Bali bombing

Bali Nightclub Bombing Kills 182

Associated Press - October 13, 2002

Irwan Firdaus -- A car bomb destroyed a crowded nightclub on the tourist island of Bali Saturday, sparking a devastating inferno that killed at least 182 people and wounded 300 -- many of them foreigners. Officials said it was the worst terrorist act in Indonesia's history.

Authorities said a second bomb exploded near the island's US consular office. Police said there were no casualties in that explosion, but the Embassy was on edge Sunday after its recreation club in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, was evacuated because of a bomb threat.

The blasts came three days after the US State Department issued a worldwide alert for terror attacks and highlighted fears by the United States and others that Indonesia -- the most populous Muslim nation -- is becoming a haven for terrorists and that al- Qaida operatives are active.

There was no claim of responsibility for the bombing in the Sari Club at the Kuta Beach resort, which officials said killed Indonesians along with Australians, Canadians, Britons, and Swedes. More than 300 people were injured, at least 90 of them critically, officials said.

"This is the worst act of terror in Indonesia's history," Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, the national police chief, told reporters at the site of the blast. "We have to be more alert for other acts of terror." Bachtiar said the bomb exploded in a Kijanj, a jeep-like vehicle.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri flew to Bali and a security alert was declared nationwide. Megawati said that 182 people were killed.

The explosion went off about 11 p.m. and left a huge crater at the entrance to the nightclub, which was located in the center of Kuta. It is Bali's biggest tourist area and a maze of clubs, restaurants, shops, hotels and beach bungalows. It caters to a younger crowd of tourists and surfers.

The blast ignited a huge blaze -- apparently caused by exploding gas cylinders -- which collapsed the flimsy roof structure, trapping hundreds of revelers inside. Footage from Associated Press Television News showed several bodies strewn among the rubble.

"The place was packed, and it went up within a millisecond," Simon Quayle, the coach of an Australian rules football team, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Quayle, whose team was visiting Bali, said he made it safely out of the building but eight of his 19 players were missing.

The blaze then engulfed a nearby nightclub before racing through about 20 other buildings on the block, heavily damaging many of them.

The second explosive detonated a few minutes after the first in the nearby city of Denpasar, Bali's capital, about 300 feet from a US consular office, Suyatno said.

A bomb squad was investigating both blasts but Indonesian officials declined to provide a motive or blame any group.

Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer blamed it on terrorism. "It looks as though this was a terrorist attack," he said on Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.

He said he believed the Sari nightclub was targeted because it was popular with Australians and other foreigners. He said Australians were almost certainly among the dead, estimating that at least 40 Australians were injured, about 15 of them seriously.

Later Sunday, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he will launch an urgent review of national security in the wake of the attack. He said the attack demonstrated Australia was not immune from terror.

Wayan Putra, a driver at the nearby Poppies hotel, said that after the blast, hundreds of townspeople rushed toward the nightclub but could not get near it because of the intense flames.

White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said Washington was monitoring the situation and working with Indonesian authorities. US officials said they didn't know if there were any Americans among the casualties.

The blasts occurred on the second anniversary of the al-Qaida linked attack against USS Cole off Yemen that left 17 sailors dead. Australia has also been one of the United States' staunchest allies in its war on terror and has 150 elite troops serving in Afghanistan.

Indonesian officials have denied the claims that terrorists are using Indonesia as a base. But the US Embassy in the national capital of Jakarta closed Sept. 10 and remained shut for six days due to what US officials said were threats possibly linked to al-Qaida. And Americans traveling in central Java were warned to be vigilant.

Days later, a hand grenade exploded in a car near a house belonging to the US Embassy in Jakarta, killing one man. There was conflicting information as to whether the device was meant to harm Americans.

Authorities in Malaysia and Singapore have alleged that members of Jemaah Islamiyah -- a group said to be seeking to set up an Islamic state in Southeast Asia -- are based in Indonesia.

Singapore has been pressing Indonesia to arrest Jemaah Islamiyah's alleged leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, who lives in Indonesia. But Indonesian officials say they have no evidence against him.

Putra, the driver, said dozens of injured were evacuated by scooter drivers who normally ferry tourists from one part of the resort to another.

Australia tourist Rachel Hughes, 18, said she and a friend had just arrived in Kuta when the blast occurred.

"Standing in the foyer of the Bounty Hotel, people were just walking in, blood dripping off them, burns to their face, skin coming off them," she told Australia's Seven Network.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia had sent an air force plane with a medical team to Bali to help the hard-pressed local hospitals and to possibly evacuate wounded Australians.

National carrier Qantas also was scheduling extra flights to bring people home. Earlier the government had said all flights to the island had been suspended.

Police and the military restricted access in and out of Bali from Denpasar's Ngurah Rai airport and the area seaports in Benoa, Gilimanuk and Padang Bai, said Lt. Col. Yatim Suyatno, a police spokesman.

Although Indonesia has been wracked by ethnic and religious violence since the overthrow four years ago of former dictator Suharto, Bali itself has remained quiet. Saturday's bombings are likely to be a huge blow to Indonesia's lucrative tourism industry and might also undermine government efforts to revive the economy.

"Bali has always, always been safe. We depend on tourism for our livelihood. Our name has been smeared by this horrible blast," said Putra, the driver.

Bomb blasts kill almost 200 in Bali nightspot

Reuters - October 13, 2002

Dean Yates, Bali -- Bombs ripped through a packed nightspot on Indonesia's traditionally tranquil tourist island of Bali overnight, killing at least 182 people, many of them foreigners.

The Saturday night blasts, which the United States denounced as a "despicable act of terror", followed persistent reports that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network was trying to establish a foothold in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Police said the dead included nationals from Australia, Britain, France, Germany and Sweden, but declined to speculate on who might be responsible for the attack in one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.

Indonesia's president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, said the latest information showed 182 people, mostly foreigners, had been killed in the mainly Hindu corner of the country.

"According to the last report, 182 people were killed and 132 were injured in Bali," she told reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting, adding that some were still missing.

A US embassy spokeswoman in Jakarta said a car bomb outside the Sari nightspot in the teeming Kuta Beach nightclub district did most of the damage.

"There were bodies everywhere, people burned were walking around in shock," Amos Libby, a 25-year-old American, told reporters on Sunday at the airport, where he was looking for a flight out. Libby, who was walking nearby at the time, was blown off his feet by the blast but unscathed.

The blast in Bali, a destination popular with everyone from hippies to high-flyers, coincided with heightened security around the world and followed a bomb blast in Finland, another unlikely target, that killed seven people and wounded dozens.

"The United States government condemns in the strongest possible terms this despicable act of terror," a US embassy statement said.

The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air at the scene. Hospital staff said many dead were charred beyond recognition.

"It's nothing quite like anything I've ever seen -- there was more blood, the smell of burnt skin and the pain that they were in, you can't really put that into words," Melbourne tourist Martin Lyons told Australia's Nine Network Sunday programme.

Richard Poore, 37, a television presentation director from New Zealand, said hundreds of revellers were inside the Sari. Poore, who filmed the aftermath, had tried to get into the club 20 minutes before the blast -- but it was too full.

"I saw limbs lying on the ground," he said. "I got to the stage where I couldn't film any more because it made me feel physically ill," he said. "I've never seen anything like it in 12 years of reporting.

Britain slapped a travel warning on Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago where Islam is traditionally moderate and bloody ethnically based separatist violence has seldom targeted foreign nationals.

Some tourists in Bali, long considered a safe haven for tourists, spoke of leaving for home on the first available flights. Airlines officials said some airlines were planning extra flights or or bigger planes.

The main blast at the Sari club, one of two explosions, blew a hole in the ground. One visitor said terrified tourists had left their hotel rooms to sleep in open areas or on the beach after the attack.

Windows were blown out in buildings within a 500-metre radius of the Sari club and wrecked up to 15 cars whose mangled wreckage littered the streets.

Last week, regional security sources said the United States was considering withdrawing some embassy personnel from Indonesia after a grenade blast in the capital raised questions about Jakarta's ability to provide security.

The United States and Singapore, which has detained dozens of people in a crackdown on what it says is a Southeast Asian terror network, have been pressing Indonesia to arrest Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir they describe as a pivotal player in the group.

Indonesia says it has no evidence to link Bashir to Jemaah Islamiah, as the group is known and which in turn has been linked to al Qaeda.

The United States blames al Qaeda for last year's September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

A spate of blasts

Bali police spokesman Yatim Suyatmo said police believed all the explosive devices were home-made bombs. The US embassy spokeswoman said the third explosion occurred 50 metres from the honorary US consulate in Sanur, another tourist area about 30 minutes from Kuta. No one was hurt in that incident.

Earlier, a suspected home-made bomb knocked over the gate and smashed windows in the compound of the Philippine consulate in the Indonesian city of Manado. No one was hurt.

Downer said there were about 40 Australians in hospitals in Bali and of those about 15 were seriously injured. Visitors included a number of Australians celebrating the end of various football season competitions.

Simon Quayle, coach of the Kingsley Football Club, an amateur team in suburban Perth, said eight players were missing after the team members had gone to the Sari club. "We have no idea where they are or what position they are in," he told ABC television.

An officer said the explosions had occurred virtually simultaneously at around 11.30pm.

Before dawn on Sunday, flames licked into the air around the rubble of the Sari as tourists carried victims away from the carnage, many half-naked and moaning in pain. "The Sari club is gone. You can smell the bodies of those who died," one local photographer said.

A police officer said it was difficult to identify victims. "They have been completely charred," he added.

Some critics say Indonesia is a weak link in the US-led war on terror in Southeast Asia, adding that the government is reluctant to crack down on radical Muslim groups for fear of upsetting the moderate mainstream.

Indonesia is 85 percent Muslim. Bali is particularly popular with Australians and Japanese nationals. "The impact on Bali will be major. Look at the large number of foreigners in this," one foreign risk consultant, who declined to be identified, said in Jakarta.

Students/youth

84 students punished for attacking 'intelligence officer'

Jakarta Post - October 11, 2002

Jakarta -- Eighty four students who attacked a man they suspected of being an intelligence officer appeared at the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday and were each ordered to pay a Rp 25,000 (US$2.8) fine or spend three days in police detention.

The students had on Wednesday staged a rally in front of the office of the Jakarta chapter of the Golkar Party, demanding the dissolution of the party. But it turned into a brawl with security personnel, leaving some students injured.

Taking their wounded friends to the nearby St. Carolus Hospital, the students saw a man sitting in the waiting room and attacked him as they mistakenly thought he was an intelligence officer monitoring them. The victim was slightly injured.

Opening the trial, which lasted only in 20 minutes, presiding judge I Ketut Gede spent the first five minutes berating the students who had risen and chanted the songs they often sang at rallies as the panel of judges entered the courtroom.

"The court has sentenced you ... for you know what," he said, banging down the gavel, ignoring the students' demands to have their charge read out.

According to the court transcript, the students were found guilty of assault and trespass. The courtroom was packed with the defendants and their friends as well as dozens of riot police.

Students clash with Golkar thugs

Laksamana.Net - September 9, 2002

Police fired blank ammunition, tear gas and water cannons on Wednesday to stop a brawl between about 300 student protesters demanding the dissolution of the former ruling Golkar Party and dozens of thugs loyal to the party.

Detikcom online news agency said the students from the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) had gathered outside Golkar's Jakarta branch office on Jalan Pegangsaan to demand the abolition of the party. The demonstration turned violent in the afternoon when some of the students began scuffling with Golkar supporters, who were described as thugs.

Reuters reported that stones and molotov cocktails were thrown and several protesters were injured. Police intervened at 5.45pm, firing tear gas, blank bullets and spraying the mob with water.

Golkar, the second largest party in parliament, was the notoriously corrupt political vehicle of former president Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for 32 years.

These days Golkar remains mired in corruption, but has become President Megawati Sukarnoputri's main coalition partner. Courts have refused to dissolve Golkar even though it cheated in past elections.

Aceh/West Papua

Two more policemen, one soldier killed in restive Aceh

Jakarta Post - October 12, 2002

Banda Aceh -- Two policemen and a soldier have been killed by separatist rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province, police have confirmed here on Friday.

"Six Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels shot dead two members of the police elite Mobile Brigade in an ambush in the Liang Pangidi area of Southeast Aceh district on Thursday," a police spokesman said, as quoted by AFP. The two were patrolling the area at the time of the ambush, he said, adding the rebels had taken one of the policemen's handguns.

In another incident on Thursday, rebels shot dead a military intelligence officer in the Krieng Gadeng area of Pidie district, said a policeman, who declined to be identified. Local GAM spokesman Abu Razak said angry troops had retaliated by killing a civilian. However, the police source said he had no knowledge of the alleged killing of a civilian.

Aceh has been the scene of bloody violence involving government forces and armed rebels from GAM, which has been fighting since 1976 for an independent homeland.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Aceh in the conflict, with rights activists estimating the death toll for this year alone at around 1,000.

Rebel attack kills party official in Aceh

Straits Times - October 13, 2002

Banda Aceh -- The deputy chairman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) Aceh chapter was killed after separatist rebels sprayed his car with bullets, military officials said.

Mr Said Rafiq Maulana, 38, was driving past a checkpoint in East Aceh on Friday when armed members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) asked him to stop. When he refused, the rebels opened fire, Aceh military spokesman Major Zaenal Muttaqin said. He died on the way to hospital. The rebels denied responsibility for the killing.

His death comes days after a GAM territorial commander, identified as Abu Arafah alias Ibrahim, was shot dead at a village in West Aceh.

Arafah, 33, was killed during a raid by about 200 paramilitary officers on the house of one of his wives in the Setiabakti sub- district last Wednesday, Aceh police spokesman Taufik Sutiyono said. He said officers found one handgun with bullets, a satellite mobile telephone and GAM documents.

In a separate development, the PDI-P dismissed Mr Tarmidi Suhardjo as chief of its regional Jakarta chapter for violating party discipline.

A letter signed by PDI-P chief, Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, and Secretary-General Sutjipto Suhardjo said Mr Tarmidi had violated the party's policy to support incumbent Sutiyoso's bid for second term as Jakarta Governor.

Acehnese lawyer protests TNI chief's allegation

Jakarta Post - October 12, 2002

Banda Aceh -- The Banda Aceh Legal Aid Institute has expressed regret over a statement made by Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen Endriartono Sutarto, in which he accused an Acehnese of being behind the recent clash between the army and police in Binjai, North Sumatra.

"I think it is a racist statement, aimed at creating a negative image of all Acehnese," institute director Rufriadi told Antara here on Friday.

Endriartono claimed in Jakarta on Wednesday that there were indications of the involvement of a third party in the raid by an army unit on the local police in Binjai, Langkat district, toward the end of last month.

The general made it clear however that he had not been able to identify the third party. According to the TNI chief, the Binjai incident was instigated by an army member who used a Javanese name but was actually an Acehnese.

Rufriadi accused Endriartono of being unfair because when he made the statement a fact-finding team was still investigating the incident.

The lawyer maintained that the TNI chief had made the statement with the intention of blaming all the trouble on the Acehnese, thus creating the impression that all Acehnese were troublemakers.

He said such an accusation might also become a deterrent for the Acehnese to join the defense force or the police. "The TNI chief should have shown more wisdom by refraining from making an allegation while an investigation was still under way," he said.

Army chief Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu stressed that it would be out of place to identify the third party while the incident was still under investigation.

"I have deployed some officers to carry out the necessary investigations. The results of the investigation will show whether there has been involvement of a third party," Ryamizard told reporters, as quoted by Antara, after leading a joint military and police exercise session in Jakarta on Friday morning.

He said someone should not be suspected simply because he is Acehnese. "Regardless of whether he is Acehnese or Javanese, a bad man is a bad man," he said.

Commenting on rumors about the impending replacement of Bukit Barisan Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Idris Gassing, who oversees North Sumatra, Ryamizard pointed out that Idris had only been in the post for a few months, while a regional military commander is usually appointed for a couple of years. "His replacement too early would not do," he said.

In a special roll call at the headquarters of the Bukit Barisan Command in Medan last Wednesday, Ryamizard announced the discharge of 20 army members involved in the Binjai incident, and the suspension of the army battalion -- Airborne Battalion 100/PS -- for one year.

In addition, the battalion commander and its five company chiefs were also dismissed from their posts.

Police shoot dead Aceh guerrilla commander

Jakarta Post - October 11, 2002

Banda Aceh -- A territorial commander of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), identified as Abu Arafah, alias Ibrahim, 33, was shot dead at an isolated village in Aceh province, Aceh Police spokesman Taufik Sutiyono said here on Thursday.

Abu Arafah was the GAM commander for Meureuhom Daya, one of about 10 rebel "provinces." He was killed during a raid on the house of one of his wives in the Setiabakti subdistrict of West Aceh district, Taufik said, as quoted by AFP.

Acting on information from local residents, about 200 paramilitary officers had walked for about 90 minutes from the nearest road to reach the isolated village of Teupin Asan late on Wednesday evening, he said.

After encircling the house, police called on Arafah to surrender but he tried to escape from the back and was shot in the thigh, Taufik said. Arafah died later while on the way to the district town of Meulaboh, the cause of death suspected as "heavy loss of blood," Taufik said, without elaborating.

Sutiyono said officers searching the house and Arafah's body found one handgun with bullets, a satellite mobile telephone and GAM documents.

GAM Field Commander Abdul Amri bin Abdul Wahab confirmed Arafah's death but doubted the police account. "How can a wound to the thigh cause so much blood loss? ... It means he must have sustained severe wounds before he died," Abdul said.

Abdul added that the death of a territorial commander meant nothing to GAM and would not affect the rebels' morale. "We already have candidates to replace him," Abdul said, without elaborating. Both Taufik and Abdul said that Abu Arafah's wife, Afriani, was being questioned at the district police headquarters in Meulaboh.

GAM has been fighting since 1976 for an independent homeland in Aceh. More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the conflict, with rights activists estimating the toll for this year alone at around 1,000.

Indonesia police kill Aceh rebel commander

Reuters - October 11, 2002

Banda Aceh -- Indonesian police said on Friday they shot and killed a separatist commander in restive Aceh province but denied rebel allegations he'd been tortured to death.

Clashes between security forces and members of the Free Aceh Movement, who have been fighting for independence since 1976, occur almost daily in the resource-rich province on the tip of Sumatra island with both sides trading accusations of brutality.

Police said Abu Arafah, the regional rebel chief for western Aceh, died of wounds after an ambush on Thursday south of provincial capital Banda Aceh, 1,700 km northwest of Jakarta.

"He was shot in a raid on his house. He refused to surrender and tried to run away so our men shot him in the thigh. He died on his way to the hospital," Taufik Sugiyono, an Aceh police spokesman, told Reuters.

"Our troops didn't [mistreat him]. He died because the closest hospital was so far away and the bleeding couldn't be stopped," he added. Another separatist commander confirmed Arafah's death but accused the police of brutality.

"He died of torture not shots. A wounded prisoner should have been taken care of. This is clearly a violation of human rights," said Amri bin Abdul Wahab.

Aceh is one of two separatist hotspots in Indonesia, the other is in the rugged eastern province of Papua where two US teachers and an Indonesian were killed last month.

People living in Aceh blame both sides for human rights abuses but direct most of their complaints at the security forces.

The rebels want independence for the province and say the government has long siphoned off oil and gas reserves but given little in return.

The government has flatly rejected independence but last year granted a special autonomy deal and says it wants to continue with peace talks, although these two-year long efforts have so far failed to halt the killings.

Police have been holding a British and American woman in Aceh since last month accusing them of associating with the rebels and prosecutors are now deciding whether to pursue a case against them.

Briton Lesley McCulloch and American Joy Lee Sadler are suspected of abusing their tourist visas after they were found in possession of rebel material, police have said.

Spying charges no longer considered for Scot held in Aceh

Agence France Presse - October 10, 2002

The authorities in Indonesia's Aceh province have ruled out pursuing espionage charges against a Scottish woman detained for the past month, the prosecutor handling their case said.

"According to the chief, if we focus on spying it will be difficult to prove in court later," prosecutor Zainal Said told AFP Thursday.

Last Saturday Said said there were indications of espionage in the activities of Lesley McCulloch, who has been detained along with her American travelling companion Joy Ernestine-Sadler, since September 11.

On October 3, Said assigned a team of three prosecutors to examine the case file which police had prepared against the women. After their review and consultation with Aceh's top prosecutor they have decided to focus their case on the women's alleged visa misuse, Said said.

The prosecution team decided the case file was not complete and within two days will send it back to police for further investigation, Said said.

Ernestine-Sadler's case had always been based on alleged visa misuse, Said said, but the case file against McCulloch was filled with alleged notes she made showing "state secrets", specifically the strength and movement of Indonesian security forces.

It also contained copies of newspaper articles by McCulloch, photographs of victims of violence, and photographs of McCulloch with guerrilla leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels who have been fighting for an independent state since 1976. The evidence came from McCulloch's own laptop computer, Said said on Saturday.

McCulloch was until recently a university lecturer in Tasmania, Australia, and is a frequent contributor on the Aceh dispute to Asian newspapers.

In one of several letters recently smuggled out of her detention room at Aceh police headquarters, she wrote that "the Indonesian military and police have a deep-seated hatred of my work." McCulloch and Ernestine-Sadler were detained along with their local translator when security forces stopped them in South Aceh district. The translator is being treated as a witness in the case.

Authorities allege McCulloch conducted research and Ernestine- Sadler engaged in humanitarian activities not in keeping with their tourist visas. Their lawyer has said they deny misusing their visas.

An estimated 10,000 people have died since the Aceh conflict began in the energy-rich province on Sumatra island, with rights activists putting the toll for this year alone at around 1,000.

Aceh Police grill 20 officers over arson

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2002

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh -- Aceh police detectives are questioning 20 colleagues from the elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) for their alleged role in an arson attack on 80 shophouses in Keude Seuneddon, North Aceh, some 57 kilometers east of Lhokseumawe, last month.

Provincial police chief Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani said on Tuesday the 20 officers would be tried at the North Aceh District Court.

"We have to uphold the law. We are not bluffing; anyone who violates the law must be punished. We will not only take civilians to court if they commit crimes, but police officers too," he said. Yusuf refused to disclose the identity or rank of the officers before completion of the investigation.

Dozens of people were injured, a house belonging to a religious teacher and a Koran recital center were burned down during the attack on September 14.

The raid occurred a few days after two Brimob officers -- Sec. Brig. Warsito and Sec. Brig. Yudhi Purba, both from South Sumatra -- were shot dead at a sidewalk shop by two gunmen on motorcycles in Keude Seuneddon, North Aceh. The gunmen are believed to be members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence from Jakarta since 1976. The gunmen also took Warsito's weapon.

Aceh Police spokesman Comr. Taufik S said while the preliminary investigation was under way the 20 officers would be allowed to carry out their duties, but under police control. "Their commander, however, is already at the Aceh Police Headquarters to assist with a number of inquiries. We want to prove to the public whether or not police were involved in the incident," he told The Jakarta Post.

He refuted allegations that the police had burned down the buildings out of revenge for the death of their colleagues. "The officers claimed they were there to douse the fire when shooting came from the source of the fire. Therefore they stopped extinguishing the fire in order to seal off the place," he said.

Meanwhile, Nasir, one of the victims, said he saw no GAM gunmen near the fire. He added it was the officers who had started to burn the buildings after failing to find GAM gunmen. "They even warned the marines nearby the scene not to meddle with police affairs, saying anyone who obstructed them would be considered a GAM supporter," he said. The police also raided Ule Titie and Lhok Rambideng villages, demolishing some buildings.

In another burst of violence, a contractor with American company ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia, Husaimah, was shot during an ambush carried out by a group of unidentified gunmen on Tuesday morning at Meunasah Asan village, Samudera district, North Aceh. Husaimah was being given a lift by ExxonMobil employee Samsul Bahri, who survived the attack unhurt. His car was set ablaze by the attackers.

Separately, an Army soldier, Prv. Marwanto, was killed and his colleague Prv. Zainal sustained gunshot wounds when they were ambushed by some 16 gunmen believed to be GAM rebels in Urang Jalan village in East Aceh on Tuesday.

Two soldiers, one teacher killed in Aceh

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2002

Banda Aceh -- Two soldiers and one teacher were killed in the latest round of violence in Aceh, provincial military spokesman Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin said here on Tuesday.

Zaenal Mutaqin told AFP that First Lt. Dedi Hermansyah was shot dead in an ambush by rebels from the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Jambo Aye, South Aceh district, on Monday afternoon. Hermansyah, who was struck in the temple, was in the lead truck of a three-truck convoy carrying 26 soldiers.

The soldier died at a private hospital in Medan, the capital of neighboring North Sumatra province where he had been evacuated, Mutaqin said. An Army private was also shot dead during an attack by GAM rebels on a military outpost in Bukit Gadeng, South Aceh, late on Monday evening, Mutaqin said.

The outpost, manned by 28 soldiers, was under attack for some 15 minutes before the rebels fled. Local GAM commander Abrar Muda claimed responsibility for both attacks and warned of more to come if the military continued to "oppress" the people of Aceh.

In a separate incident, two gunmen believed to be members of GAM shot dead a 50-year-old teacher in Gapui, Pidie district, on Monday, Mutaqin said. Two assailants riding aboard a motorcycle shot the victim in front of his home as he was leaving for school, he said.

Aceh has long been the scene of bloody violence involving government forces and armed rebels from GAM, which has been fighting since 1976 for an independent homeland.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict, with rights activists estimating the death toll for this year alone at about 1,000.

Indonesia says officers key suspects in Theys' murder

Reuters - October 8, 2002

Jakarta -- Indonesia's military police chief said on Tuesday two officers from the special forces were the main suspects in last year's killing of a top Papua separatist leader.

Military prosecutors have received dossiers on seven members of the elite Kopassus as they try to solve the murder of Theys Eluay, whose body was found in his overturned car in the far eastern province last November.

"Today, we sent the files to the military prosecutors ... seven suspects in two files. The prime suspects are two middle-ranking officers," Major-General Sulaiman A.B. told reporters. "They misinterpreted orders and failed to provide security which caused the death of Theys Eluay," the military police chief said without elaborating.

Sulaiman didn't say whether the seven would face murder charges but at the very least they were now likely to go to court, something which most perpetrators of past military abuses have avoided. Kopassus has repeatedly said it did not order the killing although in April the military said troops were involved.

The charismatic Eluay, leader of the pro-independence Papua Presidium Council, was found murdered on the outskirts of the Papuan capital of Jayapura shortly after he met local army commanders. His killing emboldened already strong calls for independence among two million Papuans and dealt a blow to the government's stumbling efforts to deal with separatist demands.

The Kopassus unit earned a notorious reputation for its alleged role in the torture and abduction of dissidents during former autocrat Suharto's 32-year rule which ended in chaos in 1998.

Resource-rich Papua is one of Indonesia's two separatist hotspots, along with Aceh at the other end of the vast archipelago. Staunchly nationalist President Megawati Sukarnoputri has firmly ruled out independence for both provinces as Jakarta seeks to keep the world's most populous Muslim nation united.

Suspects abound in Papua attack, but terror is ruled out

The Chicago Tribune - October 6, 2002

Uli Schmetzer, Jakarta -- The investigation into the deadly ambush of a convoy of American teachers in Indonesia has become bogged down by a long list of suspects in a nation where terrorists wear many faces and violence often hides behind an official mask.

Investigators have eased initial fears that the tragedy on the eastern tip of the Indonesian archipelago was the work of anti- American terrorists. They now say the attack almost certainly was carried out by one of the many groups fighting for a larger part of the spoils left by the fall of the dictator Suharto.

The automatic-rifle fire that raked the convoy August 31 on a mountain road in the eastern province of Papua killed two American teachers, Edwin Burgon of Oregon and Ricky Spier of Colorado. Also killed was an Indonesian colleague, Bambang Riwanto. Twelve other people, mostly Americans, were wounded, five seriously.

Since then, the police and military investigation has become as foggy as the misty mountain road on which the ambush occurred. Local officials believe the Americans, who were on a school outing to the town of Tembagapura, were victims of a plot to extort more protection money from Freeport-McMoRan, a Louisiana- based mining giant that runs the school where the teachers worked. Freeport has its own security force, and the army handles security around the mining company's perimeter -- for a price.

Separatist rebels, rogue soldiers, local militias and tribes have always demanded "contributions" in return for guaranteeing security for the Freeport mine, the world's largest gold, nickel and copper mining complex. It is among the top three taxpayers in Indonesia.

Military blamed separatists

The Indonesian military initially blamed the separatist Free Papua Movement for the ambush before an unidentified local man sought police protection and said he had evidence incriminating a drunken special forces platoon.

Regional police chief I Made Pastika, the lead investigator, said that he did not rule out military involvement but that there were holes in the story. The spent cartridges at the scene, for example, were of a different caliber than ammunition used in automatic rifles issued to the troops. Pastika has detained 19 local soldiers for questioning. These days he is shuttling between Jakarta and Papua to explain an investigation that could jolt US-Indonesian relations and jeopardize the resumption of military cooperation between the world's most populous Muslim nation and the Pentagon.

Like most police chiefs in Indonesia, Pastika harbors little love for the military. Since the fall of Suharto and the change to a democratic system, a newly empowered regional police force has often fought with local troops over kickbacks and security payoffs from local industries, mining companies, the control of the narcotics trade and prostitution.

While investigating the ambush site, police came under fire. That was not unusual. In northern Sumatra last week, police and soldiers fought a two-day street battle that paralyzed the town and left eight people dead after police refused to free a soldier they had arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

The Papua case has embarrassed Indonesia, which is under US pressure to crack down on Islamic militants. At a briefing, Pastika said he also suspected that militias formed by transplanted residents from other parts of Indonesia might have carried out the ambush on orders of the special forces. Poor residents from Java and Ambon were encouraged under the Suharto regime, which began in 1967 and ended with his ouster in 1998, to settle in Papua. The idea was to consolidate Indonesia's sovereignty over the western part of the island; the eastern part is the independent Papua New Guinea. The Papuan settlers created "self-defense" militias and soon became a majority in Papua. Tribespeople resented the newcomers, who were given the best jobs and the most fertile land.

Another troubled region

The killing of the Americans has cast the spotlight on a part of Indonesia that threatens to become another East Timor, where a brutal separatist war between rebels and Indonesian settlers backed by troops forced the United Nations to intervene and promote an independence referendum. Voters overwhelmingly opted for nationhood.

So far the Free Papua Movement has not killed foreigners or attacked mining interests. This summer, however, rebels sent a letter to military authorities saying they intended to attack the Freeport mining interests, said Albert Rumbekwan, the liaison officer for Papua's Institute for Human Rights. The rebels later backed off.

Pastika said he is not ruling out that rogue soldiers carried out the ambush. He also includes among his suspects Kelly Kwalik, a local separatist commander, and another rebel faction leader, Titus Murib.

Foreign participation in Aceh talks discussed

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2002

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The inclusion of foreigners in the planned monitoring commission to ensure peace in the war-torn province of Aceh will be discussed in the coming peace talks between the government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Monday that the concept to set up the monitoring commission had basically been agreed upon, but the details needed to be worked out.

"As a concept, the establishment of a monitoring agency is accepted by both sides," Hassan said, after a meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri at the Merdeka Palace.

When asked whether the government agreed to include foreigners as members of the commission, Hassan said: "That has to be discussed further." The Government and GAM are slated to engage in another round of peace talks this month in Geneva, Switzerland, which again will be hosted by the Henry Dunant Center (HDC).

The dialog is aimed at agreeing on the cessation of hostilities and to maintain peace in the province as the next step to end the war.

GAM has waged an independence struggle since 1976. The armed conflict in Aceh has claimed more than 10,000 innocent lives, especially during the 10-year military operation that ended in 1998.

The first round of dialogs was initiated by former president Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999, which resulted in a humanitarian pause in 2000. The cease-fire was not effective as the military accused GAM of using the period to consolidate their troops across the province, while GAM blamed the military's continuing operations against the Acehnese for the failure.

Wahid proposed the establishment of an independent monitoring commission to work toward peace, but was ousted in July 2001.

"To monitor the scheme, we need to establish a commission consisting of a third party," Hassan once remarked.

The minister said on Monday that there had not yet been a date set for the coming peace talks, but he underlined that it could take place in October. "As far as I know it won't be later than [the end of] October because early in November we will enter the Muslim fasting month," Hassan said.

During the Ramadhan fasting month, Muslims are required to exercise self restraint, including refraining from violence.

Poor Acehnese demand end to corruption

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2002

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh -- Thousands of the have-nots staged a peaceful rally in front of the Aceh provincial legislature building on Monday, demanding the administration disburse billions of rupiah of public funds to alleviate poverty in the resources-rich province.

The demonstrators, grouped under the Consortium of the Poor and Economically Powerless People (KOMMEL), consisted of the homeless, jobless, scavengers, street vendors, pedicab drivers, blue collar laborers, home industry owners and conflict victims.

They condemned the corrupt provincial administration, saying many officials, including the governor, had abused the conflict to enrich themselves.

"Governor Abdullah Puteh should have paid more attention to the needy like us, instead of making himself wealthy. We don't want luxury cars because the most important thing is how we can survive the economic hardship and the prolonged conflict," demonstrator Ali Basyah told The Jakarta Post.

He said the central government had disbursed Rp 118 billion (US$13 million) to the province this year to help Acehnese people whose relatives were killed during the conflict, but the families had not received a single rupiah.

"In addition, the government also gave Rp 34 billion to the province last year in a bid to help the poor initiate small business enterprises but the provincial administration disbursed only Rp 7 billion for small and medium enterprises," he said.

Ali said that he had submitted a proposal to establish his own small enterprise but had received nothing from the provincial administration.

"Aceh officials have corrupted the funds to enrich themselves. There are many crippled husbands or children caused by the conflict but nobody cares while actually there is a huge amount of money available for them," conflict victims' representative Nur Bahri said.

Nur's husband died in the civil war and she has to make ends meet by doing odd jobs.

The province set a development budget of Rp 2.2 trillion this year, a significant increase on last year's budget of Rp 540 billion. The central government gave the province a total of Rp 5.5 trillion last year and Rp 6.6 trillion this year. The funds include the provincial earnings from oil and gas.

The protesters carried banners that read: "Aceh in conflict, the provincial administrations fat, the people crushed" or "Aceh in conflict, Abdulah Puteh skyrocketing, the people are screaming".

They demanded the provincial administration seriously, honestly and impartially tackle poverty.

"If the administration and the council are no longer able to carry out their duties, they'd better step down from their posts. We are ready to stage direct elections to get qualified leaders," Ali said.

Several councillors met the demonstrators after they held a hearing with the governor, and promised to take action. A heavily guarded Abdullah Puteh, however, left the legislature building through the back door.

Three killed in latest violence in Aceh

Agence France Presse - October 7, 2002

At least three people, including a woman and her grandson, were killed in the latest violence in the troubled Indonesian province of Aceh, witnesses and the military said.

The 65-year-old woman and her seven-month-old grandson were killed on Sunday when unknown gunmen fired into their home in North Aceh's Lueng Tuha village, a witness told reporters. The parents of the baby were wounded in the attack.

A spokesman for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group, Teungku Jamaica, blamed government soldiers for the killings. He said the soldiers had gone on a rampage in the village following a GAM-led attack on troops patrolling the area. The district's military spokesman, Major Zaenal Mutaqin, said he would investigate Jamaica's allegation.

Another civilian was killed in the Blang Ara area of Central Aceh on Saturday when he was assaulted by at least 10 rebels who also stole his money, Mutaqin said.

Aceh has long been the scene of bloody violence involving government forces and armed rebels from the separatist movement -- which has been fighting since 1976.

More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Aceh in the conflict, with rights activists estimating the toll for this year alone at around 1,000.

Rural issues

Thousands of tobacco farmers demonstrate at parliament

Kompas - October 8, 2002

Semarang -- Because the price of tobacco has plummeted to only 5,000 rupiah per kilogram in the last period, the economic conditions for tobacco farmers in the central tobacco plantations in Central Java (Jateng) such as Wonosobo, Temanggung, Demak, and Kendal, is of increasing concern.

These difficult living conditions caused around 5,000 tobacco farmers from the central tobacco plantations to hold a demonstration at the Jateng regional parliament on Monday afternoon. The farmers from these different areas entered the grounds of the Jateng parliament at around 10am using around 50 inter-city busses which were parked along the length of Jalan Pahlawan, Semarang. The also erected banners and [distributed] pamphlets with the words "Tax free cigarettes, tobacco farmers free of tax", "Oh government officials have concern for our fate" and a giant cigarette with the words "Reduce Taxes on Cigarettes" [written on it].

Wahyudi Wahyu Wijaja, the chairperson of the Sindoro Sumbing Association of Tobacco Farmers (Paguyuban Petani Tembakau Sindoro Sumbing, PPTSS) in the Wonosobo regency outlined the demands of the tobacco farmers in a speech. They included the abolition of Government Regulation Number 81/1999 on Tar and Nicotine Limits.

As well as this, they also called on the government to reduce tax on cigarettes by as much as 50 per cent from the existing 40 per cent. They also rejected globalisation and asked for government support for the struggle of farmers.

The high tax on cigarettes has resulted in the cigarette factories setting an extremely low price for farmers' tobacco. During this harvest season, the price of picked tobacco leaves was 10,000 rupiah, while in the years before this it was 15,000 per kilogram. In this last period the prices has further plummeted. In the years before the value of tobacco leaves was extremely high because of it was of the best quality, that is reaching 45-50,000 rupiah per kilogram. However in 2002, it was only 5,000 rupiah per kilogram.

"If these demands are not fully met, we will not pay taxes and at the 2004 general elections we will not participate in the election. Just leave us without a legislative representative. Okay!" said Wahyudi in his speech. "Farmers always become the remedy for to maintain the companies [financial sustainability], raising state funds from extremely high cigarette taxes", he said.

Big losses

According to Muhammad Yasin, a farmer from Dukuh Jurang Jero in the village of Candiyasan, Wonosobo regency, in the 2002 harvest season tobacco farmers suffered big losses. Last year, tobacco farmers could depend on a net income of a minimum of 4 million rupiah. That was after deducting production cost of around 7 million rupiah per hectare.

"But now were is that possible. Instead we are suffering big losses. It is not possible to [get enough] to even [cover] the cost of the capital [investment]", said Yasin.

The tobacco farmers gathered on the grounds and in the lobby of the Jateng parliament while their representatives went up to the third floor to hear the views of the Jateng Parliamentary Commission B. At the meeting which was chaired by Drs Moecshon B, the farmers presented their demands. The farmers also related their plans to go to Jakarta to meet with President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

"We came here to ask for one answer from the Jateng parliament. Is the Jateng parliament ready to support the tobacco farmers' struggle or not. If [you] support us we ask for a letter of support for us to the meeting with President Megawati", said Wisnu Brata, the coordinator of PPTSS Temanggung.

As well as the tobacco farmers, the meeting was also attended by the head of the Jateng Plantation Department, Ir Nazaruddin Thoha and a number of members of the Wonosobo parliament who joined the tobacco farmers when they rallied from the various areas.

The result of the meeting was an agreement, that the Jateng parliament, specifically Commission B, supports the action and the tobacco farmers' struggle. A Jatang parliament letter of support number 412/2890/2002 was read out before the tobacco farmers in the grounds of the Jateng parliament. The letter was addressed to President Megawati and signed by the head of the Jateng Parliament, Mardijo. (VIN)

[Translated by James Balowski. Please not that the demands on the farmers' banners in this report were ambiguous and may not have been rendered exactly.]

'War on terrorism'

Experts still critical of antiterrorism legislation

Jakarta Post - October 12, 2002

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- The antiterrorism bill needs to provide a clear definition of a terrorist act, valid information to arrest terrorists and fair treatment of suspected terrorists, experts said on Friday.

The government must also prepare rulings as a guidance for antiterrorism law and implement them not long after the endorsement of the bill to meet public demands not accommodated in the law, they said. Kusnanto Anggoro of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), legal expert Frans Hendra Winata and Rifqie Muna of the Research Institute for Democracy and Peace (RiDEP) said a terrorist act must be declared a politically motivated crime, otherwise the law would be toothless.

The bill should also define terrorism so it could not be just tagged on separatist groups like the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Papua Freedom Organization (OPM), Kusnanto said.

The latest draft law defines terrorism as an intentional illegal act that endangers people and their belongings or sparks widespread destruction, fear or death.

But it stipulates terrorist acts are not political or politically motivated crimes. Antonius Sujata, a member of the team that drafted the proposed legislation, said it was defined as such to ensure the extradition process could be undertaken.

However, Kusnanto said extradition of suspected terrorists as political criminals could be carried out by endorsing particular agreements on terrorist issues with other countries.

He suggested that the bill recognize intelligence reports as preliminary evidence to arrest terrorist suspects, though stressing the reports must be valid and accountable.

"Otherwise the article can be misused to just arrest anyone who is considered a danger to the government," he said, adding that so far there was no mechanism to test that intelligence reports were not fake.

Suspected terrorists must also have access to lawyers, which is not obviously stated in the bill, Kusnanto said. There were other human rights violations in the bill such as blocking and disclosing bank accounts of suspected terrorist during investigations, he said.

Frans said he worried about the establishment of an ad hoc unit to tackle terrorism. "As the team includes military and its task has not yet been clearly defined, it may emulate a superbody under previous subversion laws," he said.

In the past, a military team was set up to handle subversion accusations and had the power to arrest people for uncertain reason for long periods.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri instructed her ministers on Thursday to improve the bill before submitting it to the House of Representatives, but it was not clear which articles she meant.

Antonius speculated the bill must further elaborate on the definition of terrorism and the establishment of the ad hoc unit. "We need to ensure that the ad hoc unit works transparently and does not become too powerful," he said.

New security council to give anti-terror fight more bite

Straits Times - October 11, 2002

Robert Go, Jakarta -- The newly-proposed National Security Council (DKN) provides President Megawati Sukarnoputri's government with a layer of protection from possible Islamic and nationalist backlash, if and when it steps up action against domestic terror threats.

But, given the political elite's conflicting agendas and the high level of backroom deal-making that goes on in Jakarta, the key question remains how effective this new body would be in accomplishing its stated purposes.

There are indications that Jakarta is ready to crack down on those alleged to have ties with the Al-Qaeda and regional terror networks such as the Jemaah Islamiyah.

After months of denials, top officials admitted recently that foreign terror operatives have played a role in Indonesian conflict areas.

Analysts now argue that the DKN, to be headed by the President, could enable arrests. The new body is not only a government initiative, but also involves the Parliament, which includes several Islam-based parties. Additionally, its focus is not just combating terrorism but also covers separatism, sectarian strife and other domestic security problems.

When DKN issues recommendations to make arrests or question radical Muslim figures, it would be perceived as an action taken after the entire political elite has reached consensus, and less as an anti-Islam move by the government.

The council's broad mission and likely composition will also help dilute criticism that Jakarta is kowtowing to the United States or Indonesia's neighbours.

Although the details are not known, the DKN is likely to include members of the security Cabinet, military, police and intelligence bodies.

Mr Arbi Sanit, a political analyst at the University of Indonesia, said: "This could be a first move towards prosecuting more radical figures. Such an initiative would be too risky for the executive branch alone, so it needs such a council and Parliament backing."

Just how effective would the DKN be? Already, analysts warn that any charge against radical figures here would have to be based on domestic developments. A security source said: "The difficulty is in establishing how these suspects are tied to domestic events. Saying that so and so has ties to Al-Qaeda won't be enough."

A case in point, experts said, was the Christmas Eve bombings in 2000 that hit 19 churches in various parts of the country, killing 17 and wounding 100. Failure to establish such a link could lead to accusations that Indonesia is not standing up to overseas pressure.

Mr Umar Juoro, head of the Centre for Information and Development Studies, said another stumbling block is the lack of demonstrated political will to prosecute Islamic figures.

In trying to woo Muslim voters, some of Indonesia's top politicians are keen to project the idea that they will protect the community's prominent figures, including those with alleged links to terrorist activities.

Mr Umar argued: "Ultimately, it's up to the executive branch to initiate arrests. This council is consultative in nature ... If the government cannot reach a consensus on its own and move forward on those decisions, this council is useless."

US envoy lauds Jakarta's efforts to rein in Al-Qaeda

Reuters - October 9, 2002

Jakarta -- Indonesia is increasingly serious about confronting apparent efforts by Al-Qaeda to establish a terrorist beachhead in the world's most populous Muslim nation, the US ambassador to Jakarta said on Tuesday.

"My impression is they are increasingly engaged, increasingly serious and certainly stepping up to the possibility," Mr Ralph Boyce told Reuters news agency. He had been asked about Indonesian efforts to go after operatives of Al-Qaeda network.

Mr Boyce said that "a tiny fraction" of Indonesians professing radical Islamic beliefs might conceivably be linked to Al-Qaeda. But he stressed that despite recent revelations about such activity attributed to Omar al-Faruq, an Arab arrested in Indonesia in June and turned over to the US authorities, Washington did not view Indonesia as a hotbed of terrorist activity.

"Quite the contrary, Indonesian Islam is probably among ... the most moderate, open, tolerant anywhere in the world," said Mr Boyce, who in his year in the post has met Muslim leaders including militant ones frequently.

Officials in some neighbouring countries have said Indonesia has played down the regional terrorist threat and been reluctant to go after individuals, especially Indonesian nationals, linked by their intelligence agencies to terrorism.

While Mr Boyce has not made that criticism, he did say that when al-Faruq's charges -- which described efforts in Indonesia over several years to carry out terrorist activity -- first surfaced, there was an initial tendency "in the press, in the public and even some elements in the government ... that sort of said 'How dare these charges be levied against Indonesia?'. My sense is that there is a very healthy shift to addressing the report and the charges themselves," he said.

Government & politics

Time for leadership change in Jakarta, says Amien

Straits Times - October 12, 2002

Robert Go, Jakarta -- A top rival of President Megawati Sukarnoputri has gone on the offensive, criticising the leadership and calling for a new man in the driver's seat.

The attacks come at a time when surveys have shown declining popularity ratings for the government.

Dr Amien Rais, speaker of the top legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), listed what he described as Jakarta's tendency to kowtow to foreign pressures among his chief complaints about the leadership.

He said: "Our leaders don't have self-confidence anymore. They're acting like servants in other countries. Foreign countries and bodies can dictate terms to Indonesia. If I were in charge, I would insist that foreigners treat Indonesia with the respect it deserves as a great country. I would stand up to everyone."

The ambitious politician also criticised scathingly Jakarta's asset-sale programme, which often involves foreign companies buying state firms and the government's ongoing failure to tackle graft. At this point, Dr Amien is alone in implying that Indonesia needs an urgent change of leadership.

Most analysts and politicians are taking for granted that Ms Megawati will remain in office until the next election in 2004. But his complaints that conditions have failed to change for the better since Ms Megawati took charge last year are representative of the general mood of the common people and of the political elite.

For instance, Mr Eros Djarot, who was one of the President's top advisers until two years ago, is concerned about how the First Family's personal business dealings could lead to corruption.

Mr Eros, who has now set up his own political party, said on Thursday: "The President's family members might take advantage of the President's power to make a success of their business undertakings, as was the case during the New Order regime." Indeed, much attention has been paid to the various business deals and connections of Mr Taufik Kiemas, Ms Megawati's husband.

The administration is also under scrutiny for possible corrupt actions by serving officials, including a number of legislators, Attorney-General M.A. Rachman and Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, who was recently re-elected thanks in part to Ms Megawati's support.

Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung has been convicted of graft, but he has kept his job and he is still the head of the Golkar party pending an appeal process.

Mr Hermawan Sulistyo of the Conflict and Peace Research Network said: "Field analysis suggests that there are many valid complaints about the government." He added that Dr Amien and others had fared as poorly as Ms Megawati in polls, and that "a credible alternative" was lacking.

He said: "I'd be very surprised if Amien Rais gets even 5 per cent in a direct election now. He stands to get much less than that in 2004."

Jakarta to set up council on security

Straits Times - October 8, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government and Parliament have agreed on the need to set up a new body to advise the President on defence and international security issues, Chief Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced yesterday.

He announced the decision to follow up on a proposal to set up a National Security Council after a closed-door meeting between members of the country's security Cabinet and parliamentary leaders. The new outfit would be headed by the President, he added.

"The mechanism of decision-making will involve processing intelligence reports, debating alternative strategies and implementing course of action," he reportedly said in the meeting which had been called to discuss recent developments in the US- led war on terrorism.

"So we hope there will be no more unilateral decisions as all decision-making will have to go through institutional process," he said.

The plan was first hatched early this year when lawmakers demanded a more "holistic and integrated" approach to the many security-related problems in Indonesia, a source said.

A senior parliamentarian, who attended yesterday's meeting, told The Straits Times: "The suggestions have been around for some time because we have been concerned over various issues from separatism, communal violence to armed civilian groups. We believe that by establishing a new body to make decision-making more integrated, defence and internal security problems can be tackled more effectively," he said.

The new body would have members from the military, police, intelligence bodies, and other related government agencies, he said.

"In combating terrorism, for example, we will need to include the immigration authorities for cross-border issues and the central bank to tackle money-laundering issues," he said.

But the plan would likely raise fears of a throwback to the Suharto era when security coordinating bodies were used to stifle anti-government movements. In early 1970s, former president Suharto set up the much-feared Command to Restore Security and Order (Kopkamtib), giving it carte blanche to detain and interrogate oppositions to his regime.

In late 1980s, the body was replaced by Agency for Coordinating Support for National Stability, which in essence functioned similarly as the Kopkamtib. In 1999, then president B.J. Habibie disbanded the agency.

But some legislators yesterday dismissed any fears of abuse. The planned council would only make strategic policies, not execute them, they said.

Mr Susilo once again laid out Indonesia's stance on terrorism, saying battling terrorism was an international as well as domestic obligation. He also said Indonesia rejected "any attempt to link terrorism with Islam or with a particular ethnic group or nation." He added the government was pushing for a more dominant role of the United Nations in the war against terrorism.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Corruption - Attorney-General's job on the line

Radio Australia -- September 9, 2002

[Political pressure is mounting for the resignation of Indonesian Attorney-General Muhammad Abdurrahman. Following allegations that he has underdisclosed his personal wealth he has become a target for anti-corruption campaigners and political rivals of the President. The Indonesian media have seized on the details of his million dollar lifestyle making it difficult for the president to save him.]

Transcript:

Fitzgerald: President Megawati only appointed Mr Abdurrahman as Attorney General last year, but she's already under strong pressure to get rid of him to prove she's serious about cleaning up corruption. She summonsed him twice to her office this week but the Attorney General says he gained his wealth honestly and should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty.

The chairperson of the opposition National Awakening Party, A.S. Hikam, agrees with that view. He says Members of Parliament are using the Attorney General's case to prove they're doing something about corruption because he's an easy political target.

He points out that the more influential Akbar Tanjung for example, the Speaker of the Parliament, is still sitting in his job despite his corruption conviction.

Hikam: Why only Abdurrahman is under pressure so highly, I think one of the explanations is because contrary to the case of Akbar Tanjung and others, Abdurrahman has no political clout.

Fitzgerald: Mr Abdurrahman could indeed be an easy target and his removal may shield others within the notoriously corrupt Attorney General's department from further scrutiny.

Opposition political leader Amin Rais has described cleaning up the Attorney General's department as the number one priority in the fight against corruption. He says because of its role in deciding who's prosecuted, the department is a central cog in corruption operations.

Rais: Because in that office there are many, many people who collaborated with corrupt officials and corrupt underlings, and people who have plundered the richness of this country, people who have stolen a lot of people's money cannot be brought to justice simply because the Attorney General's office is colluding with them.

Fitzgerald: Because the Attorney General has already been tried and found guilty by the local media, President Megawati does stand to gain valuable political points if she removes him. His removal could draw attention away from allegations that her own husband, Member of Parliament Taufik Kiemas is involved in corrupt activities. Sacking the Attorney General could protect the President from criticism like this from political rival Amin Rais.

Rais: Megawati's performance in eradicating corruption, collusion and nepotism is not that successful, even some observers say that the corruption is even more prevalent in the era of Mrs Megawati Sukarnoputri. So to some extent people are rather frustrated seeing that the agenda of combating or eradicating corruption so far is so bad. There is the slightest hope right now that if she can switch gear, to really concentrate on eradicating corruption maybe there is still a chance you know, I mean it is not too late yet.

Megawati wants Rachman out but he refuses to budge

Straits Times - October 9, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- President Megawati Sukarnoputri has turned up the heat on Attorney-General M.A. Rachman by asking him to resign in the face of allegations of concealing his personal assets from state auditors.

But it is likely to take more than persuasion to make the controversial Attorney-General, who insisted he had done nothing wrong, vacate his coveted post.

And sources at Mrs Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party- Struggle (PDI-P) said the President is not likely to sack him until he had been proven guilty of graft.

Mr Rachman has been found to have billions of rupiah worth of property and cash that he failed to report to the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN).

He told the commission last week that the house, bought in 1999, had been given to his daughter who later sold it to a businessman for far below its market price. He also claimed that the 546.6 million rupiah and US$30,000 worth of cash in his accounts came from businessmen who sought his legal advice years back.

President Megawati summoned him on Monday night, the second time since the case emerged. PDI-P sources said he was asked to resign. But he refused to do so, saying the commission's probe was still ongoing. The commission is to submit a recommendation to the President after its investigation.

Meanwhile, several names have already cropped up as his possible successor. PDI-P legislators have recommended a list of names, which includes human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, legal expert Ahmad Ali, and one of Mr Rachman's deputies, Mr Basrief Arief.

They are among the legislators most eager to replace Mr Rachman, who they believe is tainting Megawati's administration. Legislator J.E. Sahetapy said the Attorney-General's resignation would "save the institution".

National Assembly Speaker Amien Rais echoed the demand saying: "The Attorney-General's position is a crucial and strategic position in the battle against corruption." The Straits Times understands party officials raised the issue in a PDI-P executive meeting yesterday.

But the conspicuous absence of party chairman Megawati in yesterday's meeting disappointed some party officials. Said a Straits Times source in the party: "We wanted to let her know that it is in her interest to let go of him, but that is probably why she skipped the meeting." But as it would be hard to persuade the President to sack Mr Rachman, moves are afoot within Parliament to push for his resignation.

Yesterday, legislators from several factions called on him to resign from his post, arguing that he had committed public deception.

A parliamentarian said: "The PDI-P legislators are aware that Megawati is not keen on removing people from her administration for fear of being seen as having made the wrong decision, so now they are pushing for him to quit." Yet many are pessimistic that Mr Rachman, the career public prosecutor, could be persuaded to leave his post, given the previous controversies around Parliamentarian Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Mr Akbar has defied calls for him to resign because of his graft conviction. But analysts said the President should fire Mr Rachman to prove to an increasingly sceptical public that she was doing something to fight graft.

Graft allegations expose discontent in Mega's party

Straits Times - October 8, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Murmurs of discontent within President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) are growing louder by the day.

Last week, the party was rocked by allegations from within that some of its legislators had been accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars as bribes from various sources in the past three years.

The furore is an indication of the widespread discontent among the party elite, since allegations of kickbacks are not uncommon and usually raise few eyebrows.

Indeed, dissatisfaction with the party leadership has grown since Ms Megawati's controversial step of supporting unpopular Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso for a second term in office.

Almost as widely disliked was the party's decision to shun the campaign to remove Mr Akbar Tandjung from the post of parliamentary Speaker following his graft conviction.

Party sources told The Straits Times they were disappointed that their chairman lacked a sense of crisis, displayed poor leadership and showed little commitment to fight corruption.

Some party members are reportedly willing to follow in the steps of other unhappy legislators -- like Mr Dimyati Hartono and Mr Sophan Sophian -- who left the party early this year.

The latest crisis to hit the party was set off by four PDI-P members of a parliamentary budget commission who blew the whistle on fellow members who allegedly accepted bribes from Indonesia's Bank Restructuring Agency.

One of them, Mrs Indira Damayanti Sugondo, said she had refused the agency's offers of thousands of US dollars several times after hearings on bank privatisation.

Others admitted that they had either been offered money or witnessed others receiving kickbacks from various government agencies pursuing increase on their budget allocations.

Ms Indira testified on the matter before the police last week, but no official probe has yet begun. Under Indonesian law, police are required to obtain presidential consent before they can question an MP.

Ms Indira said her revelation had evoked strong reactions within the party. Some legislators accused her of attempting to taint the party's reputation.

"They are also afraid that their sources of income would decline because their activities would be under scrutiny from now on," she said. She said she was disappointed because Ms Megawati had not kept her election promise of eliminating corruption in the country.

This was especially evident when the party dismissed calls to set up a parliamentary probe on Mr Akbar's graft case, she said.

Ms Indira tendered her resignation from Parliament in July but said she was staying within the party in an attempt to get others to follow her move.

The party is losing support from grassroots loyalists who feel they have not benefited from being in power, admitted other sources. One official said: "But it seems Megawati and other party elites are not concerned about this."

Analysts, however, predicted that the PDI-P would continue to win the election even with indications of declining supports. "The internal rift within the party is not that significant, and as long as Megawati is in power, she will be able to mobilise forces to maintain her political power at least until 2009," said analyst Affan Gaffar.

Akbar under more pressure to resign from top post

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2002

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta -- Golkar Party cadres from the party's founding organizations piled more pressure on party chairman Akbar Tandjung on Saturday to quit his post to rid the party of its bad image in the run-up to the 2004 general election.

Members of the MKGR, SOKSI, and Kosgoro -- three major organizations that helped establish Golkar -- issued a written statement in Yogyakarta on Saturday calling on Akbar to resign.

"We sincerely want to prick Akbar Tandjung's conscience so that he will lucidly and rationally consider temporarily stepping down from his present post," read a statement released by the organizations at a press conference here on Sunday.

The statement, titled Renungan Yogya (Yogya Contemplation), was issued following an overnight discussion involving 170 leaders and members of the MKGR, SOKSI and Kosgoro on Golkar's prospects in the 2004 general election.

Among those attending the discussion were Agung Laksono from Kosgoro, who is also Golkar's deputy chairman, MKGR chairman Irsyad Sudiro and the MKGR's deputy chairman Zainal Bintang.

Speaking at the press conference, Zainal Bintang said that Akbar's resignation from the party's top post would be the best solution to save the Golkar Party from a trouncing in the 2004 general election.

"Unless he resigns from the post, we are not sure if we will be able to maintain, much less increase, our share of the vote," said Bintang.

"However, everything is up to Akbar. But he should not forget that if he persists in staying on in his current post, it will not be fair on the party. It will ruin the party in the coming election," he said.

He noted that the cost of maintaining Akbar in his current position would be too high for the party to bear. "We could lose half of the votes we took in the last election," he said.

Agung Laksono is among those inside the party who have openly asked Akbar to step aside following Akbar's conviction in a Rp 40 billion (US$4.4. million) corruption case.

Other Golkar executives who have also called for Akbar's resignation include Marwah Daud Ibrahim, Fahmi Idris and Theo Sambuaga.

In an apparent bid at damage limitation, Akbar had threatened to sanction those calling on him to resign. However, Akbar made an about face on Sunday when he said he would not fire any party members demanding his resignation.

"The calls from a number of party members for me to step down or resign are normal in a democracy, and I appreciate these different opinions," he said, adding that there had been talk of his resignation, but it was an internal issue.

Akbar claimed his party was still solid and the majority of Golkar members wanted him to stay on until the legal process had been completed.

Akbar admitted that he had been found guilty by the judges but he insisted that he still had the right to chair the party as he was appealing the verdict.

IBRA paid billions to military

Laksamana.Net - October 6, 2002

Many were shocked but few surprised to learn last week that the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) had paid "protection money" to members of the military to secure IBRA property assets.

Statements made by two parliamentarians that IBRA had bribed members of the House of Representatives budgetary committee to ensure the smooth sale of nationalized Bank Niaga were denied two weeks ago, but few people believed the denials.

The furore over shady deals at IBRA escalated when IBRA deputy governor Sumantri Slamet said Wednesday that IBRA had a "cooperative" arrangement with the military under which it paid regional commands to ensure security at the hundreds of property assets taken over in the aftermath of the economic crisis of the late 1990s.

Indonesian press reports said the agency had paid billions of rupiah but neither IBRA nor the military has commented on the total amount.

Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Commander Endriartono Sutarto and TNI spokesman Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin both denied any knowledge of the arrangement the following day and even said the military might make a defamation case against IBRA over the matter.

Sutarto made a point of saying that Jakarta Special Province Commander, Maj Gen. Ahmad Yahya, had been implicated in the press reports he had read, reported detikcom.

The explanation offered by Yahya on Saturday only heightened public apprehension over the country's endemic corruption.

He said the money had been given directly to officers and was not "on the books" at all. He then introduced the notion that there was an actual "contract" involved and the fact that the contract ended on March 31 had spelt the end of the deal with IBRA.

Yahya said IBRA had paid officers across Indonesia Rp 750,000 ($82) per month in 1998 for food, transport and "extras" but this was increased to Rp 1 million per month in 2000 and then Rp 1.4 million prior to the end of the contract.

Yahya said the military had ordered personnel to guard and ensure security of IBRA property assets but had not apportioned resources, as such, to the task of fulfilling the order.

"So, the regional commands never received the money but it was given directly to the officers themselves. Starting last March, all members of the Jakarta Command have not been permitted to work outside their official TNI duties," he said in his defense.

Earlier Yahya denied that the Jakarta Military Command had ever received any of the funds. He took over the command in July this year.

He was then forced to deny that he had received any money prior to moving to Jakarta when he was commander of the Wirabuana Military Command, which covers South, Central, Southeast and North Sulawesi and Gorontalo provinces.

Just why IBRA's Slamet would wish to drum up more controversy for the agency in the wake of the Niaga brouhaha is unknown. Asset Sales Internal politicking and scandal aside, the agency has its hands full as it attempts to sell further property assets in Jakarta and beyond.

Head of IBRA's communications division Raymond van Beekum said last week the agency had finalized its second-stage property assets sales program (PPAP) for January 2003. The first-stage program is still ongoing but the second-stage asset sale will be done in blocks rather than as individual properties, he said.

In addition to raising badly needed funds to balance the budget, the agency wants to rid itself of maintenance costs (including, presumably, the cost of the military "protection") and enliven the secondary property market.

Property affairs observer Panangian Simanungkalit said the second stage sale is designed to anticipate a drop in the price of the property assets, reported Antara. The block sale highlights the emphasis on attracting businesses and property investors.

In other property news at IBRA, three investors -- PT Berca Indonesia, PT Puspita Nirmala, and PT Sarana Inti Trasindo Perkasa -- have submitted bids for 47.5% of real estate company PT Metropolitan Kentjana.

IBRA spokesperson Irawati Koswara said the three investors were expected to complete their tender documents last Friday and may increase their bids.

Metropolitan Kentjana runs the Pondok Indah Mall, Pondok Indah Estate, Wisma Metropolitan I and II, and the World Trade Building in Jakarta.

Regional/communal conflicts

Bomb explosion in Ambon wounds six

Reuters - October 9, 2002

Jakarta -- A bomb exploded in Indonesia's volatile Ambon city as police tried to defuse it on Wednesday, wounding six people including two police officials.

Residents had found a suspicious package in a market place and called police, a police spokeswoman said.

"The bomb exploded when police tried to disarm it, hurting two of them and also four civilians," the spokeswoman said by telephone from Ambon. She said police were investigating. She gave no more details.

Ambon is 2,300 km east of Jakarta and is the key city in the Moluccas islands, scene of more than three years of Muslim- Christian violence that has killed 5,000 people.

While clashes have subsided since the warring parties signed a peace deal earlier this year, periodic violence and bomb blasts occur. Indonesia is mainly Muslim, although the Moluccas is home to roughly equal numbers of Muslims and Christians.

The Moluccas has been one of several flashpoints where separatist, communal or religious tensions pose a challenge to Jakarta's efforts to maintain order and convince investors and aid donors that Indonesia's vast archipelago is stable.

Human rights/law

LBH offices across the country on the brink of collapse

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2002

Muhammad Nafik and Ainur R. Sophiaan, Jakarta/Surabaya -- Legal Aid Institutes (LBH) across the country are on the brink of collapse as the once respected non-governmental organization is suffering from financial difficulties following a bitter internal rift.

All of their international funding agencies had reportedly ceased assistance early this year after senior lawyers linked to the Indonesian Military (TNI) and corruption suspects took control of their parent organization, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI).

Deddy Prihambudi, executive director of LBH Surabaya, said his office and 13 other LBH offices across the country would likely reduce or even cease operations as a consortium of foreign agencies had stopped their assistance.

He said his office and the other 13 LBH offices had been running short of funds for operational activities, including salaries. "October is the last month that YLBHI will help finance LBH operations. YLBHI has apparently given up. Some LBH offices in Aceh, Medan, Padang, Palembang and Lampung will possibly be closed," Deddy told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said that since January the operational funds from YLBHI for LBH offices had been gradually reduced. Foundation chairman Munarman confirmed that YLBHI was facing financial shortages amid an internal rift, but denied the consortium of international funding agencies had completely ceased aid. "What happens now is that the funding agencies have changed their contract of providing assistance from a four-month period to only three months," he told the Post on Tuesday.

But Munarman, who was appointed as the new YLBHI chairman on September 23, 2002, admitted that it remained uncertain whether the consortium would be committed to extending assistance later this year. Critics however doubted Munarman's statement that the international funding agencies were still providing funding for the foundation.

The four-member consortium that used to fund the rift-ridden YLBHI, comprised Novib of the Netherlands, Fida of Sweden, NCOS of Belgium and USAID. Another funding agency from the European Union had also extended aid in recent years. Munarman said that if YLBHI no longer received funds from foreign donors, it would not close down its office and the 14 LBH offices.

Deddy's colleague Anshori said the halt of aid by the funding agencies was linked to the internal conflict and the taking control of the foundation by senior lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution. "Changes proposed by young activists have not been adequately accommodated [by Buyung]. So far, the YLBHI has depended on foreign financiers," Anshori added.

Former senior YLBHI activists confirmed on Tuesday the consortium was "refraining" from extending aid to the foundation. "Some [agencies] have told us: Why should we give funds to those who already have the money?" said a former senior YLBHI leader, who wished to remain anonymous, referring to Buyung who currently chairs the organization's powerful board of trustees. Buyung served as a lawyer for military officers charged with human rights abuses in East Timor after the territory voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999.

The foundation is also under fire for its inclusion of lawyer Muhammad Assegaf in the board of trustees, who is one of the lawyers of former president Soeharto's family, some members of which currently find themselves mired in corruption scandals.

Many have expressed doubts that the rift-ridden YLBHI would remain independent in its struggle for justice and democracy under the leadership of Buyung and with the inclusion of Assegaf in the board of trustees. Buyung, a YLBHI cofounder, was officially named chairman of the board of trustees early last month, even though he had been suspended as a member in 2000 for defending military officers involved in the East Timor mayhem.

His appointment followed the resignation of his inactive predecessor Ali Sadikin, a former Jakarta governor, for health reasons. Todung Mulya Lubis, a respected human rights lawyer, has reportedly resigned as a member of the organization's board of trustees. However, he could not be reached for confirmation as he is visiting the United States.

Focus on Jakarta

Nightclub workers rally against hardline Muslim group

Agence France Presse - October 10, 2002

Nightclub workers have rallied against a hardline Muslim group that attacked entertainment spots in Indonesia's capital last weekend.

About 700 people, one-third of them female nightclub workers, demonstrated Wednesday in the parking lot of the Jakarta police headquarters.

Police said they would prosecute eight of the 13 members of the Front for the Defenders of Islam (FPI) detained after a weekend vandalism spree. They were to question the FPI's general chairman, Rizieq, as a suspect in the violence, but the questioning has been postponed.

The FPI has been vandalizing Jakarta discotheques, billiard halls and other entertainment spots for two years, but these are the first known arrests. Analysts suspect the FPI is open to manipulation by political and military elements and have said their actions couldbe linked to a struggle for lucrative protection money from nightclubs.

The police and their military rivals are widely believed to back illegal enterprises such as drug dealing and prostitution linked to nightspots.

During Wednesday's anti-FPI protest, the female nightclub workers joined members of a security force from Indonesia's largest mainstream Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, as well as representatives of native Jakartans. "We hate and are revolted to see FPI strike the powerless little people," one of their signs said.

FPI activities usually intensify around the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this year in early November. Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated state but is mostly moderate in its observance of Islam.

Sutiyoso opponents back off amid heavy security

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2002

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- The inauguration of Sutiyoso and Fauzi Bowo as, respectively, Jakarta governor and deputy governor for the 2002 to 2007 term took place smoothly on Monday without the demonstrations that had originally been planned by a number of non-governmental organizations.

The ceremony, however, proceeded amid tight security as over 1,000 security officers were deployed around the City Council building on Jl. Kebon Sirih, the venue of the ceremony, and its adjacent building, City Hall, Jl. Merdeka Selatan, both in Central Jakarta.

Two rows of razor wire were also installed along the perimeter fences of the City Council and City Hall sites. Five water cannon, several ambulances and bomb squad vehicles were on standby in the grounds of the two buildings.

Fearing anti-Sutiyoso demonstrations, the organizers of the inauguration ceremony had also prepared an alternative venue at the Jakarta Fair Ground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

But no anti-Sutiyoso demonstrators appeared on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan and Jl. Kebon Sirih when Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, on behalf of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, installed the gubernatorial pairing at the 45-minute ceremony.

Supporters of Sutiyoso and Fauzi deployed some 1,000 demonstrators on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan and Jl. Kebon Sirih. The demonstrators had been stationed there since 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Only about 50 anti-Sutiyoso demonstrators from the Democratic People's Party (PRD) arrived at Jl. Kebon Sirih at around 11:30 a.m., after the ceremony had already finished.

On Sunday, a number of non-governmental organizations stated that they would deploy tens of thousands of demonstrators on the streets during the inauguration.

Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Edmond Ilyas also confirmed that 14 organizations had registered with the police to stage rallies on Monday.

The situation on Monday was in stark contrast to that on election day, September 11, when the police were forced to use helicopters to carry councillors and Sutiyoso from the city police headquarters to the City Council building as all surface routes to City Hall and the City Council building had been blocked by around 20,000 demonstrators.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara refused to reveal the number of police officers deployed during the inauguration, saying that the figure was confidential.

Another police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the total number of security officers deployed during the ceremony was about 1,800 people, comprising police officers, military officers and officers from the public order agency.

In his inauguration speech, Hari said the central government had not ignored public criticism of the Jakarta gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial election process.

He stressed, however, that the process had met all requirements as stated at the presidential decree, although there was still public opposition to the election result.

Hari also refuted allegations of vote buying during the election process, stressing that it was not in his capacity to deal with such allegations.

"Money politics is not my business. It's the task of the police [to investigate it]," Hari told the media after the inauguration ceremony, from 9:15 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., attended by about 1,000 guests comprising civil and military officials, councillors, former officials and foreign diplomats. All four councillors from the Justice Party (PK) faction, who did not accept the election result due to alleged irregularities, were absent during the ceremony.

Around 10 other legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) also did not appear at the City Council on Monday.

Speaking to the media after his inauguration, Sutiyoso expressed the hope that all people in the city would accept the City Council's decision and support him in his plans to develop Jakarta. According to Sutiyoso, Fauzi and he would approach elements in the city that had hitherto not been able to accept their election.

"Those who opposed our election are also Jakarta citizens. We will approach them. Without public support, we will not be able to develop Jakarta," Sutiyoso added.

Sutiyoso and Fauzi Bowo were nominated as gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial candidates by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which has 30 seats, and the Golkar Party faction, which has eight seats on the 85-member City Council.

PDI Perjuangan's central board issued a recommendation signed by its chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, instructing all 30 councillors from the party to support Sutiyoso's bid. The recommendation also threatened sanctions on those who ignored it.

The recommendation was strongly opposed by the party's grass roots, particularly by victims of the attack on Megawati's supporters at Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, on July 27, 1996. Sutiyoso, then Jakarta military commander, is implicated in the incident.

News & issues

Sex workers ban government officials

Sydney Morning Herald - October 11 2002

Prostitutes in Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya, have vowed not to make themselves available to officials to protest at a ruling banning their activities during Ramadan, a newspaper reported yesterday.

In the "Surabaya Prostitutes' Pledge," published by the Republika daily, the ladies of the night pledged "not to accept and entertain officials from the executive, legislature and judiciary, officials who squander public money to frolic." Taking their protests to parliament, the sex workers said the Ramadan ban issued by the mayoralty would have a devastating effect on the finances of all enterprises in the city's red-light districts.

"We are asking the parliament and mayoralty to be wise. They cannot just offer a lot of promises during the campaign but forget us after being elected," Atik, one of the sex workers, was quoted as saying.

The month-long Ramadan celebration, in which Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sex from dawn until dusk, begins the first week of November.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated nation but most of the country's roughly 171 million Muslims practice a moderate form of Islam.

Journalist or activist?

Radio Australia - October 8, 2002

Indonesian-based Australian journalist John Martinkus explores the fine line between journalism and activism. John Martinkus has at times being accused of being an activist in his reports on the independence movement in East Timor, and more recently the Free Papua Movement (OPM) in the Indonesian province of Papua.

Now, he finds himself being criticised by activists for his recent article in the Australian publication, Quarterly Essay. He says it is not impossible that a group of the OPM could have been responsible for the killings of three employees of the Freeport mine, in August this year.

He explores the fine line between journalism and activism in this opinion piece first broadcast on Radio National's Perspective.

Early this year I was sitting in a hut talking to one of the OPM commanders on the PNG/West Papua border. He insisted on talking about guns.

That I had bothered to come to his camp suggested to him, that I was sympathetic with his struggle. And what he and his men needed above all else was guns. The idea that I was there simply report what was happening to their people, not actively help them, was to him ridiculous.

It would make no difference what I wrote in some report he would never see, because the outcome for his people unless they got weapons would be the same, they would be at worst wiped out, or at best they would have to flee further in to the jungle once an operation was launched against them.

They see us as representatives of the outside world that is conspiring to rob them of their land and subject them to domination from another country and culture.

None of the visits of journalists in the past has ever led to any benefit for the people in the jungle and on some occasions has led only to Indonesian military operations against them. They have no reason to trust westerners.

The irony is when you return to Australia and publish articles about what is happening to those people who have effectively been abandoned many years ago by Western governments and the UN, you are perceived as having some kind of bias towards those people and are accused of being partisan.

Both in East Timor a few years ago, before the referendum, and now in West Papua, almost every piece of reporting quotes or refers to the official Indonesian line or version of events.

By going and talking to, for example, Falintil in East Timor or the OPM in the bush in West Papua, I am simply trying to redress that inequality. I'm attempting bring some balance back into the reporting of these conflicts.

I'm clearly not without a view on these things, and any journalist who claims otherwise, is most likely fooling themselves or you. But whose side I'm on is not really the point. The point is being able to hear the view of more than just the pro-Jakarta lobby.

In the past other people in the media have accused me of simply being a spokesman or conduit for the propaganda of these pro- independence movements in Indonesia, but if you look at the level of routine misinformation that comes out of the official sources -- both diplomatic and Indonesian, I am simply providing a counter-point to that.

Accusations of activist or partisan reporting can be just as easily levelled at those reporters who give space to the official Jakarta or Canberra line, which is why to someone like that OPM commander in the bush, journalists are seen as part of the problem for his people not part of a solution.

Now I find myself in the rather curious position of being attacked by the same activists that I am supposedly in cahoots with.

In my Quarterly Essay I have said its not impossible that a group of the OPM, albeit one paid off or infiltrated by the Indonesian military could have been responsible for the killings of three employees of the Freeport mine, in August this year.

The point I'm making is the destabilization program of the Indonesian military, currently being run in West Papua, has gone so far this scenario is not inconceivable.

However unpalatable some of these reports are to independence and Indonesian authorities, it is still the job of the reporter to tell the story. Other wise the charges of activism and partiality are true.

But more importantly, in a situation like West Papua, an incorrect report can easily cost people lives. The decision to comment on recent events cannot be taken lightly in these situations. It can seriously jeopardise the safety of those we are reporting about, and as a journalist I must make a decision to voice such speculation or remain silent.

The challenge is to tell the story, in all its complexity. It is also important to tell these stories of struggle, and making them matter for the people both in the hills of Papua and those in Australia.

But more importantly, we must attempt to counter the versions of events pushed upon us by the vested interests and governments. In this case, Indonesia and Australia.

New book revives ghosts of abortive coup in Indonesia

Straits Times - October 7, 2002

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- More than three decades after an abortive coup blamed on the communists, Indonesians are still unable to come to grips with this bit of their nation's history.

Dr Ribka Tjiptaning Proletariati has reignited the debate over revoking a decree banning communism with her recently-launched autobiography entitled, I Am Proud To Be A Child Of A PKI Member, referring to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"If the motivation is to spread communism then the book must be banned," Vice-President Hamzah Haz said last week, soon after the book was released to coincide with the anniversary of the coup.

And Dr Ribka, a member of the ruling PDI-P, is now awaiting police summons after a television interview where she talked about the possibility of setting up a party with the communist ideology, which was banned in a 1966 decree issued by the National Assembly.

The Attorney-General's office, the police and the intelligence agency are reportedly studying the book to see whether it contains subversive material.

But Dr Ribka says she is unperturbed, after living for 37 years in a country where people view communists with barely-suppressed hostility.

"I don't mind," she told The Straits Times. "The more controversial it is, the more people will want to read the book." The leading Kompas daily said communism is still perceived as a "scary ghost" -- an atheistic teaching that promotes cruelty, violence and oppression.

In a poll published by the daily last week, the majority of respondents referred to communism as a "bad thing".

And although 80 per cent of the 825 respondents welcome former PKI members in their neighbourhood, most do not want them to hold positions in the government and law enforcement.

The September 30, 1965 coup, which claimed the lives of seven ranking army officers, led to the fall of founding president Sukarno and paved the way for former president Suharto's rise to power.

What followed was the alleged massacre and persecution of more than 500,000 communist members and sympathisers, supposedly by the army with the help of Muslim groups.

For the next 32 years, family members of the communists found themselves being denied access to jobs and education.

For years, until the 1998 fall of Suharto, television stations were required to broadcast the government's version of the event in a movie.

October 1, the Sanctity Day of Pancasila (the country's ideology), was made a day of solemn commemoration of the coup victims. But last Wednesday, President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Mr Hamzah were surprisingly absent at the ceremony.

Mrs Amelia Yani, the daughter of coup victim General A. Yani, said: "We felt that our parents' death are no longer honoured." But commentators thought their absence was justified, considering that the truth behind the coup has been disputed with the emergence of recently released CIA documents and studies on the events surrounding it.

Historians have been questioning the role of Suharto and Washington in the abortive coup, against the backdrop of the Cold War between the capitalist West and the socialist East.

Political scientist Harry Tjan Silalahi said: "Rewriting the history is now a must to uncover the truth." But analysts said it would still be a long time before the country would lift the ban on PKI and communist ideology.

An attempt to lift it, made by former president Abdurrahman Wahid in 2000, had drawn opposition from Muslim factions who feared the communist party's revival.

Shunned as communists

• Dr Ribka cannot obtain a licence to practise medicine because of her father's ties to the PKI.
• Community leaders have tried to forbid people from seeing her at a private foundation-owned clinic.
• For years, her family was in hiding. "We ate cats and mice, slept in terminals and people's kitchens."

A nation remains reluctant to confront its bloody past

Sydney Morning Herald - October 7 2002

Matthew Moore -- Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri made headlines last week by not turning up at the site of a disused well in east Jakarta for an annual ceremony.

She offered no explanation for being the first president to miss the October 1 event in 35 years. But her action has offered some hope to a small but growing band of Indonesians who dare to call for the truth about some of the most tumultuous events in the nation's history.

The well Ms Megawati missed is where the allegedly mutilated bodies of six generals and a lieutenant were dumped after they were kidnapped and killed on the night of September 30, 1965, victims of a group of leftist army officers called the September 30 Movement.

Just what happened that night, and in the following days and weeks, and who organised and who knew of the killings, remains a mystery. Even now, one dubious official version of this period still covers the country like a heavy blanket, smothering the truth.

Within 30 hours of the executions, Major-General Soeharto had grabbed control of the army and was on his way to wresting control of the country from its founding president, Soekarno, Ms Megawati's father.

Soeharto's version of history blamed the murder of the generals on the Indonesian Communist Party, or PKI, which he said was attempting a coup.

And so began one of the bloodiest purges of the 20th century. Best estimates say at least 400,000 members or suspected sympathisers of the PKI were slaughtered by the military, by military-backed militias and by Muslim groups across the country.

Hundreds of thousands more were imprisoned and tortured, their families ripped apart.

Some of those badly hurt survivors gathered last week at a conference in Jakarta to pressure the Government to establish a South African-style reconciliation commission where the truth might finally be revealed.

The last surviving member of the September 30 Movement, Lieutenant-Colonel Latif, hobbled through a room of sympathisers. During 32 years in jail, he was shot through the knee and stabbed through the thigh.

Since his release and Soeharto's fall in 1998, Colonel Latif has published a book detailing the two occasions he warned him the six generals were planning a coup of their own to unseat Soekarno. Soeharto, he said, did nothing with the information to head off the killings.

Colonel Latif said it was now time for the whole truth to come out, but he doubted it would. "Maybe the army is too afraid," he said, echoing the views of many who suffered.

One of those is a gentle former prosecutor, now 72, who spent 14 years in prison in Bali -- punishment, he said, for advocating through the courts the Soekarno government's land reform program.

In his view, too many powerful people still have too much to lose for Indonesia to face its past.

"The movement which overthrew Soeharto is not radical enough to bring out the truth. Many of the old guard are still in power; they are still in government," he said. Somehow he has forgiven those who persecuted him.

"My career was ruined. My wife divorced me because she was a teacher and had no prospects as the wife of a political prisoner. Of course I was tortured, everybody was." Explaining injuries that stopped him remarrying, he said: "They left me naked and they put a pack of Tiger Balm on my genitals." The lawyer's brother was one of Soeharto's generals, but was powerless to save him. The best he could do was adopt and raise his brother's daughters, and send them to the best schools while their father languished in jail.

Since his release, the lawyer has earned a modest income from giving legal advice but cannot escape the stigma of his past as a political prisoner and is afraid to let his name be used.

"I'm not afraid of the Government -- I'm afraid of terrorists, of Muslim terrorists ... they regard all former political prisoners as communists." This point is vividly illustrated in a new Australian documentary film called Shadow Play: Indonesia's Years of Living Dangerously, which reveals some of the history Indonesia has been so reluctant to face and the problems that confront those who try to right past wrongs. The film was shown at the conference, and is programmed for Jakarta's film festival, but the director, Chris Hilton, says he has not tried getting it a broader release because he believes Indonesia is not ready.

The researcher and translator on the film, Walter Slamer, said they continually encountered a fear of the past in making the film. Soeharto's former chief of intelligence, Yoga Sugama, was one of many who refused to talk.

In many ways Indonesia is now a democracy, with very free media, but reading where power really lies remains difficult.

Six army representatives turned up at last week's reconciliation conference and had the power switched off during a speech by the labour activist Dita Indah Sari.

The conference organiser, John Mempi, from the Centre for Democracy and Social Justice Study, agreed that in the present climate no one would be brave enough to screen Hilton's film.

But that Mr Mempi could hold his conference, and Hilton's film could be screened at all, shows that Indonesia has come a long way since Soeharto's fall.

Ms Megawati's gesture in snubbing the well may well help inch open the door to a debate on the past, but there is little appetite for lifting the longstanding ban on communism, as Vice- President Hamzah Haz made clear last week. He too stayed away from the October1 ceremony, but has called for the banning of a new book, I Am Proud To Be A PKI Kid.

Environment

Haze begins to return over Borneo after brief reprieve

Agence France Presse - October 10, 2002

Haze from forest and ground burning drifted back over Indonesia's Central Kalimantan province, ending the reprieve brought by several days of rain, the meteorology office said.

"The haze was bad again this morning, with visibility below 100 metres at around 6am and around 200 metres an hour later," said Hidayat of the meteorology office in Palangkaraya, the provincial capital, Thursday.

Winds reaching 10 knots helped clear the haze and return visibility to around 1,500 metres at about 10:00 am (0200 GMT), he said. "We are lucky that there were some strong winds from the south and southeast this morning," Hidayat said.

Palangkaraya has been one of the cities on Borneo island hardest hit by the thick choking haze from forest and ground fires, blamed on illegal loggers and farmers who use fire to clear fields for planting. Those who farm in peat soil say it is needed to neutralize soil acidity before planting.

The smog had caused low visibility and health hazards for weeks until the first rains fell there on October 2. Records shows that visibility in Palangkaraya averaged only in the hundreds of metres during September.

The burning has wafted haze over the region almost every year since 1997, prompting neighboring Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore to call for action.

In 1997 and 1998, the worst haze in years blanketed huge areas of Southeast Asia for months, causing serious health problems, traffic hazards and a disruption in airline schedules.

No end in sight to Indonesia's water shortage

Asia Times - October 8, 2002

Kafil Yamin, Jakarta -- Long stretches of parched paddy fields and vegetable farms lining the road are a testament to the drought that has hit Java and other parts of Indonesia. The arid landscape through Cikarang industrial estate, 60 kilometers south of Jakarta, is dotted with lamb and cattle eating dry grass here and there, the rivers having dried up long ago. The wells are empty.

"Life is really hard these days. Water supplies are very short. We have to work very hard to get a few buckets of water for cooking, drinking and washing," said Usman, an angkot (small inter-city public transport vehicle) driver.

Usman said that although PAM Lynnaise Jaya, the local water company, services his house, water only reaches his place in tiny amounts, which means they have to adopt a strict rationing system. "Every morning we share the limited water there is for bathing as I, my two daughters and two boys have to get ready go to work. It's impossible for them to go to their offices without taking a bath. Very often we don't set aside a portion of water for cooking. We just have to buy a bottle of drinking water and have breakfast somewhere on the way to the office," he said.

By local standards Usman and his family can consider themselves lucky. In Cibarusah district, the water has totally run out. Some residents are forced to roam around the district pushing carts in search of water. "They come from villages all around this area," said Aryanti, a local resident, pointing to a rare spot where people have lined up to get PAM-supplied water. "They rely on this water supply because in their homes they don't have any water at all."

Aryanti, who runs a shop near the popular water spot, said the water does not flow regularly. "It comes once every three days, or, in the case of an emergency, we call the PAM office and then the water flows," Aryanti said.

Just next to Aryanti's shop are three school buildings. So strong is the smell of urine from the school toilets that visitors entering the buildings need to cover their noses when entering. "There is not enough water to wash the smell away," said Asep Suparman, a Cibarusah Junior High School security guard. "Only when water flows freely from the spot, do we have enough water to wash the bathroom." Locals said they have never been through this kind of predicament before. "It has only started happening last month, when the dry season started," said Aryanti, explaining that she puts aside an extra 150,000 Indonesian rupiah (US$16) a month to buy water.

Hectares upon hectares of dry rice fields on the outskirts of Jakarta have been abandoned as farmers leave the land in search of work, mostly as seasoned construction workers in the capital. "Many people are leaving the village. Most go to Jakarta to find jobs. In Jakarta, they might find jobs, but also the same situation with water," she said.

All around Greater Jakarta the onset of the dry season has pushed people to dig deep into their wells. "I got water only after digging 22 meters deep," said Maman, a resident of nearby Rawabuntu village, in Tangerang.

In some areas, such as Tanjung Pasir village, locals can no longer deepen their wells because even though they get water, it is acidic in taste. As a relief measure, PAM water is collected in big drums and distributed around the village. "We made an agreement to use the PAM water only for cooking and drinking. As for washing, we use the acid water from our wells," said Hasan, a local resident. Meanwhile in Sinarjati village, Bekasi, local residents have no choice but to use the brown-colored water from one of the few flowing rivers in the district for washing.

Greater Jakarta's capacity to supply its 11 million people with a regular and safe water supply in times of crisis is being tested, and locals from all around say it is failing that crucial test.

PAM's ability to rise to the occasion is also in doubt, with residents here saying that they got less water in September than in August. "This is because we got a reduced supply from the Jatiluhur reservoir," said Bernard Lavronge, a commissioner of PAM. "The water volume in the reservoir is not short, but farmers along the canal take water for their farms much more than usual. They do it because of the current drought."

Environmental expert Mas Achmad Santosa said the dry season is not entirely to blame, as warnings from the Meteorology and Geophysics Bureau (BMG) have long said that the area will face a severe water crisis in the next 10 years. "But the government has never paid serious attention to it," he said.

The BMG's forecast is based on the fact that both residents and industries have been vigorously exploiting the ground water at unsustainable levels in recent times. "In Jakarta alone, 9 million cubic meters of water is taken every second. The exploitation will intensify in the next 10 years. Around 33 billion cubic meters of water will then be taken every second," said Achmad Syafruddin, former chairman of the Indonesian Forum for Environment, Walhi.

He said the Jakarta administration should have anticipated this and countered it with a set of comprehensive policies. "Had they ruled that residents were not allowed to dig deeper than 12 meters and industries no deeper than 100 meters, then things would not be as bad as they are now," he said.

He said Walhi had recommended this water-usage plan six years ago but the government failed to respond.

Religion/Islam

Defending Islam against itself

Asia Times - October 9, 2002

Bill Guerin -- Al-Habib Muhammad Rizieq bin Hussein Syihab, leader of the pro-Suharto radical Muslim group FPI (Defenders of Islam), and his storm troopers may, after two years of apparent immunity from the process of law and order, be about to be brought to account.

Police over the weekend arrested 13 members of the FPI after violent attacks on several of the capital's nightspots by an estimated 600 members. A discotheque was stoned and the equipment at two late-night pool bars destroyed.

Although the FPI has been consistently vandalizing and looting such entertainment venues for at least two years, there have never before been any arrests.

There is no evidence yet that the pivotal arrests and police action are related to the palpable nervousness here about the effect this domestic violence has on the image of Indonesia as seen by the outside world.

FPI aggression and violence in numerous attacks on places deemed to be "immoral", including nightclubs and restaurants, radical Islamic groups continuously voicing resentment toward perceived threats to Islam, "sweeps" for US nationals in Central Java, and other such incidents have had an as yet uncalculated effect on tourism and foreign investment.

A visibly angry national police chief General Da'i Bachtiar confined his public comments to warning anyone or any group against taking the law into their own hands. "I remind all groups, whoever they are, to respect the law, and the law can only be implemented by institutions or officials empowered to do so. Anyone else should not take the law into their hands, because that is a violation of the laws," Bachtiar warned.

Reining in the FPI will be no easy task. The movement was founded in 1998 and is said to be funded by rich anti-reformist generals intent on protecting the vested interests of the elite.

It is, though, a dangerous fallacy to say that political parties or members of the old Suharto crowd intent on destabilizing the capital and the country manipulate the FPI or to dismiss them as "Rent-a-Jihad", fanatics for hire by the police and the military.

The New Order government under Suharto always restricted the political rise of Islam for the same reasons as the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno.

Realizing the potentially explosive force of a highly politicized Islam, especially at a time when Islamic fundamentalism was radicalizing politics from North Africa to Malaysia, Suharto foresaw a danger that the emergence of a politically dominant Islam would cleave Indonesian political society along religious lines.

Thus the national ideology, Pancasila, was to be the glue that held this large nation together. But is this glue still sticky enough?

It is hardly surprising, given the political turmoil since Suharto stepped down, that Islamic movements have seized the opportunity to be seen and be heard. The two largest Islamic groups, the 35-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), whence PPP originated, and the Muhammadiyah with some 28 million members, neutered during the Suharto era, quickly regained their manhood and achieved a new and substantial political stature.

NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid formed the National Awakening Party (PKB), and his most bitter foe, Muhammadiyah leader Amien Rais, founded the National Mandate Party (PAN).

For the first time in more than 30 years Muslim parties are represented in the Indonesian parliament, and are now conscious of their strength. Does this mean that Indonesia could become a Muslim theocratic state in the future, like Iran or Pakistan?

The Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), authorized by Suharto to represent all Islamic political factions, had a full makeover and broke its links with the establishment. Vice President Hamzah Haz, who was adamantly against Megawati Sukarnoputri becoming president in October 1999, heads the PPP, which, with another Islamic party, the Crescent Star Party (PBB), has long been campaigning for the revival of the Jakarta Charter. This calls for the adoption of syari'ah (Islamic law) for Muslims, and needs an amendment to Article 29 of the constitution which was rejected by the MPR at its annual session in August.

A keystone of the FPI demands is also reformation of Islam by imposing Islamic law in Indonesia, in an attempt to appeal to fellow Muslim citizens. They strive for publicity, however bad, to make up for the fact that they are extremely small in numbers, though they claim to have thousands of "warriors" ready to take up arms as it were.

Most of their followers are from the lower strata of society, poorly educated and usually unemployed.

Wielding vicious homemade spears everywhere they went, the FPI forces of repression were earlier ill-received by a reformation movement determined to fight. Nowadays though, when these white- robed "warriors" go on the march, most civilians get out of the way.

Just prior to the latest attacks, the hardliners toured Central Jakarta in a convoy of vehicles, bawling and screaming aggression, and even the police admitted they were unable to stem the violence because they were outnumbered.

Although some 80 percent of Indonesia's 215 million people Indonesia are Muslim, the vast majority are moderates. According to Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) chairman Amidhan, Muslim hardliners make up only 1 percent of the country's population.

Asked whether FPI was a competitor to the mainstream Islamic groups, Al-Habib admitted, "NU is wiser, more polite and softer. Muhammadiyah is critical, intellectual. FPI is more physical, we fight immorality. NU plants the seeds of the paddy, because it has the seeds. FPI doesn't have the seeds, we only have the sickle. Our job is to clean up the mice, the pests that ruin the paddy. It's just a division of labor. There is no competition between us."

Syafi'i Ma'arif, chairman of Muhammadiyah, however, has frequently warned that mainstream Islamic groups need to stay close to their members and listen to their aspirations, so that the voice of the "silent majority" of mainstream Muslims is heard, at least in the background.

The latest incidents and the subsequent arrests have attracted little attention in the foreign media but if the establishment backs off caging the violent fringe elements, the perceptions will be of a significant political shift toward a more aggressive groundswell of Islam in Indonesia.

The FPI and other radical groups may not yet have won over disaffected mainstream Muslims, but unless the weekend arrests signal a crackdown on their violence, threats and intimidation, the outlook could rapidly deteriorate.

The real defenders of Islam in Indonesia are the Islamic masses that mainly belong to the NU and Muhamaddiyah, who see Indonesia as safer within its traditional plurality. These organizations have consistently warned that the introduction of Islamic law is not acceptable to the spirit of the national state of Indonesia.

The NU, for example, speaks for a membership in excess of 30 million and an unparalleled, grassroots, village-based system of traditional religious schools or pesantren that covers the whole archipelago.

The modernist Muhammadiyah, on the other hand, is largely middle-class-based, and its philanthropic success in building universities, hospitals, orphanages and foundations inspires the loyalty of an equally important sector of modern Indonesian society.

Together, the two organizations reach out and touch the hearts and souls of most of Indonesia's "ordinary" Muslims.

The extremists are not acting with the blessing of the NU, the Muhamaddiyah or the government of Indonesia. With their actions they not only threaten the image of Islam but also pose a danger to the preservation of Indonesia as a secular state governed (more or less) in line with the all-inclusive and tolerant Pancasila ideology.

Though Megawati has been able since September 11, 2001, to juggle support for the US-led global "war" on terrorism and the sensitivities of the Muslim majority in Indonesia, this was largely due to senior officers in the Indonesian military (TNI) holding fast to their predominantly moderate and secular views so as to avoid alienating the wider Muslim community.

But now the new military paradigm, and the consequent hardline stance on any protests or disturbances that threaten security or stability, may encourage once again the use of excessive force in controlling anti-US sentiment. If US President George W Bush goes ahead and bombs Iraq, the situation on the ground in Indonesia could deteriorate very quickly and Americans may have to be withdrawn to safety.

Suharto, like his predecessor Sukarno, feared that fundamentalist Islamic elements, the "extreme" right, posed as much of a threat to the unity and security of the state as the communists, the "extreme" left. Unrestrained Islam was not something Suharto and the military would ever allow.

Later, Abdurrahman Wahid tried hard to move toward separating religion from the state but found that Islam is too embedded in Indonesian culture to be taken out of politics.

Mainstream Indonesian Muslims also fear a new secular Indonesia that would take away the right of their religion to be afforded state protection.

Al-Habib and his radical Islamic FPI, on the other hand, which wishes to see Indonesia become an Islamic state and is most keen on taking the law into its own hands to protect Muslim "values", represent a clear and present danger to Indonesia.

The agenda is clear. Two months after Megawati was sworn in as president last year, Al-Habib was interviewed by a local media consultancy firm and had this to say: "When a policy is issued to castrate the rights of FPI, or oppress Muslim people, we will fight. So, we warn the government not to try to oppress Muslims. As long as they do not, FPI will have no reasons to act. But if the government acts against Muslims, then we will take real action! So, we will watch the behavior of the government. You can say that FPI is practicing social control towards Megawati's government and the policies it makes. So we would like to warn the present government under Megawati: Don't mess with Muslim people or try to oppress them! We will be watching! This is a warning!"

Though the FPI thugs have waged a relentless campaign of destruction of property owned by those they say are sinners, to the radicals the sin of the president is just that of being born a woman. Al-Habib has said FPI will not recognize a female president and, according to him, under syariah a woman cannot be president.

The continued violence and unrest in the regions, economic turmoil and the scrabble for political clout before the elections in 2004, as well as the general lawlessness, all creates a ripe battlefield for those who abuse the law and openly defy the authorities in the name of Islam.

There is little of more fundamental importance to Indonesia than the attainment of religious harmony in these multiracial, secular states, whose people find their spiritual strength in various religions and live amid such a diverse cultural tradition.

Religious sensitivities, more often than not, have created havoc in the community. Religious and sectarian killings in Ambon and the rest of the Spice Islands have claimed many hundreds of lives.

Islam is a religion of love and peace, and those who resort to destruction and violence are blackening its image and discrediting its message. The FPI, however, portrays the religion as a violent and fierce creed, and demonstrations and violent behavior only tarnish the image of Islam. Confiscating beer and spirits, smashing nightclub signs, windows, and security posts, accosting people, shaving the heads of women, and other acts of intimidation have nothing in common with believers of any faith.

The demonstrators say they are acting on behalf of Islam, so it is fair to ask how they interpret the Islamic religion, which teaches the virtues of wisdom, patience and mutual respect, by showing their disrespect for the law and for the authorities.

They want to show their antipathy toward immoral activities, but they fail to convince that they are of high morals themselves, or that they have any respect for the law.

Further adverse publicity and any perception of unrestrained Islamism of the sort Suharto so carefully caged will set Indonesia even farther back on the road to economic recovery. Continued weakness in law enforcement against Muslims who are committing such offenses threatens the growth of even more Islamic extremism and even a potential economic collapse that would destabilize the entire region.

Vigilantes who raided 'dens of sin' to be prosecuted

Agence France Presse - October 7, 2002

Jakarta -- Indonesia will prosecute eight of 13 members of a radical Muslim group arrested for raiding nightspots in the capital as the police chief warned people against taking the law into their own hands.

Police arrested 13 members of the Front for the Defenders of Islam (FPI) after a group from the organisation raided several nightspots, which they regard as dens of sin, said Central Jakarta police chief Edmond Ilyas, according to the Media Indonesia daily.

Mr Edmond told journalists that eight of them would face criminal charges over damage caused during the raids on Friday and Saturday.

"After the initial investigations, eight of the suspects could be brought to court under Chapter 170, Article 1 of the existing criminal code," he was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying. The charge of using force and violence against individuals or property carries penalties of up to five years and six months in jail.

Three of the eight suspects have already admitted to vandalising private property. Another may also face weapons possession charges which can carry the death penalty under a 1951 emergency law, Mr Edmond said.

Media Indonesia quoted him as having said police seized a home- made firearm, bullets, axes, swords and several maces from the house of one of the arrested members.

FPI members have been conducting raids on Jakarta night entertainment venues for at least two years and smashing any alcoholic drinks they find, but these are the first reported arrests. The report did not say what would happen to the other five.

Commenting on the FPI raids, national police chief General Da'i Bachtiar warned people against taking the law into their own hands, the Detikcom online news service said. "I remind all groups, whoever they are, to respect the law, and the law can only be implemented by institutions or officials empowered to do so. Anyone else should not take the law into their hands, because that is a violation of the laws." Media Indonesia said FPI lawyers plan to take the police to court over the arrests.

Armed forces/Police

US Congress urged to block new training for military

OneWorld US - October 9, 2002

Jim Lobe -- A group of Indonesian human rights organizations is urging the United States Congress to maintain tough conditions on renewing US training of the Indonesian military (TNI) even as the administration of President George W. Bush is actively enlisting the TNI in Washington's "war on terrorism."

In a letter sent last week to each lawmaker, the eight organizations expressed "great alarm" at steps taken during the summer by congressional committees to lift restrictions on military training for the TNI that were first imposed more than 10 years ago after the army massacred as many as 300 civilians in East Timor.

Those restrictions were tightened in 1999 when TNI-organized militias laid waste to East Timor after the inhabitants of the former Portuguese colony voted overwhelmingly for independence in a United Nations-supervised referendum.

Restoration of military training under the State Department's International Military and Education Training (IMET) program or a new counter-terrorism program for which the administration has allocated US$4 million for TNI officers will do "irreparable damage ... to our efforts at reform; any further attempts by the TNI to change old practices will almost certainly end," the groups said.

The groups include the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (Kontras), ELSAM-Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy, the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, National Solidarity for Papua, Solidamor, Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), Center for Internally Displaced People's Services, and Women's Solidarity for Human Rights. Their letter was released Tuesday by the Washington-based East Timor Action Network.

Both the TNI and the Bush administration have pushed hard for restoring full military ties and training during the past year. The administration has said the TNI's cooperation in Washington's anti-terrorism campaign is critical to its success in Southeast Asia, a major focus of al-Qaeda's outreach efforts. Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population.

Washington has insisted that al-Qaeda has links to leaders of some militant Islamist groups in Indonesia and has urged President Megawati Sukarnoputri to move against them. The government has quietly turned over two individuals wanted by Washington and last month detained a German citizen, Seyam Reda, named by Washington as an al-Qaeda operative, in what was hailed by US officials as an important breakthrough in securing Jakarta's cooperation.

But experts on Indonesia and independent groups, such as those that sent the letter to Congress, contend that Washington is exaggerating the threat posed by such groups and that the much greater threat, particularly to the human rights of Indonesians, is the same TNI with which Washington is so eager to resume close ties.

"Like the US government, we are also concerned about the existence of radical Islamic groups in Indonesia. But only a very small minority of Indonesians are involved with these organizations, which have little to no proven connection to international terrorist networks," the groups wrote.

"Moreover," they went on, "these groups frequently operate with covert and, in some cases, overt support of elements of the military, police, and government. The greatest threat Indonesians face, and the greatest obstacle to real democracy, is the military. If the standard definition of 'terrorism' is applied to events in Indonesia, then the true terrorists are the security forces."

Backed by reports from the State Department, these groups argue that there has been virtually no progress by the Indonesian government on meeting conditions attached to any resumption of US training. Conditions included bringing to justice those responsible for the East Timor rampage, guaranteeing access for international humanitarian organizations to other zones of conflict in the sprawling archipelago, and ensuring civilian control over the military.

The groups are urging US lawmakers to vote against committee bills on easing the restrictions when they go before both houses and instead to retain in full the current conditions on training.

They wrote that the TNI continues to use militias in other conflict areas, such as Aceh, Papua, and the Maluku islands to terrorize the local population and human rights activists and pursue its own political and economic interests.

Police attempts to impress public doomed to failure

Jakarta Post - October 9, 2002

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- Police attempts to impress the public on the seriousness of legal action against their own officers alleged to have committed crimes seem doomed to failure as many irregularities were found at an open hearing on Tuesday.

One of the outstanding cases, which was tried on Tuesday, was about a policeman caught red-handed stealing a goat by locals in Sawangan, Depok eight years ago. During the incident, the defendant, Second Brig. Durino, fired his pistol in desperation at the mob. The incident claimed one life.

Judges at the military court hearing, which was chaired by Judge Lt.Col. Siti Juwariyah, appeared to view the case as normal, as she was unwilling to query irregularities that abounded, including missing evidence.

Much to spectators' surprise, Judge Siti simply commented, "That's acceptable; it [the case] occurred eight years ago," on a report that an item of evidence confiscated by the police, a Kijang van used by the defendant in the incident, was missing. The evidence, which was parked at the police Mobile Brigade building, reportedly went missing following renovation work at the building some years ago.

The judge then continued the hearing using a photo of the Kijang as replacement for the missing evidence. It was unclear why the defendant only stood trial for the theft, leaving another charge of firearm misuse, which claimed one life, untouched. According to Article 363 of the Criminal Code on theft, those found guilty of crime are subject to a maximum of five years in prison.

Twenty-two cases, in which police personnel are implicated, are slated to be heard by October 18.

Meanwhile, city police head of legal affairs Sr. Comr. Waluyo acknowledged that the police planned to clear all the old dossiers on crimes allegedly committed by police personnel that are still subject to a military court, before the issuance in April of new Law No. 2, 2002 on the police. The new law on police rules, among other things, stipulates that all police officers are subject to civilian instead of military courts. The law was passed following the separation of the police from the military.

"In line with the new police law passed by the House of Representatives this year, we have to legally process all old cases; that process is still under way," said Waluyo. Waluyo attributed blame for the delays to the extensive paperwork and procedures necessary to complete the dossiers. Waluyo, however, did not provide details on how long it would take to finalize every dossier.

Waluyo revealed that the police were working on around 200 dossiers on crimes allegedly committed by police personnel. "However, most of them are still with the military police, while 59 are ready to be sent to the military court. Of the 59, some 22 cases are scheduled to be resolved within the next two weeks," said Waluyo.

Besides trying Durino, the court also tried on Tuesday Chief Brig. Setiyarsa, head of the patrol unit of the city's VIP security police, who is accused of desertion from duty in 1998. The trial was held in absentia as the defendant was still at large.

International relations

US warns Indonesia over investigation of blast

Washington Post - October 11, 2002

Alan Sipress, Jakarta -- The Bush administration has warned Indonesian officials that it will withdraw some diplomats from the country unless police step up efforts to investigate a grenade explosion outside of a US building last month, a senior Indonesian security official said today.

Indonesian investigators linked the September 23 blast to a network of Islamic radicals in Indonesia by tracking two of the suspects to a house frequented by other militants, according to Indonesian and Western officials.

The explosion occurred in the early morning in a vehicle in front of an unoccupied US Embassy home now used as a warehouse. Investigators believe that a grenade detonated prematurely. One of the vehicle's four passengers died. The driver was arrested and the others fled.

Indonesian police have made no arrests since then and discounted terrorism as a motive, frustrating US officials. Senior police officials say the attackers were not targeting Americans but had intended to use the grenade in an effort to collect a debt from the owner of a house on the same residential street in the upscale Menteng neighborhood.

To stress American concerns, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, commander of the US Pacific Command, called Indonesia's military chief, Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, on Wednesday.

"He discussed with the general the seriousness with which the US government views the threat to American interests and Americans in Indonesia," said Navy Capt. John Singley, spokesman for the command. In particular, he said, Fargo highlighted the danger posed by Jemaah Islamiyah, a group headed by an Indonesian cleric, Abubakar Baasyir, that US and some regional intelligence officials describe as a radical Islamic network operating across Southeast Asia.

The issue of American security concerns was also on the agenda of a meeting at President Megawati Sukarnoputri's home attended by her top national security team, according to the senior Indonesian official.

He said his government has reassured the United States that the investigation is being taken seriously and that Americans are safe in Indonesia. US diplomats have previously praised the Indonesian police for increasing their presence outside the embassy in Jakarta after it closed for six days last month because of warnings of an imminent attack by militants linked to al Qaeda.

By withdrawing diplomats or embassy families, however, the United States would be signaling that it believes Indonesian police are no longer willing or able to protect Americans in a country where there is increasing evidence of al Qaeda operations. Such a move could strain relations between Washington and Jakarta at a time when Indonesian officials have been adopting other measures against international terrorism. Last month they arrested Seyam Reda, a German citizen suspected of links to al Qaeda, and opened an investigation into his activities.

Even as Indonesian security officials speak more openly about the presence of suspected al Qaeda followers in their country, the government has been under political pressure not to move too aggressively against them. Police and military officials say they risk a backlash from some Muslims and nationalists if the authorities are seen as doing Washington's bidding.

US officials in Jakarta and Washington have made no public statements about the grenade investigation. But other Western officials said the police handling of the probe has caused much consternation in the diplomatic community.

In the hours following the blast, National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar announced that his investigators had concluded the passengers in the vehicle intended to throw the grenade at the embassy warehouse. By the next day, Bachtiar and other top police officials offered a different explanation, saying the attackers had been hired to collect a debt of nearly half a million dollars from a businessman, Hasyim Setiono, who lived on the same street. Police officials later announced that they had ruled out terrorism as a motive.

Police questioned the driver of the car and tracked two suspects who fled the scene to a house in Purwakarta, about 70 miles east of the capital, according to sources familiar with the investigation. They said this house had previously provided haven for at least one other Islamic militant.

Engkesman R. Hillep, inspector general of the national police, said findings so far support the debt-collection theory. "Of course we're not going to stop right there," Hillep said. "We'll also continue our investigation into this matter. But as for a connection with terrorism, we're still working on it."

Envoy's parting shots to kill myths hurting Jakarta ties

Sydney Morning Herald - October 9, 2002

Matthew Moore, Jakarta -- On the eve of his return home, Australia's ambassador to Indonesia, Ric Smith, has sought to rebut a series of "myths" which he believes are straining the relationship between the two countries.

These ranged from a well-seasoned view in Indonesia that Australia "led East Timor to independence", to a more recent belief in some quarters that a proposal to build a commercial satellite launch facility on Christmas Island, just south of Java, could result in Indonesians being hit by stray rockets.

Mr Smith, who will return to Australia next week to take up the job of secretary of the Defence Department, argued to a lunch gathering of Australian and Indonesian business people that the Australian Government understood Indonesia's problems and was sympathetic to them.

"We do indeed understand what is happening in Indonesia at this time -- three major transitions simultaneously: a political transition, an economic re-building and a very major change in the way the country is governed, away from a highly centralised state to a very decentralised state." He did not say why he believed these myths were in wide circulation but said there was a "growing frequency with which I have to write in response to one canard or another" after they were published in Indonesian media.

Mr Smith sought to kill one of the more entrenched views in Indonesia that Australia sees its interests lying in a weak and divided Indonesia and interferes in Indonesia's affairs to ensure this.

He called this view nonsense and said Australia's interest was in a "democratic, economically strong, stable and, above all, a well-governed Indonesia." He stressed that the Australian Government did not want independence in any Indonesian province, especially Papua, but said it was regrettable that some Australians wanted Papua to be a separate state.

He again sought to play down a recent article in an Australian magazine that said the Australian Government was indirectly supporting Indonesian independence movements by funding non- government organisations with separatist views.

"... no NGO is funded by the Australian Government to conduct activities contrary to Indonesia's sovereignty," he said.

Australia had also been wrongly accused of tightening access to Indonesians in the way the United States has done to many people from the Middle East since the September 11 attacks last year, he said.

"The truth is there were no significant changes to visa policy post-11 September that related to Indonesia or Indonesian nationals. 11 September had no impact on the number of visas issues by my embassy."

The name gives away the political subtext in (West) Papua

Australian Financial Review - October 7, 2002

Jose Ramos Horta knows a thing or two about Indonesia, about suppression, and about independence. So when he recently advised the Melanesians of Papua, and the Acehnese, to take Jakarta's offer of autonomy at face value, and give it a try, his voice demanded a hearing.

Asia has for decades contained four entrenched trouble spots: Kashmir, Sri Lanka, the Taiwan Strait and the Korean peninsula. Today, Sri Lanka is sufficiently calm for Australia to be playing three cricket Tests there, and, although there is still far to go, Korean ditente appears on its way.

But there is a grave risk that one or other stoushes within the Indonesian archipelago may turn enduringly ugly, and enlist in the big league of Asian conflict zones. That is one reason why today, the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, is attending a meeting in the centre of Javanese culture and education, Yogyakarta, with his counterparts from the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and hosts Indonesia, as well as with East Timor's Ramos Horta.

They are inaugurating the South-West Pacific Dialogue that will attempt to bridge the troubled waters between the 10 countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations and the "arc of instability" that stretches from Timor across to Fiji. In the centre of this zone is Indonesia's largest and most resource-rich province, Papua (use of the term West Papua is associated with the independence campaign).

Keeping Papua Indonesian is an important sub-text behind the Indonesian promotion of the new dialogue. The dialogue was to have been held in Timika in Papua, but was shifted, illustratively, following the killing of three teachers there, including two Americans.

Papua New Guineans feel considerable sympathy for their Melanesian brothers across the mountain-strewn border drawn arbitrarily by the Dutch in 1828, then refined in a convention with the British in 1895. This early Dutch attempt at possession was mostly an empty pre-emptive gesture, confined to a few stations along the coast.

Others had earlier "claimed" the island, equally futilely. Luis Vaez de Torres, after whom the strait north of Australia is named, took possession in 1606 of the whole of New Guinea island for King Philip III of Spain, to whom he wrote: "All this land of New Guinea is peopled with natives, not very white ..." But much later the colonialists' game of musical chairs stopped, and everyone sat down. With remarkably few exceptions, they have stayed where they sat ever since, around the world.

Even PNG's natural empathy for the Papuans has been tempered by its own struggle to stay intact through the civil war with Bougainville. The Philippines, struggling to hold down its rebellious south, is also disinclined to encourage separatist sentiments. In Australia, the Bougainville cause attracted significant support from church, aid, and anti-mining groups. East Timor built far broader coalitions. And "success" there has reinforced the confidence about Papua, the next target.

This will not be the case, however. And those who support independence for Papua risk raising false hopes among separatists who live there, who have most to lose -- as happened, with gruesome repercussions, in Bougainville, whose 12-year civil war benefited no-one.

The Papuans are perceived as another alienated, subject people exploited by "the Indonesians". Melbourne's RMIT University -- which was the organising hub of the S11 anti-capitalism push to shut down the World Economic Forum -- recently hosted a characteristic event, that honoured Papuan independence leader Jacob Rumbiak with an academic award in part for his "identity" as a Melanesian. With awesome irony, this was organised by the university's Globalism Institute, which greeted guests with Malaitan "warriors" from Solomon Islands. It was, of course, a coup by a Malaitan armed gang in mid-2000 that tipped the Solomons over the brink into warlordism, Today, it is a notorious "failed state".

Naturally, the Indonesian Government feels unhappy about institutions funded by Australian taxpayers -- whether universities or non-government organisations -- campaigning for the break-up of their country. And this is a democratically elected government, which has entrenched the rights of trade unionists, and which operates in a climate excited by Asia's most full-on media.

The alternatives for Indonesia to the present, muddling-through democracy are all worse. The most obvious ones are an unholy alliance between the nationalist army, the TNI and Muslim extremists; or the sort of Dodge City warlordism in the Solomons' Guadalcanal, PNG's Southern Highlands, and Indonesia's own Maluku. Half of the 2 million people living in Papua are non- indigenous. Many were directed there by the misbegotten transmigrasi scheme of the Soeharto era, but they have little to return to elsewhere in the archipelago. They can surely find an accommodation under autonomy that will let the Melanesians steer the province, especially if the lion's share of resources receipts are retained, as agreed by Jakarta.

The biggest obstacle is clearly the security forces -- not only the TNI but also, as described in a disturbing new Amnesty International report, the paramilitary police, Brimob. The solution is to scale down the TNI severely, reorientate it from civilian suppression to addressing external threats, and to provide both it and the police with adequate funding to replace their present reliance on protection rackets tapping the country's embattled resources sectors.

Far easier said than done. A new Quarterly Essay on the topic, "Paradise Betrayed", in its very title hints unselfconsciously at the dangers for Australians in viewing the immediate region through a satisfyingly absolutist lens. No, traditional tribal life in Melanesia is not and was never "paradise". Nor are "absolutist" solutions, led by national sovereignty, the only options.

But John Martinkus, in the essay -- a lively account of a foray into the province -- rightly concludes: "It is time for the Australian Government to address the problem once again, before West Papua [sic] descends into the kind of mayhem our soldiers so belatedly had to deal with in East Timor."

Alexander Downer has lately been talking with Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma, is now at the dialogue, and is going on to the WEF's annual East Asia conference in Kuala Lumpur. The neighbourhood, and not just Iraq, is clearly in his mind. If he can somehow devise a way to help steer Indonesia towards a peaceful, prosperous outcome for Papua, he will well deserve the "statesman" plaudit in which his predecessor basked over Cambodia.

Visa-free facility to be scrapped

Jakarta Post - October 8, 2002

Jakarta -- The government is determined to scrap the visa-free facility accorded to nationals of 48 countries in an effort to prevent more of its misuse, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda said on Monday.

"We are going to review it," he told journalists after accompanying President Megawati Soekarnoputri in a meeting with visiting Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar from Mongolia at the State Palace.

Critics have said the visa's revocation could significantly reduce the number of foreign tourists and businesspeople visiting Indonesia.

Hassan said many foreign visitors had misused the facility to engage in questionable activities, such as roaming the jungles of Aceh.

A Scottish academic and an American nurse, both female, along with their interpreter, were arrested in Aceh last month and are in police custody. They may face charges of violating their visas.

The two women have also been accused of possessing documents concerning the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), but both have denied the charge.

Downer stresses opposition to separatist groups

Sydney Morning Herald - October 7, 2002

Matthew Moore, Yogyakarta -- A new regional group intended to strengthen Indonesia's brittle relations with its neighbours held its inaugural meeting at the weekend, and Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, stressed Canberra's strong opposition to Indonesia's secessionist movements.

Foreign ministers from six countries spent two days focusing mainly on the problems of international and regional terrorism in often informal talks held by the new body, which has been named South-West Pacific Dialogue. President Megawati Soekarnoputri supported the creation of the new body, first proposed two years ago by her predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid, as a move to rebuild relations with Australia following East Timor's bloody transition to independence.

The group, whose other members are the Philippines, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, will operate alongside the established groups the Association of South-East Asian Nations and the Pacific Islands Forum, with meetings to be held every two years. This first meeting was originally to be held in Timika in the province of Papua, but was moved to Yogyakarta after the recent murder of three teachers from the Freeport mine there. With security problems worsening in Indonesia's easternmost province, New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Phil Goff, floatedthe idea of his country acting as a mediator between Papuan separatists and Jakarta.

Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, initially responded by saying his country would "see if there's any need for third-party negotiations in Irian Jaya", but later made clear there was no interest in the proposal. It was more important to ensure implementation of special autonomy laws for Papua that would give the province a much larger share of the proceeds from its abundant natural resources. Mr Downer went out of his way to counter periodic accusations in Indonesia that Canberra indirectly supports the Papuan separatist movement by funding non-government organisations or universities that support independence for the province.

"As I have explained rather forcefully today, we are not supporters of the break-up of Indonesia. It would be a catastrophe for South-East Asian people should understand that," he said. "In Indonesia there are some suggestions ... particularly from some parliamentarians, that Australia may not be wholehearted in its support for Indonesia's territorial integrity." While some Australian individuals and non-government organisations supported independence for Papua, the Government "absolutely does not". The ministers agreed to share information on the activities of terrorists, although there were no specifics on how this would be done.

Indonesia has been criticised by several countries, especially Singapore, for failing to arrest Islamic extremists, but Mr Wirayuda defended his country's record, saying a number of perpetrators had been arrested.

Economy & investment

Stalled economy fuels jobless crisis

Asia Times - October 11, 2002

Tony Sitathan -- Irwin Goenawan graduated at the top in his class studying for magister manajeman, the Indonesian equivalent of a master of business administration (MBA) degree. He comes from a middle-class family. His father is a respected academician and honorary professor in Jakarta's Pancasila University, while his mother runs a small gift shop selling paintings and art and craft in Central Jakarta.

Irwin has most of the essentials in life and some of the luxuries that others his age can only dream of. But despite his above- average lifestyle and overall sense of achievement from graduating at the top of his class, something deeply bothers him. Unemployment.

Irwin graduated almost two years ago to qualify for magister manajeman, but has been trouble finding a job to suit his skills.

"I have been talking to IT [information technology] companies, banks and financial houses as well as research and broadcasting media houses and it looks like it is getting nowhere. Everyone seems to be maintaining the status quo since there has been a freeze in hiring new staff to replace the older ones that are on the verge of retirement," he said. Irwin was unable to get full- time employment in Jakarta and is thinking of moving to Bandung and helping his cousins run a clothing store.

Irwin's plight is not new to Jakarta or elsewhere in Indonesia. Unemployment has become a major national problem. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics' (BPS) latest quarterly survey, the level of unemployment at the beginning of the second half of this year reached 8 million people, or 8.2 percent of the country's 97.6 million labor force.

Although the unemployment figure appeared low, BPS acknowledged that the new data were "worrying" because 61 percent of the unemployed were young men in the 15-24 age range. And the greatest worry, according to sociologist Indrayani Shanti, is the fear that this age group may turn to crime to make a living. "There are more and more youths today, unable to find employment, turning to crime and other means to eke a living in cosmopolitan cities like Jakarta. My greatest worry is that unemployment may be a breeding ground for social misfits and those who might exhibit criminal tendencies," she said.

According to the BPS report, about 34.5 percent of the unemployed were young men who were senior-high-school graduates. "This is a disturbing trend, seeing well-qualified students not finding meaningful employment. Is the state to be blamed for turning a blind eye to this social problem?" said Indrayani.

Rini Paramitha works as a nightclub hostess in the West Jakarta. Unlike many of her peers in the nightclub profession, she is a senior-high-school graduate. She tried working in a metalwork factory in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, but it closed down. Unable to support her family, she became a hostess.

She says she goes out only with customers she wants to go out with and is under no pressure from the owner of the establishment to please the clientele. "I have my own reasons for working in this line. At least it's a stable income, accompanying foreigners as a club hostess, singing karaoke songs. The times I do decide to earn a little extra, sometimes exceeding Rp500,000 [about US$55] for a night, I pick and choose whom I want to spend my night with," she says unabashedly.

The Indonesian government knows only too well that unemployment and underemployment put an indirect stress on the state coffers even though, unlike Australia, Germany or the United Kingdom, which pay out dole to citizens who qualify for social security, Indonesia does not have any safety net for its citizens. The indirect stress to the state coffers comes in the form of crime and violence, which are on the increase.

There was recently an episode in which some students were gathered for a demonstration that opposed the re-election of the current governor of Jakarta, Sutisloyo. "Around 1,000 students were rounded up from the various high schools and universities, where each student was given around Rp50,000 together with a meal allowance to stage a protest in front of parliament," said Malik Arjuna, a student demonstrator and ringleader. Traffic in the road leading to parliament was paralyzed for a day and hundreds of policemen were called in, as well as members of the armed forces (TNI). Such episodes amount to a cost to the state, which has to cover the expense of mobilizing a protective blockade and to disperse protests that sometimes got out of hand.

The BPS survey sampled 18,132 households across the country. The unemployment data here refer to open unemployment, which the bureau defines as the percentage of people categorized as part of the labor force who have no job and are actively seeking work. The survey was aimed at establishing an early-warning system for the government to monitor the country's labor problems.

Yunita Rusanti, head of the labor evaluation and statistical section at BPS, said this was the first quarterly survey published since 1994. The survey was restarted on a recommendation from the International Monetary Fund, which requires Indonesia to keep itself abreast of labor problems.

Independent experts, however, have estimated the country's unemployment at more than 40 million by including the huge amount of disguised unemployment, defined as the number of people in the labor force working less than 35 hours per week.

Indrayani says the unemployment rate of 8 percent is seen as unrealistic because it is lower than the rate in some European countries. "This survey does not reflect the true extent of unemployment in Indonesia and cannot be taken as a benchmark for officials to base their projections and estimations [on]," she said.

Although the Indonesian economy is expected to show approximately 6-7 percent growth for 2002, Indonesia has not recovered from the economic crisis of 1997-98. "The plain fact of the matter is companies are not operating as before and state-run companies that offered full-time employment to the masses are far more selective now and, given the drain on finances, the iron rice bowl of the Suharto era is not there anymore," said Winatunggung Salembar, an economist with PT Trimegah Securities.

Also given the backdrop of the inflation rate of 8-9 percent and the weakening of the rupiah against the greenback, the rupiah can do a lot less than it could before. The true value of the rupiah has dropped marginally as well, reflecting the true nature of Indonesia and Indonesians now -- weathered, downtrodden and unemployed.

IMF, the World Bank and Indonesia

Laksamana.Net - October 7, 2002

As global stock markets slide and a lack of leadership on international reform colored the annual meetings last week of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings, analysts predict mixed results for Indonesia, which has long asked international creditors to be more understanding if conditions attached to fresh loans are not met on schedule.

The Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), which groups Indonesia's bilateral and multilateral creditors, is set to hold its annual meeting October 28-29 in Yogyakarta.

Vice President Hamzah Haz said early last week that he hoped the CGI would not link its commitment to deliver fresh loans to help meet budget shortfalls and fund development programs with the implementation of programs outlined in the government's agreement with the IMF.

The agreement, or Letter of Intent (LoI), outlines reform programs covering a plethora of issues from legal reform to privatization and good governance.

Haz said the targets could generally not be met because of factors outside the government's power -- alluding to resistance in the parliament to the privatization program and vested interests of all sorts set against reform of the judicial, customs and other systems.

The government has reason to hope that the CGI will be more understanding as the IMF waived several conditions under its multi-billion program when it dispersed its last loan in April to give Indonesia more time to carry out reforms.

'Structural' reform, focus on corruption

However, the IMF later indicated that it wants to see more progress from Indonesia on structural reforms before it releases the next loan.

"We are looking to further progress in structural actions scheduled under the program ... and that will also enable the seventh review of the program to proceed," IMF senior representative in Jakarta David Nellor told Reuters.

The government had said it expected the seventh LoI to be signed in September but later said it hoped the letter would be signed before the end of October. Nellor declined to say what reform areas Jakarta needed to improve but Mahendra Siregar, an adviser to Chief Economics Minister Dorodjatun Kuntoro-Djakti, said the IMF was concentrating on corruption issues.

Siregar said the Fund was not yet satisfied with Jakarta's slow pace in forming an anti-corruption commission and resolving the issue of emergency loans extended by the central bank during the economic crisis of the late 1990s under the Bank Indonesia Bank Liquidity (BLBI) scheme.

Although the new anti-corruption law covers the formation of a commission, the government's attempts to crack down on corruption in official circles have been disappointing.

The latest furor comes as President Megawati Sukarnoputri is being pressured to sack Attorney General A.M. Rachman although he failed to include a $500,000 house on his obligatory wealth report and gave an appallingly lame explanation of how he managed to purchase it and a host of other assets on a Rp 6 million ($1,300) per month salary.

Results are hardly more encouraging in the case of the BLBI debacle. The Supreme Audit Board (BPK) in a report commissioned in 2000 found that Rp 138 trillion of the Rp 144.5 trillion ($16 billion) in BLBI funds issued over 1997-99 were channeled through improper procedures and then misused by recipient banks, most of which were owned by cronies and relatives of former president Suharto.

While the IMF has been pushing the issue for some time, it had little to say when the government agreed to take responsibility for the vast majority of the debt through the issuance of special bonds several months ago.

The central bank, meanwhile, has escaped almost spotless from the scandal and Bank Indonesia Governor Syahril Sabirin remains at the helm after the Supreme Court upheld his appeal on corruption charges.

The World Bank has apparently taken a similar focus on corruption and bank chief James Wolfensohn told a news conference in Washington during the bank's annual meeting that recent bank programs covered legal and judicial reform and transparency in Indonesia as a means to curb corruption.

But he also said that statements by the World Bank or international institutions are "a lot less effective than an internal push to deal with the question of corruption". "All we can do is to offer support to the government," he added.

New global environment, new focus

Since civil society protests against the IMF and World Bank emerged with a vengeance in recent years, both institutions have attempted to reform themselves and have increasingly warmed to their "supportive" role.

At the World Bank, several high profile debacles involving multi-billion infrastructure projects in the 1990s that uprooted hundreds of thousands of poor peasants and caused environmental damage helped speed a shift in its focus to health, education, improving government services and combating corruption, not least in Indonesia.

As for the IMF, the perceived failure to pull countries, particularly Brazil and Argentina, from the brink of financial meltdown and reduce global poverty likewise fueled protests and a softening of reform targets outlined in their LoIs with governments.

As the Guardian argued last week, the approach now is to concede that the protesters have a point and to stress that everybody -- the IMF, the World Bank, the G7, the protesters, the private sector -- is united in a determination to make globalization work for rich and poor.

But for all the "togetherness" and polite deference to their critics, the World Bank and IMF are increasingly attempting to offload the burden of negative fallout from unpopular policies onto recipient governments.

When the World Bank's infrastructure drive turned sour, it left unpopular large-scale construction projects to governments. Its "supporting" role now allows the bank to wash its hands of responsibility for the utilization of its massive cash injections, which are handed to an increasingly large array of government, private and nongovernment bodies.

An internal report produced after the worst of the economic crisis had passed, for example, claimed that as much as 30% of World Bank funds to Indonesia had disappeared.

Why the people of Indonesia should now be forced to pay for the corruption of the crony-capitalist excesses of the former authoritarian regime and the endemic corruption left over is the focus of much impassioned discussion on the role of international institutions in Indonesia.

Now that the IMF prescription for economic reform has been shot down from its pedestal, it is increasingly seeking to accommodate the particular scruples of governments and has modified schedules and targets accordingly.

Under the first revision of its Conditionality Guidelines since 1979 -- approved by the IMF Executive Board last week -- the IMF will focus on the promotion of national ownership of reform programs, parsimony in the application of program-related conditions, tailoring of programs to members' circumstances, effective coordination with other multilateral institutions and clarity in the specifications of conditions.

Governments will take primary responsibility for policies and will draft as much as possible the LoIs setting out the reform agenda.

Although this may provide some breathing space, it does not mean that governments will be spared the difficult and politically sensitive tasks of continuing fiscal consolidation through the gradual removal of subsidies, privatization and through more vigorous tax collection.

While governments may feel justified in taking greater credit for the perceived success of reform measures, the IMF has also managed to avoid the fallout for unpopular policies and any other negative ramifications in the marketplace should performance fail to live up to expectations.

But the most worrying factor in any economic planning is the fact that creditors to countries like Indonesia are going to have to become a whole lot more "understanding" as the global economy faces tough times ahead.

The third quarter, which ended last Monday with the end of the annual IMF and World Bank meetings, was the worst since the 1987 market collapse for the Standard Poor's 500 index, the benchmark of big US companies' share prices, which fell 17.6% during the period.

In Germany, the EU's biggest economy, the main stock index has plunged 46% this year, reported the International Herald Tribune.

But unlike 1987, when prices rebounded relatively quickly, this time the gloom in financial markets seems to be growing, largely due to the talk of war in Iraq.

The general gloom is also evident in plunging foreign direct investment levels and increasing competition among exporters as consumption in the US stagnates -- at a measly 0.3% growth in August.

The scenario does not auger well for countries struggling under a mountain of debt like Indonesia, which owes around $130 billion -- only slightly below annual gross domestic product (GDP).

First World subsidies, Third World poverty

First world countries offered few apologies for their massive domestic subsidy programs despite the heavy toll on the developing world at the IMF and World Bank meetings.

Such subsidies not only undercut the export-oriented recovery programs advocated by the international lenders but also clearly reveal first world government's two-faced approach to the "free market", critics say.

"It is hypocrisy to encourage poor countries to open their markets while imposing protectionist measures that cater to powerful special interests," Nicholas Stern, chief economist of the World Bank, told The New York Times. Mr. Stern estimates that the average cow in Europe receives about $2.50 a day in subsidies. In Japan the figure is nearly $7.

By contrast, 75% of the people in sub-Saharan Africa and around 60% of Indonesians live on less than $2 a day.

World Bank president James Wolfensohn accused wealthy countries of "squandering" $1 billion a day on farm subsidies. Oxfam estimates the American government spends three times as much on cotton subsidies as it does on foreign aid for all of Africa.

But while comparisons of subsidies and aid highlight the injustice they cannot reflect the real and hypothetical losses to commodity producers in the third world.

Brazil, for example, claims it lost $640 million last year as a result of American cotton subsidies that lead to a downward spiral in cotton prices and filed a legal complaint on the case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Friday two weeks ago.

Such challenges to protectionist policies are not new but current uneasiness over the global economic outlook makes them increasingly "dangerous' to world markets and the dominant power structure.

Bandaid solutions

In answer to critics in Indonesia, international creditors offered a couple of Bandaid solutions last week.

Despite legal uncertainty and a desire to see greater reform, the World Bank has said that it plans to boost investment through its investment arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Newly appointed IFC country manager for Indonesia G. A. Vegarra said investment was down to just $21 million in fiscal year 2002 compared to $400-500 million in a normal fiscal year.

Vegarra said the IFC had devoted much time and effort to legal wranglings this year -- primarily over its stake in the Manulife insurance company, which was declared bankrupt in a politically charged and messy case with the previous owners.

He said the IFC would focus on the financial sector, agribusiness, infrastructure, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and extractive industries like mining, and oil and gas, reported The Jakarta Post.

The IFC is also set to convene a second private sector forum on October 21 aimed at enhancing dialogue between the private sector and the government as part of its preparations for the CGI meeting.

The IFC portfolio in Indonesia includes 35 companies and the IFC has invested $2.2 billion in Indonesia since 1956, making the country its sixth largest recipient.

Meanwhile, the US and Indonesia have agreed on the rescheduling of $485.5 million in principal and interest payments as the government struggles to keep the budget deficit at 2.5% of GDP this year.

The US Embassy said in a statement that the agreement provides for lower debt service payments for Indonesia through the end of 2003 and implements Indonesia's 2002 agreement with the Paris Club with respect to US loans.

Official development assistance (ODA) loans represent some 37% of the loans and include an interest rate substantially below market levels over 20 years with a 10-year grace period.

Non-ODA loans, primarily commercial credits, are being rescheduled over 18 years with a five-year grace period, the statement said. More substantial sums will likely be discussed when a team of senior ministers arrives in the US next month for trade and energy talks in a bid to drum up investment.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said the delegation would include Chief Economics Minister Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Trade and Industry Minister Rini Suwandi and Mines and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, reported Reuters.

'Goodbye IMF'

The agenda will also most likely include a review of anti- American sentiment in the world's largest Muslim country.

Around 95% of Indonesia's 220 million people are at least nominally Muslim and the government has used this fact to its advantage since the global "war" on terrorism was launched following the September 11 attacks last year.

Empathy among the population for fellow Muslims victimized by the US in Afghanistan and Palestine has combined with enough popular hostility to the IMF to provide cunning politicians with a wealth of new material in their attempts to win the hearts and minds of voters.

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Amien Rais, was in Sulawesi Thursday to appoint new regional leaders for the Islamic National Mandate Party (PAN) he chairs. He declared that the MPR wanted the IMF out of Indonesia in late 2003.

"We will say goodbye to the IMF. Please go back to America quickly. We don't need you because you can do nothing," he said, adding that the Indonesian economy was getting worse. "There is no need to praise America. We will say goodbye to the IMF," he said.

Like a true politician, Rais conveniently forgot to mention that the government is already aiming to go it alone without the IMF loan program at the end of 2003.

Many elements want the IMF out earlier, including members of the government with little interest in winning over voters, such as chairman of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Kwik Kian Gie.

But the government's line has always been that the country needs to maintain the support of the IMF and the World Bank and the system they represent in order to win back lost confidence in the economy -- a view reiterated time and again by the institutions themselves.

But as "confidence" on a global scale takes a battering, much greater "understanding" of the exigencies of the Indonesian political and economic situation will be needed if the IMF and World Bank are to avoid a massive backlash from the millions who see them as an integral part of the cause of injustice and poverty.