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Indonesia News Digest No
51 - December 24-29, 2001
UNTAET Daily Briefings - December 20, 2001
The Constituent Assembly today passed twelve articles of East
Timor's draft Constitution dealing primarily with political and
economic rights.
The articles passed today, all with significant majorities,
include the following:
Article 41 provides that everyone is guaranteed the freedom to
assemble peacefully and unarmed without prior authorization,
whilst Article 42 provides that everyone shall enjoy the freedom
to form associations as long as they are not intended to promote
violence. The establishment of armed, military or paramilitary
associations, including organizations of a racist or xenophobic
nature or which promote terrorism, are prohibited. Article 43
provides for freedom of movement.
Article 44 provides that everyone is guaranteed freedom of
conscience, religion and worship, and that no one shall be
persecuted on the basis of religious convictions.
Article 45 provides for the right to participate in the political
life and public affairs of the country, directly or through
democratically elected representatives, and the right to
establish and participate in political parties. Article 46
provides the right to vote and to be elected to those over the
age of 17, and provides that the exercise of the right
"constitutes a civic duty." Article 47 provides the right to a
citizen to petition the "organs of sovereignty or any other
authority" for the purpose of defending his or her rights and the
Constitution.
Article 48 provides that everyone has the right and the duty to
contribute towards the defense of territorial integrity, and that
military service shall be served in accordance with the law.
Article 49 provides that everyone has the right and duty to work
and choose their profession, regardless of sex. The article also
provides that everyone has the right to safety and hygiene,
remuneration, rest and vacation, and prohibits dismissal for
political or ideological grounds.
The right to strike is provided by Article 50, and the use of a
lock-out is prohibited. The right to join or form trade unions
and professional associations is protected. Consumer rights are
protected by Article 52. Consumers have the right, amongst other
things, to goods and services of good quality. Advertising is to
be regulated by law, and all forms of concealed, indirect or
misleading advertising are prohibited.
Lusa - December 27, 2001
East Timor's health ministry Thursday formally confirmed the
territory's first cases of HIV/AIDS infection.
In a statement, the ministry said three members of an
unidentified family had been found with the HIV virus and were
receiving "assistance and help. "It is estimated that the family
contracted the virus in the last three to four years", the
ministry said.
A report obtained by Lusa in Dili in July 2000 indicated the
existence of at least two cases of HIV/AIDS and called for an
"immediate policy of education and consciousness raising",
including the provision of condoms in the predominantly Catholic
territory.
That report underlined that "conditions" existed for the spread
of the global pandemic in East Timor, including increases in
prostitution and drug abuse, and traditional "cultural pressures"
limiting the public discussion of the problem.
Labour struggle
Aceh/West Papua
Government & politics
Corruption/collusion/nepotism
Regional/communal conflicts
Human rights/law
News & issues
Informal sector/urban poor
International relations
Economy & investment
East Timor
Constituent Assembly passes twelve more articles
Government confirms first three cases of HIV/AIDS
Here is the news ... from your old colonial rulers
Sydney Morning Herald - December 26, 2001
Louise Williams -- East Timorese journalists are dismayed over an agreement which will probably leave their newly independent nation without an independent national broadcaster and hands control of television and radio to its former colonial power, Portugal.
The protocol of co-operation between East Timor, and Portugal provides for Portuguese-language broadcasting in the new nation, where only the minority of older citizens speak or understand the language.
The document, which has not been made public, makes no mention of the most widely understood local language, Tetum, nor minimum local content requirements or training for East Timorese journalists. Control of the media is an important issue in East Timor which was subjected to strict censorship under Indonesian rule.
"Will we have to listen to the news from the other side of the world and yet be in the dark about what is happening in our own country," said Virgilio da Silva Guterres, president of the Timor Lorosa'e Journalists' Association.
One of the main criticisms of the agreement is that it leaves no role for other regional players, such as Australia, to help develop an independent national broadcaster more suitable to East Timor's geographic location.
Under the protocol, much of the radio and television content will be programming from Europe, with little relevance to the subsistence farmers of East Timor.
Local journalists also fear the protocol will not guarantee freedom of expression, one of the key pillars of a democratic political system. There are fears the newly elected transitional government will not be subject to sufficient scrutiny without a healthy, independent local media.
"The first thing Mr Mari Alkitari, the Chief Minister, should do now is to ensure East Timorese that there will be a public broadcast service in East Timor and that the Government will never try to influence the content of news," Mr Guterres said.
"Technical co-operation, like the protocol, are important measures we must take in the future, not just with countries like Portugal, but also with countries in the region, like the ABC of Australia."
The decision about which language the new nation adopts is also extremely important for its future, and its ability to establish itself in the Asia Pacific region. In the new Constitution, Tetum and Portuguese are set as the two national languages, but the majority of young people do not understand Portuguese and instead speak and understand Indonesian. The political elite, who occupy the senior government positions, were educated during the Portuguese period.
However, a Portuguese-language broadcasting service would be a problem for most of the population, many of whom do not want to go back to a European language. Indonesian, which is close to the version of Malay spoken in Malaysia, is a widely used regional language.
"Will this mean our unique language disappears from broadcasting? Will Timorese voices ever be heard on the nation's own radio and television?," Mr Guterres asked.
The majority of young people argue they must also learn English if East Timor is to have any chance to engage internationally and to advance its fledgling economy.
UNTAET Daily Briefings - December 21, 2001
Constituent Assembly President Francisco "Lz-Olo" Guterres said today he expects the assembly to pass East Timor's first Constitution by the 25 January deadline.
"The process is difficult but we expect to approve a Constitution within the extra time that we have allotted for the task," he said.
On 13 December the assembly passed a motion extending the 15 December deadline to 25 January. The assembly members, who began debating the draft Constitution on 3 December, have so far passed 55 of its 151 articles.
The Constituent Assembly today passed the following three articles:
Article 53 deals with the right to private property; Article 54 concerns the right to social security, and provides that the state shall promote the establishment of a social security system. Article 55 recognizes the right of everyone to health and medical care and provides that the state shall promote the establishment of a national health service.
Meanwhile, Carlos Valenzuela, the Chief Electoral Officer of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), today presented the draft "Regulation to Elect the First President of the Democratic Republic of East Timor" to the assembly's Special Legislative Committee (SLC).
The SLC will meet on 27 December to consider the draft regulation in detail. The IEC requires a regulatory framewok to be in place by 15 January 2002 if presidential elections are to be held as planned in April 2002.
The assembly will not be convening on 24, 25, 26 and 31 December, nor on 1 and 2 January.
Townsville Bulletin - December 22, 2001
Max Blenkin, Dili -- In two months in East Timor, the soldiers of the Townsville-based 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, have not fired a shot in anger, let alone sighted any of the infamous militia. But that does not mean they are prepared to write them off as a completely spent force.
The Australian Defence Force believes there is still a hard core of militia living in the refugee camps of West Timor, where they remain ready to cause trouble should the opportunity arise. "They still have the capability to cause security concerns in East Timor, " 2RAR executive officer Major Mick Reilly said in a briefing to Defence Minister Robert Hill during his visit to Balibo this week. "They are still able to come across. We cannot stop everyone."
Commander of the western sector, Australian Brigadier Richard Wilson, agreed. "We still cannot discount the militia but their numbers are much reduced," he said.
The reality is, however, that little has been seen of the militia for the better part of a year after a series of contacts in which Australian troops intercepted militia intruders.
Far from the ragtag thugs who terrorised Dili following the pro- independence ballot, those encountered by the diggers were switched-on soldiers armed with modern weapons. They lost just the same. The militia cause has not been helped by the noise from Jakarta which has taken a tougher line on its former proteges.
However, the ADF is not convinced the militia-TNI friendship has ended entirely, as one of the Indonesian Territorial infantry battalions currently stationed on the western side of the border was based in Dili in 1999. "There is an ongoing, but appears to be low, risk of contact with the target force," said 2RAR commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Angus Campbell.
With the expected drawdown of UN troop numbers, Australia will bring home several hundred, mostly from the areas of support and logistics. The next major event occurs in May, when the United Nations officially hands over control of East Timor to the new East Timorese administration.
Senator Hill said it would be up to the new nation's government to decide what outside assistance it continued to need. "We would not want to understate the challenges for the future and the Australian people are proud of what Australia has been able to contribute towards the development of an independent nation," he said.
"They are very supportive of the government continuing to invest in the future stability and economic growth of East Timor. "At best I can work out it is a good relationship and the East Timorese people are very pleased with the relationship with Australia as well."
The Australian - December 22, 2001
John Phaceas -- Development of a $1.5 billion gas pipeline to Phillips Petroleum's Bayu-Undan gasfield in the Timor Sea will go ahead after the US energy giant finally reached agreement with East Timorese authorities over project taxes.
Phillips shelved plans for the 550km pipeline to Darwin in July, after East Timor's interim authorities indicated a further $1 billion in taxes would be clawed back over the project's 20 year life. The project was already set to become East Timor's biggest money spinner, generating $7 billion in royalties over two decades.
The deferral effectively killed plans to co-develop Bayu-Undan with Woodside Petroleum's bigger Sunrise fields and build a $6.8 billion liquefied natural gas plant onshore at Darwin. It also threatened to sink a memorandum of understanding to supply US energy group El Paso with $US20 billion worth of LNG over 20 years.
But after months of exhaustive talks, Phillips yesterday said East Timor's Council of Ministers had endorsed a tax and fiscal package that would allow Bayu-Undan to proceed.
"This marks an historic day in the establishment of the Timor Sea as an important emerging gas development area," Phillips president Stephen Brand said. "We now await ratification of the agreement by Australia."
The agreement met all the investment criteria sought by the Bayu-Undan partners "at the same time maximising revenues to East Timor" .
Once the agreement has been formalised, the project partners have committed to develop onshore infrastructure needed by the project and the people of East Timor.
In particular, the partners have promised to start work immediately to upgrade the existing airport at Baucau, to make it a suitable as a staging point for work on the Bayu-Undan project, The partners have also committed to building commercial port facilities. Similarly, training programs for "general needs and community healthy" will be offered to the local population.
Bayu-Undan has estimated reserves of 400 million barrels of condensate and 3.4 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The $2.8 billion phase one gas recycling project remains on track to produce 105,000 barrels of condensate per day from early 2004, while the El Paso agreement calls for 4.8 million tonnes of LNG to be supplied from 2005.
Phillips owns 58.6 per cent of the project, while Santos holds 11.8 per cent, Japan's Inpex owns 11.7 per cent, Kerr McGee Corp has 11.2 per cent, and Agip the remaining 6.7 per cent.
Agence France Presse - December 23, 2001
Sydnye -- East Timor has finally reached agreement with US energy giant Phillips Petroleum on a plan to pipe gas to Australia that could ease the fledgling nation's poverty, its officials said Sunday.
Six months after it was shelved when negotiations broke down, the 1.5 billion US dollar deal was back on track, providing for construction of a pipeline from Phillips's Bayu-Undan gas field to the northern Australian port of Darwin.
It will create hundreds of jobs and infrastructure for the former Portuguese colony seized by Indonesia in 1975, and which won its independence in 1999 after years of bloody secessionist conflict.
Even with international assistance, it remains seriously impoverished, with an annual budget of only 63 million US dollars. The estimated benefit to East Timor from the full Bayu- Undan development is 2.5 billion to 3.0 billion US dollars over the life of the field.
East Timor's chief minister Mari Alkatiri said the interim government and the company had agreed on a tax and fiscal package to allow the gas phase of the Bayu-Undan development to proceed.
"Petroleum revenue from the Timor Sea, and from Bayu-Undan in particular, will go a long way towards alleviating poverty in East Timor and will open up other investment opportunities in the joint East Timor-Australia area of the Timor Sea," he said.
He said East Timor had worked very hard with Phillips to achieve a successful conclusion on various outstanding issues. "We look forward to a lasting partnership with them," he added.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said the agreement was an important development and further talks would be held.
"We will need to review the progress made by East Timor and Phillips and consider the implications for Australia's interests under the Timor Sea Arrangement, signed in Dili on 5 July," the ministers said.
"We look forward to further constructive discussions with the companies and East Timor early in the new year on resolving the remaining technical matters required for implementation of the Timor Sea Arrangement, by the time of East Timor's independence."
Alkatiri said there would be a commitment to the development of Bayu-Undan as a total project, including offshore gas production facilities as soon as Phillips and other Bayu-Undan unit participants have finalised gas sales agreements. "As part of the package, the Bayu-Undan participants will also commit to the employment of East Timorese and to investment in infrastructure in East Timor, " he said.
A spokesman for the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor said the agreement demonstrated to the international community that East Timor would soon be financially as well as politically independent.
The pipeline proposal, shelved six months ago, promises to meet the growing energy demands of southeast Australia while creating a lucrative export industry in liquid natural gas (LNG) and a new industrial base for Darwin.
Phillips President Stephen Brand said Australia had to ratify the agreement before his company could finalise gas sales arrangements that would secure project development.
| Labour struggle |
Jakarta Post - December 26, 2001
Jakarta -- Dozens of former employees of the Shangri-La Hotel staged a protest in front of the hotel on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Central Jakarta, on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of their dispute with management.
They erected a banner, five meters high and 30 meters long, which they claimed was the biggest ever used in an Indonesian labor protest.
In December of last year, 580 workers of the hotel staged a demonstration in demand of better working conditions.
Following tough negotiations involving the Ministry of Manpower's Committee for the Settlement of Labor Dispute, most of the workers then agreed to be dismissed after receiving some compensation, while a few were reinstated.
Dozens of others, however, said they were not satisfied, and brought the case to ILO. Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea said he rejected intervention from any international forum in the settlement of internal labor disputes.
The Shangri-La was forced to halt its operation for three months due to the dispute. But it soon managed to resume business, and recently it even won a tourism award from the city administration.
Straits Times - December 24, 2001
Jakarta -- The city administration's plan to conduct random identity card checks in a campaign to discourage unskilled outsiders from thronging the capital in search of work has sparked criticism and confusion.
As part of the campaign, officials will fan out across the city's 125 sub-districts from Monday to Thursday. Anyone caught without an ID card and proof of accommodation can be imprisoned or fined.
The campaign was in anticipation of the arrival of about 225,000 unskilled newcomers who were expected to be streaming into Jakarta after the Eid Al-Fitr holidays.
It followed a decree by Governor Sutiyoso to limit the arrivals, and was kicked off at Central Jakarta's Senen railway station on Friday. The station was a focal point for the campaign because the unskilled newcomers were believed to arrive here on economy class trains.
Several people arriving at the station from Surabaya said the idea of raids was ridiculous. Mr Amri, a construction worker living in North Jakarta, had brought along his cousin who wanted to find work here. "The plan is ridiculous. As an Indonesian citizen, why can't I enter the capital city to get a better life?" he asked.
An elderly couple from Surabaya were anxious because they had not thought of carrying their cards. "We came from Surabaya to visit our daughter, who married a Jakarta man," the man said.
Jumping off an intercity bus from Sumedang, West Java, at the Kampung Rambutan station, Mr Sutikno, 35, admitted that he had brought along his sister-in-law to work in Jakarta. "She is unskilled and doesn't have a job yet, but she will work here to get experience," he said.
Ms Sutini, 46, who had just arrived from Kuningan, West Java, at the Pulo Gadung bus station, said she had brought along three nieces. They were unskilled but there were no employment opportunities for them at home, she said.
Similar campaigns held in the past, however, proved to be futile.
Activists have criticised them for violating human rights and said they reflected the administration's inability to resolve urban development problems. In addition, the raids which were estimated to cost around 100 million rupiah were managed poorly.
On Friday, the head of the city population agency, Ms Sylviana Murni, and her colleagues handed out brochures at the Senen station. An officer warned people over a loudspeaker that illegal newcomers could be jailed for three months or fined 5 billion rupiah. The fliers being handed out, however, said newcomers would be jailed for six months or fined 50,000 rupiah.
Ms Sylviana admitted: "Yes, we are handing out the old version of the brochures stipulating the old sanctions since we haven't had the new ones made yet. We will make the new punishments public through banners and announcements."
Straits Times - December 24, 2001
Jakarta -- The Indonesian government acknowledges it is simply running out of ideas to create employment for the three million new job seekers each year and the nation's pool of 40 million unemployed. Only 1.6 million jobs were becoming available each year, said Manpower and Transmigration Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea.
The government had no new or special strategies to tackle unemployment, he said. It could only continue to send workers abroad and explore domestic job opportunities in agro-industry, fisheries and tourism.
"The government will continue to focus on two main strategies: sending more maids overseas and maximising domestic sectors to create more vacancies," Mr Jacob said on Friday. But he was unable to say what the government had in mind to encourage domestic sectors to create new jobs.
Indonesia had to increase its economic growth from 3.5 per cent to 7 per cent in order to provide jobs for three million people annually, experts said. The government's forecast for next year's economic growth is 4 per cent.
Mr Jacob said human labour exports were still the best alternative to reducing unemployment, saying overseas markets could recruit between three and four million workers a year. Most of about 460,000 Indonesians employed in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East were unskilled workers, mostly serving as maids.
Many Indonesians were not eligible for professional employment overseas because their skills were inadequate. A new labour Bill, currently before the House of Representatives, would give better legal protection to Indonesian workers overseas.
Mr Jacob criticised the education system for failing to provide students with the right skills. And he said it would pay to strengthen informal business sectors.
| Aceh/West Papua |
Agence France Presse - December 27, 2001
Banda Aceh -- A family of three shot dead by unidentified gunmen were the latest victims of violence in Indonesia's Aceh province where at least eight others were killed in past days, reports said Thursday.
Islamic school leader, Tengku Abdullah Mahmud, his wife and their 10-month-old son were killed by the armed men who raided the school in Timang Gajah, Central Aceh, early Tuesday, the Waspada daily reported. Police said they were not aware of the killings.
An unidentified witness told the daily that a group of armed men in two pick-up trucks arrived at Mahmud's school at midnight and minutes later he heard shots fired. The attackers hauled the bodies of Mahmud and his wife into one of the trucks, leaving the baby, who later died of his wounds, as well as several unharmed students, the witness said.
In another incident, soldiers killed two rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Wednesday in a gunfight in the Hagu Kunyet village in Pidie district, said local military commander Lieutenant Colonel Supartodi.
Separately, Aceh military spokesman Major Zainal Muttaqin said soldiers shot dead four guerillas in separate clashes in West Aceh on Tuesday.
Two men were found also dead with gunshot wounds on Tuesday and Wednesday in separate locations in Bireun district, local aid workers said.
GAM rebels countered that troops had killed seven civilians on Tuesday and Wednesday but the reports could not be immediately confirmed by the military.
A GAM spokesman, Abu Juana, accused troops of killing three civilians, including a teenage boy in the Cot Kuta area of West Aceh on Wednesday after six officers were killed by rebels.
Another rebel spokesman, Abrar Muda, said security forces shot dead four civilians during a search for separatists in the Seunobok Keuranji village in South Aceh on Tuesday.
Aceh, a resource-rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra island, has seen daily violence between rebels and security forces.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in Aceh since GAM began to fight for an independent Muslim state in 1976. Some 1,700 were killed this year alone, rights groups said.
Separatism has been fuelled by years of human rights abuses by the military and the central government's draining of the region's oil and gas wealth.
Agence France Presse - December 25, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesian soldiers have killed four suspected separatist rebels in the troubled province of Aceh, the official Antara news agency said Tuesday.
The troops shop dead the four guerillas of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in a raid Monday on a hideout in the Bengga village in Pidie district, an Aceh military spokesman, Major Zainal Muttaqin, was quoted by Antara as saying.
Muttaqin said the troops seized an AK-47 rifle, a Colt pistol, a hand grenade and ammunition.
Aceh, a resource-rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra island, has seen daily violence between rebels from GAM and security forces. An estimated 10,000 people have been killed, including some 1,600 this year, since GAM was founded in 1976 to push for a separate Islamic state, according to rights groups.
Separatism has been fuelled by years of human rights abuses by the military and the central government's draining of the region's oil and gas wealth. Rights groups also accuse rebels of abuses.
Jakarta Post - December 22, 2001
Moch. N. Kurniawan, -- Jakarta Oil and gas producer ExxonMobil Indonesia Inc. will not shut down its gas fields in troubled Aceh province despite an ambush by unidentified armed men on Thursday that killed one employee of the company's contractor, a company spokeswoman said on Friday.
"We will continue to operate based on our standard security procedures ... We have taken necessary measures to safeguard the life of our employees," said Julia Tumengkol.
A convoy carrying employees of ExxonMobil and its contractors in the South Lhoksukon area, part of ExxonMobil's Arun gas fields in North Aceh regency, was attacked by gunmen at 8.30 a.m., killing one person. There were no other casualties in the incident, Julia said. She said that the company had demanded the police investigate the case thoroughly.
Security has been a major concern for ExxonMobil's oil and gas operation in Aceh as local rebel fighters continue their long struggle to separate the oil-rich province from Indonesia. ExxonMobil was forced to shut down its Arun gas fields in mid- March on security fears arising from the activities of local rebels, causing the nearby Arun LNG plant also to halt its LNG (liquefied natural gas) production. This caused disruption of the country's LNG supply to major export markets in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, prompting the foreign buyers to seek new suppliers in other countries.
The supply was partly secured again in August after ExxonMobil had resumed operation of the Arun gas fields in mid-July and fed its gas to the Arun LNG plant. The gas fields in the South Lhoksukon area had just resumed operation recently.
Julia said that at present, ExxonMobil was preparing to stabilize gas production at the South Lhoksukon facility and also to resume the Pase gas operation. She also said that the Arun gas fields operation had yet to meet its normal production level of around 1.6 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day. So far, ExxonMobil is producing about 1.2 bcf to 1.3 bcf per day from some parts of the Arun gas fields and the North Sumatra Offshore block.
But the Thursday killing incident might raise worries once again, especially for the Korean and Japanese LNG buyers, over the security of LNG supplies from the Arun facility. Japan is Indonesia's largest LNG importer, followed by Taiwan and South Korea. These countries signed long-term LNG contracts with Indonesia.
ExxonMobil delivers 90 percent of its natural gas production to PT Arun NGL, the operator of the Arun LNG plant, while the remaining 10 percent is supplied to fertilizer firms PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda and PT ASEAN Aceh Fertilizer, as well as pulp firm PT Kertas Kraft Aceh.
Agence France Presse - December 23, 2001
Banda Aceh -- A policeman and five suspected separatist rebels were killed in the latest outbreak of violence to hit Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, police said Sunday.
The victims were killed in the clash between a police patrol and rebels from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who set an ambush in Mata Ie in East Aceh late on Friday evening, Aceh police spokesman Adjunct Senior Commissioner Agus Dwiyanto said.
"The incident took place when a Brimob [police elite unit] patrol was informed that there were several GAM members in a nearby village. They were ambushed midway and an exchange of fire of several minutes took place," Dwiyanto said.
But the GAM field commander, Amri bin Abdul Wahab, denied any of his men had been killed in the clash. Amri told AFP that rebels conducted a hit-and-run attack, but that all of his men returned safely to base. He speculated that the five victims were civilians who got killed after troops conducted a sweep in the area to hunt down the attackers.
Amri also said that a motorcycle taxi driver who had been arrested on Saturday by Brimob members in the Julok area of East Aceh was found dead with gunshot wound later in the day.
More than 10,000 people -- including 1,700 this year alone -- have been killed since GAM began fighting for an independent Islamic state in Aceh since
Jakarta has refused to grant independence to the oil-and gas-rich province on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island. Instead, it has accorded the staunchly Muslim reagion wide-ranging autonomy.
Agence France Presse - December 24, 2001 (abridged)
Jakarta -- Four bodies have been found in the Indonesian province of Aceh, a region plagued by violence exchanges between government and separatist rebel forces, a press report said Monday.
All four bodies were found Sunday in the South Aceh district, the Aceh-based Serambi daily said. Two bodies identified as a fisherman and a local clerk were found near each other while two others found separately in two other locations remain unidentified.
An estimated 10,000 people have been killed, including some 1,600 this year, since GAM was founded in 1976 to push for a separate Islamic state, according to rights groups.
Jakarta Post - December 24, 2001
Jakarta -- Police in Jayapura, the capital of Irian Jaya province were seen beating defiant protesters on Saturday in an attempt to break up a demonstration which was held to protest themurder of proindependence figure Theys Hiyo Eluay. The protesters gathered outside the provincial legislative building, which was already tightly guarded by the police.
The police warned the protesters to disperse themselves due to the fact that they had not gotten a permit for the demonstration, Antara reported. "Now we are preparing for our Christmas celebration, and therefore I ask you all to disperse soon," Comr. Anton, the Jayapura deputy police chief said as quoted by Antara.
Some of the protesters then staged a prayer, but then an incident broke out in the Polimak area as reportedly some of the protesters resisted the police's order. Some of them were reportedly injured as police chased them and beat them up with sticks.
Separately, Irian Jaya Governor J.P. Salossa on Saturday expressed disappointment that President Megawati canceled her Christmas visit to the province. "In my heart I'm a bit disappointed ... but I can understand the reasons, because she (Megawati) is under the weather," he said.
In a bid to stem separatist tension, Jakarta recently handed the resource-rich territory of two million people greater powers to manage its own affairs. Megawati had planned to promote the package during her trip.
She has firmly ruled out independence for Irian Jaya, whose people for years have complained of human rights abuses by the army and resource exploitation from the central government.
Jakarta Post - December 24, 2001
R.K. Nugroho, Jayapura -- Jayapura Police apprehended 42 students involved in a violent antigovernment demonstration in the city on Saturday, but some were later released after questioning. The 42 students were arrested because they attacked security personnel after being asked to disperse peacefully.
Some 150 student demonstrators clashed with security personnel when the latter tried to disperse the students, who were demonstrating outside the provincial legislative council building. Several demonstrators pelted stones at security personnel.
The students had marched 12 kilometers from their campus in Abepura to the legislative building, where they held a free- speech forum.
Holding aloft a picture of the late Theys Hiyo Eluway, former chairman of the proindependence Papuan Presidium Council (PDP), and antigovernment banners, the demonstrators raised their hands and gave victory signs and sang a Papuan folk song to attract attention.
Adj. Sr. Comr. Totok K., chief of the Jayapura Police, said only a few demonstrators had been detained and that the majority of them would be released after police finished questioning them. "We just want to know who coordinated the demonstration and their political aspirations, because the legislature is closed on Saturdays," he said.
Two demonstrators, identified as La Ali Kudu from Cendrawasih University and Demianus Wariman from a private university in Jakarta, have been arrested for the roles they played in coordinating the demonstration, he said.
Totok said the demonstration was part of a series of antigovernment rallies that the students held over the last seven days without notifying the police. "The police do not prohibit students from holding demonstrations, but they should first notify the police for security reasons and in accordance with the law," he said.
During the free-speech forum, the students expressed their opposition to special autonomy, which takes effect as of January 2002. They called on local authorities to allow them to conduct a referendum to determine whether or not the Papuan people supported special autonomy.
The demonstrators, mostly from state Cendrawasih University in Abepura, called on the provincial legislature to amend history books concerning Irian Jaya's integration into Indonesia. The demonstrators also demanded that an independent team that includes foreign parties be established to investigate Theys' murder.
Theys was found dead in the border area between the province and Papua New Guinea on November 11, 2001 after he was abducted by unidentified men a day before. Theys' driver, Aristoteles Masoka, who witnessed the abduction, is missing.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is expected to issue a presidential decree to set up a national commission to investigate Theys' death.
| Government & politics |
Jakarta Post - December 28, 2001
Jakarta -- United Development Party (PPP) chairman Hamzah Haz, who is also the vice president, is scheduled to meet with Zainuddin MZ, leader of a PPP splinter group, in Surabaya on Jan. 5 to mend the rift in the party, an official said on Thursday.
"Kyai [Muslim elder] Alawy Muhammad has invited Zainuddin to come [to Surabaya], while the invitee has answered with an 'Insya Allah' [God willing]. Meanwhile, Hamzah Haz has a number of appointments on his itinerary [on the anniversary celebration of the party] in Surabaya," PPP East Java chairman Hafidz Ma'shoem said as quoted by Antara.
The rift in PPP was sparked by the decision by the party's national working congress last October to hold the party's congress, which will elect a new chairman, in 2004 after the next general election. Younger party members protested the decision and demanded that the congress be held in 2003.
As the party's national leadership ignored the demand, the younger members threatened to set up a rival party, to be called Reformed PPP, under the chairmanship of Zainuddin, who is a deputy chairman on the current PPP executive board.
Hafidz maintained, however, that he had heard nothing about the establishment of a rival party, neither in East Java nor in any other province. "I think it is just an idea. I have asked Zainuddin about it, who told me he expected to meet with Hamzah to discuss the matter to prevent a rift in the party," he said.
However, Hafidz did not discount the possibility of holding another national working congress of the party to reshuffle the executive board to accommodate the younger members' aspirations.
Hafidz said Zainuddin -- a popular preacher with millions of followers -- would give a lecture in a mass gathering during the anniversary celebration, while Hamzah would deliver a political speech. "Hamzah will also install new distinguished party members, consisting of 12 generals and popular intellectuals. The celebration itself will be attended by provincial chairmen from all over Indonesia, while supporters will be mobilized from all over Java," Hafidz said.
Agence France Presse - December 28, 2001
Jakarta -- Almost one third of Indonesian legislators hardly attended any parliamentary sessions in the 10 months to July, reports said Friday.
A study conducted by the Mass Communication Forum, which groups journalists covering parliament, also said 10 MPs, including the husband and a brother of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, had not attended a single session, the Kompas daily said.
Megawati's businessman husband Taufik Kiemas is under fire for leading a delegation of ministers to China last week to negotiate energy and fisheries deals.
Forum chairman Sulistyo suggested the salaries of MPs who failed to attend parliament should be cut. "It's difficult [to punish the errant MPs] because there's no law regulating [attendance]," he was quoted as saying.
Indonesia's parliament has been trying to shed its rubber stamp image gained during the Suharto era since the former dictator resigned in May 1998 after 32 years in power.
It sacked then-president Abdurrahman Wahid in June for alleged incompetence and corruption and elected Megawati to replace him.
Jakarta Post - December 26, 2001
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on all government officials and civil servants to carry out all her decisions and not to hamper the implementation of government policies, a senior government minister said on Monday.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that Megawati expected all her subordinates to conduct their duties as ordered by her. "She warned anybody not to let any of her decisions be hampered somewhere in the implementation," Susilo said after a meeting attended by Megawati, Coordinating Minister of Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and Coordinating Minister of Social Welfare Jusuf Kalla.
"The president even underlined that 'if some of the officials cannot work with us [the government], then they should not be a part of us'," Susilo said, quoting Megawati.
The minister further said that Megawati also urged all state officials to have a sense of crisis in their everyday lives as the country was gripped by prolonged economic woes.
This is the second time Megawati has expressed her concern about the bureaucracy, saying that sometimes as president she could not have control over her subordinates. Last week in front of the country's former freedom fighters, she said that although she could control her ministers it was difficult to supervise officials under the ministers.
Megawati, who became president in July, is new to bureaucracy, as she was never involved in any government department after her father -- former president Sukarno -- was replaced by former president Soeharto.
Soeharto, who led the country for 32 years, had an established bureaucracy system, including selected people in selected positions, most of whom are still part of the current government.
Susilo said that the president had asked the three coordinating ministers to hold meetings with her every Monday to discuss the government's policies and implementation. She used to have similar procedures when she was vice president during the tenure of former president Abdurrahman Wahid.
"The President underlined that if we cannot have better measures in the upcoming year of 2002, then it will be impossible for us to deal with the country's problems in 2004," Susilo said.
On his part, Susilo said that in 2002 his office would continue to concentrate on efforts to resolve conflicts that spread across the country and to enforce law and regulations. The President demanded the two programs work well, he said.
| Corruption/collusion/nepotism |
Straits Times - December 28, 2001
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- President Megawati Sukarnoputri has come under fire for appointing her businessman husband Taufik Kiemas as head of a ministerial visit to China earlier this month.
Her advisers and party members fear her opponents will exploit this and other political shenanigans of Mr Taufik to dent her image.
Mr Taufik's trip to China drew flak from Golkar and Muslim legislators who attacked the President for practising nepotism. "When she took over power, she told the nation she would eradicate such practices, but now she is doing exactly that," said a senior member of the Golkar party, which is itself allegedly involved in a damning financial scandal.
Mr Taufik is described by opponents as the "third most powerful politician in Indonesia" after the President and her deputy. The Straits Times understands that even Cabinet members -- especially the economic ministers -- are uncomfortable with Mr Taufik's influence on state economic matters.
Economic czar Dorodjatun Kuntoro-Jakti had recommended initially that Vice-President Hamzah Haz head the delegation. But to his surprise, Ms Megawati sent her husband, who some believe might have pressured the 54-year-old leader to do his bidding.
Palace aides disclosed that the incident had ruffled feathers for a while between husband and wife. Said a source: "Ibu Mega is conscious that by giving her husband special privileges, people will accuse her of being corrupt like Suharto. But she is his wife. How can she turn him down when he makes a request?" Mr Taufik's critics charge that over the past five months, he has actively intervened in policy matters. For example, he is known to have stepped in at the last minute to advise his wife not to travel to Irian Jaya despite recommendations from police, the military and intelligence agencies that it was safe to go.
His hand was also seen in the appointment of the new police chief, General Dai Bachtiar.
Within the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), he worked hard to eradicate opponents such as Mr Arifin Panigoro who did not agree with him on several issues.
Now he is working behind the scenes to take away the Cabinet Secretary's post from Mr Bambang Kesowo who, sources said, is accused by Mr Taufik of "putting up obstacles" to his trip to China.
Mr Taufik is known to favour loyalist and PDI-P cadre Tjahyo Kumolo for the Cabinet Secretary's position.
Mr Tjahyo insisted yesterday that Mr Taufik did not dabble in politics and that his trip to China was made at the request of the government. "There is no personal interest here," he stressed. "He had to follow the government ... Taufik has never intervened in his wife's work or in the party."
Mr Taufik's detractors, however, disagreed and pointed out that the China trip was merely the first time that he had displayed his political ambitions so openly.
Jakarta Post - December 26, 2001
Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta -- Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country with 210 million people, is labeled as one of the most corrupt countries. In theory, Islam as well as other religions prohibit their followers from bribing and stealing, but in practice, many are involved in corruption. Why? Because corruption has nothing to do with religion but is closely related to the country's political and legal system.
A foreign diplomat here once said: "Corruption is so transparent in this country." He was recalling his experience when he witnessed his driver bribing a policeman who stopped his car for a traffic violation to let it go.
This story is nothing special to many Indonesians. To many it is one of many minor cases of corruption. Many other similar cases, however, including the major ones, are left untouched or unexplained despite the current reform era. Those who travel abroad to represent Indonesia may be embarrassed by such a situation.
Both government and political parties lack seriousness and priority to combat the practices of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) committed throughout this year and in the past. Even legislators are under fire for failing to rid themselves of corrupt practices. Some politicians who drove Toyota Kijang vans at the start of their careers, rode Jaguars within just two years.
Money politics topped this year's corruption cases in many regional and central levels of high state institutions. Such practices were rampant in many gubernatorial or regent elections by local legislative councils. As an example, most candidates from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) failed to win a majority despite the party's dominance in local legislatures. "It a concrete example that proves the involvement of politicians in money politics," said Teten Masduki, coordinator of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW).
He said political parties were now the vanguard of corruption in the country despite the era of democratization and transparency, as well as the intensive antigraft drive. National Ombudsmen Commission chairman Antonious Suyata said: "Money politics is extremely dominant in 2001. In every election of a regional head, there has been a strong scent of money politics.
He argued that the spread of money politics was due to the current political reality, in which central or regional legislative councils are more dominant than the administrations.
This year also saw the first case of bickering within the House of Representatives since President Megawati Soekarnoputri took office in July. The bickering concerned the need for a special committee to investigate a financial scandal in which Golkar leader/House Akbar Tandjung had been implicated.
The same legislative body had pushed for a similar inquiry committee to investigate president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, leading to his ouster. The Golkar Party, which helped former dictator Soeharto retain power for 32 years, was at the forefront of calls for a probe into Gus Dur, but is now opposing the much- demanded inquiry into Akbar.
It means that law enforcement remains at a standstill on the part of the legislature and the government, with corruption across the board threatening to spin out of control under Megawati's aloof and hands-off management style.
Her appointment of M.A. Rahman as the new attorney general is deemed a setback for law enforcement following the death on July 3, 2001 of his predecessor Baharuddin Lopa, who was known for his integrity as a law enforcer.
Rahman is believed to be a pro-military prosecutor who is expected to offer only lofty promises of justice against corrupters. His promotion was allegedly a part of bargain between the military, accused of widespread human rights abuses across the country, and Megawati, who needs its full backing.
Teten said Rahman was once a member of a joint team investigating the 1999 violence in East Timor who was loyal to the military. "So the military is happy with his appointment," the ICW coordinator said.
Throughout this year only two high-profile graft cases of which the suspects, both Soeharto cronies, were both sentenced to two years in jail. Timber tycoon Muhammad "Bob" Hasan was imprisoned on February 1 for stealing US$75 million in reforestation funds, and former head of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Beddu Amang was jailed on November 5 for his role in a land swap deal that caused Rp 20 billion in state losses. However, Beddu is still free pending a final verdict on his appeal to the Supreme Court.
Justice is also seemingly illusive against many other suspects, including bankers and top officials suspected of having misused Rp 138 trillion from the Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI). The criminal investigations into these figures remain at unclear and they remain free.
The only highlight this year was the capture on November 28 of Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. He was a fugitive for over one year when he evaded the law after being sentenced to 18 months in prison for graft. Analysts hoped the arrest of Tommy signaled a starting point to eradicating corruption that would boost the image of the police. However, the hope evaporated as soon as Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb gave a welcoming hug to the nation's former most wanted fugitive and accorded him with special treatment.
Prosecutors have repeatedly failed to drag Soeharto to court on charges of unlawfully amassing a fortune during his 32-year autocratic rule. His lawyers and state doctors claim the elderly former leader is mentally and physically unfit to stand trial.
Since his downfall from power three years ago, Indonesia has since enacted many new laws to combat corruption. But the question is whether the legal reforms have changed the country's judicial system and the people's behavior. The answer must be "No".
"Until today, we haven't witness any major corruption cases in court that involved top officials of the past government as part of the New Order regime's responsibility," noted legal expert Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara said. "Corrupt practices have even continued to take place in government bodies, legislative councils and judicial institutions."
Teten noted warily: "There has been no development at all in terms of law enforcement throughout this year".
This all shows the absence of political will and commitment from the government, the legislature and the Supreme Court to seriously fight corruption. The dismal law enforcement cannot be separated from the poor integrity of judges who failed to shun bribes, collusion and power abuses in dealing with graft cases, particularly those linked to Soeharto and his cronies.
To support the nation's anticorruption drive and step up the control of state administrators, a "social mobilization" is urgently needed, otherwise Indonesia will continue to run in place in the struggle.
| Regional/communal conflicts |
Agence France Presse - December 27, 2001
Ambon -- At least three people were hurt in a shootout between Indonesian police, soldiers and marines in the riot-torn city of Ambon, residents and a navy officer said Thursday.
The incident began when soldiers from an army battalion in the Christian area of Galala fired shots at the Muslim-dominated Tantui area, residents said. But the shots must have threatened a post manned by the police Brimob elite unit because they returned fire, they said.
The shootout worsened when three speedboats manned by marines on the Bay of Ambon also came under fire. "Our men shot back because they were shot at," Colonel Chaidir Patanory of the Halong navy base near Galala said.
Witnesses in Tantui said one Brimob officer was grievously injured by a shot to his head and immediately evacuated. Stray shots also wounded two refugees sheltering in the Halong navy compound, said one refugee who identified herself as Arini.
"We have also heard that two civilians have been injured by stray shots, but I have not seen them myself," Arini added. The military and police in Ambon declined immediate comment.
Ambon's sectarian violence has often taken place at sea, with several speedboats shot at by snipers this month.
Fighting between Muslims and Christians in the Maluku islands has left more than 5,000 people dead and created 500,000 refugees since violence first erupted in the town of Ambon, on the island of the same name, in January 1999. The conflict prompted the government to slap a civil emergency rule on the Malukus last year.
South China Morning Post - December 26, 2001
Vaudine England -- President Megawati Sukarnoputri tried to put a brave face on her failure to celebrate Christmas with the indigenous Papuans of Irian Jaya province by sending a letter of apology to Governor Jaap Salossa on Monday. While aides said her absence was due to a cold, analysts said it had more to do with the realisation she might be unwelcome.
The unresolved murder of pro-independence leader Theys Eluay is aggravating already difficult relations between the province and the central Government.
Ms Megawati's letter assured the predominantly Christian population of Irian Jaya that her soul would always be with them, even though she could not be with them physically.
Student demonstrations continued in the province, calling for a referendum on independence and for action against human rights abuses.
Instead of addressing those concerns, Ms Megawati urged Papuans to join Indonesians of other religions. "Living in peace is what everyone wants. But what we have been seeing lately really disturbs our feelings," she said. "I believe that if the special autonomy is implemented seriously and wholeheartedly, we can achieve what this nation expects to be."
The letter is unlikely to ease Irian Jaya's distress. But nor will the special autonomy law, according to Papuans and foreigners close to Irian Jaya. They said autonomy could work if it was implemented fairly and honestly, but that without justice for rights abuses and punishment for Theys' murderers, the Government was wasting its time.
The law comes into force on Tuesday, despite Ms Megawati's failure to visit the province to inaugurate it. It redresses economic imbalances, leaving 70-80 per cent of natural resource revenues in Irian Jaya, and allows the province to be renamed Papua. As with the special autonomy offered to Aceh, the law hopes to dampen aspirations for independence by increasing wealth and opportunities for inhabitants.
But as with the law nominally already in effect in Aceh, implementation is the problem. Aceh is in a near-permanent state of armed conflict, with daily casualties. Delivery of central Government services to large parts of Aceh stopped more than a year ago amid the conflict. In many areas, the Free Aceh Movement validates marriages and property transfers. Many look to the movement for protection.
When it comes to choosing between Jakarta's police or soldiers and home-grown thugs, many Acehnese prefer the latter, regardless of the movement's ideology. The movement has brought a degree of autonomy to Aceh, but not the sort the Government intended. "All we see on the ground so far is just more troops always coming from Jakarta, and less security," said a non-governmental organisation worker who recently fled Aceh for his own safety. "We don't get anything from Jakarta but trouble."
Ms Megawati was supposed to be the leader capable of reuniting her country along the lines her father introduced in 1945. Few people doubt her desire for peace and unity, but equally few are convinced she has much idea how to go about it.
The message from the regions is that relations between them and Jakarta disappeared long ago, and that it is up to Jakarta to restore trust.
The best way Jakarta could do so would be to rein in senior generals for the torture, rape and murder of locals. But that would require confrontation with the armed forces institution - something no national leader can afford.
"We have already seen Megawati's tears many times. She visits places, meets the refugees [internally displaced persons], then she cries and thinks that helps. It doesn't," the non- governmental worker said. "Until she realises that, she can forget about national peace and unity."
Reuters - December 25, 2001
Tomi Soetjipto, Jakarta -- Indonesia breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday as Christians flocked to churches across the world's most populous Muslim nation for Christmas celebrations free of violence, although security remained heavy.
National police spokesman Saleh Saaf told Reuters there had been no unrest overnight or during Christmas day across Indonesia, despite fears of a repeat of a wave of bomb attacks on churches last Christmas Eve that killed 19 people.
A small pipe bomb exploded at a home early on Monday in Jakarta but hurt no one, caused little panic and police said the blast might have been connected to an explosion that destroyed a nearby house earlier this year.
The main black mark was a pre-dawn rail crash on Tuesday that killed 42 people when a packed passenger train slammed into a stationary train in Central Java province. "Nothing happened, just the train accident," Saaf said when asked if there had been any unrest.
At Jakarta's colonial-era Cathedral, one of the churches hit by a bomb last year, some 2,000 Christians went through tight security checks before entering the compound.
Cardinal Julius Darmoatmodjo presided over the morning mass and called on the minority Christian community to seek peace in a country that has struggled to stem communal violence in parts of the vast archipelago since plunging into crisis four years ago. "Peace and welfare are still miles away from our lives, fear is still among us, be it Christians or Muslims. As such we have to have tight security to pray," Darmoatmodjo said in his sermon.
On guard
Tens of thousands of police and soldiers have been on guard outside churches and in other public places anxious to prevent a repeat of the countrywide bomb attacks last year.
Officials have previously said the coordinated attacks were intended to destabilise the government of then President Abdurrahman Wahid and stir religious tension.
Christians have crammed into churches, with many refusing to be cowed by the fear of violence. "No problem, whatever happens. That's why I still want to come for the service," said Afiat Badasurya, a worshipper in the industrial city of Surabaya in East Java on Tuesday.
Attacks on places of worship often spark tension in Indonesia. Between 85-90 percent of the population of 210 million people are Muslim, the vast majority holding moderate views.
Among the regions where peace prevailed overnight were eastern areas such as the Moluccas islands and Central Sulawesi province that have been ravaged by clashes between Muslims and Christians since the downfall of President Suharto in 1998.
"Today, celebrations went smoothly like last night. The crowds were quite large," Rinaldi Damanik, secretary-general of the Central Sulawesi Christian Church, told Reuters by telephone from Tentena near violence-hit Poso town.
The official Antara news agency reported from a number of locations that services had gone off without a hitch. It added that firecrackers boomed through the night in battered Ambon in the Moluccas, a noisy reminder for some of the violence that has taken hold in the city.
Most fighting between Muslims and Christians stems from economic and political injustices that festered under Suharto's iron rule. Muslims and Christians are equally represented in eastern parts of the giant archipelago.
| Human rights/law |
Reuters - December 27, 2001
Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta -- Indonesia's once all-powerful army made a rare admission on Thursday that it was still struggling to instil ideals of human rights among its quarter of a million men.
But Endriartono Sutarto, the army's chief of staff, asked the public to be patient and insisted the military was still justified in using harsh measures against those who broke the law.
"We know this is our weak spot. The soldier's pocket book now is what can, what must and what can't be done according to human rights," the four-star general told a rare open-door meeting with the media. "Human rights is our current main focus. If we do not take it into account ... public trust will vanish, we will be the stepchild in this country and we will not be able to do our job," Sutarto said.
The army was the main defender of former president Suharto's 32- year autocratic rule but has come in for widespread criticism since he was forced to step down amid mass riots three years ago.
Evidence of army atrocities has grown, ranging from thousands of villagers killed in separatist Aceh province on the western tip of Sumatra to the torture of Jakarta activists.
"We thought what we did was right. Nobody [at that time] told us it wasn't but suddenly it changed ... everything we did turned out to be wrong," Sutarto said.
Harsh measures justified
But the general said the public needed to give the army time to improve its human rights record and warned the military must not have its hands tied when dealing with separatists, such as the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
"When people are killed in an exchange of fire do not just see it as a big sin because groups like GAM use people as their shields. GAM themselves are (civilian) people who are violating the law," he said. "We have told our soldiers that killing is not taboo if it deserves to be done," Sutarto added.
Rebels have been fighting Indonesia's army for a quarter of a century in Aceh, saying Jakarta has long exploited the resource- rich province but given little in return. The clashes have killed some 1,500 people, mostly civilians, this year alone.
Indonesia also faces separatist protests at the other end of the world's most populous Muslim nation in the eastern province of Papua and there have also been reports of military atrocities there, although on a far lesser scale than in Aceh.
The army will again come under the spotlight early next year when a special human rights court is expected to start trying suspects, including several army officers, accused of past abuses including the bloodshed surrounding East Timor's vote for independence in 1999.
Pro-Jakarta militias, supported by elements in the Indonesian army, went on an orgy of violence and the United Nations estimates more than 1,000 East Timorese were killed after the tiny territory voted to throw off 23 years of often brutal Indonesian rule.
Jakarta Post - December 26, 2001
Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta -- Long criticized for a lack of attention to the widespread abuse of women and children -- perhaps the nation's most precious resource -- the government promised on Monday to correct this appalling situation.
With assistance from international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as the government of the US, the government plans to address some critical problems and increase funds.
"The programs which will start next year will aim to ensure that children's rights are better protected," Sumarni Dawam Rahardjo, Deputy for Child Protection and Welfare, at the office of the Ministry of Women's Empowerment told The Jakarta Post.
So far the NGOs have been at the forefront of the fight against abuses of women and children, and now that there is extra funding, from foreigners, the government seems to have taken the issue seriously.
The government revealed the plan less than a week after the National Commission for Child Protection (KPA) revealed in its year-end report the critical situation of widespread child abuse.
The Ministry of Women's Empowerment plans to utilize such reports as an impetus to increase its budget. Next year, Sumarni said, her office expects to be handsomely rewarded with Rp 4 billion (US$400,000) due to the publicized abuse of the nation's children, which will be a significant raise from this year's Rp 1 billion.
She said that her office will later begin helping regions to design programs for children's rights according to local needs.
With support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), her office is developing a program to tackle child trafficking in 12 provinces for the next two years. Some of the provinces are West Kalimantan, Riau, Jakarta, East Java and North Sumatra.
On child labor, Sumarni admitted her office could not do much but urge the Ministry of Manpower to take firm measures against perpetrators.
The office means to boost cooperation with the Directorate General for Informal Education, Youth and Sports at the Ministry of Education to provide education for dropout children and child laborers.
The plans received qualified praise from Seto Mulyadi, KPA's chairman, but added that the government should see to it that the project should truly be effective in serving children's interests and not "just another project" riddled with corruption, collusion and nepotism.
He advised the government to include all stakeholders, including the KPA, the NGOs and USAID who are focusing on children that need special protection such as kids in refugee camps, workplaces and in conflict areas.
"Don't let the issue become a mere public discourse without concrete results," he remarked. He also urged the government to be more transparent and accountable to the public about how it uses the funds.
Agence France Presse - December 26, 2001 (abridged)
A leading Indonesian rights group joined the fray in the public debate about President Megawati Sukarnoputri's plan to drop graft charges against former dictator Suharto, saying it will sound the death toll on justice in the country.
The executive chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), Hendardi, said scrapping the trial would give the impression that justice was only for common people. "For state officials or their family who engage in crimes, the law is not black and white but has grey areas," Hendardi said. "Should president Megawati go ahead with according the abolition, it will sound the death toll on our judicial system," he said.
Officials report Megawati is mulling scrapping the multi-billion-dollar graft case for reasons of compassion, citing Suharto's advanced age and his deterioriating health.
Suharto has been hospitalized for a bout of pneumonia since December 17 but one of his close aides told AFP on Wednesday that although the health of the former head of state was improving, his condition was still far from stable.
Hendardi said: "An unpunished crime is a crime on its own." A trial would give justice to the victims and discourage other criminals, he added.
Straits Times - December 24, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia is witnessing a growing number of child abuse cases but does not yet have adequate legislation to cope with the problem, according to the National Commission for Child Protection.
The most common forms of abuse were rape, prostitution and forced labour. School dropouts were also a serious problem, the commission said in its year-end report.
This meant that Indonesia risked losing at least one generation to poverty, malnutrition, poor education and a lack of nourishment and care, said commission chairman Seto Mulyadi.
The commission recorded 381 cases of violence against children in Jakarta alone in 2001, an increase from 261 last year. Sixty per cent of them were sexual abuse cases involving the victim's own relatives. Other cases involved child street singers and beggars and physical harassment ranging from pinching to beating and kicking.
The commission also said that the economic crisis had made the coming year look bleak for the nation's children. It revealed that children made up at least 30 per cent, or 390,000, of the 1.3 million commercial sex workers registered across the country. These children were often unable to avoid violence, unwanted pregnancies and deadly sexually transmitted diseases, including the deadly HIV and Aids.
The report also noted that 12.5 million children dropped out of school this year, an increase from 11 million last year. Some 6.5 million children had to work to survive, a more than 100 per cent increase on the 2.7 million in 2000. Many of them worked in dangerous places, such as plantations, farms, the streets and brothels.
Communal conflicts, which plagued several regions for the past three years, worsened the situation as thousands of children and their families were forced to live in refugee camps. A report from the Ministry of Social Affairs said some 600,000 children, out of a total of 1.3 million refugees, were now living in refugee camps in 24 provinces.
This year alone, the commission recorded at least 286 deaths among children aged between five and 24 years from malnutrition and various illnesses.
Mr Seto said abuses of children's basic rights would create an "aggressive and anarchic" generation.
Commission secretary Arist Merdeka Sirait criticised the Indonesian government and legislators for lacking the political will to protect children. The commission, along with other non- governmental groups in Indonesia, submitted a Bill on children's protection to the House several months ago, but it has not yet been debated.
Dire numbers - Children being abused:
Agence France Presse - December 24, 2001 (slightly abridged)
The health of former Indonesian dictator Suharto improved slightly as a plan by Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri to withdraw multimillion-dollar graft charges against him sparked intense media debate.
"He is no longer on an intravenous drip, although he is still hooked to the oxygen supply line," said an aide as Suharto lay in a hospital bed Monday recovering from a bout of pneumonia.
Outside, debate raged over whether plans for a corruption trial should be dropped. Among supporters of the idea are the country's two largest parties; Megawati's own Indonesian Democracy Party for Struggle (PDIP), and the Golkar Party which was Suharto's main political vehicle during his 32 years in power.
Golkar legislator Baharuddin Aritonang welcomed the plan saying that it would be part of efforts by the government to work for national reconciliation, according to a report in the Media Indonesia newspaper.
On the opposing side are legal experts who assert the move would further undermine already weak public confidence in the government's commitment to the rule of law. "It will set a bad precedent," said lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis who won a libel case filed by Suharto against Time magazine in favor of the international weekly. Like many others quoted in the press, Lubis said a pardon should only be considered after a verdict had been reached in a trial.
National Assembly Chairman Amien Rais was quoted by the Detikcom online news service as saying he would agree to revoke the charges against Suharto, but only after he had returned his "ill-gotten wealth" to the state.
A readers' poll conducted by the leading daily Kompas in eight Indonesian cities, including Jakarta, showed that 49 percent of respondents agreed the charges should be dropped for humanitarian reasons and in recognition of Suharto's service to the nation.
Opponents, accounting for 43 percent, demanded the trial be continued with the main reasons cited being that the government needed to enforce the country's laws and should demonstrate its determination to fight corruption.
Straits Times - December 24, 2001
Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- National Assembly chairman Amien Rais, one of the fiercest critics of former president Suharto, said yesterday that parliament was likely to support a presidential motion to drop charges against the ailing 80-year-old.
Such political backing, he said, would come with this caveat: that Suharto return the US$571 million (S$1 billion) he allegedly embezzled during his 32 years in power and that the government continues moves to prosecute his children and cronies.
The feisty leader of Indonesia's highest legislative body told The Straits Times in an interview, a day after President Megawati Sukarnoputri announced plans to drop corruption charges against Mr Suharto, that there was no need for the former military strongman to stand trial because he had suffered enough public humiliation.
"It's about time that the nation forgives him," he said. "Pardoning someone is a noble thing. We have to look forward and not keep harping about the mistakes of the past."
Dr Amien, one of the key politicians who brought about Suharto's downfall in 1997, said the former president was not alone to blame for problems wrought on Indonesia during his reign.
He said: "It was a collective mistake and Mr Suharto can't bear all the blame himself. What about the legislators who voted for him every election and others who benefited enormously from the New Order? They too are just as guilty." From a practical viewpoint, he said that Mr Suharto was also too ill to stand trial.
In September last year, the South Jakarta District Court aborted the only attempt so far to try the disgraced former president after doctors testified that he had suffered brain damage from an earlier stroke.
Mr Suharto has spent most of the past week in hospital fighting off a bout of pneumonia, during which his lawyers renewed pressure for the charges to be dropped.
Their position was backed by the Supreme Court last week when Chief Justice Bagir Manan issued a legal opinion declaring that the case should be closed, citing a report by Mr Suharto's medical team that deemed his health "beyond recovery".
Mr Amien said that parliament would factor Mr Suharto's health seriously when it meets early next month to deliberate on Ms Megawati's call to abolish the charges. Under Indonesia's Constitution, the President can intervene in a case if parliament grants its approval first.
He noted that while certain legislators might try to "politicise this issue to score points", most of them would back her. This included members from two of the largest parliamentary factions -- the Indonesian Democratic Party -- Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar. But he said many would want Suharto and his family to return the money they allegedly stole from the state.
Legal experts said that this was a good idea in theory and that the past two administrations had tried to work out a settlement along these lines. But it failed mainly because of resistance from Mr Suharto's children.
That was why legislators would continue to insist that all his six children, not just his youngest son Tommy, be investigated and prosecuted on corruption charges.
| News & issues |
South China Morning Post - December 28, 2001
Vaudine England, Jakarta -- An educated, professional Indonesian civil servant -- let's call him Johannes -- once had a senior, apparently stable job in a region outside Jakarta. His pay and responsibilities came from Jakarta and, though nothing like that received by his intellectual equals in the West, it did arrive with reassuring predictability.
One year on, Johannes is depending for survival on the savings of his wife and sister-in-law. He has taken a lower level position in a remote district in Kalimantan in response to the changes forced on him by new regional autonomy laws. But although he keeps going to his office with impressive regularity, he has not been paid for a year.
His story shows the downside of the implementation of regional autonomy whereby local regents now hire and fire, collect taxes, decide spending and have the power to grant contracts and foreign investment approvals.
In the past it was the central Government in Jakarta that kept a startlingly comprehensive list of such powers in its hands, some of which were administered through a few million civil servants sent out to the regions with status and sway over the locals.
But lauded as a way for more of Indonesia's vast population to have a say in their own lives, the autonomy reforms also have an arbitrary and dramatic effect on people's lives.
Johannes' problems began with his transfer to a provincial capital in Kalimantan just when regional autonomy was starting to come into force on January 1 last year.
The local power-holders in government offices there soon decided they had no need for Johannes, so his salary from Jakarta reached the local branch of a state bank but never reached Johannes.
"There was no trail, the money just never arrived," a relative said. "Every time he asked for his salary, he was told he would get a lump sum when his position was confirmed."
Johannes' friends lent him money so he could go to Jakarta to discuss matters with old colleagues, some of whom were now high- ranking. But power at the centre does not necessarily mean power in any district, and Johannes' friends could do nothing. They advised him to take a job in a district 29 hours' drive from the provincial capital. Though worse than what he was used to, it would at least let him get a lump sum in back pay.
It was a tough choice, but he made it. Yet somehow nothing has changed. He has still not been paid and there has been no back- pay either. He has neither the house nor the car that are supposed to accompany his position as his predecessor will not give them up. His own previously senior position has been given to a man with impeccable credentials as an indigenous resident but with no relevant qualification for the job.
Johannes cannot even go back to his own original district in Sumatra, as the boundaries there have been redrawn and his ethnic base has shifted.
Now getting on in years, he could only start again with his juniors above him. "He's a victim of a classic civil service mentality here -- don't question anything, just look for ways around it to make a buck," one of Johannes' friends said.
Not everyone has been as unlucky as Johannes, and to some of the decentralisation law designers, his plight is sad but the price to be paid for what is still a vital process of economic and political democratisation.
"Regions do not know how to rationalise the bloated administrations they have inherited," wrote Owen Podger, a management consultant and team leader for an Asian Development Bank project in support of decentralisation.
"They have inherited inefficiency, inappropriate appointments, overlapping functions, and many officers known to be corrupt or unsympathetic who, in the New Order, thrived in their higher status than the local administrators.
"This means that regions do not yet know how to overcome the problems that already existed because of the centralist system." "But at least they are now aware of the problem that the centralist system refused to see," he added.
Jakarta Post - December 28, 2001
Bambang Nurbianto and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Reforms have come to a complete halt under the leadership of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, as she prefers to collaborate with the remnants of the New Order regime rather than work with reform- minded leaders, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) said on Thursday.
Speaking at a year-end press conference in Jakarta, the NGOs said the reform agenda had run out of steam since Megawati took over the national leadership in July, while in the meantime the military's role had strengthened, law enforcement had weakened and the incidence of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) had increased.
The NGOs, which included Women's Solidarity, the Urban Poor Consortium, the Indonesian Consumers' Foundation and the Institute for the Study and Advocacy of the People (Elsam), highlighted the government's apparent reluctance to prosecute alleged corrupters who wielded serious political clout.
"The government must enforce the law against corrupters from both past regimes and the present through an impartial and transparent legal process," said Binny Buchori from the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid) here on Thursday.
The NGOs referred to corruption allegations against former president Soeharto and Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Akbar Tandjung. Soeharto, who is still recovering from pneumonia in Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta, has been charged with amassing US$571 million of state funds for personal gain, while Akbar is accused of embezzling Rp 54 billion (roughly $5.4 million) of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) money.
Megawati has considered granting an "abolition" to the ailing Soeharto, which would mean dropping corruption charges against him, while her party has appeared reluctant to pursue graft allegations against Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, the second biggest faction in the DPR after Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
Golkar played an important role in catapulting Megawati to the presidential post in July after members of the People's Consultative Assembly impeached former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid for incompetence.
"The plan to grant former president Soeharto an 'abolition' is a setback in law enforcement as such a move constitutes granting immunity," the NGOs said in a written statement.
Ifdal Khasim of Elsam said that Megawati lacked the courage to deal with various criminal cases because she based her decisions on political considerations. "Every move Megawati makes is based on political considerations because she prefers political stability to a commitment to bring about justice," Ifdal said.
Jhonson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) shared Ifdal's views, saying that the impeachment of Gus Dur had prompted Megawati to take a "compromise" approach in dealing with various criminal cases. "Nearly three and a half years after the fall of Soeharto, we have not seen any improvements made by the governments that have succeeded his regime. The reform process that was expected to repair the situation has become stagnant," Jhonson said.
In a similar tone, the Democratic People's Party (PRD) on Thursday also criticized Megawati's leadership for giving too much space to the remnants of the autocratic New Order regime. "It appears to be a resurrection of the autocratic New Order regime and militarism," said party chairman Haris Rusly.
Haris called on the government to appoint an ad-hoc prosecutor and justice specifically dedicated to investigating the Rp 54.6 billion scandal allegedly involving Akbar. "We need to form an ad-hoc team because the Supreme Court and the legal system are no longer reliable," he said.
The NGOs also criticized Megawati's economic team for relying too heavily on International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions, particularly in terms of pushing for an export-oriented economy while ignoring the rural sector.
"Instead of adopting measures designed to bring about an economic recovery, the government uses the conventional approach of collecting more loans from the IMF," Haris said.
Jakarta Post - December 26, 2001
Ati Nurbaiti -- In a country where the first ever woman president stands proud, along with a few other women within the central and local governments, awareness has been raised of the issue of "sexual terrorism."
The alarming term was raised on December 11 by the National Commission for Violence Against Women during a press conference on its annual review.
Amid the global campaign against terrorism, the term brings home the fears and realities experienced daily by many women across the country, and not least also within their most intimate environment, the "sanctuary" of marriage and the family.
"We're using that term to get a grip on the daily reality of terrorism," the commission's secretary-general Kamala Chandra Kirana said, as quoted in Kompas.
The title of their report was "Sexual terrorism haunts Indonesian women." Kamala Chandra said the term referred to a wide range of assaults, aimed at a woman's body and sexuality, because they are considered incapable of retaliating. Thus victims feel constantly intimidated and threatened, for being a woman.
On various levels, from the home to the many battlefields where Indonesians are at war with fellow citizens, women become victims of crimes whose perpetrators mostly walk free. Of 3,169 cases reported across 14 areas, 40 percent of women experienced violence and rape in their immediate environment, 32 percent in their neighborhood and 17 percent at work. As expected, the figure only reflects the few cases that were reported to the 35 organizations that reported to the commission.
Reports of the plight of women among the country's 1.5 million internally displaced persons reveal that women have not only lost their sons and husbands to needless wars, but have become victims of sexual assault, echoing the stories of women from any other place of conflict. Killing the enemy is never enough: One must also sexually attack their women, a symbol of male property and dominance.
A feeling of being under constant terror must also be what victims of human trafficking feel. This year the unraveling of a number of cases revealed women including minors were sold for less than the current price of a goat, which is Rp 500,000. They had high hopes to help their families out of poverty.
Between January and June this year the Indonesian Child Protection Institute, for instance, reported 11 cases of trafficking of girls in North Sumatra. Lax regulations to prevent sexual exploitation of minors have contrasted sharply with the bowing to pressure to close down "centers of vice" in various areas, leaving sex workers with no income.
Ignored are long-standing arguments from experts, who urge minimum age regulations for sex workers rather than the futile action of closing down of prostitution centers, which will, as in the past, crop up again as long as there is a demand for them.
Selling one's body is still the most lucrative way for many women of poor families to survive and join the desired lifestyle of the big city. In Batam, Riau, activists cited the high cost of living as one reason for so many women working the nightspots, to augment income earned in the factories. The number of cases of HIV/AIDS in Batam alone reached 75 in October -- and campaigns for safe sex are still progressing at a snail's pace as the issue competes with so many other hard news stories of the political and economic crisis.
Sexual harassment has not stopped millions of women from seeking work abroad, undertaking great risks as protection for them is still lacking. Their firm faith, belief in fate and sheer drive for a better life has led them to follow in the steps of other Indonesian women to seek mostly domestic work in the Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan, among other countries.
In July, the public here learned for the first time that these maids actually managed to form an organization among themselves in Hong Kong under the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers. The pictures of some of the 80 maids protesting in a foreign land would have been unthinkable in this country, where domestic helpers are not recognized as workers with clear rights.
The Hong Kong maids voiced grievances about alleged exploitation by employers, recruitment agencies and the Indonesian government toward most of their 59,000 Indonesian counterparts. The organizing of Indonesian maids showed that the women involved realized that they could not wait for the government to support them. The government lags far behind the Philippines in its appreciation of its migrant workers, dubbed the heroes of the Philippine' economy.
Such organizing among domestic helpers in the country has yet to come about, and would be more shocking to employers than any other form of reformasi. As stories of suffering of maids abroad have led to repeated calls to stop sending maids altogether, the alternative of higher wages and freedom of association among maids in a bid to prevent so many working in dangerous climes abroad, has not been raised effectively by women's groups here.
In Jakarta, an eight-year-old bylaw on domestic helpers issued in the wake of case where a servant was tortured by her employer, proved little known among councillors themselves.
Housemaid Jumiati in September told reporters of abuse by her employers which landed her in hospital, while her elder colleague died two weeks earlier from self-immolation, rather than endure further torture.
Violence against maids, by both male and female employers, is another silent issue here. Like violence against married women or against children, the cases are hushed up because victims are considered, and often become, voiceless private property.
"Many violations against maids have occurred but most of them cannot be brought to court because the employers' families tend to cover up such cases," said Apong Herlina of the Jakarta Legal Aid Office.
Human rights violations continue in this country with perpetrators hiding in impunity, with or without uniform. Rights violations among women are considered somewhat "normal". They are either someone's wife, someone's maid or daughter -- private property.
On the battlefield, they are "normal" casualties caught among men who feel they must wage a holy war against each other -- thus it is the victor's right to treat the enemy's women however they wish.
Women leaders themselves need to be educated on such issues. It is common to say that women in Indonesia enjoy extraordinary equality, now proven by the rise of Megawati Soekarnoputri and other women in government -- including four regents of Kebumen, Demak and Tuban all in Central Java, Majalengka in West Java and two mayors, one in Sukabumi, West Java and the other in Tanjung Pinang, in Riau.
Women have long known that the grueling work of recognizing women's rights does not end with a country reaching a degree of "democracy", neither does it come about with a woman president. Although not many expected President Megawati Soekarnoputri to air women's concerns, it might be useful if she asserted her creed of nonviolence more often. That might inspire more respect for human rights, including toward women at home and in our many conflict areas.
| Informal sector/urban poor |
Jakarta Post - December 24, 2001
Jakarta -- Public order officers demolished on Saturday evening dozens of tents, stalls and kiosks erected by sidewalk vendors along busy roads in Kampung Melayu and Jatinegara in East Jakarta.
The demolitions were designed to bring some sense of order to the capital, where vendors operate in an uncontrolled manner.
At least 700 personnel, including policemen and soldiers, were deployed to demolish the stalls and kiosks. Eight garbage trucks and dozens of operational vehicles from the city's Public
Order Agency were also deployed to support the operation, according to Antara. The demolition turned out to be laborious as some of the vendors' stalls consisted of brick and mortar semi- permanent buildings.
Amid attempts to find some of their belongings, ranging from plates, cups to stoves, the vendors said that they were shocked by the demolition as it was done without prior notice. They questioned why their facilities were destroyed because they claimed that they had paid monthly fees to the authorities for the use of the public plots.
Bambang W., one of the public order officers, said that all property belonging to the street vendors was transported by truck to Cakung, East Jakarta, to be processed. He said the demolition had been done mainly to enhance traffic flow in the areas. "The stalls, tents and kiosks owned by the sidewalk vendors obstructed the flow of both pedestrians and vehicles passing along nearby roads," he said.
| International relations |
International Herald Tribune - December 27, 2001
Michael Richardson, Singapore -- The United States has quietly opened the way to resume military training with Indonesia despite a congressional ban.
Even though the U.S. Congress recently strengthened the human rights conditions that must be observed by Indonesia before U.S. military cooperation can be resumed, lawmakers opened a loophole in a separate bill to allow anti-terrorist training in the world's most populous Muslim country.
Human rights groups have denounced these developments, saying they will strengthen the military and other anti-reform elements in Indonesia at the expense of democracy and civil liberties.
They say the anti-terror bill is intended to circumvent existing restrictions on U.S. military cooperation with Indonesia in the interests of promoting a wider anti-terrorist effort in Southeast Asia. Some U.S. officials fear that the region may become a haven for Osama bin Laden's Qaida terrorists now that they have been denied an operating base in Afghanistan and are being hounded in many other parts of the world.
"This is dangerous," said Munir, the founder of Kontras, a leading Indonesian human rights organization, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. "The Indonesian military will become stronger and return to the political scene if this materializes."
Congress passed a Foreign Operations Appropriations Act last Thursday for fiscal year 2002. It maintained the ban on military education and training for Indonesia that was first imposed in 1991 because of alleged excesses by the Indonesian military in East Timor.
The act strengthened conditions for lifting the ban, including Indonesian accountability for human rights abuses, allowing East Timorese refugees to return home, auditing the performance and financing of the Indonesian armed forces, releasing political detainees in Indonesia and allowing the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations access to conflict areas in Indonesia.
But at the same time, Congress also passed a $318 billion Defense Department Appropriations Act that includes a provision setting aside $21 million for establishing regional counter-terrorism training programs.
The provision was inserted at the last minute by Senator Daniel Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii, who has close ties to the U.S. military command in the Pacific, which is based in Hawaii, human rights campaigners in Washington said.
The Indonesian armed forces have lost much of their authority since the fall of former President Suharto in 1998. But they have regained some influence by supporting the rise to power of the current president, Megawati Sukarnoputri.
She has given the military new latitude to suppress armed separatist movements in resource-rich provinces like Aceh and Irian Jaya. Mrs. Megawati wants to prevent any further fragmentation of the country following the loss of East Timor in 1999.
"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, the Washington coordinator of the Indonesia Human Rights Network.
The Indonesian military has made it clear to the United States that in return for closer cooperation in combating terrorism, restrictions on military sales, aid and training should be lifted. Some Indonesian officers have contended that the embargo is undermining the government's ability to maintain the stability and unity of Indonesia.
The chief of the Indonesian Air Force, Marshal Hanafie Asnan, said recently that as little as 40 percent of the country's 233 U.S.-made military aircraft could be flown; the rest were grounded because of a shortage of spare parts and maintenance problems arising from the embargo.
Human rights campaigners in Washington said that Mr. Inouye inserted the provision to establish a Regional Defense Counter- Terrorism Fellowship Program at the behest of Admiral Dennis Blair, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, and other Pentagon officials who want the United States to be able to work more closely with the Indonesian military.
But other analysts said that the move to resume cooperation with the Indonesian armed forces has backing from the highest echelons of the U.S. Defense Department, where officials are said to argue that only by engaging and assisting the Indonesian military can its professional performance be improved.
In an Indonesian television interview last month, Paul Wolfowitz, the U.S. deputy defense secretary and a former ambassador to Indonesia, called for better intelligence-sharing and checks on terrorist financing between the United States and Indonesia.
"We estimate that there are Qaida cells in some 60 countries, including definitely the United States and pretty definitely Indonesia," he said. "So when we eliminate Qaida in Afghanistan, we still have a lot of work to do."
The U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, also strongly supports closer links with the Indonesian military, analysts said. On a visit to Australia earlier this year, Mr. Rumsfeld recalled attending the funeral of President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt in 1970 as a member of the official U.S. delegation and meeting Mr. Nasser's vice president and successor, Anwar Sadat.
Mr. Rumsfeld mentioned the meeting as evidence of the importance of the U.S. military maintaining links with the armed forces of Indonesia and other foreign countries that do not always act in ways America approves.
Mr. Sadat, who was to become a key U.S. ally in a tumultuous and strategically important part of the world, "told us that he had been trained in the U.S. Army school in the United States, and had a wonderful feeling for the United States," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "He had no issue with us at all, except Israel. Yet he had Soviets all over his country at the time."
Mr. Rumsfeld was speaking to a group of journalists in Canberra in July. One had asked whether the United States would be seeking to reestablish military-to-military ties with Indonesia anytime soon. Mr. Rumsfeld replied that he was "anxious" to rebuild such ties, although he noted the bans imposed by the U.S. Congress.
"I think we ought to be slower to nip those things, because in some countries that are evolving and changing, the military can be a stabilizing influence," Mr. Rumsfeld said. He added that although the behavior of some foreign militaries was not admirable and might not be consonant with the way the United States treated people, "it doesn't mean we should shoot ourselves in the foot."
Revised conditions on US military assistance to Indonesia
[From Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2002 (HR 2506)]
Section 572
(a) Funds appropriated by this Act under the headings "International Military Education and Training" and "Foreign Military Financing Program" may be made available for assistance for Indonesian military personnel only if the President determines and submits a report to the appropriate congressional committees that the Government of Indonesia and the Indonesian Armed Forces are:
(1) taking effective measures to bring to justice members of the armed forces and militia groups against whom there is credible evidence of human rights violations in East Timor and Indonesia;
(2) taking effective measures to bring to justice members of the armed forces against whom there is credible evidence of aiding or abetting illegal militia groups in East Timor and Indonesia;
(3) allowing displaced persons and refugees to return home to East Timor, including providing safe passage for refugees returning from West Timor and demonstrating a commitment to preventing incursions into East Timor by members of militia groups in West Timor;
(4) demonstrating a commitment to accountability by cooperating with investigations and prosecutions of members of the armed forces and militia groups responsible for human rights violations in East Timor and Indonesia;
(5) demonstrating a commitment to civilian control of the armed forces by reporting to civilian authorities audits of receipts and expenditures of the armed forces;
(6) allowing United Nations and other international humanitarian organizations and representatives of recognized human rights organizations access to West Timor, Aceh, West Papua, and Maluka; and
(7) releasing political detainees.
| Economy & investment |
Agence France Presse - December 24, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia will not follow Argentina and halt its payment on the nation's public debt, top economic minister Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti said Monday.
When was asked by journalists whether Indonesia had any plans to halt its repayment of its 70 billion-dollar public debt, Kuntjoro-Jakti said: "No". He declined to comment further but said the country would continue to honor its commitment with the International Monetary Fund, which is coordinating some five billion dollars in aid to help the country overcome its current economic crisis in return for reforms.
Indonesia's foreign debt currently stands at 140 billion dollars, 70 billion dollars of which are government debt. On Sunday, Argentina declared it was halting payments on its 132 billion dollar public debt, the biggest default in history.
Jakarta Post - December 24, 2001
Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta -- Argentina teetering into economic chaos right under the nose of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hammers home some lessons for Indonesia on how it should work with the fund, experts said.
Former finance minister Bambang Sudibyo said Argentina was yet another illustration of the failure of the IMF's antidote for sick economies. "The IMF should learn from its experience in Argentina ... the monetary approach only doesn't work," Bambang told The Jakarta Post over the weekend. He said the IMF should give some leeway for the government to implement its own policy mix of fiscal and structural reform measures.
Wide spread unrest broke out in Argentina last week as the country's jittery economy descended into near collapse following the IMF's decision to suspend a bailout package to the country. The fund withheld US$1.3 billion in loans as the Argentinean government failed to meet targets under the so-named zero-deficit law.
In attempting to meet the targets, the government introduced austerity measures, angering a public buckled under years of economic hardship. Violent unrest, looting and the opposition turning down a power-sharing deal forced President Fernando de la Rua to resign. He left behind an economy with a tough choice of either devaluing the peso or defaulting on $132 billion in debts.
With all this unraveling while the country was implementing the IMF's prescribed reforms drew criticism against the institution. The IMF denounced such charges and instead heaped the blame on the Argentinean government for failing to meet reform targets.
Bambang said the Indonesian government should consider methods other than those under the IMF to achieve macroeconomic stability. Curbing inflation and defending the rupiah through monetary policies only was inadequate and thus ineffective, he said.
Other factors easily push up inflation, and these were outside the reach of monetary policies, he explained. For instance, he said, security problems disrupting the distribution of goods add to inflation pressure. But while the IMF's monetary policies were ineffective they also drained much needed capital supply to industries.
The government invited the IMF in late 1997 to help pull Indonesia out of the financial crisis. Its task is to provide bridging funds to the government, which is facing a liquidity crisis. It still provides these funds, but they are tied to reform conditions set out under a letter of intent (LoI).
Bambang said the government should simplify the LoI, or develop its own reform program without making them LoI loan preconditions.
Elsewhere, economist Dradjad Wibowo said the fiasco the IMF left behind in Argentina again underscored the fund's weaknesses. "It is time to reconsider the three principles of the Washington consensus on which the IMF works," he said. That consensus, made with creditor countries and the World Bank in the late 1980s, allows the fund to provide assistance only to countries that are open market oriented. It comprises three principles -- macroeconomic stability, trade and investment liberalization -- and privatization.
In Argentina, macroeconomic stability meant a zero deficit budget, which in practice shifted the burden onto the public. Trade liberalization made the unemployment rate surge as more firms went bankrupt, while reckless privatization and state asset sales had severely cut Argentina's ability to raise funds for debt payments.
Dradjad suggested the IMF include the principle of social justice into its program.