything to stop it. The people are already frustrated with the present situation and have begun to take the law into their own hands," said Munir.

The secretary-general of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Asmara Nababan agrees that torture, arbitrary killings and involuntary disappearances and other rights violations have tended to increase after Suharto's fall. In fact, he said: "The Wahid administration does not have the necessary political power to stop violence and human rights violations by the Indonesian military and it is time for the government to seek international assistance."

YLBHI and other human rights groups have called on the United Nations to assign a special envoy or working group in Indonesia to monitor human rights violations by the military. Nababan said farmers and workers have suffered severe human rights violations at the hands of the military after Suharto's fall. Farmers are now trying to reclaim their ancestral lands controlled by the military, which, according to Munir, are acting like landlords.

According to Nababan, the biggest human rights issue facing Indonesia now is "transitional justice" -- how to deliver justice, meaning solving past human rights violations, in the transition to democracy. "This is a dilemma as the instrument mechanisms and the personnel belong to the authoritarian regime. How do we expect these instrument mechanisms and the personnel to deliver the justice?" Nababan said.

The political will and capability to address rights violations is crucial to Indonesia's becoming a working democracy, activists say. During the Suharto era, Nababan said, people lost their property, freedom and other fundamental rights. "They are right now demanding justice because for 32 years they could not ask for justice.

But if we look at our law, regulations, judiciary system, judges and attorneys, they are all from the old regime," Nababan argued. "On the other hand, we cannot ask the people to be patient, to wait until the transition period is over before we can deliver the justice. We cannot ask them to be patient and wait in the next two to three years before we are able to deliver the justice," he added.

In 1998, Komnas HAM proposed the creation of a South Africa- style Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address past human rights violations. But it got strong opposition from the Indonesian military.

"Without solving the past human rights violations, we cannot develop our future humanely and justly. We have to do this not only to restore the rights of the victims, but also to develop the human rights culture in Indonesia in the future. Until today, not one single case has been solved in the courts," said Nababan, adding that Komnas HAM is incapable of handling all rights violations because of budget constraints and lack of staff.

He called on the government and parliament members to set up independent human rights commissions at the regional level, especially in strife-torn provinces such as Aceh, Maluku, West Kalimantan and West Papua.

But human rights activists believe people will eventually reign over the military. Argued Munir: "Every day now, people in several places in Indonesia, including people at the grass roots level, set up military watches to control the military and check their human rights abuses. This is, I think, is the embryo of a movement, the next movement."
 

Regional conflicts

Police probe 20 corpses hanging from trees

Jakarta -- Police in Cianjur, West Java, yesterday began the grisly task of examining 20 corpses that were recently found hanging from trees at Mount Sawo Valley, a report said.

Antara quoted local residents as saying the victims are believed to be practitioners of black magic. Police arrested several of the alleged killers yesterday.

Yes, we have heard about the case and arrested scores of killers and the mastermind behind the crimes, 47-year-old Apih B.R.M., and all of them are now being held at Cianjur Police headquarters, Cianjur Police Detective Chief, Senior Inspector Agus Nugroho, was quoted as saying by Antara.

The Media Indonesia daily yesterday reported that a group of lost trekkers had discovered the decomposing bodies hanging from trees in the valley.

One of trekkers, Heru (18), told Media Indonesia they had found the rotting corpses on Tuesday but did not inform police of the gruesome discovery until Thursday.

Heru said he and his friends had become lost in the valley beneath Mount Sawo in Cianjur district, some 150 kilometers southeast of Jakarta, during a trekking competition.

The trekkers were horrified when they saw the rotting corpses. We ran away when we spotted the decomposing bodies hanging from the trees, Heru told police yesterday.

He was accompanied by a lawyer, Yudi Junadi, during his police interrogation. Junadi said rumor has it that 90 shamans in the district have been kidnapped and murdered by an evil vigilante gang over recent months.

An extremely bad smell always came from the valley at the mountain, but we never dared to go there to find out what had happened, a local resident who wished to remain anonymous told Antara. Residents of Cianjur have found several bodies in other locations and claim the victims are all sorcerers killed by the vigilantes. In 1998 a wave of killings of alleged sorcerers took place in East Java and Central Java, leaving more than 100 dead.

The killings were believed to be politically motivated, as many of the victims were followers of the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization, which in those days was led by cleric Abdurrahman Wahid, who went on to become president, despite opposition from hardline military supporters of ex- president Soeharto.

'Black shaman' murders terrorise West Java

Marianne Kearney, Cianjur -- West Java has been hit by a wave of brutal killings of shamans, with at least 19 suspected sorcerers being killed by enraged mobs in the past three months.

In a case six weeks ago, at least five men hacked to death a 70- year-old woman who was accused by neighbours of being a dukun santet (black shaman). The five men entered Ibu Jumsih Canak's house and quickly severed her head with matchets.

Her crime? She had given fish to a sick neighbour, who died a few weeks later. Several other villagers who came into contact with Mrs Jumsih had either died or become seriously ill. Naturally, Mrs Jumsih was suspected of performing black magic on them.

In another case, a 60-year-old man, blamed for illness in the village, was attacked by a gang with matchets and tools. Nearly all of the killings of the dukun santet have been very 'sadistic', with beheading being the usual cause of death, says Inspector Widodo from Cianjur police station.

However, police believe that most of the accusations of being dukun santet are trumped-up charges. The accused is often a business competitor of another businessman, or a political opponent of someone vying for the position of village head, or sometimes just someone hated by another man because he is richer, says Senior Inspector Agus Nugroho.

Inspector Agus says that while local villagers often join in the killings, most are done by an organised network of dukun killers. For a small fee, as little as one million rupiah (S$200), these gangs will get someone in the village to start accusing the person of being a dukun santet, and when the village believes the accusations, they will perform the killings.

Police say they are investigating 19 dukun murders, but they say there could be dozens more as cases in remote villages are often not reported.

Villagers join in the killing frenzy because they really believe they have a dukun santet in their midst. "They really believe in the soul medicine," said Mr Barnas Canak, the late Ibu Jumsih Canak's son "For example, if there are two people in a quarrel and one of them becomes sick, the sick one will point at the other and say he is the dukun santet."

Anthropologist Anto Ahadiat says this new trend of killing the once-respected dukun santet is occurring partly because during ex-president Suharto's new order, traditional village structures were destroyed and people are starting to forget their culture.

"Who can solve the problems of the village? Not the village head because he's a representative of the new order," he said, adding that with the police's authority waning, villagers are enacting street justice.

In the past, dukun santets were rarely killed. Their magic was usually combated by visiting a stronger dukun to fight off the spell, says the anthropologist.
 

Aceh/West Papua

Learn from East Timor, Jakarta told

Tony Parkinson -- The elder statesman of Asian politics, Lee Kuan Yew, has warned Indonesia that it cannot afford to risk making the same mistakes in West Papua that it did in East Timor.

In an interview with The Age, Singapore's senior minister issued a blunt caution to Indonesia, an ASEAN partner and Singapore's biggest neighbor.

Amid fears in the region that Indonesia may be preparing for a military crackdown on West Papuan separatists, Mr Lee said he hoped President Abdurrahman Wahid's advisers were conscious of the potential harm to Indonesia's international standing. "They ought to be telling the President just how risky such unthoughtful acts can be forthe reputation of the country," he said.

He said the images screened worldwide of East Timorese villagers trying to flee militia violence had been horrendous. "I hope they have learnt from what happened in East Timor and don't allow the same syndrome to develop in West Irian," Mr Lee said.

"They must learn the lessons. They must sit back and say, `What went wrong in East Timor?' They had 25 years, and it all went wrong so decisively? Why? Surely, a lesson can be learnt."

Mr Lee was in Australia to launch the second volume of his memoirs, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story 1965- 2000, a wide-ranging appraisal of the political evolution of South-East Asia.

It is unusual for a senior ASEAN figure to comment on the affairs of another member nation, especially when Singapore, like Australia, firmly supports Indonesia's continued sovereignty over West Papua.

Although a critic of Australia's role in the lead-up to East Timor's independence vote, Mr Lee has since praised its action in leading the UN InterFET forces sent in to stop militia violence.

In the interview, he expressed concern that Australia could again come under pressure from church and aid groups to respond if systematic abuses of human rights occurred in West Papua. "I would be very unhappy to see that happen," he said. "But it is not just Australian non-government organisations and Christan groups. It is worldwide." He said that governments had to recognise that acts of brutality could not be obscured from world scrutiny.

Mr Lee said he only recently came to understand the true extent of the horror of the militia violence in East Timor when he watched a BBC World documentary that tracked events after last year's East Timorese independence referendum with dramatic footage of the rampage by pro-Jakarta militias after UN staff were ordered to evacuate.

"It was horrendous," he said. "The fear, the terror, the throwing of babies over barbed wire fences into the UN compound ... it was heart-rending." He said the impact on the world was devastating, "and it causes so much revulsion that people want their governments to take action that their governments would not like to take normally". "This is Tiananmen plus 11 years."

Jakarta to issue ultimatum to Aceh rebels

Susan Sim, Jakarta -- Putting an end to months of policy drift, the Indonesian government is set to issue today an ultimatum to the Free Aceh separatist movement GAM: Start negotiations in the next seven weeks or we will wipe you out when the current "humanitarian pause" expires.

And to show it means business, Jakarta will order the police to begin enforcing a strict ban on civilians carrying weapons as provided for under the pause agreement, which means effectively that the police can start hunting down any alleged GAM member they suspect to be in possession of arms.

This new game plan is scheduled to be unveiled before Parliament today in a show of unity of purpose between the executive and legislative branches.

"We're just short of imposing a civil emergency in Aceh. But our preference is not for it now," Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman, one of the Cabinet members who formulated the new policy stance, told The Straits Times yesterday. "We want to reinvigorate the efforts of the humanitarian pause to the full."

The bottom-line remains yet unchanged -- Jakarta will not brook any challenge to the sovereignty of the state by either Aceh or Irian Jaya -- "we are still open to negotiation".

Jakarta, however, wants to be able to negotiate from strength and not allow GAM or the student referendum movement, Sira, to continue to dominate the discourse because it believes their goals are not necessarily shared by the public.

Especially if the government can deliver on previous promises to speed up development and bring some high-ranking military officers to trial for human-rights abuses.

Accordingly, today's policy declaration will state unequivocally that Jakarta will not further extend the humanitarian pause -- first implemented on June 2 to reduce tension by stopping offensive actions on both sides -- when its second phase ends on January 15.

The pause was meant to be what veteran diplomat and key negotiator Hassan Wirajuda calls an "appetiser before the main course", a confidence-building measure before substantive political talks begin between separatists and Jakarta.

But officials say that GAM has instead made use of the pause to continue intimidating the population and extorting from businesses while refusing to start talks. Noted Mr Marzuki: "Elements of GAM have now become more forceful and somewhat acting with impunity. Police and soldiers have been killed in the hundreds." In contrast, the authorities have been "very restrained", the former human-rights activist said, noting that reports of continued abuses and killings of civilians by troops were just one side of the story.

Accordingly, the police will now start implementing the law- enforcement provisos of the pause more seriously and arrest anyone with weapons.

And if there is no breakthrough by January 15, the government will 'revert to the national policy of taking action against insurrectionist movements, which could entail the security option. "But this is an act of last resort."

By issuing its new policy statement today, Jakarta is hoping to pre-empt any unilateral declaration of independence by either Irian Jaya or Aceh when their separatist movements commemorate anniversaries on December 1 and December 4 respectively.

Mr Marzuki said that the ministers in charge of security and law, under the leadership of Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, reached the consensus that a tougher line had to be taken last Tuesday night.

Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri signed off on it the next day. "It was not easy to reach a consensus. We had to first imagine the unimaginable: What if Aceh broke away like East Timor? So we had to imagine where we started going wrong and work on that."

Separatists tell Australian FM to stay out of Papuan affairs

Jakarta -- Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer should stay out of Irian Jaya's affairs, the man spearheading a growing separatist movement in the remote Indonesian province said Thursday.

Theys Eluay, chief of the presidium of the pro-independence Papua Council, challenged Downer's statement last week that Indonesia would disintegrate into a "bloodbath" if its easternmost province, otherwise known as Papua, seceded.

"I ask Alexander Downer not to get involved with Papua's problems. Let the people of Papua discuss Papuan affairs. Australians can discuss Australian affairs," Eluay said during an interview here with AFP. "He doesn't understand our problems, and he doesn't know our history. So don't get involved. Ask first."

Downer made the comment at last week's Asia Pacific Economic Co- operation Forum in Brunei, before Prime Minister John Howard met Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid and reiterated Australia's stance of opposing any further break-up of the archipelaegic republic.

"The fragmentation of Indonesia will lead to a bloodbath, and then people would be coming to me and saying what was I going to do about it," Downer said, rejecting calls for a repeat of a UN- approved vote in 1969 that integrated Irian Jaya into Indonesia, but which Papuans now say was flawed. Downer added that Indonesia's disintegration would have a devastating impact on South-East Asia.

Eluay said Downer should study the history of West Papua before judging its future. "Downer can't reject Papuan independence or support it, until he studies our history," he said. "Learn our history first. When he's studied our history then he can talk."

The people of Irian Jaya declared independence on December 1, 1961 before the former Dutch colony became a part of Indonesia under the 1969 vote.

Eluay said bloodshed was a normal part of any country's struggle for independence. "I'd like to ask Mr Alexander Downer, try to prove where in this world, in which national struggle, in which fight for independence, has there not been blood? It is natural. To have victims, that is normal," he said.

Asked if he thought there were likely to be more victims in Papua's pursuit of independence, Eluay replied. "It's not just a probability. Already 100,000 Papuans have been killed by Indonesia. They're increasing the number of victims all the time."

Eluay said that telling Downer to stay out of Papuan affairs did not contradict efforts by Papuan separatists to lobby Australian politicians and institutions for support. "We have never begged for support. We, very openly, await offers of help from whichever country wants to help. If they want to help us, go ahead. But with joint understanding," he said.

Papuan independence supporters will commemorate the 39th anniversary of Papua's independence declaration next Friday with prayers and thanksgiving in defiance of warnings from Jakarta, Eluay said. "It will be no more than a commemoration. We will not read our [independence] proclamation text, because we already proclaimed independence in 1961. For what would we declare it again?"

There would also be ceremonies to pull down the separatist Morning Star flag at sunset on December 1, before re-hoisting it outside the homes of tribal leaders in five designated districts, Eluay said.

The separatist movement in Irian Jaya has gained momentum following East Timor's split from Indonesia last year. Delegates to a congress held by the Papua Council in June called on Jakarta to recognize the 1961 declaration. Ruling out independence, Jakarta has set May 1, 2001 as the date for implementing the promised broad autonomy.

West Papuans to ignore warnings

Jakarta -- Independence celebrations in Indonesia's eastern province of West Papua will go ahead next week despite stern warnings from Jakarta, the province's independence leader said yesterday.

Theys Eluay's insistence that the celebrations would proceed came as the New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister, Phil Goff, confirmed he had met a representative of the West Papuan independence movement in Wellington on Wednesday.

That meeting, and Mr Goff's statement that New Zealand wants to encourage peaceful dialogue aimed at solving West Papua's problems with Indonesia, are likely to rankle Australia.

The Howard Government has been at pains recently to remain at arm's length from the independence movement of West Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, and support Indonesian sovereignty over the province.

The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, declined to meet a West Papuan independence spokesman, Franzalbert Joku, and his colleagues at last month's Pacific Islands Forum.

The Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, recently backed West Papua staying within Indonesia and declared that "the Balkanisation of Indonesia, if that were to happen, would create enormous regional instability".

Mr Eluay said yesterday that Mr Downer should stay out of West Papua's affairs. "He doesn't understand our problems, and he doesn't know our history. So don't get involved. Ask first," he said.

Mr Goff said Wellington's position, which was being pursued with Jakarta and the independence movements, was "to encourage peaceful dialogue with a view to exploring the parameters of autonomy which might give people in West Papua a high level of control over their own lives".

West Papua independence movements were keen for New Zealand to play a role because of its reputation as an impartial broker, he said. But he stressed: "While New Zealand will always be ready to help if requested, it would require the Indonesian Government and the pro-independence movements to ask for that. It's unlikely at this point that the Government of Indonesia would ask for outside intervention. We're not trying to tell anyone what the outcome should be, we are simply encouraging restraint."

Mr Eluay, who heads the Presidium of the Papua Council, the body spearheading demands for independence, yesterday said Papuans would commemorate the anniversary of a 1961 declaration of independence, but would not make any new declarations. "On December 1 we will commemorate our 39th independence day with prayers and thanksgivings," Mr Eluay said in Jakarta, where he is trying to meet President Abdurrahman Wahid and senior politicians.

Indonesia's Co-ordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, warned on Wednesday that the Government would consider any commemoration on December 1 an "act of treason".

Last week the Indonesian armed forces sent two elite reserve battalions, about 1,300 troops, to West Papua. Observers believe the new troops will take to more than 10,000 the number of police and soldiers in the province.

There are also unconfirmed reports Jakarta has sent elite troops from Kopassus, the unit blamed for orchestrating much of the violence in East Timor last year. Activists fear Indonesia's security forces have encouraged the formation of East Timor-style militia to provide an excuse for a brutal military crackdown.

Jakarta threatens to get tough against separatism

Jakarta -- The Indonesian government on Wednesday warned that it will get tough against separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya provinces at opposite ends of the far flung archipelago.

Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, warned separatist leaders in the easternmost province of Irian Jaya that celebrating the 39th anniversary of their declaration of independence next month would be treason.

Yudhoyono said he had heard reports that Free Papua (OPM) separatists planned to celebrate the commemoration on December 1. "If that takes place, it will be considered an act of treason and the government will take stern actions based on the constitution," he said.

Yudhoyono also warned Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerillas that Jakarta may declare a state of emergency in the rebellious province of Aceh if separatist violence keeps up despite a shaky truce between the two sides.

"If alternatives proposed are rejected, the government will adopt legal measures and deem it necessary to impose an emergency status, although it's not an ideal thing to do," Yudhoyono said after meeting with Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Yudhoyono also warned the popular Aceh pro-independence group, the Information Center for an Aceh Referendum (SIRA), against mobilizing people against the government.

SIRA earlier this month mobilized hundreds of thousands of people during a two-day rally organized to demand a referendum on self- determination for the strongly Muslim region on the northenr tip of Sumatra island.

They marked the anniversary of last year's first public call for a vote on self-rule, which was attended by almost a million people. On November 14, independence supporters also issued a declaration in favour of the province breaking away from Jakarta through a UN-sponsored referendum.

Acehnese youths demand release of SIRA leader

Jakarta -- At least 150 Acehnese youths living in Jakarta staged a protest outside National Police headquarters yesterday, demanding the release of Muhammad Nazar, head of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA).

Separately, a human rights campaigner said police have been conducting a covert campaign in Aceh to curb the provinces independence movement and to preserve instability in the territory.

The protesters outside police headquarters were members of the Solidarity Action for Acehnese People (SARA) group, reported Detik. The report said the protesters, who were wearing red-and- white headbands emblazoned SARA, unfurled large banners with slogans such as Aceh Police Chief Should Be Responsible.

Police this month has issued three summons to Nazar (28) after SIRA hung a massive banner in the center of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, on Indonesian Independence Day, August 17. The banner read Neo-colonialism must get out of Aceh in a sly reference to the Indonesian military and government. Police said that was tantamount to fomenting public disorder and inciting hatred of the government. SIRA has been campaigning for a referendum on the future of the province, since the fall of ex- president Soeharto.

Nazar did not meet the first summons because he was organizing a two-day massive rally, during which some 400,000 people demanded freedom for Aceh. He ignored the second summons, but complied with the third and presented himself to police Tuesday and was promptly arrested. The SARA protesters yesterday demanded that police in Aceh Besar district revoke the arrest warrant against Nazar and free him. The group maintained that Nazar is innocent.

It said he should be receive an award from the Indonesian government for his attempts to hold the peaceful mass demonstration for a referendum in Aceh.

When Acehnese were slaughtered, no one was arrested. But why just because M. Nazar held the SIRA mass rally, he is accused of a crime, a SARA member was quoted as saying by Detik. SARA said the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and police had plotted the arrest and made up the charges.

Apart from demanding Nazars release, SARA also demanded the National Police be held accountable for the deaths of Acehnese who were slaughtered for attempting to join in the mass rally. The group also reiterated calls for international intervention to settle the prolonged conflict in Aceh which has claimed thousands of lives. Despite efforts to open a UN monitoring post in Aceh, the Indonesian government has rejected the offer.

Executive Director of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, Hendardi, who is acting as Nazars lawyer, yesterday said it appears that police and the military are trying to preserve the instability in Aceh.

In a press statement, Hendardi said the arrest of Nazar on charges of fomenting hostility against the state and disturbing public order, is identical to the methods used by ex-president Soehartos regime to arrest pro-democracy activists and other dissidents.

Hendardi said the only way to resolve the problems in Aceh is to withdraw the military from the restive region and give the Acehnese a sense of justice by taking the human rights violators to court.

Arrest accompanies threat of emergency rule

Vaudine England -- Police arrested Aceh's leading student activist and yesterday threatened imposition of emergency rule if progress was not made towards dialogue.

The activist, Muhammad Nazar, heads the Information Centre for a Referendum in Aceh (Sira), which is lobbying for Acehnese to be allowed to choose independence or continued rule by Jakarta.

In interviews, Nazar insisted his group was not part of the rebel Free Aceh Movement, but sympathetic to it. However, contact with the rebels had been possible through his student network.

Nazar's arrest on charges of "spreading hatred" follows the gathering of tens of thousands of Acehnese on November 11 to call for an independence referendum. Rights groups said scores of civilians had been killed when they tried to attend the rally, as security forces fired on vehicles and boats trying to reach the capital, Banda Aceh.

Police chief Superintendent Sayed Husaini said Nazar had provoked hostility against the state by circulating pro-independence posters during a protest on August 17, Indonesia's national day.

The student had then organised a mass gathering "as if Aceh were not part of Indonesia", said Mr Husaini, adding that Nazar's detention was valid for 20 days and could be extended for a further 40 days.

Sidney Jones, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said: "Nazar and other Sira activists are being punished for organising a peaceful rally attended by hundreds of thousands of ordinary Acehnese. If this is incitement, Indonesian democracy is in serious trouble."

Sira members now say they will call off demonstrations planned for next week, while back in Jakarta the mood hardened. Chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said: "The Government will impose an emergency situation in Aceh if they [the Free Aceh Movement] reject the Government's appeal to continue dialogue. This is not an ultimatum or threat. We're just trying to work within a framework of dialogue so that Aceh remains part of Indonesia."

Nazar's arrest marks the first time that the supposedly more tolerant Government of Abdurrahman Wahid has used Articles 154 and 155, the haatzai artikelen [spreading hatred] articles of the Indonesian Criminal Code, against a political activist. Left over from the colonial administration, these statutes were used by the former Suharto government to punish free expression and to discourage pro-independence activities in East Timor.

West Papua - Howard repeats Timor crimes

Pip Hinman -- Prime Minister John Howard, under pressure, once described the successive Australian governments' approaches to East Timor as "bipartisan wrong policy". Yet this hasn't influenced his views on the self-determination struggle being waged by the West Papuan people.

Howard's "wrong policy" comments -- made after the anti- independence militias backed by the Indonesian army (TNI) unleashed their post-ballot rampage -- were designed to placate Australians furious at the government's support for Indonesia's invasion and annexation of East Timor.

Now, in a bid to ameliorate relations with Jakarta, Howard and foreign minister Alexander Downer -- backed by the Labor "opposition" -- are leading the charge internationally to support Indonesia's declaration that it will never let West Papua go.

At the Pacific Islands Forum in Kiribati last month and more recently at the APEC conference in Brunei, Howard and Downer have been at pains to reassure Jakarta they do not support West Papua's secession from Indonesia or the West Papuan people's right to have a UN-supervised referendum on independence. For their efforts, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid is extremely grateful.

Downer warned that support for the West Papuan secessionist movement could lead to a "bloodbath". "The international community can't promote the disintegration of Indonesia. It would have a devastating impact on South-East Asia", he was quoted as saying by the November 14 Sydney Morning Herald, adding that Australia's national interest was best served by not supporting independence movements.

The same line was put by Paul Dibb, head of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University and former head of the Joint Intelligence Organisation in the defence department, in a paper presented to a Jakarta-based institute in Bogor in May.

Having demolished the argument that Indonesia is any military threat to Australia, Dibb said the biggest single threat to "regional security" is the "continuing turmoil" inside Indonesia, the result of "greater freedom in Indonesia since the downfall of president Suharto".

Bemoaning the fact that the secessionist movements in Aceh and West Papua were encouraged by the success of the East Timorese national liberation movement, Dibb warned: "If any of these regions get independence, the reaction from the military will be intense, and may well put an end to democracy in Indonesia".

Military violence

Dibb, like the Howard government (and Kim Beazley's Labor opposition), seem oblivious to one of main factors driving the independence movements: the military violence and terror unleashed against largely unarmed populations.

This was clear from Australian governments' unstinting support for Indonesia's brutal rule in East Timor, in spite of horrifying massacres such as the one in Dili in 1991. It was reinforced again in 1999 when despite intelligence reports revealing that the TNI was training and arming the East Timorese militias, the Howard government insisted it should be entrusted to supervise the ballot and aftermath.

The Australian government also has ample evidence of the criminal role the Indonesian army played in an effort to wipe out the West Papuan resistance movement, the OPM, from the early 1960s (including the napalm strafing, bombing and raping of whole villages) onwards.

Now, as the 40th anniversary of West Papua's December 1, 1961 declaration of independence approaches, Indonesia has stepped up its terror campaign, sending in two battalions from the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad). Indonesian police have also launched a three month campaign (from November to February) -- Operation Tuntas -- against the separatist movement.

The Wahid government has now banned the raising of West Papua's "Morning Star" flag -- the symbol of independence -- with the military systematically killing those who do.

Comparisons with East Timor

Meanwhile, Downer and Howard are at pains to avoid commenting on the detail of the events surrounding Indonesia's annexation of West Papua in 1962.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that it's hard to justify the military-led take-over given the rubber stamp by the UN following a sham act in which 1025 West Papuans were lined up in front of Indonesian troops to raise their hands in favour of West Papua's incorporation into the Indonesian state.

The 1962 New York agreement, signed by the Indonesian, Dutch and US governments, specified that all adult West Papuans had the right to participate in an act of self-determination. The UN "took note", with resolution 2504, that an "act of free choice" had taken place, but not according to international practice. The West Papuans are appealing for international support for a genuine act of self-determination.

Howard and Downer continue to deny that there are any comparisons to be made between the national self-determination struggles in East Timor and West Papua.

It's true that the history and circumstances of the two peoples are different, although both were invaded after moves by their former colonial rulers to grant them independence. However, what is the same is the Australian government's attitude to both struggles.

In the case of East Timor, the government was forced by the build-up of mass domestic pressure to change its policy -- after the 1999 ballot and post-ballot bloodbath. Let's make them change their criminal policy before the same scenario unfolds in West Papua.

[Pip Hinman is the national secretary of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET).]

Traumatized settlers leave Wamena in Stone Age

Jakarta -- Thousands of settlers have fled from Wamena town in Irian Jaya (West Papua), following last months ethnic rioting that left at least 31 people killed and dozens badly wounded.

The exodus from Jayawijaya regency has brought activities to a standstill at local state schools, hospitals and government offices, because just about all civil servants from the region have left, Antara reported yesterday.

Jayawijaya regency spokesman Jack Rumbekwan and Wamena Senior High School 1 principal Benyamin Hubi said the town is now safe following the October 6 killings, but the civil servants arent coming back.

They said education, governmental activities, development and social/medical services have all ground to a halt, not because civil servants are lazy, but because they have fled. Thousands of students at elementary, junior and senior high schools in Wamena are now on holiday because there are almost no teachers left.

The non-Papuan civil servants left the region in small aircraft supplied by the Mission Aviation Fellowship, Trigana Air Service, Manunggal Air Service, and the Air Force.

Rumbekwan said it wasnt only non-Papuans who skedaddled after the riots. He said non-Jayawijaya Papuans from the cities of Sorong, Manokwari, Serui, Biak, Fakfak, Merauke, Nabire and Jayapura also suffered during the bloody October attacks and have also left the region and have no intention of going back.

Many of them have already obtained documents from the government permitting them to work in other provinces.

Police have detained several people who were involved in a massacre at Woma village, 7 kilometers east of Wamena.

The suspects have said they know nothing about politics, but were hired by a certain pro-independence group to launch the attack. If police dont settle the problem, there will be a local war in the future, between those who agree with independence and groups that prefer Indonesian unity, said Rumbekwan.

Today there are just a handful of civil servants left in the region. They are all men, while their wives and children have been sent to Jakarta, Sulawesi or other regions.

Hubi predicted that Jayawijaya could soon return to the Stone Age. Although Im a native born in Baliem Valley, I cant do anything [for education] here because all of the other teachers have gone, he said.

Locals with enough money have sent their children to attend lessons in Jayapura or Sorong, Biak, Manokwari and Serui. In this current condition, Im afraid this region will be back in the Stone Age in the next few years, said Hubi.
 

Human rights/law

Tommy's gone, and so is justice

Dini Djalal, Jakarta -- Luxury resorts across the country were inspected, as were fancy restaurants and race tracks, the favourite haunts of the youngest son of former President Suharto, 38-year-old Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. Family retreats have been under scrutiny, their closets and cabinets searched.

What could have been a watershed moment for Indonesia's threatened leadership is a wash-out. Two weeks after police attempted to jail him on charges of corruption, Tommy Suharto remains Indonesia's most famous fugitive.

Rather than setting the stage for the prosecution of a once- invincible family accused of pocketing billions of dollars during the patriarch's 32-year rule, the failed arrest is fast descending into farce. Legal reform is at stake, as is the presidency of Abdurrahman Wahid, elected partly for his promises to crack down on corruption.

Officials point out that Suharto crony Mohamad "Bob" Hasan has been detained, as have a handful of other graft suspects, including Tommy's business partner Ricardo Gelael. But many Indonesians believe that if the government is unable to arrest Tommy, whose estimated $800 million fortune amassed under the umbrella of his Humpuss group hardly makes him the wealthiest of Suharto's six children, other cronies -- and new ones too -- will never see a jail cell.

Already the government has postponed legal investigations of major debtors like Texmaco, whose 16 billion rupiah ($6.7 million) debt to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency makes it the country's biggest debtor. Probes of two other major debtors, Prajogo Pangestu of the Barito group and Sjamsul Nursalim of Gajah Tunggal, also have been delayed.

Meanwhile, it is turning out to be dangerous for business executives from foreign companies who buy out local debtors. A senior Indonesian official of Canadian insurance firm Manulife is in police custody after increasing Manulife's stake in local life insurer Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia to 91% from 51%, though it is unclear what law, if any, has been broken.

Virgin Islands-based Roman Gold contends that it too bought a 40% stake in the local firm, a subsidiary of the bankrupt Dharmala group, days before Manulife's acquisition. The culture of impunity, it seems, applies only to some.

An open window to freedom

Tommy's escape from punishment has been especially galling because it was so easy. He had ample time to prepare his getaway. Seven weeks had passed since the Supreme Court handed him an 18- month jail sentence in connection with an $11 million land scam.

The police summons arrived at his residence one day after the president rejected his plea for clemency, making his arrest imminent.

When police and prosecutors finally knocked on his door on that rainy Friday, the multimillionaire, free from police surveillance, had quietly slipped away. Police and prosecutors banged on his locked doors, and then gave him what they called a few days' "rest" before actually searching his residence. The authorities goofed on their paperwork too, buying him time by sending Tommy's lawyers only photocopies of documents, and even then to a municipal office which, improbably enough, could not be pried open on the weekend. The lawyers argued that Tommy needn't appear before the papers arrived. Bureaucracy won over justice.

Critics say prosecutors and police have been sluggish because of their deference to the elder Suharto, a five-star general whose powerful patronage fuelled three decades of bribery. Many Indonesians believe that the Suhartos are still doling out "gifts," and that Tommy can match the finder's fee the police have offered.

The authorities "are too discriminative, even though Tommy has already received too many favours," says Hendardi, a human-rights lawyer. Even Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman has disclosed that his office's ability to function has been compromised by Suharto sympathizers who work there, many of whom are suspected of colluding with those they should be prosecuting.

Tommy's lawyers, meanwhile, are crying foul, contending that their client has been made a scapegoat for Wahid's political troubles. Wahid accused Tommy of being behind the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange on September 13; when then national police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo failed to arrest him because of lack of evidence, Rusdihardjo was promptly fired.

Tommy's lawyers are arguing for a judicial review, as well as special jail privileges. Already prison officials have prepared a 12-square-metre cell in a block isolated from common convicts at Jakarta's Cipinang Penitentiary. Like many other well-to-do prisoners, Tommy will likely be able to have his own TV, cellphone, and perhaps even "holidays" out of jail.

But Tommy wants more than just air-conditioning and a soft mattress. His lawyers say he is ready for detention so long as his bodyguards can join him to protect him from other prisoners. The lawyers say death threats have come from Anton Medan, a former gangster who recently organized prisoners to protest against special treatment for Tommy.

Tommy, believed to be Suharto's favourite son, famously invites public contempt. The racing car enthusiast, who once owned a stake in Italian luxury car maker Lamborghini, arrived at a press conference for his controversial KIA-manufactured, tax-free "national car" in an imposing Rolls-Royce.

Even one of his six lawyers has lost patience with the fussy client. Erman Umar says he has not spoken to Tommy since his disappearance, and has quit the case.

"He does not respect our advice, and that hurts his case, our reputation as lawyers, and the integrity of the law," Umar tells the Review. Umar says he believes the assertions of Tommy's friends and family that he has not fled the country, but is merely "out of town."

Hence the "manhunt," which now extends overseas with the help of Interpol, which has put him on its wanted list. Citizens' arrests are now condoned, say police, but vague offers of a reward merely confirm public perception of police incompetence. "This is proof that law enforcement is weak and can be arranged," says Sri Mulyani Indrawati, an economist and adviser to the president.

Indeed, there is growing speculation that the current theatrics are nothing more than that. Many Indonesians suspect it is no coincidence that Tommy's surprise indictment came just two days before a state court declared in late September that his father was too ill to stand trial -- a decision that sparked anger on the streets.

And prior to refusing Tommy's clemency request, Wahid met twice with Tommy in a Jakarta hotel -- prompting suspicions that the rendezvous produced a face-saving settlement. The president has made no secret of his offer to Suharto of clemency in exchange for his fortune. "The public will be more convinced of a conspiracy if this farce continues," says lawyer Hendardi. Yet the coincidences continue. Last week, as police scanned Suharto's home for his missing heir, the Jakarta High Court allowed state prosecutors to resume attempts to bring the ailing 79-year-old former president to trial.

Presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar denies that any deal has been struck, and attributes the muddle to mere inexperience. "We have never arrested the son of a person who was super, super strong and is still super, super strong," he says. In a fledgling democracy where the executive's authority is consistently being undermined by forces in parliament, says Witoelar, even presidential orders takes time.

But time is running out. With the blame turning increasingly towards Wahid and the police, some observers believe public anger may swell the ranks of conservative forces who yearn for political stability. "If the people feel the law is not working, then they will think that the old regime was much better. They will become much less critical of the Suharto family," says economist Mulyani. Tommy Suharto, wherever he may be, is surely grinning at that prospect.

Nine top officers named suspects

Jakarta -- After a series of long investigations, police named nine high-ranking military and police officers on Thursday as suspects in the violent takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters in Central Jakarta in 1996.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf said the suspects were top officers at the time, including former chief of the then Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. (ret) Syarwan Hamid, former Jakarta Military commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso, now governor of Jakarta, former chief of the Armed Forces Intelligence (BIA) Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim and former Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Hamami Nata. The list also names former Central Jakarta Police chief Brig. Gen. Aboebakar Nataprawira and other senior Jakarta Police officers at the time,namely Insp. Gen F.X. Soemardi and Brig. Gen. Indro Waskito. The military officers include Maj. Gen. Tri Tamtomo and former assistant at the Army Intelligence Body (BIA) Brig. Gen. (ret) Syamsiar.

However, Saleh did not explain the suspects' roles or why the suspects were not in custody at the police detention center. "We'll see," he said.

Saleh said a joint military/police team investigating the case had summoned Syarwan and Sutiyoso for questioning earlier. "But the two failed to answer the summons," he said. Saleh's announcement was the first official statement to name the senior security officers as suspects in the July 27, 1996 incident.

A group of supporters of PDI's splinter faction, backed by elements of ABRI, raided and took over the party's headquarters from the loyalists of ousted PDI leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

A ministerial coordination meeting on politics and security affairs, which was held two days before the bloody attack, concluded that the ongoing free speech forum at the headquarters should be stopped since it disturbed public order.

The takeover triggered unrest throughout Central Jakarta on the same day,resulting in the deaths of at least five people. Twenty-three people are still missing.

Saleh said there was a total of 11 high-ranking and middle- ranking military officers and seven police officers who were named suspects in the case. "The officers are being charged with violating the Army Emergency Law," Saleh said.

Evidence of graft found in oil deals

Jakarta -- The Indonesian Attorney-General's Office has found initial evidence of corruption in four contracts agreed by state oil and gas company Pertamina during the rule of former President Suharto.

Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman said the four contracts were selected out of the 159 contracts and proposals which showed 'indications of corruption' and were submitted to the government by Pertamina after Mr Suharto's downfall in 1998.

Almost all the 159 contracts and project proposals involved Mr Suharto's family and cronies, he said. The four deals, signed between 1992 and 1993, were all oil and gas technical assistance contracts, Mr Darusman said.

He said his office found irregularities in the signing of the four contracts which led to state losses of US$18.99 million.

Forest of death gives up massacre secrets

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- The remains of 24 former communists slaughtered during the massacre of 1966-67 have been recovered from a mass grave in a Javanese forest.

The finds in Wonosobo, Central Java, were made at the instigation of the offspring of men and women who disappeared on March 3, 1966, amid the mass purges of alleged communists which brought former president Suharto to power.

Relatives and fellow former communists say such finds must become part of a formal investigation by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnasham), but rights officials say any probe of the mid-1960s murders must be a political decision and that Indonesia may not be ready for this yet.

"The major difficulty with investigating the 1965-66 killings is that these are something we might not be able to chew when we bite," said H. S. Dillon, a member of Komnasham. "We have to decide what we can and cannot do. Of course there were gross rights violations at that time, but any investigation would have to be cleared through Parliament."

Mr Dillon said Parliament's ruling in August against applying human rights laws retroactively was a deliberate ploy by Suharto-backed lawmakers and others afraid of the past to forbid a full exposure of the murders of at least 300,000 Indonesians. Some say the death toll is closer to one million.

The mass blood-letting, led by the army but carried out by former neighbours and residents in Java and Bali, was used to justify later decades of military-backed rule. Any re-examination of the events of 1965 was forbidden by the Suharto government and large chunks of an entire generation have been unable to trace relatives or avoid discrimination on the grounds of alleged communism -- until now.

The Indonesian Institute for the Study of the 1965-66 Massacre, formed by former political detainees and alleged communists alongside archivists and activists, led the efforts to unearth the remains in Situkup forest near Wonosobo. Forensic scientists say it will take 10 days to unravel the skeletons and remnants into identifiable groups.

A lawyer for the group, Esther Indahyani Jusuf, told the Jakarta Post the probe was in response to requests by 20 residents who had not seen either one or both of their parents since 1966.

"The name 'Sudjijem' was engraved on a wedding ring on a finger bone we found among the skeletons, along with the date 26th of June, 1965," she said, adding that the newly married woman must have been about 24 when she was killed.
 

News & issues

Low-priced CD makes it to the top racks

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Exactly a month since its launch in Jakarta, General Wiranto's CD has made its way to the top racks at record stores in Indonesia where the best-selling new releases are usually placed.

Said producer of the album, Mr Judi Kristanto: "We produced 40,000 CDs and 50,000 cassettes for sale. Some 30,000 CDs have been sold already." He did not have the number for the sale of cassettes.

Each of these CD packs is retailing for 45,000 rupiah (S$9) in Indonesia. But with the average price for CDs ranging from 80,000 to 140,000 rupiah, music watchers and the General's critics say the album has been priced low to allow for a wider reach.

Although Gen Wiranto has been quick to deny anything political in his actions, critics are reading closely into his move to donate all proceeds from the sale of his CD to the refugees in Aceh, Ambon and West Timor through the Indonesian Red Cross.

Unmindful of all this and enthused by the sales so far, the General and his team are more occupied with a marketing campaign to promote sales in cities across the country.

Recently, the former military chief, an avid karaoke singer in his heyday, staged a live show for his fans in Medan and was expected to do another one in Palembang over this weekend.

Indonesian police, protesters clash

Ali Kotarumalos, Jakarta -- Police fired warning shots Thursday and beat demonstrators at the national parliament, where opposing groups rallied for and against President Abdurrahman Wahid. At least four protesters were injured.

The violence started after police separated the two sides. It was the first violent eruption after days of noisy but peaceful protests over the future of Wahid, widely criticized for involvement in fraud cases, failing to fix the ailing economy and for not stopping communal violence across the archipelago nation.

Witnesses said some pro-Wahid protesters threw rocks at their rivals but also hit some officers, who retaliated. Some protesters attempted to enter the legislature, but were pushed back and dispersed by police.

Indonesia faces imminent collapse: official

Jakarta -- The Indonesian National Resilience Institute, an institute under the Ministry of Defense, said here Wednesday that the country is facing an imminent collapse and a breakdown of the country seems to be a matter of time.

The institute's governor, Johny J. Lumintang, told the House of Representatives Commission I for security, defense and foreign affairs in a hearing, "After the kicking off of the national reforms movement [two years ago], the condition of national life is much worse now."

"Theoretically, we can see that the collapse threshold of our country [nation disintegration] is close to reality if we are not aware of this and do not consolidate [ourselves] as well as making some improvements," Lumintang said. He added that theoretically, the collapse of the nation is indicated by the protracted economic crisis, disharmony among politicians, the nation's disharmony, demoralization of the soldiers and international intervention.

"If we see the symptoms and then we see the reality that we have been facing at the moment, we can conclude that some signs are shown," he said. "The ongoing economic crisis has not yet been overcome, elite politicians blame each other and national disharmony has been taking place," he added.

Lumintang further urged elite politicians to work hand in hand in dealing with the problems by putting aside their disputes. He also said that to prevent international intervention into the country's internal affairs, "the Indonesian nation should be able to deal with its problems based on our own standard and universal standard."

The protracted economic crisis has caused new challenges and constraints to the more then 210 million people in Indonesia and a political crisis followed. Moreover, some provinces in Indonesia, namely the western-most province of Aceh and the eastern-most province of Irian Jaya, have been demanding independence despite calls from the government to accept a wide- ranging autonomy status.

Indonesia: PRD rejects split group's claims

Max Lane, Jakarta -- On November 14, six members of the Central Leadership Council of the People's Democratic Party (KPP-PRD) announced the formation of the Democratic Socialist Association (PDS).

The six members are Coen Hussein Pontoh, Dhyta Caturani, Hendri Kuok, Mugianto, Ida Nashim Mh and Muhammad Ma'ruf. The six stated that the PDS has 23 members and had not yet formed any branches. If possible, the PDS will hold a congress in six months.

The PDS has stated it has irreconcilable differences with the PRD. It claims the PRD is bureaucratic, undemocratic, sectarian, not internationalist and does not sufficiently oppose the Wahid government. The PDS also accuses the PRD of deprioritising the question of women's oppression, and has not been serious in party-building or producing a newspaper.

The KPP-PRD issued a statement rejecting the group's claims. It pointed out that the six PDS leaders had failed to take the opportunity to address a meeting of the PRD National Presidium to discuss their situation, including their lack of party activity for six months. The KPP-PRD statement rejected the criticism that the PRD had not been critical enough of the Wahid government. It pointed to the scores of actions organised by the PRD to protest the government's economic policies and its failure to take action against the Suharto forces still seeking to regain power.

The statement pointed out that the six had voted for the PRD program adopted at the last PRD congress, reflected in the slogan, "Smash the remnants of the Old Order -- Golkar, the military and corrupt officials -- and leave behind the fake reformers".

The claims that the party lacks internal democracy were rejected.

The KPP-PRD statement welcomed the formation of the PDS. It expressed hope that the PDS can implement its program and stated the PRD's willingness to work with it and any other organisations that have the same platform.

Regional autonomy needed 'to keep country united'

Vaudine England, Jakarta -- Giving money and power to more than 350 districts across the country is the only way Indonesia can survive as a nation-state, the Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure, Erna Witoelar, said yesterday.

A profound rearrangement of national and regional government must take place in just over a month. It threatens to herald large- scale disruption and localised corruption as district leaders take on new government functions.

However, the Government believes potential chaos is the price that must be paid for decades of centralised rule. "The sooner and the better that we get decentralisation and regional autonomy, the more chance [we have] to keep the unity of the country," Ms Witoelar told a seminar on regional autonomy. "Sharing the power, I agree, is something very difficult, but it is inevitable if you want to keep the unity of this country."

Indonesia faces serious threats to national unity from separatist uprisings in Aceh and Irian Jaya, and also from a breakdown in law and order across large swathes of the country. Regional populations have long felt abused and exploited by the rapacious central Government and have, in the past three years of democratisation, increasingly taken the law into their own hands.

In all provinces, communities have forcibly reclaimed land taken from them by businesses linked to former autocrat Suharto, or attacked foreign mining companies accused of depleting resources. Newly elected local governments include many inexperienced and greedy legislators eager to get their hands on Jakarta's purse strings, and there are concerns that both government and business enterprises will be unable to function.

"They've only got a month to get a whole lot of laws and people into place and it's going to be crazy, really a mess," an American executive told the seminar.

He cited an example in which a local district head promised free land to his constituents to get elected, while the foreign mining company occupying the land worried what would happen to its contractual claim.

"I want to assure you that with all the uncertainties, and all the new experiences we are going to have, there are many good commitments we have to save this country," said Ms Witoelar. "If a bird has been too long in a cage, then its wings are maybe not strong enough and if it tries to fly too soon, it will drop. But the important thing is the Government is really changing."
 

Environment/health

Riau's disappearing islands

Chaidir Anwar Tanjung/BI & GB, Pekanbaru -- Seven islands in Riau province have disappeared completely since 1980 due to environmental degradation caused by excessive oil drilling offshore, contamination of the sea by oil tankers, the clearance and destruction of mangrove areas and the disappearance of coral reefs. The worrying news was announced by the Director of the Indonesian Forestry Study Institute (LPHI) Region I Sumatra, Andreas Heri Kahuripan to Detik on Thursday. He claimed that three of these islands are nameless. The other islands are Nipah, Payung, Pelampung and Sinaboy.

Kahuripan said mangrove and swamp areas that are critical for the ecological system in this region are also disappearing and that this has been caused by crude oil leaks from oil tankers or from the oilrigs. "Due to this washed up crude oil, the mangrove forests in Riau have been damaged. The disappearing mangrove forests caused the tide to reach on to the higher ground as there are no [natural] barriers," said Kahuripan.

He said that in 1970 Bangkau Island, then with covering 2,000, hectares was inhabited by at least 140 families. This island was submerged and most of the residents have relocated to Bangkau Jaya on the main land.

Kahuripan then gave the example of Muntai village, Rubat sub- district, within the regency of Bengkalis to highlight that the problem is affecting Riau at present also. This village is located on the coastline of Riau province and he said that the rising tide has reached 7 kms inland. As a result, hectares of fertile land used for rice farming have been destroyed. These man-made disasters have permanently destroyed irrigation systems necessary for rice farming and caused devastating salinity. This has in turn forced hundreds of local residents to abandon the area.

Thus far, the Riau provincial government has not been very concerned over the issue, which is immensely disturbing to Kahuripan. Riau province is made up of 3000 islands and more than a thousand are inhabited by humans. The government's lack of concern and failure to anticipate the impacts of the phenomena might result in the disappearance of other islands in the region.

Andreas believes that the damage to coral in this region has been so extensive that it caused the government to lose US$12 million. The coral reefs have been damaged by the massive exploitation of the region's sand and offshore oil rigs. Kahuripan accused state-owned oil company Pertamina and PT Kondur Petroleum of being responsible for the destruction on the coral. "These two companies have been drilling offshore. Because of this drilling, most of the coral has been destroyed," he said.

Andreas hoped that the Department of Marine Exploration and Fisheries would immediately control sand exploration and monitor offshore drilling with greater care. If these activities are not uncontrolled, these small islands that make up Riau province will disappear forever.
 

Arms/armed forces

Indonesia confronts unruly past

Dan Murphy, Jakarta -- When a rash of explosions rocks Jakarta, they are the immediate suspects. When mysterious "ninja" killers execute dozens of Muslim scholars in East Java, senior politicians whisper their names. And when aid workers are killed in West Timor, United Nations officials point their way.

Every authoritarian regime seems to have them, a cross between Praetorian Guards and playground bullies. The Shah of pre- revolutionary Iran had his Savak. Baby Doc Duvalier relied on the Tonton Macoutes in Haiti.

In Indonesia's case, "they" are the Special Forces Command, known as Kopassus, a 6,000-strong unit that has forged a reputation as the toughest and most terrifying within a military known for its brutality.

Though it's virtually impossible for the unit to be guilty of all that the average Indonesian believes, Kopassus remains Indonesia's largest collective suspect for good reason. The Command's terror tactics it employed against insurgents in East Timor and Aceh are legendary.

When Indonesia began moving toward democracy at the end of Suharto's 32-year reign, many assumed the unit's position would fade. That view was bolstered when the reformist President Abdurrahman Wahid promised to punish rights abusers and push the military out of politics.

Instead, Kopassus has quietly begun to rehabilitate its reputation. While debate rages over whether soldiers should be tried for human rights abuses, the unit is winning back authority and respect.

"Their method was terror, and it was being employed in the service of Suharto," says Munir, a lawyer who runs the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence. "But efforts to find justice are running up against the tradition of military impunity."

The apparent success of Kopassus in putting its dark past behind it is a symbol of how little has changed within the Indonesian armed forces -- and a measure of the challenges ahead.

It's a problem that plagues countries trying to make the transition from authoritarianism to democracy -- and one that foreign powers like the US helped create. Indonesia's status as an anti-Communist bulwark during the cold war led to US training and support of the military, particularly Kopassus. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the US taught its soldiers intelligence gathering and counterinsurgency skills.

But the US and other Western powers strategically averted their eyes when those lessons were put to sometimes brutal effect at home. Like other parts of the relationship, Indonesia-US military ties have been pared down to almost nothing following the calculated brutality of Indonesia's retreat from East Timor in 1999.

Mugiyanto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, understands the danger first hand. In March 1998, he was an unknown democracy activist. Then he was picked up by Kopassus, taken blindfolded to an interrogation center, and strapped to a table. Over two days, he was beaten and given electric shocks while being interrogated about his political beliefs and the whereabouts of his friends.

After Suharto's fall, 11 Kopassus operatives were found guilty of kidnapping and torturing Mugiyanto and eight other activists -- and then sentenced to 22 months in jail. Their commanding officer, Prabowo Subianto, a son-in-law of Suharto's who admitted he ordered the abductions, was honorably discharged. He's now brokering oil-for-food deals in Iraq on behalf of Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Pandjaitan -- himself a former Kopassus officer.

"The forces of democracy still have a hard fight ahead of us," says Mugiyanto. Mugiyanto was one of the lucky ones. Human rights activists say the unit helped kidnap and kill 15 democracy activists in Suharto's final days. Munir believes that 900 more -- mostly East Timorese and Acehnese independence activists -- disappeared into Kopassus interrogation centers never to be seen again, "But the law makes it very difficult to prosecute unless we can produce a body."

Kopassus, for its part, doesn't dispute its past, but insists that it is gearing up for Indonesia's reformasi era by focusing on external defense rather than internal control. "What's the point in denying the past? There are plenty of open secrets now," says Major Herindra, a 13-year Kopassus veteran who now serves as the unit's public-information officer. "We're putting more emphasis on human rights training now. We're not gathering intelligence on our own citizens anymore."

Not only did Kopassus spy on civilians, but it also infiltrated other branches of the military. It operated as a sort of "army within the Army" that could short-circuit the chain of command and set up so-called "black operations" in places like East Timor.

With President Wahid complaining that elements of the armed forces are trying to foment instability to create an authoritarian backlash, Kopassus operatives are seen by the average citizen as the natural perpetrators. Over the past six months, the capital has been rocked by mysterious bomb blasts -- the most recent being last week. From the day the blasts began, suspicion fell on Kopassus, which grew when the police picked up a Kopassus private in connection with the deadly bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange in September. But Herindra says the soldier had deserted his unit and was "acting alone."

Indonesia's military is chronically underfunded and soldiers traditionally take outside work to make ends meet. Military analysts say in that context, the unit's explanation could make sense. "Anyone with money could have paid for that," says one diplomat.

The best chance for accountability rests with the promised prosecution of senior officers for crimes against humanity in East Timor. When the former Indonesian province voted for independence in August 1999, pro-Jakarta militias, created and trained by Kopassus, went on a well-calculated rampage, killing dozens and driving 250,000 people from their homes.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman says 22 officers implicated in abuses in East Timor will go on trial in January. Making that possible is a new human rights law, passed by parliament in early November and now awaiting only Wahid's signature.
 

International solidarity

Indonesian protesters attack Australian ambassador

Lindsay Murdoch in Jakarta and David Lague -- The Howard Government will lodge a diplomatic protest after Australia's most senior diplomat in Indonesia, Mr John McCarthy, was attacked yesterday and bailed up for almost an hour by a group of about 20 pro-Jakarta East Timor protesters.

Police failed to protect him when he arrived at the opening of an Australian insurance office in Makassar, South Sulawesi. About 15 Indonesian journalists who were interviewing Mr McCarthy shielded him as protesters yelling "f -- - you, f -- - you" tried to kick and punch him. Mr McCarthy was unhurt. At least one other Australian, believed to be an embassy official, was kicked in the stomach. Others were roughed up.

Mr McCarthy prompted a diplomatic stir this week when he said he believed that Indonesia's former military chief, General Wiranto, had "broad knowledge" of last year's violence in East Timor. In an interview with the Herald, Mr McCarthy dismissed General Wiranto's claim he had been unaware of the campaign of violence to prevent independence in East Timor.

A journalist working for the Makassar-based Fajar newspaper told the Herald that Mr McCarthy was "kicked and punched a couple of times". "He did not say a word, he just stayed calm," she said. "We tried to hold the protesters from attacking him."

Another journalist, Rusdy Embas, said when the protesters arrived, they were yelling "where's the Australian, where's the Australian?" "It happened very quickly," Embas said. "None of us expected the attack."

As the melee got ugly Mr McCarthy was pushed inside the insurance company's new offices. Witnesses said it took almost an hour for police to set up barricades outside so Mr McCarthy could be escorted to a car which drove him to the airport to catch a flight to Jakarta. Despite the arrival of police the protesters had refused to disperse and demanded that Mr McCarthy come outside. Nobody was arrested.

One of the protesters, Alfredo Dos Santos, was quoted by the Detik.com newsagency as saying they wanted to warn Mr McCarthy and the Australian Government to stop meddling in Indonesia's internal affairs, especially Timor. "It was Australia which deliberately played us against each other in East Timor and caused the civil war between East Timorese," he said.

Earlier yesterday Indonesia's Defence Minister, Mr Mohamad Mahfud, criticised Mr McCarthy for making "improper comments" which were "interfering in another country's internal affairs". But he told reporters in Jakarta that he regretted the attack on Mr McCarthy.

"It will only worsen the situation. The attack should only be considered a criminal, not politically motivated attack," he said. Mr Mahfud later said the Government regretted the inability of local police officers to deal with the protesters.

Makassar's police chief, Colonel Amin Saleh, blamed the insurance company, PT MLC, for failing to tell police Mr McCarthy would attend the office opening.

A spokesman for the Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, said last night that the Australian Government regarded incidents like yesterday's as "totally unacceptable". "We expect the Indonesian authorities to make every effort to ensure that this kind of incident does not happen."

A spokesman for Indonesia's Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Sulaiman Abdulmanan, said the attack was strongly condemned, especially as it was on an ambassador from a close neighbour. "Such acts are clearly against the law," he said. "The perpetrators must be punished according to the law."

Indonesia announced yesterday it was again postponing a meeting of ministers from Australia and Indonesia that had been rescheduled for Canberra in January after earlier being abruptly cancelled by Jakarta.

The postponement, another setback in attempts to repair relations between the two countries, came after the Vice-President, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, banned all travel by ministers during December, the Islamic fasting month.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Mr Alwi Shihab, said his Government would send Australia a written apology. The meeting was designed to open the way for President Abdurrahman Wahid to visit Australia.