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Indonesia News Digest No
39 - September 23-29, 2001
Melbourne Age - September 29, 2001
Ian Timberlake, Dili -- Sister Erminia somehow survived the
volley of rifle fire that tore into her van at a militia
roadblock two years ago.
The Catholic nun, almost 70 years old, got out and knelt down to
pray while the militia made sure none of the seven people with
her survived.
The driver of the van was already dead, killed by a shot fired by
the militia hiding in a ditch by the road east of Baucau.
One man was hacked to death with a sword as he tried to get out
of the van, which was punctured by 21 bullet holes. The
militiamen doused it with petrol, set it alight with people still
inside, and shot at anybody who still tried to run, then pushed
the van into a river.
A second nun, two deacons, a student priest, Indonesian
journalist Agus Mulyawan and two others in the van all died in
the ambush on September 25, 1999.
The prayers of Sister Erminia, an Italian who had served in East
Timor for more than 30 years, didn't save her, either. Joni
Marques, the militia commander, shot her twice, threw her into
the water, and then lobbed a grenade.
These are the allegations prosecutors are trying to prove against
10 East Timorese accused in the first crimes against humanity
trial connected with the violence surrounding East Timor's 1999
referendum on independence from Indonesia.
Two years after departing Indonesian forces left East Timor's
entire government structure, including the judiciary, in ruins,
it is here in a refurbished courtroom that the first efforts at
justice are being made.
It is a start, but justice in East Timor alone is not enough,
says Sergio Vieira de Mello, who heads the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor.
"No, I believe it is in the interest of East Timor and Indonesia
to put this behind them and the only way to do that is to face
the realities, face the truth, face the facts, and to indict and
try those who are suspects of crimes against humanity," Mr de
Mello said in an interview.
Indonesian authorities say they are recruiting special judges to
sit on a human rights tribunal that could start later this year
to hear cases related to the East Timor violence. Indonesian
prosecutors last year named 23 Indonesian military and other
suspects in the campaign of terror but none have been formally
charged.
Mr de Mello supports bringing those 23 suspects before Indonesian
tribunals. Other observers doubt it will happen. "I have little
hope that they will ever be tried in Indonesia," a Western
diplomat said. "I've seen a lot of talk but not much done."
Indonesia's delays have sparked calls for an international war
crimes tribunal but such a court would have to be endorsed by the
United Nations Security Council, which some diplomats think is
unlikely.
Xanana Gusmao, who is almost certain to be elected East Timor's
first president next year, takes a more conciliatory approach
than many towards Indonesia's effort at justice. "I believe it is
time to put an end, to put a stone on the past and to start
building a new environment for the future," he said in an
interview.
Referring to East Timor's poor health-care system and many other
challenges the new country faces, he said: "We cannot only focus
our attention on justice, putting people in prison when
independence means that we must pay attention to social justice,
economic justice."
Mr Gusmao's attitude makes Manuel Carrascalao uncomfortable. Mr
Carrascalao's teenage son, Manuelito, was among about a dozen
people murdered in April, 1999, when militia members stormed Mr
Carrascalao's Dili home, which had become a shelter for refugees
fleeing terror in the countryside.
Mr Carrascalao is not opposed to reconciliation but he wants
criminals punished, which he thinks is unlikely in the Indonesian
justice system. "I don't trust it," he said. The Carrascalao case
is under investigation by a UN serious crimes unit of 31
international police officers and nine prosecutors who specialise
in militia crimes.
"We have so few resources," said Jean-Louis Gilissen, the deputy
general prosecutor. Officially, his team has evidence that 674
murders were committed in East Timor during 1999. Mr Gilissen, a
Belgian, admits the unofficial number is much higher.
Even the lower figure is too much to handle for his small team,
which has been forced to focus on key cases like Mr Carrascalao's
and the ambush of Sister Erminia. Mr Gilissen calls it "maybe a
miracle" that they have issued six indictments for crimes against
humanity, including the attack on the clergy.
As the UN moves to hand over most government operations to East
Timorese before full independence, expected early next year,
doubts have been raised about whether even the present over-
stretched judicial effort will be able to continue.
"One cannot but wonder at how, even with international
assistance, an independent East Timor is expected to cope with
continuing this extraordinarily costly and time-consuming
experiment in international justice," Suzannah Linton, a former
UN serious crimes prosecutor, wrote recently in the Melbourne
University Law Review. For now, though, this is the only justice
there is.
At the trial, which began in July and is expected to last several
more weeks, prosecutors are trying to prove that the September 25
attack by Team Alfa militia against Sister Erminia and the other
clergy was part of a widespread or systematic attack on the
civilian population: a crime against humanity.
The ambush was the culmination of a series of crimes committed by
Team Alfa, which the prosecution alleges shared a headquarters
with the Indonesian Army's Special Forces, Kopassus, and worked
under their command.
Team Alfa, based in the eastern East Timor town of Los Palos, was
just one of many anti-independence militia operating in East
Timor. "They were part of a campaign carried on across East
Timor. That campaign was carried out with the support and
cooperation of the Indonesian civilian and military authorities,"
alleges the prosecution's opening statement.
In addition to the attack on the clergy, whom militia considered
to be pro-independence, the accused are charged with murdering
four independence activists, beginning in April, 1999, as well as
the burning of more than 100 homes and the expulsion of residents
in Leuro village between September 8 and 12, 1999.
Eleven men were indicted but only 10 are on trial. The other
suspect, Lieutenant Syaful Anwar, is an Indonesian soldier who
prosecutors allege was deputy Kopassus commander in Los Palos.
Lieutenant Anwar remains at large.
Jakarta Post - September 28, 2001
Kupang -- Six people, including Adj. Brig. Imanuel, a member of
the East Nusa Tenggara police Mobile Brigade, were shot on
Wednesday evening in a clash between security officers and East
Timorese refugees in front of the local police headquarters.
Three of the five refugees shot in the incident were identified
as Fransiskus da Costa, Aloysius Maria and Tome de Araujo, Sr.
Comr. Edward Pakasi, spokesman of the Kupang police, said on
Thursday. Imanuel is being treated at the Yohanes hospital, while
the five refugees are at a hospital in Soe.
Edward explained that the clash erupted when a group of refugees
went to the local police headquarters, demanding that their
belongings, in the form of tables and cocks, be returned after
being confiscated in a raid against gambling on Tuesday. In the
raid, the officers also detained 16 people for their involvement
in gambling at Kobalete stadium in Soe.
The refugees, who went to the police headquarters, turned violent
by breaking the office's windows, Edward was quoted by Antara as
saying. The uncontrolled action ended up with the clash between
the refugees and the security officers, he said.
No information on who shot the victims was available. "We have no
idea whether that was done by the security officers or the
refugees. It is still being investigated," he said.
Aceh/West Papua
Corruption/collusion/nepotism
Local & community issues
Human rights/law
News & issues
Environment
Health/education
Religion/islam
Armed forces/police
International relations
Economy & investment
East Timor
Ravished East Timor still struggles to find justice
Policeman shot in Kupang clash
East Timor tips closer ties to NT's Labor
Northern Territory News - September 26, 2001
Camden Smith -- Closer ties can be forged between East Timor and the Territory because a Labor government is in power, East Timor's Chief Minister-elect Mari Alkatiri said yesterday.
Mr Alkatiri said the election last month of the Labor Government would make relationships "different" than with the previous CLP administration. He also praised the Territory Labor Party's opposition to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in 1975.
Earlier this year, Mr Alkatiri threatened to boycott a ceremony in Dili to mark a breakthrough in negotiations between Australia and East Timor on Timor Sea gas because former Chief Minister Denis Burke was going to attend. At the time, Mr Alkatiri was critical of Mr Burke's vocal role in oil and gas negotiations with East Timor.
Mr Alkatiri said: "It will be different because we have an elected government in East Timor and we have a new government in the Territory. If we look to the past, the Labor Party was always a supporter of the struggle in East Timor. "
Mr Alkatiri said the new East Timorese Government was eager to reach agreement on the allocation of Timor Sea royalties. He said: "We need the money two or three years from now but we need a good deal for both sides. Imagine a country with a $65 million budget every year, and increase it to $200 million, it's very important for this country."
Agence France Presse - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- A man accused of murdering a New Zealand peacekeeping soldier in East Timor last year is to face trial in Jakarta, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Gustaf Yakob, quoted by Indonesia's state-controlled Antara news agency, said the defendant and evidence in the case would be flown to the capital Wednesday from Indonesian West Timor and handed over to the Central Jakarta district court. Yacob, speaking in West Timor's main city of Kupang, said the evidence included the victim's firearm, as well as clothing and other personal belongings from both the victim and the suspect.
Private Leonard Wlliam Manning, 24, was shot twice when New Zealand troops serving with the UN peacekeeping force were tracking militia fighters in a rugged border area near Suai in East Timor on July 24, 2000.
Yakob said a date for the trial of the unidentified defendant has yet to be set, adding he, another lawyer Philipus Fernandez, and several Indonesian police officers and prosecutors would be on the same flight to Jakarta. Yakob said the dossier on the case has already been shown to the chief prosecutor in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province -- which includes West Timor -- and to legal officials with the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor.
Under Indonesian law the trial would take place at the Central Jakarta court because the crime was committed outside Indonesian territory.
| Aceh/West Papua |
Jakarta Post - September 28, 2001
Jakarta -- After weeks of restive calm, at least seven people were killed on Thursday in a series of incidents in the Aceh province, police and reports said.
Police spokesman for Aceh's Security and Order Operation, Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Dwiyanto, said a rebel of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was shot dead during a military raid in the early hours of Thursday in Idi Rayeuk district, East Aceh. Agus told the JakartaPost by phone from the capital of Aceh, Banda Aceh, that weaponry, including an AK-47 automatic rifle, a GLM launcher and four mortars, three pairs of boots, military fatigues and vests, along with hundreds of bullets, wasseized from rebels as evidence.
Gunfights lasting about 15 minutes between rebels and security forces, happened at 5:30am on Thursday, and trails of blood showed that several other rebels were possibly wounded, he added.
Another rebel was gunned down during a raid at Blang Kejeren, Southeast Aceh, on Thursday, the officer added. Three civilians were killed by unidentified armed men who came to their home on Wednesday night at Simpangtiga in Pidieregency, residents said, reported AFP. They were the widow, child and mother of a soldier shot dead in January last year. The news agency also quoted residents as saying that at Samadua, South Aceh, unidentified gunmen shot dead two village leaders late on Wednesday.
GAM has been fighting for an independent Islamic state in Aceh since the mid-1970s. At least 1,200 people have been killed in Aceh this year alone, mostly civilians. After a series of shaky negotiations between Jakarta and GAM, which failed to curtail the violence, the central government slapped a "separatist" tag to the movement and launched operations to quash the rebels.
Straits Times - September 25, 2001
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Indonesian police yesterday linked the blast at the Atrium Senen Plaza on Sunday to members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel group who have been arrested for involvement in the Jakarta bourse blast last year.
Until two days before the bombing, the car used in the Sunday bombing belonged to Tengku Ismuhadi. He has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for the Jakarta Stock Exchange explosion which killed 10 people.
"After conducting an identification of the car's frame number, we found the car that was owned by Tengku Ismuhadi had been sold to someone else," Jakarta police spokesman Senior Commissioner Anton Bahrul Alam was quoted by the Detikcom online news service as saying.
He said Ismuhadi's wife had sold the car on the orders of her jailed husband. He added that 12 witnesses were being questioned about the blast, which damaged eight parked cars. No one was injured.
Sunday's blast was the third that rocked the Atrium Senen building, a shopping mall frequented by many of the lower middle-class Jakarta residents.
The first explosion took place last year, and the second on August 1. In all three blasts, police accused different groups as the masterminds.
Former president Suharto's son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra who is on the run after being convicted of corruption, is also under suspicion of ordering some of the bombings. Police have said they found raw materials for making explosives at the house he allegedly lived in while in hiding.
The police also disclosed at a press briefing yesterday that a suspect in the Christmas Eve bombings of 18 churches last year was part of an international terrorist group with links to Afghanistan and Malaysia. The suspect, Dedi Setiono alias Abas who attended the press briefing, confessed to planting a bomb near the Roman Catholic Cathedral in the capital last Christmas Eve and has since been charged.
Abas told reporters he was trying to protect the interests of the Muslim community in Maluku province, where sectarian clashes with Christians have taken place over the last two years.
He said he belonged to a Malaysian militant Jihad group. In 1987, he trained in Afghanistan together with the Mujahideen fighters opposed to the Soviet occupation at the time. Police said the terrorist group is headed by two prime suspects currently at large, Hambali and Imam Samudra.
Said Police Deputy chief Brig-Gen Makbul Padmanagara: "This group has ties to international terrorist rings because 10 of their members, two of whom had been arrested, are Malaysian nationals. They have admitted to having trained in Afghanistan -- and the Malaysians, who entered Indonesia through Sabah and Kalimantan -- first went to Ambon to fight the holy war against the Christians there," he said. Abas and 13 other people, including a Malaysian national, were arrested in a West Java village two weeks ago.
Police had received a tip-off from another Malaysian who was arrested for alleged involvement in the bombing of the Atrium Senen Plaza on August 1. The group is also allegedly behind the bombings of two churches early this year.
Brig-Gen Makbul said the police were working with their Malaysian counterpart to track down other people linked to the terrorist ring.
The police have been under pressure to crack 38 bombing cases throughout the country since 1999. Brig-Gen Makbul said that only seven of these cases have not been solved.
Associated Press - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- Troops shot and killed two separatist rebels in separate clashes in Aceh province, officials said on Tuesday.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Agus Dwiyanto said an insurgent was killed during a clash in East Aceh on Sunday. On Saturday, a rebel was killed in western Aceh when guerillas ambushed a government patrol.
The latest deaths brought to at least 27 the number of deaths in Aceh since new President Megawati Sukarnoputri visited the province earlier this month.
Thousands of people, most of them civilians, have been killed during the 26-year separatist war on the northern tip of Sumatra Island, about 1,750km northwest of Jakarta. About 1,200 have died this year alone.
Agence France Presse - September 25, 2001
Banda Aceh -- Separatist rebels in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh claimed yesterday to have killed 31 soldiers over the weekend, but this was denied by the military.
Ishak Daud, a spokesman in East Aceh for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), said 13 soldiers were among those killed. But provincial spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Firdaus denied this. He said that in an East Aceh incident, one rebel was shot dead but no soldiers were killed or injured.
A GAM spokesman for South Aceh, Ayah Manggeng, said three soldiers were shot dead on Sunday. Lt-Col Firdaus denied any ambush there. The GAM commander for the West Aceh, Abu Arafah, said 15 soldiers had been shot dead in two clashes. Lt-Col Firdaus said no soldiers were killed but five rebels died.
| Corruption/collusion/nepotism |
Agence France Presse - September 27, 2001
Jakarta -- Some 10.3 trillion rupiah (S$2.06 billion) in state funds was misused in the 18 months up to the end of June this year, local media reported yesterday.
In a report cited by the Jakarta Post, the State Development Finance Comptroller -- an official watchdog agency -- said abuses by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) involved 4.43 trillion rupiah or almost half the total sum. Bulog has a partial monopoly over trade in some basic commodities such as rice.
An earlier audit by international accounting firm Arthur Andersen revealed that unfavourable contracts, "irregularities" and weak supervision led to Bulog losing some US$840 million (S$1.5 billion) between April 1993 and March 1998, the Post said.
State oil and gas company Pertamina reportedly accounted for 3 trillion rupiah and the Finance Ministry 1.26 trillion rupiah of the misused funds. A previous inspection by PriceWaterhouseCoopers of Pertamina uncovered inefficiencies and potential income losses amounting to US$4.59 billion from April 1996 to March 1998, the paper added.
Losses by Bulog and Pertamina which were attributable to the misuse of funds fell sharply in the first half of this year compared to last year, but a huge increase was recorded at the Finance Ministry.
| Local & community issues |
Jakarta Post - September 28, 2001
Jakarta -- Tension was high in the Glodok area in Kota, Central Jakarta, on Thursday, after Taman Sari Public Order Officers demolished VCD vendors' stands along the road during a raid on the vendors on Wednesday night.
On Thursday morning vendors gathered in front of the Glodok Electronics Mall to retaliate against the officers, but police personnel from Taman Sari Police subprecinct managed to subdue them. Police also closed Jl. Pinangsia and parked a number of police cars and motorcycles on both ends of the road.
Fearing that the tension would result in rioting, all shops along Jl. Pinangsia in Glodok closed and private security guards tightened security in front of shop premises. The tension was also compounded by rumors that the Public Order Officers would conduct a second raid to remove the VCD vendors' stands from the area.
During Wednesday's raid, there was reportedly a skirmish between vendors and the Public Order officers, but there were no reports of rioting.
The raid was conducted because the vendors had disrupted traffic, not because they sold pirated VCDs. Many vendors, however, opened their stands as usual on Thursday in the area.
Meanwhile some 50 vendors who were unable to do business staged a protest at the City Council. "We cannot sell VCDs anymore as the Public Order Officers demolished our stands. Where else can we earn a living," Manumpak Batubara, the spokesman for the protesting vendors, said.
Manumpak said that the raid was unjust as there was no agreement reached yet between the vendors and the Public Order Office over the plan to remove the vendors from the area. He said during their meeting with Taman Sari administration district head on September 11, they were told that the district administration would build a public park on Jl. Pinangsia Raya but there was no plan to ask them to leave the road.
He said that the Public Order Officers also singled them out as many other vendors were still allowed to sell VCDs along the roadside. He added that between 200 and 300 vendors' stands had been demolished by about 400 officers of the Public Order Office on Wednesday night.
Straits Times - September 28, 2001
Jakarta -- The Jakarta city council has postponed plans to buy garbage trucks and other essential vehicles because the budget must be used to buy cars for councillors.
City secretary Fauzi Bowo said US$1.1 million (S$1.94 million) had been allocated in this year's city budget to buy eight garbage trucks, 10 pickup trucks for the public order office and 17 other vehicles. "But we'll have to postpone buying them as we need to cover the cost of the 55 Hyundai sedans for councillors and five buses for the council," he said.
Mr Fauzi said the purchase of Hyundai sedans and buses had been allocated in the revised budget last year, but the purchase could only be covered in the current budget. "The purchase of sedans was, in fact, a sudden decision, so we could not allocate the funds last year," he said.
Each of the 85 city councillors reportedly received 75 million rupiah (S$13,730) from the administration just after their inauguration in 1999. The money was supposed to be used as a downpayment on their vehicles. Each council member received a Hyundai sedan while the chairman, deputy chairmen and faction chairmen used official Toyota Corolla sedans.
Last month, the city councillors came under media criticism over what were described as "foreign junkets" at a time of economic crisis. Activists said the itineraries for the "study visits" to Japan and China showed that councillors had spent most of the time sightseeing.
Straits Times - September 28, 2001
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Frustrated residents in outer Jakarta have seized two water trucks and refused to pay increased water rates after their erratic water supply slowed to a trickle.
Two weeks ago, an already-limited water supply in a housing estate in west Jakarta ceased altogether. The water trucks that came to deliver emergency water also demanded extra payment on top of their monthly fees. Angry residents then decided to ensure a free and guaranteed water supply by taking two water trucks hostage last weekend.
"It worked. Now we don't have to pay for the water. We just give them some money voluntarily," said Mr Indrawan, a resident interviewed by a local newspaper.
Residents said that when their water supply stopped, water truck drivers from PAM Lyonnaise Jaya, delivering the emergency water, were demanding extraordinarily high rates for the delivery. At first, the truck drivers demanded 15,000 rupiah per cubic metre. But later, they raised the price to 50,000 rupiah, a significant cost for the average Indonesian worker.
PAM Lyonnaise Jaya has blamed individual truck drivers for the illegal water rate increase. "Reports from customers tell us that a number of truck drivers asked for money, even though the deliveries were scheduled free of charge," said public relations manager Maria Sidabutar. She said water supply had resumed in most households, but the residents have yet to return the water trucks.
Residents in one district of west Jakarta had also complained that they were forced to rise at 2 am in order to collect water before the supply was turned off at 4 am.
But Pam Lyonnaise Jaya defended its irregular supply of water. Ms Maria said the suburb's water supply was interrupted when the firm was trying to extend and improve its water pipes for an increasing number of customers.
A foreign infrastructure consultant said many parts of Jakarta serviced by private water firms suffered from water shortages because the pipework, laid originally by the Jakarta administration, was old. The new company which was partly French-owned did not want to risk more investment, the consultant said. Pam Lyonnaise Jaya was privatised in 1998. Before that, it was run by the Jakarta government.
"When I lived in south Jakarta, I used to have to wake up at 1 am in order to turn on the water. There are not enough water resources built up high enough, so the water pressure is very low," said the consultant. He said foreign companies which had invested in water supply companies faced a dilemma because in order to improve the irregular supply and extend the limited pipe network, they needed to increase water rates. But most residents objected to paying higher water rates.
About 65 per cent of Jakarta's nine million residents do not have access to commercially piped water. Instead, they rely on artesian wells or the city's rivers for water.
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - September 28, 2001
Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military chief's proposal to establish a new antiterrorist agency has sparked fear among human rights activists of a resurrection of the New Order regime's dreaded internal security agency (Kopkamtib). The activists warn that if the plan materializes, the agency would allow widespread human rights abuses to be carried out by the state in the name of security. "I'm afraid that the agency will become a new version of Kopkamtib, which was dreaded on account of its immense extrajudicial powers," said Munir, founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
Kopkamtib, whose official name was the Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order, was established in 1965. It was renamed the Coordinating Agency for Supporting the Development of National Stability (Bakorstanas) in 1988. The much criticized agency was eventually disbanded in 2000.
The antiterrorist agency was proposed on Wednesday by Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Adm. Widodo AS at a hearing with the House of Representatives. He argued that the agency's establishment was urgent because terrorism was already here to stay while the existing intelligence agencies were not capable of handling the problem.
Critics have countered by arguing it would be more feasible to revitalize the existing agencies as establishing a new organization would not only take time but also require substantial funds.
Hermawan Sulistyo, a scholar from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), for example, suggested that the government revamp Wanhankamnas (National Security and Defense Council) and convert it into a kind of national security council of the kind that already existed in a number of countries in the region. "The council could be redesigned to accommodate the defense and security functions so as to combat terrorism," Hermawan told The Jakarta Post. The council was established in 1952 but was later hijacked by president Soeharto to strengthen his grip on power.
Munir was of the opinion that the government would be better advised to strengthen institutions like the National Intelligence Agency (BIN). "The proposed agency could be misused by the government to appropriate extrajudicial powers to itself," he said.
Hendardi, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), expressed similar fears about the new antiterrorist agency. He said such an agency could easily be abused by the military to suppress civil rights and arrest anybody they considered a "terrorist". "We should not give the possibility to the military of controlling civilians," he told the Post, adding that the military would define terrorism based on its own perceptions.
The agency, he argued, would not be credible because the military itself was often accused of committing terrorist acts. It could be that the military wanted to create the agency so as to create the public perception that the military itself never resorted to terrorist tactics so as to achieve its ends.
So far, the establishment of the new antiterrorist agency has won the support of retired military and police officers, including those in the House of Representatives.
A cautious response came from Koesparmono Irsan, a member the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and a former national police chief, who said that if the agency were to be formed, its powers should be strictly circumscribed by the laws. "Excessive powers could easily be misused. And anyway, we have dissolved Bakorstanas, so why should we set up a similar agency" he asked. Koesparmono added that an antiterrorist agency was acceptable as long as it only had the function of coordinating antiterrorist operations, which should be conducted by the police with some military assistance.
Voicing strong support was the former chief of State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Zaini Azhar Maulani. He said the mooted agency was precisely what the country needed now that terrorism was becoming a national, and not only an international, threat. "Terrorism as a movement has already developed into such a sophisticated operation. It will never be the same again as in the 1960s and 1970s. Terrorism cannot be defeated using the old methods," Maulani told reporters.
Straits Times - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, also known as Gus Dur, was found guilty of defaming a former state official and was ordered to pay US$52,000 in compensation, court officials said yesterday.
The Jakarta district court found that the former president "was proven to have acted improperly" when he accused the former secretary-general of the Forestry Ministry, Mr Suripto, of trying to undermine his administration.
He had also ordered the forestry minister to fire Mr Suripto, saying he was involved in smuggling logs out of the country. He also accused the former forestry official of assisting the fugitive son of former president Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, to escape justice after Tommy was convicted of corruption.
Mr Abdurrahman was dismissed as president in July. The former forestry official had demanded 3.75 billion rupiah in damages. A court officer said the former president's lawyers had not yet decided whether they would appeal.
| News & issues |
Jakarta Post - September 28, 2001
Jakarta -- Trafficking in women is rampant here due to inadequate legal instruments and weak law enforcement, a researcher said on Thursday.
Johnna Debora Imelda, a University of Indonesia scholar who has carried out research related to this issue, said that many criminals involved in the offense were untouched by the law, despite what they had done. "Instead, the police usually charged the victims with engaging in prostitution," Johanna, who is a lecturer at the School of Social and Political Sciences, told The Jakarta Post over the telephone.
Johanna pointed to a number of raids by the police related to trafficking in women, but the masterminds were never sent to court. The latest case occurred here on Tuesday night, when the police arrested three suspects for allegedly trafficking in women.
A total of 17 victims had been deployed as prostitutes in Cempaka Bar, which belonged to one of the suspects. The police found out about the case after one of the victims escaped from the bar and filed a report on Sunday.
Johanna said that her research on human trafficking in Jakarta, Medan, Batam, and Bali last year showed that most victims had been sold as prostitutes and domestic workers, while the rest had been used to distribute drugs. Most of the victims were women under 18 years old. "The practice of trafficking in women has continued as it is highly profitable. The organizers do not have to provide any capital but they reap large profits," she remarked.
There is no precise data on when it started. However, human trafficking has been going on for years, according to Johanna. Poverty, low levels of education and early marriage were identified as some of the major factors behind trafficking in women. Most victims usually came from poor villages around the country, particularly in Java, and migrated to large urban areas like Jakarta in search of a better life.
According to Johanna, most victims were ensnared by criminals who offered them jobs as laborers. However, there was also the possibility that their parents, driven by poverty, might have sold them to the culprits.
Marriage
She also suspected that in some cases, the criminals tricked young women from remote villages into marriage in order to sell them subsequently. Most of their buyers were pimps who needed sex workers for their brothels. Once the victims had entered the brothels, it would have been difficult for them to run away, as the pimps guarded them closely, she said. Johanna also said that in several cases, the buyers were pedophiles, as has occurred in many examples in Bali.
Many of the victims often continued to work as sex workers, even if they had been released by their pimps, as they felt that they did not deserve a better job.
Ironically, people here do not consider trafficking in women to be a big problem. "People are not responsive to the problem," Johanna said. Only a few non-governmental organizations are concerned with the issue, she said, adding that they have called upon the government to provide legal protection for the victims by proposing legislation on the matter.
South China Morning Post - September 27, 2001
Up to 1,663 illegal immigrants are known to have entered Indonesia in the past two years, Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said yesterday.
The minister, quoted by the state Antara news agency, told Parliament it remained unclear where 704 had come from, but that 514 were from Afghanistan, 57 from Iran, 355 from Iraq, 11 from Palestine, 20 from Pakistan and two from Vietnam.
The tide of illegal immigrants, mainly from Middle Eastern countries and frequently bound for Australia, has become a major headache for Indonesia and its neighbour. People-traffickers have been using Indonesia as a transit point, with asylum seekers boarding boats in the vast archipelago and then setting sail for Australia.
Mr Mahendra, whose department oversees the immigration authority, said the immigrants had sneaked into Indonesia by boat. Their countries of origin refused to recognise them because most did not carry passports. Often, the illegal immigrants could not afford to keep themselves or pay for their passage home and became a burden on the Government, he said.
Mr Mahendra said existing facilities could no longer cope and the Government was planning to establish nine new detention centres in anticipation of more arrivals.
Reuters - September 23, 2001
Jakarta -- A series of explosions rocked the parking lot of a busy shopping centre in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Sunday morning, police said.
The blasts caused moderate damage but there were no immediate reports of injuries and the cause of the blasts was not known. A bomb exploded in the same shopping centre on August 1.
"There were three bomb-like explosions which we think came from a car. The explosions were very loud but it seems the damage is not severe," a policeman at the site, who did not wish to be identified, told reporters. Witnesses said seven cars were badly damaged by the blasts on the second level of the parking lot.
A police official earlier told Reuters the blasts struck the Atrium Mall complex in the central Senen district at 10.45 am. The official had said the blasts occurred in the basement, but the parking lot is above ground.
A bomb hit the same shopping complex less than two months ago, wounding at least five people, and police linked it to a small group of Malaysian Muslim hardliners. Police had said the group was also involved in Muslim-Christian clashes in Indonesia's eastern Moluccas islands, where thousands have died in more than two years of savage violence.
There have been several unsolved bomb attacks in Indonesia in the past year amid political tension that climaxed in the ouster of the country's first democratically-elected leader, Abdurrahman Wahid, by the top legislature two months ago. Indonesians hope the appointment of Megawati Sukarnoputri as president will usher in some stability in the crisis racked country.
Sunday's blasts comes in the wake of threats of violence by Indonesia's Muslim radicals if the United States launches military operations in Afghanistan, in response to the September 11 attacks on its key cities.
Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, is largely moderate but hardline Islamic groups have emerged in recent years.
Jakarta Post - September 24, 2001
Jakarta -- The police were again made a promise by fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who has been on the run for more than 10 months, that the latter planned to surrender himself to them provided they could guarantee him both security and justice.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam confirmed that one of Tommy's lawyers, Elza Syarief, said her client would surrender to the police to clarify the accusations made against him in connection with the premeditated killing of Supreme Court justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita in July.
"Elza was contacted by Tommy last week but she admitted that she also did not know where he was right now," Anton told The Jakarta Post on Saturday in a telephone interview.
According to Anton, Elza went to the police headquarters and conveyed the message directly to Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb and city police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Adang Rochana.
"I hear that Pak Sofjan and Pak Adang met Tommy's siblings [earlier in the day]," Anton said, adding the discussion was with Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Indra Rukmana and her youngest sister Siti Hutami "Mamiek" Endang Adiningsih.
Anton said police were ready to offer a security guarantee to Tommy but added that proper legal procedures had to be carried out too. "The sooner he surrenders, the better, because if he wants to clarify anything he can do it in his trial," Anton said, adding that the police had witnesses and evidence that pointed to Tommy's involvement in the murder.
When asked whether police believed Tommy's initiative to surrender, Anton said, "It's not a question of whether we believe it or not. Our main job is to act on all information we receive."
Earlier last month, it was Tutut who brought the news that her brother wanted to surrender himself but the plan never materialized.
Tommy evaded an 18-month jail sentence handed down by the Supreme Court last year after his plea for presidential clemency was flatly rejected by former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in November last year. He was sentenced for corruption involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and his firm PT Goro Batara Sakti.
Police announced on August 6 that Tommy had ordered the murder of the Supreme Court justice, M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who was a member of of the panel of judges that decided the 18-month jail sentence. At least 13 people have been arrested, including two suspects, Noval hadad and Mulawarman, who allegedly shot Syafiuddin to death in the Kemayoran area, Central Jakarta, while he was on his way to work on July 26.
| Environment |
Straits Times - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- At least one island near Jakarta still boasts of dazzling corals and plenty of fish, and the people owe the Suharto family for its conservation. For years, Pulau Pemagaran in the Thousand Islands area north of Jakarta Bay was one of the former ruling family's quick getaway spots.
Mr Probosutedjo, Suharto's half brother, has the lease to Pemagaran, and elite troops used to patrol its perimeter zealously with orders to keep intruders out. Now, the island teems with recreational divers, who come for one of the best coral gardens around and perhaps also for a chance to spot Mr Suharto's fugitive youngest son Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra.
Pemagaran's fate, however, is looking uncertain after the government unveiled plans to reclaim ownership of privately held islands in the area and turn them into resorts. The Thousand Islands will soon become an official regency under Indonesia's decentralisation programme.
And local legislators say private owners -- businessmen and politicians who bought long-term leases during the Suharto era -- need to give up their hideaways for the benefit of the nearly 20,000 regular folks who live and work on the islands.
Environmentalists and those who are familiar with the islands' ecology, however, express concerns that further development would destroy the coral reefs and fish still living there. Their worry is that the government and the local people would focus too much on development and not enough on conservation.
Divemaster A. Wahab of Aquapro in Jakarta reported that although Pemagaran's coral garden is still thriving, many of the reef systems around less-protected islands have been destroyed long ago.
"Pemagaran has a good variety of table, brain, fire and fan corals, and also plenty of fish species, damsels, angels and wrasses. But it's a fragile system and easy to destroy. It won't last if more people come, if they build more resorts," he said. The biggest reason for Pemagaran's current state, Mr Wahab said, is that it was off limits to fishermen and tourists for so many years.
Indeed, a recent report from the United Nations' Environmental Programme said that 80 per cent of Indonesia's coral reefs are threatened by illegal fishing and tourism. Unesco, the UN's educational, scientific and cultural organisation, has also studied conditions around the Thousand Islands.
That report revealed disappearing islands and reef systems due in part to human activities. "It is ironic that the Suharto family may have inadvertently conserved Pemagaran," Mr Wahab said.
| Health/education |
Straits Times - September 26, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesians do not read books because they are expensive; publishers do not produce books because demand is low.
This vicious cycle has forced hundreds of book publishers to close in recent years. While many have given up, the few publishers who remain say they are caught in a bind between the need to produce books that are affordable to most people and the need to survive as business concerns.
"Book publishing is not a lucrative business. Unless you have some idealism about public education, you won't survive," said Petrus Damianus Subagya, marketing manager of book publishing company PT Grasindo.
A country with a population of more than 210 million should be a top prospect for any industry, including publishing. Yet statistics published by the advisory council of the Indonesian Book Publishers Association (IKAPI) make for dispiriting reading.
Indonesia publishes a mere 4,000 new titles, mostly reference and general books, every year. On average, each title sells only 3,000 copies. The 1997 economic crisis made things worse -- 200 publishers have folded in the past four years and now there are only 400 left. Subagya said those who survived were mostly publishers with strong capital, or who efficiently managed, or had other businesses to fall back on during the lean times.
In the quest for making books more affordable, the initiative remains with the publishers, and probably the government, to get Indonesia out of its chicken-and-egg situation, rather than with the people. People's low spending on books and poor reading habits are variables beyond a publisher's control, as are volatile paper prices.
But Mr Subagya said heavy taxation and an inefficient distribution system -- two factors that contribute to the high cost of manufacture -- were variables that could be controlled. He believed book prices could still be reduced if there was a strong will, particularly from the government. Prices could be cut if the government eliminated or reduced the tax components and applied special prices for paper procured by publishers, and postal rates for shipping books.
All books -- except school textbooks, holy books and religious books -- are subject to 10 per cent value-added tax (VAT). This is on top of the various taxes already levied on paper and printing materials. Imported books are also subject to another 10 per cent tariff. "We could cut our prices by 10 per cent immediately if the government waived at least the VAT. It's not much but at least it could entice the public," said Mr Subagya.
IKAPI chairman Arselan Harapan agreed the government held the key in the quest for making books affordable. the vote on independence.
The repatriation operation caps months of negotiations involving the de Carvalho family, Indonesian officials, independence leader Jose "Xanana" Gusmao, and N.Parameswaran, chief of staff of the United Nations transitional administration.
Ainaro, in the foothills of the southern highlands, was once a thriving coffee-growing town. It was almost destroyed in the violence that followed the 1999 UN-brokered referendum for self- determination from Indonesia.
| Religion/islam |
Agence France Presse - September 23, 2001
Jakarta -- Groups of militant Indonesian Muslims on Sunday showed up at five international hotels in the Central Java city of Solo, demanding to know if any American citizens were staying there.
Six groups of Muslims, each of about 25 to 30 men, separately checked the five hotels and the city's airport, Detikcom online said. No US citizens were found.
The men, claiming to belong to the Anti-American Terrorist Force, checked with reception staff at the Novotel Hotel, the Sahid Raya, the Agas, the Solo Quality Hotel and Lor Inn and with officials at the Adi Sumarmo airport.
The hotel sweep came despite a call by the central Java military commander, Major General Sumarsono, for Muslims to refrain from intimidation of Americans in the face of possible US reprisal strikes on Afghanistan.
Detikcom said that the force comprised members of several known militant and hardline Islamic organizations in Solo, including the Muhajedin and Hezbollah forces, the Solo chapter of the Front for the Defenders of Islam, the Al Islah an Jundullah forces and the Hawariyun and Salamah groups.
They also left pamphlets warning: "If Afghanistan is attacked, people from America and its allies should leave Solo." The spokesman of the operation, Abdul Khoir, told Detikcom that the sweep was just a taste of what was to come should the US attack Afghanistan.
Another leader of the operation, identified only as Kalono, said that the move was a sign that Americans should not take their threat lightly. "This action shows that we are not playing around in retaliating, if the mother of all terrorists, which calls itself America, attacks Afghanistan. Even just the threat of the attack is already an act of terrorism," Kalono said.
Nine hardline Indonesian Islamic groups on Wednesday threatened to raid US facilities and expel Americans nationwide if Washington attacked Afghanistan, believed to be harbouring Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in September 11's attacks on New York and Washington.
Earlier on Sunday, several moderate Muslim groups had opposed the plans. "We do not need to expel US citizens, staging protests would be enough. Indonesia is an open country," Imam Addaruqutni, who heads the youth group affiliated to the country's second largest Muslim organization, the Muhammadiyah, was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.
One of the co-chairmen of the country's highest authority on Islam, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI), Amidhan, also told the same daily that peaceful protests were more than adequate as a response. "Why should they launch raids?," Amidhan said. "Personally I disagree with that plan," he added.
Anti-American protests have been mounting in several cities and towns in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation where more than 80 percent of its some 210 million people follow Islam. On Saturday, hundreds of Muslims held rallies in at least three cities to protest the US threat against Afghanistan. The largest took place in Makassar, the main city in South Sulawesi, where more than 1,000 people rallied at a downtown monument, burning US flags.
On Friday, US Ambassador to Indonesia Rober Gelbard made an official visit to the national police headquarters in Jakarta to demand guarantees of protection for US facilities and citizens. Indonesian police have deployed hundreds of snipers and crack personnel to guard 17 key United States facilities in the capital in view of rising anti-US sentiment.
Straits Times - September 28, 2001
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Police force has been branded as cowardly for its reluctance to rein-in radical Muslim groups.
The radicals are determined to show their contempt of the United States and its plan for aggression in Afghanistan by evicting Americans. In yesterday's editorial entitled Police Cowardice, Indonesia's only English newspaper, The Jakarta Post, criticised a lack of police action towards the groups.
Last Sunday, six of them conducted "sweeps" of American nationals in the Central Java town of Solo, storming five hotels to look for US citizens. No Americans were found during the search but the groups vowed that the foreigners would be expelled if the US ever attacked Afghanistan.
Other Muslim groups have also declared holy war, or jihad, against the US. They have said they also would round up Americans and drive them out of the country in the event of a US attack on Afghanistan.
The Post yesterday slammed police spokesman Brigadier-General Saleh Saaf's indifference to Sunday's incident, which he described as "a mere expression of views". Responding to legislators' calls for the arrest of those who had carried out the sweep, Brig-Gen Saleh said the police could only arrest those who had broken the law. As the radicals had not detained, abused or attacked foreigners, no action was necessary, according to him.
But the Post argued that threats could be considered a crime under the Indonesian Criminal Code. Next to its front-page story, the newspaper ran extracts from Indonesian criminal codes which said perpetrators of "acts of coercion" could face a one-year jail term. Perpetrators of mass violence faced up to five and a half years in prison, according to the codes.
The Post went on to point out that assurance from the police that they would react should the threats become a reality was not very reassuring. It cited examples of lack of action by the police towards similar groups that had attacked nightclubs in Jakarta in the past two years.
The Islam Defenders Front had been vandalising various night establishments in the capital and surrounding cities, decrying the venues as "un-Islamic".
Yet the police had never arrested or questioned the groups concerned, despite severe damage having been done to some of the venues and customers having been attacked.
"Under the circumstances, it is difficult to escape the impression that our national police are trying to find excuses to cover up for their lack of courage to act," the Post said.
It reminded the police that such a soft stance would weaken the country's much-needed credibility to woo foreign investors. "Any kind of search for Americans in public places would fly in the face of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's promise to American business people in Houston, that Indonesia would guarantee the security of investors in this country," it said.
Observers have suggested security personnel are reluctant to act because they do not want to be seen as being anti-Islamic.
Straits Times - September 28, 2001
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Unemployed, impressionable, and reckless, 26-year-old Taufiq Abdul Halim is the face of the next wave of foot soldiers being deployed to fight the cause of religious extremism in the region.
Recovering after a leg amputation caused by a failed bombing in Jakarta, the Malaysian claimed he came to Indonesia with 10 other friends "to help his Muslim brothers" in Maluku, after seeing images of the conflict on television and reading about it on the Internet. He also said he did not join the fighting in Maluku but only helped to guard Muslim villages and tried to teach the youngsters there.
A graduate from a state Islamic school in Johor, Taufiq spent two years in a madrasah or Islamic school north of Islamabad, Pakistan, where he said he studied the Quran. But according to some newspaper reports, he fought as a guerilla there. Unemployment, plus persuasive friends and his experience in Pakistan drew him to Indonesia after he graduated from a technical drawing course, Taufiq said.
He denies charges of being part of the Malaysian Mujahideen Group, an alleged terrorist group, and going to Indonesia with a political agenda. The Malaysian government has linked the group, reportedly responsible for the bombing of the Philippine embassy last year, to efforts to bring down the government. "I'm just sympathetic to Muslim groups because Muslim people can work together," he said. But Taufiq has admitted that the bomb which accidently exploded at Atrium Plaza in central Jakarta and destroyed one of his legs was intended for a church. He also admitted to other reporters that his loose organisation of Malaysians and Indonesians was responsible for the explosion at Santa Anna Church in East Jakarta in July. Following Taufiq's confession, police arrested 13 suspects whom they believe to be responsible for the Christmas Eve bombings in churches across Indonesia that killed 13 and injured 100 people.
Analysts say Taufiq is the type of young, unemployed, loose cannon who can easily be used to fight holy wars outside their home countries. "There are two possibilities. One is that Malaysia is used as a safe haven for attacks against other countries, the other is that these groups work to destabilise Malaysia and bring about an Islamic state," said analyst Abdul Razak Bagindar from the pro-government Malaysia Strategic Centre.
The rise of Muslim groups here and their connections to other Muslim extremists in the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia are causing great alarm. "Groups such as the Mujahideen could be running cross-border terrorism. It could be quite an effective way to operate if they have a base in Malaysia and then run operations here or elsewhere," said one western intelligence source.
Taufiq has admitted to meeting the leaders of several extremist Muslim groups, including the Laskar Jihad responsible for spreading the Christian-Muslim conflict in Maluku and the Muslim Brotherhood which was charged with attempting to bomb the famous Hindu monument Borobudur in Central Java several years ago. Several of Laskar Jihad and Muslim Brotherhood members received training in Afghanistan during the 1990s.
Reuters - September 27, 2001
Jakarta -- A hardline Muslim youth group warned on Thursday anyone backing Washington's self-declared war on terrorism should leave Indonesia, or risk being forced out.
The Islamic Youth Movement (GPI), which claims hundreds of its followers have signed up for a possible war against the United States, said it would be dangerous for any US supporters to stay in the world's largest Muslim nation after a possible strike against Islamic Afghanistan.
"We will evacuate anyone who supports the US aggression against Afghanistan ... regardless of his nationality. This even applies for Indonesians," GPI chairman Suaib Didu told Reuters.
The United States faces a growing Muslim backlash over a threat to strike Afghanistan in the hunt for Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in attacks on New York and Washington that left almost 7,000 dead or missing.
As Didu spoke, about 1,000 protesters from another Muslim group rallied outside the heavily-guarded US embassy a few hundred metres (yards) from his office, burning the US and Israeli flags in the latest daily outburst of anti-US passions. The demonstrators waved a large banner reading: "Attacking Afghanistan = war against Islam".
Hundreds of hardline Muslims at the weekend raided hotels in search for Americans and have warned them to leave the country. Didu said his group was planning similar action against citizens of US allies, not to scare foreigners but as a preventive security measure.
"After the revenge strike, there will be high passions and these people will certainly be targets. So, before anything happens, we want to escort them to the airport for their own safety. They can return when things calm down," he said. Asked what would his group do if they can not persuade people to leave, Didu said: "We love peace. We will not use any coercion. But if they refuse, they have to bear the risks."
Citing safety concerns, the US State Department on Wednesday authorised the evacuation of all non-emergency US government personnel and their families from Indonesia and advised American against travelling to the vast southeast Asian archipelago.
South China Morning Post - September 28, 2001
Vaudine England, Jakarta -- Small groups of Indonesians are signing up to join a holy war against the United States. A minority is even claiming links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation.
This network of loosely affiliated cells of jihadis (holy warriors) around the world has played a direct role in fomenting religious war in Indonesia's Maluku islands said academic al- Chaidar, a member of Darul Islam, an underground Islamic organisation.
The links with al-Qaeda were forged when 30,000 Indonesians fought alongside the Mujahedeen from 1983 to 1989 against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, he said.
"They maintain contact with the international Mujahedeen network, including Osama bin Laden's group. Wherever a jihad is in force, this network provides money and weapons and all tools needed for the jihad, and they mobilise fighters to go to the jihad area," Mr Chaidar said. "This is exactly what is happening in the Malukus. Osama bin Laden is one of those who have sent money and weapons to jihad fighters in the Malukus."
Many of those jihad fighters are members of the militant Laskar Jihad group, whose commander Jaffar Umar Thalib is a former Mujahedeen fighter. But in an unusual statement, the Laskar Jihad leadership this week firmly denied any bin Laden links. "Laskar Jihad does not have ties with al-Qaeda or any other organisations that are associated with Osama bin Laden or form part of his network. Laskar Jihad distances itself from Osama bin Laden and his followers," the statement said. Mr Chaidar was not put out by the denial and was yesterday quoted as saying that the bonds throughout the Islamic brotherhood were "extremely strong".
Indonesia is apparently unable or unwilling to halt jihad talk despite President Megawati Sukarnoputri's promise to US President George W. Bush to give him full support in any war against terrorism. Mainstream commentators are angry. The Jakarta Post newspaper suggested the police were cowards for failing to go after militant groups who have threatened US citizens and who conducted a raid on hotels in Solo, Central Java, last weekend.
One group registering youths for a jihad if the US launches an attack is the Indonesian Islamic Youth Movement. Members say they have nothing to do with bin Laden, but that some youths have already gone to Afghanistan out of "Muslim solidarity". More than 200 have signed up so far.
Agence France Presse - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia's top Islamic authority called Tuesday on all Muslims to wage a jihad (holy war) if the US launches an attack on Afghanistan and warned President Megawati Sukarnoputri not to support any such retaliation.
The Indonesian Council of Ulemas (Muslim scholars) said it "calls on all Muslims of the world to unite and mobilise their forces to fight in the path of Allah [jihad fi sabilillah] should the aggression of the United States and its allies against Afghanistan and the Islamic world take place."
Megawati, who met President George W. Bush in Washington last week, has condemned what she called the "brutal and indiscriminate" terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and said her country would join the global battle against terrorism.
But the council urged her government not to support any retaliatory strike. "We call on the government of the Republic of Indonesia not to fall to US persuasions to support plans for the said aggression in all forms, political or moral, including by not allowing Indonesian territory to be passed by the US armada or fighter planes," it said in a statement. The council's statement highlighted the contrasting pressures on Megawati in her response to the world's worst terrorist attack. The leader of the world's largest Muslim-populated nation desperately needs Western aid to rescue her economy -- Bush promised her hundreds of millions of dollars in aid at their meeting. But there is also domestic opposition to any attack seen as targeting Muslims.
Militant groups have threatened forcibly to expel Americans and raid US facilities if the United States attacks Afghanistan. Several hardline groups on Sunday checked international hotels and the airport in the Central Java city of Solo in a fruitless search for Americans. There have also been daily small-scale protests outside the heavily guarded US embassy.
The ulema council strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in the US and also criticised the threats against some 10,000 Americans living in Indonesia. Defense Minister Matori Abdul Jalil described the groups making the threats as "insignificant" in number but added: "We cannot tolerate such actions. We have the obligation to protect foreigners, foreign assets and the diplomatic interests of foreign countries. We will take firm actions in accordance with existing laws," he said Tuesday.
Vice President Hamzah Haz, who leads the largest Muslim political party, also spoke out against the anti-American campaign. "We don't agree with that," Haz told reporters separately. "We should not harass foreigners. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, speaking in New York, said such "sweeps" for Americans "could worsen Indonesia's image abroad."
The US has singled out Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in the attacks and made apparent preparations for an attack on his bases in Afghanistan.
Up to 100 protesters gathered outside the US embassy Tuesday, torching a mock coffin with pictures of Bush.
About 100 youths demonstrated in front of the Australian embassy, denouncing attacks on mosques in Queensland last Saturday. Another 300 staged a similar protest outside the US consulate in Surabaya.
The Jakarta police chief assured the British, Belgian and Dutch ambassadors that their citizens will be protected from any protests. Similar assurances were given last Friday to US ambassador Robert Gelbard. Indonesia has deployed hundreds of snipers and crack police to guard 17 key US facilities in the capital.
Reuters - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- A hardline Muslim youth group in Indonesia said on Tuesday more than 200 of its members had signed up to participate in a possible holy war against the United States in Afghanistan.
The Islamic Youth Movement (GPI), which claims to have several thousand members, said it had links with Afghanistan's ruling Taliban but did not give further details or say how it was funded. "We officially opened the registration on Sunday and up until now we have 225 people signed up to join a holy war in Afghanistan," GPI commander Hardiansyah told Reuters.
Hardiansyah, in his late twenties, said the GPI also backed moves by other radical Muslim groups in Indonesia to round up American citizens for expulsion.
The anti-American push has been growing in the world's largest Muslim country but there have been no reports of violence against US citizens. In Indonesia's second largest city of Surabaya on Tuesday, around 200 people rallied outside the American consulate, burned a US flag and chanted "God is great" and "America is an enemy of Islam".
The United States has accused Afghanistan of protecting Saudi- born militant Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect over the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in which nearly 7,000 people are believed to have died.
Protesters in the East Java capital, some 675 km east of Jakarta, also called on President Megawati Sukarnoputri not to back Washington if it attacks Afghanistan. Megawati, currently in the United States, has not yet declared her stand on possible US retaliation.
Another rally was staged outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday where protesters demanded the government cut ties with Canberra following the burning of a mosque in the northern state of Queensland last week. "We condemn that barbaric attack and ask the Australian government to harshly punish those responsible for the torching of the mosque," Mohammad Isnaeni, chairman of the Sabab Hidayatullah Muslim group said.
Peaceful rallies were also staged. About 100 Muslim students gathered outside the US embassy in Jakarta amid tight security, shouting "peace for all".
Vice-President Hamzah Haz tried to calm rising anti-US tensions among Indonesia' Muslims by cautioning the United States against waging a war against Islam. But the leading Muslim politician also condemned the anti-US mood, including a raid on international hotels in central Java on Sunday by scores of Muslim men who warned US citizens to leave.
"We disagree with this sweeping," Haz told reporters. About 90 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Islam.
Reuters - September 25, 2001
Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta -- Elok Sulistianingsih, covered with a traditional Muslim headscarf, tells her young charges to love all religions as she teaches them to recite the holy Koran at a mosque in the Indonesian capital.
"Islam is the way to go, but you should never taunt friends from other religions," the medical student-cum-religious tutor says as she guides a six-year-old girl through Arabic scriptures.
But Indonesia's "smiling face" of Islam is being strained by rising anger among hardline groups in the world's largest Muslim nation over Washington's threat to attack Islamic Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
Radical groups have already hunted Americans in luxury hotels, burned US flags in front of American offices, threatened to attack the US embassy and begun signing up to join Afghanistan in a holy war.
The rising tensions underline the perilous tightrope President Megawati Sukarnoputri must tread between supporting Indonesia's rich and powerful ally and appeasing Islamic hardliners flexing their muscles after years of strict controls.
Megawati walks a tightrope Megawati has not yet declared her stand on possible US attacks on Afghanistan, which Washington accuses of sheltering Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the attacks.
A mis-step by the untested Megawati risks stirring up destabilising Islamic discontent or angering Washington, or both. So far, anti-US anger is confined to militant groups.
But analysts warn a long, complicated and bloody war may force moderates to choose between supporting attacks on fellow Muslims or condemning them in the name of Islamic solidarity "It's safe for us now here ... but these small groups can change everything. And that's bad news for Indonesia," German-born Catholic priest Franz Magnis-Suseno told Reuters.
In a turbulent country where 90 percent of the 210 million people follow Islam, moderate Muslim leaders and non-Muslims are anxious to maintain its softer face.
"The mainstream of Indonesia's Islam is moderate ... the so- called smiling face of Islam," head of Jakarta's State Institute of Islamic Studies Azyumardi Azra told Reuters.
"Indonesia is the most un-Arabicised Muslim country. We should not be misled by small [hardline] groups... and must take into account the mainstream opposes radicalisation."
Almost half Indonesia's Muslims follow its two main Islamic groups Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, who claim a total 75 million supporters. Both have moderate interpretations of the Koran and meld Islam with local culture and traditions, including Hindu elements from past Indonesian kingdoms. "Islam is about peace. We are anti-violence," said Muhammadiyah secretary Goodwill Zubir.
Outside NU and Muhammadiyah are an assorted groups varying from diehard zealots to those who declare themselves Muslims simply because state I.D. cards compel them to belong to one of four religions -- Islam, Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism.
Anger rising Under the autocratic Suharto, Islam's political power was suppressed in the same way he kept a lid on all possible opposition. After his downfall amid political and economic chaos in 1998, the number and strictness of Islamic parties swelled. Megawati's deputy, Hamzah Haz, heads the country's largest Muslim party.
But efforts to make Indonesia a formal Muslim state or to implement Islamic sharia law have so far failed, strongly resisted by the secular Megawati. However, the coming war against terrorism and the lack of a stand by Megawati and moderate Muslim leaders is stoking anger amongst the millions of hardliners. The radical groups feel the Muslim mainstream and politicians have betrayed Islam.
"You must be radical if you say you're a Muslim," head of Jakarta's Mujahidin Council Sayid Hamidan told Reuters. "It's better to die than live under the feet of heathens who keep on insulting Islam," he said, adding thousands of his men, some veterans of Afghanistan's war against the Soviet Union, were ready to join the fight.
Agence France Presse - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia Tuesday promised to take firm action against Muslim militants who have threatened retaliation against Americans here for any US attack on Afghanistan.
Defense Minister Matori Abdul Jalil described the groups as "insignificant" in number but added: "We cannot tolerate such actions. We have the obligation to protect foreigners, foreign assets and the diplomatic interests of foreign countries. We will take firm actions in accordance with existing laws."
Lieutenant General Agus Wijoyo, the military chief for territorial affairs, echoed Jalil. "We do not tolerate any groups or individuals that break the law," he said.
Militant groups have threatened to forcibly expel Americans and raid US facilities if the US attacks Afghanistan in retaliation for terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon on September 11.
Several hardline groups on Sunday checked international hotels and the airport in the Central Java city of Solo in a fruitless search for Americans.
Jalil also said Indonesia's determination to fight terrorism had always been strong. "We cannot tolerate terrorism and we have to eradicate it," he told reporters on the sidelines of a security workshop held by the British embassy and his ministry.
The minister said Indonesia would cooperate with other countries, including the United States, in sharing information on terrorist movements. "There should be a constant exchange of information." Anti-American protests have mounted in Indonesia after US officials singled out the Afghanistan-based Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect but the numbers involved have generally been small.
Many people have expressed condolences over the attacks at the US embassy. During her meeting with President George W. Bush in Washington last week, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri condemned what she called the "brutal and indiscriminate" attacks and said her country would join the global battle against terrorism.
Megawati, the leader of the world's most populous Muslim nation, on Monday held talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at UN headquarters in New York.
On Monday her foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda signed the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism at UN headquarters, the state-run Antara news agency reported on Tuesday.
Wirayuda said Indonesia had long been considering signing the anti-terrorism convention and it was not merely a response to the terror attacks on the US. He also signed protocols outlawing the use of child soldiers and protecting children against the sex trade.
Within the framework of the terrorism convention, Wirayuda said Jakarta would try to increase intelligence coordination with fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other countries. The foreign minister said earlier the signing of the convention was necessary to strengthen Indonesia's legal instruments.
Sydney Morning Herald - September 25, 2001
Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta -- Police snipers guard buildings housing United States government agencies and businesses. Sales of T-shirts bearing the face Osama bin Laden are brisk. Mobs of Islamic radicals search hotels for Americans, threatening to expel them. And security is high at the Australian Embassy after newspapers played up Saturday's attack on a mosque in Brisbane.
Observers in the world's largest Islamic nation, Indonesia, are increasingly worried about the possibility of a violent backlash to the US military build-up in the Middle East and South Asia.
Police have failed to act against public threats to attack the US Embassy despite an appeal for action by the ambassador, Mr Robert Gelbard, and Indonesia's Defence Minister, Matori Abdul Djalil.
The Front of Islamic Defenders, which boasts 10,000 members, yesterday renewed threats to launch a jihad, or holy war, against US interests in Indonesia. It also warned it would bring down President Megawati Sukarnoputri if she backs US-led strikes in Afghanistan.
The group's leader, Habib Muhammad Rizieq, has been quoted in the Indonesian press as saying that the Front would "curb the space for American visitors" if Muslims are killed. "If we want to participate in a jihad we don't need to go to Afghanistan. We can launch a jihad against America here," he said, adding that Islamic groups would "launch acts to ruin [Ms Megawati's] position" if she returned from her current trip to the US and implemented US policies.
Ms Megawati has promised US President George Bush Indonesia's support for his war against terrorism. The country's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, said yesterday that Indonesia would ratify several United Nations conventions to lay a firm legal basis for fighting terrorism. "We deem it necessary to strengthen our legal instruments at home," he said.
Western intelligence officials have information that the bin Laden organisation has sent agents to Indonesia to attack US interests.
Jakarta Post - September 23, 2001
Jakarta -- Hardline Muslim groups stepped up their anti-American campaign on Saturday, with several hundred Muslim students rallying in Surabaya, East Java, and Palu, Central Sulawesi, protesting US plans to wage war against Afghanistan.
At least 200 members of the Surabaya branch of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association (KAMMI) swarmed the US Consulate here on Saturday to present a "Terrorist Award".
Meanwhile in Palu, dozens of student protesters toured Palu's main streets, burning American flags and chanting anti-American slogans. The protests proceeded peacefully in both cities, Antara reported.
In Surabaya, the demonstrators failed to meet any US representatives as the office was closed on Saturday. They presented the award instead to consulate security chief Thomas Soenardi.
The "Terrorist Award" was meant to be the students' token to the US government, which they considered to be terrorist due its plan to attack Afghanistan.
The demonstrators, who were students of the Surabaya Institute of Technology, Airlangga University, Surabaya State University and the National Development University, said that Afghanistan might be innocent.
The US plan followed the country's pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan to hand over Osama bin Laden, whom America believes to the architect of recent terrorist attacks that killed thousands.
The students' action was peaceful, as policemen guarding the demonstration took no action against those crossing the police line adjacent to the consulate.
Holding banners reading, among other things, America Is the Great Terrorist and Bush, Big Boss of Terrorists, the students read their official statements, deploring all forms of terrorism, and demanding that America protect the rights of Muslims and not apply double standards in dealing with the complex conflict in the Middle East.
Some Muslim groups in the country believe the United States has been less than evenhanded in its support for Israel in the past year of violence with the Palestinians.
In Palu, the protest was more rowdy, with students burning American flags in a number of locations in the downtown area. The students' action attracted hundreds of onlookers and thus created traffic jams for several hours.
The protest's coordinator Ajbar Abdul Kadir called on all Muslims in the country to be prepared to for jihad fisabilillah (war in the name of God) to help their Muslim brothers in Afghanistan should the US make good its threat to wage war against Afghanistan. "We [Muslims] cannot be silent in responding to [US President George W.] Bush's threat of war. It is serious," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
Accusing Americans of arrogance, Abdul Kadir called on Muslims in Indonesia and other countries to boycott US goods. "Buying American or Jewish products means giving them money to make bullets to shoot Muslims," he said. "Muslims all over the world should be united to face the US's arrogance," he added.
Saturday's rallies are considered to be the largest in Indonesia since the attacks on New York and Washington on September 11. Similar student demonstrations had taken place earlier in Surabaya, Jakarta and Medan.
Despite growing antiAmerican sentiment, the security forces have downplayed the threats of anti-U.S violence.
| Armed forces/police |
Jakarta Post - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto's proposal to disarm the nation's police has received a big thumbs down. Observers say that, if unarmed, the police would be dysfunctional and their lives placed in danger because of the number of hardcore criminals brandishing guns nowadays.
Police Watchdog Coordinator Nur Atar Achmad dismissed Endriartono's proposal as "ridiculous". "How can the National Police enforce the law [without firearms]? If they were disarmed, they would get killed on duty," Atar told The Jakarta Post.
Endriartono floated his unarmed police idea at a hearing with the House of Representatives last Wednesday. He envisioned Indonesia's police officers as being a "moral force" armed only with batons, like those used by British police. The proposal came in the wake of a clash between Army soldiers and police officers in Madiun, East Java, which left three civilians dead.
Atar said, "No, we can't disarm the National Police because it would contravene international regulations." According to a convention of the United Nations (UN), all police officers should carry weapons while they are on duty. The convention also administers how police should deal with protesters or criminals, he said.
"The police officers must first fire warning shots to disperse protesters. If the protesters ignore the warning, police officers are allowed to use tear-gas and rubber bullets," he said.
Strong opposition was aired by former police chief Awaloeddin Djamin. "How can our police officers combat crimes if they are only armed with knives and sticks while the criminals equip themselves with automatic guns?" he said.
Awaloeddin said he agreed police should not equip themselves with firearms in cases where they are dealing with peaceful demonstrations or regulating traffic. He challenged the army to review its policy on carrying weapons. "Let's be strict on the rule that no military officers can take weapons outside their headquarters or when they are not on duty. Can they do it?"
Wrong solution
Criminologist Mulyana W. Kusumah said disarming the police officers would not be the right solution because the main problem causing the army-police conflict was lack of discipline.
Mulyana said conflict was often a result of overlapping authority between the two forces in maintaining security and public order. "In some regions there is rivalry between them. This rivalry often leads to clashes," he told the Post.
Mulyana noted that there has been six reported clashes between police officers and soldiers this year. "Before the Madiun incident, there were clashes in Ambon and Irian Jaya," he said.
Mulyana said it would be much better to determine what kind of weapons should be given to police officers. "Principally, the weapons of police officers must not be combat weapons," he said. "Indeed, police officers on main roads in Britain don't carry arms. But the police always carry weapons in raids," Mulyana added.
Jakarta Post - September 24, 2001
Jakarta -- The National Police Headquarters announced on Friday a reshuffle involving 50 high-ranking police officers.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi said, as quoted by Antara, that the decree for the police reshuffle, dated September 17, 2001, and signed by National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, showed that the majority of officers were receiving rank promotion and some being replaced because they were entering their mandatory age of retirement.
Included in the reshuffle was the replacement of South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Suparto by Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi. Suparto will carry out administrative duties at National Police Headquarters while awaiting retirement.
Yogyakarta Police chief Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf was replaced by Brig. Gen. Yohannes Wahyu Saronto, outgoing National Police deputy chief for Intelligence and Security Affairs. Saleh Saaf will replace Didi Widayadi.
Bali Police chief Brig. Gen. I Wayan Ardjana was replaced by Brig. Gen. Budi Setyawan. Wayan Ardjana will be National Police deputy chief of detectives.
West Nusa Tenggara Police chief Brig. Gen. Farouk Muhammad Saleh was replaced by outgoing East Java Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Iman Haryatna. Farouk will replace Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Edi Darnadi, who will serve as an expert staff forcriminal affairs to the National Police chief.
National Police director for Antidrug Operations Brig. Gen. Wilhelmus Laturette was replaced by Sr. Comr. Gregorius Mere, outgoing East Nusa Tenggara Police deputy chief. Laturette will become South Sulawesi Police deputy chief, replacing Brig. Gen.Sudibyo, who will become East Kalimantan Police deputy chief.
| International relations |
Straits Times - September 28, 2001
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- The US, "deeply disappointed" by the failure of the Indonesian authorities to act against intimidation by hardline Muslim militants, has told Americans to consider leaving the country.
US Ambassador Robert Gelbard said the move was taken owing to "increasing deterioration in the security environment regarding Americans". "We have been deeply disappointed by the failure of police to act. I've met the police a number of times but they have shown reluctance to act," he told reporters.
Extremist Islamic groups here threatened to round up and attack Americans if Washington launches strikes against Afghanistan or other Islamic nations. More than 1,000 protesters burned US flags and an effigy of President George W. Bush outside the US Embassy yesterday as some of its diplomats prepared to leave the country. They were joined by staff from some US companies and multinationals like BP, Goodyear, Nike and Vico, dealing a potential blow to US-Indonesia ties after President Megawati Sukarnoputri's recent Washington visit.
The US State Department said on Wednesday that it was allowing "non-essential" diplomats in Indonesia to leave and, for the third time in a week, warned its citizens against travelling there. It had warned last month that extremist elements might be planning attacks on US interests and the 10,000 Americans in Indonesia.
But sources told The Straits Times the latest notice was "not based just on short-term security concerns". "The US is making a profound political statement that the Indonesians need to get their act together and not let murderers run loose on the streets," said a Western diplomat.
Mr Gelbard yesterday met Indonesian security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jakarta police chief Sofyan Jacoeb. Speaking to reporters later, he said: "They have been good in terms of their defensive measures, for example, when there's a demonstration at the US Embassy. But they have not been prepared to act to warn or to arrest people who break the law when there are sweeps, when there are threats against the lives of Americans or when there are other actions which clearly violate the law."
The Straits Times understands that the US Embassy had identified about 10 extremist groups that issued threats or conducted sweeps for American nationals over the past two weeks. Some like the Islamic Youth Movement have even threatened to kill Mr Gelbard if Washington attacked Afghanistan.
The police maintained that they were doing their best to keep these groups under control and would act "only if the situation is serious".
A two-star police general explained: "We can't be seen to be cracking down on these Muslim groups because there will be a backlash. We will act only if they commit acts of violence against Gelbard and Americans. The US should not exaggerate the problem. These groups are only engaging in psychological warfare."
Associated Press - September 27, 2001
Daniel Cooney, Jakarta -- Opposition to potential US strikes against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan is growing in Indonesia, and President Megawati Sukarnoputri could face a test of resolve after pledging support for Washington's fight against terrorism.
Political analysts said Wednesday that Megawati would come under attack by Muslim groups when she returns this weekend from the United States, where she met with President Bush and visited New York.
Megawati received promises of desperately needed economic aid in return for her support of Bush's plans to wage a war against terrorism. But back home in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, support of the US fight may not be as strong.
"She is in a bind. Indonesia desperately needs a good relationship with the United States, if only for the money," said political observer, Dede Oetomo. "But if she cracks down on the Muslims, she will be seen as a lackey of the Americans."
During Megawati's absence, influential Muslim clerics condemned the attacks on the United States, but said US forces must not launch revenge attacks against Afghanistan. They also have accused Washington of supporting human rights abuses against Muslims in the Middle East.
Some fringe Islamic groups vowed to send people to Afghanistan to fight on the side of the Taliban, although only a handful of people had signed up. They have also threatened to attack Americans in Indonesia and one group, the Islamic Youth Movement, threatened to kill the US ambassador to Jakarta if American forces take action.
There have been a number of small-scale anti-US protests in Indonesia. US flags and effigies of Bush have been burned. On Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators rallied in the cities of Jakarta, Bandung, Banjarmasin and Yogyakarta against possible US attacks. Last weekend, militants went to hotels in the city of Solo, in Central Java province, searching for US citizens.
Although Indonesia has a secular government, about 90 percent of the nation's 210 million people are Muslim, and extremism is on the rise. In the past three years, about 9,000 people have been killed in the eastern Maluku, or Moluccan, Islands in a religious war against Christians.
Megawati -- who came to power two months ago -- faces a tricky balancing act if she is to retain popular support at home and still maintain a close relationship with Washington. Indonesia relies on financial support from the West to support its crisis- ridden economy, and the United States is its biggest trading partner.
In New York on Tuesday, Megawati offered to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism, describing the attack on the World Trade Center as "the worst atrocity ever inflicted in the history of civilization."
Megawati's support of the United States contrasts sharply to that of her father, Sukarno, who was Indonesia's founding president. A fierce nationalist, he railed against the United States and accused it of meddling in Indonesia's affairs. After flirting with a growing communist movement, he was ousted in 1966 in a military takeover that some historians say was covertly supported by Washington.
Associated Press - September 25, 2001
Edith M. Lederer, New York -- Indonesia's president offered Tuesday to cooperate with the United States in fighting terrorism and warned that terrorists are making a "big mistake" if they think they can destroy America.
"The big challenge that you are facing now will bring out the best in the city of New York and the best in America," President Megawati Sukarnoputri said. She told the audience from the American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce news that she had looked forward to meeting them "in what is still the financial capital of the world," prompting the business leaders to burst into applause.
Megawati then recalled that Thomas Jefferson once said that the tree of democracy will grow stronger if it is watered with the blood of its martyrs. "The victims of the terrorist attacks are such martyrs. Because of the sacrifice of their lives, the tree of democracy will grow stronger," she said, again to loud applause.
The Indonesian leader described the attack on New York's World Trade Center as "the worst atrocity ever inflicted in the history of civilization." The Indonesian leader said she told President Bush last Wednesday that "we mourn with America, that we share your grief and outrage, that an attack on the World Trade Center is not only an attack on the city of New York but an attack on the world."
"Indonesia is ready to cooperate with the United States and other civilized countries in the fight against terrorism," said Megawati, leader of the world's largest Muslim nation. She did not say what kind of help Indonesia was ready to provide -- or what Bush had asked for.
But the strong backing of her nation of 210 million Muslims will be significant in helping the US administration build an international coalition by demonstrating that Washington's support is not limited to Western countries.
Before the terrorist attacks, the Indonesian president had planned to use her US trip to promote political support and investment as her two-month-old administration attempts to revive the economy and build democratic institutions. "I should like to say to you today: Indonesia is open for business," she said.
| Economy & investment |
Associated Press - September 29, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia's plans to win back foreign investment for its troubled economy could falter as the United States and other governments fear for the safety of their diplomats and citizens in the world's most populous Muslim country, analysts said Friday.
"Unless Indonesia is able to quickly reassure the US government and foreign businesses that it is safe here, the economy is going to be hit very hard," said Raden Pardede, an economist at the state-owned Danareksa Research Institute.
The US authorities and other Western governments are worried about rising anti-US sentiment and the activities of some fringe Muslim groups after Washington vowed to strike back at Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The US State Department has warned Americans not to travel to Indonesia, saying "extremist elements may be planning to target US interests." It also authorized all nonessential personnel at the embassy in Jakarta to return to the United States with their families. Dozens are expected to leave this weekend. Other embassies also have warned their citizens to take care in Indonesia.
The heightened fears come amid threats by extremist Islamic groups to round up and attack Americans, despite safety assurances from the Indonesian government, which has said it supports Washington's war on terrorism. There have been near- daily anti-US demonstrations in several Indonesian cities. US- owned businesses have said that they are closely monitoring the security situation in Indonesia and may evacuate foreign nationals if it deteriorates.
Earlier this week, the Indonesia president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, was in the United States trying to restore investor confidence in her country. She encouraged businesses to return to Indonesia, promising to improve the security situation. "Indonesia is open for business," she said.
Analysts, however, say that despite the promises, Jakarta has failed to take action to protect foreigners. "As of today, there's been no action, just lip service," said Ken Conboy, an analyst with Control Risks Group, a London-based security consultancy. "Indonesia's economy will be hit very hard if there's a mandatory evacuation of the US Embassy." "Not only US investors will be scared off," he said, "but businessmen from other countries and even local investors will look elsewhere to invest."
Jakarta Post - September 28, 2001
Jakarta -- President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Thursday that the government was committed to continuing its deregulatory measures in the economic sector.
"I am resolved to reduce the government's role and continue maintaining deregulation in the economic sector, including the various production sectors dealing with energy," the President was quoted by Antara as saying at a symposium on oil andgas in Tokyo.
She said at the symposium, which was attended by Japanese businessmen, that an important lesson Indonesia had learned from many countries over the past two decades was that an economic system riddled with regulations was vulnerable to economic distortions which in the long run would cause inefficiency.
She also said that the Indonesian government was discussing a bill on oil and gas. "If the bill is passed into law, [Indonesia's] downstream sector will go to private investment," she said.
A transparent legal network, she said, would be set up to increase domestic investments in the natural gas sector. She said that the Indonesian government would also formulate other bills on electricity, geothermal and energy management in an effort to operate on a consistent basis to restructure the energy sector.
Although Indonesia exports energy, that does not mean the country is capable of solving its domestic energy problems, she said. "One of these problems is dealing with the future electricity shortage. We are looking for ways to tackle the problem. We need more investment to increase our power stations' capacity," Megawati said.
"We welcome you to invest [in Indonesia]. We ask you to take a look at the eastern part of Indonesia which is rich in natural resources, most of which are untapped oil fields," she said.
Megawati arrived in Japan on Wednesday for a five-day visit after spending a week in the United States.
Reuters - September 27, 2001
Jalil Hamid, Jakarta -- Indonesia's struggling stocks are bracing for rougher times because of a growing anti-US mood in the country, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Jakarta shares, already one of fund managers' least loved markets, have fallen to attractive levels after the September 11 attacks on US cities that has left almost 7,000 people dead or missing and presumed dead.
Hundreds of hardline Muslims at the weekend raided hotels and an airport in the tourist city of Solo in search of Americans. Others have vowed to declare a holy war on America if it launches revenge strikes on Islamic Afghanistan and hundreds have signed up to fight with Islamic Afghanistan against any foreign attack.
The United States is threatening to strike Afghanistan in its hunt for Saudi militant Osama bin Laden, the man Washington believes was behind the attacks.
"We want foreign investors to come in, but such sweepings can reduced their interest," said a Jakarta stockbroker referring to the hunt for Americans. Foreign funds form just 10-12 percent of Jakarta's market capitalisation of $24 billion.
The composite index <.JKSE> was down 1.46 percent at 0650 GMT to a 14-month low of 395.180. Since the attacks, it has lost more than 10 percent, making it cheaper than some of its Asian peers.
Major funds said investors remained wary of the potential fallout of the attacks and its impact on the economy. "Although stock markets in Asia are reflecting levels of value, investors are weighing up their options as to whether they want to be invested given the uncertainties on the whole," said Robert Penaloza, a fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.
Good value
Economic worries also kept most foreigners out of Indonesia although fundamentally, some of its blue-chip companies were financially sound and offered good value. "I don't see any new money coming in at least until the end of this year," said Hazrina Ratna Dewi, a fund manager at Messpierson Finas Investment Management
A sharp global slowdown could hamper the cash-strapped government's asset sales programme and speed up economic reforms. Already the government was seeking to delay the sale of a 51 percent stake in largest cement maker Semen Gresik to Mexico's Cemex amid fear of foreign control.
But the move could further slow inflow of Indonesia's foreign direct investments. "The $400 million IMF loan disbursement doesn't mean much if there are no new strategic foreign investors coming in," said Ratna Dewi, who helps manage $160 million in funds. She said tobacco stocks Gudang Garam and Sampoerna and retailers Ramayana and Matahari Putra were her top picks.
Phuah Lee Kerk, a fund manager at APS Asset Management in Singapore, managing more than $200 million, said he has avoided Indonesia since 1998 when the political and economic crises erupted. "We think it needs some time for the situation to stabilise. We want to see whether President Megawati (Sukanorputri) can stabilise the country," he said.
Megawati's election two months ago after her predecessor was sacked, has helped restore political stability but she faces rising anti-US passions among Muslims.
The US State Department on Wednesday, citing safety concerns, advised Americans to put off any plans to travel to Indonesia and authorised the evacuation of non-emergency US government staff and family members.
Indonesia, rich in oil and gold, may be one of the few emerging markets less vulnerable to the sharp swings on Wall Street. But the economy could still feel the pinch, with growth officially forecast to slow to 3.5 percent this year from 4.7 percent last year. Growth could be flat at 3.7 percent next year, said Harry Su, head of research at BNP Paribas Peregrine.
The brokerage this week lowered its gross domestic gross (GDP) forecast for 2002 to 3.7 percent from 4.5 percent and cut Indonesia's corporate sales growth forecasts to 12.9 percent from 15 percent.
Reuters - September 26, 2001
Gde Anugrah Arka, Jakarta -- Indonesia is set to introduce a new excise tax scheme which could significantly alter the make up of the lucrative cigarette industry and affect two of the biggest and most widely held locally-listed firms.
Permana Agung, the finance ministry's director general in charge of customs and excise, said the scheme was aimed at reducing government interference in the sector while ensuring a sharply higher 2002 budget excise revenue target was met.
"Details of the new scheme are expected to be finalised next month and be effective in January. The impact for the budget and for the industry could be significant that's why we are moving cautiously," Agung told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
The cigarette industry is a key revenue earner for the cash strapped government, contributing more than 90 percent of excise revenue. Indonesia increased its targeted excise revenue by 27 percent to 22.35 trillion rupiah ($2.37 billion) under the 2002 draft budget.
Agung said the new scheme would end the government's role in setting minimum retail prices, allowing big firms to introduce cheaper brands and compete head on with smaller companies for the first time in years.
Under the current complex scheme, set up in under the Suharto administration, the government sets minimum retail prices to which the excise tax is based. The amount of cigarette excise tax is determined by several factors, including the volume of cigarettes produced by each firm and type of machinery used in production. Firms with larger volumes and more advanced production methods are slotted into the higher minimum price segment to avoid direct competition with smaller firms.
Fears of a price war
The cigarette industry, one of the few sectors to survive the country's prolonged economic crisis relatively unscathed, is dominated by locally-listed giants Gudang Garam and Sampoerna and unlisted Djarum. Together they control almost half the local annual production of 230 billion cigarettes and some analysts say the new scheme could see them take over considerable market share from smaller companies. The big three are also run by Indonesia's minority ethnic Chinese while some of the smaller firms are controlled by indigenous Indonesians.
This dichotomy also makes the government nervous about the impact of a possible price war. Agung said the government, fearful the new scheme could trigger a price war, would introduce temporary measures to protect smaller operators.
"Small firms will not be able to compete with say Gudang Garam which may cut prices so low and drive out the competition. In this case there would be a price war and we don't want this to happen," he said. "The scheme will be accompanied by a regulation whereby firms will not be allowed to lower existing selling prices for their products," Agung said. He did not say how long that regulation would be in place.
The government currently defines large firms as those producing more than six billion cigarettes annually, while mid-sized companies are those with annual output of 2-6 billion cigarettes.
More freedom on taxes
Agung also said producers would be able to decide which price brackets they wanted their products to be taxed. Some analysts say Sampoerna -- which has to pay more excise tax because it sells more premium products -- would stand to benefit more than its peers under the new scheme. They say the scheme would allow Sampoerna to lower its selling price, putting them into a lower price segment and therefore lower its tax burden.
But Agung said the new scheme would not allow this to happen. "For example, if the [retail] price is up to 1,000 rupiah, [the excise cost] will be 10 rupiah, for those between 1,000 to 5,000 [the excise cost] will be 15 rupiah ... So if Sampoerna sets high prices, it has to pay high excise taxes," he said.
Excise taxes are a huge drain on cigarette companies. The government currently applies an excise tax of up to 40 percent on cigarettes as well as an 8.4 percent value added tax.
Straits Times - September 27, 2001
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Indonesia's longest-running television station is struggling to stay on the air with depleting financial resources, and there are calls to commercialise the station.
The state-owned Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI), established in 1962, may fold in one or two years if no drastic action is taken, its director Sumita Tobing warned. "There are only two options -- declare bankruptcy or keep it alive," she said.
Privatisation would allow TVRI to air commercials to boost earnings and revive its dying popularity, she said. TVRI is financed with the state budget and receives a 12.5-per-cent share of the gross revenues of the country's six private television stations.
But since the economic crisis, some private TV stations have not been able to pay their dues. This leaves 150 billion rupiah (S$27.56 million) in government subsidies a year as TVRI's main financial resources. Ms Sumita said the subsidy covers only around 10 per cent of the total operational cost.
TVRI needs at least two trillion rupiah to rejuvenate its old equipment, some of which no longer function, she added. It also needs at least 800 billion rupiah a year to operate.
Ms Sumita took over the helm last June after much experience in several private TV stations. She has asked the government to turn the station into a limited company. TVRI became a state-run company when the Ministry of Information, under which it used to operate, was dissolved last year.
Ms Sumita's proposal has received some support in Parliament. In a hearing last Thursday, some legislators called on the government to privatise the station to lift the burden on the budget. Mr Effendy Choirie of the National Awakening Party, said: "Selling it to the public will stop the losses." But others were concerned that this would make the station completely commercialised, and that it would abandon its social mission.
TVRI has the widest reach in the country with 400 relay stations across the archipelago. However, its viewership has been dwindling in urban areas, where many private stations offer stiff competition.
Although TVRI has vowed to be an independent public service broadcasting station, it is still largely seen as a government mouthpiece. Its variety shows also lack the modern appeal of programmes broadcast by private stations. But about 70 per cent of TVRI's audience live in the rural areas, where the private TV channels are harder to pick up.
Ms Sumita said TVRI is burdened by its outdated equipment and employees with a complacent "civil servant" mentality. Only 10 per cent of its 7,200 employees are productive, she said.
Agence France Presse - September 25, 2001
Jakarta -- Leaders of oil-producing districts predicted potential trouble over a new oil and gas law as President Megawati Sukarnoputri courted oil barons in the United States, reports said Tuesday.
Megawati, who is visiting the United States, told a lunch of oil industry chiefs in Houston, Texas, on Sunday that she promised a "more stable and conducive climate," and would protect foreign investors, the Jakarta Post reported. Oil companies in turn told Megawati it was vital to clarify apparently contradictory or overlapping tax regulations, resulting from vague regional autonomy laws introduced on January 1. "Indonesia will be one of the best places to put money if you have a stable and predictable tax environment," Conoco senior vice president, J. Michael Stinson, was quoted as saying. Texaco chairman Glenn Tilton said uniformity in investment laws was crucial.
One of Megawati's key economic advisers, Frans Seda, was quoted as saying the firms pledged two billion dollars in new investment in Indonesia.
In wooing the oil companies, many of which already have projects in Indonesia, Megawati cited a bill liberalising the oil and gas sector which is expected to be ratified next month.
However its passage could bring fresh problems, with district chiefs of oil-producing areas, grouped under the Consultative Forum of Oil Producing Regencies, accusing MPs of ignoring their input for the bill. "If the oil and gas producing regions are denied a participation [in forming oil gas policies], this will create a fatal consequence," Forum chairman Irianto Syaifuddin told the Post.
Syaifuddin warned that security problems could result if local people feel they have been ignored. The regent [chief] of East Lampung district, Irfan Djafar, reminded parliament that security for oil and gas companies depended on local authorities. "Thus far we have taken pains to persuade local people not to take anarchic action against oil and gas companies in their areas. But it seems that the central government and the House are not sensitive to the problems."
The regional autonomy laws have been widely criticized as vague and creating an overlapping of authority between the central government and regional authorities. Investors and businessmen have repeatedly complained of overlapping levies set by district, provincial and central government authorities as well as overtaxation of their operations.
Parliament will debate a revision of the regional autonomy law by the end of the year, Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno said Tuesday. It will examine the relationship between administrations at all levels. The regional autonomy bill aimed to appease mounting local demands for a greater share of profits made in their regions.