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Indonesia/East Timor News Digest No
2 - January 14-20, 2002
Jakarta Post - January 19, 2002
Jakarta -- Widespread protest against the fuel price hike hit the
capital on Friday, creating heavy traffic congestion in many
parts of the city, reports said.
Students from the All-Indonesia Student Executive Body staged
their protest at the People's Consultative Assembly/House of
Representatives (MPR/DPR) building in Central Jakarta and, as of
4:30 p.m., still continued their speeches, calling on the
government not to raise the price of fuel and also to scrap
theplan to raise electricity and telephone rates.
The BEM students also burned an effigy of House Speaker Akbar
Tandjung as a "show of support for a full investigation and legal
processing of the 1999 Bulog scandal".
Before reaching the legislative building, the group toured the
capital by staging protest in the Salemba area of Central Jakarta
and at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.
Also protesting the fuel price hike at the MPR/DPR building were
members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI).
Meanwhile, hundreds of students also staged similar protests at
the State Academy of Islamic Studies (IAIN) Campus in Ciputat,
South Jakarta and in the Diponegoro and Salemba areas of Central
Jakarta.
Traffic built up along the Jl. Gatot Subroto -- Jl. M.H. Thamrin
-- Semanggi cloverleaf and Jl. Jend Sudirman route, in addition
to the normal afternoon peak congestion.
Jakarta Post - January 19, 2002
Two separate protest marches, organized by members of the Islam
Defenders Front (FPI) and several universities in Jakarta
respectively, converged on the House of Representatives (DPR) in
the Senayan area, Central Jakarta, on Friday, causing traffic
congestion along Jl. Gatot Subroto.
The 2,000 protesters opposed the hike in fuel prices and demanded
the government fight corruption.
During the rally, students burned an effigy of House Speaker
Akbar Tandjung as a "show of support for a full legal
investigation into the 1999 Bulog scandal", and called on Akbar
to resign from his post.
The protesters condemned corruption, which they claimed to be the
cause of the price hike.
Ten FPI representatives were later received by House Commission
VIII, overseeing mining and energy, to deliver their objection.
Tubagus Hasanuddin Al-bantani, FPI coordinator, said the
organization condemned the government as it had failed to fight
corruption and caused public misery.
Student Coordinator Wisnu Sunandar, of the University of
Indonesia (UI), said that students had failed to hold a mass
protest prior to the price hike because they were still on
holiday.
He said students would launch another protest on the issue on
Monday.
Prior to the rally, students had gathered at the UI School of
Medicine on Jl. Salemba, Central Jakarta. Some of them burned
used car tires in front of nearby private-university YAI on Jl.
Diponegoro. The police quickly put out the fire.
Earlier on Friday, about 400 women staged a rally at the Hotel
Indonesia traffic circle protesting the hike in fuel prices. They
later marched to the office of the Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat.
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Student protests hit Jakarta
Groups protest fuel price hike
Street protesters burn tyres, effigy over fuel price rise
Agence France Presse - January 18, 2002
Jakarta -- Street protests hit the Indonesian capital of Jakarta for the second day in a row Friday over the government's decision to raise fuel prices by an average 22 percent.
Some 500 protesters from the Student Executive Body and the radical Front for the Defenders of Islam (FPI) staged a joint rally outside parliament, demanding that the government arrest corrupt officials and seize their assets rather than raise fuel prices.
They set fire to several tyres and an effigy of parliament speaker Akbar Tanjung, now a guspect in a 3.8 million dollar corruption case.
"It is illegal for the government to increase fuel, electricity, telephone and staple food prices as long as corruption remains alive," an FPI banner read.
The student protesters demanded that government "lower all prices and eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism".
Police diverted traffic but did not try to break up the protest. Jakarta police had gone on high alert Wednesday with all leave cancelled in anticipation of major protests but demonstrations so far have been smaller than expected.
Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the fuel price increases, announced late Wednesday, and a new pricing formula were necessary to ease the budget burden and curb the smuggling of fuel out of the country.
Under the new formula the government will peg most prices to world market prices.
Jakarta has tried to cushion the effect on the millions of poor by earmarking 2.85 trillion rupiah (273.64 million dollars) in various benefits.
The oil subsidy for this year is budgeted to cost the government 30.377 trillion rupiah (2.95 billion dollars) against 53.774 trillion in 2001.
The International Monetary Fund, which is coordinating a five billion dollar aid package for Indonesia, has demanded a cut in the fuel subsidies.
Jakarta Post - January 18, 2002
Makassar -- Student protests against the fuel price hike turned violent here on Thursday, with crowds hijacking and vandalizing a truck belonging to state oil company Pertamina.
The oil truck was passing the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) on Jl. Urip Soemohardjo, where a group of students were staging a protest.
They stopped the truck before some of the protesters boarded the vehicle while shouting anti-price hike slogans. The crowds then started pelting the windows of the truck with rocks, creating panic among road users.
The incident took place at around 1 p.m. local time but police did not arrive on the scene until 3 p.m.
"We're disappointed with the government's initiative. Increasing the fuel price will only harm the little people," one of the students shouted while throwing a rock at the truck.
The situation, however, returned to normal later in the evening.
Jakarta Post - January 18, 2002
Jakarta -- About 200 students grouped in the loose student alliance City Forum (Forkot) protested on Thursday the government's decision to increase fuel prices.
The group blockaded Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta near the Megaria area during afternoon peak hours, creating heavy traffic congestion in the area.
Besides staging protesting the price hike, the students also demanded that Golkar, country's second largest political party and a symbol of New Order regime, be dissolved.
The students waved banners and held up posters reading: "Reject the fuel price hike" and "Ban the Golkar Party".
Central Jakarta Police deputy chief Sr. Comr. Iza Fadri along with security personnel asked the students to disperse peacefully, and sometime later they eventually disbanded while singing: "We'll be back tomorrow." The traffic in the Salemba and Diponegoro area had reportedly returned to normal by 8:15 p.m.
Similar protests were also staged in cities such as Bandung, the capital of West Java, and Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi.
Agence France Presse - January 7, 2002
Jakarta -- Hundreds of Indonesian activists rallied outside the presidential palace Monday to protest plans to raise fuel and electricity prices.
The protestors, mostly from the left-leaning Democratic People's Party, said the rises would only further impoverish the poor, Antara news agency reported.
"Reject the hike in fuel prices and electricity and telephone rates," read a huge banner.
Jakarta police spokesman Senior Commissioner Anton Bachrul Alam said police would tolerate rallies as long as they were held peacefully.
The government has yet to decide a date for the increase in fuel prices, earlier planned for January 1 but delayed.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said the rise would be implemented as soon as possible because further delays would only add to the costs to be borne by the government.
There have been reports that kerosene, used widely for cooking by the poor, is being withheld by distributors from the market pending the announcement of the rise, causing shortages and soaring prices. Alam said police were investigating the reports.
Officials have said cheaper domestic fuel prices, thanks to subsidies, have prompted the smuggling of fuel to other countries where it is sold at much higher prices.
The International Monetary Fund, which has been coordinating a five-billion-dollar aid package, has urged the government to reduce its huge bill for subsidies on fuel.
| East Timor |
UNTAET Daily Briefing - January 18, 2002
East Timor's Constituent Assembly passed a motion today to extend its deliberations on the draft Constitution beyond the current 25 January deadline.
A proposal was made to extend the deadline to 28 February, but the motion passed did not specify a date. Instead, the new deadline will be debated by a working commission.
Seventy-four Assembly members voted in favour of the motion, five opposed the motion and three abstained. The Assembly has now passed 129 articles of the 151-article draft Constitution. The articles passed since Tuesday afternoon include:
Article 124, which creates an office of public prosecutors and defenders (Ministerio Publico), which will be accountable to the Attorney-General and must perform its duties objectively and impartially.
Article 125 creates the Office of the Attorney-General, the highest authority in public prosecution. The Attorney-General will be appointed by and accountable to the President of the Republic, and he or she will submit annual reports to Parliament. The Attorney-General will also request the Supreme Court of Justice to rule on any law deemed unconstitutional in three lower court cases.
Article 126 creates the Attorney General's Superior Council, a consultative body of the Attorney-General. It will comprise five members; one appointed by the President, one by the Government, two elected by the magistrates of the Public Prosecution from among their peers, and one elected by Parliament.
Article 127 calls for lawyers to dispense legal and judicial aid to society. It urges lawyers to contribute to the proper administration of justice and to safeguard citizens' rights and legitimate interests. The activities of lawyers will be framed by law.
Article 128 guarantees the privacy of legal documents and stipulates that confidentiality must be guaranteed between lawyers and their clients, especially when clients are under detention or arrest in civil or military prisons.
Article 129 insists on a separation of powers between the offices of the President of the Republic; Speaker of the National Parliament; President of the Supreme Court of Justice; Prime Minister; the President of the High Administrative, Tax and Audit Court; Attorney-General, ministers, deputy ministers, provincial governors and secretaries of state. A new section (129a) says the public administration shall pursue the public interest.
Members also began debating the section of the Constitution that deals with the government's economic and financial organization. Article 130 says the country's economy will be a free market economy including public-sector, private-sector and cooperative ownership of the means of production.
All six articles were passed with significant majorities.
Interpress News Service - January 17, 2002
Thalif Deen, United Nations -- A senior United Nations official reacted strongly Thursday to charges the UN's peacekeeping mission in East Timor is dominated by white people and Westerners.
"Let me tell you that I found the charges unfortunate and blown out of proportion in many ways," Under-Secrertary-General Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), told reporters.
Vieira de Mello was reacting to comments made by his outgoing Chief of Staff, Nagalingam Parameswaran of Malaysia, who accused the United Nations of racism.
In his letter of resignation addressed to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week, the Malaysian diplomat said UNTAET has become "a white mission, an Eastern mission with a Western face."
Vieira de Mello noted he is a Brazilian national and that his other three senior officials were from Malaysia (until Parameswaran's resignation), New Zealand, and Thailand.
Vieira de Mello released a breakdown of staff by nationality showing that, of the 107 nationalities represented on the international staff of UNTAET, 22 percent were Europeans, 21 percent were from the Americas, 21 percent from Asia, 19 percent from Africa and 17 percent from other countries, in particular Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Vieira de Mello said he had succeeded in maintaining a "geographical balance" in UNTAET. "I find it difficult to be more balanced than that," he said, adding that the mission would maintain its balance as it downsizes.
Last week, the New Straits Times newspaper of Kuala Lumpur quoted Parameswaran as saying: "I haven't received or heard anything from the UN. I don't think there are people [who agree with me] who would write similar letters like I did, because they are worried about their jobs. But I can [afford to do it], because I have a job to go back to." He also said that UNTAET had "internal problems" that reeked of "an intolerable" level of interference.
"When you have co-equals in the chain of command, and people who have been there for a shorter period of time interfere with key policies, it becomes very difficult," he said. With his resignation, he said, there were no high-level Asians represented in the mission.
"Malaysians are the best people really to interact with the East Timorese because they know Bahasa Melayu [the Malay language]. But there are more whites in this UN mission than any other I have known of in all my years with the United Nations," he added.
Parameswaran has appealed for a UN investigation of his charges. After all, he said, "doesn't the UN uphold multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious principles?"
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said the explanation offered by Parameswaram justifies his decision to quit his UN job. But he said he would reserve final judgement until he got more details.
Vieira de Mello said he was taken aback by some of the "extreme comments and criticisms" in the Malaysian newspapers. "I think they were over the top, they were unfortunate, and certainly did not reflect Parameswaran's own thinking."
Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Laureate and Foreign Minister of East Timor, acknowledged Parameswaran's "hard work in East Timor" and commended him for his sensitivity towards the East Timorese people. But he refused to be dragged into what he called "public mudslinging".
"It is unfair to call the UN mission in East Timor a white mission, because many people from many nationalities have worked very hard here," he said.
UNTAET was established by the UN Security Council in October 1999 to oversee the independence of the former Indonesian colony, and monitor the elections for the creation of a new state. East Timor held its UN-supervised general elections in August last year.
Vieira de Mello said that UNTAET is preparing for presidential elections scheduled fr Apr. 14 and the appointment of members of the Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation.
Lusa - January 16, 2002
East Timorese judges responsible trying crimes against humanity have launched a boycott of court proceedings over a contractual dispute with the UN transition administration, judicial sources told Lusa Wednesday.
The judges, who serve with UN-appointed foreign colleagues on Special Panels for Serious Crimes, refused to begin hearings scheduled for Wednesday until they are assured of tenure.
Initially appointed by UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello to two-year terms, the judges were displeased when their expiring contracts were only extended one year on January7.
The judges argue that under UNTAET regulations they should either receive life-tenure or be dismissed after their initial service of two years.
UNTAET Daily Briefing - January 3, 2002
The Constituent Assembly today returned from a three-day New Year's break to continue debate on East Timor's first draft Constitution, passing five articles contained in the section on the status, election and appointment of the President of the Republic.
The assembly has now passed 79 of the Constitution's 151 articles.
Deliberations began today with the continuation of discussion on presidential immunity. Following on from the debate held on 29 January, a team of jurists had drafted a new article, 75a, on the issue of immunity. The new article states, in part, that the President enjoys immunity in the exercise of his or her functions, but that this immunity can be challenged by an initiative of the Parliament in conformity with the Constitution.
Article 76, also passed today, states in part that the President shall not be absent from the national territory without the authorisation of the National Parliament, or of its Standing Committee if Parliament is not in session. The President's private visits not exceeding 15 days shall not require authorisation, although he or she should notify the National Parliament of such visits in advance.
Article 77 states that the President may resign from office by a message addressed to the National Parliament. When the President resigns from office, he or she shall not be eligible to stand in presidential elections immediately after their resignation nor in regular elections to be held four years later.
Article 78 states that in the case of death, resignation or permanent disability of the President, his or her office functions shall be taken over on an interim basis by the Speaker of the Parliament. The election of a new President will take place within the subsequent 90 days, with the interim President being ineligible to run.
Article 79 states that during any temporary impediment of the President, presidential functions shall be taken over by the Speaker of the National Parliament or, in case of the impediment of the latter, by his or her Deputy.
Constituent Assembly President Francisco "Lz-Olo" Guterres said before Christmas that he expects the assembly to pass the Constitution by the 25 January deadline.
UNTAET Daily Briefing - January 7, 2002
Dili -- The Constituent Assembly today passed a further five articles of East Timor's draft Constitution relating to the functions of the Council of State and of the National Parliament. All the articles were passed by significant majorities.
Article 86 stipulates that the Council of State shall advise the President on the dissolution of Parliament, the dismissal of the Government and on whether to declare war or make peace. The Council will also advise the President on other issues when requested.
Article 87 defines the Parliament as "the representative assembly of all East Timorese citizens and the highest legislative organ of the Democratic Republic of East Timor."
Article 88 states that the Parliament will be comprised of a minimum of 52 and a maximum of 65 members. The members will be elected for a term of five years by universal, direct, equal, secret and personal suffrage.
The assembly also agreed to introduce a new section, Section 88a, which grants members parliamentary immunity. The removal of a member's immunity will be in accordance with the Parliament's internal regulations.
Article 89 states that it is incumbent on the Parliament to make laws concerning the country's domestic and foreign policy and stipulates areas in which it is "exclusively incumbent" on Parliament to legislate. These areas include, among others, the country's borders, territorial waters, national defense policy, tax policy and the budget system.
The Assembly has set itself the deadline of 25 January to pass the draft Constitution's 151 articles.
UNTAET Daily Briefing - January 8, 2002
Dili -- The Constituent Assembly today passed a further seven articles of East Timor's 151-article draft Constitution. The articles were all passed with significant majorities and include the following:
Article 90 covers the different areas in which Parliament may authorize the Government to legislate. These areas include the definition of crimes, sentences and security measures; general public service rules and regulations; and means and ways of expropriation, nationalization and privatization.
Article 91 empowers members of Parliament, parliamentary groups and the Government to initiate laws and states that bills and draft legislation that have been rejected may not be re- introduced in the same legislative session and that draft legislation initiated by the Government will lapse if the Government is dismissed.
Article 93 states the legislative term of Parliament will comprise five years, and Article 94 stipulates that the Parliament shall not be dissolved during the six months immediately following its election, nor in the last six months of the President of the Republic's term of office, nor during a state of siege or emergency.
Article 96 establishes a standing committee that will sit when the Parliament is dissolved or in recess. This committee will be presided over by the Speaker and shall comprise the Deputy Speakers and members designated by the political parties represented in Parliament, in accordance with their respective representation. The Standing Committee will, among other things, monitor the activities of the Government and the Public Administration, take steps to convene Parliament when necessary, and authorize the declaration of a state of emergency.
UNTAET Daily Briefing - January 10, 2002
Dili -- The Constituent Assembly today passed a further four articles of East Timor's 151-article draft Constitution. The articles, all passed by significant majorities, are the following:
Article 106 states that the Government will be dismissed when a new legislative term begins; the Prime Minister resigns; if the Prime Minister dies or is permanently disabled; or if its programme is rejected by Parliament for the second consecutive time. The Government can also be dismissed if a motion of confidence is rejected, or if a vote of no-confidence is passed by an absolute majority. This Article also says the President of the Republic can only dismiss the Prime Minister for the reasons mentioned above in order to safeguard the proper functioning of the democratic institutions.
Article 107 states that when a member of the Government is charged with an offence punishable with a sentence of more than two years imprisonment he or she shall be suspended so that legal proceedings can proceed.
The assembly members also introduced a new section, Article 107a, that says no member of the Government shall be detained without previous authorisation from Parliament, except for crimes punishable with sentences of more than two years.
Article 108 outlines the key responsibilities and competencies of the Government. These include defining and implementing the general policy of the country, guaranteeing the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens and ensuring public order and social discipline. Other competencies outlined in this section relate to State security, economic and financial issues, foreign policy and labour.
US Congress members advise assembly to extend debate
UNTAET Daily Briefing - January 15, 2002
Dili -- East Timor's Constituent Assembly this morning received a letter from eight members of the US Congress proposing that the assembly extend its deliberations beyond its current 25 January deadline.
"From our end, we want to assure you that we would like the Constituent Assembly to have as much time as it needs to write the best possible Constitution for East Timor. In this regard, we propose that you consider further extending the session, perhaps by two months beyond [the 25 January] date," the letter said.
The letter, dated 10 January, was signed by Dennis Kucinich, Barbara Lee, Chris Smith, Anthony Weiner, Tammy Baldwin, Bernard Sanders, Lane Evans and Sam Farr.
"Your Constitution would still be finished well before formal independence [and] the extra time would enable more thorough discussions and additional consultation within the Constituent Assembly and throughout East Timor," the letter added.
The US Congress members also advised the assembly to consider what it said was "the frequently used practice of a constitutional review process within a few years of initial passage of the Constitution."
Upon receipt of the letter the assembly members discussed its contents and subsequently agreed to formulate a response based on input from each of the political parties represented in the 88- member body. However, no decision was taken regarding a shift in the deadline.
The Assembly has now passed 123 articles of the 151-article draft Constitution.
The articles passed since early last Friday include Article 112, which incorporates the principal of judicial independence and mandates that judges are expected to be independent in the exercise of their functions, and obedient to the Constitution, the law and their conscience. An amendment to the article was passed stating that judges are not legally liable for their judicial decisions, except in situations provided for by law.
Article 113 provides that judges may not perform other functions except teaching or legal research, and Article 114 provides that the courts shall not apply laws that contravene the Constitution or the principles contained therein.
Article 115, passed on Monday, provides for three categories of courts: The Supreme Court of Justice and other courts of law; Administrative courts and a High Administrative, Tax and Audit Court; and Military courts.
The Supreme Court of Justice is established by Article 116 as the highest court of law. Its President will be chosen from among judges of the Supreme Court and appointed by East Timor's President.
Article 118 provides that the Supreme Court has the jurisdiction to make declarations of illegality or unconstitutionality upon application by the Prime Minister, President, President of Parliament, Attorney General, Ombudsman, or one fifth of the members of Parliament.
Article 119, passed today, says that only career judges of original East Timorese nationality may become members of the Supreme Court.
Article 120 says the Superior Council for the Judiciary is the organ of management and discipline of the judiciary. It will be presided over by the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, and other members will include one person designated by the President of the Republic, one member elected by Parliament, one appointed by the Government and one elected by the judges from among their peers.
Article 121 says the High Administrative, Tax and Audit Court is the highest body in the hierarchy of administrative, tax and audit courts. This court's functions include ensuring the fiscal legality of public spending, judging actions arising from legal, fiscal and administrative matters, and ruling on contentious appeals against decisions made by State organs.
Article 122 says military courts will have the competence to judge military matters, and with Article 123, members agreed that court hearings will be public unless the court rules otherwise to safeguard personal dignity, public morality and national security.
Associated Press - January 16, 2002 (abridged)
Dili -- In a final step toward nationhood, East Timor will hold its first presidential election on April 14, the territory's UN administrator announced Thursday.
Speaking a day after the adoption in East Timor's legislature of a new electoral law, Sergio Vieira de Mello said all 16 political parties are expected to field candidates. Results of the presidential ballot will be announced on April 17.
De Mello said that there will be only one round of voting in the presidential election and that independent candidates will be allowed to stand if they manage to collect 5,000 signatures endorsing their candidacy.
Independence leader Jose "Xanana" Gusmao is widely expected to win and become East Timor's first head of state when it gains full independence on May 20. Until then, the UN is administering the territory.
The UN had hoped the constitution could be written before January 25, when the UN Security Council meets to review progress.
However, lawmakers said on Tuesday they could be delayed in drafting the document after several US Congress members advised the nation to take more time in properly drafting the supreme law.
Reuters - January 17, 2002
Jakarta -- Indonesia's Supreme Court has handed down tougher sentences to three men for the brutal killing of three foreign UN aid workers in West Timor, according to court documents obtained by Reuters on Thursday.
The three men were among a group of six jailed for 10-20 months in May last year over the killings in September 2000 -- a verdict which earned international outrage for being too lenient.
The aid workers were stabbed and their bodies dragged into the street and burned after a mob attacked their office in the West Timor border town of Atambua.
A copy of the ruling, signed in November 15 last year, said Supreme Court chief judge Bagir Manan and the council of judges had agreed to increase the sentences handed down by the North Jakarta court to a maximum of seven years.
The document said Xisto Pereira, 26, and Joao Martins, 27, would be jailed for five years and Serafin Ximenes, 26, was sentenced to seven years.
"[They] collectively and individually on September 6, 2000 ... carried out actions which caused the death of the three UNHCR workers," the ruling read.
A lawyer for the men also confirmed the ruling. "I have been informed about the ruling but I still haven't received a copy of the ruling," lawyer Nicolay Abe told Reuters.
The lawyer did not provide further details and the documents did not indicate whether heavier sentences would apply to the others convicted.
The revised ruling will likely appease foreign donors and human rights groups, pressuring Indonesia to put on trial those responsible for the violence connected with East Timor's decision to break away from Indonesian rule in a UN-backed ballot in 1999.
The six men, all East Timorese and who consider themselves Indonesian, were part of a rampaging mob of pro-Jakarta militiamen opposed to the tiny half-island territory's decision to break from Indonesia.
The militias laid waste to East Timor after the vote and herded thousands across the border into Indonesian West Timor. East Timor is now under UN administration and will achieve full independence later this year.
The Guardian (UK) - January 17, 2002
John Aglionby, Jakarta -- The last Indonesian soldier of occupation left East Timor well over two years ago, but while many of the physical scars have healed, the mental and psychological trauma sustained during the previous quarter of a century of turbulence, invasion and brutal occupation is still raging.
After weeks of delay, a significant element of the healing process took a major step forward today when the names of the seven national commissioners of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation and their rough schedule were announced.
Vaguely based on the South African model, this body will seek the truth behind the thousands of human rights violations between the withdrawal of the colonial master, Portugal, in 1974, and the arrival of the UN transitional administrators in October 1999, following the massive post-independence referendum violence.
Armed with this knowledge, the commission will then attempt to facilitate "community reconciliation agreements" between perpetrators and victims in less serious cases, such as looting, burning and minor assault. Cases involving murder, rape and orchestrated violence will have to be processed through the courts.
In a bid to show some recognition of the lingering sympathy for Jakarta rule in some quarters, one of the commissioners is a former pro-Jakarta politician; the others are lawyers, human rights activists and a priest.
The following admission, quoted in a recent UN document, by a widow living near the border with Indonesia highlights all too clearly that a confusing cocktail of emotions is still swirling in many people's hearts and minds.
She said: "Sometimes I get so angry I could go crazy and what I want most of all would be to have all the perpetrators killed. And then, at other times, I think: but my husband is dead, nothing can bring him back, not even revenge."
There is a natural contradiction between, on the one hand, repatriating potential perpetrators of crimes against humanity and reconciliation and, on the other, seeking justice for victims -- as demonstrated by the very public spat this month between the UN official in charge of repatriating the tens of thousands of East Timorese still in West Timor and his colleague responsible for reshaping the justice system.
No one disputes that East Timor is only going to put its past behind it once it has resolved this conundrum and, as things stand, there are still at least three major obstacles in the way that make the speedy inception of the reconciliation commission a high priority.
The first is that the wheels of justice are turning so slowly, it would be years before everyone who committed a crime during the period saw the inside of a courtroom -- although, to be fair, the sluglike pace of six months ago has accelerated into a snailesque stumble.
Linked to that is the sheer number of people who are seeking either retribution or pardoning. It is highly unlikely that a single family among the population of 800,00 did not suffer directly at some point in the two and a half decades of violence. But the commissioners hope that with six regional commissions, in addition to the main body, most of the people who want to testify will be given the opportunity to do so during the two and a half years it will work.
What is out of East Timorese hands, however, is bringing the biggest fish to justice. To paraphrase a Human Rights Watch report on East Timor released this week, justice for the 1999 violence -- not to mention the previous 24 years -- remains "elusive" primarily because the main suspects are safely ensconced in Indonesia.
After months of procrastination, it appears that special tribunals for 19 alleged human rights violators during April and September 1999 will begin within the next few weeks in Jakarta. The cases have been ready for ages, but President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who has very close links to the military, only announced the names of the judges this week.
Not only are many people questioning the ability of this ad hoc court to deliver justice, but they are exasperated at the fact that the most senior generals, such as the then armed forces chief, General Wiranto, and the intelligence commander in East Timor for much of 1999, Major General Zacky Anwar, are not among those indicted.
So it remains highly unlikely that the commission will be able to close the book on East Timor's recent dark decades, but as the nation's spiritual leader, Nobel peace laureate Bishop Carlos Belo, said: "It is the best step forward."
Associated Press - January 9, 2002
Jakarta -- Indonesia's disgraced former military commander Gen. Wiranto Wednesday described as unfair the prosecution of 19 military officials and militiamen for alleged human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999, saying soldiers under his command did nothing wrong.
His comments come shortly before the trials are scheduled to start in a special human rights court.
Wiranto was armed forces commander when East Timor voted to break away from Indonesia on August 30, 1999. News that the territory had opted for independence in a UN-sponsored referendum sparked a bloody rampage by the Indonesian army and its militia proxies.
Hundreds of people were killed and about 250,000 others forced to flee their homes. The violence only ended when international peacekeepers arrived.
Wiranto and other military commanders have been blamed for the bloodshed by Indonesian and international rights campaigners.
"I know exactly what we did there. We did not do anything wrong," he said. "It is not fair to try us ... as human rights abusers."
Though three generals are on the list of 19 defendants, Wiranto's name has been excluded.
Under Indonesian law, the armed forces' top brass cannot be held accountable for crimes committed by soldiers in the field, and prosecutors say they have no evidence of any wrongdoing by Wiranto.
Still, Wiranto described as biased the criminal investigation, saying it relied on foreign sources, including the UN and neighboring Australia, for evidence.
"We invited about 4,000 foreign observers and reporters to observe the vote," said Wiranto, who was forced to resign two years ago by the then President Abdurrahman Wahid.
"Not a single monitor died. How can we have committed human rights abuses when there were foreign observers and reporters before and after the vote." Militiamen killed two journalists and six East Timorese working for the UN mission there at the time.
The Ad-Hoc Human Rights Court -- which will hear cases of military atrocities in Timor and other Indonesian troublespots -- was initially scheduled to open on Dec. 1. However, it was postponed until January 15, because current President Megawati Sukarnoputri hadn't chosen the tribunal's judges.
Now, a week before the first case is supposed to start, Megawati -- who has close ties with the army brass -- has still not selected the justices, and government officials say it is almost certain the trials will again be postponed.
The cases will be closely watched by the international community, which has expressed outrage over human rights abuses in East Timor.
South China Morning Post - January 10, 2002
Vaudine England -- The chief of staff for the United Nations mission in East Timor has resigned, citing management failures and racism as reasons for his departure.
When Nagalingam Parameswaran leaves the capital, Dili, this week there will be no senior manager at the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (Untaet) from a Southeast Asian country.
In his resignation letter, Mr Parameswaran said Untaet "has become very much a 'white' mission, an Eastern mission with a Western face".
But UN sources said that while he may have a point about his origins working against him, the underlying reasons for his departure were more to do with debate over fundamental UN policy and office politics.
Mr Parameswaran, a Malaysian diplomat, has worked hard during his time in Dili on a key plank of UN policy -- the bringing back to East Timor of the tens of thousands of refugees held by militia bosses in neighbouring Indonesian West Timor.
He has been the only senior figure capable of speaking to the Indonesians in their language and has managed ties with militia leaders such as Nemecio de Carvallho, who has been brought back successfully to East Timor.
But opponents within the UN, especially its Serious Crimes Unit, have accused Mr Parameswaran of "making too many deals" with the Indonesians, or of concentrating too much on the reconciliation aspect of the returns policy and not enough on justice against the militia bosses.
"He was disliked for his work with the militias from the beginning, and then his approaches began to bear fruit and other people started to encroach on his area," a UN source said.
In his resignation letter, Mr Parameswaran names the deputy to the Untaet chief, Sergio Vieira de Mello, as "often excluding" him from key decisions.
The respected New Zealander Dennis McNamara was brought in as Untaet deputy last year, partly to improve the Serious Crimes Unit's performance.
Debate on the justice versus reconciliation issue infects the whole question of East Timor's survival as an independent nation surrounded by Indonesia, the former invading power. Mr Parameswaran's claims of racism are more controversial.
"If you go by the number count of white versus brown in the senior levels of Untaet, then Param is quite right," a senior Western diplomat at Untaet said.
"Param's point is that with his departure there will be no senior Asean figure at Untaet and he's right. My question is whether that was intentional and I don't think it was.
"I will say though that it is a shame that the UN didn't make more effort to hire people who can speak Indonesian and Tetum [the East Timorese language].
"Untaet was anti-Indonesian from the beginning and only realised the importance of close ties to Jakarta too late."
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.
Lusa - January 3, 2002
East Timor's chief minister, Mari Alkatiri, Thursday denounced an unexpected call for legislative elections as an attempt by opposition forces to provoke a political crisis.
"Opting for new elections is openly to want to provoke crises", Alkatiri said, referring to a demand made earlier Thursday in Dili by a newly founded group opposing the planned transformation of the recently elected constituent assembly into the territory's future parliament.
"If they argue that not holding new elections would provoke crises, demanding them is to move against the majority and that is where crises can be created", Alkatiri said.
It was "strange", he added, that the new group was headed by Manuel Carrascalao, who served as president of the interim legislature that approved the form and timetable of East Timor's transition to independence, slated for May 20.
Alkatiri charged that Carrascalao and other opposition figures linked to the call for new elections were simply acting out of disappointment over the results of last August's constituent assembly vote.
In that election, the territory's first free balloting, the chief minister's Fretilin party won an overwhelming majority in the assembly.
Carrascalao's movement, calling itself Group for the Defense of Democracy, Peace and Stability in East Timor (GDDPE), made its first public appearance at a Dili news conference Thursday. The group said it had written to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking that legislative elections be held together with planned presidential balloting before independence or immediately after the UN-administered territory gains full sovereignty.
Canberra Times - December 28, 2001
East Timorese asylum seekers might find it hard to settle back in their homeland even though it was technically safe to return, the United Nations refugee agency said yesterday.
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock dismissed requests from refugee lawyers that 1600 East Timorese asylum seekers, some who arrived eight years ago, be issued special visas to stay in Australia.
Refugee lawyer Liz Biok said earlier this week that the East Timorese asylum seekers, some who arrived eight years ago, deserved special consideration. Mr Ruddock said refugee places in Australia's humanitarian programs were scarce and should not be allocated to those whose homeland was now safe and secure.
"What I can say is that Australia has put an enormous amount of effort as part of the international community to secure for the people of East Timor a country in which East Timorese can live with safety and build for the future," Mr Ruddock told ABC radio.
"It is not unreasonable when it is safe and secure for people who may be found not to be refugees and have no other compelling compassionate circumstances associated with their claims, to go home."
He said while most asylum applications from East Timorese had been rejected, people were welcome to appeal.
But the UN High Commission for Refugees said the Government should show some compassion and make allowances for individual circumstances.
UNHCR worker Jake Morland said East Timor was relatively safe, but some people would still have difficulties returning because of links to the former Indonesian administration or the amount of time spent away.
"I think for the majority the situation is safe to return, however it all depends on individual cases for some, the situation is not yet right and it may never be right for return," he said in Dili. "Even non-refugees would understand that eight years is certainly a very long time; you've put down new roots, you have children born in these new countries, they are educated there. It would be difficult for anyone to then think of uprooting again."
Mr Morland said most of the 70,000 East Timorese refugees in Indonesia wanted to go back, but governments had to show understanding to those who wanted to stay in their adopted homelands. "These people aren't objects, these people are individuals with their own stories, their own histories and they need to be dealt with with consideration," he said.
The Federal Government this week suspended refugee claims of Afghan asylum seekers after the demise of the Taliban regime, raising concerns it might do the same for the East Timorese.
UNHCR spokeswoman Ellen Hansen said it was too early for the Government to make a decision on Afghanistan. "We think it's premature to change assessments," she said.
"We're monitoring the situation and we will be bringing out new guidelines in the near future."
Lusa - January 2, 2002
Indonesian military authorities have said they have discovered evidence of a new movement aiming to achieve independence for the whole of Timor island, according to an article in an Indonesian newspaper.
The "State of Timor" movement has begun gathering support in some parts of Indonesian West Timor in recent months, leading some military commanders to concede that the group`s supporters favor the unification of the Indonesian half of the island with East Timor, according to the report.
The military commander of the Indonesian region of Wirasakti, Col. Moeswarno Moesanip, is cited by the Jakarta Post as saying that the group has recently opposed the stationing of an Indonesian army battalion on the border with East Timor.
"Investigations carried out reveal that this group has other ambitions, not simply rejecting the military presence along the frontier. This group knows that the deployment of the battalion will result in a curtailment of its activities ... which aim to achieve an autonomous state of Timor", Col. Moesanip told the Jakarta Post.
The members of the group have still not been identified by Indonesian authorities, but the Colonel said it was believed they included some East Timorese, still in West Timor, and some residents of the northern half of Indonesian Timor.
The group could talk about a state of Timor but it would not become a reality. If it was declared, the rebels would build their own camps and then have to confront the Indonesian military, Col. Moesanip added.
Agence France Presse - January 3, 2002
Jakarta -- Indonesian authorities have ceased providing food and cash for tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees stuck in squalid camps in West Timor, an official said Wednesday.
"We have stopped giving out assistance as of January 1," West Timor deputy governor Yohannes Pake Pani told AFP by phone from the capital Kupang.
"The aid was stopped under the direction of chief social welfare minister Yusuf Kalla. We are no longer receiving any assistance from above, no goods, no rice, no money etcetera," Pani said, referring to the central government in Jakarta.
Local authorities in West Timor, and a handful of local aid workers, have been left in charge of looking after the refugees since western aid agencies fled the province in the wake of the brutal murders of three United Nations refugee workers in September 2000.
"In fact it's the UN who should providing assistance to these refugees. How can we keep looking after them?" Pani said.
East Nusa Tenggara which covers West Timor is ranked as one of the poorest of Indonesia's 30 provinces.
The refugees are the remnants of the quarter million or more East Timorese who fled or were forced from their homeland following the overwhelming vote for independence in a United Nations- sponsored plebiscite on August 30, 1999.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says some 180,000 have since returned to East Timor. No agency has been able to conduct an independent count of the remaining refugees but UN and East Timorese officials estimate around 70,000 remain.
Pani disputed reported comments by West Timor police earlier in the week that the refugees had been given a deadline of January 1 to start vacating the camps.
"We're only stopping aid provisions. The camps are still open. We'd be perceived as completely inhumane if we closed them down," the deputy governor said.
The government has a plan in place to resettle the refugees within Indonesia or help repatriate them to East Timor, he said. "We're just waiting for them to decide. The plans are there, but we don't know how many people are going to choose what."
Once the refugees leave the camps to go home or settle elsewhere in Indonesia, "then we'll close the camps down. But not before. We're using no force or pressure whatsoever," Pani said.
Agence France Presse - January 3, 2002
Jakarta -- Indonesia's military said Thursday it would cooperate with a special human rights court set up to try top commanders and militiamen accused of crimes in East Timor in 1999.
"We support it as long as it is in line with our laws," said armed forces spokesman Air Vice Marshall Graito Usodo. He said the men would be provided with defense lawyers for the proceedings.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that trials for 19 suspects were expected to begin by the middle of January in Jakarta.
The trials are expected to test the strength of the ties between President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the army, which backed her takeover of power from former head of state Abdurrahman Wahid six months ago.
Hundreds of people were killed and about 250,000 others fled their homes in a three-week rampage by the Indonesian army and its militia proxies after East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia in August, 1999. The violence ended when international peacekeepers arrived.
The United Nations accepted Jakarta's pledge that it would conduct its own inquiry and prosecute those responsible for crimes surrounding the independence vote. It did so despite recommendations that an international war crimes tribunal akin to those for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda was needed for East Timor.
"Its a tricky point," said Andi Malarangeng, a prominent analyst and former government policy adviser. "Megawati needs the military's support in these turbulent times, but international pressure and local non-governmental groups are behind the ad hoc trial."
He said it was the first time that high-ranking officers had agreed to be tried in a civilian court. Among those accused are Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri -- who was regional military in East Timor at the time of the violence.
Analysts say they don't expect Megawati's administration to vigorously prosecute top officers to avoid losing the support of the military brass.
She has come under fire recently from human rights and other non-governmental groups and from top parliamentary leaders for doing little to combat endemic corruption and revive the moribund economy.
"There will be a middle line taken. There will be some action but it won't go as far international expectations," Malarangeng predicted.
Media Indonesia - January 3, 2002
Jakarta -- The safety of refugees is still guaranteed: Even though the government has abolished refugee status for the refugees from East Timor with effect from 31 December 2001, Commander IX/Udayana Military Area Command Maj-Gen Willem da Costa, stated that he would still guarantee their safety.
"They do not have refugee status. However, a guarantee of their safety has been given", he said on Wednesday 2 January. After farewelling President Megawati Soekarnoputri on her journey back to Jakarta on Tuesday (1 January), the two-star general told journalists that there were currently hundreds of thousands of refugees from East Timor in the East Nusa Tenggara region. "There are still many living here, however we do not have any accurate data, because the figures vary from one agency to another. But in principle, they are still being made to feel safe", he said.
According to him, every day there are refugees returning to East Timor. "Moreover, since the Indonesian government had given them a final payment of 700,000 rupiah and IX/Udayana Military Area Command had also donated seeds to plant, many refugees were interested in returning to East Timor".
Sydney Morning Herald - January 5, 2002
Jill Jolliffe, Dili -- With the militia leader Eurico Guterres due to be charged with crimes against humanity next week, United Nations officials in East Timor are hopeful that 2002 may represent a new phase in the prosecution of human rights violators.
It could not be a worse year than 2001 in the justice areas of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
Although foundations seemed to have been solidly laid to prosecute those responsible for the horrific human rights violations of 1999, there was mounting criticism of the serious crimes investigation unit, and there were accusations of political deals struck with militia leaders in talks at the East Timor border.
After more than two years in East Timor, the UN has completed only one case of crimes against humanity -- in early December, 10 Timorese were given sentences of four to 33 years for their roles in massacres in the Los Palos district. An Indonesian lieutenant involved walked free. Other indictments have been filed but not yet heard.
In March, the UN asked a legal expert, Mary Fisk, to conduct an inquiry into the running of the serious crimes unit. Valued investigators were quitting in disgust over inaction, lack of resources and poor leadership. Her secret report was said to be scathing, but action was slow to follow.
It was not until the appointment in August of Dennis McNamara as deputy administrator of UNTAET (second to the Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello) that changes began, with the New Zealander given a special brief to reorganise the justice section.
McNamara admits there was a serious problem. "Mary Fisk wrote a lot of things that people were aware of," he observed. "The criticisms of the serious crimes unit were widespread, to the point where it needed to be seriously addressed."
The former chief prosecutor, Mohamad Othman, a Tanzanian who had led prosecutions involving the Rwandan genocide, was in the firing line. He was accused of putting the brakes on prosecutions and, with UNTAET's Malaysian chief of staff, Nagalingam Parameswaran, of striking deals with militia leaders during regular forays to the border.
But Othman has argued from the beginning that lessons needed to be learned from the Rwandan experience, where thousands of people had been held for excessive periods while they awaited trial. Prosecutions might be slow in Timor, he said, but they would be more thorough, just and effective if cases were ready for trial before arrests were made.
In his view, the UN had starved East Timor of funds. "The East Timorese have been short-changed," he alleged. "For example, I asked for funding to have access to witnesses outside East Timor, but the allocation was $US30,000, compared to $US500,000 in the cases of Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. It's a piggy-bank mentality."
Negotiations with militia leaders were a separate question. Soldiers at the border are angry about a ban on arresting militia leaders coming across for talks with prosecutors, including the brothers Cancio and Nemesio Carvalho, wanted for atrocities committed in the central highlands. They negotiated terms for trial against promises to bring home hundreds of the refugees captive in West Timor since 1999 and to name Indonesian perpetrators.
McNamara takes a conservative position on the time frame for prosecutions and on the talks with militia leaders. He points out that prosecutions for crimes against humanity necessarily take time because they must be meticulous, and may involve hundreds of witnesses.
On the militiamen, he draws a comparison with Cambodia, where he worked with Vieira de Mello on bringing 370,000 refugees home. "We dealt with the Khmer Rouge then in order to get the population back to Cambodia, and we had to. I think you have to deal with the militia leaders here in order to get the innocent captive refugee population back to East Timor. There's no choice."
International prosecutors and investigators are limited by a 1999 UN resolution restricting prosecutions to the "scorched earth" period of Indonesian withdrawal, between January 1 and September 20 (although there is a legal loophole that allows them to investigate "historical crimes", including the 1975 killings of the Balibo Five, the 1983 Kraras massacre and the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre).
They are even more seriously restricted by the refusal of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in January 2000 to endorse a recommendation by a human rights investigator, Sonia Picardo, for an international tribunal for East Timor. Instead, Annan recommended to the Security Council that Indonesia be given the chance to try its own transgressors, a decision strongly supported by Australia.
Two years on, there are no signs this will happen, although Jakarta recently said a special court will try senior officers in the coming period.
There is a provision in the 1999 Security Council resolution for an international court to be set up if Indonesia fails to conduct trials. If indictments pile up and non co-operation continues, pressure for such a court will mount.
Lusa - January 8, 2002
A former leading anti-idependence militia leader has canceled his planned return to East Timor. Cancio Lopes de Carvalho told the UN transition administration Monday he had canceled the trip for "technical reasons".
A spokesman in the UN administration told Lusa that Lopes de Carvalho had also informed them that his homecoming to the territory would be postponed "for an unspecified period".
Senior East Timorese and United Nations administration officials had been preparing earlier Monday in Dili to welcome home Lopes de Carvalho in one of the most dramatic steps yet taken at reconciliation with former backers of Indonesian rule.
Officials had announced at the weekend that the Mahidi militia chief would return from Indonesian West Timor Tuesday morning at Salele, where he was to have been met by independence leader Xanana Gusmao and UN transition administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello, among others.
Lopes de Carvalho had said he was ready to face charges of crimes against humanity and to cooperate in providing evidence against Indonesian security forces in the wave of violence that shattered East Timor at the time of its UN-sponsored independence plebiscite in 1999.
Court sources in Dili said that witnesses have accused Lopes de Carvalho and his Mahidi paramilitaries of atrocities, especially in the area of Ainaro, south of the territory's capital.
East Timorese and Indonesian officials had hoped that Lopes de Carvalho's high-profile return would encourage tens of thousands of refugees remaining in West Timor to follow suit.
Jakarta has given the refugees, estimated by relief agencies at about 70,000, an ultimatum to either return to East Timor or face resettlement to other parts of Indonesia. The UN High Commission for Refugees said that by last month nearly 193,000 had returned home.
| Labour struggle |
Straits Times - January 18, 2002
Reme Ahmad, Kuala Lumpur -- SOME 500 Indonesian textile workers in Negri Sembilan overturned vehicles and shouted profanities at policemen in a violent protest against a midnight anti-drug raid at their hostel.
Police said the workers, armed with knives, iron bars and wood, jeered and threw tables, chairs, bottles and stones at the officers, and later ran off to hide in their five-storey hostel.
While no one was hurt in the 12-hour standoff, the rioting could raise the anger of Malaysians who saw three cases of rioting and torching of detention centres by foreign workers last year.
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the police should take action against the Indonesians for rioting and deport them. "Whoever has committed an offence will have to face action," he said yesterday.
The latest incident started after narcotics officers completed urine tests on 200 night-shift workers at about 2 am yesterday. Police carried out the tests after receiving information of drug abuse among the migrant workers at the factory located in the Nilai industrial estate, about an hour's drive south of Kuala Lumpur.
"When police were about to take away the 16 workers who tested positive, their colleagues began rioting," a narcotics officer said.
A police truck was pushed down a slope into a drain, while a company van and a police car were overturned by the angry workers.
Of the 16 men who tested positive for drug abuse, 14 escaped during the confusion and ran into the hostel. The remaining two were detained.
Negeri Sembilan deputy police chief Assistant Commissioner Kamarulzaman Itam said that following negotiations, nine of the 14 surrendered to police.
Some 200 riot police armed with canes and batons, backed by three trucks mounted with water cannons, were called in. The standoff ended after representatives from the Indonesian Embassy came to "negotiate" with the workers to remain calm.
Jakarta Post - January 18, 2002
Jakarta -- Some 150 casual workers of state-owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Sriwijaya (PT Pusri) went on strike on Thursday, demanding a 100 percent wage increase.
The demonstrators carried out their sit-in action near the company's warehouse at Cirebon's port demanding the management double the loading fee to Rp 1,500 (15 US cents) per ton during the day and Rp 2,500 per ton at night. The peaceful demonstration caused loading at the warehouse to come to a halt for seven hours.
With the current remuneration system, workers bring home between Rp 3,000 and Rp 4,000 a day after a cut is taken for eating and transport. Every day, each worker carries a load of between three and four tons of fertilizer from the company's cargo vessels.
"Our daily income is actually far below the regency's minimum wage, that is why we held the demonstration. This is an old slavery practice that must be phased out of the modern age," Antara news agency quoted Cardi, a 30-year-old loading worker at Pusri's warehouse.
The minimum wage in the regency has been raised to Rp 480,000 per month from the previous level of Rp 350,000.
He said all loading workers in the company were not registered in a health and pension insurance scheme and did not receive any allowances, as they were only given to permanent staff.
The demonstrators should registered in the social security programs (Jamsostek) which are compulsory for companies employing ten workers or more.
After long negotiations between the management and five workers representing the demonstrators, Kris Usman, who represented the management, finally agreed to raise the loading fee to Rp 1,500 per ton during the day and Rp 2,000 per ton at night.
Following the agreement, the demonstrators dispersed peacefully and returned to work.
Hendar, chief of Pusri's logistic unit in the town, said the company met the workers' demands so as to avoid any disruption to the regency's fertilizer supplies.
PT Pusri supplies fertilizer through the seaport to West Java's northern region, in particular Cirebon, Indramayu, Majalengka, Kuningan and Subang.
| Aceh/West Papua |
Reuters - January 18, 2002
Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta -- Indonesia's rebellious province of Aceh began returning to normal on Friday, the last day of a strike called by separatist rebels to draw attention to the decades-long conflict, residents said.
The strike started on Wednesday in the staunchly Muslim province on the northern tip of Sumatra and closed most shops and schools, as well as disrupted transport.
But Aceh's major industries, including gas fields owned by a unit of Exxon Mobil Corp, worked normally throughout the stoppage and there was no upsurge of violence. "Our plants still operated [during the strike]," said a company official from Exxon Mobil Indonesia who declined to be identified.
Weekly Islamic prayers passed off without trouble all across this province of four million and public transport had started up again in many places, residents said.
"It's getting normal today. We have buses running, children going to school and some shops opening up," Ermansyah, who works at the religious office in the East Aceh town of Langsa, told Reuters.
"I think the residents just wanted to see conditions on the first day and it was indeed tense then. But after one person dared to go out, others just followed," he said.
Rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) called the strike for January 16-18 but said workers in key public facilities such as hospitals did not have to join the stoppage.
In the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, the doors of many shops remained bolted but the official Antara news agency said several storekeepers were still managing to sell to customers.
"If we do not trade how can we get the fortune to make the kitchen smoke. Our life is hard enough," Antara quoted a trader as saying.
Police called the strike intimidation by GAM and earlier this month Jakarta stepped up pressure on the rebels, saying it planned to revive a military command in the resource-rich province, where the conflict claims lives almost daily.
Some 1,500 people were killed in clashes between rebels and Indonesian security forces in 2001 alone.
Several peace deals have been brokered in the past 18 months including ceasefires, but they have largely been ignored by both sides.
GAM has said it wants nothing less than full independence but Jakarta has ruled this out, as it battles several flash points across the vast archipelago sparked by issues ranging from separatism to communal and religious differences.
Agence France Presse - January 18, 2002
Banda Aceh -- Eight more deaths were reported Friday as a general strike called by separatist rebels gripped Indonesia's restive province of Aceh for a third day. Most public minibuses stayed off the streets, schools remained shut and most shops were closed, especially in the main towns of Banda Aceh and Lhokseumawe.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) called the strike to protest against alleged brutality by police and troops and Jakarta's plan to revive a separate military command for the province.
Several rebels attacked a public phone call centre, known as a "wartel", at Bayeun in East Aceh Thursday evening and killed a policeman and a civilian, said district police chief Gaguk Sumartono.
He said 10 police were calling their families at the time of the attack, during which the owner was seriously injured by gunshots. Sumartono said four civilians were slightly injured after the attack but did not say by whom. Local activists said seven civilians were beaten by policemen searching the area.
Four suspected rebels were killed in a dawn raid by troops on a house in the Muareudu area of Pidie district on Friday morning, residents said.
One resident told AFP the rebels were shot after being arrested. He said the guerrillas had been collecting money from residents.
The body of a man with a gunshot wound in the head was found in the Samalanga area of Bireuen district on Friday morning, local humanitarian workers said.
Witnesses said another man was shot by police in Lhokseumawe on Thursday afternoon. They said he fled after being stopped by police but was shot dead.
GAM has been fighting since 1976 to establish an independent Islamic state.
Jakarta last year granted Aceh greater self-rule and a larger share of oil and gas revenues. It also allowed the province to implement Islamic law but ruled out independence.
More than 1,700 people died in 2001 and 112 have already been killed this year in Aceh.
Agence France Presse - January 16, 2002
Violence has left at least ten people dead as explosions and volleys of gunfire marked the start of a two-day strike called by rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province.
The separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels have called the strike to protest alleged brutality by police and troops and Jakarta's plan to revive a separate military command for the province. In provincial capital Banda Aceh, and the districts of North Aceh, Pidie and South Aceh, shops were closed, schools were empty and no public transport was running on Wednesday.
A journalist in Lhokseumawe, the capital of North Aceh where Exxon-Mobil's key gas and oil operations are based, reported hearing 15 explosions since nightfall Tuesday, and volleys of gunfire before dawn.
In Banda Aceh a massive explosion was heard early morning near the closed Syah Kuala university campus, but there was no further information available.
Soldiers were out patrolling the streets in Banda Aceh and police were driving around in cars urging residents through loudspeakers to get down to business as usual.
Several policemen were also seen driving public buses carrying government officials, a local journalist said.
The violence which has wracked the province for decades continued unabated Wednesday.
A gunfight broke out between soldiers and suspected GAM rebels after gunmen ambushed a military patrol in Pidie district, a military spokesman said. Two gunmen were killed and two soldiers injured.
Elsewhere in Pidie two unidentified bodies with gunshot wounds were delivered to the Sigli hospital. They had been brought in by volunteer workers from the Salawak mountain area, a paramedic said.
Earlier Wednesday in the Tanggoi area of North Aceh, two male corpses bearing gunshot wounds and torture marks were collected by volunteer workers, a humanitarian activist said.
Another unidentified male body was also found in the Batu Phat area near Lhokseumawe, the main town in North Aceh, the activist told AFP.
In East Aceh, humanitarian workers discovered two unidentified bodies with massive head wounds and torture marks in Perlak area.
A 49-year-old woman was shot dead by suspected GAM rebels after she saw them placing a bomb by a bridge near her house in Bireuen district late Tuesday, said Aceh military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin.
Soldiers are under orders to shoot-on-sight any rebels who attempt to block roads and disrupt public transport during the strike.
In the Tualang Cut area of East Aceh dozens of coconut trees were felled on the streets by GAM rebels on Tuesday night, a local journalist said. It coincides with a one-day visit by Vice President Hamzah Haz to the resource-rich province on the northwest tip of Sumatra island, where he is due to visit the southwest island of Simeuleu and the southern district of Singkil.
GAM has been struggling to establish a separate Islamic state since 1976. Jakarta last year granted Aceh greater self-rule and a larger share of oil and gas revenues. It also allowed the staunchly Muslim region to implement Islamic law.
But President Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of the country's founding president Sukarno, has vowed it will never win independence.
More than 1,700 people died last year in skirmishes between rebels and security troops, and 86 have already been killed this year.
Agence France Presse - January 16, 2002
Jakarta -- A court in the Indonesian capital on Wednesday sentenced an activist fighting for a referendum on self- determination in troubled Aceh province to one year in prison.
Faisal bin Saifuddin is guilty of spreading enmity and hatred against the state, chief judge Iskandar Tjake said in the verdict.
Prosecutors had earlier sought a two-year jail sentence for Saifudin, who leads the Jakarta-branch Information Center for an Aceh Referendum (SIRA), a civil movement campaigning for a vote on self-rule in Aceh province. Saifudin said he would appeal the verdict.
"Since the questioning process up to the trial there has been attempts to make SIRA comparable to GAM," Saifuddin told the hearing at the Central Jakarta district court. "SIRA is an anti- violence movement," he added.
The separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has fought a guerilla war against Jakarta's rule since 1976. More than 1,700 people died in 2001 in skirmishes between GAM rebels and security troops, and 86 have already been killed this year.
The Aceh-based SIRA has held a series of massive demonstrations in Aceh and Jakarta to demand a referendum and the trial of military officers accused of human rights abuses during anti- rebel campaigns in the resource-rich province.
In 2000 several hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the provincial capital Banda Aceh in a pro-referendum rally organized by SIRA. Its chairman Muhammad Nazar was jailed for 11 months. He was released in October last year.
In a bid to quiet the clamor for independence, Jakarta last year granted Aceh greater self-rule and a larger share of oil and gas revenues. It also allowed the staunchly Muslim region to implement Islamic law. But President Megawati Sukarnoputri, a daughter of the country's founding president Sukarno, has vowed not to allow Aceh to secede.
Agence France Presse - January 17, 2002
A general strike called by separatist rebels shut down businesses and public transport for a second day in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh, residents said.
Gunshots and an explosion were heard on the outskirts of the provincial capital Banda Aceh early on Thursday. Towns across the resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island were deserted as people stayed home in the face of rebel threats, according to initial reports reaching Banda Aceh.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) called a two-day strike from Wednesday to protest at alleged brutality by police and troops and at Jakarta's plan to revive a separate military command for the province.
In Banda Aceh police raided two shops near the closed Syah Kula university campus, firing shots in the air, residents said. The police took away several men from the shops.
A loud explosion was heard around 7am but the location could not be immediately ascertained. The Banda Aceh police spokesman said he had yet to receive a report on the incidents.
The mormally ubiquitous minibuses were absent from the streets for the second day. Military and police patrols were seen on the streets.
The military, Aceh administration officials and civic leaders have all urged the public to ignore the strike call. But cities and towns across Aceh were also deserted on the first day on Wednesday.
Soldiers have been given shoot-on-sight orders to foil any rebel attempts to block roads by felling trees.
The strike coincides with a two-day visit by Vice President Hamzah Haz to Aceh. He visited the southwest island of Simeuleu on Wednesday and was scheduled to make a trip to the southern district of Singkil Thursday to open a seminar on a former Acehnese intellectual.
GAM has been struggling to establish an independent Islamic state since 1976. Jakarta last year granted Aceh greater self-rule and a larger share of oil and gas revenues. It also allowed the staunchly Muslim region to implement Islamic law.
But President Megawati Sukarnoputri, a daughter of the country's founding president Sukarno, has vowed it will never win independence. More than 1,700 people died in 2001 and 97 have already been killed this year.
Agence France Presse - January 18, 2002
Banda Aceh -- Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz yesterday warned the Acehnese against harbouring futile dreams of independence, as a general strike called by separatist rebels hit the province for a second day.
Autonomy from Jakarta was the best Aceh was going to get, Mr Hamzah said, as seven more people died in the violence which has wracked this staunchly Muslim province on the northern tip of Sumatra island since 1976.
"People must not be influenced by GAM's promises to establish an independent nation of Aceh as all the wishes of the Acehnese have been met," Mr Hamzah said while opening a seminar on the second day of a two-day visit. "Let us end the conflict among us to build a better future for the people," Antara news agency quoted him as saying.
For the second day, the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and other towns were largely deserted as people stayed at home in the face of a rebel threat.
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) called the two-day strike to protest against alleged brutality by police and troops and at Jakarta's plan to revive a separate military command for the province. Shops and businesses were mostly closed.
In Banda Aceh, police raided two shops near the closed Syah Kula university campus, firing shots in the air, residents said. The police took away 11 people, eight of them students of the local state Islamic Institute, and confiscated three rifles.
Soldiers have been given shoot-on-sight orders to foil any rebel attempts to block roads by felling trees in the province.
In Jakarta, Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno said plans to revive the military command in Aceh were still being studied and the government was not at war with the rebel movement.
Jakarta Post - January 11, 2002
Banda Aceh -- At least 12 people, including a soldier, were killed in the latest outbreak of violence in restive Aceh province from Wednesday to Thursday, official and humanitarian activists said.
Seven male bodies bearing gunshot wounds were found lying on roadsides to the east of Sigli town, some 120 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, on Thursday morning, the coordinator for Coalition- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) on Human Rights in Sigli, Muharizal Hasan, said.
Six of the bodies were found in Unoe village, Glumpang Tiga district, while another body was found in neighboring Tanjung Usi village, Mutiara district, some seven kilometers away from Unoe village.
Muharizal quoted Unoe villagers as saying that gunshots were heard at around 5 a.m. on Thursday from a house that was known to be a hideout for Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels. The residents said that dozens of police and soldiers raided the house, and that they found the six bodies at dawn.
Pidie Military District chief Maj. Taufik Rusnandar told the media in Sigli on Thursday that a joint military and police force had launched a raid on a rebel base in Unoe village, Glumpang Tiga district, and that an armed skirmish was unavoidable. The officer said that a soldier was wounded in the raid and that several weapons, including an AK-47, were seized from the rebels.
In East Aceh, a military unit was involved in a gun battle with alleged GAM rebels in Alue Siwah village, Nurussalam district, some 350 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, on Wednesday night.
"Four GAM rebels were shot dead in the incident and two rifles, an M-16 and a Simpson, were seized from the assailants," Army spokesman Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin said in Lhokseumawe on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, a soldier, Pvt. Wiyoto, 31, was shot and killed after a rebel ambush in Simpang Dua village, Kuta Makmur, North Aceh. Another soldier, Pvt. M. Ali Sabana, and acivilian, Sutrisno, sustained gunshot wounds during the attack.
A GAM spokesman in North Aceh, Tengku Jamaika, claimed responsibility for the attack, but claimed that none of the rebels had been injured.u
Jakarta Post - January 11, 2002
Banda Aceh -- At least 12 people, including a soldier, were killed in the latest outbreak of violence in restive Aceh province from Wednesday to Thursday, official and humanitarian activists said.
Seven male bodies bearing gunshot wounds were found lying on roadsides to the east of Sigli town, some 120 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, on Thursday morning, the coordinator for Coalition- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) on Human Rights in Sigli, Muharizal Hasan, said.
Six of the bodies were found in Unoe village, Glumpang Tiga district, while another body was found in neighboring Tanjung Usi village, Mutiara district, some seven kilometers away from Unoe village.
Muharizal quoted Unoe villagers as saying that gunshots were heard at around 5 a.m. on Thursday from a house that was known to be a hideout for Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels. The residents said that dozens of police and soldiers raided the house, and that they found the six bodies at dawn.
Pidie Military District chief Maj. Taufik Rusnandar told the media in Sigli on Thursday that a joint military and police force had launched a raid on a rebel base in Unoe village, Glumpang Tiga district, and that an armed skirmish was unavoidable. The officer said that a soldier was wounded in the raid and that several weapons, including an AK-47, were seized from the rebels.
In East Aceh, a military unit was involved in a gun battle with alleged GAM rebels in Alue Siwah village, Nurussalam district, some 350 kilometers east of Banda Aceh, on Wednesday night.
"Four GAM rebels were shot dead in the incident and two rifles, an M-16 and a Simpson, were seized from the assailants," Army spokesman Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin said in Lhokseumawe on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, a soldier, Pvt. Wiyoto, 31, was shot and killed after a rebel ambush in Simpang Dua village, Kuta Makmur, North Aceh. Another soldier, Pvt. M. Ali Sabana, and acivilian, Sutrisno, sustained gunshot wounds during the attack.
A GAM spokesman in North Aceh, Tengku Jamaika, claimed responsibility for the attack, but claimed that none of the rebels had been injured.
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 - January 7, 2002 (abridged)
Banda Aceh -- At least eight more people including two suspected separatist rebels have been killed in Indonesia's restive province of Aceh in recent days, the military and humanitarian workers said Monday.
Soldiers shot dead two suspected rebels in a clash at Bukit Hagu in North Aceh late Saturday evening, said an Aceh military spokesman, Major Zaenal Muttaqin. He said troops seized one AK-47 rifle and one homemade bomb.
A spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Sofyan Dawod, denied any rebel was killed and said the victims might have been civilians.
Muttaqin said gunmen shot dead a civilian at Kuala Simpang in East Aceh on Saturday. He said rebels torched a bus at Simpang Ulim in East Aceh on Sunday after ordering the passengers to get out but no one was hurt in that incident.
Local humanitarian activists said the bodies of three people, two of them with gunshot wounds, were found separately in North Aceh on Saturday and Sunday.
A civilian was killed by unidentified gunmen at Kuala Simpang on Saturday, a humanitarian worker said. The victim was separate from the one reported by the military in the same district. The body of a man was found beside the main highway at Kejuruan Muda in East Aceh, on Saturday, the humanitarian worker added.
Sydney Morning Herald - January 8, 2002
Indonesia's easternmost province of Irian Jaya was officially renamed Papua yesterday as part of an autonomy package aimed at reducing support for independence.
A sign reading "The Gubernatorial Office of Papua Province" was unveiled by Governor Yacobus Salossa in a ceremony attended by military and civilian officials, the official Antara news agency said. In his address, Salossa urged the public to use the name Papua from now on.
The autonomy law took effect in Papua, on the western half of New Guinea island, on January 1. Jakarta passed the law last year in an effort to appease widespread agitation for independence after almost four decades of harsh military-enforced rule.
Besides the name change, new laws allow Papua to keep up to 80 per cent of revenues from its rich natural resources and permit the adoption of a provincial flag in addition to the national flag.
Independence demands have been fanned by Jakarta's perceived exploitation of Papua's resources and decades of abuses by the security forces, in the form of arbitrary killings, detention and torture.
Pro-independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay was murdered in November after leaving a military-hosted ceremony. In an interview with AFP last week, Governor Salossa said that "all the data points to the involvement of Kopassus [the army's special forces]" in Eluay's murder.
The Dutch ceded control of what is now Indonesia in 1949 but retained the territory now known as Papua. In 1963, under pressure from Washington, they handed Papua over to Indonesia. Jakarta's sovereignty was affirmed in a UN-sponsored plebiscite in 1969 which pro-independence advocates describe as rigged.
Each year on December 1 independence sympathisers commemorate an unrecognised 1961 declaration of independence.
| 'War on terrorism' |
Agence France Presse - January 16, 2002
Jakarta -- A top politician has urged US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to provide proof that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was present in Indonesia, reports said Wednesday.
"Paul Wolfowitz had better convey it directly to the Indonesian government and just show the evidence. Our country is clearly against terrorism," said national assembly soeaker Amien Rais, quoted by the Media Indonesia daily.
Rais was speaking after meeting with several visiting US congressmen and diplomats on Tuesday.
Osama bin Laden is accused by the US of masterminding the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon in Washington and New York's World Trade Center, which left more than 3,000 dead.
Parliament speaker Akbar Tanjung said al-Qaeda was alien to Indonesia. "We didn't know al-Qaeda until the 11 September event. In Indonesia there are two [largest] Islamic organizations -- the Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah -- and they're anti-terrorism," Tanjung said.
In an interview with the New York Times published Tuesday, Wolfowitz expressed concern about possible links between terrorists and Muslim militants in Indonesia.
"You see the potential for Muslim extremists and Muslim terrorists to link up with those Muslim groups in Indonesia and find a little corner for themselves in a country that's otherwise quite unfriendly to terrorism," he said.
"In the case of Sulawesi, the concern is there isn't enough military to protect the local population or to create the kinds of stable conditions that keep terrorism down," Wolfowitz said.
He was referring to the Poso region on Sulawesi island, where fighting between Muslims and Christians has left more than 1,000 dead over the past two years.
Wolfowitz said the United States was prepared to provide assistance to Indonesia and spoke in favor of reviewing certain restrictions about conducting joint exercises with the Indonesian military, which has been accused of human rights abuses. However, the deputy defense secretary said it was unlikely the United States would consider direct military action in Indonesia, "because it's such a big and disparate place," according to The Times interview.
National intelligence chief Abdullah Hendropriyono said last month that fighters linked to the al-Qaeda network, led by terror suspect Osama bin Laden, had trained near Poso some two years ago, but their camps had been long abandoned.
| Government & politics |
Straits Times - January 18, 2002
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Indonesia's second-largest political party Golkar is going after President Megawati Sukarnoputri's husband for alleged corrupt business dealings and abuse of power in an apparent attempt to protect party chairman Akbar Tandjung, who is under graft investigation.
Golkar's move to seek political leverage for Mr Akbar may threaten the political coalition which last year agreed to support Ms Megawati's presidency until it ends in 2004, analysts said.
It came after its lobbying efforts failed to dampen pressure for Mr Akbar to resign temporarily from his post as Speaker while the Attorney-General's Office investigated his case.
Mr Akbar had been named as a suspect in the misuse of 40 billion rupiah (S$7 million) from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). Reports accused him of using the money to finance Golkar's campaign in the 1999 election.
Mr Akbar had denied any wrongdoing and claimed the money was disbursed to him when he was the state secretary to be channelled to the poor.
Party sources said Mr Akbar felt "betrayed" that Ms Megawati had not stopped legislators from her Indonesian Democratic Party- Struggle (PDI-P) from pushing for his resignation and the setting up of a special parliamentary investigation team.
In a recent Golkar officials meeting, legislators were told to take a "critical stance" against Ms Megawati, whom they supported last year to replace ousted president Abdurrahman Wahid.
One of the issues they would bring up to unsettle Ms Megawati is whether her husband, Mr Taufik Kiemas, himself a PDI-P legislator, violated any laws when he headed a delegation of high-ranking state officials on a trip to China last month. "What he did breached his legislative function," said Golkar faction head in parliament Marzuki Ahmad.
Another party source said Golkar might also try to uncover Mr Taufik's alleged links in certain business dealings. But he said it was not time yet to launch a personal assault, and the party would for now focus on criticising the inefficient leadership.
"We will use our weapons one by one -- right now, we know that the government's efficiency is a higher priority than issues related to Taufik." Golkar deputy secretary-general Rully Chairul Azwar said: "Golkar still wants to support President Megawati until 2004 to boost the country's recovery from the crises, but we can no longer assure its stability if the political condition continues to be rocked by issues like this."
Jakarta Post - January 18, 2002
A'an Suryana and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- An internal rift has cast a shadow over the planned Golkar Party executive board meeting early next month, which may be marked by talks on holding an extraordinary congress to demand that Akbar Tandjung account for his troubled leadership.
A Golkar executive, Yasril Ananta Baharuddin, acknowledged there were "certain elements inside the party" who had stepped up demands for the holding of a snap congress that could cost Akbar his chairmanship of the party. Yasril did not identify the group. Neither would he say how serious the demand was.
"A proposal to stage an extraordinary congress was discussed during our most recent meeting," he said, According to Yasril, no resolution had been agreed upon, but party executives who supported Akbar finally agreed to continue the talks during the upcoming meeting scheduled to last from February 7 to February 9.
Golkar top executives and patrons regrouped for a two-day meeting on Tuesday, and on Wednesday held a consolidation meeting, which was presided over by Akbar.
A member of the Golkar board of patrons, Ahmad Arnold Baramuli, has so far been the only one to have openly called for an extraordinary congress. Baramuli heads the Iramasuka caucus, which groups Golkar politicians from eastern Indonesia.
Baramuli attended the first meeting on Tuesday. He has several times in the past suggested an extraordinary congress to unseat Akbar, whom he accuses of failing to comply with the party's decision to ensure BJ Habibie's victory in the 1999 presidential election.
The demand has gained new momentum since Akbar was named a suspect in the alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion belonging to the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) in 1999 when he was the state secretary/minister.
Yasril said Wednesday's meeting mainly discussed "the party's internal consolidation", although the Bulog scam, which has implicated Akbar, was also touched on.
Golkar deputy chairman Fahmi Idris, who also chairs the Golkar faction in the People's Consultative Assembly, played down the internal rift. "Differences of opinion are normal and natural in a party's daily life," he said.
The Akbar camp, however, has prepared moves to foil any attempt to win support for an extraordinary congress.
Rully Chairul Azwar said that unlike normal executive meetings at which representatives of regional branches were invited, next month's forum would only be attended by Golkar's top executives and representatives of provincial chapters.
The party rules stipulate that any decision to hold an extraordinary congress requires the presence of representatives of the regional branches.
"The proposal must be agreed upon by two-thirds of the delegates representing regional branches and provincial chapters. Since the regional branches are not going to be invited, a decision on such a proposal cannot be taken," he said.
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
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.
| Corruption/collusion/nepotism |
Agence France Presse - January 16, 2002
Jakarta -- An Indonesian body charged with monitoring business practices on Wednesday began investigating reports of alleged collusion in the government's bid to sell it shares in the country's largest private bank, Bank Central Asia "We will summons the parties concerned including the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency," said Muhammad Iqbal, the chairman of the government-sanctioned Commission for Monitoring of Business Competition.
"If the process of divesting BCA smacks of collusion we will order a retender," Iqbal told reporters after meeting Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
He said his body, which has the power to cancel tenders, had received reports from "members of the public" of suspected collusion in the sale.
The government took over the bank from the heavily-indebted Salim Group at the peak of the Asian financial crisis in 1998.
Despite denial by government officials, there has been speculation the government might be prepared to sell its 51- percent stake in the bank to its former owner. Activists have protested a possible deal with Salim.
State Enterprises Minister Laksamana Sukardi last week denied the speculation, saying the stake will only be sold to "bona fide institutional investors" who can increase the value of BCA.
The sale of the government's stake in BCA is a key plank of its asset sell-off and privatisation program, aimed at raising revenue to help plug a budget deficit.
Asia 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.
South China Morning Post - January 8, 2002
Vaudine England and Agencies, Jakarta -- The stakes were raised in Jakarta's potentially most explosive political corruption case yesterday when the Attorney-General's Office announced that the Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), Akbar Tandjung, was now regarded as a suspect.
Mr Akbar is accused of misusing almost US$4 million of state funds while working as state secretary under former president Abdurrahman Wahid. He allegedly used the money for election funding in 1999 for the Golkar party, which he leads.
"We have obtained an approval from the President, dated January 5, to question Akbar Tandjung as a suspect," Attorney-General Muhamad Abdul Rachman said yesterday. Mr Akbar said he would respect the Attorney-General's decision. "If [prosecutors] ask me to give an explanation, I will do that," he said.
But he hinted he would not resign as Speaker unless he was convicted by a court. "Let's hold the principle of innocence before proven guilty. Before there's a binding legal decision, please presume I'm innocent. Let the law take its course," he said.
Mr Akbar maintains he distributed the money to the poor through a little-known foundation. His lawyers describe the charges as a politically motivated witch-hunt.
The politician was classed as a witness for months, and faced questioning about the funds. But by upgrading his status to suspect, the Government now seems to have signalled its commitment to upholding the law. At the same time, however, some members of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which is dominant in the DPR, are opposed to a special parliamentary inquiry.
As President, Ms Megawati needs to be seen as impartial. But as party leader, she also knows she needs the continued support of Golkar and the legislature, which Mr Akbar can deliver, to sustain her time in office.
Deputy Speaker Sutarjo Suryoguritno put the matter beyond doubt yesterday, declaring that Parliament would form a Council of Honour to judge Mr Akbar. He said Mr Akbar could be dismissed if he was considered to have done wrong.
Analysts have pointed out that the PDI-P has within its grasp a perfect weapon -- a possible conviction of Mr Akbar -- which could disqualify Golkar from participating in the 2004 general elections.
| 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.
| Local & community issues |
South China Morning Post - January 18, 2002
Vaudine England, Jakarta -- Imam Utomo, Governor of densely populated East Java, is concerned about the increasingly crushing burdens of poverty, hunger and unemployment suffered by his people, as local prices of food, fuel and electricity soar.
So he has suggested the poor simply eat less. "Because rice is getting scarce, eat only twice a day," he urged his constituents, according to the Media Indonesia newspaper.
He said if people wanted to eat three times a day, breakfast should be rice-free and they should eat "tomatoes, cucumbers, cassava and dried fish" instead.
His comments appear a throwback to the infamous line reputedly uttered by Marie Antoinette when told the poor had only mouldy bread. "Let them eat cake" was her alleged riposte.
East Java is a long way from pre-revolutionary France, but many of the conditions are similar for the majority of the poor and dispossessed. A venal elite lives lavishly while almost a quarter of the nation's population, 40 million out of about 210 million people, are unemployed.
Thirty per cent of the population falls into the World Bank's definition of below the poverty line and World Bank country director Mark Baird said this week many more millions were verging on becoming destitute.
Activists for the urban poor say the Government could help a lot if it left the poor alone to make a living as vendors or becak (rickshaw) drivers, instead of pursuing its eviction and arrest policies. Most economists agree major changes in distribution of wealth are needed if feudalism is to be lessened in the economy.
Rice is the staple food. Even Mr Utomo acknowledges: "We feel we have not yet eaten if we have not eaten rice." But the days of national self-sufficiency in rice production are long past, with Indonesia importing basic needs from Thailand and Vietnam. The national state logistics agency Bulog, which is entangled in almost every current corruption case, is now distributing subsided but poorer quality local rice. Activists say distribution will be as corrupt as usual.
Domestic and industrial fuel prices were raised on Wednesday night, adding to financial pressure, and electricity and phone charges are also rising. Although the legal minimum wage was raised slightly late last year, many employers ignore the rule.
But more outrageous to many Indonesians is the ignorance displayed not only by Mr Utomo but by other leaders. "Don't they know we're already eating only twice a day?" asked Dewi, a domestic servant from East Java.
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - January 19, 2002
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- Almost every day it seems, the media report that at least one suspected robber has been shot dead by police.
This perception is supported by data held at the forensic department of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM), which shows that the number of firearm victims increased by 140 percent, from 108 in 2000 to 255 last year.
RSCM is the only hospital in Jakarta authorized to carry out visum et repertum (a post-mortem designed to collect evidence for a police investigation) on suspected murder victims. Anybody whose death has not been attributed to natural causes is sent to its morgue. Police sent two unidentified bodies to the hospital on Monday. The two were shot, respectively, on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta, Central Jakarta, and in Tambora, West Jakarta, after robbing bajaj (three-wheel motorized cab) passengers. Police said officers shot the two because they had ignored warning shots and tried to escape.
However, there have been allegations that in some cases the police have deliberately killed suspected criminals. This was confirmed by A. Mun'im Idris from the RSCM forensics department and criminologist Adrianus Meliala from the University of Indonesia.
Mun'im said that he had inspected the bodies of several people that he believed had been killed intentionally by the police, based on their wounds, which indicated they had been shot in the head at close range. He said the police might be resorting to unjustified killings as a short-term solution to the increasing incidence of crime in the city.
In 2001, the crime rate increased significantly due to the prolonged economic crisis, according to Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara, speaking in December last year. The number of robberies increased by 36 percent to 6,453 in 2001, while car and motorcycle thefts rose by 100 percent to 6,046.
Meanwhile, Meliala said that there were three possible explanations for the increasing number of firearm victims.
First, the uncontrolled circulation of firearms within the Jakartan population; second, the increased number of criminal attacks on members of the public and the police, and third, the attitude prevalent within some sections of the police force that it was easier to shoot suspects than deal with cases according to proper procedures.
Mun'im said murder was a violation of human rights, but that he could understand when police shot dangerous criminals who threatened the lives of innocent people. "This might be a short- term solution. The police might feel that they have the right to eliminate all the thugs who threaten society," he said.
Mun'im added that the huge number of firearm victims also showed that the public could not rely on the country's legal system, as many suspects who were sent to court received lenient sentences.
As for the police, it was understandable if they felt disappointed because they sensed that their hard work was not being appreciated, he said. "The police feel that they have worked hard risking their lives in fighting the bad guys. They must be disappointed seeing those they have arrested receiving light sentences in court", he said.
Secretary General of Human Rights Asmara Nababan strongly condemned the shooting of suspects, saying that it not only violated human rights but was also against the law.
"The presumption of innocence should apply not only to [former president] Soeharto but also to suspected robbers," he said.
Asmara noted that the shooting of criminal suspects could inspire people to take the law into their own hands, as seen in the widespread incidence of street vigilantism.
And the shooting of criminals would not be effective in reducing crime. "During Soeharto's regime, shock therapy to combat crime was conducted in 1982 and 1983. For almost a year, hundreds and maybe thousands of suspected criminals were shot dead in so- called mysterious killings. But it failed to reduce the number of crimes," Asmara said.
"The police must fight crimes, not criminals," he stressed. He added that the police were only entitled to shoot someone in self-defense.
Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam, the city police spokesman, said the police were forced to shoot the suspects because they had attacked his officers. "Currently, they are becoming fearless in fighting the police, or running away," he said.
He claimed that a lot of police officers had died because of the brutality of criminals, but he failed to give the number.
Anton added that, before shooting a suspect, all police officers were obliged to obey the standard operating procedures on the use of firearms. If a suspect tries to resist, three warning shots must be fired in the air. If he or she continues to resist, police officers have the right to shoot at the suspect.
But he admitted there were times when the police wrongfully shot suspects. "For instance, they aimed at the suspect's leg but the bullet hit him in the head."
South China Morning Post - January 19, 2002
Vaudine England, Jakarta -- The jailing of an Acehnese activist for holding a peaceful rally and the resurrection of a "blacklist" of people banned from entering the country have heightened concerns about freedom of expression under President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
The new presidential style of respectability and restraint is seen in many aspects of her rule, from the newly walled-in reception area at the palace to the revival of the Department of Information. When Ms Megawati gives a press appearance she routinely refuses to take questions, and requests to interview her are almost invariably rejected.
Rules are now so tight that they prevent even some registered journalists from attending press conferences.
Ben Bohane, an Australian freelance reporter known for his trenchant coverage of Indonesian hotspots, tried to enter Jakarta without a valid journalist visa last weekend. Although this is in breach of visa rules, under the governments of Bacharuddin Habibie and Mr Wahid he and many other foreign journalists came into Indonesia as tourists and then worked without any problem.
But immigration officials showed Bohane a list of banned poeple -- with his name on it -- before escorting him back to the plane he arrived on. Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs deny journalists have been singled out on the so-called blacklist.
During President Suharto's rule, a blacklist of banned journalists and others was actively used to keep out or expel people who disagreed with the government. Scores of journalists were turned back at the airport. Many others were refused renewal of their residential visas if their reporting was judged inaccurate or too independent.
More disturbing is the one-year sentence recently handed to an Acehnese activist for organising a peaceful rally outside the UN office in central Jakarta. Faisal bin Saifuddin was found guilty this week of spreading enmity and hatred against the state.
Saifuddin leads the Jakarta branch of the Information Centre for an Aceh Referendum (Sira), a movement campaigning for a vote on self-rule in Aceh province. "Sira is anti-violence," Saifuddin said, adding he would appeal. Of note in this case is the Government's increasing use of the "spreading enmity" law against anyone it deems an enemy. A similar case continues in Surabaya, East Java, where Eusebius Purwadi, 26, is facing 10 years in jail for distributing pamphlets criticising Ms Megawati.
ETAN Press Release - January 15, 2002
The East Timor Action Network (ETAN) said today that Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's last minute approval of judges for an ad hoc court on East Timor does not alter its view that the court will not bring to justice all, or even most of, those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in East Timor.
"The multiple delays in establishing the court, its limited jurisdiction, and the continued impunity with which the Indonesian military operates throughout the archipelago only reinforce our belief that the special Indonesian court will be a sham," said John M. Miller, spokesperson for ETAN. "The Indonesian military remains too powerful and the courts too corrupt. Without an international tribunal, those most responsible for Indonesia's scorched earth campaigns in East Timor will escape punishment," he added.
Over the weekend, Indonesia's chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Megawati had finally approved the names of judges to the court. It remains unlikely that any trials will actually begin this month as previously announced. As head of the team deciding prosecutions for crimes in East Timor, M.A. Rahman, now Attorney General, advocated only prosecuting low-ranking officers.
In September 2000, Indonesian prosecutors named 23 suspects, the highest ranking a two-star general, for violence surrounding 1999's referendum on independence. The list was later whittled down to just 19, following the murder of one militia leader and the claim by the Attorney General's office that they could not find several others. The list of suspects, shortened from a January 2000 list issued by the Indonesian Human Rights Commission, does not reach to the highest levels of the military command implicated by United Nations and other investigations.
Last August, the Megawati administration amended the decree establishing a special human rights court on East Timor. The revised decree falls far short of fully addressing the military's role in orchestrating the violence and devastation. It only covers selected incidents from April and September 1999 in three out of East Timor's 13 districts.
"No one will be tried for the many atrocities that occurred outside of those time periods and locations, or for the coordination of the scorched-earth campaign by senior level security forces personnel. The many crimes specifically directed at women will also not be prosecuted. Many East Timorese victims and witnesses will be too afraid to travel to Indonesia and will not testify," said Miller.
"These limitations mean that the military's role in orchestrating the violence and devastation throughout 1999 will not be fully addressed and meaningful convictions are unlikely. Further, no one responsible for Indonesia's 1975 invasion of East Timor and most of the massive crimes committed during Indonesia's two decades of occupation will be held accountable," he added.
On October 24 2001, a coalition of East Timorese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) wrote the United Nations, "We all must face the reality that... [Indonesian courts are] not capable of holding those responsible to account. After initial glimmers of hope, subsequent political turmoil and instability and ensuing continual revisions to the mandate and scope of any Ad Hoc Tribunal which is to be established, ha[ve] clearly demonstrated that Indonesia is both incapable and unwilling to take responsibility for prosecuting those culpable for the crimes against humanity in East Timor."
The NGOs called for an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible. The same conclusion was reached by the UN's International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor. The NGOs said that prosecutions are "necessary for the nation building process of and reconciliation for East Timor. Instead, we are facing the dark reality of such impunity characterizing our future."
Last September, a US District Court held Indonesian General Johny Lumintang liable for $66 million in damages. The judge's decision, in a lawsuit on behalf of six East Timorese victims of military and militia violence in 1999, found Lumintang, vice chief of staff of the army at the time, "both directly and indirectly responsible for human rights violations committed against" East Timorese in 1999. Lumintang is not among the suspects to be prosecuted by Indonesia.
Following the August 30, 1999 UN-organized referendum, the Indonesian military and their militia systematically destroyed East Timor, murdering at least 1500 East Timorese, destroying over 70 percent of the infrastructure and raping hundreds of women. Hundreds of thousands were forced from their homes.
Jakarta Post - January 16, 2002
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- Human rights activists expressed skepticism Tuesday on the fairness of trials in cases of human rights atrocities scheduled to start in February, citing the government's secrecy in recruiting ad hoc judges who were unveiled on Monday.
"The government's reasoning that the recruitment of ad hoc judges should be kept secret to protect the candidates' privacy is not acceptable," the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Coordinator Ori Rahman said in a press conference on Tuesday. "The public needs to know about the candidates' track record, credibility and capability," he continued.
Kontras, nevertheless, has urged government officials to immediately enact into law legislation in areas ranging from witness protection and compensation to rehabilitation and restitution to support the trials.
On Monday, the government disclosed the names of 30 career and non-career judges to fill positions as first-degree judges and appeal judges at tribunals to for human rights violations in East Timor in 1999 and the Tandjung Priok bloodshed in 1984.
Supreme Court Justice Benyamin Mangkoedilaga defended the appointment of 18 ad hoc judges, saying the process complied with the mechanism similar to the recruitment of ad hoc judges for the court of commerce.
"There is no regulation obliging us to invite public participation in the recruitment," he said. "Moreover, we're only given three months to do the recruitment and controversy over the candidates would only delay the whole process," he told the Post.
Benyamin said he had invited prominent rights activists to fill the positions, but they rejected. "By law, ad hoc judges should let go of their professional life as public notary or lawyers; the only professionals allowed to continue in their work are academics," he said, revealing why the team picked up scholars from fields of human rights research and study.
He added that the government would hold a one-week training session on rights issues for the head and their deputies of district courts in Jakarta, North Sumatra capital of Medan, Surabaya, and the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.
Meanwhile, East Timor Action Network spokesman John M. Miller expressed doubts that the court will bring proper justice, since Megawati has limited the case brought to court into incidents which took place in April and September 1999, on the preparation of and after the UN-sponsored referendum on independence in East Timor.
In his statement, made available to The Jakarta Post, Miller said that "the multiple delays in the establishment of the court -- earlier promised for December, then delayed to January 15th -- its limited jurisdiction, and the continued impunity with which the Indonesian military operates ... only reinforce our belief that the court will be a sham."
The Australian - January 15, 2002
Don Greenlees, Jakarta -- President Megawati Sukarnoputri has approved a list of 18 judges to sit on a human rights tribunal trying crimes committed during Indonesia's retreat from East Timor, opening the way for the first trials of soldiers and militiamen more than two years after their bloody retribution over East Timor's vote for independence.
Ms Megawati had delayed signing a decree to appoint judges to the human rights court, raising suspicions she had succumbed to pressure from the military to go soft on human rights abuses.
The signing of the decree should allow the first cases to go to trial in the next few weeks, but human rights groups and foreign governments will be watching carefully to see whether the promise of justice is fulfilled.
The outcome of the judicial process over human rights crimes in East Timor has been explicitly linked by the US to the resumption of military aid and sales to Indonesia. It could also affect future aid pledges from other governments.
An inquiry by the National Human Rights Commission submitted a confidential list of 116 individuals accused of human rights crimes in East Timor to the Attorney-General's office two years ago. Dossiers were prepared for the trial of only 23 of them, one of whom has since died.
This list of official "suspects" is widely considered inadequate and just a first instalment in the legal proceedings. Although three generals have been named, prosecutors failed to cite many other prominent soldiers and militiamen.
Judges named yesterday -- from a list submitted by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, Benyamin Mangkudilaga -- are all junior members of the judiciary. Some prominent lawyers with a track record in defending human rights are thought to have been approached but rejected offers because of the low salaries and five-year contracts.
A further 10 judges are expected to be appointed soon from outside the judiciary.
Leading human rights activist Munir, who uses only one name, expressed concern at the relative inexperience of the judges named and their lack of training in human rights matters. He said that, given the one-month of training allocated for each judge in human rights instruments, the "hope [we have] for a fair judicial process is yet to be fulfilled".
Of the 18 judges named yesterday, 12 will preside over the initial trials and the remainder will join an appeals panel.
The first cases to be brought by prosecutors cover four atrocities: the April 1999 massacres in the Catholic church at Liquica and the Dili home of independence activist Manuel Carrascalao; the September 1999 massacre in the Catholic church in Suai; and the September massacre in the Catholic diocese in Dili.
The most prominent individuals facing trial are former military commanders Major-General Adam Damiri, Brigadier Tono Suratman, Colonel Mohammad Noer Muis and militia leader Eurico Guterres.
Agence France Presse - January 17, 2002
New York -- The Indonesian government failed to address human rights violations last year and the situation in the separatist province of Aceh worsened sharply, Human Rights Watch said.
"The government made no serious efforts to address past or current abuses, new human rights legislation notwithstanding," the New York-based group said in its annual report released Wednesday. The report said the number of political prisoners rose steadily during 2001, with many peaceful political activists charged with "spreading hatred toward the government." "The justice system remained a shambles," it added.
Human Rights Watch described 2001 in Indonesia as "another turbulent year, marked by a power struggle in Jakarta and an escalation in regional conflicts." It criticized President Megawati Sukarnoputri's appointment of Muhammad Abdurachman as the attorney general, calling him "a career prosecutor known for obstructing human rights cases, particularly with regard to East Timor." "With no interest in prosecutions on the part of the president, the attorney general, or the minister of justice, let alone the military, prospects for accountability looked bleaker than ever," it said.
Indonesia has this month set up a special tribunal for senior military officers accused of human rights abuses in East Timor in 1999. The first trial may start next month.
The report said the situation in Aceh province, scene of a bloody separatist insurgency, deteriorated sharply last year.
"The 2001 death toll had topped 1,300 by September, and while most of the deaths were civilians killed in the course of military operations, the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was also responsible for serious abuses." GAM has fought a guerrilla war for an independence Islamic state in Aceh, a resource-rich region on the northern tip of Sumatra island, since 1976.
An estimated 10,000 people have died since the start of the insurgency. At least 97 have already been killed this year.
"Defending human rights remained a dangerous occupation, particularly in Aceh, where at least seven rights workers were killed," the group said.
In December 2000, four workers for an organization called Rehabilitation Action for Torture Victims of Aceh or RATA were abducted outside Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, by a group of armed soldiers and civilians. Two men and a woman were executed; a fourth escaped and gave testimony identifying several of the killers.
On March 29, a human rights lawyer, Suprin Sulaiman, together with his client, Teungku Kamal, and a driver, Amiruddin, were shot dead shortly after leaving the South Aceh district police station where Kamal had been summoned as a suspect in criminal defamation of the police.
Four military men and four civilians were arrested. The civilians later escaped while the soldiers reportedly remained in the military police detention center in Medan as of October.
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 - January 7, 2002
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Critics have urged the government of Megawati Soekarnoputri to speed up the ad hoc trial of military officers accused of human rights violations in East Timor in 1999 and Tanjungpriok, Jakarta, in 1984.
Failure to expedite the trial could spark speculation that the government has deliberately dragged its heels in dealing with the military officers.
Last March, Megawati established an ad hoc tribunal but, so far, nothing has happened because the President has yet to give her approval of judges to preside over the cases.
The names of 30 judges have been submitted; however, the President has repeatedly delayed signing off on their installation. This has baffled not only the public, but also the justices of the Supreme Court who recommended the prospective judges to handle the case.
Similarly, the government has promised that the trial will begin January 15. But this date is now in question, as there has been no indication of when Megawati will make her selections.
Initially, government officials planned to open the trial in September but, due to technical reasons, the date was pushed back to November. Then a December date was announced only to be moved up again to this month.
Human rights activists have voiced fears that the delays are the price that President Megawati must pay as part of a political deal with the military in exchange for its support for her government.
"We believe [Megawati and military] have compromised the matter," said Ori Rachman, coordinator of the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).
The lack of transparency in the recruitment of the ad hoc judges itself has posed a big question for the activists.
Ori, for example, wonders why the non-career judges are being considered -- selected from a pool of experts at human rights study centers at major state universities -- without full explanation to the public.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has further revealed that 33 people were killed in the 1984 Tanjungpriok incident when security forces fired on protesters demanding the release of their colleagues.
The charges of crimes against humanity in East Timor were leveled in the wake of violence sparked by a UN-organized referendum on East Timorese independence from Indonesia. Militias, backed and financed by the military, went on a spree of killing and destruction in the former Portuguese colony.
The high profile case implicated top Indonesian military leaders, including Gen. Wiranto, the former Indonesian Military chief.
Worried about the future of the tribunal, the executive director of the Human Rights and Legal Aid Association (PBHI), Hendardi, also believes the "Megawati-military conspiracy" theory because the President owed the old military forces their support.
"I am certain there is political deal" between Megawati and the military, Hendardi said.
Benjamin Mangkoedilaga, chairman of the team preparing the ad hoc trial on East Timor, said he had selected 17 career judges. "They will team up with non-career judges," he told the Jakarta Post over the weekend.
Supreme Court Secretary Sartono says he is also puzzled by the delay. He noted that he has not heard from the President since he submitted the list of judges in November. "The there has been no response," he told the Post.
Agence France-Presse - December 31, 2001
Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri has scored a poor end-of-year report card from the country's human rights advocates, who accuse her of abandoning reforms and cosying up to figures from the former Suharto regime. Two victims' advocate groups, Petisi 50 and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), accused Megawati of reconciling with powerful human rights abusers and ignoring their past records, the Jakarta Post reported Monday.
They cited her appointment of retired general Hendropriyono to head the National Intelligence Agency, overlooking his involvement in the shooting deaths of student protestors in Lampung in southern Sumatra in the 80s.
"Getting rid of the actors of the New Order is a must," Petisi 50 secretary Chris Siner Key Timu was quoted as saying.
The groups attacked Megawati's failure to address grievances over arbitrary killings, torture and kidnappings in the separatist-war afflicted provinces of Papua and Aceh, since she took over the presidency in July.
"The government has failed to show its commitment to seriously processing human rights violations," Kontras coordinator Ori Rahman was quoted as saying. "The separatist problems in Aceh and Papua cannot be solved by imposing laws of ... autonomy."
They said the failure to prosecute any of the suspects named for gross human rights violations during East Timor's move to independence in 1999 illustrated a lack of commitment to redressing rights grievances.
The rights advocates also pointed to the terrorisation of activists in 2001.
Papuan independence leader, Theys Hiyo Eluay, was killed in November by unknown assailants after leaving a military celebration in the capital Jayapura.
Rights activists in Aceh have been shot at, and early in the year the rector of Aceh's Syahkuala University, Dayan Dawood, was shot dead.
Last week a group of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Urban Poor Consortium and the Institute for Human Rights' Study and Advocacy (Elsham) said that under Megawati the military had strengthened, corruption had flourished, and law enforcement had weakened.
"The reform process that was expected to repair the situation has become stagnant," Johnson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, said.
Megawati's consideration of abolishing multimillion-dollar corruption charges against the sick former dictator Suharto was attacked as a backwards step in the fight against corruption.
"The plan to grant former president Suharto an abolition is a setback in law enforcement as such a move constitutes granting immunity," the NGOs said in a written statement.
Elsham's Ifdal Khasim said Megawati lacked the courage to deal with various criminal cases because her decisions were based 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 was quoted as saying by the Post.
On Saturday Megawati told soldiers celebrating Army Day not to fear being accused of human rights violations, but to stay firm in carrying out their duties.
| News & issues |
Straits Times - January 19, 2002
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Former president Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, may escape prosecution again after two suspects in the murder of a top judge allegedly ordered by him said they were forced by police to confess.
Legal analysts said this latest development in the case might clear Tommy, who is under police custody, of charges that he ordered the murder of Supreme Court Justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita.
The judge had sentenced Tommy to 18 months in jail for corruption in 2000. But Tommy's graft conviction was overturned last year in a controversial decision by the Supreme Court.
Two men arrested for allegedly carrying out the judge's murder, Mulawarman bin Sunjaya Wijaya and Noval Hadad, recently retracted their confessions to police in a court hearing.
Noval denied that he was among the four men on motorcycles who witnesses say shot Mr Syafiuddin while he was driving to work.
Noval said he had been forced by police to confess that he was paid by Tommy to assassinate Mr Syafiuddin. In a hearing on Monday, Mulawarman said he had never met Tommy but admitted he had been contacted by a man who claimed to be Tommy's aide to conduct the murder.
Before this, their confessions were the only evidence police had against Tommy in the murder charge.
A police source said: "The retraction would slow our work on Tommy's case." Police are investigating Tommy over the murder case and for illegal possession of firearms and explosives which they found at a house he allegedly used last year.
They have submitted the dossier on the case of illegal possession of firearms to the Attorney-General's office, but it has not begun investigations as it is still tied up with the murder probe. As a result, Tommy has not yet been named a suspect in either case.
Said legal activist Bambang Widjoyanto: "The police and prosecutor will have a big problem proving Tommy's involvement in the case. There is a possibility that he would get away with it."
Meanwhile, legal observer Harkristuti Harkrisnowo said the only testimonies that mattered in a court hearing were those given in the courtroom. This meant the judge would omit any statements or confessions made during police questioning.
Mr Bambang said suspects or witnesses in high-profile cases involving well-connected people often retracted their statements to police. This would also prove what sceptics feared all along -- that police were not serious in building a case against Tommy.
Agence France Presse - January 8, 2002
Jakarta -- An Indonesian court on Monday charged two alleged hitmen with murdering a Supreme Court judge on orders from Tommy Suharto, a son of the former president.
Novel Hadad, 27, and R. Mulawarman, 39, were charged in Central Jakarta district court with murdering Safiuddin Kartasasmita -- the judge who had ordered Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra jailed over a corrupt land deal.
Since Tommy's arrest last November 28 police have been questioning him about allegations he ordered the murder. They were due Monday to give prosecutors a dossier on the interrogation so they can decide on possible charges.
Suhardi Sumomulyono, a lawyer for Hadad and Mulawarman, told AFP they were accused of premeditated murder and of possessing weapons -- both punishable by death.
Prosecutor Abdul Kamar Badrun accused the two, who had been riding a motorcycle, of having forced the judge's car to halt in Central Jakarta while he was on his way to work. Hadad, the pillion passenger, allegedly shot at the car at least four times and killed the judge. Both fled on the motorcycle.
The prosecutor said Mulawarman received the order for the murder by telephone from a friend of Tommy, Dodi Harjito. He was promised 10,000 dollars in return and was given two handguns and the motorcycle. Mulawarman then recruited his friend Hadad.
Badrun said they met Tommy several times and talked to him by telephone during the planning of the murder.
The hearing was adjourned until next Monday. Under Indonesian law, defendants do not plead guilty or not guilty at the start of a hearing. Harjito will appear separately at the same court Wednesday.
Kartasasmita headed the Supreme Court panel which ordered Tommy jailed for 18 months. Tommy went on the run for almost a year after failing to turn himself in to serve the sentence, but was arrested last November.
A separate Supreme Court panel subsequently cleared him of the corruption charge but judges say he should serve time in prison for his 11 months as a fugitive.
Police have said they are also questioning Tommy about a weapons cache allegedly linked to him and about a series of bombings in Jakarta over the past year.
| Health & education |
Straits Times - January 19, 2002
Robert Go, Jakarta -- One in 100 Indonesians, or roughly two million people, are hooked on narcotics, according to information provided by the police and several non-government organisations (NGOs) dealing with the drugs problem.
In addition to ganja, activists are also listing putaw, a heroin product that is sold cheaply and is very addictive, as a big threat to Indonesians, particularly the poor.
The lingering economic crisis, experts explained, has contributed to the rise in narcotics abuse, with Indonesians dealing with tougher living conditions and the cash-strapped government devoting meagre resources to combat the scourge.
Commissioner-General Nurfaizi, who runs national anti-narcotics body BKNN, said: "The narcotics problem is one that requires urgent national attention. The situation is critical with more than two million addicts in the country."
The general, formerly head of police in Metro Jakarta, was in Lampung on Sumatra Island yesterday to supervise the destruction of more than four tonnes of ganja. The contraband was part of drug shipments, heading from Aceh province to destinations on Java Island, which had been seized by the local police.
Gen Nurfaizi said: "This is not just a government problem, but one that has to be solved by involving all elements of Indonesian society. The government cannot do it alone."
BKNN secretary, Brigadier-General (Police) Mudjianto, told The Straits Times that the government has been discussing ways in which it could step up anti-drug operations. Customs department in Indonesian ports of entries could get special training on how to spot drug shipments and smugglers.
Local police departments would also conduct more roadblocks and cargo- inspection operations, especially along known drug- trafficking routes. "It's both a prevention-oriented approach and one that emphasises more law- enforcement measures," he said.
More and more Indonesian NGOs have focused on the nation's drug problems, but activists also said that the government has not properly addressed the issue for the last five years.
Ms Sri Daryanti, programme director for the Humanity Committee Indonesia (KKI), said: "Narcotics abuse is an extension of the crisis and poverty. Our information reveals that no area of Indonesia is free of narcotics and it's crucial that we start prevention programmes now to educate the young." KKI previously focused on poverty issues, but the NGO recently added anti- narcotics measures into its agenda.
"Indonesia's NGOs, especially those working to deal with poverty issues, have come to realise that drug abuse is becoming a big problem for the poor," Ms Sri added.
Mr Budi Rahardjo, head of NGO group Ridma, said: "Law enforcement has become weaker and the situation more chaotic during the crisis. The government should have become more serious about this problem a few years ago."
| Economy & investment |
Green Left Weekly - January 16, 2002
Max Lane -- The Indonesian economy is in a truly parlous state. The combined public and private foreign debt is US$150 billion, standing at 110% of GDP, and more than 40% of the government's revenues are devoted to interest payments on foreign debt. In addition, the government owes another staggering US$64 billion to several Indonesian banks. Many of these loans start to fall due this year.
The government, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank all point to a 3% growth rate as proof that their recipe for Indonesia's economy is working. This growth is being driven purely by domestic consumption, which in turn is being financed by Indonesia's middle class spending its savings.
To attract savings during the crisis period after 1997, many banks offered up to 45% interest on savings accounts. Many middle class Indonesians who had done well out of the Suharto period quickly invested their money at these rates to try to compensate for the plunging exchange rate of the rupiah.
In recent years, the interest rate has dropped and a 20% income tax on interest dividends has been imposed. People are withdrawing and spending their savings. Most estimates assess that these savings will dry up during 2002.
In 1997, before the Asian financial crisis, Indonesia was receiving around US$33 billion in foreign investment. This collapsed to around US$13 billion in 2000. In 2001 it contracted another 50% down to US$6 billion. Domestic investment has also fallen, by about 60% since 2000. Monthly investment figures for the end of 2001 were 10% of what they were at the same time the previous year. Spokespersons for the textile manufacturers, the main growth area after the 1997 crisis, also confirm that they expect significant drops in output in 2002.
This year it is estimated that there will be a 10% US$5 billion drop in non-fuel (oil and gas) exports. Again there are no signs of any of the export sectors escaping this trend, especially given the global economic slowdown.
For most international capitalist observers, the sale of state- owned assets seems to be the only hope for a desperate economy.
In a December 6 article entitled "Indonesia's Tottering Economy", the London Economist magazine observed: "With inflation already in double digits, and poised to increase because of a government pledge to raise fuel prices, the central bank is keeping interest rates high. Banks are in no mood to lend anyway, as they struggle to restore their balance sheets after the crisis of 1997. The government's financial straits put a fiscal stimulus out of the question. Foreign investment has evaporated approvals in October were one- tenth the level of a year earlier. So privatisation, in addition to its budgetary virtues, is one of the few available means to inject new life into the economy. Time for foreign lenders to give the [cabinet] dream team a wake-up call?" But the Indonesian government has not been able to sell any of these assets to date. Ex-Suharto cronies use their links and their capacity to bribe members of parliament to delay any sale of assets they previously owned. Many foreign investors are also suspicious that the asking price of the assets is far above their real value.
Deregulation of foreign trade, especially the reduction of tariffs and quotas, is also continuing to hit Indonesian agriculture. At the moment, 95% of tariffs in Indonesia have fallen to below 5%, the figure stipulated to be achieved for the ASEAN Free Trade Area. In rice and sugar, the lowering of tariffs has resulted in a big increase in both official and smuggled imports. The World Bank, which tends to give the rosiest picture, states that 26% of Indonesia's population was below the poverty line in 1999. The World Bank figures mean about 55 million people are below the poverty line. NGO's estimate that the number living below the poverty line is more than 110 million.
Labour minister Jacob Nuwa Wea has admitted that unemployment numbers have reached 40 million. According to Nuwa Wea, there were three million people entering the work force every year. To absorb that number of workers, he said, the economy would need to grow by 7% per year, more than double the present rate.
With 100 million already below the poverty line, 40 million unemployed, rice farming being squeezed, no employment growth prospects as investment plunges, the Indonesian government is committed to deliver another blow to Indonesia's poor workers and peasants this month. Under IMF pressure, the government is intending to implement a 30% increase in kerosene prices, with fuel prices being raised even further. This comes after a 10% increase during 2001.
Electricity prices will also be increased by 24% during the course of 2002.
This will have an enormous impact on living standards and could provoke outbreaks of social unrest if price rises are passed through quickly.
Jakarta Post - January 19, 2002
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- The government's fuel price rises have dealt a blow to public transportation drivers who are complaining that the hike has slashed profit margins.
Drivers of bajaj (three-wheeled motorized pedicabs), taxis and public buses criticized the controversial decision, saying the price increases of an average of 22 percent had further burdened them. "We have to spend more money to buy fuel and that means our daily margin is reduced," Juned, one of the drivers, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Juned, a bus driver of Mikrolet M-66 serving the Blok M-Manggarai route, said that the hike had caused their diesel fuel spending to balloon to Rp 90,000 a day from only Rp 72,000 a day.
The government raised the price of diesel fuel from Rp 900 a liter to Rp 1,150 a liter on Wednesday. He said the bus crews shared the additional fuel costs, reducing their daily net income to an average Rp 70,000.
Juned's friend, Tiono, said they must pay a daily rent of Rp 250,000 every day to the bus owner.
Taxu and bajaj drivers also complained even though gasoline prices increased slightly to Rp 1,550 from Rp 1,450. "Due to the fuel price hike, many people are discouraged from using our services now," said taxi driver Nurhusin.
Bajaj driver, Tardan, also complained saying some passengers did not care and just paid the old fare.
Many public transport drivers seemed reluctant to increase their rates as they feared it might discourage people from using their services. "The fare may increase but many customers will refuse to pay," said Juned.
He said that although the bus fare had been raised to Rp 900, many passengers still paid Rp 700 or even Rp 500.
Ine, a bus passenger, who works for a foreign firm, said that the bus fare remained unchanged despite the rise. "Everyday, I use executive Patas bus No. 44, 57, B-1 Blok M-Kota and I still pay the old fare of Rp 3,300," she said.
Ine added that sometimes when she took a public minivan she still paid Rp 500. But reportedly, public transportation drivers in Bogor had increased their fares even before the government announced the price rises.
Straits Times - January 19, 2002
Jakarta -- Foreign investment in Indonesia dropped by nearly 42 per cent last year due to political instability and increasing lawlessness that the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri was unable to control.
According to data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), investments last year amounted to US$9.02 billion.
Despite the change in government from former president Abdurrahman Wahid, who was ousted last July for incompetence, investment risks remained high because of political upheavals, social unrest, legal uncertainty and poor law enforcement, analysts said.
A recovery in foreign investments seems unlikely due to the lacklustre performance of Ms Megawati's administration and its failure to meaningfully address any of these problems.
Economic analysts have repeatedly warned of a mass exodus of capital from Indonesia to China and Vietnam, where the investment climate appears to be safer.
The largest foreign investments were in chemical and pharmaceutical businesses followed by service sectors and the hotel and restaurant industries, the BKPM report said.
Domestic investment was also sharply lower, falling to 59 trillion rupiah (S$11.2 billion) from 92 trillion rupiah in 2000.
Another report yesterday said Indonesia must put people first with major investments in education and health care if it wants to recreate the economic miracle of past decades. The Indonesia Human Development Report 2001 said: "Indonesia faces enormous and diverse challenges -- consolidating democracy, addressing regional conflicts and regenerating the economy.
"They will only be achieved if they are based on common values and a new consensus -- on a shared commitment to human development." The report added that Indonesia ranked only 102nd in the world in terms of human development, based on income, life expectancy and educational achievement.
Between 1997 and 1998, inflation surged from 6 per cent to 78 per cent while real wages fell by around one-third, leading to a sharp rise in poverty.
"In the aftermath of the economic crisis, Indonesia faces serious challenges of human development," the report said. "Their long- term outlook for public services is poor. Because of the decision to bail out the banks, the government is now deep in debt. Effectively, the population as a whole has assumed a massive burden that will require them to pay higher taxes and have less effective public services." The report calls for much greater investment in education, noting that Indonesia spends only around 1.4 per cent of gross national product compared with the global average of 4.5 per cent.
Health spending should also become a priority, the report added, calling for a new "social compact: an agreement that all Indonesians, as Indonesians, are entitled to nationally-mandated standards of human development".
Agence France Presse - January 16, 2002
Jakarta -- The total value of Indonesia's 2002 imports is expected to drop by 10 percent year-on-year, an official said Wednesday.
"I forecast for 2002 imports will decrease as a whole from 2001 by about 10 percent," said the import division chief of the state Central Bureau of Statistics, Irlan Indrocahyo.
He told AFX-Asia, an AFP-affiliated financial news service, the main reasons for this were the slow recovery in the local economy, a weaker investment climate after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US and falling exports amid the global economic slowdown. Many products made for export use imported raw materials, he said.
Indrocahyo said figures for the entire year 2001 were not yet available, but for the 11 months to November, Indonesia's imports fell to 28.7 billion dollars from 30.2 billion dollars the previous year largely due to a decline in the import of consumption and raw material goods.
Straits Times - January 18, 2002
Robert Go, Jakarta -- Yesterday's 22-per-cent hike in fuel prices dealt a second blow within a month to Indonesia's already hard pressed businesses, particularly those operating in the export sectors.
In addition to shouldering higher fuel costs, companies have just started shelling out 30 per cent more to pay their workers after the country's latest minimum wage standards took effect on January 1.
Prominent business leader Sofyan Wanandi said: "Small and medium businesses will be hurt, and those in labour-intensive sectors will feel the effects of both increases."
Mr Richard Santosa, head of corporate affairs at giant retailer Ramayana, added: "Thousands of workers could be laid off in the next few months as companies respond to the wage and fuel hikes. Exporters are going to be badly hit."
Already, business communities across Indonesia are warning that thousands would lose their jobs if the government chooses to go ahead and implement its planned series of price hikes.
But it is also apparent that Indonesia's 100 million workers need to be paid more. According to the World Bank, per capita income in South-east Asia's largest country is dismal at US$570 when compared to Malaysia's US$3,400, Thailand's US$2,010, or even the Philippines' US$1,040.
The rate of wage inflation has not kept up with the increase in prices for a range of staple and commercial goods in the country since the onset of the economic crisis in 1997.
And the need to improve salaries is also more immediate this year given the expected increases in the prices of basic items, which include rice, cooking oil and sugar.
While it is to be expected that the business community here does not like government policies that hurt their bottomlines, analysts told The Straits Times a steep wage increase imposed now could severely harm the economy.
Ms Mari Pangestu of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta said: "The wage hike will cost companies more. It could also be counterproductive to the economic recovery programme and lead to increased unemployment." Other factors that could make life harder for companies include the government's planned price hikes for telephone and electricity rates.
Mr Sofyan said: "It's not just wages and fuel, but also electricity, phone, and other services and items that businesses depend on. The increases are coming one after another."
The price hikes could cost President Megawati Sukarnoputri the confidence of Indonesia's business leaders. Mr Raden Pardede, head jof Danareksa Research Institute, said: "Our monthly confidence survey shows a deterioration in business leaders' support level for the government. Many are beginning to feel that government policies are becoming less business friendly and limiting."
Jakarta Post - January 18, 2002
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- The sharp increases in fuel prices on Thursday boosted the prices of several staples, causing an outcry among the people here.
Niniek, a housewife living in Pondok Kelapa, East Jakarta, complained in remorseful tone to The Jakarta Post that the price hikes has created dreadful conditions as she went shopping at the Klender traditional market in East Jakarta.
"A bundle of spinach costs Rp 500, Rp 200 higher than the previous price; while mujair fish costs Rp 4,000 per half-kilo from Rp 3,000," she lamented with a sigh.
Since last week, due to the planned hike in fuel prices, a liter of rice price has jumped to Rp 3,300 (US$0.32) from its previous price of Rp 2,100, she added.
Niniek was similarly displeased with the price of kerosene, which was much higher than the new price imposed by the government at Rp 600 per liter. She must now pay Rp 1.500 for a liter of kerosene.
In Central Jakarta, at the Palmerah traditional market, the prices of several vegetables also were marked up.
Vendor Ibu Karto said tomatoes were sold at Rp 3,000 per kilogram, up from the usual price of Rp 2,500, while prices for pungent chili were raised from Rp 6,000 to Rp 8,000.
She said that she had no idea about the price increase, adding that her distributor at the wholesale market of Jatinegara, East Jakarta, had only raised the price without explanation.
Lenny, a canteen owner in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, said that she had to increase the meal price up to 50 percent, due to the sharp rise in ingredients and staple prices.
"I charge Rp 1,500 for a plate of steamed rice from its usual price of Rp 1,000, while a piece of fried chicken goes for Rp 4,500, up from Rp 4,000," she said. Gorengan (fried snack) vendors in Blok M, South Jakarta, and on Jl. Gajah Mada, Central Jakarta, all complained about the kerosene price hike.
"The announcements have been incorrect -- you'll never get a liter of kerosene at a retail price of Rp 600," said Saimah, a vendor in the Blok M area.
Saimah said she has had to buy kerosene at Rp 1,200 per liter. Before the new price hike, it was sold at between Rp 800 and 1,000 per litter.
Meanwhile Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) Chairwoman Indah Suksmaningsih said the government should have clarified the subsidy allocations before imposing the new prices.
When it increased fuel prices in June 2001, the government had announced plans to re-allocate the freed up Rp 800 billion subsidy to assist the poor.
"Has that compensation plan hit the target? How did the delivery and control mechanisms of the government facilitate the flow? It's a mystery -- even now we still don't have any idea where that money was spent," she said.
Indah added that the money saved by the price hikes and earmarked for the needy has no hope of being properly disbursed, thanks to rampant corruption in the state-owned oil company, Pertamina.
She appealed to the public to reject the increase, saying it has only further sown the seeds of the shady corruption practices among both government and Pertamina officials.
Several hours before the official announcement of the fuel increases on Wednesday at 11 p.m., no significantly long queues of vehicles could be spotted at gas stations anywhere in Jakarta.
Some five to seven police officers were seen deployed to guard every gas station in the city in the event of disturbances.
Straits Times - January 11, 2002
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government has failed to lift the country out of the economic crisis despite initial confidence in the new economic team of President Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Tempo news magazine concluded in its New Year edition that almost all indicators showed that the country's economy was still in a rut.
The rupiah lost 17 per cent of its value compared to the previous year, the magazine said. It added that the budget and fiscal crisis continued to plague the economy, and foreign investment has not returned. Economic reforms also constantly met obstacles.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri's ascent to power in August boosted confidence that her team of technocrats and professionals would bring the economy out of the doldrums, causing the rupiah to soar to the year high of 8,500 rupiah to the US dollar.
But expectations soon dwindled as various economic and political problems beset the country, sending the rupiah back to 10,200 to the dollar.
Economist Umar Juoro told The Straits Times: "In the beginning, Ms Megawati's team was overrated because it consisted of experienced professionals, but the reality soon dawned that the problems are too complex." The Indonesian government last week said its economy was bucking the regional downward trend with a 3.5 per cent growth.
But economists dismissed this claim as being "overly optimistic". They said the growth, down from 4.8 per cent in 2000, was only driven by higher consumer demand and local investment.
"Economic recovery incorporates several factors, in most cases, like in South Korea, it is the amount of foreign investment," Mr Umar said. The unstable political scene and messy decentralisation process, which caused legal uncertainty, have also put off foreign investors.
As of October, Jakarta said foreign investment approvals fell by 49 per cent to US$6.5 billion (S$12 billion). "The economic indicators show that even if there was recovery, it is a very slow one," said Mr Umar.
And, according to Tempo, 36.2 million were unemployed and the poverty index reached 50 per cent last year, due to the slow economic recovery.
Last year, the inflation rate also reportedly rose to 12.55 per cent from 9 per cent in 2000 due to cutbacks in the fuel subsidy.
Economists said the government's focus on maintaining the deficit at 3.7 per cent made it hesitant in interfering in the market to suppress prices of basic supplies, the practice of the previous Suharto government.
The state budget is also bloated with domestic and foreign debt service.
Some economists believe poor coordination and weak decision- making made it hard for the government team to implement economic reforms.
Moreover, privatisation programmes only hit half of the 6.5 trillion rupiah (S$1.15 billion) target last year while exports were affected by the September 11 attacks in the US.
Jakarta Post - January 11, 2002
Jakarta -- The price of rice has increased by nearly 30 percent in several areas in Central and West Java, and many are attributing that to the government's plan to increase fuel prices and electricity bills.
In Purwokerto, Central Java, low quality rice, IR, is now Rp 3,000 per kilogram, Rp 600 higher than before.
The price of Cisadane rice is now Rp 3,200 up from Rp 2,500. In Majenang, Cilacap, also in Central Java, one kilogram of IR is Rp 3,200, Rp 700 higher than before.
Traders said on Thursday that the prices had been steadily increasing recently, since reports of the government's plan to increase kerosene prices was circulated almost two weeks ago.
Housewives in Majalengka and Cirebon, West Java, have also been upset after they found that the price of rice had increased by as much as Rp 800 per kilogram.
Traders at the markets of Pasar Pagi, Pasar Sumber and Pasar Kanoman in Cirebon, said in separate interviews that the lowest quality rice, IR 64, had risen to Rp 3,200 per kilogram and the best quality, Rojolele, is now at Rp 3,900 per kilogram nearly Rp 800 higher than it was just days ago.
Pete, a 47-year-old rice vendor at a traditional market in Purwokerto, said he was forced to sell the rice higher prices than before, "Because I bought it at higher prices too." Another trader at the Wage market in Purwokerto, Suwasti, said the price hike also was occurring in other towns. "Rice is also now expensive in Purwokerto and Kebumen. The rice traders there charge us transportation fees for the rice," Suwasti said.
According to her, prices for many food items at the market, including rice, have been increasing recently.
Deputy head of the Banyumas Logistics Office Isturi Parwanto said that the price hikes were a response to the government's plan to increase the prices of fuel.
"There is no problem with the rice supply," he said. "We still have 36,900 tons in stock for the next five months." In Cirebon, West Java, the speaker of the regency legislative council, Suryana, said the legislature would soon urge the logistics office to conduct market operations to control the price hikes.
"The scarcity of fuel has caused the increase in the prices of rice because transportation fees have also been soaring. The disappearance of unhusked rice from Indramayu, Kuningan and Arjawinangun -- the three districts known as the rice capitals of West Java -- has also contributed to the skyrocketing prices," he said.
He predicted that the price of the staple food would be normal by the third week of March, when the farmers will enjoy a good harvest.
Commission B, dealing with economic affairs, urged the logistics office to supply more rice through market operations. "Greater supply will surely control the rice prices," commission B chairman Aris Kristanto said in Semarang on Thursday.
Meanwhile Nono Satria of the logistics office said market operations started on Wednesday in several markets in several towns. "A total of two tons of rice were sold in the market operations," he said, adding that the price was Rp 2,900 per kilogram. Meanwhile the Cirebon logistics office has yet to conduct market operations, despite the instruction from the head of the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) Puspoyo Widjanarko.
The head of Cirebon logistics office M. Jibran was not available for comment.
Antara news agency reported from Malang, East Java on Thursday that local logistics offices had launched market operations at Pasar Besar in a bid to control the prices of rice.
"As a first step we sold 500 kilograms per day at the normal price of Rp 2,900 per kilogram," spokesman for the logistics office A. Supriyadi said. "If people's responses are good we will possibly increase the supply." He said that only the prices of middle and high quality rice had gone up in Malang, "not the price of IR rice."