Democratic struggle

Crisis begins to unite workers and peasants

Green Left Weekly - October 2, 2002

Max Lane, Jakarta -- As the Indonesian economy sinks into even deeper crisis, a major social and political crisis has begun to unfold. This crisis began with the September 11 re-election by the Jakarta provincial parliament of retired general Sutiyoso as Jakarta governor.

Sutiyoso, held responsible by the rank and file membership of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) for the murderous attack on the PDI's national office in July 1996, was re-elected with the strong, public support of Megawati herself. Tens of thousands of angry PDIP members blockaded the parliament forcing MPs to use armoured cars and helicopters to enter the parliamentary compound.

Since then a wide range of NGOs and other community organisations have begun legal proceedings against Sutiyoso's re-election after some MPs admitted taking bribes for votes.

Almost the whole media, reflecting public sentiment in Jakarta, condemned the re-election. The Jakarta parliament is now held in total public disrepute.

Indeed, it is becoming a more and more evident reality that the parliaments elected in 2001, both national and provincial, are now totally out of synch with the development of public opinion.

The Sutiyoso incident was quickly followed by a blow to the credibility of the national parliament. The chairperson of the House of Representatives (DPR), Akbar Tanjung, was convicted on September 4 of involvement in the theft of US$4.5 million from the National Logistics Board. Despite the conviction and a sentence of three years, Tanjung was allowed to remain outside jail while he appealed -- a rare privilege even in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the majority of the members of the national parliament are supporting him continuing as DPR chairperson. When 72 members of the parliament signed a letter demanding his jailing and submitted it to the parliament, Tanjung used his position to block the letter from being read in the parliament.

The parliament's overall prestige sank further when Amien Rais, the chairperson of the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR), the higher super-parliament comprising all DPR members and representatives of the provinces and occupational groups, also defended Tanjung's decision not to resign from his position.

The sense of slowly building crisis has now also made it into the editorial pages of the major newspapers. Kompas is the prestige newspaper of the political and economic elite. On September 25 it published an editorial entitled "Let's not give an impression we don't know what to do". The editorial listed crises in the economy, business management, politics and the legal system, plus massive unemployment, deteriorating working conditions, the abandonment by the government of the workers deported from Malaysia, failing water supply and the recent total electrical blackout of the whole of Jakarta as symptoms of a total social breakdown.

The editorial noted: "Every day there are demonstrations and strikes. Apart from the issue of the [post-Suharto] euphoria, these strikes and protests are an indication that our brothers and sisters feel [they] face problems. They are crying out for solidarity and for others to help find a solution." Reflecting the collapse in credibility of the parliament and the government, the editorial also stated: "There is another disappointment. The negligence, social contempt, the mistakes and heedlessness that shows that the power elite couldn't care less, couldn't give a damn. Those in power today are no different from those we overthrew yesterday. All of this, especially everything to do with employment and work, the cost of daily items, corruption and collusion dried up and shrivels our hearts." The Kompas editorial, however, offered no solutions of its own -- apart from appealing to everybody's good intentions.

Like much other breast beating by elite institutions in recent days, the Kompas editorial was a response to the wave of worker and peasant demonstrations that began two weeks ago.

Tens of thousands of workers from sugar plantations and sugar mills launched a coordinated strike and protest action throughout the island of Java on September 10. The workers were protesting the anarchic dumping of imported raw and processed sugar onto the Indonesian market following the implementation of new policies mandated by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The strike took place in the towns of Sidoarjo, Malang, Kediri, Jember, Magetan, Pasuruan, Nganjuk, Ngawi, Mojokerto, Madiun, Bondowoso, Tulungagung, Pasuruan, Situbondo, Jombang, Probolinggo, Cirebon, Klaten, Yogyakarta and also in the provincial capitals of Central Java and East Java provinces -- Semarang and Surabya respectively. It is the first large-scale coordinated labour action in Indonesia for decades.

The workers, organised by the Forum Solidaritas Serikat Pekerja dan Serikat Buruh Pabrik Gula Seluruh Indonesia (All-Indonesia Solidarity Forum of Sugar and Sugar Mill Workers Union), are threatening to shut down all sugar mills if the government does not change its policies.

Following imposition of WTO and IMF policies, the import tariff on sugar was dramatically reduced. As a result, imported sugar can sell on the market for between 2400 to 2650 rupiah per kilogram. This has forced down the price of local sugar to around Rp2650 per kilogram. However, production costs for local sugar are around Rp3100-3200, so that farmers must bear a loss of Rp550 per kilogram.

On September 24, another round of sugar worker demonstrations took place, organised by a broad range of sugar worker and peasant support organisations.

The Jakarta protest actions were the first joint worker-peasant demonstrations since the military coup which brought General Suharto to power in 1965. Thousands of workers attempted to push down the gates to the national parliament compound. After being sprayed by two police water cannon, the workers were allowed to enter the compound, where they were addressed by Dita Sari, the chairperson of the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggles (FNPBI).

Soon after, hundreds of farmers from the Peoples Front for Agrarian Renewal (FRPA) joined the demonstration. Hundreds of students also joined the demonstration.

The Jakarta protest was also addressed by Saiful Bahari, the secretary-general of Bina Desa, a peasant-oriented community organisation, and Erphan Faryadi, from the Agrarian Renewal Consortium, an NGO coalition. Bahari was reported as calling for agrarian reform as well as repudiation of the country's foreign debt.

There is no end in sight to either the deepening crisis or more social unrest. According to the State Investment Coordinating Agency, investment figures are continuing their plunge downwards. Investment during the first eight months of 2002 fell by US$2.25 billion, or almost 40% compared with the same period in 2001.

Indonesia is also the only country reported by the United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to have suffered capital flight every year since 1998. In 2001, $3.2 billion left the country, almost the same figure as the $3.55 billion of new investment planned, though not yet realised, for 2002.

The collapse in productive investment in the cities is being matched by the upheaval in the rural sector caused by the unregulated importation of sugar and rice. Also looming on the horizon is the deadline for the payment by the government of billions of dollars of debt to many of Indonesia's dysfunctional banks.

[Max Lane is the national chairperson of the Australia-based Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (APSN) campaign group.]

Labour issues

Driver demo paralyzes Padang

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2002

Padang, West Java -- Thousands of workers and students trying to get to Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, were left stranded on Thursday when public transportation drivers went on strike.

The drivers called the strike to protest the mushrooming number of unofficial terminals on the city's outskirts.

Many workers and students were forced to walk to their offices and schools in the city.

The drivers held demonstrations in front of the provincial legislature building and the governor's office, promising to continue their strike unless the authorities shut down the unofficial terminals that were cutting into their income.

"All buses and other public transportation vehicles should be obliged to enter only the terminal in the city, where they should pick up their passengers," Eri, a driver, said.

Almost all public transportation vehicles, including intercity buses, have been reluctant to enter the terminal since it moved to the city's outskirts.

The head of the local transportation office, ANS Bukhari, said his office had no authority to prevent the drivers from striking, and would cooperate with the land transportation agency to phase out all unofficial terminals around the city.

Doson Workers hold rally against Nike

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2002

Jakarta -- Around 500 workers of PT Doson Indonesia, a subcontract firm of the shoe giant Nike, held a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the BRI building, which houses the US firm PT Nike.

But unlike their previous demonstration, they could not enter the building as security guards blocked the area and installed barbed wire in front of the building.

They flocked to the slow lane of Jl. Sudirman in front of the BRI building, causing traffic jams and disrupting the traffic flow toward the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.

The demonstrators came to protest Nike's decision to stop shoe orders from PT Doson. The decision has caused the bankruptcy of PT Doson and thousands of its workers have been fired.

Workers stage rally in Tigaraksa

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2002

Tangerang -- Some 300 workers of two companies located on Jl. Raya Serang, Cikupa district of Tangerang staged a rally at the Tangerang regency office in Tigaraksa on Wednesday.

Wearing black T-shirts, the mostly female workers of PT Hasri Anekatama, a tape producer on Jl. Raya Serang, went to the office to submit their complaint to regent Agus Djunara about the company's recent unfair dismissal of 11 workers.

They also requested the assistance of the regent to stop the company's plan to disband its newly established workers association and order the management to end its contractual-hire system.

"The management had promised workers that there would be no dismissals in the company, but it has happened. It is hard to believe the management's claim that the 11 workers resigned voluntarily," Aat, one of the workers, said.

As PT Hasri workers' rally was going on, some 200 workers of PT Taramulti arrived at the office compound to stage a rally. But it was not clear what their demands were.

Garment workers stage rally

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2002

Tangerang -- Dozens of workers from PT Shinta Woosung, a textile producer in Cikupa district, Tangerang, staged a rally at the Tangerang regency legislative council office on Tuesday.

They went to the office to protest the police arrest of a worker, Burhan, accused of stealing a discarded iron plate from the company.

Company SPSI (All-Indonesia Workers' Union) chairman Abdur Rahim said that Burhan had been arrested by Cikupa police following a tip-off from the company's production manager last week.

"The police should not have arrested Burhan as he only took the iron plate from the company's garbage dump," Rahim said.

According to Rahim, the production manager had earlier had a quarrel with Burhan after he saw him take the 40 centimeter (cm) by 5 cm plate.

The workers demanded the council assist in releasing Burhan from what they considered to be an arbitrary arrest.

Council Commission A secretary Edy Poerwanto, who met the workers, said that the council would soon summon the company management to investigate what had really happened.

Aceh/West Papua

McCulloch: Please appeal for justice in Aceh

Green Left Weekly - October 2, 2002

[This letter was received from Lesley McCulloch via an email from the Acehnese human rights activists working for her release from Indonesian custody. It was written on September 27.]

Those of you who know me personally can confirm I am not often lost for words. But right now, I am. I hear of the tremendous campaign to secure the release of Joy-Lee Sadler and I. And I want to say "thank you", but this seems so inadequate.

In the past few days, I received news that a legal team is being put together in Jakarta to work with the fantastic local LBH [Indonesian Legal Aid Institute] lawyers. News of all this effort around the world is certainly a source of strength through these difficult times. But I am constantly troubled by the thought that thousands of Acehnese are being held in cells in much worse conditions than I, perhaps suffering physical abuse, and with none of the hope of a favourable outcome I have.

I appreciate the concerns and media attention on my case. But I ask you to see my case only as a vehicle to highlight the injustice faced by the Acehnese daily.

The faces of fellow prisoners I have met as they progress through this legal system will haunt me forever. Their lack of hope and feelings of despair distress me.

From my position in police custody, I can do very little to help the Acehnese right now. I think of the thousands who have died, disappeared and been tortured, those whose lives have been ruined in other ways, in the destruction of Acehnese society and economy that continues to take place before our eyes. Please appeal for justice not only in my case, but for all Acehnese. We are all equal and deserving of the same attention and support.

I know you are already doing this. But it makes me feel better to write, and I know you will understand. I owe so many so much; thank you.

In peace and solidarity, Dr Lesley Jane McCulloch

Coalition and ALP ignore Lesley McCulloch

Green Left Weekly - October 2, 2002

Iggy Kim -- A show trial is looming for Australian academic Lesley McCulloch, detained by the Indonesian military in Aceh, along with US nurse Joy-Lee Sadler. Both have been charged with alleged visa violations.

On September 23, Indonesia's Laksamana reported that a senior government official accused both women of being "private intelligence" agents for "a fifth column of anti-Indonesian NGOs [non-government organisations]". He claimed that McCulloch and Sadler were working for a private spy office under the cover of the Henry Durant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss-based NGO currently brokering peace talks between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Espionage carries a prison term of 15-20 years in Indonesia.

Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (APSN) received no reply to a letter faxed on September 26 to the office of foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer, calling for Canberra's intervention to help McCulloch. The letter was signed by academics, non-government organisation representatives, prominent human rights figures and members of parliament.

The Asian Studies Association of Australia is running a petition for McCulloch's release. Colleagues and friends have secured the services of a prominent Indonesian lawyer, Mulya Lubis, and are raising funds.

Scottish Socialist Party parliamentarian Tommy Sheridan moved a motion on September 25, calling on the Scottish Executive to raise McCulloch's case with the British Foreign Secretary. Sheridan and McCulloch's mother intend to hold a press conference soon. McCulloch is a British citizen permanently resident in Australia.

APSN held rallies in Sydney and Melbourne on September 26 to protest the Australian government's inaction. Darwin's Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor protested on September 30.

Greens Senator Bob Brown put a Senate motion on September 23. The original motion, calling for McCulloch's "swift release and, if necessary, repatriation", was amended by Labor to "released from custody as early as possible", and then passed.

APSN chairperson Max Lane commented: "The government and ALP are bolstering the Indonesian military's campaign to entrench its hold over Aceh. For this, the military needs to scuttle peace efforts and make an example of McCulloch and Sadler to scare off other international observers."

Law enforcers told to tread carefully with foreigners

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2002

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh -- New lawyers representing two foreigners suspected of violating immigration law in war-torn Aceh called on the local police and the prosecutor's office to be cautious in charging their clients.

They said the prosecutors should not arbitrarily throw espionage charges against their two clients because they had clear information that both were in the province for research purposes.

"Material evidence such as maps, notes and laptops were found in the bag of Leslie Jane McCulloch and they were used for research activities," Johnson Panjaitan, one of the four new lawyers, said after a meeting with their clients at Aceh Provincial Police Headquarters in Banda Aceh on Thursday.

The other three were Harry Ponti, Owi Yanto Prihamono and M.S. Prihartono. The four lawyers, all from Jakarta, were hired by the two suspects' families to join forces with local lawyers in representing the pair of women.

McCulloch, a 42-year-old British citizen, and American Joy Lee Sadler, 56, were arrested by the police in Tapak Tuan, West Aceh, for the alleged violation of their tourist visas, an offense that carries a maximum of five-years imprisonment.

The two looked tired and McCulloch complained of a lower back pain when they met with their new lawyers.

The two were declared suspects after being detained for six days and were then moved to provincial police headquarters. McCulloch has complained of police mistreatment, including sexual harassment, following their arrest by soldiers in a village in Tapak Tuan.

The state prosecutor' office has sent back the suspects' case files to the police to be amended as there were strong indications that the two suspects could be charged with espionage.

Johnson and his three other colleagues also met with the chief of the provincial police's detective unit, Adj. Sr. Comr. Surya Darma.

Johnson said that government prosecutors had the authority to use the espionage law against the two foreigners, but they had not enough material evidence to prove the charges.

"The prosecutors should not make misleading statements about our clients as these could worsen the situation in the restive province and affect Indonesia' ties with the suspects' home countries," he warned.

He said he and his team were still studying their clients' case to prepare for their court appearance.

He added they would try to have their clients stand trial in the Banda Aceh District Court, rather than in Meulaboh or Tapak Tuan to avoid new problems.

Aceh police say maps prove women are spies

Sydney Morning Herald - October 4, 2002

Matthew Moore, Jakarta -- Maps showing the location of military forces in Indonesia's Aceh province in the possession of a former University of Tasmania lecturer and her American colleague prove the women are guilty of espionage, the prosecutor's office says.

More than three weeks after they were arrested, Aceh's assistant prosecutor, Zaenal Said, said his office intended to charge Lesley McCulloch, from Scotland, and Joy Sadler, from Iowa, with spying.

"We have the evidence: they have all the state secrets about our defence structure," Mr Said said yesterday. Since the women were arrested on September 10 police have questioned them about photographs and records of interviews with members of Aceh's separatist movement, GAM, which has been fighting a bloody war of independence with Indonesia for 26 years.

Ms McCulloch's lawyer, Rufriadi, said he had been formally told only that the women would be charged with tourist visa breaches that carry jail terms of up to five years.

He said Ms McCulloch, who taught at the University of Tasmania until July, was increasingly worried she would be charged with espionage, the maps apparently being the main evidence against them.

The chief of the Aceh prosecutor's office, Teuku Lufti, asked in The Jakarta Post: "They claim to be tourists, but how could they be so well informed about the number and location of military posts throughout Aceh? Using commonsense, they must be concealing malicious intent towards Indonesia." But Dr Damien Kingsbury, of Deakin University in Victoria, said he had given Ms McCulloch copies of maps he had presented at a conference in Hobart in July and there was nothing secret about them.

"The maps are of what battalions and companies are where. I have been working with a colleague on obtaining public information to illustrate deployment of TNI [the military] in Aceh. There are a large number of human rights abuses in Aceh and we wanted to be able to attribute responsibility." While this is Ms Sadler's first visit to Aceh, Ms McCulloch has been a regular visitor to Sumatra's northernmost province, writing and researching articles and books on the war that are often highly critical of the role of the army and security forces there.

She insists this trip was purely for tourism and that she has been unfairly detained and assaulted by Indonesian authorities, who have denied improper treatment and accused her of lying about her visa application.

Australian legal advice obtained by Ms McCulloch's colleagues is that she faces up to 20 years' jail.

The aim of 'Operasi Adil Matoa'

Tapol - October 2, 2002

Documents of the police operation code-named Operasi Adil Matoa show that the aim of the Operation is to build cases against Papuan organisations which support independence in order to secure their conviction, the imprisonment of their leaders and activists and the dissolution of the organisations.

The official documents of the police operation known as Operasi Adil Matoa 2002 have been leaked and made available to Tapol. Here is a summary of their contents:

The documents consist of Instruction No 3/VII/2002, signed by the police chief of Papua, Inspector General Drs Made M. Pastika, and dated 17 July 2002, together with a number of diagrams and lists of tasks, problems and conclusions. The Instruction states that the basic task of the police force in Papua is to uphold the law within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) and to uphold the territorial integrity and the unity of the nation.

The Instruction identifies as the targets of the Operation "individuals and social organisations whose vision and mission are to separate the Province of Papua from the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, who are a threat to the unity of the nation and who violate the laws of the Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia" (para 3a), and "individuals and social organisations who oppose the policy of the government by using violations of human rights as a cover and who engage in other activities that can undermine the authority of the government and the state" (para 3b).

The Operation's Set-up consists of defending Papua as a Zone of Peace and an integral part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (para 4a), "undertaking investigations and interrogation of organisations whose activities fall within the terms of articles 106 and 107 of the Criminal Code and Law No 27, 1999 regarding crimes against the security of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia" (Article 106 makes it a crime to engage in acts of rebellion to separate part or all of the territory of Indonesia, with a maximum penalty of life or twenty years. Article 107 relates to acts of rebellion to overthrow the government with a maximum penalty of fifteen years or in the case of the leaders, a maximum penalty of twenty years.)

The methods to the used during the Operation are:

1. To gather material and statements from the community or from social organisations which point to activities of incitement or provocation with the aim of achieving a sovereign, Independent West Papua outside the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

2. To look for and seize letters, bulletins and other things that can be used as evidence of incitement or provocation to oppose the lawful Government of the Republic of Indonesia within the frame of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

3. To draw up Interrogation Reports (Berita Acara Pemeriksaan -- BAP) for the purpose of conducting investigations within the Criiminal Justice System to pave the way for submission to a court of law, in order to secure a legally binding decision.

The Operation will last for sixty days from the starting date (Hari H), to be determined by the chief of police of Papua. One of the supporting documents lists nine organisations which are already "mobilising their forces". They are: Dewan Majelis Masyarakat Adat Koteka - Demmak (the Penis Gourd Traditional Council); Dewan Adat Suku Sentani - Dass (Traditional Council of the Sentani Tribe); Dewan Adat Papua - PAP (Papuan Traditional Council); Pemerintahan Adat Papua - DAP (Papuan Traditional Government); Satuan Tugas Papua - SP (Papuan Task Force); Polisi Adat - PA (Traditional Police); Tentara Pembebasan Nasional/Organisasi Papua Merdeka (National Liberation Army/Free Papua Organisation); Tahanan Politik/Political Convicts - Tapol/Napol (Political Prisoners and Political Convicts); Students, Women's, Youth and religious groups.

These organisations are considered as being a "challenge to the NKRI government" because they do not support Special Autonomy. They also make use of global issues such as human rights or the handling of the Theys case in order to achieve an independent West Papua.

One diagram bearing the title "How to Handle [the targets]" is composed of arrows and circles directing these organisations towards interrogation by the police and thereafter passing the results to the prosecutor for indictment under Article 106 resulting in a prison sentence. Another supporting document lists what should happen during the Operation, namely that a court verdict for rebellion should lead to the dissolution of the organisation in question.

Military accuse ELSHAM of being 'extension' of PDP

Tapol - October 1, 2002

The top leadership of the Indonesian military has responded angrily, making revengeful accusations against West Papua's leading human rights organisation, ELSHAM, for daring to accuse an arm of the military, Kopassus, of responsibility for the killing of three Freeport officials and the wounding of 12 others on 31 August.

According to the Papua Pos of 28 September, the official spokesman of the TNI, Major General Syafrie Sjamsuddin accused ELSHAM of being an extension of the Papuan Presidium Council (PDP). "ELSHAM which is led by John Rumbiak can be described as being part of the Political Separatists (KSP -- Kelompok Separatis Politik)," he told journalists.

He alleged that the OPM in West Papua has two organisational wings, the KSP and the armed separatists who wage their struggle in the jungle. It's quite clear, he said, that ELSHAM is part of te Political Separatist wing and an extension of the PDP.

ELSHAM had earlier (on 25 September at a press conference in Jakarta) revealed that there were strong indications that the shooting of foreign Freeport personnel on 31 August had involved members of Kopassus., alleging that this was linked to a struggle over the share of money provided to guard the premises of the Freeport mining company.

Syafrie said that that was no factual basis for ELSHAM's allegations, which were based on out of date and irrelevant information. Syafrie, who is himself from Kopassus, vigorously denied that Kopassus could have been involved in a struggle over the spoils as their needs were provided by the government, while Freeport supplies supporting funding. He said he did not know how much money was involved in this. It was all based on rumour and those spreading these rumours will be held to account, he warned.

Asked what action the TNI would take against ELSHAM for making these accusations, he said that the Trikora regional military command was investigating the allegations. "If they fall short of the facts and are aimed as discrediting the TNI, then these people will have to face the law," he said. "It is the rule of law that prevails here," he claimed.

Government, GAM at odds over monitoring team in Aceh

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2002

Nani Farida and Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta/Banda Aceh -- The separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) insisted on Tuesday that the government must set up an international monitoring committee to supervise the implementation of a cease-fire between the government and GAM, but Jakarta commentators said they hoped the committee would consist of credible local people.

"We have been hoping for long time that there would be a monitoring team, particularly as regards members from overseas to ensure its independence. We doubt it would be independent if the members were locals," GAM spokesman Sofyan Dawood told the Jakarta Post.

When asked about the duties of the monitoring committee, he said: "This can be decided at the next meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. But the most important thing is that the committee must be international." Representatives of the government and GAM will sit down for peace talks in Geneva early this month in an effort to end the violence raging in the territory.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda announced on Monday a plan to establish an independent monitoring committee to supervise the implementation of the cease-fire in Aceh.

He said the monitoring committee would emulate a similar committee established in the Moro territories in the Southern Philippines to supervise the implementation of a cease-fire between Philippine troops and the Moro National Liberation Front rebel group. But the government has yet to decide whether or not to allow foreigners to sit on the planned monitoring committee.

Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) supported the establishment of an independent monitoring committee, but said foreigners should not sit on the committee so as to avoid any foreign intervention in domestic affairs.

"The inclusion of foreigners will not benefit the government's efforts to embrace GAM. It would be better to include independent local parties," he told the Post. Syamsuddin said that the committee must include independent Acehnese leaders with high integrity as members.

The other members could be taken from the House of Representatives to represent the Indonesian people, and from academic circles and the non-governmental organizations that are involved with Aceh, he added. "Principally, the committee must be able to carry out its duties free from all intervention and threats from the military or GAM," he said.

It also had to be able to assess and monitor the implementation of the cease-fire and provide forceful input for President Megawati Soekarnoputri in arriving at a comprehensive solution for Aceh, Syamsuddin said. In addition, it should have the authority to investigate and prosecute anyone violating the cease-fire agreement, he added.

Nasir Djamil, a councillor in the Aceh Provincial Legislative Council, also welcomed the planned establishment of a monitoring committee, but warned that the committee would have a hard time doing its work in Aceh. "Thus, we need a strong and credible team that has the determination to press GAM and the military to observe the agreement," he said.

Nasir said the committee must possess the authority to impose sanctions on any party that breached the cease-fire. He hoped that the Henry Dunant Center (HDC), which has brokered the peace talks, would help monitor the implementation of the cease-fire.

Aceh: Abducted civil rights leaders released

Green Left Weekly - October 2, 2002

James Balowski -- On September 25, two leaders of the Acehnese civil rights movement -- Muhammad Nasir Azis and Kautsar bin Muhammad Yus -- who were abducted on September 22 by the Indonesian military (TNI) in the northern Acehnese city of Lhokseumawe were released following a concerted campaign by Acehnese human right organisations against their detention.

Muhammad Nasir Azis is a leader of Aceh People's Voice (SURA). Kautsar is the chairperson of the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA). The two men were abducted while on their way home after addressing a public prayer gathering calling for a cease-fire between government troops and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

This was the second time Kautsar has been detained for organising peaceful demonstrations. Last year he was imprisoned for six months after he helped organise a protest against the US oil giant ExxonMobil. He was freed after a court cleared him of the police charges.

The abductions by the TNI are part of a sweeping crackdown throughout the province. Former University of Tasmania academic Lesley McCulloch and US nurse Joy-Lee Sadler were picked up at a checkpoint on September 11. They have been charged with violating their visas, an offence which carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

On September 20, Indonesian police and marines swept through northern Sumatra and detained 200 Acehnese, 90 of whom have since been released after being beaten and forced to pay bribes.

NGOs call on UN to probe Freeport ambush

Jakarta Post -- October 1, 2002

Tiarma Siboro and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged the United Nations on Monday to send a rapporteur to investigate the Freeport ambush that killed two Americans and one Indonesian, while it deplored statements implying that the Free Papua Movement (OPM) was behind the fatal shooting.

The Jakarta-based National Solidarity for Papua said in a news conference here on Monday that until an investigation was launched, all parties, including the military, could be named as the suspected attackers.

"There are many conflicts in Papua, including those between the locals and companies operating in their own backyards. But they are often shifted into separatist conflicts, which creates the opinion that Papuans are dangerous," said Ferdinand Tetro Nasira of the Papuan Forum for Human Rights and Reconciliation (Forhamrep).

The NGOs, however, failed to spell out reasons behind their call for UN intervention in the incident.

On August 31, about 15 gunmen, whose identities and whereabouts remain unknown, attacked two buses carrying teachers from the Tembaga Pura International school inside the operation zone of the American-owned Freeport copper and gold mine, which is tightly guarded by about 1,000 military and police officers.

A preliminary investigation run by the police and the Papuan Institute for Legal and Human Rights Advocacy (Elsham Papua) revealed that the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) were at the crime scene when the shooting took place. The Indonesian Military (TNI) has denied the finding and accused OPM of being behind the attack.

Papua Police have questioned 21 military personnel and one civilian as witnesses, but no suspects have been found.

Besides the police, the Trikora Military command also sent a team of investigators as well as a team of security officials from the US Embassy in Jakarta, one of whom was an FBI agent based in Australia.

Police Military commander Maj. Gen. Sulaiman A.B. said in Jakarta on Monday that there was no indication yet to suggest the military's involvement in the case.

The National Solidarity for Papua revealed that in their meeting with US Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce over the weekend that they were told about "the existence of local problems, which should be handled by the central government".

Damianus Wakman, the coordinator of the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua), deplored the statement, which, according to him, failed to elaborate on the findings and ignored the fact that Papuans be given a bigger role in bringing peace back to Papua.

"The US government has to review Freeport's operations as it hires military personnel to secure the area and it needs to urge the company to cooperate with the investigation.

"Freeport and TNI also have to explain the presence of the military in the operational area, especially concerning the fact that it was stipulated in the work contract, the number of officers on the force and also the budget used to hire the military," Damianus said.

Papuan separatists welcome Vanuatu's support

Radio Australia -- October 1, 2002

Papuan independence activists have welcomed Vanuatu's strong support for their cause at the United Nations, and have urged other Pacific countries to add their voice to the campaign.

Last week, Vanuatu's deputy prime minister, Serge Vohor, urged the United Nations to place the Indonesian province of Papua back on the list of regions awaiting decolonisation, as a first step towards independence.

Mr Vohor also announced Papuan independence activists would open up a new representative office in Port Vila, following a traditional ceremony cementing cultural ties between Papuans and the people of Vanuatu.

Rex Rumakiek, from the Australian-based Australia West Papua Association, says while Vanuatu is the only Pacific country to openly support their claim, other leaders are campaigning behind the scenes to support their cause.

Lobby group protests persecution of Aceh activists

Radio Australia - October 1, 2002

A lobby group in Darwin, Australia, claims Indonesian authorities are persecuting and intimidating civil democratic groups in the province of Aceh.

The group Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor held a protest in Darwin's Raintree Park today to highlight the issue.

A spokeswoman for the group Robyn Waite claims two leaders of the Acehnese civil rights movement were abducted by the Indonesian military and interrogated after calling for a ceasefire between the government and the Free Aceh Movement.

"What's happening in Aceh is independent voices are being silenced and this is something we are very angry about," Ms Waite says.

"People who do have the strength to speak out for what they believe are being arrested, are being tortured, are being intimidated -- it's just like East Timor," she says.

"We want to get the word out there about these attrocities," she says.

Canberra denies support for Papua secession

Associated Press - September 27, 2002

Catharine Munro, Jakarta -- In a sign Papuan independence still strains relations between Indonesia and Australia, Canberra this week had to repeatedly deny suggestions it supported secession for the province.

The Australian aid agency Ausaid issued a statement overnight denying that government funds were being misused by non- government organisations (NGO) to support separatist movements. Ausaid was responding to reports in the Indonesian press last weekend that claimed government-funded aid groups supported independence movements in Papua.

"No NGO is receiving Australian government funds to conduct activities contrary to Indonesia's sovereignty or stability," Ausaid's director general Bruce Davis said. He said NGOs funded by Australia received endorsement by Indonesian authorities. In Jakarta the Australian Embassy wrote letters to Indonesian newspapers restating Ausaid's position.

Papua also emerged as an issue behind closed doors on Tuesday at the resumption of talks between Jakarta and Canberra on regional security. The talks were the first held since the two countries fell out when East Timor broke away from Indonesia in 1999. Australian diplomats and military officials had planned to look at wider topics such as terrorism and illegal immigration. However, Indonesian officials added to the agenda concerns about non-government organisations in Australia supporting independence movements in Indonesia. Australia responded by restating its policy of supporting Indonesia's territorial integrity.

Earlier this month, Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered his National Intelligence Agency to investigate the attendance of a delegation from Papua of mostly churchmen to a conference on peace and reconciliation in Sydney last month. The meeting in Sydney was held at the same time as an attack by unknown gunmen on teachers at a mine in Papua, owned by the US company Freeport.

Susilo's move was seen by human rights workers as an attempt to somehow link Australia to the attack. In February, parliamentarians staged a boycott of Prime Minister John Howard's visit to Jakarta, citing concerns about Australia's role in independence movements in Papua.

Flag raising angers Jakarta

Melbourne Age - September 30, 2002

Farah Farouque -- Flag raising is common at public events. But when RMIT raised the Morning Star -- the flag of those seeking independence for the Indonesian province of West Papua -- the impact went as far as Jakarta.

RMIT has apologised to the Indonesian embassy in Canberra "for any offence that may have been unintentionally caused" after the embassy lodged strong protests with the university and the Federal Government.

RMIT's diplomatic problems began last month when it gave an academic honour to Jacob Rumbiak, a leader of the Free West Papua Movement and advocate of non-violent resistance. Mr Rumbiak has been living for two years in Melbourne as a political refugee.

The function at RMIT's Storey Hall conferring the honour was a colourful affair. There were costumed warriors from the Solomon Islands and young girls decked out in frocks featuring the Morning Star. A number of other Pacific regional flags were raised, as well as the flag of the independence movement of the South Moluccas in another Indonesian province. A trade union choir sang Pacific Island anthems, including the unofficial West Papuan Papua is My Homeland. Speakers included RMIT vice- chancellor Ruth Dunkin and Catholic bishop Hilton Deakin, who has campaigned for social justice and the East Timorese.

"What we were doing was simply involving ourselves in an expression of cultural difference," said Professor Paul James, director of RMIT's Globalism Institute. "We were politically critical of some of the things the Indonesian military were doing in West Papua, but we were certainly casting no aspersions on the Indonesian nation state or the Indonesian people."

In Canberra, Indonesia's acting ambassador Imron Cotan disagreed. When he saw an account of the event in the media, he fired off letters to two cabinet ministers and RMIT. "We consider the raising of flags and also the singing of the anthem not part of academic activities," Mr Cotan told The Age. "It is a political action ... it should not happen in any institution funded by the [Australian] government because the government endorses our territorial integrity."

Mr Coton said he had sent briefings to relevant institutions in Jakarta and the office of President Megawati Sukarnoputri detailing the incident. There are high stakes in this diplomatic imbroglio for RMIT. It has about 2000 Indonesian fee-paying students, almost a quarter of the university's international student population.

RMIT was worried enough to send a diplomatic delegation of its own -- senior academics Professor Neil Furlong and Dr Madeleine Reeve, director of the university's commercial arm, RMIT International -- to the Indonesian embassy.

Mr Cotan, in turn, flew to Melbourne for talks on Friday at the invitation of RMIT. He said he was satisfied with the university's bridge-building. "It has been resolved -- at least from my perspective -- but again I cannot speak on behalf of the President of the Republic of Indonesia."

From his home in St Kilda, Mr Rumbiak, who spent 10 years in Indonesian jails, continues to fly his flag proudly and ponders: "Why is the Indonesian ambassador going back to the undemocratic and repressive era of Suharto?"

Indonesia probes military tie to slaying

Washington Post - September 27, 2002

Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress, Jakarta -- Police are investigating an allegation that Indonesian army special forces carried out the ambush in Papua province last month that killed two Americans and one Indonesian.

The provincial police chief, I. Made Pastika, said today his team was "cross-checking" the story given by a 23-year-old Papua man who claims to have been with the special forces on the morning of August 31 as they set out to ambush teachers working for an international school under contract to Freeport-McMoRan, which is based in Louisiana and owns the world's richest gold and copper mine in Papua.

Separately, the man, who spoke in a telephone interview on condition his name not be published, told The Washington Post that he heard gunfire and said he is "100 percent sure" the shooters were special forces, known as Kopassus.

"He gave a lot of detail, but we are still doing the confirmation, because not all his statements are accurate with what we have found in the field," said Pastika, who was in the capital today to brief the chief of Indonesia's national police force, Da'i Bachtiar, on the high-profile case.

FBI agents are also in Papua to monitor the case, the outcome of which could affect both Freeport's massive operation -- it is among the top three taxpayers in Indonesia -- and US foreign policy. If the military is linked to the killings, it could severely hamper the Bush administration's quest to restore ties with Indonesia's armed forces, suspended in 1999 to protest the army's role in orchestrating violence in East Timor.

Indonesia's army chief, Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, urged prudence today. "Let's just wait until the entire police investigation is completed," he said. "If it is proven that there were army officers involved ... then they will be dismissed and they will be sentenced." Army commanders have blamed the attack on the Free Papua Movement, which has been waging a long-running campaign for independence marked by sporadic violence.

American teachers Edwin L. Burgon of Sunriver, Ore., and Ricky L. Spier of Colorado, and their Indonesian colleague Bambung Riwanto were killed in the attack.

James R. Moffett, Freeport-McMoRan's chief executive officer, visited the Grasberg mine complex Wednesday and told financial analysts in a conference call that mining operations were strong and that the company expected to exceed its previous sales and production estimates for the third quarter. He was also in Jakarta today to meet with Indonesian officials about the case.

Most of the survivors of the attack, which also wounded five people, are back in the United States. They were raked by automatic weapons fire as they rode in two vehicles along a foggy mountain road on Freeport property above a lush rain forest.

In the interview, the Papuan man said that he was ordered by a Kopassus commander to accompany him and nine soldiers on a trip from the town of Timika up the mountain toward the town of Tembagapura, near the mine. He said that along the steep road, he and four special forces soldiers were let out of the vehicle, and the rest continued on. Those who remained behind began drinking "at least five" bottles of whiskey and several bottles of dark beer, he said, adding that he became "totally drunk." Shortly afterward, he said, he heard a soldier's mobile phone ring. It was the commander in the vehicle up the road. "Quickly! Get ready!" he said he overheard the commander order.

"Then suddenly I heard a very, very strange noise, like bang! Followed by a gun shooting -- didditditdit didditditdit. It sounded very close." When the shooting was over, he said, the vehicle returned, driven by a special forces officer. The commander "told us to rush, get into the car and leave the place right away," he said.

Edmund F. McWilliams Jr., a former US Embassy political counselor here and an independent human rights activist, said that an admission of drunkenness should not lead analysts to dismiss the man's story out of hand. The Indonesian military in general, he said, "would often use drugs or alcohol to get people in a pliable mood, to counter the possibility of any resistance at the last minute to what they want them to do."

Pastika said he found discrepancies in the man's account: His team found no bottles near the site; the bullet cartridges found at the site did not match the type of rifle the man said the soldiers were carrying; and the man said that he was the only Papuan in the group that went up the mountain, although some of the survivors told police that there was more than one Papuan, who generally have dark complexions and Melanesian features.

Still, Pastika stressed that he is not ruling anything out, including the possibility that the man was brought along by Kopassus with the intention of using him as a possible fall guy.

"He said he was so frightened for his life that he came forward," Pastika said. The man is under police protection in Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua, which sits at the far eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago.

Pastika has said he is investigating whether the military carried out the attack in an effort to wrest more money and concessions from Freeport or other multinational companies for which it provides lucrative security services.

In the interview, the man said he served for 11 years in Tenaga Bantuan Operasi, a local militia trained by Kopassus, and had taken part in several of its operations in Papua. Human rights activists in Papua who have also interviewed the man said they found his story credible.

Indonesia police quiz troops in Papua attack probe

Reuters - September 29, 2002

Telly Nathalia, Jakarta -- Indonesian police have questioned 19 soldiers as witnesses in an investigation into the killing of two American school teachers and an Indonesian last month in rebellious Papua province, police said on Sunday.

The only other witness was an indigenous Papuan who police said once worked as a guide for the feared Kopassus special forces and who claimed he knew who carried out the attack.

Separately, one Indonesian security source who declined to be identified said the probe so far indicated Papuan rebels were not behind the ambush -- which the military and some officials have blamed on the separatists or one of their splinter factions.

Papua deputy police chief Rajiman Tarigan told Reuters that the civilian witness, who was not under police protection, was in the general area at the time of the August 31 shooting near the world's largest copper and gold mine, operated by US-based Freeport-McMoran Copper and Gold Inc.

Asked if that witness said he knew who did it, Tarigan said: "Yes, that was his information." He declined to give details.

Papua police spokesman Yosep Iswanto said nearly all the witnesses to have been probed were soldiers "because they were assigned in that area. Their duty was to safeguard that area".

The military provides the main security for Freeport's mine, and the killings took place on a road not far from an army post. Iswanto said it was possible that any of the 20 witnesses who had been investigated in the last month could become suspects.

The United States has called the ambush by an estimated 15 gunmen on a convoy of vehicles carrying mainly American school teachers and their families an act of terrorism.

Both the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which has been fighting a low-level rebellion for decades in the remote eastern province, and the military have vigorously denied any involvement in one of the worst attacks on foreigners in Indonesia in years.

The security source said the probe indicated OPM had not pulled off the ambush, partly because of the amount of ammunition used. Experts on Papua say the rebels are generally poorly armed. "If we look at OPM, it's not possible, because from the assault some 200 bullets hit the vehicles," said the source.

Iswanto said the soldiers who had been investigated came from Battalion 515 of the army's strategic reserve. He said about 65 percent of the investigation had been completed.

Some separatist supporters and human rights groups have claimed army elements might have staged the incident to discredit the rebels, charges vehemently denied by the military.

One foreign expert on Papua said the provincial police chief, Made Mangku Pastika, who has previously won praise for attempts to handle Papua's political problems sensitively, was conducting a serious investigation into the killings.

Papuans differ ethnically from most people in the world's most populous Muslim country and are either Christian or animist.

Indonesia's military has a murky reputation, having played a key political role during the rule of former autocrat Suharto, whose downfall in 1998 sparked calls for investigations into allegations of rights abuses carried out by the armed forces.

In a further blow to the military's image, a number of Kopassus special forces troops have been declared suspects in the murder last November of Papua's top independence leader, Theys Eluay, who advocated separation through peaceful means.

Papua is one of Indonesia's two separatist hotspots. The other is Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

Female student shot dead, soldier wounded in restive Aceh

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2002

Banda Aceh -- A female student was shot dead and a soldier was wounded in the latest violence to hit the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, the military and residents said on Sunday.

A 20-minute clash erupted between soldiers and suspected separatist rebels in the Tamiang Hulu area of the district of East Aceh on Saturday, military spokesman Maj. Zaenal Muttaqin said as quoted by AFP.

The clash followed an ambush by some 30 rebels from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on a routine 15-man military patrol in the area, Muttaqin said.

In another incident, unidentified gunmen shot dead a 22-year-old woman, who was a student at an Islamic academy, behind her house in Alue Krueb in the district of Bireun late on Saturday, residents there told a local journalist.

The woman was dragged behind her house by the three unidentified gunmen and shot three times in the head, residents said. The assailants fled the scene after the shooting, which local police and GAM sources could not immediately confirm.

Police submit dossiers of McCulloch, Sadler today

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2002

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh -- The dossiers of British academic Lesley McCulloch and American nurse Joy Lee Sadler will be submitted to the Banda Aceh district prosecution office on Monday, one of their lawyers has said.

"The questioning of Lesley and Joy Lee was already completed several days ago," lawyer Afridal Darmi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Afridal said the dossiers revolved around their "illegal" presence in South Aceh, which, according to the police, was a violation of their tourist visas. "If they were charged with visa violations, they could face a maximum jail sentence of five years or a fine of Rp 25 million," Afridal said.

The Post tried to obtain confirmation from police investigators on Sunday but all were out of reach, with their cellular phones switched off.

Usually it takes at least two weeks for state prosecutors to bring a charge against a suspect. They could also return a dossier to police investigators if they were considered to be incomplete.

Police said earlier that McCulloch and Sadler had violated their tourist visas but they were also looking into more serious charges against the two.

McCulloch and Sadler were arrested in Keude Rundeng Kluet, South Aceh, on September 11 and charged with visa violation only six days later. The country's criminal code stipulates that a detainee must be charged within 24 hours or must be released. Both McCulloch and Sadler are currently in detention at the Aceh Police headquarters in Banda Aceh.

The police also alleged that they had found materials relating to the activities of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the bags of McCulloch and Sadler, a charge the two foreign women have consistently denied.

Thousands of people have been killed, mostly civilians, since GAM declared a war for independence in 1976.

According to Afridal, the two detainees were still healthy. "Lesley looked worried and traumatized by previous incidents," Afridal said.

McCulloch and Sadler alleged that they were maltreated, including sexually harassed, by security personnel during their detention at a police station in South Aceh and vowed to take their case to court. The police have denied the allegation.

Meanwhile, Imam Syafii Saragih told the Post on Sunday that he had been appointed by the US Embassy on September 25 as Joy Lee's lawyer.

Rural issues

Gross inequalities choking agriculture

Laksamana.Net - September 30, 2002

Middlemen, smugglers, exorbitant tariffs in foreign countries and a dire need for agricultural reform are all leading Indonesian farmers to take drastic action to protect their livelihood, as highlighted by last week's mass demonstrations by sugar industry workers to mark National Farmers' Day.

Reports on the mass demonstrations held last week said an estimated 8,000 sugar farmers and industry workers took part in demonstrations in many major cities, from Lombok in the east to Palu, Central Sulawesi, in the north and Medan, North Sumatra, in the west.

At the national parliament in Jakarta, protesters broke through the main gates and stormed the grounds although they did not enter the parliament building.

Their demands were many and varied but centered on the need to raise returns on commodities to farmers, reform procesing and distribution networks and settle legal uncertainty on land ownership.

Massive task

The massive task laid at the government's door was evident from even the briefest perusal of the farmers' demands.

While some farmers complained that vast tracts of land are being left uncultivated leading to unemployment, others complained that rampant land exploitation and environmentally unfriendly practices were destroying natural resources.

Although the 1960 agrarian law recognizes traditional land rights, albeit in very vague terms, farmers' representatives uniformly stated that the vast majority of small holders had not obtained certificates, making their legal "ownership" of the land weak in the face of powerful developers.

Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers' Union (HKTI) Siswono Yudhohusodo revealed that over 6,000 land disputes involving around 1.2 million farmers remained unresolved across the country due to unclear regulations on land ownership.

Many of the land disputes involve state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara, which carried out massive land confiscation backed by the authoritarian regime of former president Suharto.

Piecemeal solutions

The fact that only piecemeal amendments to the agrarian law have been made in the last 40 years highlights the thorny nature of the issue.

In response to last week's protests, legislator Tumbu Saraswati proposed establishing a team comprising representatives from the National Land Agency (BPN) and the House of Representatives' Commission II on legal issues to settle agrarian conflicts and draft a better agrarian bill.

Sidestepping the need for comprehensive reform, President Megawati Sukarnoputri has endorsed a temporary plan to subsidize local sugarcane farmers, reported The Jakarta Post Friday.

Siswono also said he asked the President to increase the import tariff on sugar to Rp1,200 per kilogram from Rp700 per kilogram. No details on the form or the size of the subsidy were released.

The announcement came after Industry and Trade Minister Rini MS Soewandi announced a new regulation restricting imports. The new regulation allows the three Perkebunan Nusantara state companies to import sugar only when the price of that commodity exceeds Rp3,100 ($0.35) per kg and prohibits imports if the price falls below that level.

The regulation will be effective until 2004, starting three weeks after the date of issuance on September 23, reported Antara.

Cheap imports smothering farmers

Few industry pundits believe subsidies or import restrictions in the absence of comprehensive reforms will make much difference.

The influx of imports, both legal and illegally smuggled into the country, drew the greatest attention at the demonstrations.

Indonesia has been a net importer of sugar since the 1960s and now ranks as one of the world's biggest importers.

Imports have reportedly been falling in recent years: totaling 2.1 million tons in 1999, 1.2 million tons in 2000 and about 1.6 million last year.

Total sugar production currently stands at around 1.7 million tons and Indonesia's annual consumption of sugar is about 3.3 million tons.

But millers and food producers would rather buy cheap imports than the high-priced and low-grade sugar produced domestically.

The food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries, which account for around 10% of total sugar consumption, need a higher quality of refined industrial grade sugar than the plantation-grade raw sugar called 'SHS I' produced in Indonesia.

Although the SHS1-grade sugar is suitable for households, which account for the remaining 90% of consumption, cheap imports are squeezing Indonesian producers to breaking point.

This was never more evident than in the case of East Java. Although the province produces about 700,000 tons of sugar annually but needs only 396,000 tons a year, farmers have held regular and massive demonstrations over the last three months demanding the provincial government ban imports.

The ban was finally endorsed by Governor Imam Utomo, backed by the East Java military district command, the police and the public prosecutor's office, but East Javanese sugar farmers still turned out in droves last week to protest the cheap imports and smuggling that is choking their industry.

The import restrictions outlined in the new regulation simply cannot hope to curb the rampant smuggling -- long established and incorporating corrupt elements of the national customs and security apparatus.

Tariff futility

Industry pundits maintain that tariff hikes will likewise prove of little use in the face of such endemic perversion of the country's import systems. Admittedly, Indonesia applies extremely low import tariffs -- only 25% duty on white sugar and 20% on raw sugar.

At the demonstrations last week, farmers demanded a 110% import tariff increase on sugar, as allowed under World Trade Organization rules. However, many union leaders also agree that tariff hikes are of little use to sugar farmers.

Chairman of the Indonesian Sugar Cane Farmers Association (APTRI) Arum Sabil pointed out that the decision to raise import tariffs for sugar in July had failed to boost domestic prices.

Increased tariffs only function to increase smuggling, ironically lining the pockets of corrupt officials even more as pressure mounts.

While the arguments against tariff hikes are compelling, the fact remains that Indonesian farmers feel relatively "unprotected" while other countries impose staggeringly high tariffs.

Thailand and the Philippines, for example, impose import duties of almost 100%, while the European Union imposes a massive 240% import duty and the United States slaps a 150% duty on sugar.

In 1998, the Indonesian government was virtually forced to set a zero duty on sugar under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but new rates were implemented in 2000.

The farmers' sense of injustice over the tariff situation is thus heightened by the perception that international actors -- with their own agenda largely dictated by rich countries -- are deliberately undermining their very existence.

In West Java, where the majority of the 26 million inhabitants derive a living from agriculture, farmers have 0.013 hectares of paddy fields on average and earn a daily income of Rp7,500 ($0.60), Pasundan Farmers Association chairman Agustiana told The Jakarta Post.

Reform

Farmers, millers and food producers with an interest in streamlining the sugar industry and obtaining some justice for Indonesia's millions of impoverished villagers are urging the government to make comprehensive reforms.

But reforming the corrupt customs service is perhaps only surpassed by the difficulties involved in reforming sale and distribution systems.

Around 70% of sugarcane areas are cultivated by farmers with small-to-medium-sized holdings and their arrangements with buyers and distributors are complicated, to say the least.

Most farmers work in cooperatives and many have production- sharing agreements with the state sugar mills whereby up to 65% of the sugar produced by the mill is returned to the farmers as payment in kind.

Others sell their cane and are paid based on the current official procurement price. Under this scheme, farmers can get 90% of their payment in cash and 10% in kind.

The government also subsidizes cane farmers by authorizing mills to pay the farmers based on the volume of raw cane they bring to the mill and on the extraction yields of their cane, reports Asia Times.

But while farmers complain of poor returns under these arrangements, most mills are in a decrepit state with little chance of improving efficiency, let alone upgrading to produce more lucrative forms of refined sugar.

Only 12 of the 59 sugar mills nationwide are operating efficiently and 12 more have already been shut down.

Private sugar mills, which routinely outperform state-owned mills in terms of yield and costs, account for only 35% of total sugar production.

Corruption in the industry, land disputes with traditional owners and other factors have worked to scare foreign investment away.

Meanwhile, demand is only growing and Syarifuddin Karama, expert staff to the Minister of Agriculture, has proposed a comprehensive upgrading of Indonesian mills as well as the development of seven to ten new sugar mills outside Java island.

Karama said Indonesian sugar consumption would reach 4 million tons in 2010 and 5.5 million tons in 2020. He predicted that imports could reach 2.3 million tons in 2010 and 3.8 million tons in 2020 if production capacity is not increased beyond 1.7 million tons, reported Antara.

Therefore, an extra 1 million tons of sugar produced outside Java would be needed per year or five to six new sugar mills with 25,000 ha of land each.

He also said Indonesia would need 8-9 liquid sugar mills, 5 to 6 low-grade crystal sugar factories, and 10 to 12 first grade crystal sugar mills, while raw sugar from outside Java island could be further processed by sugar mills in Java.

Karama said the new mills would reduce sugar imports and others maintain that tariff increases, subsidies and credit facilities will reduce imports and improve returns to farmers but this is far from self-evident.

Rapidly increasing domestic consumption and an equally fast- growing food-processing industry represent the main problems in terms of demand.

But increasing demand is not bringing greater returns for farmers while domestic product remains relatively expensive and of a low-grade and distribution systems are sub-standard.

The government will clearly have to step up its commitment to reform -- of the basic law and the entire system -if it is to ward off massive upheavals in the countryside where 60-70% of the population live.

Neo-liberal globalisation

Indonesian government urged to stop IMF cooperation

Asia Times - October 4, 2002

Kendari -- The People's Consultative Assembly has urged the government to stop its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as early as late 2003 on the grounds that the Fund cannot do much to overcome the country's economic crisis.

"The MPR has instructed the government to ask the IMF to leave our country in late 2003," MPR Chief Amien Rais said in his political address to members of the National Mandate Party, of which he is chairman on Wednesday.

Amien is here for a two-day visit to install the party's district and provincial executive boards. "We will say goodby to the IMF. Please go back to America quickly. We don't need you because you can do nothing," he said.

After being "nursed" by the IMF for four years, the Indonesian economy was getting worse because the "recipes" given by the IMF proved ineffective, he said. It would be better for the Indonesian nation to overcome the economic crisis on its own by making optimum use of its capacities, he said.

"We know well our own problems. There is no need to praise America. We will say goodby to the IMF," he said. The IMF has been widely criticized for playing a big part in determining the course of Indonesia's economic and political conditions.

Chairman of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Kwik Kian Gie had once expressed concern about the way in which the IMF was handling Indonesia's foreign debts and asked the government to review its cooperation with the IMF, saying it was no longer suitable for the country.

However, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti asked the people last June not to criticize and attack the IMF, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) because this would jeopardize Indonesia's position in dealing with its debt problems.

He said the IMF, the World Bank and the ADB represented the political systems of hundreds of established countries.

'War on terrorism'

'Kill Mega' plot draws doubts and calls for probe

Straits Times - October 5, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government should probe reports that a Singaporean extremist helped fund a plot to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri, said lawmakers and Muslim leaders while remaining sceptical of the revelations.

They said that the government should follow up on the information -- which emerged from an Al-Qaeda operative being questioned by the United States -- if only to prove it was just another "US propaganda against the Muslims".

"It seems to me that all this information is directed at securing the arrest of Abu Bakar Bashir," said a member of the parliamentary panel on defence and security, referring to the international pressure on Indonesia to crack down on the cleric who is the alleged head of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional extremist network.

"If the government can find evidence against him then he should be arrested, but we cannot just accept information from foreign intelligence without conducting our own probe," said legislator Yasril Ananta Baharudin.

A report in The Straits Times yesterday quoted terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna as saying that Singaporean Muslim radical Al- Bukhari had played a part in financing an Al-Qaeda plot to assassinate Ms Megawati. These details emerged from confessions made by Al-Qaeda operative Omar al-Faruq who was arrested in Indonesia in June and is now in US custody.

He also revealed that Bashir had been in contact with senior Al- Qaeda leaders and had received money from a Saudi sheikh to buy arms and explosives to be sent to the communal violence-racked Ambon.

Unconvinced, Vice-President Hamzah Haz told reporters yesterday: "If he had received the money, our banking system would have detected it. Whether or not I believe the information depends on the central bank's finding, but I would not worry about it," he added.

Mr Yasril said: "For all we know, al-Faruq could be CIA infiltrator to justify their accusation that the Al-Qaeda network exists here." Nevertheless, the consensus was that the police should investigate the claims because, as Mr Din Syamsuddin secretary-general of the Muhammadiyah Islamic group said, it was hard to believe information based on a 'one-sided confession'.

"The arrest of Omar al-Faruq was mysterious, and what we have gathered so far from it was only based on news reports that were supposed to be leaked by the CIA." Mr Noer Mochamad Iskandar, an MP and an executive member of the country's largest Islamic group, the Nahdlatul Ulama, told The Straits Times: "If there is proof, the police should not be afraid to take action." Doubts were also cast about authenticity of Ms Megawati being an assassination target.

Mr Habib Muhammad Rizieq, chief of the militant Islamic Defenders Front said: "I don't believe that any radical Muslim movement, especially Al-Qaeda, wants to kill Megawati. She has not done anything wrong against the Muslims, and she is too small a target, unlike George Bush. The CIA is the one with ability and technology to kill a president -- we suspect that they want to sacrifice Megawati so that the nationalists and the military would fight the Muslim groups." The Muslim leaders also said there was nothing wrong with supplying weapons and explosives to Muslim militants in the conflict areas of Ambon and Poso, saying it was valid self-defence.

Mr Din said: "Conflicts in Maluku and Poso are not terrorism- related." For the first two years, he said, the world did not take note of the Muslim casualties, "so if there are Muslims who want to help their suffering brothers it is just a defence".

When is a terrorist organisation not a terrorist organisation

Posted on the West Papua New List - October 5, 2002

Denise Leith -- On 31 August, 2002 fourteen employees of the Freeport mining company were shot on the road leading to the company town of Tembagapura high in the mountainous interior of West Papua. PT Freeport Indonesian, an operating subsidiary of the American transnational mining company Freeport-McMoRan, built the town which services its principal asset, the largest gold mine on Earth and the world's lowest price copper mine in this isolated region. Three people were killed in the incident, one Indonesian and two Americans with eleven others injured.

The Indonesian military (TNI), which has maintained a dominant, frightening and often violent presence in the company's mining concession, immediately blamed the West Papuan independence group the Free Papua Movement (OPM) which has been waging a low intensity war mainly with bows and arrows against Jakarta's control since the highly disputed incorporation of their homeland into the Indonesian archipelago in 1969. Without hesitation the American and Indonesian governments branded this an act of terrorism with Indonesia taking the opportunity to lobby Western governments to have the perpetrators of this heinous crime categorised as a terrorist group. According to Imron Cotan, the deputy chief at the Indonesian embassy in Canberra, Indonesia "would like to see them (the perpetrators of the crime) being curtailed in the sense that they will not be able to garner financial support." The issue was brought up again last week by Jakarta at the annual talks between Australia and Indonesia on regional security.

Because of their thirty-year fight for independence the OPM are viewed by the TNI as a terrorist group. Yet any cursory examination of history would show that under such a definition the American Indians, the Australian Aborigines, and black South Africans would also be classified as terrorists as would individuals such as Nelson Mandela and Xanana Gusmao. Like the West Papuans these people fought against their violent colonial oppressors who stole their land, exploited their resources, undermined their culture and attempted to destroy their nation. In the current international political climate such a classification would give Jakarta the green light to wage a full-scale military operation against the traditional people.

With the exception of the years when the disparate groups, which initially represented the military, fought for independence from their own colonial masters, the Dutch, TNI has basically never functioned in a conventional sense as defender of the state against an external threat. According to the institution's own mythology, as co-founder of the Indonesian state, its defining mission has always been to hold the state together. Under this doctrine its greatest threat and its most feared enemy remains the independence movements within the Republic.

Historically TNI has essentially operated with impunity under the blind eye of the international community so that a continued exemption from punishment, which in West Papua has meant that no high-ranking officer has ever been held accountable for his men's actions, encourages the continuation of human rights violations. When undeniable proof of military involvement has been established the generals in Jakarta ignore their critics and avoid responsibility by claiming such actions were committed by "rogue elements". While demanding responsibility and accountability within their own militaries the Western democracies have continually found it in their political, economic and strategic interests to accept far less from their Indonesian allies.

Under Major-General Mahidin Simbolon, who was promoted for overseeing the bloodbath in East Timor after the independence vote and is now commander of the military in West Papua, a largely unreported campaign of terror and intimidation is being waged in West Papua against independence leaders and human rights activists. According to a statement issued by West Papua's democratically elected Papuan Presidium Council (PDP) Simbolon is reported to have told his troops, "We must kill as many of our enemy as possible. Human rights are something we must not worry about but must consider."

Toward this end not only have most of the leaders of the independence movement experienced interrogation and/or imprisonment but in November 2001 West Papuan leader Theys Eluay was assassinated by Kopassus troops. As usual the military denied responsibility until it could no longer do so. Today middle ranking and non-commissioned officers are being held as suspects and may be tried before a military court for 'insubordination'. With the military controlling the trial and the lower ranking officers being charged with insubordination responsibility will not reach the generals in Jakarta.

Earlier this year the West Papuan chief of police Major-General Made Pastika confirmed plans for Operasi Adil Matoa which is generally seen as a campaign by the police and military to target organisations and individuals promoting independence and human rights within the province. Prominent independence supporters and peace activists such as John Rumbiak have received death threats while they and their organisations, together with lawyers defending political prisoners, have been forced to operate under oppressive military surveillance and intimidation. Yesterday we heard that while in police custody an assassination attempt was made on independence leader Benny Wenda's life with his spokesperson, Agus Walilo, taking the brunt of the axe attack.

Adding to this culture of fear and instability in West Papua has been the reported influx earlier this year of over 4000 more troops into the province together with the training and funding of East Timorese type militia groups such as Satgas Merah Putih by the Indonesian military. At the same time Laskar Jihad warriors, with the express intent of waging war against Christians, who they see as working to undermine the Muslim state of Indonesia, have also been strengthening their presence in the province under the approving eye of the military.

In the face of such aggression and in defiance of what is seen as highly provocative acts by TNI the West Papuans have declared their homeland a "zone of peace" and claim they are committed to maintaining their calls for peaceful and democratic political dialogue with Jakarta to resolve their differences. At the same time they are actively promoting their quest for independence through a vocal international campaign while planning to lodge a legal challenge to the Act of Free Choice, which led to the incorporation of their Melanesian land into the Indonesian archipelago.

In the light of this extraordinary provocation by the military the West Papuan's ability to maintain a policy of peaceful coexistence, non-retaliation and open dialogue is their challenge. If they continue to succeed it will turn out to be the military's greatest nightmare. Without evidence of violence Jakarta will find it difficult to convince the international community that the OPM is a terrorist organisation. Moreover, it is well nigh impossible for the military to take the moral high ground in order to discredit the independence movement or even justify physically waging a war against it when it is the West Papuans advocating peaceful dialogue while the military is partaking in terrorist's acts.

George W Bush has been lobbying hard to have US funding for TNI reinstated to aid in his fight against global terrorism yet it is one of the many ironies of Realpolitiks that the group he insists on supporting are themselves apparently supportive of the terrorist organisation Laskar Jihad. Does supporting an organisation that supports a terrorist organisation constitute one's own support of a terrorist organisation? Why has there been a deafening silence from Freeport, Washington and Jakarta since their initial outcries of terrorism? Compare this to the response to the killing of the Daniel Pearl in Afghanistan earlier this year when Washington and Pearl's employers, the Washington Post, waged a high-profile international pressure campaign to have his killers brought to justice. Why have Freeport and Washington made sure that none of the survivors of the attack been allowed to speak with the press? Why have their friends in the company only been able to contact them through a company representative with replies also screened by the company? What will happen if John Rumbiak's findings from his investigation into the incident are proven to be correct and the Indonesian military is found responsible for the recent killings in the Freeport concession? Will Jakarta and Washington continue to call it an act of terrorism? Will Western nations such as the United States, Australia and Britain, who have traditionally nurtured close relationships with TNI, heed the Indonesian government's desperate plea to curtail support for the terrorist group that killed the Freeport employees and thus refuse to support TNI? Or will we once again let the Indonesian generals get away with their crimes against humanity by accepting the absurdity of "rogue elements"? How many "rogue elements" can be said to constitute the sum of the whole? After the release of Rumbiak's findings the Indonesian military has said that it will sue the quietly spoken human rights activist if he is unable to prove his claims for they state he is sullying the military's "good name". One could be forgiven for thinking that the military does a credible job of sullying its own "good name".

How long will the voters in the West accept the fallacious argument of their governments that has patently failed for over fifty years that working with the Indonesian military to promote human rights is better than calling them to account? Question: When is a terrorist organisation not a terrorist organisation? Answer: When it is an ally of the West.

Singapore radical funded plot to kill Megawati

Agence France Presse - October 4, 2002

A Muslim radical from Singapore allegedly helped finance a plot to assassinate Indonesian leader Megawati Sukarnoputri before she became president.

The financier, known only as "Al-Bukhari," was supposed to be one of three operatives assigned to carry out the mission, the Straits Times quoted an international terrorism expert, Rohan Gunaratna, as saying in an interview published Friday.

Megawati became Indonesia's vice president in October 1999 and president in July 2001. The first assassination attempt was supposed to have been carried out in 1999, and the second attempt within a year.

Gunaratna, the London-based author of a book on the al-Qaeda terrorist network, said a Malaysian known only as "Yasim" was supposed to buy the firearms while another person known as "Omar" developed the plan and was to be the triggerman, the Straits Times said. The plot was aborted after Yasin failed to get the right weapons, he said.

The second attempt failed after a Malaysian operative of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, linked by regional official to al-Qaeda, blew himself up when a bomb went off prematurely in a Jakarta shopping mall. Information about the alleged Singapore financier emerged from confessions made by an Al-Qaeda operative, Omar al- Faruq, who was arrested in Indonesia and is now under US custody, the Straits Times said. A special report last month in Time magazine said al-Faruq allegedly confessed to being the senior representative in Southeast Asia for terrorist supremo Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

A militant Indonesian Muslim leader on Tuesday filed a libel complaint against the US-based magazine over the report. The complaint was filed by Abubakar Ba'asyir, chairman of the Indonesian Mujahidin Council, an umbrella organization advocating Islamic law in the world's largest Muslim-dominated country.

Time reported in its September 23 issue that Ba'asyir was behind the bombing of a Jakarta mosque and linked to a recent plan to bomb US embassies in Jakarta and elsewhere in the region. Time, citing foreign intelligence reports, said al-Faruq had admitted he planned to kill Megawati in May 1999 when she was running for the presidency.

Hunger strikers protest US action on Iraq

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2002

Jakarta -- A group of 22 youths from the Democratic Socialist Coalition staged a sit down protest outside the US embassy here on Tuesday to begin a one-day hunger strike against possible US military action on Iraq.

AFP reported they sat behind a strip of concrete erected recently as a security measure to block traffic from the lanes closest to the embassy.

They said they were starting a hunger strike for 24 hours to protest against possible US military action against Iraq over Baghdad's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

"We know that you are blind and deaf. You will never listen to our demands. But some day every working class person in the world will stand against you. You will be forced to swallow your shame just like in Vietnam," a statement issued by the group said.

"America is the mastermind of every terrorist act," said a sign carried by the group, which set up a small tent in the area.

Police said they planned to remove the protesters at 1100 GMT because demonstrations after that time are against the law.

No joint probe with US on terror, says Jakarta

Straits Times - October 2, 2002

Jakarta -- A day after disclosing that Jakarta would work with Washington to probe into Al-Qaeda's alleged links here, security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono backtracked in an apparent move to appease Muslim groups.

The Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security denied saying the government had invited the United States to conduct a joint probe on international terror cells here.

"What we meant by cooperating with other countries is not a joint investigation," he said after a meeting with local Muslim leaders here. "We would conduct our own investigation, although we do accept information from other governments." He said as part of the cooperation, Jakarta has sent a team to question alleged Al- Qaeda operative Umar Faruq, who was arrested here in June and detained in the US.

According to Time magazine, Faruq had confessed to a series of bombings here and a plan to assassinate President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Mr Susilo made the remark after he and several top government officials briefed some 40 Muslim leaders. He apparently wanted to dispel beliefs that the country was kow-towing to the US.

The Straits Times understands that Mr Susilo inadvertently mentioned Jakarta's cooperation with the US during an interview after a briefing for local editors on Monday. "He was not supposed to say these things, but it came out in the course of the interview, so now he had to modify it," a government source told The Straits Times.

Said Muslim cleric Habib Al Habsyi, who attended yesterday's meeting: "If we cooperate with the United States, it is an insult to the intelligence body, police, military and the government."

"That means we are a slave to the West and the Zionists, who have been targeting only Muslims in their hunt for terrorists." Said another cleric, Mr Dadang Hawari: "We told the ministers that we should handle our own problems with terrorism, and that other countries like the US should not apply their own policy here because it may not work."

Muslim scholar Komarudin Hidayat said the government was trapped between international and domestic pressures in the fight against terrorism. "If it shows that it supports the US it will lose popularity, but at the same time it cannot ignore international pressures because of our dependence," he told The Straits Times.

At the briefing, ulamas were told about the alleged bombing masterminds Hambali and Indra Samudra, who have been linked to the Jemaah Islamiyah network, and its alleged spiritual leader Abu Bakar Bashir.

The latter skipped yesterday's meeting to file a complaint against Time magazine for linking him to Faruq.

Anti-terror law needs political will if it's to work

Straits Times - October 2, 2002

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Going along with Washington's anti-terror campaign -- including pushing the government to enact its own anti-terror law -- brings Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) one step closer towards re-establishing full military ties with the US.

Kudos and financial rewards are trickling in after Indonesian generals began talking tough on terror issues and admitting that there may be Al-Qaeda ties here.

For instance, the TNI received US$400,000 last month to aid sending officers to the International Military Education and Training (Imet) course in the United States. The sum is a drop in the bucket when compared to how much the US has injected towards supporting the TNI since the 1950s.

But it was the first round of funding sent by Washington for military purposes since 1999, when ties were suspended after much of East Timor was destroyed by thugs backed and trained by the TNI. It is also the first direct aid for Indonesian participation in Imet since the 1991 Santa Cruz killings, when troops fired on pro-independence East Timorese.

As University of Indonesia analyst Arbi Sanit saw it: "The TNI is happy. That cash is a symbolic gesture that promises more aid and cooperation in the future." Another key issue is how the 1999 Leahy Amendment -- which demanded TNI reforms on human-rights issues before resumption of military ties -- seems to lose teeth as Indonesia walks Washington's anti-terror talk.

US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Washington's envoy to Jakarta in the late 1980s, has defended the TNI with regards to Indonesia's poor progress in prosecuting human-rights cases. "We are quite disappointed with what seems to be a lack of vigour and energy in prosecuting some of the past abuses," he said in Washington last month. "But it is a mistake to accuse the entire military indiscriminately".

Human rights activists warn that the anti-terror law could be used by the TNI to crackdown on separatists, and by the government to silence its political opponents.

Establishing an anti-terror law would win Indonesia Washington's good graces. But if the political will to implement its provisions does not exist, having this or any other law is no guarantee radicals planning attacks and who may maintain ties with Al-Qaeda will end up in jail.

Said a Jakarta-based foreign consultant said: "The crucial question has to be whether or not an anti-terror law would be successful within the climate of legal uncertainty that now prevails in Indonesia."

Jakarta's new tack against terror

Washington Post - September 30, 2002

Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress, Jakarta -- Indonesia's decision to detain and interrogate Seyam Reda, a German citizen suspected of links to al Qaeda, marks a significant shift for Indonesian security forces, which earlier turned suspects over to the United States for questioning elsewhere, according to diplomatic and security sources.

Reda was arrested after his name was given to US officials by Omar al-Farouq, a suspected al Qaeda operative picked up in June in Indonesia. Reda, a burly man who speaks Arabic and German but little Indonesian, was seized in what police and diplomatic sources have described as a $4,000-a-month South Jakarta home, with a swimming pool and an internal camera system. German police arrived in Jakarta last week to aid in the probe.

Unlike in the cases of al-Farouq and another al Qaeda suspect, Muhammad Saad Iqbal Madni, both of whom were quietly handed over to US authorities and whisked out of Indonesia, police here are taking charge of the Reda matter themselves, including the interrogation. Also, in another indication of a different approach, the police have disclosed these steps as they take them. "It's a sign they're beginning to take ownership," said a Western diplomat based in Jakarta.

In the past week, several Indonesian military officials, including the armed forces chief, Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, have acknowledged that the al Qaeda network has been active in Indonesia. His comments were notable given the prevailing opinion that Indonesia is free of international terrorists.

Taken together, these developments could indicate that the Indonesian government is overcoming ambivalence about the US-led war on terrorism and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. At the same time, there continues to be widespread public support here for steering a course independent of the United States, reflecting Indonesian nationalism and the success of activist Islamic politicians in dominating much of the debate in this overwhelmingly Muslim country.

The most pressing issue now is whether Indonesia will move against radical cleric Abubakar Baasyir. US and Southeast Asian intelligence officials say he is the leader of a regional militant network, Jemaah Islamiah, with links to al Qaeda. The Bush administration intends, in a matter of weeks, to place Jemaah Islamiah on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, though the precise timing remains uncertain, diplomats said. Baasyir denies the allegations of links to terrorism.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri, a secular nationalist who will be up for reelection in 2004, is facing "two unpalatable choices," the Western diplomat said. One is "taking a position that will bring down some opposition in the streets and charges of being a flunky" of the United States. The other, the diplomat said, is doing nothing despite the "inexorable march" toward US designation of Jemaah Islamiah as a terrorist group, which will place even greater pressure on her government to arrest Baasyir.

The United States, aware of Megawati's dilemma, has been pursuing a strategy of quiet diplomacy, sharing intelligence with Indonesian officials and hoping to persuade them to act on their own. The Bush administration has refrained from applying open pressure while delaying the designation of Baasyir's group, despite what officials say is compelling evidence of its ties to terrorism.

The stakes got higher on September 9, the day al-Farouq gave interrogators details that led to Reda and pointed to plots to bomb US embassies in Jakarta and other Southeast Asian capitals. The United States quickly closed a dozen embassies and raised the nationwide terrorist threat index. According to a US government document, al-Farouq also told investigators that Baasyir was behind the embassy plot as well as a series of bombings at Indonesian churches and Jakarta's largest mosque in 1999 and 2000.

US officials decided to quietly share the information with Megawati so that she could move against Baasyir without appearing to yield to US pressure. According to officials, Karen B. Brooks, a member of the White House National Security Council staff who is close to Megawati and speaks Indonesian, flew to Jakarta for a two-day visit to speak privately with the Indonesian president.

On September 16, Brooks laid out the details provided by al- Farouq and made the case for action, the officials said. That night, President Bush called Megawati. He wanted to convey to her the seriousness with which the United States took the information. An embassy spokesman declined to discuss Brooks's visit.

But an official familiar with the briefing said Megawati appeared to be coming to "substantially the same conclusions" the United States had reached. "She was remarkably attentive to the details," the official said.

In the following days, Megawati summoned her top ministers at least twice to discuss terrorism. That week, Indonesian police arrested Reda, one of a half-dozen al Qaeda suspects whom officials said al-Farouq had identified. Indonesian authorities said Reda had violated immigration law by claiming to be a journalist while in the country on a tourist visa. Investigators said a search of his home found videos of al-Farouq giving weapons and military instruction to Islamic militants in eastern Indonesia.

The same day that Brooks briefed Megawati, however, the US strategy of approaching Megawati quietly was disrupted. Time magazine disclosed the details of documents from the CIA and Southeast Asian intelligence agencies similar to those that Brooks shared with Megawati. Bush administration officials were dismayed by the public disclosure, especially since many Indonesians assumed the US government had leaked the information to embarrass Indonesia.

In an effort to quiet the furor, US Ambassador Ralph L. "Skip" Boyce held a series of discussions last week with Muslim leaders, including a visit to the headquarters of the country's second- largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah.

"The idea that the United States would be trying to destroy the image of Islam in Indonesia, by providing information that comes to us about al Qaeda, sending agents to Indonesia with the express mission of creating problems in Indonesia, that somehow that should be a plot by Washington to destroy the image of Islam? No! Al Qaeda is trying to destroy the image of Islam in Indonesia," Boyce told about a dozen Muslim leaders seated around a conference table, as reporters listened. He added, "Do not condemn the messenger for the message. Just because you cannot see them, it does not mean that they are not there."

Moderate Islamic leaders, though respectful of Boyce's effort, remained skeptical that al Qaeda militants have a toehold in Indonesia. "Provide hard evidence," the deputy chairman of Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsuddin, said in an interview. Meanwhile, Indonesian security officials have been seeking to dispel the notion that they have been laggards in the US-led campaign against terrorism. "It's totally wrong to say that Indonesia is doing nothing against terrorism," said Brig. Gen. Dadang Garnida, who heads the national police unit dealing with transnational crime, in an interview last week.

In a document titled "Endeavors in Combating Terrorism," Indonesian police described their efforts to investigate a string of violent activities linked to Islamic militants. The booklet, written in English, was prepared for presentation to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell during his visit to Jakarta two months ago.

The document includes an organizational chart outlining the structure of Jemaah Islamiah and its purported ties to foreign militant groups. The chart, which Indonesian officials said originated with Singapore and Malaysia, shows Baasyir as the group's leader, although Indonesian authorities continue to insist they have no evidence to arrest him. The chart also links Jemaah Islamiah to members of al Qaeda, including bin Laden.

Terrorism bill could 'spark' rights abuses

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2002

Muhammad Nafik, Jakarta -- Legal experts and human rights activists have warned of extensive human rights abuses and political suppression should a new bill on terrorism being drafted by the government be passed into law as it will give security forces the authority to arrest suspected terrorists arbitrarily.

They argued that since the definition of terrorism remains unclear, the bill could result in various interpretations that would likely lead to the random arrests of people suspected of being terrorists.

"It will be an extraordinary setback to democracy and human rights if we are forced to have such a law," Muhammad M. Billah, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said last week the government had completed the drafting of the terrorism bill and would submit it to the House of Representatives for deliberation in the near future.

The bill was proposed in response to relentless international pressure on Indonesia to seriously fight global terrorism as none of the suspects have been arrested due to what the government has called a lack of hard evidence or absence of legal grounds for arrest.

The foreign press has accused Indonesia of being a terrorist hotbed with links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Billah said the bill would be "more repressive" than the subversion law, which was used by former strongman Soeharto to retain his iron-fisted rule of 32 years by suppressing dissidents and political opponents. The law was scrapped after he was ousted from power in 1998.

"A subversion charge was slapped on those accused of harming security against the state, while a terrorism charge could be imposed on individuals deemed to have been involved in terrorist activities against the state and the public in general," he added.

Billah, who admitted to having read a copy of the proposed bill, said the definition of terrorism stipulated in the bill was not clear, raising strong fears that it could be misused by those in power to crush their political opponents.

Separatists and violent demonstrators could also be classified as terrorists, he added. "The recent statement by Coordinating Minister of Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that GAM [the Free Aceh Movement] is a terrorist movement is an obvious indication," Billah said.

Similarly, Munir, a staunch human rights campaigner who co- founded the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the bill on terrorism should be rejected as the country did not need such a bill.

It would give intelligence agencies more power to arrest any suspected terrorist on the basis of preliminary evidence, which would normally be insufficient legal grounds for charges to be made against them, he said, adding that it would be dangerous. "The existing Criminal Code deals with the issue of terrorists adequately. We don't need a new law to fight it," Munir told the Post.

He blamed the government's failure to cope with terrorists on the poor enforcement of the law on the part of security forces, whose members had often been accused of involvement in violence acts across the country. "The problem also lays in the government's ineffective control of the military," he added.

He said that if the terrorism bill was approved, anti-government demonstrators carrying arms could be considered terrorists because they could be seen as a threat to others.

Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a prominent legal expert from the University of Indonesia, shared a similar view, confirming that the existing bill gave an unclear definition of terrorism. And this could lead to multiple interpretations.

Under the bill, she added, terrorism was defined as all criminal acts that caused feelings of terror to the public. "It should be reviewed so as to be acceptable among all elements of society. I believe we can reach a clearer definition if we cooperate to do so," Harkrisnowo added.

Chief security minister Susilo on Saturday defined terrorism as an act by an individual or a group of people with indiscriminate targets resulting in the killing of civilians and damage to public facilities.

However, he denied accusing GAM of being a terrorist group. "I never called GAM a terrorist group but its actions have caused the loss of life and damage to public facilities with civilians as victims, therefore their actions could be categorized as a form of terror."

Megawati on thin ice over issue of anti-terror Bill

Straits Times - September 30, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- The seemingly forgotten issue of enacting an anti-terror law resurfaced in Indonesia after several prominent figures, including the military chief and the head of the country's largest Islamic body, stressed the need for a legal basis in the fight against terrorism.

The Anti-terrorism Bill was due to be submitted to Parliament three months ago but the government decided to postpone it after mounting opposition.

Although under considerable international pressure to act against terrorism, President Megawati Sukarnoputri has been reluctant to rush the Bill for fear that her opponents will paint it as an example of her administration's kow-towing to the United States.

It is a politically risky move for the government which is keenly aware of the anti-US sentiment in the country and the impact it could have on the general elections looming up in 2004.

As a Jakarta-based analyst said: "Megawati does not want to appear too pro-US. She has to tiptoe if she wants to avoid a confrontation with the Muslim factions which is why she has done and said very little on the terrorism front." Within the government, there has been an open clash on anti-terrorism policy.

Vice-President Hamzah Haz, who heads the country's largest Islamic party, has been critical of the US-led war on terrorism. He has repeatedly vowed to protect cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, allegedly the spiritual head of the Jemaah Islamiyah network.

The ruling party members in Parliament themselves maintain a safe distance from supporting the Bill, realising that aggression against militant groups is being perceived with unprecedented suspicion.

Support for the Bill did come from Islamic group Nahdlatul Ulama last week, which argued that its absence had been the biggest stumbling block to cracking down on terror networks. And the military, police and the intelligence community have also demanded that the law be enacted quickly to make it easier to take action against suspected networks.

But most people shudder at the thought of a law that will enable the government to arrest suspects without due process of law and without legal representation.

Human-rights activists fear the return of a law that could crush anti-government movements, like during former president Suharto's regime. Muslim hardliners say they are concerned that they will be targeted even though they might not have links to terrorists.

In addition, most Islamic groups remain suspicious of the US-led war against terrorism. Yesterday, Mr Dien Syamsuddin, a spokesman for Indonesia's highest Islamic body, the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, joined the chorus of voices for Jakarta to protest to Washington over America's 'propaganda' against the nation.

While Ms Megawati seeks to build a political consensus on the Bill, the government is considering two other options -- reviving a 1957 law on State Emergency or enforcing the 1999 law on state security.

The 1957 law, which had enabled decades of state abuse, was lifted by then president B. J. Habibie in 1999. The 1999 state security law was never enforced after opposition from human- rights activists.

Both the laws deal less with terrorism than with domestic disturbances and separatism, giving the President the power to call a state of emergency without parliamentary approval.

Ms Megawati's habitual silence and reluctance to make a move has made it hard for her to build a political consensus to support the anti-terror law. Said political analyst Bantarto Bandoro: "She has been playing it safe too long. Now is the time to prove she is not afraid of being right."

Indonesia VP warns of anger over terror allegations

Reuters - September 29, 2002

Dean Yates, Jakarta -- Foreign countries must stop giving the impression Indonesia is home to a terrorist network, otherwise this could incite popular anger in the world's largest Muslim nation, Vice President Hamzah Haz said.

Haz, who spoke in Jakarta on Saturday, did not explicitly accuse any countries, but his comments reported in the media on Sunday appeared directed at the United States and what many Indonesians see as pressure from Washington to crack down on local militant Muslims.

"We warn that these baseless issues be stopped [from being spread] before Indonesian people get angry. If the Indonesian people get angry and cannot be reined in, how will the government rein them in?" the leading Kompas newspaper quoted Haz as saying.

The United States last week directly linked Indonesian Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to Jemaah Islamiah, a regional terror network that Washington is considering calling a terrorist group. It called the outfit the "Abu Bakar Bashir organisation".

The US embassy here has also warned Americans to be vigilant in places such as Jakarta and Yogyakarta, a popular tourist destination in central Java that is home to several militant Islamic groups, prompting protests from moderate Muslims that this was creating a negative impression of Indonesia.

Haz, a leading Muslim politician, complained about statements on terrorism and the al Qaeda network and its alleged links with Indonesia in foreign media.

Many Indonesians have expressed scepticism about a story in Time magazine two weeks ago, based partly on a report from the Central Intelligence Agency, which outlined alleged terror plots in the region involving an Arab arrested by Indonesia in June.

Growing cynicism

Time quoted the secret CIA report which said the Arab, Omar al- Faruq, was the organiser of plans for attacks on American embassies in the region around the time of the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 suicide strikes on the United States, along with a failed plot to kill President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

It said Bashir -- accused by Malaysia and Singapore of being a key leader of Jemaah Islamiah -- had contact with al-Faruq.

The Arab, allegedly a senior al Qaeda operative in Southeast Asia, has been handed over to US authorities. Bashir has denied ever knowing al-Faruq, or having terror ties.

Haz said if Washington uncovered evidence to show Bashir or other Indonesians were involved in terrorism, the information should be given to Jakarta so that the police could make arrests. "All we have are statements in the foreign media," he said.

Al-Faruq has also been linked to Jemaah Islamiah. Bashir insists the organisation does not exist. Some Southeast Asian governments have linked it to al Qaeda.

Indeed, with cynicism toward Washington growing among moderate Indonesian Muslims over US policy on Iraq and following the Time article, analysts have said Megawati needed to tread carefully before arresting people such as Bashir.

Indonesia has been criticised as Southeast Asia's weakest link in the war on terror. While it has cooperated on seizing foreigners, it has avoided going after alleged local militants.

Some 85 percent of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslim, with the overwhelming majority holding moderate religious views.

While Muslim leaders and ordinary Indonesians are blaming Washington and the foreign media for portraying the country as a hotbed of terrorism, Indonesia's military chief on Thursday said foreign terrorists were in the archipelago. He gave no numbers.

The US ambassador to Indonesia, Ralph Boyce, has reached out to moderate Muslim groups in the past year and on many occasions praised Jakarta's cooperation in the war on terrorism.

Government & politics

Indonesians have little faith in their leaders

Straits Times - October 5, 2002

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Indonesia lacks strong, respected leaders who can guide it out of the current political and economic crises, according to the findings of a recent survey.

The latest poll, done by the Centre for the Study of Development and Democracy (Cesda), said 42 per cent of respondents are disillusioned with the government and those holding the country's four highest political offices.

Only 28 per cent think President Megawati Sukarnoputri deserves to keep her job.

Dr Amien Rais, head of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and speaker of top legislative assembly MPR, received only 15 per cent support.

Trailing the two is Vice-President Hamzah Haz, head of the Islamic-based United Development Party (PPP), with 6 per cent of the vote. At the tailspot is Speaker Akbar Tandjung, the Golkar party chief who was convicted of graft but is keeping his job while lawyers file an appeal, with 2 per cent.

Cesda researcher E. Shobirin Nadj said: "The results clearly indicate a national leadership crisis. The people find it difficult to put their faith in any one figure. Our politicians face a legitimacy problem, at least among the urban populations."

The survey was conducted in September in 10 major cities throughout Indonesia and covered 1,250 voting age respondents from across the social strata.

Other findings were that 36 per cent of respondents felt there is no one fit to govern the country at this time. Another 9 per cent would support the presidential candidacy of Security and Political Affairs Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Cesda's survey is just the latest of many similar polls this year, and the results consistently show declining confidence in the government.

Dr Raden Pardede, chief economist at Danareksa Research Institute, said his agency's monthly surveys show that Indonesians do not much like their leaders.

"Consumers feel that the government can't provide economic growth or build public infrastructure. The business community also has less trust and confidence." As a result, domestic companies do not make new investments and foreign firms continue to avoid putting their money here.

Consultant Bara Hasibuan, who quit a job with Dr Amien's PAN, said leaders focus too much on politics and too little on solving problems.

He argued: "Indonesians are fed up with the existing political elite. We need a new type of leadership and political system. Polls over the past few months hand down the same verdict -- people feel a huge gap between them and the present batch of leaders." This disenchantment leaves openings for aspiring politicians, some of whom have started new political parties within the last six months.

Mr Andi Mallarangeng, a leader of the new Unity, Democracy and Nationhood Party, said: "We offer a new leadership, one that will be more in touch with the people"s needs.' But observers doubt the new parties would get many votes in the coming elections, showing how deep the political disgust level has become.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Megawati may sack A-G over alleged graft

Straits Times - October 4, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- President Megawati Sukarnoputri is said to be considering replacing Indonesian Attorney-General M.A. Rachman after auditors questioned him for allegedly concealing assets worth billions of rupiah.

He has also been under fire since early this year for his poor record in following up on corruption cases.

On Wednesday night, Mr Rachman was summoned to the presidential palace and reportedly censured over the graft allegations that have surfaced against him.

Earlier in the day, he had appeared before members of the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission to respond to its finding that he had failed to declare in his wealth report a South Jakarta luxury home, worth billions, and 800 million rupiah in bank deposits.

Commission member Chairul Imam said Mr Rachman claimed that he had bought the house in 1999 and then transferred ownership to his daughter the following year. She in turn sold it last January. But since the sale had not been completed, it was still under his daughter's name, he said.

Local media reports have cast doubts on the authenticity of the sale because the buyer of the house is the father of a well-known broker who often acts as a middle-man in court to help clients win cases.

Mr Rachman also claimed that the house was bought using money received as wedding gifts for his daughter several years ago. But the commission noted that her lavish wedding was held last July, long after the purchase of the house.

He also said that the 800 million rupiah in bank deposits had been a gift from a businessman whose name he claimed to have forgotten, although he insisted the money had nothing to do with any legal case.

According to the assets form he filed with the commission, his total wealth amounts to 2.1 billion rupiah and foreign currency holdings of US$29,600. This includes property worth 880 million rupiah, cars worth 690 million rupiah and 545.6 million rupiah in cash.

Committee members said that even his official report had glaring irregularities.

Mr Chairul told The Straits Times: "With his official earnings of less than 100 million rupiah a year, it is hard to justify his affluence." He said the commission would conduct further investigations before reporting its findings to Ms Megawati.

Influential members of the ruling Indonesia Democratic Party- Struggle (PDI-P) have been pushing for Mr Rachman's removal since early this year, citing his poor performance in handling graft cases.

Among them are several cases involving the misuse of 130.6 trillion rupiah worth of central bank credit facilities by Indonesian tycoons.

State prosecutors had demanded short sentences of no more than two years for the tycoons, despite the massive financial losses of the state. The weak indictment had also helped some tycoons to get off the hook.

A PDI-P official told The Straits Times that the party was concerned that its poor track record could affect Ms Megawati's performance. He said: "But if Mr Rachman was found guilty of graft, she would eventually replace him."

Local & community issues

Lampung governor urged to resolve land dispute

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2002

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung -- The Lampung chapter of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) has urged Governor Oemarsono to step in and resolve a land dispute between thousands of villagers in the regency of Tulangbawang and sugar firm PT Indo Lampung Perkasa (ILP).

Clashes and violence have been on the rise in connection with the conflict after the firm formed a civilian security force (Pamswakarsa) last year, an activist said.

"Many residents have protested the establishment of the force because they have become the target of repressive measures taken by these hired vigilantes. The governor must dissolve the security force, otherwise there will be more violence," LBH director Edwin Hanibal on Tuesday.

Edwin revealed that the treatment of local residents by the security forces was appalling. The security forces tortured two villagers, Sainan, 20, and Herdiyanto, 18, on September 7.

Community leader Abu Bakar of Bakung Udik village added that the members of the Pamswakarsa had tortured a local resident, Rusdianto, for unclear reasons. The incident had been reported to the Tulangbawang Police, but there had been no response.

"In principle, the governor must dissolve the Pamswakarsa and resolve the land conflict. If there is no action, villagers in Bakung Ilir and Bakung Udik will be ready for a war," he added.

Similar demands have been voiced out by an association of Lampung people and the Union of People who Care for Tulangbawang organization.

The Tulangbawang regency administration on Aug. 6, 2002, issued an instruction ordering PT ILP to stop logging and undertaking other activities in the disputed area.

It also ordered the company to dissolve the civilian security force and take responsibility for the violence against local people.

Amid mounting calls for the dissolution of the Pamswakarsa, Riyadi, the chairman of the All-Indonesia Workers' Union (SPSI) in PT Sweet Indo Lampung (SIL), denied the reports of torture.

However, he admitted stern measures had been taken against local people who committed robberies.

"The Pamswakarsa would never torture residents. We are guarding PT SIL because we regard this as our home, somewhere that needs protection," he added.

PT SIL and PT ILP are grouped in the Sugar Group Companies, a consortium owned by business tycoon Sudono Salim. The group has since been taken over by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency. Other sugar companies owned by Salim include PT Gula Putih Mataram and PT Gunung Madu Plantations.

Responding to the conflict, Lampung administration secretary Herwan Achmad said that provincial officials would immediately visit the area to try to resolve the conflict.

Bakung Udik village head Tantowi, meanwhile, disclosed that PT ILP had occupied some 7,000 hectares of land belonging to local people since 1994 without compensation.

At a meeting on September 16, 2000, attended by legislators, the regent of Tulangbawang, PT SIL representatives and provincial land affairs officials, PT SIL vowed to pay Rp 3 billion in compensation for the land that had been acquired. But to date, the promise has not been kept.

Focus on Jakarta

Protesters threaten council sit-in

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2002

City Council secretary Moerdiman revealed on Wednesday that the ceremony inaugurating Sutiyoso as city governor could be moved from the council building to some other place if there was a threat of demonstrators occupying the building.

Moerdiman revealed that the ceremony, which is scheduled for October 7, could be moved to the Jakarta Convention Center or the Jakarta Fair Ground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. "If the demonstrators threaten to occupy the building, we could move the ceremony," he told reporters.

Several non-governmental organizations (NGO), including the Jakarta Residents Forum, the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) and the Betawi People's Association, plan to stage a massive rally and occupy the building. The NGOs are protesting the outcome of the election, which was allegedly tainted by money politics.

Meanwhile, dozens of students grouped under the Jakarta Student Axe organization staged a rally in front of the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday, demanding the annulment of Sutiyoso's reelection. The students then marched to the City Council building. No officials received the students either at the ministry or the City Council building.

News & issues

September 30, 1965: What was really at stake?

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2002

Max Lane -- In the last years of the New Order and since the fall of Gen. Soeharto, discussion opened up within Indonesian society about the real nature of what happened on September 30, 1965. A consensus had developed among a large section of the country's intelligentsia, NGO community and democratic activist movement that September 30 was a great human tragedy.

More than one million people lost their lives: This has become an acknowledged fact of great sadness and concern. A number of short stories, poems and films have been written or produced lamenting this tragedy.

There has also been a great deal of interest in uncovering the facts of the events of September 30 and the weeks afterwards. Did president Sukarno no about Col. Untung's plans? Did Soeharto know and was he involved? Did the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) really know what was happening or were just a few individual PKI leaders aware? Are there other facts that still have to be uncovered?

One outcome of this discussion, especially in the first few years after the fall of Soeharto, was the appeal for "reconciliation". Figures such as the publisher, Goenawan Mohammed, raised the example of Nelson Mandela as somebody who led the way for reconciliation between the supporters of apartheid and its victims in South Africa after the overthrow of apartheid.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, even before he became president, also urged reconciliation. He even sent a message to the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR) urging the repeal of the MPR decree banning the spreading if Marxist and Leninist ideas.

This recommendation for reconciliation was rejected, on the other hand, by the writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, demanding instead accountability for those responsible for the mass murder, mass imprisonment and confiscation of property.

The discussion of "tragedy" and "reconciliation", and even of justice, however, misses one major question: Why? Why did it happen? Why did Soeharto and his allies deem it necessary for such a wholesale purge of society? More than one million people were slaughtered; all active worker, peasant and women's campaign organizations were banned, purged or otherwise disempowered; scores of newspapers and magazines were closed; half of the intellectual and artistic community were killed or imprisoned; all left-wing political parties were smashed and later on even conservative parties were virtually taken over by the state special operations. Why?

In the sharp and bitter polarization of society between 1960- 1965, what was at stake? What indeed was being fought over?

From the point of view of Sukarno's supporters including the biggest political party, the PKI, they saw looming in the future a country dominated by corrupt and repressive business generals working hand-in-glove with Western business and financial interests. They called the business generals, kabir, capitalist bureaucrats, and the Western business and financial interests, Nekolim -- neo-colonialism and imperialism. They assessed that if the country was taken over by these parties, most Indonesians would be sacrificed for their personal wealth and economic interests. They also feared that such a new set-up would undermine the development of a genuine, and independent national culture, something that was still developing only 20 years after independence.

Opponents of Sukarno and the PKI were divided into two camps, but two camps that worked together. The Armed Forces, a section of the conservative religious organizations (though not all of them), and people who owned land opposed Sukarno because his policies undermined their privileges.

The Sukarno government began a program of retooling, that is of dismissing corrupt officials, especially kabir, which threatened the privileged position of business generals. The government also talked about arming tade union and peasant organizations, threatening the Armed Forces monopoly on weapons.

The government also introduced laws attempting to distribute land. Peasant unions which unilaterally occupied land, when the law failed to be implemented quickly, vigorously supported these laws.

Some religious organizations were opposed to the Sukarno policies for ideological reasons -- hostility towards communism as an atheistic ideology -- and also because their leadership were drawn from the land- owning and business layers of society.

The Sukarno government also nationalized first Dutch, then British and Belgium foreign companies as well as some American companies. Indonesia refused to become a member of the International Monetary Fund or take conditional loans from the World Bank.

This alliance between the Armed Forces, land-owners and Western business interests also found an ally in a section of students and intellectuals. Most students were, however, still organized in the big student organizations affiliated to the Sukarnoist and communist parties. Many of the anti-Sukarno students and intellectuals went on to become prominent figures during the New Order period: Goenawan Mohammed, Arief Budiman, Sjahrir, just to name a few.

At the time, they saw the Sukarno government as a dictatorship based the cult of the personality. A survey of the press and magazines of the time and of the discussions among the political public indicates that the level of repression under Sukarno was minimal. Two political parties had been banned for effusing to disassociate themselves from military coups in Sumatra and Sulawesi. However, the leadership and memberships, and their affiliated organizations, continued to operate.

However, there were elements of authoritarianism in the Sukarno government's methods. Political discourse, even criticism and opposition, had to be made in the language of Sukarnoism. Sukarno's opponents were forced to pretend to be supporters of Sukarno and to attack their opposition as fake Sukarnoists.

Of course, the government was not the only source of repression during this period. A bigger source was the Armed forces itself, which banned left-wing publications and activities in many provinces. Even in Jakarta, as early as 1960, Pramoedya had been arrested by the military and gaoled for one year. After all, this was a period of martial law.

The Sukarno government's resort to cult tactics and later to arresting some opponents were violations of human rights, although on a smaller scale than that carried out by the Armed Forces even before 1965, let alone compared to the mass slaughter after 1965. These methods used by the government confused the situation and facilitated some students' attention being directed away from the real issue at stake.

Today nobody speaks of kabir and Nekolim. But how different are the concepts of kabir versus KKN, and how different are the Sukarnoist critiques of Nekolim and today's criticism's of the exploitative role of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the World Trade Organization?

[Max Lane is a Visiting Fellow, Center for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.]

Film reawakens G30S questions

Laksamana.Net - October 1, 2002

"This would never have been possible in the Suharto era," mused one member of the audience at a showing of the film Shadow Play in Jakarta Monday. "As soon as this film started screening, you would have had police walking in and arresting us all."

Four years after the fall of Suharto, the screening by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents' Club went ahead without interrruption, with Shadow Play providing a very different account of what happened on the night of September 30, 1965 than Indonesians are used to hearing.

Nor were the 300 mainly expatriates who packed the event the only ones to be given a new slant on the alleged abortive coup by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). Indonesian broadcasts recalling the events also provided a different view of the facts than was repeated every September 30 night under Suharto, in the late Arifin C. Noer's classic work of propaganda, G30S (Gerakan 30 September).

"Now it turns out we were lied to all those years," said Taniman, a security guard who watched local television broadcasts timed to the anniversary.

For three decades, Suharto shored up the legitimacy of his rule with an elaborate scenario under which the PKI master-minded the attempted coup. Dramatic touches were added: that women from Gerwani, the PKI women's organization, danced naked in front of the six generals who were captured and later killed. The bodies of the six, along with Lt. Pierre Tendean, were bundled into the Lubang Buaya well on the southern outskirts of the city, their eyes gouged out and their private parts chopped off and thrown away.

Evidence from doctors who performed autopsies on the corpses found that little of this was true: there had been no mutilations.

Shadow Play raises the question of the at least 600,000 people who were slaughtered in the weeks that followed. These victims, dishonored in death, remain restless souls as attempts to re-bury their bodies met with resistance from anti-communist elements.

For the first time this year, Indonesia's president did not attend the commemoration of the killing of the generals at Lubang Buaya. Palace officials were unable to provide an explanation why Megawati Sukarnoputri had made such a break with a tradition that was followed even by her querulous predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid.

The version of the facts portrayed by Shadow Play trod ground mostly familiar to students of the history of the time. It did suggest, however, that the British government played a stronger role than the US government, specifically through the work of propaganda expert Norman Redaway, who pulled the strings of opinion from his Singapore base, even establishing a radio station in Jakarta to broadcast anti-PKI messages that would be easily accepted by Indonesians.

Interviews with foreign correspondents working in the region at the time brought admissions that they too had been hoodwinked by the black propaganda.

And, the film made clear, the overthrow of the PKI suited US and British interests perfectly. With the domino theory possessing the strength of fact in the 1960s, analysts pointed to the risk of all of Southeast Asia falling to communism. The destruction of the PKI made Indonesia a bulwark against the red tide.

Retired senior Australian diplomat Alan Renouf presented the most telling argument why the finger of guilt should point elsewhere than at the PKI. "The PKI were winning anyway, they had no reason to launch a coup," he said.

Totally unprepared for what happened on the night of September 30, the PKI leadership was at a loss. Party leader Aidit told his supporters to continue working as normal and to ignore provocation. The advice was flawed as the military, backed by Muslim militias, began a purge of anyone with any connection to the party, then the largest in Asia outside of China.

Maj. Gen. Suharto meanwhile continued a relentless campaign to isolate President Sukarno, eventually allowing the founder of the Indonesian republic to die unattended in house arrest at Bogor.

It is highly likely that no-one will ever be able to prove conclusively what happened on the night of September 30. Yet Suharto, disgraced by Armed Forces Commander Ahmad Yani over his business dealings at his Central Java command, had good reason to dislike his superiors.

On one occasion, he sent an aide to ask Yani if he could join the Council of Generals, only to have Yani respond in Dutch, "what for, he would not understand what we were talking about".

Allowed to return to a command post at the Strategic Reserve (Kostrad), Suharto had an axe to grind, controlled considerable support within elements of the military, and, without much doubt, enjoyed the covert backing of larger forces that had no wish to see Indonesia turn red.

Indonesia, deprived of any access to classic works of Marxist economic theory that form a major part of the foundations of the way in which economists and people in general view the structure of society, remains a fertile ground for the spread of socialism, yet at the same time, this and other egalitarian systems remain anathema to the country's leaders.

Ironically, it is not the works of Engels and Marx that provide stimulation for modern Indonesians, but Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, which apart from its anti-semitic ravings, also carries a strong socialist message that finds an audience with many dissatisfied with the way in which Indonesia is currently ordered.

With such limited material, any re-interpretation of the events of the past shows only limited potential for a wider debate on how Indonesia should be run.

Megawati gives 1965 foiled coup anniversary a miss

Agence France Presse - October 1, 2002

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri broke with tradition when she failed to attend the anniversary of the victory over the 1965 foiled communist coup which led to the rise of former president Suharto.

The ceremony, held at the Lubang Buaya monument in East Jakarta, the site used by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) as its base for the abortive October 1 coup, has been presided over by the country's president in every year since 1967, the year Suharto rose to power.

Suharto's successor B.J. Habibie and Megawati's predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid also attended the annual ceremony.

"It appears that she is not attending the ceremony," a spokesman of the president's office, Garibaldi Sujatmiko told AFP.

Sujatmiko said that no reason for the absence had been given but added that the ceremony would be led by the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Lubang Buaya (Crocodile Hole) was also where the mutilated bodies of six kidnapped army generals, including chief of staff Achmad Yani, kidnapped, were later found in the shaft of a disused well.

The army, under the command of then Lieutenant General Suharto, crushed the coup later the same day.

The PKI, at the time Asia's second largest communist party after China's, was banned six months later after a bloody crackdown in which up to half a million people died.

October 1 has since been commemorated as the day of victory over the communist threat and is officially known as "Sanctity Day of Pancasila". Pancasila is the five-principle state ideology.

Calls rise for truth behind 'PKI coup'

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2002

Muhammad Nafik and Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- Demands have resurfaced for the government to reveal the truth behind the abortive September 30, 1965, coup as a perquisite for reconciliation between the victims and those involved in one of the world's worst tragedies, the seeds of which have been blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

The government was also urged to enforce the law against the masterminds, including CIA agents, behind the bloody coup attempt and its consequences, which lead to the deaths of more than 500,000 people, including seven Army generals.

"Reconciliation is impossible before the true history of the tragedy is first divulged and justice is meted out to those responsible," said Dita Indah Sari, a senior member of the leftist People's Democratic Party (PRD).

She was speaking at a seminar titled Solving Historical Conflicts by Means of Truth and Reconciliation here on Monday, which also featured People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Deputy Speaker Lt. Gen. Agus Widjojo and political analyst Harry Tjan Silalahi from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

James D. Filgo, who once oversaw the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET) at the US Embassy, was also among the speakers.

The seminar also discussed Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents showing America's involvement in the September 30, 1965, tragedy.

Harry and Agus, the sons of Soetojo Siswomihardjo, one of the seven murdered generals, also backed calls for the rewriting of the coup history to spell out the truth following the release of the CIA documents.

"Rewriting the history is now a must to uncover the truth. History is never over when new facts are discovered," Harry said, adding that the desire for revenge on the part of the victims should now be converted into a desire for reconciliation.

But the statements from Harry, Agus and Filgo sparked strong reactions from among the audience, mostly victims and opponents of former strongman Soeharto's New Order regime, as the three speakers appeared to defend the CIA's key role in the coup.

Harry said the intervention by the CIA in the domestic affairs of Indonesia and other countries was "normal" during the Cold War between capitalists in the West and socialists led by Russia. His remark was echoed by Agus and Filgo.

Dita, who chairs the PRD's National Front for Indonesian Labor Struggle (FNBI), however rebuffed the claims, saying such a systematic conspiracy was "abnormal" as it led to the killing of 500,000 or more people, and other disastrous consequences.

Separately on Monday, the children of the seven assassinated generals and the descendants of deceased PKI supporters, similarly demanded that the government reveal the truth behind the failed coup.

At the launching of a book titled Kunang-kunang Kebenaran di Langit Malam (Fireflies of the Truth in the Night Sky), Catherine, the eldest daughter of Brig. Gen. D.I. Panjaitan, said that none of the generals' children harbored resentment against PKI supporters and their descendants.

Megawati to miss ceremony

In an unprecedented move, President Megawati Soekarnopoutri is not to attend the solemn annual ceremony to commemorate the 1965 abortive coup here on Tuesday, presidential sources said on Monday. It was not clear why she would not attend the commemoration, to be held at the Lubang Buaya monument in East Jakarta, where the bodies of seven Army generals were dumped.

Sources close to the presidential palace said they could not say why Megawati had decided to skip the commemoration, which three former presidents, Soeharto, B.J. Habibie and Abdurrahman Wahid, never missed. Her absence is expected to raise speculation among analysts and the public at large.

Health & education

Who's to blame for Papua's AIDS explosion?

Laksamana.Net - October 2, 2002

Papua has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia. Latest official figures put the number of cases in the province at 1,1,25 but experts say the real figure is much higher.

Papua deputy governor Constan Karma on Tuesday expressed concern over the ongoing spread of the incurable disease, saying about 80 new cases are being recorded every month.

He urged locals to avoid sexual intercourse outside of wedlock and pledged to provide local non-government organizations and health clinics with funds to conduct AIDS awareness campaigns.

State news agency Antara said Papua ranks second after Yogyakarta province in the severity of the spread of HIV/AIDS. The high incidence of AIDS in Papua has officially been blamed on infected Thai fishermen visiting coastal and offshore brothels in the province.

But Papuan sources in Jakarta, including two civil servants, claim the Indonesian military has for years been covertly sending Java-based prostitutes infected with AIDS to the province as part of a plan to weaken the indigenous population.

There is no hard evidence to support this claim of alleged genocide, although some human rights activists and church officials have also said the military could be responsible for the growing number of AIDS cases in Papua.

Reverend John Barr of the Uniting Church in Australia earlier this year said: "I heard a number of stories concerning the increasing incidence of HIV-AIDS in Papua. While I could not obtain precise statistics, the increase in HIV-AIDS is said to be alarming. Many people believe the military have a vested interest here in introducing and perpetuating the problem. The introduction of HIV-AIDS is being undertaken as an effective way of wiping out indigenous people.

Alarming rates of HIV-AIDS among remote tribes in the Merauke region is a case in point. This has resulted from the introduction of prostitution in the area and the deliberate offering of favors to local tribal leaders in response to the acquisition of indigenous land for commercial development. Many believe this is a blatant case of ethnic cleansing."

Barr also said there is also a general distrust of official medicine in West Papua, adding that allegations of the military's alleged role in the AIDS problem must be investigated.

"I have heard allegations that there was military and local involvement in bringing prostitutes to West Papua. In places such as the Baliem Valley, women don't sleep with their men for a long time after having a child, so some of the men go to the prostitutes and thus facilitate the spread of AIDS. I heard very serious allegations that women were being involuntarily sterilized in Wamena hospital. [T]hese allegations are very serious and need to be investigated. Wamena hospital is funded by, among other agencies, the European Commission. This distrust could only negatively impact on the spread of AIDS," he said.

The Indonesia Human Rights Campaign (Tapol) in July quoted a source as saying "logging firms were pointed to as 'knowingly' bringing infected prostitutes up to remote villages". It's no secret that the Indonesian military plays a major role in Papua's timber industry.

How high?

Indonesia officially has about 3,00 [this should probably read 3,000 - JB] recorded cases of HIV/AIDS, but Health Minister Achmad Sujudi in April 2002 admitted the real number could be closer to 120,000.

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 6 million Indonesians are infected with HIV. Several foreign countries have also warned that Indonesia's official AIDS tally is only the tip of the iceberg. "Indonesia is on the brink of a major AIDS explosion," a visiting US State Department official told Laksamana.net in Jakarta last week.

Rampant drug abuse in Indonesian prisons, involving inmates sharing dirty intravenous needles, has been singled out as a major cause of the rise in the number of HIV/AIDS cases among prisoners. The complicity of corrupt prison officials in the drugs trade means the problem is unlikely to be dealt with.

The rise in HIV/AIDS has been directly linked to prostitution and drug use, especially in Java. Indonesia has more than 71,000 registered prostitutes, of whom 60,000 are aged between 15-20.

Although prostitution is officially condemned in Indonesia, it is usually legalized at local levels, as many brothel complexes are managed and patronized by military and government officials. All too often condoms are not available in brothels, let alone bars frequented by sex workers and their patrons. Prostitutes in Jakarta say many clients refuse to use condoms.

The rise in drug trafficking is also a cause for concern. Experts say that about 40% of Jakarta's 4 million drug users are infected with HIV.

Chained to post in a mosque - tough cure for addicts

Straits Times - September 30, 2002

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Drug addicts in a crowded Jakarta kampung are being submitted to one of the toughest drying-out regimes around. They are being chained to a post in a mosque for weeks on end.

But the unconventional cure has helped dozens over the past few years as the number of drug abusers in the country has exploded.

Nineteen-year-old Arif does not know how long he has been staying at the Nurul Alam Mosque. "Long time, I don't know how long," he mumbled. He does not remember much because three years of using shabu, the street name of crystal methamphetamine, has taken its toll, said a group of boys near the mosque.

Nor does Arif have much choice in how long he will stay. He was shackled with chains to a post after his parents brought him to this alternative rehabilitation centre several months ago. He shares the floor and the post with another addict, who was sleeping soundly.

Several other addicts and a few men who are reportedly "crazy" lie scattered on the floor, shackled either to posts or the verandah wall.

It may appear to be a tough cure for drug addicts but 24-year-old Obi is a smiling testament to its success. After eight years of addiction to heroin, he was dragged here by his family in June, handed over to Ustadz Ridwan, the religious teacher who runs the mosque, and tied to a post.

"At first, I was really angry and craving it," said Obi, who now has a healthy complexion and a solid build which belies his eight-year addiction. "But after three days, it disappeared," he said of his craving. Nevertheless, he spent another 40 days shackled to a post.

He was allowed to get up only when he needed to go to the bathroom. His day started at 4 am when all the addicts began morning prayers. "We learn how to strengthen our inner resources with prayer," he says. "It's good here, really good and Ustadz Ridwan is a very good man," he adds.

The shackles are an essential part of the cure, he insisted. "For sure if they are not tied they'll leave when they want," he said.

After 40 days, Obi was freed from the chains but helped out cooking and cleaning around the mosque. And after three months, he was free to return home but decided to stay back and help other addicts.

Ustadz Ridwan opened the mosque to addicts and some insane young men in 1995, and has had dozens of addicts cured since then. Most of the addicts come from poor families who cannot afford to send their children to expensive clinics.

However, for the "crazy people", some whom have been tied to the mosque for two years, there seems little hope of a cure. Family members prefer to have their relatives committed here, according to the boys who help around the mosque, because "in the villages they run around and become dangerous, but here they keep quiet".

Some of the cured addicts might return to their past habit, said Obi, admitting he was unsure how they were faring. But after their treatment, many return to the mosque on Saturday nights for lectures and a communal prayer session, he said.

The use of heroin and shabu has been rising rapidly, said anti- drug groups here. In 1995, according to the Bali AIDS Eradication Commission, only 100,000 Indonesians used illegal drugs. But four years later, that number had jumped up to more than a million users.

Religion/Islam

Cops nab seven men for attacks on Jakarta nightspots

Associated Press - October 6, 2002

Jakarta -- Indonesian police arrested seven members of a Muslim group yesterday over recent vigilante-style raids on nightspots in Jakarta.

Officers arrested the men at the headquarters of the Islamic Defenders Front organisation, a Jakarta police spokesman, Colonel Bahrul Alam, said.

They are being questioned over attacks early on Friday on two late-night pool centres and a discotheque, he said. The activists broke windows and smashed equipment. One person was injured.

The police have been criticised for not preventing the raids, which were filmed by several local television stations.

The front, one of several hardline groups in the world's most populous Muslim nation, occasionally vandalises bars and gambling joints which it considers to be contravening Islamic teachings.

It is a fierce critic of Indonesia's secular government and has also threatened to hold large protest demonstrations if Washington invades Iraq.

However, analysts say the group's actions are motivated more by the opportunities that they provide for extortion than by religion. Many of its followers are poorly educated and are little more than gangsters, analysts say.

Militants attack Jakarta nightspots

Straits Times - October 5, 2002

Jakarta -- Around 500 members of the Islamic Defenders Front militant group attacked several nightspots in the Indonesian capital yesterday, damaging three cars but causing no serious injuries.

The group, one of several hardline Islamic organisations in the nation, occasionally vandalises entertainment spots in Jakarta.

Most analysts said, however, that its actions were motivated more by the opportunities they provided for protection money than by religious ideals.

Police Sgt Rustandi said the hardliners toured the capital in a convoy of vehicles, stoning a discotheque and wrecking equipment at two late-night pool joints.

No arrests were made, he said. "We tried to persuade them to leave the scene but when they attacked we were outnumbered," he said.

Indonesian police have been accused of failing to crack down on the group, which was allegedly set up and funded by wealthy generals close to the leadership of former president Suharto. He was forced from office in 1998 after 32 years in power.

The raids were launched in the early hours of the Islamic holiday of Isra' Mi'raj, which commemorates Prophet Muhammad's miraculous temporary ascension to heaven.

The Islamic Defenders Front has been one of the most vocal critics of the United States-led war on terror. It has threatened to hold large demonstrations if the US attacks Iraq. No one from the group was available for comment yesterday.

Armed forces/Police

Stirring things up can be good business

International Herald Tribune - October 2, 2002

Brigham Goldenm, Jakarta -- A hail of gunfire burst from the mist-shrouded jungle in Indonesia's remote Papua Province, strafing a convoy of cars belonging to the American mining corporation Freeport McMoRan.

The August 31 ambush on the mountain road leading to one of the world's largest gold and copper mines killed three employees and injured 11. It was a symptom of the troubled state of affairs in Indonesia.

The Bush administration wants to work with the Indonesian military to suppress Islamic extremism. It recently extended up to $50 million in aid to the military and police, circumventing restrictions imposed more than a decade ago because of human rights violations in East Timor and elsewhere.

The US rationale is simple -- and simplistic: In this sprawling, predominantly Muslim country, the armed forces and the police are the only institutions that can be counted on to block the spread of Islamic radicalism. But do US officials understand with whom they are dealing?

According to the International Crisis Group, the fractious Indonesian military generates more than 70 percent of its income from "off-budget" operations that include protection and extortion rackets, illegal mining, illegal logging, prostitution and trafficking in narcotics and endangered species. The troop deployments that spawn such "business" opportunities are determined by regional conflict.

As a result, the security authorities have a vested interest in perpetuating instability. This is the economy of conflict, and it lies at the heart of Indonesia's troubles.

Rich in natural resources, the province of Papua, known formerly as Irian Jaya, is a major theater for the military's economy of conflict. It is also an example of Washington's flawed approach to countering terrorism. In towns like Manokwari in Papua, military units are actively supporting the spread of Laskar Jihad, a radical Islamicist militia with suspected ties to Al Qaeda. The aim is to instigate sectarian clashes between Papuans, many of whom are Christians or animists, and migrant Malay Muslims, so that the military can entrench itself and expand moneymaking operations in the area. This would be a reprise of events in the province of Maluku last year that left more than 6,000 civilians dead.

There are other ominous signs of military provocation in Papua. Special Forces soldiers have been charged with assassinating Theys Eluay, leader of the peaceful branch of the Papuan independence movement. His murder derailed a reconciliation process, making it easier for the military to argue that its presence in Papua should be increased.

The recently appointed regional commander of the armed forces in Papua, General Mahidin Simbolon, was previously a commander in East Timor, where the military's role in fomenting bloody conflict is well documented. Rather than providing a solution to terrorism, the military is helping to spread terror within Indonesia's borders.

The armed forces are contracted by Freeport to provide security around the mine site. After the attack on the company employees, the military was quick to accuse local Papuan "separatists" of responsibility and reinforce deployments in the region. But given that bullet casings found at the scene match standard Indonesian military issue M-16s, and given that the attack was committed scarcely three kilometers from an army base, the ambush may well have been covertly engineered by the authorities to ensure that their lucrative security contract with Freeport is renewed.

After Secretary of State Colin Powell met top Indonesian military officials in Jakarta in early August, he said Washington would be "watching carefully and expecting action to be taken with respect to past abuses that might have occurred." A few days after that warning, a military tribunal acquitted officers involved in East Timor atrocities.

The United States should be extremely cautious how it invests in Indonesia's military. Without clear civilian controls, legal accountability and an end to off-budget business by the military, the Bush administration may find itself financing conflict and the spread of radicalism.

[The writer, an anthropologist at Columbia University in New York and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Papua, contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.]

Poorly paid soldiers root of military indiscipline

Straits Times - October 3, 2002

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- The brutal five-hour siege of a police station in North Sumatra by about 200 soldiers reveals the lack of discipline in the Indonesian armed forces.

Just as important, Monday's bloody battle in the town of Binjai also illustrates the soldiers' desperation to make extra money to supplement their meagre income.

The clash -- sparked by the police's refusal to free a soldier accused of drug dealing -- was the bloodiest so far. But it probably will not be the last one between the military and the police.

Significantly, the assault occurred hours after the regional military chiefs had rushed to the town and ordered the troops back to the barracks on Sunday. Yet, despite the orders, the troops launched an attack the following day, killing at least four police officers and two civilians.

The defiance stems from the fact that the military headquarters is funding less and less of battalions' operational costs, leaving the soldiers and the military units to fend for themselves.

As Mr Marcus Meitzner, a military analyst from the Australian National University, observed: "Control is a function of money; you can't control territorial units if you can't fund them." Former defence minister Juwono Sarwono admitted in 2000 that only between 25 per cent to 35 per cent of the military's funding comes from the government budget.

The rest has to be raised through the military's private foundations, businesses as well as any local businesses. But the money has been harder to raise since the fall of President Suharto.

Military commanders and former generals no longer enjoy the situation where they were in almost every layer of government, from provincial governor to district chief to head of government departments. Their removal deprives the military of a controlling stake in local and regional economies, Mr Meitzner pointed out.

"And it is becoming more and more clear that in an effort to raise more money, they are becoming involved in illegal businesses such as the local drug trade." In addition, the military now faces competition from the police for a stake in fund-raising ventures, such as providing security services for businesses or in protecting illegal businesses such as gambling, prostitution, illegal mining, illegal fishing and illegal logging, said analysts. "Business competition is getting tougher," said Mr Meitzner.

A report this year by international think tank, Crisis Group International, said that in almost every strife-ridden region across the archipelago, the military have "quickly developed vested economic interests in the conflict."

"These include protection rackets; extortion checkpoints on the roads; control over sale and distribution of basic goods like gasoline; involvement in natural resource extraction; and sales of weapons and ammunition to the highest bidder".

A military spokesman from Medan, Sumatra, admitted that economic interests might be the cause of the conflict. "Yes it is a possibility, we can't close our eyes to it," said General Rationo, who admitted it would not be easy to prevent future flare-ups.

"The important thing now is to take preventive action, even though this won't be easy because we know the conditions of the soldiers," he told Elshinta radio. Some analysts argue that the only way to improve discipline and performance is for the government to fund 100 per cent of the armed forces' operational needs.

Said military analyst Riefqi Muna: "If the military has to find its own funds, then it is going to use its guns to put itself in a strong position to do this. The military is not supposed to run businesses but to defend the country."

Soldiers involved in police clash in Sumatra, discharged

Radio Australia - October 2, 2002

[The Indonesian military has discharged 20 soldiers accused of involvement in a bloody gun battle between the army and police in North Sumatra. Army Chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu personally tore off the rank insignias of the men, at the headquarters of the regional command in Medan. The accused, who're expected to face further charges, were all members of the army airborne battalion and had allegedly taken part in armed attack on a district police post in which seven people were killed.]

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Speakers: Aristides Katoppo, chief editor and publisher of Sinar Harapan in Jakarta

Katoppo: The police used to be under one command with the military before but after the reform the police became independent and no longer under the armed forces commander. I think of course that the separation has created some problems because it has been done very abruptly and speedily while for so many years internal security was always in the hands of the Indonesian army in particular. There were some rivalries, it happens.

Lam: So do you think there's some measure of resentment by certain elements in certain sections of the Indonesian military towards the police?

Katoppo: Well I think there is some resentment, yes, and more important also both are sometimes doing let's say extracurricular work like providing security for businesses.

Lam: And those extracurricular activities sometimes extended to illegal activities as well?

Katoppo: Well maybe the protection business and some lucratives like illegal casinos, not big casinos, small-scale gambling venues and other unsavoury business.

Lam: And indeed reports from Jakarta say the incident was the latest in a series over the past three years, are the authorities trying to do something about this?

Katoppo: Yes clearly I think the army chief of staff has come to the side and apologised publicly and broadcast over the radio to the police but also to the people and berated soldiers who conducted trespass on army discipline. Given the circumstances and particularly in Indonesia where most of the army or police have to look after their own logistics, sometimes they have to compete for it, it opens the way that there will be clashes.

Lam: When you say looking after their own logistics, does that include the payment of the soldiers and policemen as well?

Katoppo: And the food, and you name it, logistics, the whole range of it, less than 30 per cent is coming from the budget.

Lam: So are these skirmishes by and large localised or might they have the potential to escalate out of control?

Katoppo: I think it's very localised, well I mean what happened in Binjai was clearly out of control, but it was on a unit level. I think the army chief and the police chiefs went out of their way to show that this rivalry doesn't exist at the top. I don't think the military and the police you know and these local clashes will not occur on a national scale.

Indonesia army fires soldiers over attack on police

Reuters - October 2, 2002

Medan -- Indonesia's army chief dishonourably discharged 20 soldiers from a crack airborne unit on Wednesday, saying they had behaved like thugs by killing at least seven people in recent attacks on two police posts.

Over the weekend and on Monday, around 100 soldiers armed with rifles and grenades attacked the police stations at Binjai town in north Sumatra after a soldier was arrested for suspected drugs offences.

"You've acted out of control. You've acted with arrogance. You've acted like thugs ... You have violated your own oath to the corps, army and this country," Army Chief of Staff Ryamizard Ryacudu said as he addressed Airborne Battalion 100.

"We regret the incident happened and I take this chance to again apologise to the families of the victims," he added in a speech made at the North Sumatra military headquarters in the local capital Medan, 1,450 km northwest of Jakarta.

The army chief also took five officers from the battalion off active duty while the military continued its investigations into the incident, although it was unclear whether those soldiers discharged would now face police investigation.

Several soldiers first attacked the Binjai police posts late last Saturday, but the worst violence occurred early on Monday when at least seven people, including five police were killed, and around 15 wounded.

The deadly incident underscores the poor discipline among the branches of Indonesia's security forces in the field. In conflict zones, there are occasional armed clashes between police and soldiers, often over petty disputes.

Hill's faith a tall order for army

Australian Financial Review - October 2, 2002

Tim Dodd -- Now let us see if we can follow this logic through. According to Defence Minister Robert Hill, in the new uncertain international environment Australians may have to rely on the Indonesian army to protect them from terrorists.

And this Indonesian army is the same outfit whose special forces, the Kopassus, are suspected by many of being involved in the murder of three teachers in an armed ambush near the Freeport mine in Indonesia's Papua province last month. The killings, in which two of the dead and many of the wounded were American, are the most serious incidents which could be classified as terrorism that Americans have experienced in Indonesia for many years.

We do not know whether or not the army was involved in the killings. However, police are suspicious of the story put forward by Papuan army commander Major-General Mahidin Simbolon (a former Kopassus officer), about one of the suspected killers they claim they killed in a firefight the following day. Briefly, the body -- supposedly killed only a couple of hours earlier when it was examined by the police investigating the case -- was already stiff and police believe it had been dead for least 12 hours.

But the most telling point against Kopassus is that no seasoned observer of Papuan affairs has ruled out the possibility that this so-called elite unit, or other soldiers for that matter, were involved in the killings.

The reason why is that the Indonesian army is, at best, an ill- disciplined, poorly trained and badly equipped military force. And at its worst it can only be described as a group of brigands specialising in protection rackets, robbery and corruption.

So why would the Australian Defence Minister resort to a counsel of desperation, saying that Australians may need to rely on this institution for protection? The answer is elsewhere in Senator Hill's speech to the C.W. Bean Foundation in Canberra last Wednesday night.

Hill sees a new security threat facing Australia, an "arc of militant Islam" to add to the well-canvassed arc of instability. This new orb, one which is "albeit at the margins of society, stretches across the region, from Malaysia and Singapore across into the southern Philippines and Indonesia, including Sulawesi and Maluku".

And what is the first line of defence against this new threat? It is the Indonesian army, which Senator Hill says will remain a "fundamentally important institution" in Indonesia. He is correct on the latter point. The army is the nation's most powerful single institution and cannot be ignored in Australia's dealings with Indonesia. He also correctly pointed out that the army "will remain the main repository of a viable counter-terrorist capability in Indonesia pending development of an effective police role".

But the minister's analysis goes astray when he suggests that the army has an important role to play in calming the potential for religious division and reducing the attractiveness of violent Islamic extremism in Indonesia. "As a secular organisation [the army] will remain key to the government's efforts to promote tolerance and harmony between Indonesia's many different faiths," Senator Hill said. "This is particularly important in the context of current concerns about the potential attractiveness of radical forms of Islam in the region."

However, the Indonesian army has shown no ability whatsoever to promote tolerance and harmony. In fact, it is a prime mover in fanning Indonesia's most dangerous ethnic and religious conflicts. In Maluku, army units allowed the militant Laskar Jihad to enter the province in 2000, an act which took the civil conflict to a new level. In Aceh, the army shows no understanding whatsoever of legitimate grievances by the strongly Muslim population. The unrelenting abuse and exploitation by army units is a major reason why most Acehnese want to leave Indonesia.

The key to tackling the "arc of militant Islam" is not the army. The fundamental feature of Indonesian Islam is that it is overwhelmingly moderate in nature, and generously mixed with Indonesia's longer-established religions and cultures. The vast majority of Indonesia's approximately 170 million Muslims have no truck with extremism.

So rather than reaching out to the army and relying on its dubious credentials to quell the perceived threat from extremist Islam, perhaps it would be better to set a policy of engagement with Indonesia's moderate Muslim leaders and work with them to achieve a shared goal of limiting the influence of the few unrepresentative radicals.

The minister might think that dialogue with Muslim clerics is outside his beat. But it would do a lot more for Australian interests than waiting for the Indonesian army to become a standard bearer for tolerance and harmony.

Analysts blame clash on TNI's grip on security affairs

Jakarta Post - October 2, 2002

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Analysts blamed the deadly gunfight between police and soldiers in Binjai, North Sumatra, on the reluctance of the Indonesian Military (TNI) to focus on the national defense and relinquish its involvement in internal security matters to the police.

They said the military's long-standing grip on internal security affairs had made the soldiers hesitant to withdraw from the power. "TNI joins in security operations more often than taking care of defense matters. This mistake, of course, creates conflicts," said Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) here on Tuesday.

Nur Atar Achmad of the Police Watchdog concurred. He urged the military commander to convince the soldiers to carry out defense matters.

Both Hendardi and Atar were commenting on the gunfight between police and soldiers in the North Sumatra town of Binjai, which had claimed eight lives.

Similar incidents have taken place in cities throughout the country. The latest was on Auguset 12 when 30 members of the National Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) attacked a military complex in Bogor, West Java. One police officer was killed in the incident and three others were seriously injured.

Another incident occurred in September last year in Madiun, East Java, between police officers and Army soldiers who killed two civilians.

For years, the police were part of the TNI and were subordinate to the military. The police separated from the TNI after the enactment of Law No. 2/2002 on Indonesian Police affairs. Under the law, the police are headed by a police commander who is directly accountable to the President. The separation has boosted the police's confidence, but it has become a threat to the military's dominance, observers said.

Although, the police are legally mandated to handle security affairs, observers say military commanders' failure to share has prompted soldiers to keep their role in security affairs intact.

In the Binjai gunfight, which lasted from Sunday evening through Monday morning, various weapons -- including M16s and AK47s -- were used to gun each other down.

Reports have said that the gunfight was provoked by a rivalry between police officers and soldiers involved in the illegal drug trade. Both the police and military are allegedly involved in trafficking drugs to increase their incomes.

"The conflict is an accumulation of problems from the past. I believe it will resurface in the future if no stern actions are taken," Hendardi said.

He added that there should be strict regulations on the use of arms and munitions among police and military personnel. He urged the government to make stricter regulations to deal with weapons. Hendardi acknowledged that deadly clashes between police and military personnel could be ignited by different factors, but the root of the problem was the same.

He said there was rising hostility among police and military personnel following the police's separation from the TNI.

Achmad agreed with Hendardi, saying that the military's envy had boiled over with speculation that police personnel could earn more cash due to their close interaction with society.

He added that the condition had worsened with the police personnel flaunting their wealth to military soldiers, a move which could enrage the soldiers.

Police bear brunt as soldiers go on the rampage

Sydney Morning Herald - October 2, 2002

Matthew Moore, Jakarta -- When the Indonesian Government hived the police force away from the military two years ago, it hoped it would be another step on Indonesia's road towards democracy, with police looking after law and order and the military focusing on national security.

But after a 36-hour war between the two that left at least seven dead and more than 20 with gunshot and other wounds, many Indonesians are wondering who will protect them.

Two years of simmering tensions between the two forces exploded at about 7.30pm on Saturday in a small northern Sumatran town of Binjai when police arrested a soldier called Marwan for selling ecstasy.

A colleague and friend from Marwan's 100th airborne battalion tried to get him released before following him back to the police station and taking the matter up with the senior detective. When he refused to release Marwan, the soldier cut off the detective's ear with a knife and retreated to his barracks.

The chief of the police station called for help and the police chief from Sumatra's biggest town, Medan, 20 kilometres away, rushed to Binjai with the head of the North Sumatra command and officials from the local legislature. They met and the army commander ordered his soldiers back to their barracks.

For the rest of Saturday night and for most of Sunday it looked as if the issue had been defused.

But shortly after 11pm on Sunday, at least 100 soldiers crammed into trucks and attacked two police stations, one where Marwan was held and another which was home to Brimob, the feared police mobile squad.

Although Brimob officers carry automatic weapons, they were no match for the soldiers, who attacked with US and Russian M16 and AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

They stormed the police station where Marwan was held, set it alight after blowing the roof off with grenades, shot dead at least four police officers, and burnt eight cars and 25 confiscated motorbikes.

When the soldiers left, they took police files and 1 tonnes of hashish they found in the station. Marwan and 60 others in detention escaped.

Late yesterday, one policeman in Medan, who did not want to be identified, said many police stations had been abandoned because police were terrified the army might attack again.

The hashish, and Marwan's ecstacy, may hold the key to why the arrest of a drug dealer turned into a bloodbath. Indonesia's military and police force rely on revenue from an array of business activities to supplement the modest Government funding they receive. While some are legal, many are not and there is speculation the weekend war is related to a turf war over drugs.

Indonesia's Commander in Chief of the armed forces, General Endriartono Sutarto, said he had ordered an investigation and the airborne unit would be abolished if it was involved.

Troops battle police

Straits Times - October 1, 2002

Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- At least 100 soldiers armed with grenades, bazookas and rifles attacked a police station in North Sumatra on Sunday night, killing four policemen and leaving 27 injured.

The provocation was apparently the arrest of a soldier by the police for alleged drug use.

Clashes of this type are not uncommon in Indonesia and are symptomatic of the power struggle and tensions between the two forces, said analysts.

Describing the attack in Binjai, a small town on the outskirts of Medan, North Sumatra, local police spokesman Commander Amrin Karim told The Straits Times: "The situation was out of control. They arrived and just ran amok. They were using rifles, grenades and even a type of bazooka."

Four police officers were shot fatally in the chest, 27 were injured, four of them critically, he said. In addition, the police headquarters and dormitories were totally destroyed.

The assault came in retaliation for the arrest of a soldier on the charges of selling shabu-shabu or Ecstasy pills, he said. "We try to apply the law but the TNI does not accept it. Because they don't believe the police have the right to charge the military," he said. TNI refers to the Indonesian military.

After unsuccessfully demanding that their colleague be released, several soldiers attacked the police with bayonets on Saturday night, according to local newswire reports. The following night, around 100 soldiers returned to launch an attack that went on for several hours. Calm was restored only in the early afternoon yesterday. More than 60 prisoners managed to escape during the attack.

The Binjai police had initially requested back-up troops but later withdrew the demand after police and military commanders met and ordered their troops to halt the attack. A hunt is now on for the attackers.

North Sumatra Army spokesman Brigadier-General Ratyono said: "We will investigate this and fire those who were involved in this incident." This was not the first time that the military clashed with the police in Binjai, admitted Commander Amrin. A similar but smaller clash erupted several months ago when police arrested a soldier for gambling.

In other such instances across the country, three teenagers were killed by stray bullets when a petty fight between the elite Kostrad troops and the police turned ugly in Madiun, East Java, last September.

Especially prone to such incidents are the conflict-ridden areas like Aceh and Maluku. There is often an overlap of the security forces' roles in these regions which gives rise to rivalry and animosity.

Historically, the roots of resentment lie in the fact that the police used to be mainly a back-up force under military command. Only during former president Abdurrahman Wahid's time was it carved out and charged with the task of maintaining internal security while the military was entrusted the task of national defence.

Soldiers attack police station, four injured

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2002

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan -- At least four people were injured, including two police officers, when dozens of Army soldiers attacked the Langkat Police station in Binjai regency, North Sumatra, on Sunday morning.

Dozens of soldiers from the Army's airborne battalion stormed the station at 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, injuring two police officers, including chief of detectives Adj. Sr. Comr. Togu Simandjuntak, whose right ear was slashed by a bayonet wielded by one of the assailants.

Another police officer, Second Insp. M. Simbolon, suffered a stab wound to his hand. Police officers responded by firing their weapons, wounding two attackers -- Chief Privates Rahmat and Hilal -- on their feet.

The two injured police officers are being treated at the Gleneagles Hospital in Medan, while the two soldiers were taken to the Bukit Barisan Military Hospital, also in Medan.

Bukit Barisan Military Commander Maj. Gen. Idris Gassing said the attack was initiated by Chief Pvt. Rahmat, who was upset about the arrest of a civilian friend for drug possession.

Rahmat wanted his friend freed, which the Langkat Police refused to do. Angered by the officers' refusal, Rahmat gathered a number of fellow soldiers to attack the police station.

"The attack on the Langkat Police station was initiated by our personnel. That is clearly a big mistake," Idris told journalists on Sunday morning in Medan. Idris said he had reported the incident to Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, and in line with Ryamizard's policy of being tough on errant soldiers stern action, including discharge, would be taken against those involved in the attack.

"This is not the first such incident. Similar incidents continue to take place, so we want to take action that will shock recalcitrant personnel. We will discharge them," he said.

Idris said he had already apologized to North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Ansyad Mbai, who he said had expressed his forgiveness.

Quoting Ansyad, Idris said the attack may have been triggered by a lack of understanding or narrow-mindedness on the part of the assailants about the work of the police.

Idris also said that military and police leaders in Binjai regency had held a meeting to take preventive measures to stop any possible revenge attacks by police personnel.

"The coordination meeting involved the battalion commander, district military commander, police resort chief and Binjai administration officials, and they have agreed on measures to prevent the incident from spreading," he said.

Claims Indonesian army is promoting violence

Radio Australia - September 29, 2002

[One of Australia's top Indonesia-watchers says that Indonesia's military is promoting, not fighting, communal violence. Dr Harold Crouch has told the annual Indonesia Update Conference that it serves the interests of the Indonesian Army to keep violence going in areas such as Aceh and West Papua.]

Transcript:

Hamish Robertson: One of Australia's top Indonesia-watchers says that Indonesia'smilitary is promoting, not fighting, communal violence.

Dr Harold Crouch has told the annual Indonesia Update Conference that it serves the interests of the Indonesian Army to keep violence going in areas such as Aceh and West Papua.As Graeme Dobell reports this is at odds with the argument by the Australian Government this week that Indonesia's military -- the TNI -- is a crucial force for stability.

Graeme Dobell: Australia's defence minister, Robert Hill, is keen to resume the defence relationship with Indonesia building up military links in areas like intelligence, training and maritime surveillance. Senator Hill says Indonesia's military leadership wants to develop a more professional force and is a key to maintaining order.

Robert Hill: TNI will remain a fundamentally important institution in Indonesia -- it's handling of difficult internal security problems across the acapellego will have a crucial bearing on stability. As a secular organisation it will remain key to the government's efforts to promote tolerance and harmony between Indonesia's many different faiths.

Graeme Dobell: But Dr Harold Crouch has spent the last two years in Jakarta as the head of international crisis group, and he describes and Indonesian military still making its own rules. The army gets only one-third of its budget from the Indonesian state. The other two-thirds of the budget is raised by the military itself -- from businesses enterprises and from corruption.

Harold Crouch: The largest source of military finance is actually from illegal activities. Indeed most of the funds that are raised from what can only be called extortion. Let's say for example huge markups on military purchases, protection from foreign and Indonesian enterprises, but say the big petrol and chemical plants, big mines and that sort of thing. Wherever there is illegal mining, illegal logging, illegal fishing, cattle rustling, whatever, smuggling, you'll find military elements.

Graeme Dobell: Dr Crouch says a tacit agreement with the government means there are no real prosecutions of military officers for human rights crimes. Indeed he says, officers keep regional conflicts on the boil to serve their own interests.

Harold Crouch: It's hard to prove, but there are sort of indications that this affects the senior officers. But senior officers actually have an interest in these conflicts continuing. Just take some of the big petro-chemical or mining American firms. If there's complete peace in Aceh and Papua, are they going to make contributions to the military -- of course not. Now I'm not suggesting the military has an interest in starting a full-scale war again. At the same time, they don't want a full- scale peace. They like to keep the pot boiling basically and that is very profitable for the military.

Hamish Robertson: Dr Harold Crouch, That report by Graeme Dobell.

Indonesian forces in graft war

The Australian - September 30, 2002

Sian Powell -- Turf wars over extortion rackets often trigger armed clashes between the Indonesian military and the nation's police force, a conference on the weekend was told.

Harold Crouch, of the Australian National University, is a former chief of the International Crisis Group's Indonesia Project and a world authority on the Indonesian military. He told the annual Indonesia Update conference in Canberra that a shortfall in government funding had pushed the army and police into crime, and clashes between them often led to shootouts and fatalities.

Only 30 per cent of military costs are funded by the Indonesian Government, and units within the Indonesian military have independently resorted to extortion, prostitution, gambling and smuggling to fund their operations. Marcus Mietzner, also from the Australian National University, told the conference the Indonesian military's claim that it relied on authorised foundations and businesses for funds was highly suspect. According to audit results released recently, nearly all these foundations and business were "technically bankrupt", Mr Mietzner said.

Professor Crouch said the main source of military income was from "illegal activities, which can only be called extortion". These range from extorting money from large multinational mining and petro-chemical companies to running gambling dens and overseeing smuggling operations. Huge mark-ups were also routinely added to military purchases. "Manufacturing and commercial enterprises in cities and towns are also 'taxed' by the military and police, while illegal taxes are routinely extracted at ports and from land transport companies," he said. "Security personnel are deeply involved in illegal logging, mining, fishing, cattle rustling and smuggling. And, at the lowest level, military and police officers either control or provide 'backing' for illegal gambling, narcotics and prostitution."

He said that as well as controlling its own funding, there was speculation the Indonesian military deliberately maintained bubbling conflict in the troubled areas of Aceh, Maluku and Papua, partly to demonstrate the necessity of a powerful army. "This is not to say that the military wants an all-out war in these regions, but a continuing atmosphere of tension and uncertainty makes it much easier to extract contributions," Professor Crouch said. "Giant foreign petro-chemical or mining enterprises, for example, would be unlikely to make large payments to military officers if they felt no threat to their security."

In an atmosphere of uncertainty, violence and tension, he said, criminal activity was easier, and constraints were loosened on activities such as smuggling, trading in marijuana or selling arms and bullets to combatants in ethnic conflicts. Professor Crouch said that although the Indonesian Government had resisted demands for the introduction of a military emergency in Aceh, and the escalation of the Maluku emergency from "civil" to "military" status, in practice the provinces were under military control.

The behaviour of the security forces in these regional conflicts had been very poor, he added, with examples of serious indiscipline condoned by commanders; "sweeps" for weapons becoming looting expeditions and road blocks turning into a means of extracting "tolls".

"In Maluku in particular," he said, "military and police personnel often joined their co-religionists in battles or at least supplied them with weapons."

International relations

Indonesia seeks support for territorial integrity

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2002

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kornelius Purba, Yogyakarta -- Indonesia, as the host, opened a two-day meeting of the Southwest Pacific Dialogue Forum here on Friday to seek reconfirmation of support for its territorial integrity from the six-member forum.

The meeting, held amid growing public criticism against the government's poor diplomacy to promote the country's territorial integrity, is part of the government's strong campaign to maintain international support in defending its territorial integrity, especially in Papua, where many are calling for independence.

The forum, initiated by then president Abdurrahman Wahid in 2000, gathers the foreign ministers of the participating countries.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said Indonesia expected all six countries, including East Timor, to reconfirm their support for Indonesia's unity.

While emphasizing the principles of non-interference, Hassan also indicated a readiness to receive suggestions from his guests in resolving the country's problems.

The meeting itself was originally scheduled to be held in Timika, Papua, in August to demonstrate Indonesia's confidence in keeping Papua. However, due to security problems there, the venue was moved to Yogyakarta.

"We wanted all of our partners at the forum to state, in the very heart of Papua, their support for the territorial integrity and national unity of Indonesia," Hassan told The Jakarta Post in response to the failure to hold the meeting in Timika.

Hassan declined to comment on the statement by New Zealand's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Phil Goff that New Zealand was willing to help resolve the prolonged conflicts in Papua. "All participating countries are very supportive of our territorial integrity," Hassan said.

Citing his own country's experience in mediating separatist conflicts in Papua New Guinea, Phil Goff indicated that New Zealand was willing to participate in ending conflicts in Indonesian Papua.

Goff emphasized that Papua was Indonesia's domestic problem, and praised Indonesia for implementing the special autonomy status for Papua. However, he also pointed out that prolonged insecurity in the province would affect the whole region's security.

"It is hypothetical, but if we were requested, we can play a fruitful role in the talks on Papua," Goff said prior to attending the meeting.

The foreign ministers are expected to issue a 13-point joint statement on Saturday, covering security issues such are transnational crime and terrorism, human and drug trafficking and border issues. Other issues include the enhancement of cooperation in the fields of education, social problems and maritime affairs. The forum is expected to be held annually.

"Australia, New Zealand and PNG are very active in drafting the statement," an Indonesian diplomat said, referring to deliberations during the senior officials meeting (SOM) on Friday.

The two-day meeting was also attended by East Timor Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Jose Ramos Horta, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, Papua New Guinea Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister Rabbie Namaliu and the Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Blas F. Ople.

Horta said his presence was a good opportunity to learn from his colleagues. He also stated that East Timor had not decided whether it would join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "I am here just to learn from more senior colleagues," said Horta.

Meanwhile, foreign ministry officials denied that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had canceled her plan to open the forum in Yogyakarta, saying she had, from the beginning, asked Hassan to read her speech.

The statement conflicted with the insistence of three Palace officials who said they had come to Yogyakarta to prepare for the President's visit. The visit was canceled apparently, shortly after they had arrived in the town.

"We came here to prepare for her visit, but then she canceled it," the three officials told the Post when found shopping in downtown Yogyakarta on Thursday evening.

Economy & investment

Washington does Indonesian debt deal

Radio Australia - October 2, 2002

The United States and Indonesia have agreed to reschedule nearly 500 million US dollars in debt owed by Indonesia and due to mature shortly. Indonesia is also expected to sign a similar agreement with Germany worth over 101 million dollars.

The rescheduled US debt comprises 304-million dollars in mostly commercial debt and 181-million dollars in official development assistance debt which is primarily in the form of food aid.

Under the rescheduling deal signed Monday by Indonesia's Finance Minister Budiono and US ambassador Ralph Boyce, the commercial debt will be repaid in half-yearly instalments between December 2008 and 2021.

Indonesia blacks out

Far Eastern Economic Review - October 3, 2002

John McBeth, Jakarta -- Black markings along its flanks, a large grey fish glides across the aquarium at the far end of Eddie Widiono's tasteful, wood-panelled office in south Jakarta. The Sumatran belida is said to have mystical qualities, but there's nothing mystical about the way it strikes out and swallows one of the dozens of tiny red carp trying to stay out of its way.

The belida may be something of a metaphor for Widiono, president-director of Perusahaan Listrik Negara, or PLN, Indonesia's state-owned electricity utility. The former marketing director will need almost mystical powers if he is to head off a looming power crisis. And if blackouts do begin in earnest across populous Java, he could be swallowed up himself as a convenient scapegoat.

This is not a time for the faint-hearted. With demand eating up supply, no new power stations being built on the Java-Bali grid and PLN taking the unprecedented step of urging major industries to either shut down or use generators during peak hours, some power executives believe only emergency government action can prevent shortages on the scale of Manila's power crunch in 1989- 91 that shaved 6% off the Philippines' GDP.

Critics point to the lack of a real energy policy in a country brimming with natural resources. Officials have often called natural gas the wave of the future for power generation, yet so far little has been done to make that happen. "I don't know if it's a policy we need as much as a quick decision," says Widiono. "The policy is clear -- to use domestic gas. An energy task force would help to overcome the bureaucratic barriers between oil-and-gas and the financial-and-tax sectors." Only 16,200 megawatts of the Java-Bali grid's 18,500 megawatts of installed capacity is deemed reliable, with peak demand often breaching the 14,000-megawatt level in the early evening. That has reduced the reserve ratio to 13% -- well below the 25%-30% the World Bank regards as acceptable. On Sumatra reserve levels are even lower, with the oil-rich eastern province of Riau developing at such a clip that PLN's only real option is to bring in hydro-generated power from West Sumatra where there is over-capacity. Widiono, who wins praise from the power community for getting the utility back on its feet, is remarkably sanguine about the possibility of being blamed for something he had nothing to do with. "That's the risk for anyone sitting in that chair," he says. "It's the same in any country." Well, not quite. Most countries would never have got into this hole, much of it the result of turf-conscious bureaucrats and poor planning and judgments by Indonesian and international agencies alike.

And, of course, the economic crisis. Because PLN receives all of its revenue in rupiah, while it pays for its oil and gas and private power in dollars, the 1997 financial collapse bankrupted the utility. Almost overnight, its selling price dropped from 7 US cents to 1.7 US cents -- one of the reasons why the International Monetary Fund insisted on scrapping a string of private power projects. Three years later, the price is back at 4.6 US cents, still short of PLN's average production cost of 5.5 US cents, but on track to reach 7 US cents by the target date of 2005.

Widiono believes that will be enough to attract new power investments to a country that has so far done more to deter investors than lure them in. In the meantime, the REVIEW has learned, Widiono has asked General Electric to do almost the impossible -- build an emergency 800-megawatt oil-fired plant in West Java within the next year. That would help fill an existing shortfall in the massive 2,300 megawatts in extra power Java will need before 2005 to head off a crisis.

Even then, too many of PLN's hopes are riding on the rusting shell of Tanjung Jati B, a planned 1,320-megawatt coal-fired plant on Java's northern coast that Hong Kong entrepreneur Gordon Wu abandoned in 1997. Sumitomo is interested in reviving the project, which is only 20% complete, but Widiono says financial details for the billion-dollar-plus plant still have to be worked out between Japanese banks and the Indonesian government. Experts say the earliest it could be running would be 2006.

After what happened to Karaha Bodas, a cancelled geothermal project now at the centre of a messy arbitration dispute, that will almost certainly entail demands for a sovereign-risk guarantee Jakarta is reluctant to make. "I can't see any banks coming in without strong government support," says one Western finance official. "The Finance Ministry is worried about providing that support because of its sovereign-risk rating; every time you sign a guarantee it becomes a contingent liability." The only other viable project is a new 700-megawatt station that could be slotted into the 3,200-megawatt Paiton complex, a mix of state and private coal-fired units on the East Java coast. The United States-Japanese Paiton Energy consortium, which operates the 1,200-megawatt Paiton I plant, has shown some interest in the $900 million venture. But it too will demand a government -- not a PLN -- guarantee, plus tax exemption.

There's yet another drawback. East Java currently has a surplus of power, but a six-year delay in the completion of a new southern east-west transmission line, caused by right-of-way and contract disputes, means PLN will be limited in how much it can channel into energy-strapped West Java and Jakarta until its completion in 2005. Like Tanjung Jati B, the long-planned expansions of Muara Karang and Muara Tawar, two big power stations on the fringes of Jakarta, also depend on Japanese loans and long-term natural gas supplies that are currently not available.

West Java's vulnerability was illustrated on the night of September 12 when much of greater Jakarta was plunged into darkness for five hours after a break in the transmission line feeding power from the giant 3,400-megawatt coal-fired Suralaya complex, west of Jakarta. Experts have long worried about maintenance and other problems at Suralaya, run by PLN subsidiary Indonesia Power, which is notorious for buying cheap, illegally- mined coal that often clouds the Indonesian capital in pollution.

Curtailing demand

Complicating the short-term supply situation is the current El Ni-o weather phenomenon, which could extend the dry season by more than a month and put a further crimp in hydroelectric output that takes care of peak loads. Meanwhile, PLN is trying to put the brakes on demand, which grew by 9% last year. The Mines and Energy Ministry wants to restrict future growth to an ambitious 3.6%, but industry researchers say that even existing consumers are soaking up more power at an annualized rate of 4.6%.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Java has more than 10,000 megawatts in private generation capacity, which over the past 10-15 years has either been used as back up or to run factories around the clock. But with the government slashing subsidies on fuel oil by 75% -- and ending a fool's paradise enjoyed by many manufacturers -- about 1,500 megawatts of that capacity has moved over to PLN supply in the last 18 months as a cost-cutting measure.

Widiono denies widespread reports that PLN has stopped making new connections altogether. But he does confirm that major industrial users are being asked to either halt production during the peak hours of 5 p.m.-8 p.m., or to run their generators during that period -- and even to feed some of their surplus into the PLN grid. That, he says, is aimed at reducing peak loads by 300 megawatts next year and up to 400 megawatts in the crucial year of 2004 when the power balance is likely to become critical.

Meanwhile, the government's failure to develop the potential of natural gas is costing PLN big bucks. In Central Java, negotiations have only just begun to provide gas to the 1,300- megawatt Tambak Lorok station, which was built without a natural gas supply and has been running on increasingly expensive oil since the mid-1990s. Widiono says Tambak Lorok, which was designed to handle peak loads, costs PLN 600 billion rupiah ($66.4 million) a year more to run than the entire 3,200-megawatt Paiton complex.

The 480-megawatt Grati plant in East Java was also built without a gas supply. It runs on oil as well, but only when it is needed. Further to the north, the 1,200-megawatt Gresik plant is burning fuel oil to compensate for depleting supplies of gas from BP's collapsing North Bali field. Similarly in West Java, Muara Karang is relying on oil to fill a gas shortfall, and Muara Tawar has always run on oil when it was actually designed for gas.

So how has it come down to this? Mostly, it is a commentary on the way subsidies created a false economy for a utility that has always been treated as a stepchild in comparison to the state-run Pertamina oil company. Pertamina's focus has historically been on oil trading and liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) exports -- so much so that the government created a separate agency, Perusahaan Gas Negara, to distribute domestic natural gas.

Even then, Indonesia has been slow to take advantage of its gas resources, which currently make up just 20% of the energy mix. In Malaysia, where gas represents 35% of the mix, more than 75% of all power generation is gas-fired. Says a Western gas consultant, "PLN could never plan with gas because Pertamina never told them how much gas there was." Now that both companies are being forced to privatize, Pertamina is suddenly looking at domestic gas to boost upstream revenues, now confined to the modest 50,000 barrels of crude oil it produces each day. And that's not good news for gas planners for the reason that Pertamina wants to take over contracts that have a short shelf life -- like ExxonMobil's recently discovered Cepu field in East Java, which contains at least 3 trillion cubic feet of gas in addition to its billion barrels of oil.

Much will depend on what happens next year when Pertamina has to relinquish its long-standing control over foreign production- sharing contractors to a new government agency. Nationalist officials and parliamentarians might be tempted to support Pertamina's efforts to build on its portfolio of concessions, but in the case of Cepu that would mean leaving the oil and gas in the ground until the contract runs out in another eight years.

Supplement reserves

Some experts believe a re-gasification terminal, handling LNG shipped from Kalimantan, Papua and the Natuna Sea, may be the future way to supplement Java's current gas reserves of 7 trillion-10 trillion cubic feet, much of which is in a collection of smallish East Java fields that are still in the process of being married off to individual power plants. West Java's medium-term needs can probably be served by reserves of 5 trillion cubic feet in southern Sumatra, expected to be flowing along a Japanese-funded, 400-kilometre pipeline within the next three years.

Also under study is a 1,100-kilometre pipeline from gas-rich east Kalimantan to Java, drawing on current available reserves of 7 trillion-10 trillion cubic feet. The total cost of the three-year project is about $1.6 billion. "The biggest question is where's the money going to come from," says one consultant. "It's not just in power you have that problem, it's in gas as well -- no matter how good it all looks." It's a legacy from the past that once again requires decisive action from a government often loath to give it.

Book/film reviews

West Papua's struggle revealed

Green Left Weekly - October 2, 2002

[Paradise Betrayed: West Papua's Struggle for Independence. By John Martinkus Quarterly Essay, issue 7 Black Inc Order at ]

Review by Vannessa Hearman -- The latest issue of Quarterly Essay features an essay by journalist John Martinkus on the struggle of the West Papuan people against Indonesian occupation, which has cost at least 100,000 lives since the 1960s. Martinkus is the author of A Dirty Little War, a book on the covert operations of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) in East Timor.

Martinkus' essay describes his travels through West Papua in April and June this year, from the isolated forest camps of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) guerillas to the coastal capital Jayapura, a "very Indonesianised city". He spoke to a wide range of people involved in the independence struggle, including the interim leader of the Papuan Presidium Council, Thom Beanal. Beanal took over the leadership after the murder of PPC Theys Eluay. Seven officers of the TNI's notorious Kopassus unit have been charged over Eluay's death.

As a result of the repression by the TNI and the difficulties of reaching many parts of West Papua by road, open demonstrations for independence, and organising in general, are very difficult. There have been some courageous flag-raisings and protests which were all met with force.

Martinkus shows the various ways that the Indonesian regime tries to obliterate the Papuan people physically, culturally and historically. In some towns, Papuans are now only half the population, a result of long-term policies to move Indonesians to West Papua under the guise of relieving overpopulation on the islands of Indonesia.

The US-owned Freeport gold and copper mine in West Papua is Indonesia's largest tax payer, and it receives the royal treatment from Jakarta. It reciprocates, writes Martinkus, with donations to the security forces.

Martinkus' familiarity with Aceh, West Papua and East Timor enables him to draw useful comparisons between the struggles. Alarmingly, the same military personnel who ran the covert arming and training of the militias in East Timor are now running West Papua. Cancio Lopes de Carvalho, a militia leader in East Timor, named his gang in honour of the man who now heads military operations in West Papua, Major General Mahidin Simbolon.

Martinkus also describes how large numbers of reactionary Laskar Jihad operatives are being brought into West Papua by the military to create fear and intimidation, and to provoke conflict with the local population.

Martinkus notes that Jose Ramos Horta, East Timor's foreign minister, has been unequivocal in not supporting West Papua's claim to independence. Australia and the US also want West Papua to accept the autonomy deal offered by the Indonesian government.

Martinkus' essay, whether intended or not, throws down a challenge to solidarity activists to respond to the situation in West Papua. Having escaped international wrath over the East Timor killings in 1999, the Indonesian military is ready to utilise the same tactics to crush the movements in West Papua and Aceh.