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Indonesia News Digest No
50 - December 17-23, 2001
UNTAET Daily Briefings - December 19, 2001
The Constituent Assembly today passed the fortieth article of
East Timor's draft Constitution, approving eight articles
relating to rights of the citizen.
The articles passed today, all with significant majorities,
include the following:
Article 32 provides every citizen with the right to apply for
habeas corpus, with a court having to rule on the application
within eight days.
Article 33 entrenches the presumption of innocence and the right
to be assisted by a lawyer. It further provides that evidence is
of no effect (presumably inadmissible in a court of law) if
obtained by illegal means which, amongst other things, includes
torture, coercion, infringement of physical or moral integrity of
the individual, and wrongful interference with correspondence or
telecommunications.
Article 34 covers extradition and provides that extradition on
political grounds is prohibited.
Article 36 provides for the inviolability of home and
correspondence. The second paragraph of the article provides that
a citizen's home will not be entered except under the order of a
competent judicial authority and in the cases and manner
described by law. The third paragraph of the article states that
no one shall enter the home of any person at night without that
person's consent. This provision was seen as important by the
assembly members in light of the history of the Indonesian
authorities taking people into custody at night.
The assembly has been passing articles with increased speed in
the past two days following last week's agreement to change
voting procedures -- members now take only one vote on an article
and all its sub-paragraphs rather than vote on the title and each
individual sub-paragraph -- and to work longer hours.
UNTAET Daily Briefing - December 18, 2001
Dili -- East Timor's Constituent Assembly appears to be gaining
momentum in its deliberations, today passing 12 articles covering
a wide range of rights issues.
The increased speed in deliberations -- as compared with the
assembly's previous passage of, in some cases, just one article a
day -- reflects a change of procedures and longer working hours
agreed upon last week.
Previously members would vote on the title of an article and the
wording of each of the sub-paragraphs before taking a vote on the
article as a whole. Under the new procedures, members have been
taking only one vote on an article and all its sub-paragraphs.
The Assembly last week also passed a motion extending the
deadline for passing the Constitution from the original 15
December deadline to 25 January. The articles passed today,
mostly by wide majorities, include the following:
Article 20, which deals with East Timorese overseas, provides
that such citizens shall enjoy protection by the State for the
exercise of their rights. The proposed article 21, which was to
deal with the rights of foreign citizens in East Timor, was
eliminated from the text of the Constitution.
Article 22 provides that the fundamental rights enshrined in the
Constitution shall not exclude any other rights provided for by
law and shall be interpreted in accordance with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 24 provides for the suspension of the exercise of
fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees during a state of
siege or a state of emergency, with the exception of the right to
life, physical integrity, citizenship, non-retroactivity of
criminal law, freedom of conscience and religion, and defense in
a criminal case.
Article 27 provides that every citizen has the right to disobey
and resist illegal order or orders that affect their fundamental
rights, freedoms and guarantees. Article 28 provides that human
life is inviolable and the state shall ensure and respect the
right to life.
The assembly has now passed 31 of the draft Constitution's 151
articles.
Labour struggle
Aceh/West Papua
Government & politics
Regional/communal conflicts
Local & community issues
Human rights/law
News & issues
Informal sector/urban poor
East Timor
Constituent Assembly passes eight more articles
Constituent Assembly debate gathers speed
Guterres says he'll turn against Jakarta in tribunal
Australian Associated Press - December 20, 2001
Catharine Munro, Jakarta -- East Timor's best-known militia leader Eurico Guterres today said he was ready to face court for human rights violations during the vote for independence in 1999. The Indonesian nationalist who was born in East Timor said he was ready to turn against the Indonesian government in the international courts.
"I will file a lawsuit against the government of Indonesia, the Portuguese government and the United Nations in the international courts because what is considered as the human rights violator is always the state and not the individual," Guterres said, according to the respected daily newspaper Kompas. "Those three parties were responsible for the political and security chaos in East Timor."
Guterres said he welcomed the setting up of the human rights tribunal, declaring he still was not aware of his crimes. "I was a civilian and not a state official so I cannot be accused of human rights violations. My political motive was only to defend the country. My hope is that I will be able to show in this court who was responsible for the human rights violations. I am curious to find out whether the human rights tribunal will be able to bring [then president] Habibie, [then military commander] Wiranto and other high-ranking civilian and military officials into the court."
A long-delayed tribunal that will deal with a limited number of cases in East Timor and the killing of Islamic protesters in Jakarta in 1984 was due to start mid-January. Officials from the Supreme Court and the Attorney-General's Office (AGO) said the tribunal now needed a decree from President Megawati Sukarnoputri confirming the appointment of the tribunal's non-career judges in order to get under way.
The AGO has included Guterres on a list of suspects for crimes in East Timor in 1999. However, Guterres has enjoyed the status of a nationalist hero in some quarters in Indonesia since the province broke away after the UN-backed independence vote. He was even given an official position in Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the biggest political party in the Indonesian parliament. This year, he served a short jail term for inciting violence in the West Timorese town of Atambua during a weapons handback ceremony between police and militia leaders last year.
Australian Associated Press - December 19, 2001
Sydney -- The commonwealth is fighting a US company's bid to win compensation in the federal court for losing vast gas reserves in the Timor Sea.
Petrotimor and its related company Oceanic Exploration claim in papers filed in the Federal Court in Sydney that Timor Gap treaty arrangements made by Australia breach international law. The government is seeking to have the case, which is in its earliest stages, thrown out of court on grounds yet to be outlined.
Petrotimor and Oceanic are suing the government and other corporations that now hold exploration rights, including Phillips Petroleum, claiming they held pre-existing rights to most of the reserves through a concession granted in 1974 by Portugal, which then controlled East Timor. The companies suspended that agreement after months of civil unrest and the invasion of the province by Indonesia in December 1975.
The Timor Gap Treaty signed by Australia and Indonesia in 1989 extinguished the exploration rights of Petrotimor and Oceanic, the court documents claim. The treaty was illegal because it breached section 31 of the constitution, which only permits the commonwealth to acquire property on "just terms", the papers said.
Ron Nathan for the companies said outside the court in Sydney today they would argue the gas reserve rights gained through the invasion of East Timor were illegally obtained. "This case is quite unprecedented as it raises lots of issues which flowed from the Indonesian invasion of East Timor," he said. "On one view, the Indonesian invasion was illegal in international law, yet recognised by Australia." The matter goes before the courts again on Friday and is listed for a directions hearing on January 16.
Lusa - December 17, 2001
East Timor's interim foreign minister, Jose Ramos Horta, visited the Lisbon headquarters of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) Monday, reaffirming Dili's intention of joining the seven-nation organization.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said Dili would formally present its request for CPLP membership "at the time of independence", which is set for next May 20.
He said the seven CPLP heads of state had been invited to attend the next meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Dili on the eve of the independence ceremonies.
After meeting with CPLP Executive Secretary Dulce Pereira, a Brazilian, Ramos Horta, who is in Lisbon on a six-day visit, said education, particularly Portuguese language teaching, was East Timor's top priority for cooperation with the organization.
The CPLP has drawn up an education program to provide the Asian territory with 3,500 teachers.
Asked about tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees still in Indonesian West Timor, Ramos Horta predicted that 80 percent of them would return home within the next "three to six months".
The remainder, he added, would stay in Indonesia either because of family ties or "fear of reprisals for crimes" committed during the wave of anti-independence violence at the time of the 1999 plebiscite.
Straits Times - December 17, 2001
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- The Indonesian military is sounding the alarm over a separatist group that is aspiring to unite both halves of Timor island. Just two years after Jakarta lost East Timor in a United Nations-supervised independence vote, hawkish generals cautioned that the Indonesian-controlled West Timor could also secede if rebels from the Greater Timor State movement had their way.
Over the past few months, the armed forces (TNI) had detected activity by this rebel group that suggested moves to unite the two islands, said Colonel Moeswarno Moesanip of the Wirasakti command in the West Timor capital of Kupang.
Political observers, however, were quick to downplay the warning, saying disgruntled military hardliners were hoping to drum up support to crack down harder on East Timor sympathisers in the western border.
Col Moeswarno told reporters that the group had tried to make its presence felt by rallying public opposition to the deployment of an infantry battalion along East Timor's border. Investigations revealed that the rebels were afraid the deployment would impede their plans to create a separate Timor state, he said.
Col Moeswarno's comments were against a backdrop of other threats to Indonesia's unity, primarily from separatists in Aceh and Irian Jaya. These insurgents had been fighting for decades to break away from Jakarta.
Analysts believed that the rebel group operating in West Timor is a pale shadow of the other separatist movements in Indonesia. Little is known about its membership strength or political links. Some in the army see the group allied closely to the new East Timor administration, although Col Moeswarno does not make this connection.
A TNI source noted: "We suspect that there are people in East Timor backed by foreign governments who might want to destabilise Indonesia." The generals, however, refuse to acknowledge that certain military elements are intent on playing the same destabilising game in East Timor.
Not everyone in the TNI is happy about independence for the former Portuguese colony, which Indonesia annexed in 1976. The TNI top brass continues to be resentful because it feels that the East Timor problem is created by the politicians and the military is made to bear the brunt of the policy failure as well as the ignominy when the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence.
Indeed, there is covert support by some in the TNI for the pro- Indonesia East Timor militias. Sustained by disgruntled generals even today, the militias continue to be a thorn in the side of East Timor.
At the broader national level, sources said it also lends credence to calls from within the establishment to keep the territorial command structure in place. The argument is that the territorial command structure -- under which the military has a reach right down to village level and ample opportunity to dabble in politics -- will enable the TNI to better handle threats by rebels such as the Timor group, the Free Aceh Movement and Irian Jaya separatists.
A Jakarta-based researcher said: "It is common now for the military to wave threats of separatism and all kinds of security dangers emerging in Indonesia. "It is really helping them preserve a system that has served their interests for the last 30 years."
The Indonesian armed forces say they have detected activity by the Greater Timor State group that suggests moves to reunite Timor. The group, they say, has tried to rally public opposition to the deployment of an infantry battalion along East Timor's border, which it fears could impede plans for a separate Timor state.
Jakarta Post - December 18, 2001
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang -- The military says it has found evidence that a group on the Indonesian side of Timor island is striving for an independent state, which it wants to call Timor Raya. Col. Moeswarno Moesanip, chief of Kupang Military District overseeing East Nusa Tenggara, said here over the weekend that a separatist movement had been detected in East Nusa Tenggara after the local military monitored and analyzed all factors behind the rejection by certain groups of the planned deployment of an infantry battalion along the border between Indonesia and East Timor.
The separatist movement has a political motive in its effort to separate East Nusa Tenggara, or West Timor, from the unitary state of Indonesia, he said. Certain parties in North Timor Tengah regency, which borders Atambua, have rejected the government's plan to deploy an infantry battalion to increase security along the border.
According to Moesanip, the separatist movement would find it difficulty to operate if security along the border was stepped up. He said that because of the detected separatist movement, the Udayana Military Command overseeing Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara considered it urgent to station an elite force along the border between East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara.
"It's not a problem if the Timor Raya state is merely an idea, but if it is declared, the rebels will be digging their own graves because they will come face to face with the military," he said.
Udayana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Willem T. da Costa recently called for the immediate deployment of elite soldiers along the border to prevent East Timor's communist ideology from infiltrating West Timor.
Moesanip said the plan to station an infantry battalion in North Timor Tengah regency had gained support from local people and the Atambua Catholic diocese. "It's not the residents of North Timor Tengah regency but those in Atambua who know the real situation along the border. So those who do not live in Atambua should not comment on whether an infantry battalion is really needed along the border," he said.
He said the infantry battalion would be made up of servicemen mostly from West Timor because they understood the social problems and traditional customs in the province. East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo dismissed the separatist movement, saying it was an idea aired by minority groups in the province.
"The issue of a Timor Raya state was raised by East Timorese informal leaders taking refuge in North Timor Tengah at a recent meeting with local people, but the local people will not be easily influenced by such a weak issue," he told The Jakarta Post here on Monday.
| Labour struggle |
Jakarta Post - December 21, 2001
Ainur R. Sophiaan, Surabaya -- On Thursday, following a two-month deadlock between employers and workers, the governor of East Java moved to set the monthly minimum wages in 36 regencies and mayoralties in the province for the 2002 fiscal year.
Unlike in previous years, the decree issued by the governor stipulates that monthly regional minimum wages in all provinces and mayoralties be in accordance with their differing level of minimum needs. The current minimum wage in the province is Rp. 390,000 (US$39).
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea issued a circular to all provinces last October that the regional minimum wage level for the 2002 fiscal year should be at least equal to regencies/mayoralties' basic physical and material needs.
Deputy Governor Imam Supardi said the governor hoped that both employers and workers would comply with the decree to avoid any labor disputes and strikes in the coming year. "Both workers and employers are allowed to convey their objections to the decree, but they must have strong reasons and valid data for any possible changes in the new minimum wages," he told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.
Asked about the regional minimum wage in Gresik, Supardi said the provincial administration has given a deadline of up until December 26, 2001 to make an agreement between employers and workers. "If both sides fail to reach a consensus, the governor will unilaterally set the minimum wage level in the regency," he said.
Of the 30 provinces, 16 have determined their provincial minimum wages, while the remaining 14 were expected to follow suit in the next ten days. The 16 are, among others, Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West and East Nusa Tenggara, Gorontalo and Irian Jaya. All the new minimum wages will be effective January 1, 2002.
| Aceh/West Papua |
Reuters - December 22, 2001 (slightly abridged)
Jayapura -- Indonesian police beat protesters with sticks in rebellious Papua province on Saturday to break up a demonstration over the murder last month of pro-independence chief Theys Eluay.
Some 200 police hit scores of the 700 protesters who had gathered outside the legislative building in the provincial capital Jayapura, some 3,700 km east of Jakarta. Dozens of protesters suffered light injuries.
Shouting "Freedom for Papua!", the protesters had marched from the province's main university on the outskirts of the port town demanding authorities find those behind the murder of the charismatic Eluay. "Solve Theys' Murder Now!" said one banner held aloft during the protest, the latest in a series of rallies staged since Eluay's murder.
Police said they broke up the rally because the protesters had not sought a permit for the demonstration. By late afternoon, most protesters had dispersed through the town.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri was scheduled to visit Papua on Saturday but the plan was postponed indefinitely due to what Jakarta officials said was rising tension in the province. Others have said Megawati could not travel because she had flu.
Jakarta Post - December 21, 2001
Tiarma Siboro and R.K. Nugroho, Jakarta/Jayapura -- Bowing to intense public pressure, the government announced on Thursday that it was forming an independent team to investigate the November 11 murder of Irian Jaya independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government was working on the composition of the team membership, and underlined that such a team would report any progress to the President.
Susilo said that, after speaking with reporters following a meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri at her residence on Jl. Teuku Umar, a presidential decree was being drafted to legally back the team's operation.
Last week, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) proposed that a national independent team with the police and military elements in it be set up to probe the death of Theys. The commission also proposed the inclusion of prominent local figures and some members of independent, non-government organizations in the team.
Komnas HAM Chairman Djoko Sugianto said, after a meeting with Susilo last week, that a decree on the establishment of the investigating team was badly needed to give it more authority.
On Thursday, Susilo said that the government had yet to decide whether or not any military or police officials would join the team.
Prior to the meeting with the President, Susilo led a special meeting on social and political affairs at his office, which included discussion of Irian Jaya issues.
Also present at the meeting were, among others, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayudha, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Attorney General M.A. Rachman and Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Adm. Widodo A.S.
Earlier in the day, Susilo also met with deputy chairman of the Papua Presidium Council (PDP), Tom Beanal, along with Thaha. During the meeting, Thaha said that they had told Susilo the Papuans would not accept such an "independent team" as a substitute for the government.
"How come such a team could be independent while it also accommodated government elements?" Thaha asked. "We can't accept such a team proposed by the Komnas HAM ... we prefer to bring the case to an international forum." He further said that the Papuans (as people indigenous to Irian Jaya call themselves) also demanded Jakarta's commitment to having Papuan history corrected. The settlement of human rights violations was also among their demands.
Thaha was referring to an ignored Papuan independence effort in December 1961, and the UN-sponsored plebiscite after Irian Barat (the then name of Irian Jaya) was handed over to the government of Indonesia, through the UN, from the Dutch in 1963.
That the government has set up an investigation team has apparently failed to impress non-government organizations based in Jayapura, Irian Jaya. The Institute of Human Rights Study and Avocation (Elsham), the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) declared their opposition to the government-backed team to probe Theys' death. "Komnas HAM's credibility has deteriorated in the eyes of Papuans," Elsham supervisor John Rumbiak told The Jakarta Post after a media conference on Thursday.
The three non-government organizations recorded that Komnas HAM had failed in handling rights violations in Irian Jaya, citing the Freeport right violations in 1995, the violence in Biak in 1998, the Mapmduma case in 1999 and the Abepura incident last year. "None of the cases has been properly investigated and resolved by Komnas HAM," John Rumbiak said.
The three NGOs believed that the independent team proposed by the government was an attempt to portray the death of Theys as being merely the result of a criminal incident. Moreover, military personnel may have been be involved in the alleged murder, both Rumbiak and Wakman said.
The three influential NGOs proposed that an independent team be composed of reliable members of national NGOs and Papuan figures, along with human rights experts from other countries, such as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions, the United Nations' Working Group on Torture and independent forensic experts.
The three NGOs also said that President Megawati had played a role in Theys' death. "Megawati's involvement [in Theys' death] started before the second Papuan congress from May 29 to June 4 this year," said Rumbiak. "At that time she put Papuan issues on the agenda of the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly [MPR] in August this year," he added, "where she termed the Papuans' political move as separatism, which must not be condoned."
"Subsequently, very confidential documents were issued on June 9, 2000 on the operation to curb the political move in Papua," he noted. "In her state address in August 2001 she stressed that there would be no place for separatists in Papua and Aceh."
According to Rumbiak, the abduction and murder of Theys were not committed by common criminals. "The abduction and murder are very serious human rights violations in which the state was involved," he said.
Jakarta Post - December 21, 2001
Banda Aceh -- At least seven people were killed in Aceh on Tuesday and Wednesday, three were military personnel and four others were Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels, officials and witnesses said on Thursday. The incidents took place in three different sites in West Aceh, Aceh Besar and East Aceh.
Meanwhile on Thursday, two more bodies bearing gunshot wounds were found in South Aceh and North Aceh, said Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) activist Alimuddin.
The latest took place in the village of Panton, Teunom district, West Aceh, some 150 kilometers from Banda Aceh. The casualties were Pvt. Arinto and Pvt. Saiful Anwar from the Army's special force (Kopassus). Their patrol group was intercepted by GAM rebels. A GAM member, M. Yunus, also died in the ensuing gunfight, Army Spokesman Maj. Zainal Mutaqin said.
Also in West Aceh, in the village of Blang Luah in Woyla district, security forces shot dead a GAM member, Nur Abidin, on Tuesday for resisting arrest, after officers caught him extorting money from locals.
On Wednesday, in the village of Panca, Seulimum district, Aceh Besar -- about 50 kilometers north of Banda Aceh -- the military raided a GAM base, killing two rebels. The victims, identified as Arman and Anton, were carrying revolvers, which along with ammunition were seized as evidence.
Meanwhile, chief of Simpang Mulieng Military Subdistrict Lt. Sugianto was also shot dead in an armed skirmish in the village of Kuta Lawah, Idi district, in East Aceh on Tuesday.
He was traveling in a bus bound for Banda Aceh from Medan when a group of GAM rebels stopped the bus and searched it. He was shot dead by the rebels after his identity as a military man was discovered.
South China Morning Post - December 21, 2001
Vaudine England and agencies in Jakarta -- An Indonesian military transport plane was destroyed after being hit by rebel ground fire yesterday as it approached an airport in separatist-racked Aceh province.
The Lockheed Hercules C-130 managed to land at Lhokseumawe airport, but burst into flames on the runway, military spokesman Major Zainal Mataquin said. There were no casualties. Antara news agency said all 93 crewmen and passengers managed to escape from the stricken plane before fire engulfed the fuselage.
One witness said the plane overshot the runway and caught fire after crashing into a shallow ravine. He said people were seen jumping from the plane before it caught fire and at least two soldiers were rushed to the Lhokseumawe military hospital.
The air force had earlier rejected rebel claims that they shot down the plane, saying it hit a low fence at the end of the runway when landing. But Free Aceh Movement field commander Amri bin Abdul Wahab said insurgents had targeted the plane because the Government was flying reinforcements into the troubled region. "We did it and we will do it again if the Indonesian military insists on sending more troops to Aceh," he said. The commander also said an exchange of fire had erupted between his fighters and troops guarding the airport. There were no casualties on his side, he said.
Among the passengers on board the Hercules were members of the dreaded Kopassus special forces who had completed a tour of duty in Aceh and were returning to Jakarta. The airport was closed to civilian flights after an attack on February 6 last year launched by rebels on an aircraft carrying industrial workers.
The incident comes amid continuing fighting between troops and rebels in an area that was promised peaceful dialogue in August when President Megawati Sukarnoputri signed into law a special autonomy package for Aceh. Ms Megawati led a peace mission to the province last month that failed to end the bitter fighting.
Instead of seeing justice for the history of rights abuses, the death toll from the conflict has continued to rise. Indonesian police and military said yesterday six people, including three government soldiers, had been killed in separate incidents in the province since Tuesday.
Instead of the increased revenues and political respect promised in the special autonomy law, the central Government is failing to extend even basic services to the violence-plagued population, critics in Aceh say. "Actually, it's got worse," said an Acehnese who works for a non-government organisation (NGO) and has moved to Jakarta for his safety. "People are moving freely on the main roads as the military is not harassing them on the streets. But the military is harassing villagers. Kidnappings and army sweepings are going on in many villages.
"The Government hasn't and cannot do anything because the military seems to control everything in Aceh now. We only hear the speeches and promises, but no action or reality. People don't trust Jakarta any more."
With troops regularly arriving in the area, generals this week said they wanted to revive a special military command for Aceh, claiming popular support for an increased military presence.
Jakarta Post - December 20, 2001
R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura -- As many as 50 Irianese religious leaders and local figures expressed on Wednesday support for the government's plan to give special autonomy to the resource-rich province of Irian Jaya.
At a meeting with Irian Jaya Governor Jaap Salosa at the Stata Building in Jayapura on Wednesday, the religious leaders and local figures also promised to disseminate information about the special autonomy law to be officially signed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri during her planned visit to the province on December 22.
According to Salosa, Megawati's visit will be on schedule. "The signing of the special autonomy law will be at the provincial legislative building, while a Christmas celebration will be held at the Matahari Terbit [Rising Sun] building," the governor said.
Protestant Rev. John M. Gobay of the Kemah Injil (Bible Camp) Church, Rev. Ayomi of the Pentecostal Church, Father Jack Mote of the Argapura Catholic parish and Husein Zubeir of the Indonesian Ulemas Council were among the religious leaders. Rev. Sofyan Nyoman was also at hand representing intellectuals at the meeting, the first of its kind, while Gaspar Sibi, head of the Kayu Pulau tribe, represented the indigenous people.
Rev. Sofyan Nyoman said that special autonomy for Papua (Irian Jaya) was supported because the churches, which were involved in the drafting of the law, would not oppose it.
The special autonomy law, which was deliberated by the House of Representatives (DPR) on October 22, 2001, remains controversial to many, including students and members of the Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), who preferred dialog to special autonomy to solve Irian Jaya problems.
At least 500 students from Jayapura's state Cenddrawasih University took to the streets on Tuesday to reject the special autonomy law and demanded an independence referendum instead.
Father Jack Mote told The Jakarta Post after the meeting that such an emotional demonstration by students could not be considered to represent all the people of Irian Jaya. "All people should support the government's efforts to create peace and uphold human rights," Father Jack said.
Rev. John M. Gobay said that the demand for special autonomy and independence were understandable. "Some think that special autonomy is a kind of oppression. Therefore they seek independence. It should be explained [to the people of Papua] how the special autonomy law came about. Did it come from the central government or from the people of Papua? Then will we accept it? It's the religious leaders and local figures who should explain all this to the people," said Gobay.
Father Theo van den Broek, a Dutch-born man who is now an Indonesian citizen, said that support and opposition for special autonomy among the (Papuan) people were understandable because information about the government's plan had been inadequate.
He said that the bill on special autonomy for Papua had yet to accommodate the interests of all Papuan people, especially those who wanted Irian Jaya to secede from the unitary state of Indonesia.
"The result is that special autonomy is rejected by those who want a referendum and demand that all rights abuses be properly settled, as well as those who are dissatisfied with the government's poor attention to development in the province," he said. "However, in a way special autonomy will answer the demands of some of the Papuans who want big changes and better lives," he said.
Jakarta Post - December 20, 2001
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- A member of the rights commission's fact-finding team on the death of Theys Hilo Eluay claimed there were already strong clues that might shed light on the case, but without presidential intervention the police would be unable to unravel the murder any further.
Member of the National Commission on Human Rights Koesparmono Irsan did not beat around the bush, suggesting that something was suspicious about the current investigation into the death of the Papuan independence leader.
He told The Jakarta Post here on Wednesday that even with the evidence in hand, in the absence of a stronger mandate taking the form of a presidential decree, the investigation would get nowhere.
"The police have uncovered material and substantive clues but cannot do anything about them because they don't have the power to cross-check the information with those who are mentioned in the testimonies," he claimed.
Koesparmono did not reveal what clues were in hand, or what possible obstacles were deterring the police from their investigation.
However, Koesparmono may be one of the few with inside information on They's death as he, along with colleague Bambang W. Soeharto, were recently in Irian Jaya to gather information on the commission's behalf.
He said that the proposed presidential decree would be to initiate a joint investigation team comprising police, the military, prosecutors, non-governmental organizations and the rights commission itself.
He had little faith in the effectiveness of the current police investigation and altogether dismissed the government's inquiry, which involved the military and the police. That team had achieved little, if any at all, progress, with local and top- ranking military officials hastily proclaiming that security forces had not been involved.
Theys, head of the Papua Presidium Council, was found dead in his car in Jayapura on Nov. 11 after being abducted the previous evening. His driver mysteriously remains missing.
The motive behind the murder also remains unclear, with many suggesting that it was politically motivated due to his involvement in the separatist struggle. Koesparmono argued that a joint team under the aegis of a presidential decree was necessary, as it would encompass all elements involved in the issue and lend it greater credibility.
He claimed that the rights commission by itself could not carry out an investigation as the case did not directly represent a widespread violation of human rights. But the commission would willingly participate in a joint team since the implications of the murder had a significant impact on the human rights situation in the province as a whole.
Koesparmono said President Megawati Soekarnoputri could not procrastinate any further, as the decree on the joint team had to be issued before she left for the province on Saturday to celebrate Christmas there. "The Irianese aren't asking for a Christmas present from Megawati other than the decree [on the joint investigation team]," he remarked.
Already feeling the heat on allegations of the military's possible involvement, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto was quick to deny the accusations on Wednesday. Endriartono maintained, "There was no single [Army] policy on Theys."
"Even if something was done by any of my men, it was done without official orders," he said after meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri. "The President urged a quick resolution of the case," he said of his talks with Megawati.
Endriartono further pledged that if military officers were eventually implicated in the killing they would be severely punished. "I promise there will be no cover-up ... We will support and assist any party to resolve the murder," Endriartono added.
Associated Press - December 19, 2001 (abridged)
Jakarta -- Indonesia's army commander indicated for the first time that rogue troops may have killed a separatist politician in Irian Jaya province last month. "If it is one of my men who did it, [then] this is an action without any orders," General Endriartono Sutarto said after meeting President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Wednesday.
Theys Eluay was kidnapped and murdered on November 10 near the provincial capital, Jayapura. He was on his way home from dinner with senior army officers. His family and rights activists in the region have claimed he was killed by a military death squad.
The government has ordered the security forces to launch an inquiry despite calls by human rights groups for an independent probe. Sutarto said Megawati had ordered that the killers of the Theys be found immediately. "I promise not cover up anything," he said.
The state-sponsored National Commission on Human Rights has said there were indications that the army's Kopassus special forces group may have been involved in Eluay's death. The US-trained unit has long been accused of human rights crimes and of operating death squads in Irian Jaya and elsewhere in Indonesia. In the past, Sutarto and other army commanders have vehemently denied any link with Eluay's death.
Jakarta Post - December 19, 2001
Banda Aceh -- The government must be extra careful with an Indonesian Military (TNI) plan to reestablish an Aceh-specific military command, or else the dialog to settle the lingering conflict in the province will be disrupted, an Acehnese figure says.
Acehnese Ulemas' Consultative Assembly vice chairman Tengku Imam Syuja told the The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the plan needed thorough study. "If the reestablishment of an Aceh-specific military command is considered necessary, dialog between the government and the separatist group Free Aceh Movement (GAM) must be held before the decision to reopen a military command is made," Imam said. "The government has the right to reestablish the special military command. But a one-sided decision could ruin any efforts for dialog," he said. He said the Acehnese civilians had suffered a lot by military approaches. "GAM is also opposing the plan [to revive the military command]," he said.
Military operations commander in Aceh Brig. Gen. M. Djali Yusuf said in Lhokseumawe on Sunday that the TNI was considering the reestablishment of the Iskandarmuda military command, if Acehnese people agreed to its resumption. The TNI leadership wanted to make sure that Acehnese people gave their full support to the plan.
A member of Aceh (provincial) Legislative Council (DPRD), Muhammad Nasir Jamil, said that he could understand that the absence of a special military command in Aceh had contributed to the growing conflict. "If Aceh had its own military command, like it did in the past, it would be easier for the military to coordinate in the field and curb the clashes," said Nasir, reiterating the arguments voiced by those behind the plan to reestablish the military command. Between the 1950s and the 1980s Aceh had its own military command named the Iskandarmuda Military command.
The military command was dissolved in the 1980s and the province of Aceh has since then been under the auspices of the Bukit Barisan Military Command based in the North Sumatra capital of Medan.
Nasir said that those proposing the idea wanted to settle the Aceh conflict peacefully and soon. "I suggest that the new military command be named Tengku Cik Di Tiro Military Command, so that the Cik Di Tiro clan would have a stronger sense of belonging to the military command," he said.
Tengku Cik Di Tiro was an Acehnese independence fighter. One of the Tiro clan, Hasan Muhammad Tiro declared a self-proclaimed Independent Aceh on December 4, 1976 in the United States. All rebellious actions by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have been inspired by his "fighting spirit" against the government.
Nasir said that the support from the Acehnese people would be crucial to the reestablishment of the special military command. Recalling the government's plan to revive the Iskandarmuda Military Command, Nasir said that the plan was foiled following public protests. "The office was ready at that time. Invitations for the ceremony had been circulated. The military command failed to be reestablished due to the civilians' protests," he said. "The civilians were still traumatized by the military approaches conducted by the government at that time," he said.
Tengku Imam Suja, who is also chairman of Muhammadiyah of the Aceh Province branch, said that the government must be very cautious with the plan. "Dialogs are preferable."
Another round of peace talks between the government and GAM is scheduled to take place in Geneva in January next year. Former Indonesian foreign affairs minister Ali Alatas is reported to beleading the Indonesian negotiation team while Zaini Abdullah will head the GAM delegation.
Agence France Presse - December 19, 2001
Indonesian Army Chief general Endriartono Sutarto rejected allegations that the military was behind the murder of an Irian Jaya pro-independence leader and vowed to punish any soldier implicated in the case.
"There is no policy to kill Eluay. If there are personnel involved, we will act firmly against them," Sutarto told journalists referring to Theys Hiyo Eluay, the leader of the pro-independence Papua Presidium, who was found dead on November 11. Eluay had been abducted the previous evening.
Sutarto noted allegations in Irian Jaya that soldiers were responsible for the abduction and murder and said the military will not attempt to cover up any role of soldiers in the case. "There will be no tolerance, we will not cover up," he said.
The Institute for Advocacy and Human Rights (Elsham), a leading human rights group in Irian Jaya, on Tuesday said state institutions were implicated in the murder. John Rumbiak, of Elsham, said the military's special forces unit Kopassus was closely implicated in Eluay's killing. He said military or government representatives should not sit in on an independent inquiry proposed by the national Human Rights Commission.
"Here in Jayapura we are calling it an assassination, not a murder. This is an extraordinary crime involving the state. It is a highly political killing," Rumbiak said by phone from Irian Jaya, known locally as Papua.
Eluay, who headed the pro-independence Papua Praesidium, was abducted by an unidentified group as he drove home from a military Heroes' Day celebration hosted by the local Kopassus unit in Jayapura on November 10. His body, bearing signs of asphyxiation, was found in his car at the bottom of a ravine the following day. Eluay's driver, who escaped and reported his abduction by 'non-Papuan' people, has since disappeared.
After questioning at least seven Kopassus agents over the killing, police have admitted they have hit "a dead-end" in their inquiries, Commission member Bambang Suharto told AFP. Suharto led a fact-finding mission on Eluay's death to Jayapura from December 3 to 7.
South China Morning Post - December 19, 2001
Agence France Presse in Jakarta -- Hundreds of students occupied the Parliament in Indonesia's restive province of Irian Jaya yesterday, demanding an independence referendum instead of a new autonomy package from the central Government.
A policewoman in the capital, Jayapura, said the students were staging a sit-in. The students, from Jayapura's Cenderawasih University, made speeches against the autonomy package and carried banners proclaiming "The people of Papua only want a referendum for independence," the official Antara news agency reported. The Parliament building was guarded by police.
In October, the Indonesian Government approved a bill granting Irian Jaya wide-ranging autonomy in an effort to head off independence demands. It is due to take effect on Saturday. Under the bill, the province will be known by its preferred name of Papua, allowed to fly its own flag and have an anthem.
The province, on the western half of New Guinea island, will be allowed to keep 70 to 80 per cent of revenues from its natural resources while receiving an annual six trillion rupiah from Jakarta.
The bill provides for a Papua People's Council, charged with protecting the rights of the original inhabitants. The council will have a say in the election of a governor and its representatives will be placed in Indonesian embassies abroad to promote the territory. But independence figures have rejected the bill, insisting on full independence.
The students have been protesting against the autonomy package in Jayapura in recent weeks and also demanding that pro-independence leader Theys Eluay's killers be found.
Theys was abducted and murdered after leaving a military Heroes' Day party in Jayapura on November 10. His body, showing signs of asphyxiation, was found in his car at the bottom of a ravine the next day. His driver, who had alerted Theys' family, is still missing.
Police questioned at least seven members of the special forces' unit Kopassus over the death but complain their inquiries have hit "a dead-end", according to Bambang Suharto, of the National Human Rights Commission.
Irian Jaya fell under Indonesian control in 1963 after the territory's Dutch colonisers, who named it the Dutch West New Guinea, departed in 1961.
Jakarta Post - December 19, 2001
Jayapura -- Just four days before President Megawati Soekarnoputri is due in Irian Jaya's provincial capital of Jayapura to hand over the much-awaited Autonomy Law to Papuan elders, students in the country's easternmost province are already intensifying their protests rejecting the proposed wide- ranging autonomy.
Over 500 students from Jayapura-based state-run Cendrawasih University staged a rally in front of the Irian Jaya Legislative Council building on Tuesday, demanding a referendum instead of a special autonomy status for the province. The students also threatened to continue protesting at the heavily-guarded DPRD building until the government accommodates their aspiration.
Last week, hundreds of students from University of Cendrawasih occupied the office of Irian Jaya Governor Jaap Salossa, urging the governor to reject the special autonomy offer and calling for a thorough investigation into the alleged murder of independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay and human rights abusesin the province.
Jaap told last week's protesters that the special autonomy law was drafted by Papua figures including academics and religious leaders and is aimed at improving the welfare oflocals.
Megawati is scheduled to visit the troubled province on Saturday to formally hand over the Autonomy Law to Papuan elders, marking the beginning of the implementation of Special Autonomy Status for the troubled province.
Under the Autonomy Law, which was endorsed by members of the House of Representatives (DPR) in October to appease Papuans seeking independence, the province's name will be changed from Irian Jaya to Papua as long demanded by pro-independence leaders.It will also be allowed to fly its own flag and have its own anthem.
On top of that, the province will keep up to 80 percent of earnings from natural resources, while receiving Rp 6 trillion (US$600 million) annually from the central government.
Students protesters, however, argued that the proposed autonomy does not accommodate the aspirations of all Papuans in Irian Jaya who want the province to secede from the Unitary State of Indonesia.
They also demanded that the legislative council facilitate a referendum for the province to determine whether its people want to stay with Jakarta or break away.
Irian Jaya DPRD Deputy Speaker Ben Vincen Djeharu told the protesters that the council already delivered similar aspirations to the central government, but has received no response so far.
Meanwhile, religious leaders in Irian Jaya again questioned the slow investigation into the mysterious death of Theys. "Investigation into the case is dragging on, prompting mixed public reactions against the performance of law enforcers," they said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post onTuesday. "Our people's trust on state legal authorities in revealing the truth has reached its lowest level. It does not satisfy the sense of justice for the public."
The statement was signed by Christian and Muslim leaders, including Secretary of Indonesian Papuan Christian Church Rev. Corinus Berotabui, Jayapura Archbishop Mgr Leo Labai Ladiar, chairman of the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) of Irian Jaya's chapter Zubeir Hussein, and Dudung of the Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama of the local branch.
Theys, who headed the pro-independence Papua Council Presidium, was abducted by an unidentified group of people as he drove home from a military Heroes' Day celebration hosted by the local unit of Army's Special Force (Kopassus) in Jayapura on November 10.
His body, bearing signs of asphyxiation, was found in his car at the bottom of a ravine the following day. Theys' driver, who escaped and reported his abduction, has subsequently disappeared.
The Muslim and Christian leaders urged President Megawati to endorse an independent commission to probe the suspected murder. "We ask the President to immediately handle They's case carefully, honestly and fairly," the statement said.
The government is currently considering a proposal by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for a 'National Independent Team' to investigate They's death. Under the proposal the government, military, and police would be part of the team.
Irian Jaya fell under Indonesian control in 1963 after the territory's Dutch colonizers, who named it the Dutch West New Guinea, departed in 1961. The United Nations recognized Indonesia's sovereignty over Irian Jaya in 1969 following a UN-held plebiscite which pro- independence groups say was flawed
Jakarta Post - December 18, 2001
Lela E. Madjiah, Lhokseumawe -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) is considering reestablishing the Iskandar Muda military command, which would be an Aceh-specific military command, if the Acehnese people agree to its resumption, a military commander said here on Sunday.
Currently Aceh province is a part of the Bukit Barisan Military command which encompasses a large portion of Sumatra and includes more checks and balances than an Aceh-only command might have to submit to. Proponents argue it gives the military greater flexibility to keep the peace.
According to Brig. Gen. M. Djali Yusuf, military operations commander in Aceh, the TNI leadership wanted to make sure that the reestablishment of the command received the full support from Acehnese people.
"The decision rests with the TNI leadership, but they have tasked me with securing the support of the Acehnese people for the plan," Djali told The Jakarta Post and SCTV television station here on Sunday.
Djali was in Lhokseumawe to accompany Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) Chief Lt. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu and Army Special Force (Kopassus) Commander Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaini, who were visiting troops in the province to celebrate Idul Fitri.
"We did not want another rejection," Djali said, while referring to an aborted 1998 plan by then-Armed Forces commander Gen. Wiranto to reestablish the Aceh command. "The plan was rejected by the people of Aceh because it came from us (TNI)," said Djali.
Aceh had a separate and exclusive military command until 1985, at which time it was put under the Bukit Barisan military command. Bukit Barisan oversees Aceh, North Sumatra, and Riau provinces.
Djali said recent demands for the immediate reestablishment of the Iskandar Muda command also came from Acehnese provincial and regional administrations as well as legislators. He said that while the plan would not be executed in the immediate future, he had prepared for several options, including expanding the current task force under his command or completely building a new command, both of which would take time. "I would suggest that we start with the current task force that is enforced with additional staff," he said.
Earlier on Saturday Ryamizard denounced demands for the withdrawal of troops from the troubled province. "Aceh is part of the unitary Republic of Indonesia and TNI, as a legitimate institution, has every right to be present in any part of the country, including Aceh," Ryamizard emphatically claimed during a visit to Takengon in the regency of Central Aceh, where he talked to local residents and members of a joint Kostrad-Kopassus unit stationed there. The joint unit consists of Kopassus members and Kostrad's Tontaipur surveillance platoon.
Abdullah, the head of Simpang Utara village, told Ryamizard that most Gayo residents in the regency wanted a continued presence of the troops because they had helped restore daily activities.
Hamka of Samarkilang village, Syiah Utara subdistrict, supported Abdullah's remarks, saying the troops' presence had helped improve security in the regency. "If possible we want more troops because if you leave, our lives will be under threat (from members of the Free Aceh Movement)," Abdullah said.
The villagers said before the arrival of the joint troops there was no life in their villages and they could not even harvest their crops for fear of attacks from suspected members of the Free Aceh Movement.
Separately Ryamizard told the Post that the joint unit, which was deployed following the inauguration of Kostrad's Tontaipur surveillance platoon on Aug. 4, had scored a number of successes in military operations against the armed separatists. "The joint unit has proven effective, in that it has met its targets, and we are planning to start another unit next year," he said.
| Government & politics |
Agence France Presse - December 19, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesian MPs are planning an all-expenses paid jaunt around Asia to carry out a study of the perks accorded to their peers, the Jakarta Post reported Wednesday.
MPs from the national assembly's In-House Affairs Body will undertake a "comparitive studies" trip to compare their salaries, benefits and office facilities with legislators elsewhere in the region.
"We will check out if we have met their standards," Gusti Basan Burnia, one of the legislators, told the Post, denying that the foreign visit was a disguised junket.
Indonesian MPs are entitled on average to an annual salary of 40 million rupiah (around 4,000 dollars), more than twice what a long-serving, middle-ranking government official would earn.
They also have free housing with all utility costs paid by the state, access to easy credit lines to purchase house appliances and cars, and generous allowances for attending meetings.
Straits Times - December 20, 2001
Robert Go, Jakarta -- Cash-strapped Indonesia is considering a proposal to sell more than 500 houses alloted as perks to MPs and Cabinet ministers as a means of saving money, said the head of parliament's budget committee.
Mr Benny Pasaribu, an MP from President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) party, told The Straits Times: "The housing facilities for ministers and legislators are a legacy of Suharto's New Order. It is a big drain on the state budget and it really is wasteful. One way for us to keep costs down, now that we're in economic difficulty, is to sell them."
He was talking about the more than 500 residences that are reserved for use by national legislators when they spend time in the capital. The 32 Cabinet ministers also get official houses during their tenure.
Mr Benny's belt-tightening plan, in addition, covers several meeting and recreational facilities that are set aside for use by public officials. The government pays for renovation, maintenance and security costs of the units.
Public funds are also used to keep these houses fully furnished with modern electronic equipment, such as TV and radio sets, and other household needs such as refrigerators and air-conditioners.
Mr Benny, who will present his ideas next month when parliament reconvenes after a holiday break, claimed that the government budgets billions of rupiah on the upkeep of official houses. He did not elaborate, however, on how much money the government can expect to gain after selling them, or how soon this plan can be implemented.
But in place of the current system, Mr Benny wants to propose that the government gives housing allowances, enough to secure an apartment or a "modest" house near the parliament complex, to serving legislators. According to him, most legislators spend considerable portions of their time in their home constituencies. Others own private houses, and prefer to use them in the Jakarta area.
With many of the units empty or underused, the government needs to adopt a more flexible, cost-saving system. "The housing allowance would cover only the time we actually spend in Jakarta. This allowance system should save the government some money. It is a problem that the government now spends lots of money needlessly, and this is one such expenditure," he said.
In addition to the official houses, Indonesian legislators also do not pay taxes on their government salaries and enjoy other perks, including a sizeable travel allowance and stays at five- star hotels in Jakarta during key parliamentary sessions.
Jakarta Post - December 18, 2001
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- Government intervention in political parties' internal affairs, commonplace during the authoritarian New Order era, is making a comeback, analysts say.
They said on Saturday that the practice would disrupt the process of democratization and the new found freedoms that began to emerge following president Soeharto's fall in 1998.
Fachry Ali of the Institute for Studies and Indonesian Business Ethic Development said that intervention in political parties' internal affairs was one of Soeharto's most unpopular practices.
During Soeharto's 32 year rule, only three parties were permitted and they were strictly controlled by the president.
The latest debate over the state's intervention in political parties was sparked by reports that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had thrown her support behind one of the two rival leaders of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Matori Abdul Djalil. Megawati, Matori claims, has agreed to open his national congress on January 14 in Jakarta. But the President is yet to confirm or deny whether she will in fact do so. "If Matori is right, then here comes the New Order tradition," Fachry told The Jakarta Post.
Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that politicians would never mature if they kept asking for the President's patronage.
The PKB, co-founded by Muslim cleric Abdurrahman Wahid, has split into two factions. Both Matori and the head of the rival faction, Alwi Shihab, claim to be the party's legitimate leader. Matori plans to lead a party congress from Jan. 14 to Jan. 16, while his rival intends doing the same, from Jan. 17 to 19 in Yogyakarta.
Matori was fired by the chief of the party's board of patrons, Abdurrahman, for disloyalty. He backed the impeachment of the then president Abdurrahman last year, which led to Megawati taking power.
As an apparent reward, Megawati, who is chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), appointed Matori as defense minister. But Matori insists that he remains chairman of the PKB, which won the fourth-highest number of seats at the last general election.
"It will set a dangerous precedent if Megawati takes up Matori's offer to open his party's congress. Other factions of parties hit by internal bickering may do the same thing," Indria told the Post.
Megawati could face accusations of exploiting the internal rift in the PKB for her own interests if she supported Matori's bid for party leadership, as a weakened PKB could strengthen the position of other parties.
Fachry theorized that Megawati felt she owed something to Matori for supporting her presidential campaign in 1999. "Megawati can't forget it."
Another party hit by internal conflict is the United Development Party (PPP), the third largest party in the House of Representatives. Younger party cadres led by Muslim preacher Zainuddin M.Z. plan to declare a new party labeled PPP Reformasi.
| Regional/communal conflicts |
Straits Times - December 21, 2001
Makassar (South Sulawesi) -- For the fifth -- but hopefully the last -- time, delegates of the two warring factions in strife- torn Poso, Central Sulawesi, have agreed to end the three-year conflict that has claimed more than 2,000 lives.
Most delegates at the two-day talks, which were to have concluded yesterday, expressed a strong commitment to end the sectarian conflict which flared up this month.
They focused on conditions for a ceasefire that were believed to include the surrender of arms and formal apologies for wrongdoings. "The peace process in Malino is in progress and it is going well," said top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta, referring to the tightly-guarded peace drive in the mountainous town of Malino.
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, who has been acting as mediator, said: "Despite some differences among delegates, the two sides' commitment to peace is major progress towards a permanent solution to the conflict."
The talks took place against a backdrop of tight security with police alert against a repeat of the Christmas Eve bloodshed of last year when bombs near churches killed 19 people.
The government has promised to disarm and repatriate thousands of Muslim militiamen who have arrived recently in the area. The fighters of the Laskar Jihad paramilitary group have been blamed for stoking the simmering conflict.
Most religious and tribal leaders as well as field commanders of militias from the two conflicting camps were present at the talks.
More than 2,000 civilians have been killed, thousands of houses, places of worship and schools have been razed since the conflict was triggered by an argument between two groups of youngsters from different religions in 1998.
Four previous rounds of talks have failed to end the violence. However, Mr Kalla said this meeting was different from previous ones. Besides religious and tribal leaders, field commanders of the warring factions also participated, he pointed out.
Reuters - December 19, 2001
Grace Nirang, Jakarta -- Gunmen shot dead nine Christians in Indonesia's eastern Ambon city on Wednesday and police said they could not rule out the possibility of unrest erupting elsewhere during next week's Christmas celebrations.
Indonesia has vowed to impose tight security at all places of worship around December 25 to prevent a repeat of the bomb blasts near churches last Christmas Eve across the world's most populous Muslim country that killed 19 people.
Police spokesman Saleh Saaf said security authorities were trying to calm sectarian tensions in places such as Ambon in the Moluccas islands, where gunmen armed with automatic rifles killed the nine Christians travelling in a boat just after dawn.
Police snipers would be deployed in some places over Christmas, Saaf added, without giving details. In Jakarta alone, police have deployed 15,000 personnel to safeguard the capital during Christmas and into the New Year.
"Based on our intelligence reports, the possibility is wide open that unrest provoked by certain groups or outsiders could occur during the Christmas period," Saaf told Reuters. "In conflict areas we are trying to prevent such outsiders from entering the area and provoking people."
Saaf declined to elaborate on what the intelligence reports showed or name the outside groups, but Christians have recently accused Muslim militants of the Laskar Jihad organisation of stirring up trouble in Central Sulawesi province.
In an encouraging sign for the embattled government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, there was no sectarian violence during Muslim celebrations at the weekend marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Snipers on patrol
Megawati has pledged to bring peace to volatile Indonesia as it stumbles toward democracy but analysts have accused a series of central governments, transfixed by political battles in Jakarta, of failing to put enough effort into restoring security. The fall of long-time autocrat Suharto in 1998 has also eroded the power of officials in Jakarta.
Asked if snipers would patrol over Christmas, Saaf said: "Yes, they will be."
Speaking from Ambon, local police spokesman Marthens Alfons said besides those killed, two were wounded when unidentified gunmen pulled their own speedboat close to the victims' craft on waters near the coastal city, a key hub in the Moluccas.
Alfons said marines tried to catch the gunmen, but they escaped. Ambon and other parts of the Moluccas have been plagued by clashes between Muslims and Christians since early 1999 that have left thousands dead and forced many more to flee the region.
"The victims were Christians, who were mostly merchants travelling to buy goods such as meat, fish and vegetables at a morning market in Ambon to be sold again in their areas," Alfons said by telephone, 2,300 km east of Jakarta.
The fresh violence in Ambon followed clashes late last month in another Muslim-Christian trouble spot around the town of Poso in Central Sulawesi, also in the country's east. Both areas had been relatively peaceful for months until recently.
Hope for Poso peace talks
Three days of peace talks involving the warring sides in Poso began on Wednesday aimed at curbing violence that has killed more than 1,000 people in the past three years.
Peace talks to end mayhem around Poso have taken place four times without encouraging results. But the latest talks appear the most comprehensive attempt so far to resolve bloodshed that underscores the tensions hobbling Indonesia's outer reaches.
Local media reported the parties had agreed to discuss issues such as the pullout of groups such as Laskar Jihad, whose members have been fighting Christians in the Moluccas since last year.
One Laskar Jihad leader told reporters that hundreds of members had been sent to Poso in recent weeks to join others already there, ostensibly to help Muslims that are attacked. Poso police said there were no reports of any fresh arrivals.
Analysts have said Laskar Jihad could exploit poor law enforcement in areas such as the Moluccas and Poso but have played down fears they might spark serious religious violence in key parts of Indonesia such as the main Java island.
Some of Indonesia's eastern areas have roughly equal numbers of Muslims and Christians.
Hoping to calm separatist tension elsewhere in Indonesia's east, Megawati will travel to the remote and largely Christian province of Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, on Saturday. Megawati's visit is primarily aimed at publicising a special autonomy package for Papua that has been passed by parliament but rejected by the main pro-independence group there.
Tempo - December 19, 2001
Darlis Muhammad, Palu -- This year alone it has been recorded that attacks and violence have affected 61 villages in Poso Regency, Central Sulawesi. The turmoil comprises 124 incidents that have claimed 141 lives, 90 injuries, 27 missing people and 102 cases of abuse. Furthermore, 2438 cases of arsen and other physical attacks upon houses have been recorded.
The Institute for Strategic Studies on Law and Human Rights (LPS-HAM) and the Institute for Media Development in Central Sulawesi have compiled information on these attacks and violence.
"Killings and torture has been conducted by civilians, police officers, politicians, legislators, local government officials, and criminals alike. Not only that, houses, places of worship, schools, public halls, buses, trucks and cars have all burned," Dedy Askary told Tempo News Room from Palu today (18/12).
According to Dedi, the violence in Poso is mostly due to conflicts between civilians. However, the turmoil in another seven regencies, including Banggai, Banggai Kepulauan, Morowali, Toli-toli, Buol and Palu, appear to have been triggered by local elections.
Agence France Presse - December 19, 2001 (slightly abridged)
Ambon -- Gunmen shot dead nine Christians travelling in a boat in the riot-torn eastern Indonesian city of Ambon, residents and hospital sources said Wednesday. Six women and three men were killed Tuesday, a nurse at the Halong navy hospital told AFP.
"The bodies of the victims have been claimed by their relatives, we're still treating one woman for gunshot wounds," said the nurse, who declined to be named. All nine victims were Christians, a local journalist said, adding that speedboat services between two localities had been suspended.
Ambon's sectarian violence has often taken place at sea. On December 12, an explosion rocked a commercial boat carrying Christians in the same bay, killing seven people. Last month gunmen in a speedboat shot dead three passengers in another boat.
| Local & community issues |
Agence France Presse - December 19, 2001
Jakarta -- Some 200 people vandalized a police station in Indonesia's West Java, after police rejected their demand to hand over a murder suspect, police said Wednesday.
The mob attacked parts of the Cianjur district police on Monday evening, pelting stones after police refused to hand over the man suspected of having killed a motortaxi driver, First Sergeant Suhendi said.
"We have questioned more than 20 people but only eight have remained in our custody," Suhendi said. He said the mob wanted to deal with the man on their own.
Three of the attackers and nine policemen were injured, a staff member at the police post's detective unit said. The man wanted by the mob was suspected of having killed a motortaxi driver on December 13.
| Human rights/law |
ETAN/IHRN Press Release - December 20, 2001
The Indonesia Human Rights Network (IHRN) and East Timor Action Network (ETAN) today strongly condemned a provision in the Defense Department Appropriations bill (HR 3388) aimed at funding US training of the Indonesian military (TNI).
"This is a sneak attack undermining hard-won restrictions on military training for Indonesia and other severely abusive militaries," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for ETAN.
Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) inserted language (section 8118) appropriating $21 million to establish a Regional Defense Counter-terrorism Fellowship Program at the behest of Admiral Dennis C. Blair, Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Command (CINCPAC). There are no restrictions on which countries can participate in the new program, allowing training for Indonesia. Both men have long opposed existing congressional bans on training for the TNI.
The Secretaries of Defense and State will jointly decide which countries will be eligible for the program, but existing legislated restrictions on training for Indonesia will not apply. Training will likely take place in the Asia-Pacific Center in Hawaii, which works closely with CINCPAC. The appropriations bill is expected to pass this week.
"Counter-terrorism must not be used as an excuse to resume training for a military which terrorizes its own people and continues to enjoy impunity for its scorched-earth campaign in East Timor," said Kurt Biddle, Washington Coordinator of IHRN. "The bill does not specify what will be taught in the program. There is no requirement preventing these funds from being used to train the Indonesian military, and we don't think they should."
The Pentagon's move to circumvent the congressional ban on International Military Education and Training (IMET) is remarkably similar to their Joint Combined Exchange Training (JCET) program. JCET was suspended in spring 1998 following congressional and grassroots outrage. Under JCET, US soldiers trained Indonesian special forces in a variety of terror tactics.
Congress first voted to restrict IMET for Indonesia, which brings foreign military officers to the US for training, in response to the November 12, 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor. All military ties were severed in September 1999 as the Indonesian military and its militia proxies razed East Timor following its pro-independence vote. The conditions codified into law in late 1999 include the safe return of East Timorese refugees, prosecution of those responsible for atrocities in East Timor and Indonesia, and security for East Timor from military and militia activity. None of these conditions have been met. The Foreign Operations appropriations bill is expected to pass this week.
"Until the Indonesian military and government comply with the very reasonable conditions in the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, the US government should not be training Indonesian military personnel. These restrictions were put in place for a reason," added Miller.
Contact: John M. Miller, 718-5967668; mobile: 917-690-4391; john@etan.org Kurt Biddle (IHRN); (202) 393-4554; kurt@indonesianetwork.org
Reuters - December 20, 2001
Jakarta -- An Indonesian court sentenced a grandson of former President Suharto to two months and 22 days in jail on Thursday for illegal firearms possession, but he could be freed within a week because of time already spent in detention.
The sentence was below the one year imprisonment demanded by prosecutors for Ari Haryo Wibowo, popularly known as Ari Sigit. The maximum penalty for the charge was death. "The panel of judges, led by chief judge Herri Suwantoro, gave the defendant Ari Sigit a sentence of two months and 22 days in jail," Central Jakarta Court clerk Andi Syam told Reuters.
Ari Sigit's lawyer, Juan Felix Tampubolon, told Reuters if neither side appealed against the decision within one week then his client would go free because he had been in detention since August.
Ari Sigit was detained when police found 70 live bullets stashed in his Jakarta house during a search for his fugitive uncle, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. Tommy has since been caught by police and is being investigated over the murder of a Supreme Court judge who sentenced him to graft last year -- keeping the once mighty Suharto family in the headlines. Ari Sigit had previously denied any wrongdoing over the weapons charge.
The Suharto family has been the focus of several graft probes since the former general stepped down amid social chaos in 1998. The former President Suharto is in hospital suffering acute pneumonia that has been compounded by other ailments, such as diabetes.
Ari Sigit's wife was jailed for illegal drugs possession last year. She has since been released.
Critics accuse Suharto and his six children of corruptly amassing up to $45 billion during his 32-year rule. All the Suhartos have denied any wrongdoing.
Agence France Presse - December 20, 2001
Indonesian police have questioned former East Timorese militia leader Eurico Guterres in connection with criminal charges against former president Suharto's youngest son Tommy.
"Eurico has been summonsed as a witness in the illegal weapons possession case against Tommy Suharto," Jakarta police spokesman Alex Mandalika told AFP Thursday. "We have evidence in the form of a personal letter that was discovered in August at the south Jakarta house used by Tommy, where weapons and ammunition were also found."
Tommy has been charged with possession of illegal weapons, munitions and explosives following the discovery of caches in a Jakarta house and an apartment where he allegedly stayed during his eleven months on the run from police. He is also suspected of playing a role in the murder of a Supreme Court judge who sentenced him to 18 months jail in September last year for a graft conviction.
Mandalika said Guterres arrived for questioning at the Jakarta police headquarters around 9.30am. "We're hoping he can tell us who the weapons belong to," the spokesman said.
Guterres was accompanied by Tommy's lawyer Elza Syarief, Detikcom reported. The long-haired former leader of the feared Dili-based "Aitarak" (Thorn) militia told journalists that he only knew of Tommy "as a son of the nation, not personally."
Guterres is a suspect for gross human rights violations committed in East Timor during the former Indonesian province's vote for independence in 1999.
Tommy's months on the run came to an end in November when he was arrested in a south Jakarta house.
The Supreme Court has subsequently dropped the graft conviction he was on the run from, but has nevertheless recommended that he serve time in prison for his eleven months as a fugitive.
The former millionaire playboy is in police detention on the separate charges of murder and illegal weapons possession. He is accused of ordering the drive-by assassination in July of judge Syafiuddin Kartasasmita. Police said they were also questioning him for possible hand in a series of bombings in Jakarta in the past year.
Police said Wednesday they had compiled the dossiers on Tommy's murder case and would review it with public prosecutors on December 26, the official Antara newsagency reported.
City police chief Commissioner General Sofyan Yacob said he expected the case to be handed over to the courts in January. "The questioning of Tommy is almost complete, perhaps at the beginning of January the files and the suspect can be presented to court," Yacob was quoted as saying.
Jakarta Post - December 20, 2001
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The government is currently reviewing around 50 regulations deemed discriminative against ethnic and religious minorities in the country, Cabinet deputy secretary Erman Rajagukguk said here on Wednesday.
He said his office had listed various discriminative rulings and had asked the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to draft changes to the regulations.
However, the review has not been given top priority in the nation's much-needed legal reforms, Erman said. "The people should be patient because there are a lot of drafts and other regulations that need prioritizing by the ministry, and we have not set a dateline for the review," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said the government had given priority to enacting or amending certain regulations recommended by international donor countries to support the country's stalled economic recovery.
After the downfall of Soeharto from power in 1998, several non- governmental organizations and legal experts had pushed for the revocation of many regulations justifying discriminatory treatment against ethnic Chinese citizens.
The Chinese-Indonesian Association (INTI) said it had submitted a formal request to then-president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid last year for the revocation or amendment of rulings that were included in presidential and ministerial decrees, and state circulars.
Such discriminative regulations are also contained in legislative decrees, several articles in the 1945 Constitution and other regulations adopted during the Dutch colonial era and the Soeharto regime.
Most of the regulations were enacted to prevent a revival of communism and other leftist ideas after the 1966 abortive coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party.
Gus Dur had promised to revoke rules that limited the use of the Chinese language and curbed the spread of Kong Hu Chu beliefs in the predominantly Muslim country, but his government failed to do so.
In certain cases, a president can revoke any regulations he deems unfair that were issued by previous governments. Such a move was taken by former president BJ Habibie when he scrapped a presidential decree issued by Soeharto that required businessmen to donate to the latter's charitable foundations.
However, Erman said that in revoking the discriminative regulations, the government needed not only a political decision by the president, but also a comprehensive judicial review.
"If a ruling is related only to a person, then the president has the prerogative to revoke it immediately. But because these regulations involve the administrative process, so it [the revocation] requires a complete judicial review," he said without elaborating.
South China Morning Post - December 19, 2001
Robert Go, Jakarta -- Public anger is growing in Indonesia over the "soft" treatment that the country's most notorious suspect, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, has received since police investigators nabbed him three weeks ago.
Yesterday, Tommy, a former fugitive who is now the main suspect in the slaying of a judge and in a number of bombing cases, was allowed to visit his ailing father, former President Suharto, in one of Jakarta's exclusive hospitals.
Tommy had demanded that he should not wear any handcuffs and prison clothes during the hospital visit, his lawyer Elsa Syarief told reporters. National Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar said that the police granted Tommy's requests based on humanitarian reasons.
But many Indonesians are outraged that Tommy is getting what they called "preferential" and "easy" treatment at the hands of the police. Mr Joko, a waiter at a Central Jakarta restaurant, said: "I can't believe it. He's a criminal, but the police treat him as if he's a good guy. This is ridiculous."
Taxi driver Martono agreed: "If a regular person steals a chicken or a pack of cigarettes on the street, he gets beaten to death while the police stand by and watch. But the police go out of their way to be nice to Tommy."
Mr Martono was referring to the common practice of "street justice" -- where unlucky pickpockets or thieves often get overly harsh punishment from the public.
Several legal experts told The Straits Times that Indonesian police can give passes, allowing visits to family members, to detainees in special circumstances. "In emergency cases, it would be inhumane to deny detainees the right to visit dying family members," explained prominent lawyer and anti-corruption advocate Frans Winarta. "But yes, Tommy has been getting more leniency compared to others."
Tommy was a fugitive for about a year -- fleeing a graft conviction and an 18-month jail sentence -- until investigators raided a house in South Jakarta and re-arrested him on November 28. He was then showered with public hugs and handshakes by the police brass.
He was also allowed to wear regular clothes and to stay in an air-conditioned room during his first few days in detention. The clothes and the VIP cell had to go after furious protests from local non-government groups and legal advocates.
But members of the allegedly corrupt Suharto family have continued to pay regular visits to Tommy.
Mr Ibrahim Assegaf, editor of legal portal hukumonline.com, said: "In Tommy's case, there have been too many perks and not enough discipline. He makes being in police custody sound like being in a halfway house, for kids who have run away from home. He is getting special treatment, but so did a number of high-profile figures who have been convicted or suspected of crimes here."
Jakarta Post - December 19, 2001
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- Human rights abuses involving the state remain rife as the economic crisis continues to batter Indonesia, a local human rights watchdog says.
Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), an affiliation of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), predicts that the situation will not improve next year.
In its year-end assessment of human rights, LBH Jakarta notes that the state has committed various human rights violations in its search for foreign aid.
Like other developing countries, Indonesia was currently in the grip of globalization where economic considerations came above human rights respect, LBH Jakarta acting chairman Paulus R. Mahulette told a discussion last week on the institution's year- end assessment.
"This neo-liberal regime doesn't favor social movements such as labor unions or any other civil society organizations. The economic-oriented programs are initiated to meet the requirements to obtain foreign aid. People's interest receives a lower priority. Schemes such as privatization has become major causes of rights violations this year," Paulus said.
The grim conditions had, in fact, been predicted by the institute last year due to the return of the repressive security approach. The government had also failed to show commitment to democratization and law enforcement.
Throughout the year, the institute, which works in favor of the needy, received 1,280 cases. They are handled by four divisions: labor issues, civil and political rights, women and children, and urban affairs.
The cases include the violation of a right to education because of the privatization of universities which caused school fees to rocket, massive layoffs, and threats to workers' freedom of association and expression.
LBH Jakarta also said that the law and the government had yet to defend common people's interests. This was obvious in decisions by the courts which ruled mainly in favor of the rich, and the continuing eviction of the poor in urban areas to make way for development projects.
It noted cases where the powerful hire hoodlums to attack protesting laborers and the urban poor, setting the stage for communal conflicts.
The institute also reported efforts to suppress human rights activists during the year, including character assassination to murder attempts.
"We predict that in 2002, the human rights situation will remain a mess, and that the people's sense of justice will still be hurt, because the law enforcers and the law do not protect them," LBH Jakarta said in its report.
| News & issues |
Jakarta Post - December 18, 2001
Bandung -- Hundreds of prisoners at the Kebon Waru Penitentiary in Bandung, West Java, were involved in an extremely intense riot on Thursday, damaging the warden's office and smashing windows and other property inside the prison.
No serious injuries were reported but a number of prisoners who were involved in the riot managed to escape, others were being interrogated by police.
Prison wardens fired warning shots several times to control the rampage, and they nearly failed to stop a full-scale breakout as the rioters made it to the prison gates before finally being stopped.
At least 10 buildings, including the dining room, sustained damage. The angry prisoners also destroyed prison property such as chairs and typewriters.
The rioting occurred after a number of inmates occupying blocks C and D were involved in a fierce dispute early on Thursday morning. However, the motive behind the dispute was not clear.
Following a few hours of tense silence, the situation turned ugly at around 10 a.m. local time when hundreds of inmates ran amok, somehow escaping from their respective blocks and hurling stones and other debris at the warden's office before completely over running the building.
Other prisoners from block E, not wanting to miss out on a good opportunity, later joined the rampage, making the situation worse for guards and prison administrators. The incident caused widespread panic among many, including several visitors whofainted from fear.
Fifteen minutes later, district police arrived on the scene and immediately dispersed the rioters by firing warning shots to get the rampaging prisoners back into their respective cells. The police later swept the cells to disarm the prisoners.
Central Bandung District Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Edwardsyah Pernong said that based on the findings of a preliminary investigation, the riot was strongly believed to have been provoked by three prisoners who were planning an escape attempt. The three were Asep Kawat, convicted of robbery, Asep Cipuk, charged with murder and Oyok, who was convicted of grand theft auto.
"It [the riot] was merely the threesome's manipulative provocation to shift the guards' attention so they could escape," Edwardsyah claimed. However, Kawat, Cipuk and Oyok were not among those who managed to flee from the prison. The police interrogated the three and six others who were found in possession of machetes and marijuana.
To prevent possible further unrest, at least 20 police officers were deployed on a round-the-clock basis to provide greater security inside the prison.
Edwardsyah said the prison, which has a capacity of only 1,472, was seriously overcrowded as it currently is home to some 2,200 prisoners. There was also a disproportionately low number of guards. "We cannot imagine how only five guards would be able to secure such a crowded jail," he said. However, the police chief admitted that, based on the preliminary investigation, the riots were mainly incited by the prisoners' dissatisfaction over the warden's and guards' unlawful treatment. The people in charge there have often blackmailed prisoners, he added.
Apart from that, Edwardsyah said the prisoners were complaining about the terrible food and health services they received in the prison. At least one prisoner has reportedly died each month from illness in the past year.
Dedi Sutardi, head of the Kebon Waru prison, was not at the scene during the riot as he was in Bali, to attend his inauguration as new chief of the Grobokan penitentiary in Denpasar.
| Informal sector/urban poor |
Jakarta Post - December 21, 2001
Hundreds of street vendors from around the Gambir Railway station attacked city public order officers on Thursday after the officers confiscated the vendors' possessions just days after Idul Fitri celebrations.
The officers transported six truck loads of belongings confiscated from the vendors around the station in Central Jakarta to a warehouse in Cakung, North Jakarta.
The action enraged the hundreds of vendors effected, who then took revenge by attacking public order officers in their pick-up truck passing the station several hours after the raid. Security guards managed to calm them down and no injuries were reported. But the incident caused damage to the truck and serious traffic jams.
Similar raids were conducted on the same day by the East Jakarta mayoralty in the Cawang area. However, there were no incidents reported as the vendors had cleared the site several hours before the raids.
Meanwhile, the north and east Jakarta mayoralties conducted raids against becak (three-wheeled pedicab) drivers on Wednesday night. About 200 pedicabs are reported to have been in operation around the city recently.
In November, the city public order agency announced that raids against pedicabs had come to an end after seizing 11,405 pedicabs in five mayoralties.
The agency slowed down its evictions against street vendors before Ramadhan after public criticism from non governmental organizations and the central government, such as Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea.
Deputy governor of administrative affairs Abdul Kahfi said that after slowing down raids against street vendors and pedicab drivers during the fasting month, the five mayoralties were ready to again take stern action against street vendors. "We will continue the crack down against them to enforce the city public order," he said. However, Abdul refused to comment when asked whether the evictions worked or not.
The city administration organizes annual crack downs on "public order offenders", including street vendors, pedicab drivers and other informal workers. This year alone, it has spent about Rp 12 billion on the raids.
Some people questioned the effectiveness of the action as the offenders often returned regardless. Some others suspected administration officers were corrupt as it reported to have evicted thousands of offenders though they continued to operate.