Democratic struggle

Students urged Golkar and TNI's dual function be eliminated

Detik - April 28, 2001

Bagus Kurniawan/Hendra & HY, Jakarta -- Around 60 students under the Student and Youth Alliances of Yogyakarta (APMY) staged a demonstration at the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Roundabout. They demanded the disbandment of Golkar party and the revocation of the dual function of the Indonesian Military. They also called for bringing the former dictator president Suharto to court again.

The demonstration began around 9.30am local time, Friday. They gathered at the faculty of social and political studies of UGM and then rallied, circulating the campus and ending at the UGM Roundabout. At 10.20 local time, the student orations could still be heard.

APMY itself consists of the students of the Veteran National Development University (UPN), the Indonesian University of Islam (UII), UGM, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic Institute and Sanata Darma University.

In his oration, Dana as the coordinator of the action, demanded the TNI's dual function be revoked. Students also demand the elimination of the extra territorial institutions such Military Sub-district Command (Komando Rayon Militer-Koramil), District military command (Kodim), Military command post (Korem) and Military Area Command, provincial (Kodam).

They also called for former president Suharto to be taken to court again and for his assets to be nationalised. Besides the staging of the oration, the AMPY also brought flower arrangements, reading "Commemorating the Death of Total Reform." They also brought several posters some of which read "Golkar and Military: the Masterminds of Chaos." "Social-Political Directorate the Civilian Right Arm of the Military."

Demands to cancel Indonesian Debts to IMF

Tempo - April 23, 2001

Jakarta -- The Pro-democratic Activists Network (PRODEM) and the Action Study Circle for Indonesian Democracy (LS-ADI) carried out a protest at Jakarta Stock Exchange (BEJ) building today, April 23. They demanded that the IMF, which resides in the JSX building, immediately cancel Indonesian foreign debt that accrued during the era of the New Order government. They argue that the US$ 200 billion debt is a trap made by the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to burden Indonesian people.

They carried two white banners inscribed with "New Order Government's Debts Are Not Ours" and "Reject IMF, Cancel Indonesian Debts". One activist was also smeared with yellow paint the color of Golkar party- to symbolize the corruption, collusion, nepotism and cronyism (KKN) practiced under Golkar.

The protest was aimed at demanding the Government and pro-reform movements immediately take tough law enforcement measures against those involved in KKN (including those within new political parties), such as seizing assets and imprisoning corrupt figures once proven guilty.

According to PRODEM work committee Chairman Nuku Suleiman, the protest was carried out in anticipation of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) meeting which shall be held today and tomorrow in Jakarta. On the CGI agenda is a discussion of what to do with Indonesian foreign debts inherited from the New Order government.

PRODEM considered the current administration as having failed to carry out a reform agenda as mandated by the people, especially in economic, political, security and legal sectors. President Abdurrahman Wahid's administration is also considered to have failed to establish good and clean governance, which would be a pre-requisite for debt cancellation. `We demand that President Wahid's administration be subject to a special session in the MPR," Nuku said.

Meanwhile, LS-ADI demanded that the Government refuse to sign an agreement with the IMF. They consider the IMF to have been robbing Indonesian people's money since the early monetary crisis. They consider the IMF to be unhelpful in assisting Indonesian people to get out of the crisis, as the institution seems only to trigger collapses in the Indonesian economy and allow US' aides to give orders to the Indonesian government in all sectors, including in making policies.

East Timor

Masters of terror

Sydney Morning Herald - April 28, 2001

[The Timor massacres were planned in detail: the guns, the trucks, the burial sites. Hamish McDonald has Jakarta's secret report which details the callous and calculating part played by senior Indonesian army and police officers.]

On the morning of Saturday, September 4, 1999, it was announced that East Timor's people had voted to separate from Indonesia. From that point on, First Lieutenant Sugito of the Indonesian Army seemed to have no doubts about his duties as local military commander of the town of Suai. Nor did his colleagues in Suai's military, police and civilian government.

At 10am, the United Nations revealed the 78.5 per cent vote for independence. Just four hours later, armed police and militias of the pro-Indonesian Laksaur group attacked the hamlet of Debos, shooting wildly and burning houses.

One high school student was shot dead and his body taken away in a police truck. Villagers fled into the grounds of Nossa Senhora de Fatima Church in the centre of Suai, joining hundreds of others camped there. The following day, the Laksaur were joined by members of another militia group called Mahidi, and they began threatening the refugees inside the church compound.

That Sunday night, Lieutenant Sugito (his only name) took part as soldiers and Laksaur militia roved around Suai, setting fire to all its buildings.

At 2.30 on the afternoon of Monday, September 6, army and police, together with the two militia groups, directly attacked the civilians inside the church grounds. The attack was supervised on the spot by Sugito, and by retired army colonel Herman Sedyono, the administrative head (bupati) of the Covalina region which includes Suai. Both were wearing jungle-green uniforms and carrying rifles. Witnesses heard Sugito and Sedyono say that all priests, men and women would be killed.

A Laksaur militiaman called Igidio Manek shot one of Suai's Catholic priests, Father Hilario Madeira, and trod on his body. Another Laksaur militiaman, named Americo, stabbed and slashed Father Francisco Soares, while unidentified militiamen killed Father Tarcisius Dewanto.

As the killing went on, regular policemen, members of the police mobile brigade and army soldiers, stood outside the fence of the church compound, shooting refugees trying to flee.

After the shooting, a number of survivors, including many women and children, were taken away by truck to the military district headquarters. At 5pm, three army trucks came to carry at least 50 bodies from the compound to the west of Suai.

The next morning, Sugito was seen directing three soldiers and a Laksaur team who were burying corpses on the seashore at Weluli, across the border in West Timor. An exhumation of the graves more than two months later found the remains of 27 men, women and children as young as five. Among them were the bodies of the three priests.

The massacre at Suai -- while the Indonesian commission says the total death toll was "at least 50", other estimates say more than 200 -- was probably the worst single incident of mass murder during the horrific month that followed the result of East Timor's UN supervised ballot.

Until the Australian-led intervention force INTERFET established its control over East Timor in October that year, about 500,000 of the 800,000 population were forced to flee their homes -- either to the hills of the interior where hunger and disease waited, or across the border in a mass deportation drawn up in contingency plans by Indonesian authorities.

Suai was not exceptional. As a hitherto secret report compiled by a special commission for Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman makes clear, it followed a pattern of violence set from the start by militias who were organised, armed and closely directed by Indonesian military, police and civil authorities from the beginning of 1999.

"The planning and discussion about the formation of armed civilian groups ... took place in East Timor, in Bali [where the Indonesian regional military command then covering East Timor has its headquarters] and in Jakarta, and as well involved officers with authority in the chain of command, both at regional and central level."

This involvement is acknowledged in statements by officers as high as former Armed Forces Commander General Wiranto to the Commission to Investigate Violations of Human Rights, or KPP-HAM as it is known by its Indonesian initials, which completed its inquiries at the end of January last year.

Moreover, the systematic support for the militias by the military and police, and the approving comments sent to Jakarta by regional army commander Major-General Adam Damiri about two of their most vicious attacks, make it inconceivable that the militia strategy was the unauthorised initiative of officials on the ground.

The KPP-HAM report traces the origins of the militia groups back to the partisans formed by the Indonesian Army when it invaded East Timor in 1975, some of which became quasi-military units with ranks and pay scales matching those of regular soldiers.

After the then president B.J. Habibie announced in January 27, 1999, that East Timor would be allowed to choose between two options -- autonomy within Indonesia or independence -- the report said that "these old militia groups were revived and supported in order to achieve victory for autonomy".

In addition, Damiri reported to the then security co-ordinating minister in Habibie's cabinet about a military-style force of young people called Gada Paksi (Young Guard Upholding Integration) which was "recruited, trained and funded" by the Indonesian Army, specifically Kopassus (the Special Forces).

Eurico Guterres and several other militia leaders were prominent in Gada Paksi, whose members were later recruited into the "Integration Fighting Force" headed by former partisan and Bobonaro region head Joao Tavares.

The former provincial governor, Abilio Soares, and various regional heads told the Indonesian investigators how these militias and other military auxiliaries were formed into pro- integration groups directed by local administrators, police chiefs and army commanders.

Guterres was in charge of 2,651 pro-integration supporters in the capital Dili, including 1,521 members of his Aitarak militia.

The commission said Wiranto acknowledged the militias in his contingency plan drawn up in August 1999, in which he lists about 1,100 people with 546 weapons, and a further 11,950 members of "resistance organisations" such as Aitarak, Laksaur, and so on.

Earlier, in a confidential letter on June 15, Wiranto said that "one of the development efforts with regard to the pro- integration groups that also needs to gain support from all relevant departments/agencies is to watch that they remain united and do not split, and that they continue to stress efforts for dialogue and discussion, and avoid physical activities aimed at intimidation which will simply be very counterproductive in the struggle for various aspirations".

Wiranto goes on to commend the coalition of two pro-integration political fronts into "one fighting forum".

The commission comments that this "development" was definitely directed towards a win for the autonomy choice. The same kind of thing was indicated by Wiranto in his testimony to the commission, that "in a moral sense there were indeed efforts to make autonomy win so that East Timor would still be one with Indonesia ... This can be very much seen in the security apparatus and government apparatus in the region".

The same drive for an autonomy vote involved army and civil elements in backing pro-autonomy groups in the staging of mass roll-calls and oath-taking ceremonies at Balibo, Viqueque and Zumalai between February and April -- at which military and civilian officials were present.

The biggest rally involved militia from all over East Timor in the grounds of the governor's office on April 17. Immediately afterwards, the massed militia, led by Aitarak, attacked the house of independence leader Manuel Carrascalao, killing his son and 11 other people.

This and an earlier attack won approval in a secret report by Damiri to the Co-ordinating Security Minister, Lieutenant-General Feisal Tanjung, on July 11, 1999.

The April 6 attack on refugees in the Liquica church by Besi Merah Putih and other militias, with police and army units standing by, left at least 30 dead, some of whom were dumped secretly in a nearby lake. Damiri said this had "resulted in the anti-integration youth being unable to act".

Likewise, after the April 17 attack on the Carrascalao house, Damiri said the "situation among society all over East Timor was to love the Red and White [the colours of the Indonesian flag]. East Timorese society only then became aware that the integration group clearly had many supporters."

The report gives an outline of operational links between the militias and the Indonesian army. According to sworn testimony by former pro-Indonesian partisan Thomas Goncalves, who went overseas early in 1999 rather than accede to pressure to lead militias, the operational commander was Major-General Zacky Anwar Makarim, a career Special Forces officer and East Timor veteran who had a shadowy liaison role in Dili throughout this period.

Some of the militias were billeted at local military bases. The militias often used military vehicles for their patrols, if they were not patrolling together with military personnel. After capturing and torturing suspected supporters of the independence council, the CNRT, the militias would hand them over to military posts. The Special Forces group, known variously as SGI, Tribuana or Nanggala -- which was seconded to the East Timor Command -- as well as regular army units and the two locally raised battalions "often helped the CNRT in detecting and capturing CNRT people".

Goncalves is quoted as saying that he received 300 rifles directly from Lieutenant-Colonel Yayat Sudrajat, the SGI commander. In the Lautem region, 40 semi-automatic SKS rifles were kept in the army base for use by the Alfa militia, who had their room in the barracks and came and went as they pleased with the weapons. The military at Suai supplied the Laksaur with weapons, and Eurico Guterres told the commission his Aitarak militia had M-16 semi-automatics.

"According to him the weapons had been left with the police but on the eve of the announcement of the ballot result, they took them out from the storage place," the commission said. "Eurico's testimony was strengthened by a statement by Major-General Zacky Anwar Makarim to the KPP-HAM mentioning the fact that weapons from the militia were stored in various military barracks and that they could be taken back when needed."

In the north-west coastal region of Maubara in particular, the three militia groups called Besi Merah Putih, Mahidi and Red Dragon always operated with Indonesian army group. Most of the Besi Merah Putih barracks were at local military bases, and the village army representatives under the military's territorial command structure, known as babinsa, were the organisers of this militia.

"Acts carried out carried out by the Barisan Merah Putih and the military supporting them generally followed the pattern of capture, abduction, torture and murder," the commission says. "While on a daily basis they threatened, robbed, terrorised and intimidated the population so that it would join the BMP and choose autonomy." The commission goes on to observe the impunity enjoyed by the militias.

"Proof of the support from military and civil authorities is that militia members that had openly carried out murder, torture, abduction and capture were never caught by the security apparatus," it reports. "Even if they were arrested, before very long, according to the East Timor Regional Police Chief, Colonel Timbul Silaen, the detention would be suspended. This kind of thing continued from January up to September 7."

The commission found that the military were also involved in the militia violence aimed at forcing the population to flee. The bupati of Suai, Herman Sedyono, and the local army commander, Lieutenant Sugito, had told the commission they had prepared transport to shift the population several days before the poll results were announced.

The violence in East Timor right from Habibie's January 27 announcement to the ballot result was not the result of civil war, the Indonesian investigators concluded, but the "result of a systematic course of violent action carried out by the militia with the support of and, it must be strongly suspected, organised by the armed forces and police apparatus."

The commission then notes drily: "Indonesian army, police and civil officials when asked for clarification at the National Human Rights Commission generally denied their linkage with the militia." In separate sections of the report, the commission complains about the destruction of evidence such as the hiding of bodies, and the obstructive role played by legal advisers engaged by suspect officers.

But what happened was far more than "gross violations of human rights", the commission says. "First, the facts were established of definite policies issued both by those in charge of security in East Timor and the local government which made possible the continuation of the criminal acts," it says. "Secondly, in the time frame investigated by the KPP-HAM, a criminal act on a wide, massive, intensive and collective scale can be seen." But while it found "crimes against humanity" had been established under both Indonesian law and international conventions, the commission said that the offences could not be called "war crimes", and did not amount to attempted genocide.

In delving into the purpose of the crimes, the commission sees three distinct phases in which the military role changed subtly. Before the May 5 agreement in New York setting the terms of the referendum, the violence had been more blatant, aimed at giving the impression of civil war conditions emerging in East Timor and thereby encouraging a deferral of the vote. After the agreement, the military and police had to step back to give "an image of neutrality" and violence was escalated by militias.

The final phase involved the large-scale deportations after the ballot, in which about 250,000 people were taken to West Timor and other nearly Indonesian territories.

"The enforced evacuation was carried out under various kinds of modus operandi which affirm the existence of a systematic plan," it notes. "Documents obtained provided indications that the enforced evacuations were planned long before in anticipation of defeat in the ballot. All of this was supported by the statements given by refugees in [Kupang and Atambua]."

The intention was to convince world opinion that the results of the ballot were in doubt, and that the East Timorese preferred the security of being in the neighbouring Indonesian province. "At this stage, the objective to keep the territory and deny the East Timor people's choice was carried out through the practice of violence and a high stage of preparedness for pacification through the avenue of forced evacuation," the report says.

"The violence that continued indicated the unbroken connection between elements of the Indonesian Army, Indonesian Police and the militias in carrying out conditioning, choice of actions, fixing of times and targets from the evacuation project." The last stage has been in guarding the refugees in West Timor, and enforcing terror through murder, disappearances, mistreatment and sexual violence.

Who then is responsible?

According to the Indonesian Commission, there were three classes of perpetrators: those militia, military and police personnel directly on the scene; those who controlled operations; and those who were responsible for national security policy, "including but not limited to the high military officials who were actively and passively involved in the crimes".

The report lists 32 people who should be investigated as suspects for crimes against humanity. These included the two major- generals, Zacky Anwar Makarim and Adam Damiri, and 15 other military personnel, such as Lieutenant Sugito, identified in various atrocities; several civilian officials including former governor Abilio Soares, and 10 militia members including Eurico Guterres and Joao Tavares.

The Indonesian investigators concluded that the whole range of violations was "fully known to and realised by the Armed Forces Commander, General Wiranto, as being the one responsible for national security" and the "whole run" of civilian and military officials working East Timor at that time.

"All of the crimes against humanity, direct or indirect, took place because of the failure of the Armed Forces Commander to guarantee the security of the implementation of the announcement of the two options by the government," the KPP-HAM said.

"The police structure which at that time was under the command of the Defence Minister [a position also held by Wiranto] weakened the capacity of the police apparatus in carrying out the task of security based upon the New York agreement. For this, General Wiranto as armed forces commander was the one who must bear responsibility."

Investigators dug deep

The report on human rights violations in East Timor during the last months of Jakarta's rule has been sitting like a pent-up volcano in the office safe of the Attorney-General, Marzuki Darusman, for the past 15 months.

It caused a major eruption when it first looked like being aired in February last year. Even a limited whiff of its contents was enough to blow the then Co-ordinating Minister for Defence and Security, General Wiranto, out of office.

Keeping the full report under lock and key may have been part of the protracted bargaining over nearly two weeks that resulted in Wiranto accepting President Abdurrahman Wahid's call for his resignation.

Knowledge of its damning conclusion, sheeting home ultimate responsibility to Wiranto, will play into the current political crisis in Jakarta, in which "status quo" military elements including the former defence chief are trying to replace Wahid with Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

The members of the special investigation commission include some of Indonesia's finest human rights lawyers, who spent years in heroic but often futile challenges by the privately funded Legal Aid Institute to former president Soeharto's authoritarian New Order.

With Albert Hasibuan as head, the commission included lawyers Asmara Nabahan, Koesparmono Irsan (a retired police general), Todong Mulya Lubis, H.S. Dillon, Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, Munir, and Zoemrotin.

Given 27 research, documentation and secretarial staff, the commission visited East and West Timor as well as interviewing witnesses in Indonesian cities. If anyone thought the inquiry would be token, that view was shaken when the commission found and exhumed bodies of the Suai massacre that had been buried secretly in West Timor.

Revelation of its full scope will put immediate pressure on Wahid's Government to widen the jurisdiction of the special tribunal it has just foreshadowed, to include crimes committed before the August 30, 1999, ballot as well as afterwards.

But the report also contains a broader challenge by Indonesia's civil society to militarism. As well as prosecutions for the 1999 violence, it calls for investigation of Timor crimes going back to 1975, and the complete withdrawal of the Indonesian Armed Forces from their "territorial" involvement in domestic administration.

Laying the blame - East Timor January-September 1999

Crime: Through the organisation, training, arming, financing and direction of armed militia groups, the commission of "a criminal act on a wide, massive, intensive and collective scale" involving mass killings, torture and maltreatment, disappearances, sexual violence and enforced population movement.

Suspects: Major-Generals Adam Damiri and Zacky Anwar Makarim; Brigadier-Generals Tono Suratman and Timbul Silaen; Colonel Nur Muis. Ultimate responsibility through failure to carry out the Government's pledge of security for the ballot: Armed Forces Commander and Defence Minister General Wiranto.

Suai - September 6, 1999

Crime: Laksaur and Mahidi militia massacre of at least 50 people including three priests sheltering inside church compound. Local army and civil officials direct operation. Soldiers and police shoot refugees trying to run away. Bodies taken away by army and buried secretly.

Suspects: regional administrator Colonel Herman Sedyono, Lieutenant Sugito, Laksaur members Olivio Moruk, Martinus, Manek.

Liquica - April 6, 1999

Crime: Besi Merah Putih militia, police in civilian clothes and soldiers attack church compound where people are sheltering from militia attacks. One shot and tear gas grenade open attack, completed with knives. At least 30 killed. Police Mobile Brigade platoon stands by. Soldiers take away bodies in army trucks for secret disposal.

Suspects: Liquica regional administrator Leoneto Martins, army sergeants Yacobus, Tome Maria Goncalves. Besi Merah Putih leader Manuel de Sousa.

Cailaco, Bobonaro - April 12-13, 1999

Crime: Halilintar militia and local military abduct and torture six people, including primary schoolteachers suspected of being independence supporters. After several abductors are killed later that day in a Falintil ambush, the six are executed the next day in front of mourners.

Suspects: Bobonaro military district commander Lieutenant-Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, and Halilintar militia chief Joao Tavares.

Dili - April 17, 1999

Crime: After rally in front of the provincial governor's office, militia destroy offices of Dili's only newspaper, attack home of independence figure Manuel Carrascalao where more than 140 people are sheltering. Carrascalao's 17-year-old son Manuelito among about 15 killed.

Suspect: Aitarak militia leader Eurico Guterres.

Maliana - September 8, 1999

Crime: Militia from Dadurus Merah Putih and other groups attack dozens of refugees sheltering in the town's police headquarters. Army and Police Mobile Brigade troops do nothing. At least 70 killed by bullet and knife. Bodies taken away in trucks later that night.

Suspects: Lieutenant-Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian and Joao Tavares.

Los Palos - September 25, 1999

Crime: A Tim Alfa militia group formed and trained by Indonesian Special Forces ambush a vehicle taking a church delegation to Baucau. Nine killed, including two nuns and Indonesian journalist Agus Mulyawan.

Suspects: Alfa leader Joni Marquez, members Joao da Costa, Manuel da Costa, Amilio da Costa.

Architects of mass murder

Sydney Morning Herald - April 28, 2001

Hamish McDonald -- A secret report for the Indonesian Government makes it clear that its military directed the militia violence against East Timor's independence vote and that top generals approved of some of the worst atrocities.

The 41-page report, by the Commission of Investigation into Human Rights Violations, sheets home ultimate responsibility to the then armed forces commander and defence minister, General Wiranto.

The report, marked "Secret" and "Only for the Investigation Purposes of the Attorney-General's Department", has been obtained by the Herald.

It details how the militias were trained, paid from government budgets, given modern firearms, allowed to use military bases and transport, and how the militias then worked closely with army and police units to track down, torture and kill independence supporters. Among examples detailed are: The massacre of unarmed refugees in the church grounds at Suai on September 6, 1999 which, it says, was directed by the local bupati (administration chief) Colonel Herman Sedyono, and local military commander First Lieutenant Sugito.

The reprisal execution of six independence supporters, including three school teachers, at Bobonaro on April 13, 1999 by militias directed on the spot by district military commander Lieutenant- Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian and a senior militia leader, Joao Tavares.

The massacre of at least 50 civilians in the Liquica church on April 6 by Besi Merah Putih militias, who fraternised with local army and police before and after the killings. A Police Mobile Brigade platoon stood by as the massacre took place. Army personnel helped hide the bodies.

The operational commander of the systematic militia campaign was Major-General Zacky Anwar Makarim, ostensibly in East Timor to liaise with the United Nations mission running the ballot.

The inquiry also cites: Reports sent by General Wiranto and the Bali-based regional commander, Major-General Adam Damiri, to the then security co-ordinating minister, General Feisal Tanjung, as indicating full awareness of the militia strategy. General Damiri is quoted telling General Tanjung that the Liquica massacre had made pro-independence youth "unable to act". He had told him a similar rampage by Aitarak militia at the Dili house of independence figure Manuel Carrascalao, whose son was among 15 killed, had made East Timorese "love the Red and White [Indonesian flag]" and realise that continued integration "had many supporters".

It is believed only a few copies of the report are being closely held by the Indonesian Attorney-General, Mr Marzuki Darusman.

On General Wiranto's role, the report does not include him on the list of 32 army and police personnel, civilian officials and militia members listed as suspects in crimes against humanity, including generals Damiri and Zacky Anwar.

But it concludes that the "whole range" of wide and organised violations of human rights before and after the ballot was "fully known to and realised by the armed forces commander General Wiranto", who was also in charge of the Indonesian police at the time.

"All the crimes against humanity in East Timor, direct or indirect, took place because of the failure of the armed forces commander to guarantee the security of the implementation of the two options [the ballot] proclaimed by the government," it says.

Indonesia forfeits right to conduct Timor trials

Tapol - April 26, 2001

Following Indonesian President Wahid's decision on 23 April to limit the jurisdiction of a new human rights court for East Timor to crimes committed after the August 1999 popular consultation in the territory, TAPOL is calling once again for the immediate establishment of international tribunal for East Timor.

The effect of the Presidential decree establishing the Indonesian court is that the perpetrators of the many crimes committed before the consultation, including two of the worst atrocities - at Liquica Church on 6 April 1999 when more than 50 were killed and at the house of independence leader Manuel Carrascalao in Dili on 17 April 1999 when at least 12 were killed -- will go unpunished. Much of the evidence of the systematic nature of the violence will remain suppressed. Moreover, the Indonesian army's organisation of militia forces in preparation for the popular consultation, which began in the early part of 1999, will not fall within the court's remit.

Paul Barber of TAPOL says: "The Indonesian authorities have cynically misled the international community as to their true intentions and cannot be trusted. Indonesia is neither willing nor able to provide justice to the long-suffering victims of the appalling crimes committed by the Indonesian military and its militia proxies in East Timor. International justice must now take its course."

TAPOL has persistently drawn attention to the political and legal obstacles in the way of meaningful trials in Indonesia and has long insisted that there is no alternative to an international tribunal. The international community's decision to allow Indonesia the chance to try the perpetrators has clearly backfired.

Indonesia deliberately deceived the international community in its recent dealings with the UN Commission on Human Rights. A decision by the Indonesian Parliament in March to recommend the human rights court for East Timor was timed to pre-empt demands for an international tribunal at the current session of the Commission. This week's Presidential decree was issued within days of Indonesia agreeing to a Commission Statement which committed it to ensure accountability for crimes committed in East Timor during the whole of 1999.

It is not unlikely that President Wahid agreed to restrict the remit of the court in order to curry favour with the Indonesian military at a time when his own political survival is under grave threat just days before impeachment proceedings against him are due to re-commence.

It has appeared for some time that the Indonesian system for bringing the perpetrators to justice has been designed to fail. Last August, Indonesia's supreme legislative assembly passed a Constitutional amendment which incorporated the principle on non-retroactivity into Indonesian law and provided suspects with an absolute defence to charges relating to the East Timor violence. Recently, legal experts and diplomats have raised concern about the Attorney General's failure to bring the cases to trial before a legal deadline.

Numerous atrocities were committed in East Timor following Indonesia's illegal invasion in 1975. Military-backed violence intensified from January 1999 onwards when then President Habibie of Indonesia announced that the East Timorese people would be allowed to decide their future status. After the overwhelming vote in favour of independence on 30 August 1999, a wave of violence and destruction was unleashed by militia groups trained and supported by the Indonesia military. Many hundreds were killed and around 250,000 East Tmiorese were forcibly deported to Indonesian West Timor. Many of the crimes committed amounted to crimes against humanity in view of the systematic and planned nature of the violence.

A UN Commission of Inquiry found evidence of "a pattern of serious violations of fundamental human rights" in relation to the 1999 atrocities and recommended the establishment of an international tribunal when it reported in January 2000. Similar findings were made by Indonesia's own inquiry into the violence. Indonesian Attorney General, Marzuki Darusman has carried out investigations into five cases - including the Liquica and Carrascalao massacres - and has repeatedly stated that the 22 suspects he has named would be brought to trial. No indictments have yet been issued. The top-ranking suspect - Major General Adam Damiri - was recently appointed operations chief-of-staff of the Indonesian army and is now responsible for controversial troop deployments to the violence-racked Indonesian province of Aceh.

Socialists tackle women's oppression

Green Left Weekly - April 25, 2001

Sibylle Kaczorek -- In a country oppressed for 400 years by colonial Portugal, then brutalised by 24 years of Indonesian military rule, and now suffering from dire poverty, the issues of women have long been considered secondary. But now East Timor's socialists are seeking to tackle women's oppression.

The Socialist Party of Timor has not only developed a gender- inclusive party program but is also seeking to find practical ways to help women take control of their lives.

While the notion of extended families and communal sharing is very strong in East Timor, this has fostered a very strict division of labour. It is women who spend 99% of their time in the house cooking for the family, extended family and guests, washing and cleaning, while the men go out to look for employment and to socialise.

For the PST, the liberation of women therefore has to start with their economic independence. While such independence would not end sexism in society, it is a necessary precondition for doing so. Unless women have that economic freedom, the party believes, their choices cannot be real.

The part already has one project successfully established, the cooperative Hadadin which produces traditional East Timorese woven cloth tais, sews the tais into wallets and bags, and markets the goods. Women from all over East Timor are involved in the production of the tais and the majority of the sewing is done in the cooperative's shop in Dili which is close to the central markets.

In January, the party also launched another project, a women's bookshop. The five women who work there, four of them members of the party's central committee, organise and run the bookshop and keep most of the earnings, with 10% going to the party as a sustainer. The women hope to extend the bookshop into a coffee house soon.

The party has also launched a Women's Bookshop Appeal. Speaking at the International Women's Day march in Darwin on March 10, the PST's Maria da Costa Gusmao spoke of the bookshop's need for money and materials and urged Australian supporters to help.

Tensions rise as election nears

Green Left Weekly - April 25, 2001

Tanya Vanaja, Dili -- East Timor's social and political tensions may boil over into violence during elections scheduled for August, the country's first since it gained freedom from Indonesian military rule in 1999.

Riots have broken out in two outlying districts east of Dili, Baucau and Viqueque, in late March, and other disturbances are likely. In Baucau, local gangs angry at what they believed was the Jordanian Rapid Response Unit's heavy-handedness in quelling an intergang fight which burned down the mosque where the Jordanians prayed. In Viqueque, two people were macheted to death in fights between local martial arts groups.

The reasons for these fights are clear: most Timorese are still unemployed, houses still stand unrepaired throughout the country and the contrast in living standards between themselves and UN personnel is stark.

But adding to fears of violence are heightened political tensions within and between the main Timorese parties, which culminated in the March 29 declaration by independence leader Xanana Gusmao that he would resign his post as chair of the National Council, which was set up by the UN as a consultative body during the transition to self-government.

The election of the new Constituent Assembly, which would draft a constitution and then likely become the country's first parliament, is set down for August 30, after a six week campaign period from July 15 to August 28. Elections for the country's president are expected after those for the assembly.

Justifying his unexpected action, Gusmao cited "contradictions" between the public and in-chamber positions of the National Council. The council was at "an impasse", he declared, and could progress no further. He said he chose to resign rather than be part of "an irresponsible political process".

His resignation followed a bitter March 28 debate in the National Council, which ended with the rejection of a proposal to form a constitutional commission to oversee the popular consultation process for the new constitution.

Leading the charge against the proposal was Cipriana Pereira, the representative of the moderate-left Fretilin. He accused the proposal's main backer, Aniceto Guterres, the head of the human rights organisation Yayasan Hak, who represents the non- government organisations on the council, of "manipulation" and manoeuvring against the political parties. Pereira claimed Guterres was seeking to undermine his party, which he claimed would otherwise win 95% of the vote at the election.

The Socialist Party of Timor's representative, Avelino Coelho de Silva, argued that such a commission needed to be tied to the Constituent Assembly. Coelho said there was little point expending much-needed funds on forming a commission whose findings might not be supported by a future Constituent Assembly.

The debate about the election regulations, which concluded on March 16, was also frequently bitter. Most controversial was a proposed 30% quota for women in the new assembly.

While council members stated their formal support for the quota, they rescinded a regulation specifying that parties needed to meet the quota in order to receive UN electoral assistance. The decision makes the quota almost impossible to enforce, and prompted a March 16 demonstration by REDE, the East Timor Women's Network.

There are many other hindrances to the election process. The National Council has passed regulations on registering political parties and an independent electoral commission has been set up to oversee the process. The registration of the civilian population has also begun.

But Gusmao has also criticised the slow pace of voter education programs, intended to educate the population about the basic precepts of democracy, the planned constitution and the voting process. There are also many complaints that the registration process is too strict in its demands for identification papers, many of which were lost in the violence of 1999. Registration hasn't even begun in many districts.

Despite Gusmao's resignation from the chair of the National Council, the head of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has reaffirmed the need for such a body which can legitimise the UN's decisions. "We don't want a legislative vacuum here", he told a non-government organisation forum on March 30.

De Mello has also effectively overridden the National Council's rejection of a constitutional commission, using his authority to set up district constitutional commissions to gather the results of village-level consultations conducted by NGOs.

Torture evidence mounts against Indonesian general

The Melbourne Age - April 26, 2001

Jill Jolliffe, Dara Lata -- Evidence is mounting against retired Indonesian Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto for his alleged role in atrocities in East Timor. General Prabowo, a former commander of the feared Kostrad special forces, is former president Suharto's son-in-law. He served in Indonesia between 1976 and the 1990s.

Last Saturday he shared a conference platform in Jakarta with East Timor independence leader Jose "Xanana" Gusmao. General Prabowo admitted there had been excesses by Indonesian troops in East Timor. But the men later embraced and declared such differences should belong to the past.

Like many East Timorese war victims, 43-year-old Domingos Santana Guterres does not share Mr Gusmao's view. He alleges that in 1989 he was tortured for 35 days by soldiers under General Prabowo's command. Details of the allegation have been passed to the United Nations. When Mr Guterres refused to confess to having guerrilla contacts, he claims General Prabowo, ranked major at the time, took over the torture.

Mr Guterres now ekes out a living as a subsistence farmer in the small village of Dara Lata, near Venilale.

He tells how he was arrested by General Prabowo in July, 1989, with Father Locatelli, a popular local priest, and Aleixo Ximenes, of Baucau. Father Locatelli and Mr Ximenes were released that night but Mr Guterres was tied up and thrown into a cell. He says he was kept in the cell alone for four days, deprived of food and water and forced to lie in his own excrement.

On the fifth day he was taken to a nearby building where the torture began. He was kicked, beaten, given electric shocks and made to stand naked in a barrel under torrential rain for hours. After each torture session, he said, Indonesian military nurses treated his wounds to prepare him for the next bout.

He said that by September 29, General Prabowo was enraged by the prisoner's stubbornness. Mr Guterres was then taken into General Prabowo's office where the officer screamed that he would teach him a lesson. "For two hours he broke every conceivable thing over my body. He threw beer crates, a petrol lamp, beat me with sticks and punched and kicked me," he said.

General Prabowo also threaded an electric wire between Mr Guterres' bound hands and gave him electric shocks. "I was so swollen and bleeding afterwards, I was unrecognisable," he said.

His suffering ended suddenly. The Pope was due to visit East Timor on October 12 and the Indonesian administration was under mounting world pressure to release political prisoners. Mr Guterres was freed two days before the Pope's arrival.

At the town of Viqueque, south of Venilale, UN police have begun investigations into the Kraras massacres of September, 1983. About 300people are believed to have been buried in mass graves at the town after a series of executions that the locals say were carried out under General Prabowo. The investigators recently began interviewing survivors and inspecting alleged mass grave sites.

In an interview with Asiaweek magazine in March, 2000, General Prabowo claimed that he was not in Kraras on the relevant dates. But witnesses who place him there are still coming forward.

Agostinho Guterres, of Klalerek Mutin, says he was captured by General Prabowo in the Kraras area on September 7. He and several other Timorese were marched out of the area tied together in pairs. He was then drafted into the Indonesian army and sent to Dili.

The main Kraras massacre occurred around September 17, 1983. Witnesses claim that about 180unarmed civilians were machine- gunned in reprisal for the mass desertion of Timorese soldiers from the Indonesian army. The witnesses say General Prabowo commanded the operation.

Timor militiamen slow to sell arms back to military

Straits Times - April 27, 2001

Devi Asmarani, Atambua -- Weapons are valued treasures in this border town that has 63,000 East Timorese refugees, and there is always an interested buyer -- the Indonesian military.

The reluctant sellers are former pro-Jakarta militiamen, who have been using their guns to intimidate fellow East Timorese from returning home and to make a living by robbing locals.

Last September, as part of its approach to disarming militia groups all over West Timor, the TNI, or the Indonesian military, started the weapon "buy-back" scheme, whereby militiamen are encouraged to surrender their weapons for some financial incentive.

A grenade fetches about 500,000 rupiah (S$80). Rifles get varying amounts - up to 2 million rupiah for an M-16. "We are not really buying from them. We just compensate them for something like maintenance cost," said West Timor military commander Colonel Budi Heryanto.

Despite the attractive financial rewards, the buy-back scheme is yet to yield great results. It accounts for only 10 per cent of the 492 militia weapons seized by the TNI in West Timor since September. Most militiamen are loathe to give up their guns.

Said TNI spokesman Air Rear Marshall Graito Usodo: "Weapons are the pro-integration fighters" bargaining position. If they give them up, they become nobody." However, the real reason may be financial.

Weapons are perfect tools to intimidate East Timorese at campsites into staying on. It is in the militias' interests to sustain the number of refugees, because humanitarian aid to their sites are channeled through them as camp leaders.

Others use the weapons for criminal activities, like robbing and extorting the people. Locals tell stories of how these men would flaunt their rifles and have grenades slung over their necks to bully shopkeepers and walk out of stores with free goods.

The Belu regency police jail is now overcrowded with refugees arrested for committing various crimes, and the local police are having a hard time trying to keep the militias in check. Police chief Nender Yani had to ship his family back to Java after receiving a series of threats for arresting the militiamen.

Many of them are also reluctant to give up their weapons because they have little hope of returning to their homeland, where they are unlikely to be welcomed. Said former militiaman Eigidio Sarmento from Baucau, East Timor: "I miss home, but I don't know what security situation will await me there, so I'd rather stay here."

His hopelessness and frustration are shared by many of the East Timorese refugees. Said Mr Filomeno de Jesus Hornay, the secretary-general of East Timorese refugee organisation, Untas: "They feel that the concern of Indonesia now is only how to get them out of West Timor."

Bungle lets Timor accused go free

The Age - April 27, 2001

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Key people accused of complicity in the bloodshed in East Timor are set to escape prosecution because of the bungled wording of a decree issued this week by Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.

United Nations officials and human rights activists are shocked that the decree restricts the jurisdiction of a special court being set up in Jakarta to hearing crimes that were committed after an August 1999 ballot to decide East Timor's future.

Indonesian prosecutors have spent more than 12 months gathering evidence against people accused of committing crimes in the months before the ballot, including the notorious militia leader, Eurico Guterres.

Unless the decree is amended, legal experts say, militia leaders responsible for crimes against humanity will go free, including those responsible for the massacre of at least 60 people at a church in the seaside town of Liquica.

Experts say the reference to post-ballot crimes will prevent prosecutors taking to the court charges relating to Mr Guterres ordering 100 men to attack the home of pro-independence leader Manuel Carrascalao, killing 12 people.

Even before issuing the decree, Indonesia had come under fire for the inability or refusal of its authorities to list for prosecution some of the key perpetrators of the violence who have been identified by UN investigator James Dunn.

The Age revealed last week that Mr Dunn's secret report of his five-month investigation recommended the prosecution of more than 20 high-ranking Indonesian officers.

The 60-page Dunn report named officers involved in a conspiracy that led to the deaths of more than 1200 people and the destruction of most buildings and infrastructure in the territory after most Timorese voted to reject Indonesia's rule.

But a revised list of people to be prosecuted, released this week by Indonesia's Attorney-General's office, excludes officers named in the report, including former armed forces chief General Wiranto, former intelligence chief Major-General Zacky Anwar Makarim and a Kopassus special forces commander, Major-General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin. The highest ranking military officer listed for prosecution is the former Bali-based commander of East Timor, Major-General Adam Damiri.

Four militia leaders named earlier as suspects have also been omitted from the final lists. They include Ejidio Manek, accused of kidnapping East Timor teenager Juliana dos Santos as a war prize from the border town of Suai at the height of the post- independence ballot violence. He is also accused of killing the girl's brother and leading an attack on the Suai church where up to 200 people, including priests and nuns, were slaughtered.

An Attorney-General's spokesman, Mr Muljohardjo, told journalists in Jakarta that Manek and three other militia leaders were omitted from those to face trial "because we haven't been able to find them".

But Indonesian soldiers last week brought Mr Manek and Juliana from a West Timor refugee camp to a government office in the border town of Atambua. They were allowed to leave after being interviewed by The Age.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard yesterday said from UN headquarters in New York: "There is concern about the dates."

Asked about the decree's wording, Mr Muljohardjo at first denied that it restricted prosecutions to post-ballot violence. But when he read the wording, he said: "Oh, is there the post-election word in the decree, really? Well, if it has made controversy, let it be. The point is that we are trying to do our job to bring heavy crimes against human rights to court."

Asmara Nababan, the Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission, called on Mr Wahid to amend the decree, saying crimes that took place both before and after the ballot must be investigated.

Mr Wahid signed the decree on Monday, six months after parliament approved a bill allowing the prosecution of gross human rights offences in the special, ad-hoc court that will operate under the Jakarta district court.

Indonesia says tribunal will hear pre-ballot crimes in East Timor

Agence France-Presse - April 27, 2001

Jakarta -- All crimes committed in East Timor in 1999 and investigated by Indonesia's Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham) will be tried here soon, a spokesman for the Indonesian Attorney General said Thursday. It will not matter if the acts occurred before or after East Timor's independence ballot, said Mulyoharjo.

The official was responding to concern voiced by the United Nations Wednesday that Indonesia's ad-hoc human rights tribunal is only mandated to hear crimes committed after the August 30 ballot. "Any crime which has been investigated by Komnas Ham constitutes a gross violation of human rights, and will therefore be heard by the tribunal, whether it occurred before or after the ballot," the spokesman told AFP. Komnas Ham had investigated crimes carried out before the August 30, 1999 vote, said Mulyoharjo.

President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a decree Monday authorising the tribunal to hear cases of gross human rights violations that took place in East Timor after the ballot.

In New York on Wednesday Fred Eckhard, spokesman for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, said there was concern about dates. Annan has said that violations which took place in the eight months preceding the ballot must also be investigated.

"We would like to see a broader range of time included within the mandate of this special court so that all the violations that occurred in East Timor can be prosecuted," Eckhard added.

But Mulyoharjo insisted the main factor determining whether a case could be heard by the court was not when the incident occurred, but if it had been investigated by Komnas Ham. "If they have been investigated by Komnas Ham, they are considered gross human rights violations, and will therefore be investigated and heard by the tribunal," he said.

The AGO has prepared 12 dossiers concerning two crimes from April 1999 that were investigated by Komnas Ham to present to the tribunal. One was an attack on the Dili home of independence figure Manuel Carrascalao, in which at least 12 people were killed, and the other was the slaughter of refugees in a church in Liquica.

Mulyoharjo said crimes before the ballot which were not investigated by Komnas Ham constituted regular crimes, and should be prosecuted under general law in the normal courts.

The 12 dossiers contain information on several senior military and police officers and notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres. Four militia leaders who had been declared suspects by Indonesian prosecutors have been crossed off the list, because "we haven't been able to find them," Mulyoharjo told AFP. But one of the four, Izidio Manek, was spotted by journalists in a West Timor refugee camp last week.

Indonesia has faced heavy criticism from the international community for its failure to prosecute anyone over the army- backed militia-led orgy of killing, rape, and destruction two years ago.

The violence was unleashed in the months before and after a UN- sponsored ballot, which produced a four-to-one vote in favour of independence.

The UN Human Rights commission reported to Annan in January last year that hundreds of people were killed and about 250,000 were forced across the border into West Timor. A recent report to the UN put the number killed at 2,000.

Eckhard recalled that the UN Security Council postponed a decision on setting up an international tribunal after Indonesia said it would hold its own inquiry into human rights abuses in East Timor. "We have been watching and waiting for Indonesia to take some action, and this is a first step," Eckhard said.

NGOs criticize Gusmao's stance on International Tribunal

Lusa - April 26, 2001

The East Timorese association of non-governmental organizations NGO Forum said Thursday it was "very worried" about the public stance taken by independence leader Xanana Gusmao minimizing the importance of an eventual international tribunal to try Indonesian atrocities in the territory.

"In our opinion, Xanana Gusmao's position totally misses its target, given that investigations by courts in Dili and Indonesia have not yet managed to satisfy the demands for justice of families of victims", the forum said in a statement.

Describing Gusmao's stance as "political" and "very worrying", the NGOs said that the eventual creation of an international court was "an option which should be seriously studied, seeing that up to the moment Indonesia has not achieved progress in its investigations".

In Jakarta last week, Gusmao held talks with President Abdurrahaman Wahid and later told reporters he was more concerned about "political" and "socio-economic problems" than with the possible need to establish an international court, which he said was "not a priority" for him personally.

Since Gusmao's comment, Wahid signed a decree setting up a special court to try Indonesian atrocities committed in 1999, both before and after the August 30 Timorese independence plebiscite.

Protesters defy Timor arms ban

Melbourne Age - April 25, 2001

Mark Dodd, Dili -- About 300 East Timorese supporters of a pro- independence party protested outside the United Nations headquarters in Dili yesterday.

Despite the UN banning weapons in public on Monday, more than 70 supporters dressed in traditional attire and brandished swords. Police did not try to disarm the protesters.

The party, launched in 1999, opposes the UN mission and regards the Democratic Republic of East Timor declared by Fretilin on November 28, 1975, as the legal basis of authority.

Many of the supporters had earlier joined in the launch of a new political party led by former Fretilin president Francisco Xavier do Amaral, the first president of the Republic of East Timor.

UN police in East Timor, backed by officers of the border control service, yesterday announced details of an operation to crack down on traffickers peddling pornographic videos that are flooding across the border from Indonesian West Timor.

A spokesman for the UN in East Timor, Peter Biro, said the crackdown came after hundreds of pornographic videos were seized in a raid on a video rental shop in Dili.

Francisco Xavier: UN must acknowledge RDTL existence

Suara Timor Lorosae - April 25, 2001

The President of ASDT-Fretilin Francisco Xavier do Amaral said East Timorese from 12 districts were in Dili to deliver their aspirations to UNTAET that the Republic of Democratic Timor Leste was already proclaimed on 28 November 1975.

"Because of that, as one of the persons who proclaimed RDTL, I have a responsibility to the Maubere people. The future of Timor Lorosae as a country is tied up to the wishes of the 'majority' of the people," he told reporters who gathered at his residence in Dili's Lecidere suburb.

Xavier also promised to help the people, who suffered 24 years of Indonesian occupation, force the United Nations -- through UNTAET -- to acknowledge the existence of the independence flag that was used in the proclamation of the republic.

"One of the missions of UNTAET in Timor Lorosae is to hear the voices of the people. Our struggle all this while has been for the Republic of Democratic Timor Leste," he said. When asked by reporters on his comments on the 30 August elections, Xavier said the people of Timor Lorosae had to be consulted on the issue.

Timorese Marxists swap guns for the ballot box

South China Morning Post - Thursday, April 26, 2001

Chris McCall, Dili -- They used to supply bombs to Falintil resistance fighters. Now East Timor's Marxists are preparing for battle at the ballot box. In a building once occupied by the feared Aitarak militia, the Timor Socialist Party, or PST, is mapping out its new campaign.

The target: win seven to 10 of the 88 seats up for grabs later this year in East Timor's Constituent Assembly, the constitution-drafting body due to be elected on August 30.

Anti-independence graffiti has not yet been scraped off the walls. At the height of the violence after the 1999 referendum, Aitarak men were interrogating refugees outside as they tried to flee to the hills. Several people were killed nearby. Many buildings are still in ruins just along the street. The electricity supply is erratic at best, but the Indonesians have gone. Using computers paid for through a speech tour of Australia, this formerly clandestinegroup is mapping out its strategy for the future, hoping one day the new EastTimor will be a "socialist" state.

The PST's political creed is "Marxism-Leninism". But it is pragmatic about the near future. "Ideally, we want East Timor to be socialist," says Nelson Correia, 29, the party's deputy secretary-general and spokesman. "It is too soon for communism. Our understanding is that communism is a concept that is premature. It is something that is ideal."

Unusually for Marxists, most of PST's members are practising Catholics. Mr Correia, himself a Catholic, sees little contradiction between subscribingto an atheist political creed and believing in God and an afterlife.

These ageing ex-students say they will have no trouble gaining the 500 signatures needed to register their party for the election, due to be held exactly two years after the independence referendum. They are also trying to raise awareness in the interior about the vote.

After the wholesale destruction of 1999, many families have been left without access to radio, which was the main news source. PST is also setting up co-operatives, for example on coffee, a major Timorese crop. The party wants them to become a focal point of the Timorese economy.

It is in tune with Timorese culture, Mr Correia says. A Timorese man will often work his own rice fields one day and a neighbour's the next. A PST "Government" would not ban foreign investment, but there would be preconditions. Most importantly, the workers would have to get a share of the profits.

Not long ago, these politicians would rarely dare to mention their party's name. They were associated with the "Black Brigade", a clandestine movement with a "cell" structure that ran bombs to Falintil. Members of each cell only knew four to five others, a precaution against Indonesian attempts to wipe it out.

PST was founded in 1991, shortly after the infamous massacre at Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery. Indonesian troops shot dead scores of unarmed protesters. Dili's last Portuguese-language high school was also razed to the ground.

It had been the meeting point for the town's young Marxists. PST's foundation was a closely guarded secret. Indonesian law still bans the teaching of "communist" ideologies such as Marxism. The party's leaders moved to Java and set up secret bomb-making factories to keep the Falintil guerillas armed in their war against occupation.

But its Marxist philosophy has sometimes made it hard for the PST to coexist with the other elements of the Timorese resistance. It was only an observer when the National Council for Timorese Resistance was founded. Now, many Timorese fear political divisions between left and right could lead to civil strife once the United Nations administration pulls out, possibly next year.

Timor parents beg for their stolen children

Melbourne Age - April 24, 2001

Lindsay Murdoch, Viqueque -- Madalena Soares fought back tears as she told how her 12-year-old daughter Cesaltina was stolen.

It was late 1999 -- she can't remember the exact date because of the trauma of fleeing East Timor -- when Octavio Soares came to see her in a refugee camp in Indonesian West Timor, where she found herself with three of her four children.

Madalena vaguely knew Mr Soares as a member of one of the most prominent East Timorese families that for years strongly supported Indonesia's disputed rule of the half-island territory.

"Octavio said that, because my husband and I are stupid people, he was taking Cesaltina away to Java to be educated," she said, sitting in a bark and bamboo hut on the outskirts of the East Timorese village of Viqueque. "What could I do? I was very upset. We cried and cried. But I could do nothing."

Interviews with families of children taken from West Timor camps and left in primitive orphanages in East Java contradict claims by Mr Soares that he had written parental consent to be their guardian. UN officials and humanitarian workers trying to reunite children with parents believe many of the signatures on consent forms held by Mr Soares are forgeries.

Fears for the safety of UN officials visiting camps in West Timor prevent them checking Mr Soares' claims with scores of other parents. Humanitarian workers suspect Timorese living in Java, including Mr Soares, are blocking UN attempts to repatriate children because they want to indoctrinate them as activists to push for East Timor's eventual reintegration with Indonesia.

Several parents who have returned to East Timor from the West Timor camps said Mr Soares lied to them in 1999 to trick them into allowing him to take their children to East Java. One man said Mr Soares' friends told his wife he had been killed to convince her it was in the best interests of their 12-year-old daughter that she be taken away.

The Age reported last month that death threats and intimidation by Mr Soares, nephew of East Timor's former Jakarta-appointed governor Abilio Soares, had forced UN officials to abandon efforts to reunite orphanage children with parents.

Mr Soares claims all the parents of 120 children he left at the orphanages in November and December 1999 had asked him to take care of their education in Indonesia. But Teresa Mascarenhas, who returned last year to Viqueque from West Timor, said she was deceived by Mr Soares into allowing him to take away two of her four children, Gilberto, 6, and Lidia, 13.

Weeping at the door of her home in Viqueque, Mrs Mascarenhas said that after fleeing East Timor with her husband Pascoal and children at the height of the East Timor violence, a Catholic nun asked her if she wanted any of her children educated in Java. While she was still considering the offer, Mrs Mascarenhas said: "Octavio came to us and said the nuns have asked him to take two of my children. He said the children would be better off with the nuns.

"I didn't know that it was Octavio who was taking the children. He used the nuns to deceive us. If Octavio had not told lies I would never have allowed my children to go away. I remember Lidia and Gilberto sobbing as Octavio took them. Please help me get them back."

Catholic officials said the children, many of whom were distraught, arrived at orphanages they run near the East Java city of Semarang without any arrangements being made. Jaime Lopes, a former pro-independence activist, described Mr Soares as his enemy but is prepared to forgive him if he returns his 10- year-old son Tito.

Tito is one of 79 Timorese children living at St Thomas, one of the orphanages, where dozens of boys live in the same room under a leaking roof. Mr Lopes is furious at the failure of representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to fulfil repeated promises they have made to repatriate Tito from East Java. "When people from the UN come here, I now chase them away," he said. "I do not believe them any more. I just want my son back."

Mr Lopes had been serving a jail sentence for political rebellion when Indonesian police and soldiers and pro-Jakarta militia started rampaging through East Timor's towns and villages after the August 1999 UN vote to reject Indonesia's rule. When Mr Lopes, 43, escaped on September 9 that year he found that his wife, Silveira, and four children had fled or were deported with up to 250,000 other East Timorese to camps in West Timor.

He has since pieced together what happened from letters from Silveira, who is still in West Timor with three of their children. "Militia in the camps told my wife that all the people who were in jail in Dili had been killed," he said.

"They made her believe that I was dead and that it would be impossible for her to look after four children alone. So they convinced her to allow Octavio to take Tito to Java. They even made Tito believe that I was dead." Mr Lopes has written many letters to Tito, telling him to return to Timor. But he is unsure whether Tito believes he is dead or alive.

Church sources said Mr Soares has refused the children access to many of the letters that have been sent to them by their families. Mr Lopes knows Octavio Soares and his friends have not given up their struggle to see East Timor integrated with Indonesia.

Luis Gomes of Bukiaren village, near Viqueque, said he and his wife Teresina agreed when they were in the West Timor camps in late 1999 to let their daughter Immanuela, 13, go to Java. Mr Gomes, a farmer, said Mr Soares told them he would return her to East Timor after she had graduated from school -- and he still believes him.

In the months before the UN vote, Mr Gomes campaigned for East Timor to remain under Indonesian rule and is now having a difficult time as pro-independence supporters assume the territory's civil positions and the pro-independence Falintil guerrilla fighters form a new national army.

Mr Gomes has had to promise to pay money to protect himself and his family from reprisals once UN troops and police leave East Timor when it assumes full independence after elections later this year.

Rosa Pinto, also from Bukiaren, trusted Mr Soares to take her daughter Angela, 15, to Java because his family was well known in Viqueque.

"If it is possible, I would like my daughter to come back," Mrs Pinto said. "It depends on her. If she could come, please come." UN officials in Dili and Jakarta have not given up hope of repatriating children and are planning talks with Timorese humanitarian workers to work out ways to overcome Mr Soares' objections.

They say the longer the children stay under Mr Soares' influence the more traumatic it will be reunite them with their families, even though nuns caring for the children at the orphanages are doing their best with scant resources.

Humanitarian workers in Indonesia believe there are many more Timorese children, perhaps 1200, in the country who were separated from their parents during the East Timor mayhem. They fear they could be subjected to sexual abuse, forced to work in slave-like conditions in factories, or indoctrinated for political or religious purposes.

But The Age believes no government agency or non-government organisation have made anything but tentative investigations.

Xanana: `The success of the elections are my priority'

Timor Post - April 23, 2001

The President of CNRT, Xanana Gusmao said Satruday that the success of the general election this year was still the number one priority of CNRT. He said this when talking to reporters on his arrival back from Jakarta.

He said giving priority to the elections was more important than an international court for Timor Lorosae. He said if an international court was talked about right now, more important issues like economic development, education, health and jobs would be overlooked.

"We are now in the process of having elections. So why don"t we concentrate our energy on it?" asked Xanana.

Gusmao's wife stabbed in East Timor robbery

Reuters - April 24, 2001 (abridged)

Jakarta -- Four thieves attacked and stabbed the Australian-born wife of East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao on Tuesday in the latest in a string of violent robberies in the impoverished territory, an official said.

Ines Almeida, spokeswoman for the National Council for East Timorese Resistance (CNRT), said Kirsty Sword-Gusmao was assaulted at a beach near the capital Dili where she was with her mother and baby son.

Sword-Gusmao was resting at home on Tuesday night after earlier requiring treatment in hospital, Almeida said.

"They were going back to their car ... and one of the four men approached and took the keys off her," Almeida said by telephone from Dili after visiting Sword-Gusmao.

"She fought back and they punched her twice in the face and then one of them grabbed a screwdriver and stabbed her in the leg ... She is shocked." Almeida said the thieves took Sword-Gusmao's bag and mobile phone. "They even took the baby's bag," Almeida said. International aid workers later found the victims. Her mother and baby boy were not hurt.

Crime in East Timor has been rising, reflecting growing discontent with conditions in the UN-administered territory that voted to break from Indonesian rule in 1999.

"This is not the first time that it has happened. It happened two days ago when an Australian woman was stabbed," Almeida said. That woman was in a military hospital after a group of robbers attacked her two nights ago and stabbed her in the chest. Last week another woman was also robbed in Dili.

Horta follows Gusmao in quitting de facto parliament

Sydney Morning Herald - April 24, 2001

Mark Dodd, Dili -- East Timor's de facto parliament was hit yesterday with the resignation of a second high-profile political leader in less than a month.

Mr Jose Ramos Horta, the Nobel peace laureate, had only been a backbencher for two weeks when he announced his resignation from the National Council, saying he was returning to his former position as Cabinet member for foreign affairs.

"With effect from today [Monday] I have submitted my letter of resignation to the deputy special representative of the Secretary-General. Members have persuaded me that the portfolio of foreign affairs was very important to East Timor and I should continue in that post." Mr Ramos Horta is the Cabinet member for foreign affairs in the United Nations-run transitional administration.

Analysts said there were a number of possible reasons for his resignation. The 36-member National Council will fade into history after East Timor goes to the polls on August 30 to elect its first democratic parliament. Mr Ramos Horta, an ambitious politician, may well think that his time should be better spent preparing his election campaign.

He was also miffed at his failure to be elected speaker of the National Council after the resignation last month of Mr Xanana Gusmao, East Timor's best-known independence figure.

A fortnight ago the National Council elected a veteran independence campaigner, Mr Manuel Carrascalao, as speaker, over Mr Ramos Horta, who was supported by the UN authority in his bid.

A polished public speaker, fluent in English, Portuguese and his native Tetum, Mr Ramos Horta is used to a high profile on the political circuit, and a backbench role in a soon-to-be-dissolved council would not have suited his personal style.

Mr Gusmao is president of East Timor's main pro-independence grouping, the National Council of Timorese Resistance, and Mr Ramos Horta is its vice-president, a position he was elected to last August.

Mr Ramos Horta praised the national council yesterday for its professionalism, and also spoke warmly of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor.

Mr Horta's endorsement of it did not go down well with several members. Ms Angela Freitas was highly critical of the administration's failure to rectify economic problems and to recruit more East Timorese as electoral staff.

Nobel laureate appeals for East Timor tribunal

Associated Press - April 23, 2001

Sydney -- Nobel peace laureate Bishop Carlos Belo of East Timor appealed Monday for an international tribunal to punish crimes against humanity in his country and help the fledgling nation come to terms with atrocities committed after it voted for independence from Indonesia.

Belo said the United Nations should set up an international court similar to those already meting out justice for atrocities in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

"Justice must not be restricted to a chosen few. It must be universal," he said in a speech in Sydney. Belo said the East Timorese did not trust investigations launched in Jakarta into atrocities sparked by the former Indonesian province's vote for independence in August 1999.

Hundreds of people were killed and an estimated 80% of East Timor's infrastructure was destroyed by pro-Indonesian militia gangs and troops following the popular vote that ended 24 years of rule by Jakarta.

UN staff are already investigating the atrocities and are expected to indict as many as 400 suspects, including some top Indonesian military officers.

The Indonesian probe was launched under a UN directive to prosecute members of its military and civil administration for their roles in the blood bath or face the possible establishment of a UN tribunal.

Indonesia's attorney general's office has prepared a list of 23 potential suspects. However, no formal charges have been filed.

"We have no faith in the investigations being conducted in Jakarta. Those who authorized the crimes in East Timor will not face justice there," Belo said.

"It is our belief that only an international court will be able to prosecute the generals and commanders who were behind the September 1999 violence. It is clear that what happened in East Timor was not a spontaneous response by Timorese who wanted to stay with Indonesia."

Last week, a former Australian diplomat, James Dunn, handed a report to UN investigators accusing senior Indonesian army generals of masterminding the violence, but UN officials distanced themselves from its findings, parts of which were published in Australia. "It is his own report and reflects his own views," said UN chief prosecutor Mohamed Othman.

Belo, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with fellow East Timorese independence campaigner Jose Ramos Horta, said his tiny nation needed justice to help it move forward.

"While we believe in and promote reconciliation, the people of East Timor are crying out for justice against the perpetrators of the horrendous crimes committed during Indonesian occupation. Without justice, the brokenness continues," he said.

West Timor's `refugee' town feels the strain

Straits Times - April 23, 2001

Devi Asmarani, Atambua -- Tension is running high in this border town 2 1/2 years after the influx of over 200,000 East Timorese who fled the post-ballot violence in their homeland.

The crime rate is on the rise and communal relationships are tense, while ex-militia members threaten fellow East Timorese refugees against returning home. Life has not been the same for locals here either.

The local authority and Atambua residents in the regency of Belu, where refugees make up 19 per cent of the 324,000 population, have to cope with social problems as the repatriation process carries on slowly.

Besides having to share their land, the West Timorese have to deal with gun-totting former pro-Jakarta militiamen-turned- criminals and hungry East Timorese who they say understand little of their culture.

A minor dispute between locals and refugees, for example, may end up in a communal brawl. "A large-scale conflict is simmering," said Belu Police Chief Nender Yani.

Communal tension

Ever since the riot last September, when pro-Jakarta militiamen brutally killed three UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) personnel following the murder of one of their leaders, local leaders have been alarmed over how easy it was for the refugees to take over the town.

They are concentrated in just about every major spot, including just outside the police station where 1,000 refugees are sheltering, and near the regent's office.

The September incident prompted the UN to withdraw its humanitarian aid altogether, leaving some 142,500 refugees in the care of Jakarta, which is already struggling to cope with its weak economy and thousands of other victims in conflicts and natural disasters across the country.

But at refugee sites, rice ration and food allowance from Jakarta have not arrived in the last four months and the people have had to live off corn or sweet potatoes they have planted on the small plots of unused soil left. A few have managed to find odd jobs at construction sites to feed their families.

Some refugees go for the regency's only green area, the protected Betun forest. The local government said they have destroyed over 750 ha of forest, replanting the land with food crops like corns, yams and bananas.

During a recent aerial viewing of the forest, The Straits Times observed from a helicopter at least six spots which were being razed. "We understand they are hungry, frustrated, and feel abandoned by Indonesia," said Police Chief Yani. But on the other hand, locals feel they have the worse deal.

The predominantly Catholic West Timor, home to almost 4 million people, is one of Indonesia's poorest and underdeveloped regions. Its barren soil and dearth of natural resources lure very little investment to the area.

Governor Piet Tallo said last week: "How would you feel if you have guests who are supposed to stay for two months but are still hanging around after two years?"

Militia threat

The biggest threat to security is not the bulk of hungry refugees, but the gun-totting men who were former members of pro-Jakarta militias and who wield control over refugees at campsites.

These men, trained and nurtured by the Indonesian Army as "pro- integration fighters" in East Timor, have been wreaking havoc, using their weapons to discourage refugees from returning to their homeland.

Said an official for the government's refugee repatriation programme: "They do not want the refugees to return, because the aid money is channelled through them as camp leaders -- less refugees means less money." While their fellow East Timorese are starving at thatch shacks, militia leaders spend their money on gambling tables at their nice houses. Their members also resort to crime for a living.

Last year's crime rate went up 33 per cent, from 360 cases in 1999 to 480 in 2000, records from the Belu district police show. The armed refugees committed 70 per cent of the crimes and topping the list were robberies and assaults. In some instances, a group of 40 or more militiamen would go to a village in the day and rob the villagers.

Atambua Bishop Anton Paen Ratu said: "We gave them our land, they take away our cattle, our pig, our belongings." The Bishop has also been receiving complaints about sex crimes perpetrated against women refugees as well as locals.

The 519-strong Belu police force has limited power to cope with the militias while the military, with its strong border presence, is perceived to have difficulties reigning in the militias because of emotional ties.

Labour struggle

6.000 workers set to rally on May Day

Detik - April 24, 2001

Shinta M Sinaga/Fitri & HY, Jakarta -- Around six thousands workers are set to march along the streets of Jakarta to celebrate May Day -- International Labour Day - on May 1st, 2001. On that day, all employers are urged to give their workers the day off.

"Directors of state companies, non government organisations, foundations, and institutions should respect May Day and give their workers their right to take a day off," May 1st Action Committee spokesperson, Surya Tjandra told Detik Jakarta, Wednesday.

Surya said the workers will hold the rally at the Monas National Monument between 10.00 and 13.00 local time. After that, they will march to the Parliament building and stage another demonstration until 17.00 local time.

Who can be called as workers? "Every person who works for an employer and receives a pay check, including me. So, they are not only factory workers. Therefore, ask for a day off and we'll march together to call for a betterment of the nation," called Surya According to Surya, May Day aims to remind the people, the political elite and the government that, amidst the democracy euphoria, workers' issues remain untouched and marginalised.

"It has been three years since the downfall of Suharto but the government and political elite are still preoccupied with gaining a safe position for themselves. The workers remain forgotten and we are trapped in debt with the deal between Indonesia and the IMF," Surya lamented.

As a result of the agreement, added Surya, the government's subsidy to the people no longer receives attention. As the government shifts its focus on settling debts, the already impoverished workers are burdened with skyrocketing living costs.

"Therefore, we are going to demand the government make a commitment and take the side of the workers. Quite frankly, the workers have to survive on barely nothing," Surya added.

"The action will not only take place in Jakarta, but also Medan, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Manado and Makassar as well as other regions that have representatives or unions," explained Surya.

On May Day, Surya said, the workers will demand protection from intervention of the security personnel, violence and hooliganism. They will also voice their rejection of all forms of worker politics from the New Order era, the elimination of contract workers, investigation into the New Order government officials who have been oppressive towards the workers, cutting ties with International Monetary Fund and the elimination of debt.

"Indonesia is too proud to ask for the elimination of debt, whereas Germany asked for an elimination of debt as soon World War II in 1945 ended. The Philippines has also done the same thing recently. There is the mechanism, but it turns out the ruler in Indonesia chose to sell his nation," lamented Surya.

"This is ironic. I suspect, there is political interest from the rulers to get close to the world's funds and donor countries. Hence, it is those at the grass roots who suffer the crisis and also pay for the debt. Tragic," Surya asserted.

Therefore, Surya calls all workers to unite and march to resonate their demands on May Day, so that all parties can contemplate on the large issue which has been forgotten and has gone unnoticed.

Aceh/West Papua

More troops sent to `crush Aceh rebels'

Straits Times - April 24, 2001

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- Indonesian soldiers were airlifted to the restive province of Aceh yesterday to mark a new phase of a potentially long and bloody guerilla warfare against rebels fighting for an independent state.

A hercules plane of Indonesia's Merpati Airlines took off from the Husen Sastagara airport in Bandung, West Java, yesterday for Aceh with soldiers sent to the rebellious province following a government announcement to quash the Free Aceh Movement. The heavily-armed soldiers appear all ready to take on the separatist rebels.

Signalling the army's growing leverage over the civilian administration in handling the Aceh problem, senior military sources said that only a counter-insurgency offensive could prevent the province from heading for East Timor-style separatism.

"We have received the green light from the political leadership to crush the rebels," a two-star army general told The Straits Times.

"That is very important for us because for a long time,the civilians have discouraged the use of force ... But political dialogue did not solve any problems. The rebels grew stronger and the security forces weaker. We need force to confront force."

For the generals, Aceh is an integral part of the independent Indonesian nation-state that emerged after the Second World War. The military's thinking is influenced significantly by Aceh's leading role in the war of resistance against the Dutch.

But it flies in the face of their ardent foes, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence for 25 years. GAM is bracing itself for the military offensive. It said yesterday that it would deploy thousands of rebels from its bases across the province.

The warning, issued in a communique by North Aceh's GAM commander Sofyan Daud said that the group "will deploy all our trained guerillas with full armament to face the TNI troops that are specially dispatched here to hunt us'"

Indonesia's Defence Minister dismissed their threat as a "bluff". "We will see what will happen on the field," he told reporters after talks with President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Earlier, four Hercules transport planes carrying some 500 army troops to Aceh took off from the Hussein Sastranegara airbase in Bandung, West Java. A total of nine companies have been airlifted from Bandung these last two days.

They were part of 11 companies or about 1,500 men who received anti-guerilla warfare training at the headquarters of the elite Special Forces (Kopassus) unit in Bandung to join the existing 3,000 troops in Aceh. The bulk of the soldiers will be deployed primarily in North Aceh and Pidie.

Military sources said that the one-month training for soldiers from Kopassus and other army units also included lessons on intelligence gathering and drumming into soldiers that any human rights abuses will not be taken lightly by their commanders.

Said a senior intelligence officer: "We don't want our soldiers to be trigger-happy. We don't want to repeat our mistakes of the past in Aceh." One reason why the government gave the go-ahead for military intervention was the failure of a series of shaky truces with the guerillas. Violence had continued unabated with more than 400 people killed this year. And the police could no longer be counted on to quell the rebels.

Some political observers, however, believe that military force in Aceh might complicate matters. It would only encourage Acehnese, traumatised by past army abuses, to take up arms with GAM. The generals concede that it is not going to be easy.

Noted the intelligence source: "This is going to be an unconventional war. So it is going to be a long battle with the rebels. If we make a mess of things, the civilians will just blame us for it and withdraw support. So the stakes are high for us."

Aceh rebels prepare for all out-resistance

Agence France-Presse - April 24, 2001

Banda Aceh -- Independence fighters in the Indonesian state of Aceh pledged Sunday that they were ready for all-out resistance against new government troops being sent to the region.

The Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence for the last 25 years, also warned non-Acehnese to leave the province immediately.

"We will deploy all our trained guerrillas with full armament to face the TNI [the Indonesian armed forces] troops that are specially dispatched here to hunt us," North Aceh GAM deputy commander Sofyan Daud said.

In a written communique issued on Sunday, Daud said that the GAM will deploy tens of thousands of its guerrillas from its various bases across Aceh to face the soldiers who are set to arrive in Aceh later in the day.

Jakarta is sending an additional 11 companies of anti-guerrilla troops, or about 1,100 men, to Aceh with the first batch expected to arrive in Aceh later on Sunday.

"The statement of the TNI Commander, Admiral Widodo Adisucipto, has made it clear that what has been taking place in Aceh so far is really a military operation," Daud said.

"This has been made even clearer with the reinforcement of 11 companies of anti-guerrilla soldiers and the establishment of the Command for the Implementation of Operations in Aceh." The troop reinforcements have been given special training in Bandung, West Java, according to the military.

Widodo on Friday announced the establisment of the operation command to be headed by Brigadier General Zumroni. The troop deployment signals a takeover by the military from the police in handling the guerillas in Aceh. Up until now, police have been in charge of anti-guerrillas efforts and the military have only provided back-up.

"To non-Acehnese resident, we ask you to leave the country of our forebears as soon as possible. And all activities related to Indonesia in Aceh should immediately cease," Daud said in the statement. He singled out people from Java, the main Indonesian island, which he said would be used by the military as spies and help its intelligence operations in Aceh.

"With all respect, we ask our brothers from the Javanese ethnic group to temporarily move out, because we do not want you, who have been thrown out of your own region, to become the unnecessary victims should war break out between GAM guerrillas and Indonesian security troops," Daud said. He predicted that the violence that marked the nine years of anti-gerrilla military operations in Aceh under former president Suharto, would be repeated in the region with the new military drive.

The military operation, which was only halted under Suharto's successor BJ Habibie in August 1998, was widely criticized amid allegations of gross human rights violations. Thousands of civilians, soldiers and guerillas died during the nine-year operation and many more were seriously injured, went missing or lost their homes.

GAM has been fighting for a free Islamic state in oil and gas rich Aceh since 1976. The rebels and the government have since last year agreed on a series of truces but have been unable to put an end to violence.

Elite power struggle

Indonesia's Wahid asks nation for forgiveness

Reuters - April 28, 2001

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta -- Embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid, staring down the barrel of impeachment, has asked Indonesia for forgiveness but said no leader could pull the nation out of its current economic mess.

In an address to the nation broadcast on state television on Friday, 60-year-old Wahid appealed to Indonesians to stay calm and asked not to be judged, saying he had inherited myriad problems.

"When I started ... the nation was in a sad condition. Even if this nation had 100 presidential changes, nobody could mend the economy," the near-blind Wahid told the nation in an address read on his behalf by presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar. "Do not be rash in judging me ... or try to topple me by searching for mistakes," he added, in a state television broadcast.

Wahid also warned against violence in the capital next week, when he is likely to be censured by parliament for his role in two financial scandals. "I instruct all Indonesian citizens to stop any kind of violence," Wahid said.

Foreign embassies on Friday asked police for extra protection, fearing the censure could ignite Wahid's fanatical supporters who have been streaming into Jakarta.

Indonesia's 210 million people have had little respite from political turmoil in recent years as the world's fourth most populous country limps from decades of despots to democracy. "We have deployed extra personnel to protect all embassies here, and also offices of international organisations such as the UN," Jakarta police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam told Reuters on Friday.

"We don't want them to be nervous, or panic and leave Indonesia. It would be embarrassing for us and would worsen our country's already bad image." Police have said they are ready to shoot rioters when MPs meet on Monday.

Praise for Megawati

Wahid, whose grip on power looks increasingly feeble, has denied any wrongdoing and accuses legislators of overstepping their authority by censuring him.

But in his address, hr praised his long-time friend Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is set to assume the top post if the Muslim cleric is ousted. "She's supposed to be the president right now because she was the leader of the party with the most votes," Witoelar said.

If censured, Wahid will have 30 days to reply. Should legislators consider his response unsatisfactory, parliament can request impeachment proceedings in the top legislature.

And hugely popular Megawati was earlier quoted as saying she was unlikely to oppose a second censure.

Fears over violence have helped sink the rupiah past 12,000 to the dollar for the first time since September 1998. By 0715 GMT it had recovered a little to be quoted just below 12,000.

The official Antara news agency reported that the embassies of the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands were among those that had requested special protection.

The first big test will come on Sunday when possibly hundreds of thousands of Wahid's supporters from the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim group plan a prayer rally in a central Jakarta stadium in what many see as an attempt to intimidate opponents.

Cabinet wants peace

It is all proving too much for a cabinet facing the Herculean task of administering the unwieldy archipelago.

"The cabinet asked parliament not to issue the second censure. The cabinet is very concerned about how the situation is developing now. The cabinet wants peace," Justice Minister Baharudin Lopa said after meeting House speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Supporters from Wahid's political heartland of East Java have vowed to defend the frail cleric, some with their lives.

"I don't know whether I will see my husband alive again. But he's going to do something noble. I'm willing to let him go," said Sunaryati, whose husband Taufik was among those leaving for Jakarta by train from the east Javanese city of Malang.

Sadlan, a trainer of pro-Wahid suicide squads, said more than 1,000 would leave from there on Friday. "We are going to Jakarta to secure the istigotsah [mass prayer] from attacks by people who hate [Wahid] ... We are not going to hold demonstrations in Jakarta," Sadlan said.

Some 40,000 police and troops are being deployed in Jakarta. Locals in Jakarta said some people were also already stocking up on food in case of riots and that many shopping centres, especially in vulnerable Chinatown which has frequently been the target of attacks in the past, were being given extra protection.

"We are still optimistic that Jakarta will be safe during this time. But we are only human, we can only try ... may God help us all," Alam said.

Muslim groups vehicle for party politics

Straits Times - April 28, 2001

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Several Muslim groups, such as the militant Laskar Jihad and the extremist Muslim Brotherhood, have threatened to take to the streets on Monday and have a face-off with President Abdurrahman Wahid's suicide squads, providing just the catalyst for an explosive confrontation among the masses.

Just as Mr Abdurrahman has resorted to playing the religious card to retain his presidential seat, the opposition is also using Muslim groups in what may prove to be a dangerous dalliance.

The show of force by these Muslim groups, including the Action One Million which had threatened a million-strong prayer session tomorrow, appears to be designed to prove it is not just the political elite but the Muslims in general who are opposed to Mr Abdurrahman's presidency.

Most political parties are still developing their bases for mass support, and Muslim groups have become a convenient channel for parties to express their positions -- in this case opposition to Mr Abdurrahman.

Political analyst Zainuddin Fananie says: "The Brave to Die troops are very different from Laskar Jihad or the others such as the Front to Defend Islam.

"Laskar Jihad appears to be motivated by funding whereas those from the Brave to Die troops are motivated by idealism." The Brave to Die troops refers to Mr Abdurrahman's supporters, while Laskar Jihad are radical Muslims famous for fighting Christians in Maluku.

The Front to Defend Islam are Muslim youths known for vandalising karaoke bars and nightclubs they claim are promoting un-Islamic activities.

These groups are being courted by political parties such as the Muslim PPP, which have been struggling to develop mass support since many of their politicians and followers left to join Mr Abdurrahman's PKB party, says Mr Zainuddin.

The latest to enter the political arena is a group calling itself the Muslim Brotherhood. Led by the blind cleric Habib Husein Al Habsyi, they claim to have 150,000 men to fight Mr Abdurrahman's supporters on the streets.

Mr Habib Husein told The Straits Times that his men, who are now training at a secret location in West Java, have had experience fighting alongside other Muslim groups in Afghanistan, the Philippines and Bosnia. The brotherhood could reportedly bring 100,000 radicals to the streets.

With these groups in the capital at the same time, commentators fear that a conflict could easily be provoked.

However the bigger fear, analysts say, is that the clash may not be just a one-day affair but widen the growing schism between the modernist Muslims and the traditional rural supporters of the President. If this happens, more clashes could be on the cards, says Mr Azey Umardi Azra, the rector of the Islamic State University.

And if the political parties succeed in nudging Mr Abdurrahman from his seat, possibly resorting to using their mass movements to outmuscle his suicide squads, will these parties be able to rein in the Muslim groups they have supported?

Groups such as Laskar Jihad for instance are opposed to Ms Megawati becoming president, while the Muslim Brotherhood, like many other extreme groups, wants a Muslim state. Mr Azey says these groups are still marginal and unlikely to get much support from any of the major Muslim groups for promoting a Muslim state.

However, as Laskar Jihad has shown, these small but organised groups can determine the direction of Indonesia's politics.

Gus Dur's magical, mystical supporters

Straits Times - April 27, 2001

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Mr Abdurrahman Wahid's supporters have one vital weapon up their sleeves -- a semi-mystical resistance to bullets, machetes and swords - which is provoking equal measures of fear and scepticism across Indonesia.

Historians said that while the claims of the suicide squad troops might appear fantastic, magic and Islam have a long history in this part of Java. In fact, the development of these "mystical" skills went hand-in-hand with spreading Islam in East Java. They were an early form of promoting the then new religion in Java.

And while the politicians and modernist Muslims embarrassed by these primitive displays of village tricks heaped scorn on their claims of invincibility, rural Muslims, and even some non-Muslims attested that some of their mystical resistance is real.

Witnesses at the training camps for Mr Abdurrahman's suicide squad report that the suicide troops had the mystical powers endowed in a quick ceremony conducted by a Muslim teacher, or kiyai. The kiyai gives a group of the initiates some blessed water to drink, asks them to recite a Muslim prayer affirming that Prophet Muhammad is God's messenger and then tests their skills.

One photojournalist, sceptical of this "magic", was initiated by a kiyai, who then attempted to chop his arms and stomach with a machete. "I don't really believe it, but it didn't cut even though it was strong enough to cut my skin. I was a bit surprised because I could feel it was sharp and heavy," said Mr Dita Alangkara.

However, he was far less convinced by a display of immunity to bullets. A suicide squad member was shot by an air rifle, but the reason that the bullet bounced off his leg was that the fire- power of the air rifle is much weaker than a normal gun, he said.

Other photojournalists said they saw men resisting stabs by bamboo spears. "After the blessing, someone took a bamboo spike and tried to stab one of the troops. But the spike didn't injure him," said Mr Ibrahim, a photographer at a training camp outside Surabaya.

Commentators who have witnessed the displays said that the kiyais' "magic" is not unlike a lot of the mental concentration abilities of Hindu mystics with their body-piercing rituals and ability to withstand pain. It probably developed when Hindu religion took hold in Java, they said.

These "magical" powers, which modern Muslims dismiss as a form of black magic, were in fact used as a way of promoting Islam to the then Hindu masses in East Java, said commentators such as Mr Zainuddin Fanaie, a political science lecturer from a Muslim university.

"The magic became more popular when Islam entered Indonesia, because the original Muslims used the supernatural aspects of Hinduism and transferred it to Islam," he said. He said those with these special abilities were enlisted to become Muslim leaders, and were probably among Java's first kiyais.

Threat of chaos may force Megawati to seek Gus Dur's head

Straits Times - April 26, 2001

By Susan Sim, Jakarta -- Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri is not fully convinced that Parliament has sound constitutional reasons to impeach President Abdurrahman Wahid on the basis of the second censure that it is set to slap on him next Monday.

But she may have no choice except to join demands for his resignation if the political climate reaches boiling point here. Key aides to the taciturn heir-apparent told The Straits Times that she "prefers not to play politics now as the ball will come to her sooner or later".

Nonetheless, to avoid physical conflict, she is open to the idea that Mr Abdurrahman gives up all executive powers to her without being forced to step down from the post.

Pressures on her to call for his resignation are great, coming both from hardliners within her party - the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) - key advisers in the administration and army generals who are as concerned as she is about the possibility of anarchy setting in.

So far, she is keeping all of them guessing as to her next moves. While it will probably take street-fighting between supporters and opponents of the President in the capital to force her to tip her hand, she has meanwhile given her PDI-P legislators the go- ahead to vote for the second censure memorandum against the President next week, aides in her office as well as the party confirmed.

Indeed, in scrutinising a draft of a review of Mr Abdurrahman's behaviour in the last three months, she gave specific instructions that he was to be taken to task over his warning last week of a "nationwide rebellion" against Parliament should it censure him again.

However, voting for this second censure does not necessarily mean that she supports a full impeachment hearing a month later since the current stated grounds -- his alleged complicity in two graft scandals -- smack more of a political vendetta than his violation of the oath or state guidelines.

The PDI-P is thus not expected to berate him in very harsh tones on Monday, an aide said, adding that some negotiations were ongoing which might result in gentler language being used. He noted that Ms Megawati's immediate goal is to lower the political temperature.

Topping a shortlist of probable scenarios is the option of the President remaining in office so as to avoid grassroots conflict. Under one of these, he will be on "sick leave" for the remainder of his term so that all executive powers are transferred to her.

But party hardliners are insisting that any deal with Gus Dur is unworkable because of his penchant for trying to manipulate her.

And the unity of the PDI-P is of paramount importance to her. An aide said: "So, she's got to take care of the feelings of the hardliners too. This might mean she has to tell the Number One to resign."

Army generals are also pushing her to demand his resignation. The generals are concerned that their own military headquarters might instruct their 38 legislative appointees to abstain from voting for a second censure and run the risk of the body politic misreading their neutrality as capitulation.

One of the scenarios senior army generals have talked about is the Philippine model: If fighting erupts on the streets of Jakarta after Sunday, the army will refuse orders by the President to carry out emergency measures.

Instead, it will withdraw support from him and pull troops out of the palace. That will be Ms Megawati's cue to declare Mr Abdurrahman incapable of carrying out his duties and demand his resignation. When that happens, the army will back her succession as constitutional and await her orders to crack down on the violence.

Will she act in the face of violence? Yes, said a key adviser in her office, who added: "If there is violence on or after April 29, that is like suicide for Gus Dur. "He will prove himself not to be a pure democrat. Ibu Mega will have to tell him to resign because he is no longer suitable to be the leader of the nation."

Life goes on as usual for jaded residents

Straits Times - April 26, 2001

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Jaded residents here are going about their business as usual despite the looming threat of unrest as politicians and their supporters head for a showdown next Monday.

Offices are not planning to shut down and schools will most likely stay open next week despite the potential for unrest should the different groups of protesters clash. Those interviewed by The Straits Times said they have become immune to threats of violence and have no plans to leave the capital ahead of next week's session.

However, local media reported long queues for visas at the US Embassy this week. Said Ms Linda Mangunsong, country manager of IT firm Infrontier: "I don't think people are as concerned as they used to be. In the past, every time we heard there would be a massive rally, the office would close for the day.

"Now we know that if the rally has been anticipated for long, then nothing usually happens because the security personnel are prepared."

Mr Barito Riviera, who works for a private steel company, said the decision to close the office was usually made on the day of the protest. "We monitor television and radio that day. If there are riots somewhere, then we'd go home early. But we have no specific contingency plan," he said.

Said Madam Puspita, a mother of two: "I'm tired of rumours that there will be unrest, and I believe this has all been exaggerated. "My kids will still go to school next week. I will just stay home or avoid roads that are jammed with protesters."

But many have stocked up groceries over the past few days, fearing that shops would be closed because of tension next week. In some major supermarkets, products like baby formula are in short supply due to panic buying.

The security forces, however, are taking no chances with reports that tens of thousands of President Abdurrahman Wahid's die-hard backers are on their way to the capital in a show of loyalty.

Soldiers and police are intensifying their presence in the capital five days before the momentous parliament session to decide on the second censure against the President.

The parliament compound has turned into one of the most protected sites in the country, teeming with troops and surrounded by barbed wires and portable fibreglass walls filled with water. The Indonesian military said dozens of armoured cars would be deployed to evacuate MPs, should the President's supporters try to occupy the parliament building.

Outside the compound, thousands of police have been checking weapons at major entry points to the capital ahead of Monday's parliamentary session. Some 42,000 personnel will be deployed to anticipate potential clashes between the President's supporters and critics on that day.

The Health Ministry said 43 emergency rooms at state clinics and 111 state and private hospitals in Jakarta and the surrounding cities were prepared for possible casualties.

The President's supporters are expected to attend a mass prayer event organised by his Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organisation on Sunday and stay around to show their support for the embattled leader when parliament meets the next day.

Power-games politicians play in Indonesia

Straits Times - April 25, 2001

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- Indonesia is in a mess. The rupiah is sliding, the economy is in a rut and more violence is forecast. For the ordinary man, life could never have been more miserable. Why? It's because of the politicians!

The fall of former president Suharto was no panacea, after all. Those who filled the political vacuum are individuals who are pushing the country to the brink of disaster.

Look at what is happening now. President Abdurrahman is playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship to see if his opponents will buckle under the intimidation of his diehard supporters. From his perspective, this course of action is justifiable. After all, there is a plot to overthrow him "unconstitutionally".

But his ardent foes are also playing this foolish game. They, too, are plotting to see whether he will collapse under the weight of periodic parliamentary gunfights.

They, too, have masses ready to fight -- Laskar Jihad, the Muslim Brotherhood. The list grows longer the more politicians tear at each other.

After experiencing the worst-ever violence in May 1998, Indonesians are now bracing for another violent bash after April 30, when legislators censure Mr Abdurrahman. A compromise or, at the other extreme, a civil war perhaps? No one knows.

Either way, the ordinary Indonesian is suffering for the actions of his political leaders. He can't lead a life of certainty. Several schools located near Parliament will close when the parliamentary showdown takes place.

That means the eight-year-old son of insurance agent Yuli Ismardi will not be attending classes next week. "Life appears normal on the surface. But there is so much frustration for us. Every day, these politicians keep fighting one another. They achieve nothing. They offer no solutions."

In some villages, people turn off their TV sets when politicians -- especially Mr Abdurrahman or bitter rival national assembly chairman Amien Rais -- appear. Politicians here need a mindset change. They need to put country before self. But this could be difficult for those craving power.

As French statesman George Pompidou noted decades ago: "A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. But a politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service."

Regional/communal conflicts

Flag of the South Maluku Republic flies briefly in Ambon

Agence France-Presse - April 25, 2001

Jakarta -- A flag of the separatist South Maluku Republic (RMS) was Wednesday briefly flown in Ambon the capital of Indonesia's Maluku province before police took it down, a participant and a report said.

The flag was hoisted during a ceremony on the front lawn of the residence of the executive chairman of the Forum for Maluku's Sovereignty (FKM), Alex Manuputty, said Sammy Weileruni, an executive of the organization.

"The ceremony was held as planned and everything went fine. There was no violence, although the flag did not fly for long because the police took it down," Waileruni said.

He said that the flag -- with vertical bands of blue, white, green and red -- was hoisted along with the Indonesian flag and of the United Nations.

The ceremony was attended by more than 100 FKM supporters and included the reading of the April 25, 1950 proclamation of the South Maluku Republic, said Waileruni. He declined to elaborate further but said that nobody had been arrested nor had any violence marred the ceremony.

The Antara news agency said the flag was raised during a brief absence of Maluku Military Police chief Major General John Maitimu, who had attempted to prevent the flag-raising, citing a government ban.

But when Maitimu left the venue briefly to tell provincial police chief Brigadier General Firman Gani of Manuputty's refusal to cancel the ceremony, the flag was quickly raised. aitumu and his men returned to the site some 10 minutes later and his men lowered the flag without any resistance from those present at the ceremony.

The RMS was banned by the country's first president Sukarno and its followers were allowed to either remain in Indonesia or leave the country for the Netherlands, the former colonial power.

The movement has reappeared in Ambon following the drawn-out religious conflict there and in other islands in the Malukus which have seen intense fighting between Muslims and Christians for more than two years.

Fighting between Christians and Muslims first erupted in Ambon in January of 1999 and spread rapidly to other islands in the Malukus, otherwise known as the Spice Islands.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in the violence and up to half a million of the three million inhabitants have fled their homes for internal refugee camps or to other islands.

Human rights/law

PBHI urges police to take firm legal action

Detik - April 28, 2001

Lukmanul Hakim/Hendra & HY Detik, Jakarta -- The shooting of Tempo weekly magazine journalist, Rudi P. Singgih has been condemned by the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI).

They are calling for the shooter to be caught and punished. This was said in a press release by PBHI received by Detik, Friday. In the statement, PBHI Chairman Paskah considers the incident of Rudi's death to be mysterious. The PBHI also demand the Police clarify the issue so as to prevent misinformation.

Also, the PBHI denounced the executions by the West Java police. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has stated that every human being has the right to life, liberty and security; and the International covenant on civil and political rights also said that no one's life may be ended arbitrarily.

Rudi was shot on the night of 23rd April 2001 by the West Java police. Earlier that evening, Rudi had been put under arrest at his home on Jl Wartawan III No. 25 Bandung, West Java at 11.30pm local time.

Rudi was then taken away by car, accompanied by detectives. The following day, however, Rudi was pronounced dead at 5.00 local time. He had been shot.

News & issues

Communist bogeyman thrown into equation

South China Morning Post - April 25, 2001

Vaudine England, Jogyakarta -- Hundreds of people are signing up for membership of a new anti-communist front at the head office of the Golkar political party, organisers claim.

They say more than 1,600 people from different backgrounds are uniting in Jogyakarta, Central Java, to counter the "renewed threat" in a country where the once widely popular Indonesian Communist Party was banned and its members murdered by army- backed mobs in 1966.

"Our mission is to fight communism, Marxism and Leninism," said Dandung Pardiman, commander of Gepako -- the Gerakan Pasukan Anti Komunis, or Anti-Communist Movement, and secretary of Jogyakarta's Golkar office. He alleges the main source of communism is the small but legal People's Democratic Party (PRD).

Mr Pardiman's little-known initiative against alleged communists comes at a time when leading politicians in the capital, Jakarta, are readying their respective bases ahead of next week's likely second censure of President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Mr Wahid threatens to bring thousands of "jihad" fighters to his support against the impeachment efforts of parliament. Mr Pardiman claims credit for establishing Gepako himself and says he covers all the costs. Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung -- the speaker of the House of Representatives, which could censure Mr Wahid -- approves, he said. "Pak [Mr] Akbar likes it very, very much," he said.

Gepako is part of a larger grouping, called the Anti-Communist Forum, which Mr Pardiman says includes members of other political parties -- which are all part of a Muslim bloc now leading the charge against Mr Wahid in Parliament.

Many in Gepako are also involved in martial arts groups. Mr Pardiman says he is ready to fight but says his main job is education and propaganda. He holds discussion groups every Friday, where members study anti-communist works.

Classes are also held in boxing, he says. New members do not need to pay to join the movement. They get a special identity card and long-sleeved black T-shirt to foster fellow feeling.

Golkar was the election-winning vehicle created by former president Suharto after he took power from former president Sukarno in the wake of an alleged communist coup in 1965.

Doubts have since been cast on who sparked the coup attempt, but it was the excuse for the mob murder of at least 500,000 people, particularly in Java and Bali. Willing tools in the killing spree were members of Muslim organisations who regard communism as atheist and, therefore, blasphemous.

"Yes, there is potential for the same conflict again, as in the 1960s," said Mr Pardiman. "And now things are more crowded, more cruel. If we have to, Gepako can fight again. We are ready to fight, ready to think, ready to discuss. Our philosophy is that everyone must be of the Big Family of Indonesia." Gepako has yet to become a threat on the political stage, but visitors to Jogyakarta now see banners across the main roads that read: "Down with the antics of communists" and proclaim communists are everywhere.

Pro-Wahid demonstrations in East Java in recent months included violent attacks on Golkar party offices and calls for the party to be banned.

In response, Golkar blamed the attacks on communists and called for PRD to be banned. Some members of Wahid's Nahdlatul Ulama mass Muslim organisation, and the PRD, "do the same work", said Mr Pardiman, himself an NU member.

Who is richer, Gus Dur or Megawati?

Jakarta Post - April 23, 2001

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta -- According to the official data, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri is 17 times wealthier than President Abdurrahman Wahid, whose personal assets are valued at Rp 3.5 billion.

But with growing criticism of Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas' business activities and corruption allegations against the President, people may be tempted to believe the two leaders are worth more than the official data reveals.

With a monthly take-home pay of about Rp 49.77 million, the President's salary is nearly Rp 10 million more than the Vice President's, but Megawati still has a much larger bank account than Abdurrahman. Megawati's main source of income is her family's eight gas stations in Greater Jakarta, while Abdurrahman's assets include Rp 1.72 billion in grants he received from unnamed sources.

On the form she submitted to the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission on March 20, which was made public by the commission on Wednesday, Megawati combined her assets with those of her husband, a businessman and member of the House of Representatives.

Abdurrahman only included his own assets on his form, apparently because First Lady Sinta Nuriyah is not a money earner for the family. Interestingly, when reporting his wealth, the President included Rp 1.72 billion in grants he received between 1999 and 2000.

"We have not audited the wealth list. We just published what they reported to us," said commission chairman Jusuf Syakir when making public the details provided by the country's two top leaders, along with 45 other state officials.

Jusuf said People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung had yet to submit their forms to the commission.

The 1999 law on clean and good governance mandates the establishment of an independent commission to audit the wealth of state officials.

This means that for the first time the people of Indonesia can get a look at the assets of their leaders, something they never had the chance to do with the country's previous three presidents and seven vice presidents.

The President estimated the value of his private residence in Ciganjur, South Jakarta, at about Rp 658 million. He also owns five cars, the newest one a Peugeot sedan he purchased in 1999. The President did not include two KIA limousines among his personal assets. The cars were presented to him and the First Lady by Hyundai-KIA Motors chairman Chung Mong-koo during a visit to Seoul early last year.

Abdurrahman's assets also include gold, precious metals and antiques valued at Rp 1.7 billion. He also has promissory notes and bank accounts totaling Rp 3.3 billion and US$458 in cash.

In a recent conversation with The Jakarta Post, Mitsuo Nakamura, a Japanese observer of Indonesian affairs and a longtime acquaintance of Abdurrahman, said the President's parents left a very valuable estate to their children. "From the heritage, they are much wealthier than many people imagine," said Nakamura of the Wahids.

Megawati and Taufik own 14 properties, including their house in Kebagusan, near the Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, and a plot of land in Pandeglang, Banten province. Some of the properties, valued at a total of Rp 24.3 billion, are described as family estates. Megawati also owns 12 cars and 10 motorcycles. The status of her favorite blue VW Beetle, which she often drives, is unclear.

The family's gas stations are located across the city, including on Jl. Lapangan Roos and on Jl. Sriwijaya, both in South Jakarta. This first gas station apparently has some sentimental value for Megawati, and she often visited it before becoming vice president in October 1999. "Ibu used to come here because this is among the first stations she owned," said an employee at the station, who identified himself as Ahmad.

Then Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin awarded Megawati the locations for the gas stations in the 1970s when he realized that then president Soeharto had blocked the businesses of former president Sukarno's children.

Citing press reports, sociologist George J. Aditjondro, who is known for his research on corruption in Indonesia, last month linked Taufik with several tycoons, including Texmaco boss Marimutu Sinivasan, and the Jakarta Outer Ring Road project.

"Taufik's business activities not only alarm us, but also Megawati herself. But she recently assured us that she is able to handle her family's affairs," Megawati's economic adviser told the Post recently.

Wealth declarations must be verified, say experts

Jakarta Post - April 23, 2001

Jakarta -- Experts see the announcement of public servants' wealth as a good start in fighting corruption, but say it will take time before any effect is seen.

Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association chairman Hendardi said on Saturday that announcing official's wealth would be useless unless it was followed by investigation.

"If it is aimed at fighting corruption, there should be a follow up like an investigation to find evidence [of the accuracy]," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone. "If not, what's the use of announcing someone's wealth?" he added.

Hendardi was referring to an announcement made by the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) last Wednesday. The commission presented a list of assets of 47 public servants, including President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri. The list was based on forms which the public servants filled out.

Megawati and her husband, legislator Taufik Kiemas, topped the list with total assets of Rp 59.809 billion (US$5.4 million). The assets include cash, land, buildings, vehicles and eight gas stations.

Meanwhile, Abdurrahman ranks number eight with total assets of some Rp 3.5 billion. Almost half of the assets, or some Rp 1.722 billion, are precious stones and metals, art and antiques which Abdurrahman said he was given from 1999, when he was elected president, to 2000.

According to Hendardi, assets in the form of gifts is questionable and can lead to an investigation. "The President received the gifts in the first year of his presidency. It is questionable," he said.

Meanwhile, legal expert Harkristuti Harkrisnowo from University of Indonesia said that the President's wealth was relatively small. "The point is, it's what the commission got and we don't see the details so we don't know about the accuracy," she told the Post.

The commission, she added, should publicly announce what it does with the list. Furthermore, Harkristuti said that there was nothing much that could be done in regard to the list. "Next year when the commission shows the list of public servants' wealth, we can do something. We'll see if there are any surprising increases in wealth," she said.

Separately, a legal sociologist from Semarang's University of Diponegoro, Satjipto Rahardjo, said that government officials' wealth should have been announced before they were appointed.

"There are more political aspects in the announcement of wealth," he said without elaborating. Satjipto said that the commission should consist of professional accountants so that it would be easy for them to cross-check the list.

Similar to Satjipto, Harkristuti questioned the capability of the commission as it was made up of people who passed a fit-and- proper test set by the House of Representatives. As they are not professional, the public should not expect too much from them, she said.

Hendardi criticized the composition of the commission, saying it was designed simply to satisfy political parties by putting their people on the commission.

As for the rest of the officials who have yet to return the forms to the commission, Hendardi said that it proved that the will to fight corruption, collusion and nepotism was still low.

Many officials, including House Speaker Akbar Tandjung and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, have not returned their forms listing their assets, saying that they are still in recess. Some have complained that it takes time to fill out the form while others claim they received their forms late due to technical matters. "When it comes to their own wealth, they are still reluctant," Hendardi said.

Harkristuti said that the officials should be given more time. "If they haven't submitted it by now, then it should be announced publicly so that they are embarrassed. That is, if they still can feel embarrassment," she said.

Indonesia will get better if Golkar wins election: Akbar

Jakarta Post - April 23, 2001

Jakarta -- The chairman of the former ruling Golkar Party, Akbar Tandjung, said on Sunday that Indonesia would get a lot better when the party wins the general election in 2004 and takes control in the country again.

Speaking before Golkar supporters in Solok, West Sumatra, Akbar said that Golkar would be able to restore the welfare of most Indonesian to the level prevailing before the crisis. Akbar said that the people had now started to realize that life under Golkar was a lot better than the lives most people were living now.

"If Golkar turns out to be the winner [in the next general election] and again leads the country, then the life of this nation will become more peaceful, political life will be more stable, and the national economy will recover," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Akbar, who is also the Speaker of the House of Representatives, noted that Golkar's upholding of Pancasila as its main ideology had proved an effective tool in uniting the nation.

He contended that Golkar never differentiated between people based on ethnic group nor religious affiliation, and therefore, it was able to create a more stable situation with higher economic growth.

200 judges to move to riot-torn regions to restore justice

Straits Times - April 23, 2001

Jakarta -- Over the next two weeks, the Indonesian government will send 200 judges to riot-torn areas such as Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya to restore their battered systems of justice.

The decision was made during last Thursday's Cabinet meeting, chaired by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, said the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Mr Baharuddin Lopa. He added that his office had begun selecting the judges to be sent to the troubled provinces.

The judges would face very difficult situations, but the government would help them carry out their tasks, such as arranging accommodation for their families.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Surabaya, East Java, on Saturday, Mr Lopa said: "It is an honourable task. I have asked related institutions to prepare proper accommodation facilities and security insurance for the judges."

At least 64 judges will be sent to Aceh, 23 to Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan and 40 to Central Sulawesi, he said. It is unclear where the rest will go.

Escalating violence in several parts of the country has forced legal affairs officials to flee to safer areas, preventing their justice systems from functioning properly.

Environment/health

Illegal logging in national parks shocks minister

Straits Times - April 24, 2001

Marianne Kearney, Pangkalanbun -- Indonesia's new Forestry Minister, Mr Marzuki Usman, said after touring forests in Kalimantan that he was shocked by the breakneck speed at which the country's parks were being destroyed.

"At the moment we are being ridiculed by all people all over the world because we can't protect our forests." He said this was happening despite Jakarta's promises to international donors to crack down on illegal logging.

After flying over numerous illegal logging trails and camps in the Tanjung Puting National Park at the weekend, he said: "If we do not take action in three to five years, the park will be gone." Park officials say 40 per cent of Tanjung Puting, which is one of the last habitats for wild orang-utans, has been destroyed by logging and forest fires.

Indonesia is home to the world's second largest tropical forest after Brazil, much of which is found in Kalimantan, Sumatra and Irian Jaya.

Mr Marzuki said that despite its pledge to its donors from whom it is seeking a US$4.8-billion loan, Indonesia had failed to make any progress in prosecuting illegal loggers or closing down companies which were found to have purchased timber logged illegally.

The international donors group CGI -- which includes donors from Europe, Japan, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank -- is meeting today in Jakarta to review Indonesia's commitment to crack down on illegal logging. It would also discuss the government's strategies to combat poverty in the country.

Mr Marzuki announced a presidential instruction to arrest and prosecute illegal loggers and their sawmill bosses in national parks.

He told local mayors and police that the failure of the government and the security forces to prevent illegal logging had embarrassed Indonesia internationally.

"At the moment we are being ridiculed by people all over the world because we cannot protect our forests," he said during a visit to Pangkalanbun on the edges of the park.

Local officials, however, complained that they lacked resources to stop illegal logging and even demanded funds to build a fence around the huge park, which is six times the size of Singapore.

Non-governmental organisations and the former secretary-general for forestry, Mr Suripto, say that the major obstacle in the way of stopping illegal logging is corruption among local forestry officials, the police and the government.

Mr Marzuki said that he would try to circumvent the corrupt local park officials and police by employing special police to guard every river flowing from the park.

In addition, the government last week banned the export of the valuable ramin trees from Tanjung Puting, which is home to many endangered species.

However, aid officials and environmentalists remain sceptical about how the ban will be enforced. "The heart of the problem of illegal logging is corruption, so this ban is only the beginning," said Ms Faith Doherty from the Environmental Investigation Agency.

She said Indonesia still appeared reluctant to investigate some of the well-connected politicians behind the illegal log trade in the park. She cited the case of Golkar legislator Abdul Rasyid, who obtained up to 60 per cent of his logs from the park.

Although the Attorney-General's office and police were provided with the proof of his companies' involvement in buying illegal logs two years ago, the Attorney-General's office claimed that it had no files on the case.

Despite the international donor community's disappointment with the rapid destruction of Indonesia's tropical forests, the World Bank told The Straits Times that the loan was not in danger of being cancelled.

"It is not realistic to delay a poverty loan over forestry issues," said Mr Tom Walton, an environmental adviser at the World Bank.

Indonesia's Orangutans threatened

Associated Press - April 23, 2001

Daniel Cooney, Nyaru Menteng -- Seven-month-old Nabima often has nightmares. She wakes in the night screaming and crying, says Lone Droscher-Nielsen, who is looking after the little orangutan on Borneo Island.

At only a few weeks old, Nabima and her mother were shot out of a tree by tribesmen in Borneo's remote interior. As she lay watching on the ground, her mother was killed, skinned and eaten. She was bundled up and taken to a nearby town where she was sold for about $2 as a pet.

Not long afterward, a team of Indonesian wildlife officers -- working on a tip by foreign conservationists -- rescued her and took her to a nearby internationally funded orangutan rehabilitation refuge.

Like the 66 other apes in the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project, Nabima is now being cared for by trained handlers and is due to be released into a guarded sanctuary in the jungle sometime next year.

With their natural habitat shrinking at an alarming rate due to rapacious logging, urban expansion and deliberately lit bush fires, orangutans and other wildlife on Borneo Island are finding themselves the first casualties.

Environmentalists say that in the past decade, the number of apes on Borneo and nearby Sumatra islands have halved to about 25,000. Within another 10 years, they are likely to be extinct if the government does not do something about it urgently.

But swift action to protect the environment is not of the highest concern to Indonesian politicians at the moment. The economy is in tatters, a political crisis is occupying the nation's leaders and communal fighting is gripping much of the world's fourth most-populous country.

Throughout this sprawling archipelagic country, loggers are wiping out centuries-old tropical rain forests, much of them illegally, as fast as the trees can be chain sawed. Even national parks, the last sanctuaries for many species, are being destroyed.

"There is no political will in Indonesia to stop illegal logging," said Julian Newmon, a member of the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency. "When the forests are gone, the orangutans will be gone as well." He said his organization had given Indonesia's government the name of 18 timber barons responsible for much of the illegal logging, but little action had been taken.

"The people who are supposed to be protecting the forests are often the ones logging them," Newmon said. "Every river on Borneo is clogged with cut logs floating downstream to timber mills." Much of the teak, ramin and other valuable hardwoods are illegally exported to the United States, Europe, Japan and China, Newmon said.

With the jungles being plundered, the survival of several other species, in addition to the orangutan, are also threatened. Asian elephants on Borneo and Sumatra are being forced to forage in farms and gardens for food. This, in turn, is leading to increasing conflicts with villagers. As in Africa, many of the elephants are also hunted for their valuable ivory tusks.

The Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros are also threatened with extinction. Once they roamed across much of Southeast Asia. Now there are only about 350 of the single-horned Sumatran rhinos left in the wild.

And only eight Javan rhinos survive in Ujung Kulong national park on the southwestern tip of Java. Tens of thousands of the smallest of among half a dozen rhino species roamed the island before being exterminated in the past century. In Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra, the reclusive animals are finding themselves the victim of a long-running guerrilla war.

With loggers encroaching deeper into the dense jungles, Sumatran tigers are also being forced from their bush hide-outs and are becoming easy prey for poachers after their valuable pelts.

As well as being hunted for food or to be sold as pets, hundreds of orangutans are smuggled every year to the United States and other industrialized countries where they fetch up to $30,000 on the black market. For every five baby apes shipped overseas, only one usually survives the journey.

Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid recently replaced his forestry minister, saying his government was under foreign pressure to save the jungles. However, local environmentalists are not optimistic that much will change.

With their survival threatened, orangutan rehabilitation clinics, like the Nyaru Menteng one in Central Kalimantan province, are now more vital than ever.

"They are big, gentle giants," Droscher-Nielsen, a Danish-born environmentalist, said as she led an orangutan by hand from its cage. "It's becoming worse and worse in the wild for them here. A lot of people are killing them."

When the apes come into the clinic, they go into quarantine cages to check for diseases. With 95 percent of their DNA makeup identical to that of humans, some suffer from contagious human illnesses, such as hepatitis B and tuberculosis.

The animals are then moved to larger cages to learn how to interact with other orangutans before being released temporarily into a fenced-off section of forest to learn bush survival skills.

Droscher-Nielsen said some of the apes have spent most of their lives in a domesticated environment, making it difficult to rehabilitate them.

One female 4-year-old orangutan called Veve was breast-fed as a baby by its human surrogate mother, she said. It understands a lot of Chinese. Another one came into the clinic cross-eyed from watching too much television. "It liked watching Indian films during the day and soccer by night," Droscher-Nielsen said.

Droscher-Nielsen is searching for funding to acquire an isolated piece of jungle to use as a release site for the rehabilitated apes.

Economy & investment

IMF demands action on failing economy

Sydney Morning Herald - April 28, 2001

Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- As Abdurrahman Wahid prepares to face a second parliamentary censure of his presidency on Monday, concern is growing in Jakarta that Indonesia's economic recovery is in peril.

Observers are warning that the country's budget deficit is likely to blow out to a whopping 6 per cent of gross domestic product this year unless urgent action is taken to address dire economic problems.

In a closed-door meeting of international aid donors in Jakarta this week, Mr Anoop Singh, a representative of the International Monetary Fund, warned that "bold initiatives are needed and will take some time to be formulated".

But IMF officials left Jakarta without agreeing to release a crucial $US400 million loan frozen since December until the parliament agrees to new proposals aimed at preventing a budget blowout this year.

The delay is a severe setback for Mr Wahid's besieged government, which had hoped that a week of meetings with visiting IMF officials from Washington would see the loan approved and signal a turning point in the country's political and social problems.

With political tensions in the capital rising before Monday's resumption of parliament and a mass rally planned for tomorrow by Mr Wahid's supporters, the rupiah this week dropped below 12,000 to the US dollar.

This is the lowest level since the riots in 1998 that led to the downfall of the corrupt dictator, Soeharto. The rupiah's collapse has derailed calculations for this year's budget because it is predicated on an exchange rate of 7,800 to the US dollar.

Observers say the patience of international donors towards the government, whose decision-making process has been paralysed by the crisis facing Mr Wahid, has reached breaking point. "The time has come for concrete action, not just words," said a Western diplomat.

Among the main issues of concern raised by donors was a breakdown in law and order in some parts of the country, which has affected the confidence of foreign investors.

According to a World Bank briefing paper, the "talks focused on the urgency of legal and judicial reforms to win back investor confidence, to ensure adequate deterrence to corruption and to restore public confidence in the reform process".

Other problems raised during the meeting included Indonesia's inability to protect some of the world's largest tropical rainforests which environmentalists say is threatening the future of the country's vital timber industry.

The bitter struggle for power between Mr Wahid and the parliament is almost certain to drag on for several more months, further damaging the economy, say observers.

Last-minute conciliatory gestures by Mr Wahid do not appear to have headed off the second censure -- another step in a long and complicated process towards his possible impeachment at a July or August session of the 700-seat People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the highest legislature.

If the censure is passed on Monday, Mr Wahid has 30 days to reply. Should MPs consider his response unsatisfactory, parliament can request impeachment proceedings in the MPR.

Analysts say with most major parliamentary factions now plotting to unseat Mr Wahid, his days in office appear to be numbered. Political analyst Andi Mallarangeng said if the second censure is passed as expected "there is almost close to a 100 per cent possibility that impeachment will come". "It's a vote of no confidence," he said.

Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri appears to be distancing herself from Mr Wahid before Monday's vote, indicating she is prepared for her party MPs to support the censure.

Mr Wahid's fate lies largely in Ms Megawati's hands because under Indonesia's 1945 Constitution, only a vice-president can replace a president mid-term.

He is adamant that he will not resign. His spokesman, Wimar Witoelar, said: "His [Wahid's] resignation would mean the avoidance of responsibility and would mean betraying the trust of his constituents and in fact would be against the interests of the country." Officials of Mr Wahid's National Awakening Party say they expect up to 200,000 of Mr Wahid's supporters to attend tomorrow's mass prayer rally at a sports stadium in central Jakarta.

While he has repeatedly urged calm, anti-Wahid groups have vowed to take to the streets at the weekend, and more than 40,000 armed security forces have been deployed around the city.

Foreign firms in fear of legal uncertainty

Straits Times - April 26, 2001

Robert Go, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government appears keen to show that there is little "legal certainty" for foreign investors in the country, even after warnings from international donors that further loans would be tied to, among other things, reform measures for the judiciary.

Minutes after meeting officials from the World Bank, the IMF and other donor countries, who advised more consistency in Jakarta's treatment of disputes pitting foreign investors against local companies, Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman said that he is likely to halt probes into local tycoon Suyanto Gondokusumo, accused of defrauding Canadian insurer Manulife.

"We are heading that way, although we are still investigating. If there is no legal base, we will close the case," he told reporters. He added that investigators had turned up little evidence against Mr Suyanto, a member of the Dharmala Group's controlling family. The group owes more than three trillion rupiah (S$480 million) to the state and its other creditors.

Manulife's plight in Indonesia has sparked strong criticism from the Canadian government, the IMF and the World Bank, which say Indonesia's legal system is weighed in favour of local companies at the expense of foreign investors.

Manulife owned 51 per cent of a local insurance company, but last October increased its holdings by spending 170 billion rupiah (S$27 million) in a government auction, buying the 40 per cent stake previously held by Mr Suyanto's company.

But days later, Roman Gold Assets, an obscure company based in the British Virgin Islands, forwarded claims that it had bought the same 40 per cent from a Western Samoan company holding powers-of-attorney over the shares for US$50 million (S$91 million).

Despite Manulife charges that Mr Suyanto and his partners had committed fraud in order to prevent the sale, the police detained and grilled Manulife executives.

Roman Gold also offered to sell its holdings for 460 billion rupiah, nearly three times what the Canadian company had paid.

It was only last week, in the midst of tough negotiations with the IMF over the future of its bail-out programme, that the authorities began to investigate Mr Suyanto and other Dharmala executives.

But following the departure of international agencies' review teams, the government has apparently gone back to its past modus operandi: protecting its own people at foreigners' expense.

Several observers, both domestic and foreign, have used the Manulife case to illustrate why foreign companies may fear investing in Indonesia.

Mr David Chang, president director of Vickers Ballas-Indonesia, said: "Indonesia's judiciary system has no expertise in handling, investigating and settling global transactions, and investigating corporate entities in foreign countries."

A foreign businessman with years of experience in the country added: "It is a case of biting the hand that feeds you."

IMF team leaves Jakarta with no deal

Straits Times - April 26, 2001

Robert Go, Jakarta -- An IMF review team slipped out of Jakarta late Tuesday night without resolving its stalled US$5-billion bailout programme here, signalling the agency's lack of confidence in the government and leaving the economy in a path towards a meltdown.

A banker with close government ties said: "The signal is clear: they don't have any belief that this government can deliver the programme any more.

"They would be wasting time continuing to work with this government."

The IMF team, led by Asia-Pacific director Anoop Singh, arrived two weeks ago to evaluate Jakarta's economic programme and to make recommendations on a US$400 million loan tranche that has been delayed since last December.

The team members stayed and left. They avoided media exposure and the trouble of explaining why they could not give a much-needed boost to President Abdurrahman Wahid's administration.

Analysts said the IMF knew by last week that Jakarta's problems posed a "mission impossible" for the current government.

The Washington-based lender cited several issues as stumbling blocks to further loans, including rampant corruption, a growing budget deficit, slow asset sale programme, legal uncertainty and poor implementation of previously pledged reforms.

The IMF stressed "cooperation" with the government during its last address to a group of donor countries on Tuesday, but it also outlined several dire projections.

"Developments are beginning to affect the macroeconomic framework and place Indonesia's recovery at risk," the IMF said in a statement.

Furthermore, the budget deficit, projected to reach over 6 per cent of Indonesia's GDP, "could further weaken market confidence and could not be financed without leading to a further increase in inflationary pressure".

The IMF's approval is crucial not only to Indonesia's programme with the agency, but implementation of a slew of other loans, grants and debt-rescheduling programmes promised by other donors also depended on the IMF's lead.

Analyst Raden Pardede of Danareksa Research Institute said that without an IMF deal, Indonesia faces a vicious cycle of economic and political instability.

He added: "One reason why the economy is under pressure is due to political instability, which contributes to low investor confidence and further economic problems.

"There has to be a clean break from this cycle if Indonesia wants to return to a recovery path, but unfortunately the administration has been unable to secure strong positive signals from the IMF or other international lenders."

Mr Abdurrahman's opponents in Parliament took the IMF team's departure simply as confirmation of what they have known for the last year - the current government is ineffective and should be removed from office.

Mr Pramono Anung, a legislator from Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI-P, said: "It was a strong message that even the international community is tired of dealing with this administration."

Donors give symbolic support to Jakarta

Straits Times - April 25, 2001

Jakarta -- Indonesia received a symbolic boost of confidence from donor countries yesterday, but was told in clear terms that further funds will be tied to definitive progress on several key reform issues.

At stake will be further funds from the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), a group that last October pledged US$4.8 billion in aid to Indonesia. The government has used CGI money to cover its budgetary holes, as well as fund specific economic and poverty alleviation programmes in the past.

This week's meeting between the government and CGI members -- 19 countries and 14 international banks and aid agencies -- was not a forum for pledging loans, but rather a review session of Indonesia's progress since last year.

Several top Indonesian officials briefed CGI representatives on difficult issues facing the country, including the budget deficit, rampant deforestation, implementation of the decentralisation programme, and how to support the country's small businesses.

The donors, according to the World Bank's top official in Jakarta, Mr Mark Baird, recognised "the extremely difficult political context in which the Indonesian economic team was having to cope with" and "the severe challenges facing Indonesia".

Hinting that the international community's patience is wearing thin, however, Mr Baird also stressed that donor countries have been "waiting for some time to hear reform progress".

"Donors urged the government to persist with its reform agenda and assured it of continued support should it do so," he said.

Dr Rizal Ramli, Indonesia's chief economic minister, admitted yesterday that Indonesia's "fiscal position will remain vulnerable for some time".

"In the six months since we met in Tokyo, we turned from a situation where we were beginning to see sustainable growth to that of an immediate urgency to secure our fiscal sustainability," he said.

But the minister also tried to assure donors that his economic team would push forward reform programmes during the coming weeks in order to satisfy Indonesia's supporters.

The CGI review took place while an IMF team is also on the ground in order to review the agency's US$5 billion rescue package for Indonesia, a process that many observers have said will not end favourably for the country.

Analysts argued that confidence in Indonesia's ability to reform has dropped to a point where international agencies have to start playing "very hardball" in order to see progress.

Mr Anggito Abimanyu, a top Finance Ministry official, said: "The government is in a corner. We not only have to please everyone, but we also cannot afford to anger anyone."

Forest mining ban hurts firms

Straits Times - April 25, 2001

Jakarta -- Up to US$300 million of mining investments in Indonesia are caught in legal limbo because of a new ban on mining in protected forests, said the Indonesian Mining Association (IMA).

Some 120 mining firms own exploration permits in forests which are now protected, and they may have to abandon their investments in these areas, said IMA official Paul Coutrier.

He added: "Mining companies are confused about which regulation they should follow." In 1999, legislators passed a Bill that restricted mining operations in forested areas, but Mr Coutrier said the government had actually assured mining firms that the forestry law was not binding on firms that had already received their permits.

Indonesia outlines key steps to contain deficit

Reuters - April 23, 2001

Jakarta -- Indonesia on Monday outlined five key steps to keep its budget deficit at the forecast 3.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2001 amid fears of an uncontrollable blowout. "We will try to increase revenue and reduce expenditure to compensate for higher expenses as a result of the weaker rupiah and higher interest rate," Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo said in a statement.

He said the government would focus on:

• expanding the tax base in certain areas to increase revenue;
• cutting subsidies for oil and electricity;
• using funds allocated for the regions under Jakarta's decentralisation policy efficiently and sparingly, concentrating on provinces in deficit;
• cutting back on low priority development projects;
• spending less on implementing the government's decision to hand more economic and political control to the regions.

Government finances have been hit hard by rising interest rates -- currently at 21-month highs -- lower revenue, higher costs and a plunging rupiah that has already lost 20 percent of its value this year.

The International Monetary Fund warned on Monday the deficit could blow out to six percent of GDP unless urgent corrective measures were taken.