Democratic struggle

Protests against price rises continue

Jakarta Post - January 11, 2003

Jakarta -- Street protests continued across the country Friday against steep increases in fuel and utility charges as the government began distributing cheaper rice nationwide to those hardest hit by the price rises, AFP reported.

About 10,000 students and workers staged a noisy but peaceful rally in Makassar, South Sulawesi province, El Shinta radio reported.

In Jakarta hundreds of students picketed the parliament building, urging legislators to ask the government to cancel the price increases.

Similar protests were staged in Ambon and Indonesia's seocnd largest city Surabaya. There were no reports of violence.

On Thursday thousands of workers and students staged protests in 19 cities and towns across Indonesia in the biggest challenge to the price hikes so far.

The government raised fuel prices by up to 22 percent on January 2 as part of a continuing effort to reduce costly fuel subsidies and contain its budgetdeficit.

Electricity charges were raised by six percent on January 1 and three further quarterly increases of six percent will follow later this year. Telephone charges increased by an average of 15 percent on January 1.

On Friday the government began distributing 175 tonnes of rice to be sold at a low price as part of measures to help the poor cope with the increases,said the head of the state food agency Bulog, Widjanarko Puspoyo.

He did not say how many of poor people will be eligible for the cheap rice.

Protesters urge nationwide boycott of tax, utility payments

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

Jakarta -- Calls for a national boycott on taxes and utility bills, and for the resignations of President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her deputy Hamzah Haz, mounted across the archipelago on Thursday as nationwide protests heated up against fuel, electricity and telephone price hikes.

Most street demonstrations in the majority of provinces proceeded peacefully. A minor clash broke out in Jakarta, while two protesters sustained shot wounds in a scuffle with police in the West Java town of Karawang.

Around 400 businesspeople, joined by leaders of various labor unions and student groups, held rallies in the country's second largest city of Surabaya, threatening to not pay taxes in protest against the price rises.

The threat was made publicly by the head of the East Java Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Erlangga Satriagung, who led the group of protesting businesspeople.

"Businessmen have made maximum efforts to improve efficiency and reduce profit margins. If we continue to be suffocated, we will also be forced into massive lay-offs," he said.

Echoing Kadin's threat was chairman of the province's Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) Wiem Pattirajawane, who said association members would boycott tax payments and mobilize huge demonstrations should the central government refuse to reverse the increases.

"We will all go to the President to lodge a protest," he shouted during the rally at the East Java legislative council.

Similarly, thousands of students in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar urged the people not to pay electricity and telephone bills until their demands were heeded.

"Boycotts are the only way to oppose a government that has turned deaf and no longer cares for the people's concerns," said M. Arief, a protest leader from Indonesian Muhammadiyah University (UMI).

During the peaceful rally, the protesters again head briefly a fuel truck belonging to state-owned oil company Pertamina.

Around 7,000 other protesters, mostly students, marched to several strategic places in Medan, North Sumatra, demanding that the price hikes be annulled, or for Megawati and Hamzah Haz to resign.

The Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), one of the groups involved in the protests, also urged the government to cancel its Release and Discharge policy exonerating big debtors of legal charges, and its decision to sell state-owned telecommunications firm PT Indosat.

A call for the two national leaders to step down was also raised by protesters in the West Java city of Cirebon, the province of Yogyakarta, Padang in West Sumatra, Palu in Central Sulawesi and several other cities, who accused Megawati and Hamzah of failing to run the country and to show concern for the people.

In the West Java capital of Bandung, hundreds of demonstrators distributed thousands of leaflets urging the nation to shun tax and utility bill payments.

Street rallies were also reported in Aceh, Manado in North Sulawesi, Purwokerto in Central Java, and other cities and towns on the islands of Java, Bali and Sumatra.

Most of these nationwide protests, now in their fourth consecutive day on Thursday, were smaller than the 25,000 predicted by a coalition of workers, students and politicians.

Rally organizers, however, threatened to stage more demonstrations in upcoming days until their demands were heard.

The protests began on Monday, but the government has refused to undo the price increases, which range from 6 percent for electricity to 22 percent for fuel.

The government has said it planned to spend Rp 4 trillion (US$450 million) to compensate the poor for the increased prices through seven sectors, including education and health. Officials have also said they were considering tax cuts aimed at helping businesses that might be hurt by the price hikes.

Among the proposals is a plan to reduce the luxury tax on as many as 20 items.

Protesters vow more rallies consider radical measures

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta -- Unable to force the government to cancel utility price increases despite mass protests across the country, protesters vowed to continue demonstrating and consider "radical means" to put pressure on the government.

Thursday's rally in Jakarta failed to attract the expected crowd of around 25,000, with just a few thousand turning out before the Merdeka Palace to demand that the government cancel increases in fuel prices and electricity and telephone charges.

"SPSI decided to withdraw their participation after Jacob Nuwa Wea ordered them not to join us," said labor activist Dita Indah Sari who chairs the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (FNPBI).

She was referring to the country's largest labor union the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI), led by Minister of Manpower Jacob Nuwa Wea. Dita added that many SPSI members defied the order and joined the protests in Jakarta though they were far from enough.

The nationwide demonstrations were nonetheless the biggest so far held against President Megawati's administration.

Protests have been held over the past four days since the government announced the triple price hikes. Although the same move sparked few protests last year, analysts said the timing was bad.

A string of unpopular government decisions had preceded the announcement. Suspicion over corruption behind the sale of state-owned international call operator PT Indosat and plans to drop possible criminal charges against business tycoons had soured the government's image long before it disclosed the utility price hikes.

Protests against the three policies now have a sharp anti- Megawati undertone in them. But analysts said such pressure was ineffective.

The government stood its ground on Thursday, agreeing only to cosmetic compromises like tax incentives and a speedier disbursement of aid to the poor to compensate for the price hikes.

"We will gradually see the results, not today, but gradually," chairman of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), Muchtar Pakpahan told Trans TV.

There is a risk that protesters may run out of steam and require a break after four days of relentless protests, SBSI executive Rekson Silaban said earlier.

He said that Thursday's protest was not the final one and more would follow until the government agreed to negotiate with them.

"We're still looking for a common voice in negotiating with the government," he said, explaining that some labor unions are calling for radical actions like the refusal to pay taxes while others are for a nationwide strike as leverage during talks.

FNPBI's Dita said the next demonstrations were scheduled for Monday and Wednesday next week. "We're also considering tougher actions, like boycotting gasoline stations or fuel trucks," she said.

President Megawati may be ignoring the widespread protests for now, but she faces a risk in the long run with the general election in 2004, analysts have said.

Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- Perjuangan), draws much of its support from grassroots voters whose interests have been ignored by her recent policies.

This situation did not pass unnoticed by the opposition with some political parties also attacking her unpopular decisions.

"Even without the price hike protest, the political climate will heat up by itself because of the general election nearing," said former minister of manpower Bomer Pasaribu of the Center for Labor and Development Studies (CLDS).

Sharing a narrow yet common goal, businessmen and workers joined forces for the first time to protest against a government policy. But this unlikely alliance has yet to transpire into effective pressure.

Meanwhile another pressure group, students, have been largely protesting against the same policies alone.

"We'll see how far we can go doing it alone, we haven't shut out the possibility of joining other [protesting] elements," said Imam Mustafa of the polytechnic student body of the University of Indonesia.

Workers and students stage protest at Merdeka Palace

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

Maria Endah Hulupi and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- Thousands of workers and students staged a rally in front of Merdeka Palace, Central Jakarta, on Thursday to demand that the government annul the utility price hikes introduced on the first day of the new year.

"Bring down the prices, reduce electricity and telephone tariffs," the workers shouted in front of the tightly-guarded compound.

The government raised electricity and telephone tariffs on January 1 and removed fuel subsidies as part of its efforts to finance the state budget and reduce deficits.

The workers, however, charged that the simultaneous price hikes would bring more suffering to the people whose purchasing power had diminished since the economic crisis struck the country in 1997.

"The government has to review this policy ... decrease the utility prices, or you two [Megawati and Hamzah Haz] have to step down," a protester yelled, waving a banner that read: "Increasing prices means killing the people".

Over 500 police personnel were deployed to monitor the protests, including around 200 police who stood guard in front of Merdeka Palace.

"Megawati-Hamzah Haz, use your brains," read one placard. Calls have been mounting for the pair to resign. "The government has to cancel their stupid decision to raise the price of fuel," a protester shouted through a megaphone.

The House of Representatives approved the increases last year to meet demands by foreign creditors for fiscal belt-tightening. Some estimates say the higher prices could throw as many as three million people into poverty by the subsequent rise in the prices of food and transportation.

Aside from workers and students, youth wings of some political parties also took part in the rally, displaying the biggest challenge so far to the leadership of Megawati, who took over as president in July 2001.

The protesters would have entered the grounds of Merdeka Palace had the police not placed a barbed wire barrier along Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara.

A scuffle broke out when police from the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit attacked a vehicle carrying the protester's sound system. Two students and one security officer reportedly suffered minor injuries.

Dita Indah Sari, a labor activist from the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (FNPBI), deplored the fact that the government had ignored the plight of the middle and lower classes and turned a deaf ear to public demands. "It's a declaration of war. The government is challenging the public to bow to its [unpopular] decisions," she said, adding that such decisions forced the public to express their dissatisfaction through inappropriate means.

FNPBI and other elements of society, Dita said, were planning to seize gas stations belonging to Megawati's husband, businessman Taufik Kiemas, as a symbolic act of public resistance against Megawati's government, and to occupy State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and use the food stored there to feed the poor.

"We fully support their moves to take over control of such strategic facilities," she added.

"The price hike is insupportable. We cannot cope with the increased living costs," said Maladi, one of the 150 protesters grouped under the Solidarity of National Workers (Sopan), affiliated to Amien Rais's National Mandate Party (PAN).

By late afternoon, most of the Jakarta demonstrators had dispersed.

"We will continue to hold protests until the government responds to our demands. Otherwise, we won't be able to eat three times a day and we will refuse to pay taxes, electricity and the telephone bills," Maladi said.

Price protests continue in Indonesian cities

Straits Times - January 8, 2003

Jakarta -- Hundreds of students burned tyres and pictures of President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday when protests against fuel, telephone and electricity price hikes were held in 10 Indonesian towns and cities.

It was the second consecutive day of demonstrations against the rises, which have been approved by the Parliament to meet demands by Indonesia's foreign creditors for fiscal belt-tightening. Most of the protests were small, however, and there were no reports of violence.

In the central Sulawesi capital, Palu, students burned pictures of the president and tyres outside the governor's office and the local council building, witnesses said. Reports put the number of demonstrators at between 300 and 1,000.

Demonstrators took to the streets in nine other towns and cities, reports said, including the capital Jakarta, the east Javanese city of Surabaya and Medan on Sumatra island.

The government has said it has no plans to overturn the hikes, which bumped up prices for some gasoline products by 22 per cent, and raised electricity and telephone charges by an average of 6 and 15 per cent respectively.

The increases in turn have pushed up prices for basic foodstuffs, adding to the misery of millions of Indonesians living in poverty.

Previous fuel price rises have led to violent protests across the country, which is still suffering from the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

Some labour and transportation activists have threatened to stage nationwide strikes unless the government reverses the rises.

Local branches of Indonesia's two main Islamic organisations in the densely populated province of East Java also called for the hikes to be reviewed yesterday.

"This move is to prevent anarchy from breaking out in East Java. We all know how hard life is already for most people," said Mr Ali Maschan Musa, chairman of the East Java chapter of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Mr Musa said his chapter had asked NU national leaders to protest to the government and demand that the rises be reviewed.

Mr Fasich, chairman of the East Java chapter of Indonesia's second largest Islamic movement Muhammadiyah, said his organisation was doing the same thing. "We want the government, in a fair and wise way, to review the decision so that it does not add to the burden of the people who are economically already in limbo," he said.

Kerosene, widely used by the poor for cooking, remains heavily subsidised for domestic use. The government has allocated 3.1 trillion rupiah (S$600 million) as financial aid for the poor to compensate for the price rises.

It says the fuel subsidies mainly benefited the better-off and encouraged smuggling to other countries.

Strikes hit some cities as anti-government protests continue

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2003

Jakarta -- Mass strikes by public transportation drivers commenced in a number of cities on Monday as street protests against recent hikes in utility prices continued in several parts of the country.

In the port city of Cirebon, West Java, hundreds of public transport drivers serving the Cirebon-Indramayu route went on strike to protest the increase in fuel prices, particularly diesel fuel.

"The strike is the only action we can take to attract the government's attention so it will listen to our grievances," Darmaji, a 42-year old driver who was among the demonstrators, told The Jakarta Post.

A similar strike was held by dozens of drivers in the Riau capital of Pekanbaru, leaving thousands of students and city commuters stranded in the streets.

"Every day we are lost, because our incomes and expenditures do not balance out as a result of the increased fuel prices," Andi, a driver in Pekanbaru, was quoted by Antara as saying.

Last week, the government cut fuel subsidies which raised the prices on some gasoline products by 22 percent, and bumped up electricity and telephone charges by an average of 6 percent and 15 percent, respectively.

More strikes are expected throughout the country as bus operators have begun to feel the impact of the fuel price increase.

Mustofa, head of the East Java chapter of the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), said that about half of the 4,000 private buses linking cities in the most densely populated province would halt operations because they could not afford it.

Meanwhile, thousands of students, non-governmental organization activists and other people marched the streets in many cities on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Bali. Their numbers ranged from a few hundred protesters to more than 1,000.

In Jakarta, several groups took turns picketing Merdeka Palace, demanding the government to reverse the hikes in utility rates immediately.

The demonstrators shouted anti-government slogans and urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz to step down for failing to side with the poor in their national policies.

Instead of raising utility prices, they said the government should confiscate the assets of major business debtors to offset the budget deficit.

The protests in Jakarta were not as big as was predicted days earlier, but the protesters claimed that Monday's rally was only the beginning of a moral movement aimed at seeking support from others.

Fathul, secretary of the Student Executive Board (BEM) at the University of Indonesia, threatened to organize bigger demonstrations should the government refuse to heed the protesters' demands.

BEM would also encourage the people to boycott paying taxes, as well as electricity and telephone bills, if the price hikes were not annulled, he said.

In the West Java capital of Bandung, hundreds of students and activists from social and political organizations demonstrated at the provincial legislative council to oppose the simultaneous hikes.

"We urge Megawati and Hamzah Haz to resign shortly to show responsibility for the policy that has, at most, brought only further suffering for the people," Fajar Zulkarnaen, chairman of the West Java chapter of the Indonesian Student Association, said during a rally in Bandung.

Protests also hit Surabaya, the nation's second largest city, with demonstrators slamming the government's decision to raise the utility tariffs.

The protests proceeded in a generally peaceful manner across the country, except for several arrests in Jakarta and in Makassar, South Sulawesi, with some protesters arrested for trampling on a picture of Megawati.

In a response to the widespread protests, the government said on Monday it had no plans to overturn the decision on the price increases, arguing that the House had approved the 2003 State Budget in which the government proposed a huge cut in subsidies for fuel and electricity.

Previous fuel price hikes sparked violent protests across the country, which led to the ouster of then-President Soeharto in 1998.

Protests and transport disruption over price hikes

Agence France Presse - January 6, 2003

Hundreds of Indonesians took to the streets here to protest the government's decision to raise electricity and telephone rates and fuel prices, while elsewhere in the country higher fuel costs were likely to cause transport disruptions.

More than 150 students from the Committee Against Price Rises and from the militant Democratic People's Party picketed the Merdeka Palace to protest the hikes.

"We reject the economic policies of the government of [President] Megawati and [Vice President] Hamzah Haz which are only adding to the sufferings of the people," one of the demonstrators said through a loudspeaker.

The demonstrators carried posters rejecting last week's fuel price hike as scores of police looked on from the sprawling grounds of Monas Square across the street from the palace.

A few hundred meters away about 100 men, women and children from the Network of Urban Poor held a noisy rally inside the grounds of the office of the coordinating minister for welfare.

On a main avenue leading to the palace, about 100 people from the Action Committee of Indonesian Muslim Students, marched towards Merdeka yelling, "Lower fuel prices" and "Stop the suffering of the people." Some dragged empty jerrycans to symbolize the now unaffordable price of kerosene, still widely used as a domestic fuel.

At the faculty of medicine of the state-owned Universitas Indonesia, students began to gather to rally against the prices.

"We understand that with this increase,many now bear a heavier load so it is only fair for our people to be dissatisfied ... but of course, we hope that this does not drag on for too long," top economy minister Yusuf Kalla told the ElShinta radio. He said that the government would provide a mechanism for compensation for the poor after assessing public reaction.

Meanwhile, the head of the organisation of land transportation in East Java, H. Mustofa, said about half of the 4,000 privately- owned public buses linking cities in the province would stop operation as a result of the price increase.

"This decision has been taken by several operators following the policy of the government to raise fuel prices," Mustofa said in Surabaya, the capital of East Java, according to Antara news agency.

Press reports also said that fishermen have grounded their ships following the higher cost of diesel oils.

The government raised fuel prices by up to 22 percent Thursday, following on an increase in electricity and telephone surcharges by as much as 15 percent on Wednesday.

The increases, which included a 12 percent rise in gas prices in December, were part of of the government's drive to reduce costly subsidies and contain the budget deficit. Electricity charges are slated to rise a further six percent each quarter.

Labour issues

Local companies negligent about workers' safety

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- Leniency in the labor law and lack of enforcement of standard safety measures have put the lives of millions of workers at risk, particularly those working in hazard-prone work places, a labor activist said on Thursday.

"By the end of 2002, of the 170,000 companies operating in Indonesia, only 80 establishments have been granted the zero accident certification," Soekotjo Joedoatmojo, the chairman of the Indonesian National Health and Safety Council said.

"Such a small number of companies [that have received certification] means that there are only a few companies in this country that apply the minimum standards for a safe working environment," he said while discussing a campaign to promote worker' safety.

The minimum requirement for obtaining the certification includes a conducive working environment that is free from piercing noise, ultraviolet radiation and electromagnetic energy that could be hazardous to workers' health.

The lack of enforcement of standard safety measures has claimed the lives of thousands of workers as was attested by a report from PT Jamsostek, the government social security company.

The report shows that in the first semester of 2002, there were around 57,000 accidents in factories across the country. In 2001, the total number of accidents was recorded at 104,000.

An official at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration blamed companies for their lack of compliance to safety standards.

"Most companies in this country have not implemented even the minimum standards for a healthy and safe working environment," said Slamet Ichsan.

"The high number of mishaps in the workplace is due to the lack of implementation of the already-toothless regulation," Ichsan said.

Stressing that Law No. 1/1977 on work safety was too lenient, he said those who violated the regulation were only required to pay a fine of Rp 1 million (US$900), a one-month prison term or both.

"I deeply regret the fact that a new bill that stipulates higher safety standards for workers has not yet been passed by the House of Representatives," he said, referring to an aborted labor bill, which imposes heavier punishment for violators.

"The bill imposes a much higher fine of Rp 400 million and a longer prison sentence," Ichsan said.

The business community, however, seems to have a different view concerning the high number of workers' accident.

"A lack of discipline and recklessness among the workers themselves causes the accidents at the workplace," said Haryono, a representative from the Indonesian Business Association (APINDO).

With the aim of ironing out differences between the manpower ministry and the business community, the Indonesian National Safety and Health Council started a campaign to promote a safer working environment.

The campaign emphasized stricter implementation of the standard safety measures.

"This drive aims to prove that with the implementation of safety procedures to create a safe working environment, companies can have more productive workers," Soekotjo said.

He also said that the campaign would help provide guidance for the business community in providing standard safety measures for their workers.

Police fire warning shots during Nike demonstration

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang -- Police fired two warning shots into the air to disperse a rally of some 1,000 former workers of PT Doson Indonesia, a company that produces shoes for Nike, in Tangerang.

The workers responded to police by throwing shoes at the officers, but there was no violence, reports said.

While thousands of workers took to the streets in Jakarta and other cities to protest the fuel price hike, about 1,000 of the 6,890 former workers of PT Doson held a 20-kilometer-long march to fight for their severance pay.

Braving intense heat, the workers, mostly women, started walking at 9 a.m. from the company's factory on Jl. Raya Legok to the offices of the Social Affairs Agency on Jl. Windu Karya.

Several protesters took turns making speeches, which caused severe traffic jams in the area. They also blocked an access road to the Jakarta-Merak toll road heading to Karawaci. Motorists heading to Legok and Lippo Karawaci from Jl. Imam Bonjol were also hampered by the rally.

When the protesters arrived at the Jl. Teuku Umar-Jl. Imam Bonjol intersection at 1 p.m., police officers told them to take Jl. Teuku Umar. The police fired the two warning shots when the workers refused to obey them, demanding instead to use Jl. Imam Bonjol. Some workers then threw their shoes at the officers before heeding their order.

The protesters urged both the administration of the Tangerang regency and Banten province to help settle the dispute with the company owners over their missing severance pay. They said they were in desperate need of money, especially since life had become harder without work.

"We took the legal route to fight for our severance pay, but that did not settle the problem, so now we are taking the political route," Joko Haryono, the former chairman of the company's labor union, told The Jakarta Post. PT Doson Indonesia, a Korean company, said it was forced to close its factory in September 2002, due to the end of its supply contract with Nike.

The workers took the case to court, but no settlement has been reached yet.

The protesters arrived at the office of the Manpower Agency on Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan at 1:30 p.m., but the office was quiet so they continued onward to the office of the Social Affairs Agency. Joko said that they would stay outside the office until a settlement was reached.

The head of the agency, TB Mh. Chudori S, who met the workers, said that the protesters asked him to arrange a meeting with the regent.

"We do not have the authority to handle this case. They came to the wrong place," he told The Jakarta Post after the meeting, adding that they should have gone instead to the Manpower Agency.

Bosses and workers' strike today a challenge to Megawati

Straits Times - January 9, 2003

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- President Megawati Sukarnoputi faces one of her toughest challenges today as Indonesia's businessmen join thousands of their employees here in a rare alliance to protest against the recent price hikes.

"This is the first time the private sector -- which is normally the most apolitical and pragmatic segment of society -- is openly demonstrating against the government," said MP Ferry Mursidan Baldan.

"Such a show of solidarity with labour shows that the business sector's much-needed support for the government is slipping, unless the government reverses its decision on price hikes."

Supporters of Mrs Megawati fear that if the strikes continue, it would provide further ammunition to her critics to rally against her economic policies, more so at a time when she needs to restore investor confidence.

The businessmen, who were normally at odds with labour unions, yesterday encouraged their employees to take a day off to protest against the government.

Mr Djimanto, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association, told The Straits Times: "We will give permission to those who want to join the rally."

For now, though, the businessmen seem to be treading carefully -- not wanting to jeopardise their already-affected businesses. But the tide could turn depending on the measures taken by the government in the next few days.

Said Mr Djimanto: "We will make sure that our companies and our factories will operate as normal -- because we will try to limit the number of those joining the rallies to 10 per cent of our employees."

This, he said, would also ensure that the rally does not create a massive traffic jam in the capital as about 10,000 protesters are expected to take part. Protests erupted earlier this week after a series of price hikes. The government raised fuel prices by up to 22 per cent on January 2 to reduce subsidies and contain budget deficit.

Electricity charges were raised by 6 per cent on January 1 and three further quarterly increases of 6 per cent are to follow later this year. Telephone charges have been increased by an average of 15 per cent.

Said chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Trade and Commerce Aburizal Bakrie: "Principally, we want the government to address the problems that are causing a high-cost economy ... before it implements the price hikes." Mr Aburizal and other businessmen yesterday met Vice-President Hamzah Haz and economic ministers to propose a delay in the hikes.

Meanwhile, student protests continued for the third day yesterday in Jakarta and in several other Indonesian cities. They burnt tyres on the streets. In Jakarta, a fuel tanker was hijacked. In Palu, Central Sulawesi, students burnt the portraits of Mrs Megawati and Mr Hamzah.

But the President was annoyed with the developments. She complained to a group of high-ranking officials that the protesters had no respect for state leaders. "I cannot accept it if they are stepping on and burning the flag and effigies of the leaders," she said.

Workers set for biggest anti-utility price hikes

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2003

Berni K. Moestafa, Jakarta -- Some 25,000 workers are expected to hit the streets of Jakarta on Thursday in what will likely be the biggest demonstration so far against the utility price hikes.

The protesters plan to assemble in front of the State Palace to demand the government of President Megawati Soekarnoputri call off the increases in fuel prices and electricity and telephone rates. A huge turnout is also expected for rallies outside the capital.

"We will gather at the HI [Hotel Indonesia] traffic circle at 10 a.m, then march to the State Palace," said Rekson Silaban, who chairs the central executive board of the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI).

He said the workers would come from various labor unions. Apart from SBSI, the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (FNPBI), led by labor activist Dita Indah Sari, as well as the country's largest labor union, the All Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) will take part in the mass demonstration, which will cap a week-long protest against the price hikes.

SBSI chairman Muchtar Pakpahan said demonstrations would also be held across 20 provinces, drawing a crowd of at least 100,000.

Aside from protesting the utility price hikes, workers also demanded the government to drop its privatization policy and a plan to drop possible criminal charges against business heavyweights who share between them US$10 billion in debt to the state, said FNPBI chairwoman Dita.

She said the workers had earlier wanted to meet with President Megawati to press their demands, but the President refused to talk with them.

Although the protest has the backing of almost all labor unions, not every major association will join Thursday's demonstration. "We are a bit concerned about the size of the protest, as it can easily get out of control," said Nazir Syarief of a federation of state company labor unions, representing over 200,000 workers.

The Association of Indonesia Labor Union, which claims to have a membership of some four million workers in various industries, will send only 100 of its members to Thursday's protest, said union executive Saepul Tavip.

Both Nazir and Saepul stressed their unions' support behind the protest, including demands to revoke the privatization policy and the release and discharge policy against state debtors.

The planned mass demonstration will be the largest so far in nationwide protests against the triple price hikes.

But now the front has widened to include other government policies that have irked the public over the past few weeks. Calls for Megawati's resignation have grown stronger during these protests than in previous ones.

Analysts have said she might be facing the biggest public challenge against her leadership so far, but they added that it would unlikely be enough for her to step down.

The protest also marks the first time that workers joined hands with businessmen to protest a government policy, said former minister of manpower Bomer Pasaribu, who heads the Center for Labor and Development Studies (CLDS).

Business associations are lobbying the government to cancel or reduce the increase in fuel prices and electricity rates.

Meanwhile, students and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also stepping up pressure on the government over the same policies.

"The timing was just bad, with all the other controversial policies not settled yet," Bomer said, referring to the public uproar surrounding the sale of state international call operator PT Indosat.

He added that with the 2004 general election approaching, political parties would likely seize the moment to pressure the government. "I'm saying here that workers have bargaining power to at least get the government's attention," he said.

Analysts said legislators could criticize Megawati but would not go as far as to unseat her. A loose coalition between the country's two largest political parties, one of which Megawati leads, would thwart any such attempts, they explained.

Rekson of SBSI said that Thursday's demonstration would not be the last one and more would follow until the government listened to them.

"We're still looking for a common voice in negotiating with the government," he said, explaining that unions had to come up with different threats to make the government listen to them.

Unions and bosses to team up for mass strikes

Straits Times - January 6, 2003

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Indonesia's businessmen and labour unions have formed a rare alliance to protest the government's New Year price hikes -- paving the way for a mass nationwide strike this week.

Labour activist and union chief Dita Indah Sari said employers have not only backed, but also encouraged, union plans to strike against the latest series of price hikes.

"Employers will not sanction workers who go on strike to protest against the price hikes," Ms Dita, who heads the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers, told the Antara national news agency.

As many as 23 labour unions, which have often competed for worker support, have banded together since the government raised fuel, electricity and telephone prices on January 1.

In a bid to reduce costly subsidies and contain the budget deficit, the government raised fuel prices by up to 22 per cent last Thursday, after increasing electricity and telephone charges by an average of 6 and 15 per cent respectively the day before.

Unions have vowed to mobilise workers on January 9 for a one-day mass strike, which could bring industrial activities to a halt nationwide.

Separately, tycoon Sofyan Wanandi, who heads an economic-recovery committee, told The Straits Times of an unprecedented alliance between companies and their workers in the face of "a very serious threat to all".

"These price hikes are very unpopular for good reason -- they hurt everyone. Labour and the business community are presenting a united front to ask the government to reconsider its plans," he said.

Smaller strikes are already taking place in several areas, particularly among transport providers unhappy with higher fuel costs.

In some Jakarta neighbourhoods, public transportation has ground to a stop after bus and mini-van operators refused to work if they could not increase their fares.

Protests over higher prices, which in May 1998 helped bring down former President Suharto, are also giving ammunition to the government's political critics.

Dr Amien Rais, speaker of the country's top legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly, has joined the fray. "The government's decision to increase prices needs to be annulled as its timing is inappropriate," he said on Saturday.

Never one to miss a chance to stoke up public anger against the administration, he also suggested Jakarta should instead go after big businesses and those who have not repaid debts to the country.

But most analysts agree the country cannot continue to give energy subsidies, and these price hikes had been planned for some time.

A government economic source said: "There is no choice. Our budget situation is so tight -- we have to cut subsidies and raise prices."

Numerous analysts have also argued that raising prices for energy and utilities mostly hurts the middle class, not the poor. Price hikes have also been recommended by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other lenders, who say subsidies benefit the smuggling industry and harm the country's ability to compete in the free market.

Indeed, economists frequently comment on how Indonesia's businesses had in the past grown fat on the back of subsidies, which artificially depress the cost of doing business at the expense of competitiveness.

Employers say no to further wage hike

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2003

A'an Suryana, Jakarta -- Employers remain committed to implementing a 7 percent increase in the minimum labor wage despite a simultaneous utility price hike, said an industry leader.

However, employers would not be able to bear another round of wage increases amid soaring production costs, said Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the National Economic Recovery Committee (KPEN), an influential grouping of employers.

"Worker wages have been raised by 100 percent during the past three years. We are unable to shoulder more of a burden; enough is enough," Sofyan said on Friday.

The government raised fuel prices, and electricity and telephone rates earlier this week as part of efforts to reduce expensive subsidies and help prevent state utilities from going bankrupt.

But the price increases will boost living expenses, tempting workers to demand another round of wage hikes on top of the 7 percent wage increase.

This latest increase was agreed in December last year, when employers and workers' representatives sat down together and agreed that the minimum labor wage in Jakarta be raised by 7 percent, from Rp 591,000 (about US$66) per month to Rp 631,000.

The agreement took effect on January 1, but it has yet to take into account increases in utility charges, which could certainly eat into workers' purchasing power.

Responding to possible labor demands for a wage hike, Sofyan said that the increased utility charges should provide the right momentum for workers and employers to unite, standing together to object to government price hike policy.

Sofyan said the increased utility charges were a blow to local businesses as it would diminish their ability to compete with overseas products.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) reported on Thursday that the country's November exports had dropped by 23 percent, to $4.1 billion from the level in October. The bureau did not provide an explanation for the drop, but some have said that the country's manufacturers are losing competitiveness abroad.

Sofyan said that the utility price hike policy would also stifle domestic demand as people's purchasing power diminished. "We are really in a difficult situation," he said.

Separately, service industry players conceded that they would also be forced to shoulder a greater burden from the utility rates hike.

"The government is being insensitive. As the tourism industry has not recovered yet, we've been hit hard by the utility rates hike," said Yanti Sukamdani, chairwoman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI).

According to Yanti, hoteliers reckoned that their days would be numbered, unless the government stepped in to help them. "The 10 percent hotel and restaurant [value-added] tax should be cut to 5 percent," she said.

Internet services have also been hit hard by the utility rates hike. "Dial-up internet services will bear the burden of the telephone rates hike," said Heru Nugroho, chairman of the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII). Currently, there are 2,000 dial-up internet kiosks in Indonesia.

Students/youth

Calls mount for Megawati to resign over utility hikes

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2003

Debbie A. Lubis, Jakarta -- The government's decision to hike fuel, electricity and telephone charges has drawn a strong public rejection, with many protesters demanding President Megawati Soekarnoputri step down.

Hundreds of students of the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, Jakarta, and residents of the East Java capital of Surabaya staged rallies on Friday demanding that Megawati stop causing more suffering for the people, and that she quit her post.

"Megawati must step down from the presidency because of her inability to lead this country. Instead of bringing this country out of hardship, she is actually bringing more despair to the people through her policies," a student from the Makassar State University said as quoted by Antara.

The rally was held in front of the South Sulawesi provincial legislative building.

In Surabaya, dozens of residents marched along city thoroughfares, unfurling banners and holding aloft posters condemning Megawati's policies. Several of them pushed a minivan, with a motorcycle on board, symbolizing the people's inability to use their vehicles anymore due to the fuel price hike.

"Mbak [older sister] Mega has been oppressive to the common people. We will revoke our support for her leadership if she continues implementing her policies," one of the protesters said, while referring to the President by her nickname.

Some of the posters read, "We cannot afford to buy fuel", "Mbak Mega, don't add to our difficulties as we are already living in hardship", and "Fair and prosperous does not equal price hikes".

Students from Greater Jakarta grouped under the Forum Kota, urged the public to fight against the regime and demanded that Megawati, Vice President Hamzah Haz, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais, and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung quit their respective posts.

The government increased electricity and telephone charges on Wednesday, and fuel prices the following day. The move is part of the efforts to reduce expensive government subsidies and help save ailing utility companies from bankruptcy.

The increase in utility rates is a sensitive issue that could provoke people to unite in a movement against the regime. Students have proven their power in overthrowing authoritarian president Soeharto in 1998 after the regime introduced unpopular economic policies.

Students movement this time won the support of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other members of society, including political parties.

Some NGOs like Government Watch (GOWA), the Indonesian Consumers' Foundation (YLKI), Indonesian Women's Coalition (IWC), and the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) have also expressed their indignation over the hikes in utility charges on Friday.

GOWA coordinator Farid R. Faqih urged Indonesian families, especially those from the middle and lower income groups, to launch a national strike against the policy.

Separately, YLKI chairwoman Indah Suksmaningsih said the state had committed violence against the people by implementing such policies and suggested that the public be courageous in expressing their views over what she termed such inhumane and unjust policies.

Many housewives across the country have locked their phones at home since Wednesday in a bid to control household expenses following the hike in phone charges.

"You can imagine how much I'll have to pay for the phone bill now given that before the increase I was already spending Rp 300,000 (US$33) per month on it. I'm afraid my family will not be able to eat," said a mother in Palu, Central Sulawesi.

The government's controversial move has also encouraged some political parties to court public favor over the price hike issue.

The National Awakening Party (PKB) said people were entitled to go on a national strike to reject the simultaneous increases in utility charges.

Deputy chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) A.M. Fatwa said on Friday that the price hikes would inflict even more suffering on the people as their purchasing power was already low.

Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung, however, asked people not to launch a national strike as it would only make them suffer even more.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said the public should take control over the use of the subsidy fund worth Rp 4 trillion generated from the utility charge hikes.

Students, youths protest fuel price rise

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2003

Makassar -- Hundreds of students of the State University of Makassar on Friday staged a demonstration at the provincial legislature here, demanding President Megawati Soekarnoputri to immediately resign for her incompetence in leading the nation.

The students said President Megawati was unable to save the Indonesian nation from its suffering, and even tended to increase the torment of the people through various government policies.

"The rise of fuel, electricity and telephone costs simultaneously in early January 2003 was proof that the present government no longer cares for its people, who are suffering more and more as a result of the prolonged economic crisis," the demonstrators said as quoted by Antara.

In their statement, they demanded that the government review its policies in raising fuel, electricity and telephone charges as these would increase staple food prices so that the people would be plunged into misery and poverty. "These policies, including selling state assets to foreigners, indicate that the Megawati regime has no sense of crisis," they said.

Similar demands were also voiced by hundreds of students in Jakarta and Yogyakarta. TV7 reported that dozens of students from various universities in Greater Jakarta staged a rally at the traffic circle on Jalan Thamrin in front of the Hotel Indonesia, Jakarta, while dozens of female students from various universities in Yogyakarta rejected the fuel price rise and demanded the resign of President Megawati.

Meanwhile, Pemuda Muhammadiyah, a youth wing of the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization, also demanded the same things during a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

Aceh/West Papua

Rare peaceful week in Indonesia's Aceh - mediators

Reuters - January 10, 2003

Jakarta -- Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh has been peaceful for a week and a Geneva-based organisation that brokered a peace deal between the government and rebels said on Friday that the pact appeared to be working despite initial pessimism.

Separately, the World Bank said it would join officials from Japan and the European Union in a visit to the natural gas-rich province next week in a sign of support for the peace process.

The delegation expects to gather information about the implementation of the accord and the prospects for reconstruction and development in the post-conflict period, the bank said.

The Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue said the quiet week in Aceh marked a significant step following the December 9 peace accord, which had been greeted with widespread pessimism on whether it would hold following previous failures to resolve the decades-long conflict that has taken thousands of lives.

"A month ago, I can't imagine anyone even remotely considering that seven days could go by without some kind of armed conflict between GAM [the rebel Free Aceh Movement] and Indonesia," said Henry Dunant Centre representative and mediator David Gorman in a statement.

The group attributed the quiet week partly to the deployment of international monitors throughout the province and the setting up of an information exchange under which both sides would report on any troop movements.

Many Acehnese, although mistrustful of promises from Jakarta, have welcomed the accord, saying they have begun to feel safer.

The Centre said that in the two years leading up to the signing, a total of 4,000 people -- civilians, government troops and rebels -- were killed in the conflict.

Indonesia and GAM signed the comprehensive pact in Switzerland after several failed ceasefires agreed since 2000.

Killings and clashes in Aceh plummet

Agence France Presse - January 12, 2003

Banda Aceh -- The number of killings and clashes between Indonesian forces and separatist rebels in Aceh province has plunged sharply a month after a peace deal was signed, a mediation group said yesterday.

For the first time in two years, Aceh saw a week pass without an armed clash between Indonesian government forces and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), and during the past two weeks there had been only one minor incident, the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC) said in a statement.

The Geneva-based HDC has mediated talks between the Indonesian government and GAM since 2000, culminating in the signing of a peace agreement on December 9.

Since the deal, 12 civilians, three rebels and four members of the security forces had been killed, the HDC said -- a far cry from the 87 civilians dying monthly for most of last year.

About 10,000 people have been killed since the separatist war began in the province on Sumatra island in 1976.

Mr David Gorman, a HDC representative in Aceh, said: "A month ago, I could not imagine anyone even remotely considering that seven days could go by without some kind of armed conflict between GAM and security forces." Now, there had been no clashes since Jan 4 when soldiers and rebels exchanged fire in East Aceh, he added.

"Aceh is a much safer place than it was a month ago," he said.

Jakarta under fire for foreign-researcher ban

Straits Times - January 11, 2003

Jakarta -- Domestic researchers lashed out at the government's plan to impose restrictions on foreign scholars who wish to conduct field studies in the troubled provinces of Papua and Aceh. They said that the restriction impinged on academic freedom.

The Director of the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education, and Information Imam Ahmad said that such a restriction would only discourage scientists who had good intentions.

But Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda has defended the stringent policy saying many foreign researchers came with goals other than research.

4,000 military personnel deployed in Irian Jaya exercise

BBC Monitoring - January 8, 2003

Surabaya -- In the midst of a heated situation following the recent shooting of civilians, about 4,000 TNI Indonesian National Military Forces personnel from the navy, air force and army were mobilized to Papua Irian Jaya as part of their 2003 amphibious operations programme.

The troops were sent off yesterday (7 January) by the navy's Eastern Fleet commander, Rear Admiral I Wayan Rampe, from the Ujung Docks in Surabaya. Also present were East Java Police Chief Inspector-General Heru Susanto and V/Brawiaya Military Area Commander Major-General Sikky.

Apart from the 4,000 personnel, the exercise was also being supported by navy, air force and army hardware assets. Eastern Fleet provided 21 warships, two CN/Casa aircraft, two N-22/Nomad aircraft, two Bell and one Bolkow helicopters, with the air force providing four aircraft.

Rear Admiral Rampe told reporters after the parade that the departure of these personnel to Papua was a training exercise and had nothing to do with incidents involving the shooting of civilians. "This is purely an exercise to improve the professionalism of our soldiers. It has nothing to do with conditions in Papua. Anyway, conditions in Papua are extremely conducive and that is why we are training there"...

The rear admiral continued to explain that up until now, exercises had only been conducted in Ambon, Sulawesi and Sumatra, mostly in the Java Sea and very seldom in Papua. They not specified, presumably the Papuan people complained to TNI that combat exercises were always conducted outside Papua and the Papuan community expected exercises to be conducted in the waters around Papua.

So, he said, the Papuan governor and other public figures had requested that an exercise be carried out in Papua so that the soldiers would gain plenty of experience. "So this exercise has the stamp of approval from the Papuan governor and other community leaders and in fact we have invited the public to observe the progress of the exercise," he said. Rampe denied that the exercise was a TNI "show of force"...

The exercise would be spread across 3,000 kilometres of water, something that has never been done by TNI personnel. "There will be no landings, it will all be carried out at sea," he said. The Eastern Fleet Commander also gave instructions that if any foreign fishing boats were stopped and did not have the appropriate documentation, then they were to be sunk. This was the case a short time ago when a passing vessel from New Zealand was almost bombed.

[Source: Media Indonesia, Jakarta, in Indonesian.]

Victims down, but violence continues in Aceh

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

Ibnu Mat Noor and Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe -- Civilian casualties have dropped significantly in Aceh in the past month, but violence has not stopped entirely in the country's westernmost province.

One month after the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed a peace agreement to end all hostilities, a total of 14 people, including 11 civilians, were killed in the resource-rich province, a sharp decline from an average of 87 casualties per month prior to the peace deal.

"The decreasing fatality rate is the main indicator of the strong commitment from both sides [the government and GAM] to implementing the December 9 peace agreement," Fahmi Yunus, manager of the information unit with the Joint Security Committee (JSC) told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

In Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, some 3,000 people staged a rally Thursday to demand that the government withdraw Indonesian military (TNI) troops from Aceh for good. Although police said they had not issued a permit for the rally, the protesters were permitted to stage their rally under guard of the local police personnel.

North Aceh Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Daryanto said that, since the organizers had not received permission from police authorities to hold the rally, protesters from outside Lhokseumawe were restrained from joining the protest.

Over 4,000 people in North and East Aceh have taken refuge within mosque compounds as armed skirmishes between TNI and GAM continued, even after the signing of the peace agreement on December 9.

The government and GAM signed the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 9, marking the turning point of the 26-year conflict in Aceh. Both parties also agreed to end any hostile acts and violence, which would be central to determining whether or not the peace agreement would succeed.

A Joint Security Committee (JSC) and monitoring teams were also established within the first month of the cease-fire. Monitoring team members consist of representatives of the government, GAM and the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC).

TNI and GAM agreed on December 26 to inform each other on their respective movements through the JSC by reporting to the committee 48 hours before the scheduled move. Neither party is allowed to attack the other after they have received the movement report from JSC.

TNI and GAM also agreed to comply with an accord on sanctions imposed upon violators of the peace agreement, Fahmi said, adding that the sanction, as determined by the JSC, would be of a moral penalty, such as the widespread publication of the perpetrator in the mass media.

Another progress was the deployment of 90 monitoring team members, although the number still fell short of the 150 members agreed to by both parties.

Monitoring teams consisting a total of 72 personnel were deployed on December 28, while 18 members were deployed on January 7. The teams are mostly stationed in North and East Aceh.

Acehnese have expressed positive reactions to the implementa tion of the peace agreement. "Before the signing of the peace accord, we had no courage to till our farms, because of the many gunfights between TNI and GAM, but now we even dare to go home at night from our farms," 56-year-old farmer Abdul Majid said.

Fahmi concurred with Abdul's statement, saying that he had no fears of coming home at night, from his office in Banda Aceh to his residence, which is located outside the city. "That's my personal experience; there's been very positive progress here," he said.

Indonesia rejects foreign research on Papua, Aceh

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2003

Jakarta -- The government has announced a plan to restrict foreign researchers' access to conduct field work in Papua and Aceh, saying that many came with intentions other than academic goals that could amount to an interference in Indonesia's domestic affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda specifically named researchers from the Netherlands and Australia who are planning to conduct studies in the two troubled Indonesian provinces.

Critics have said the government's stance on researchers reflect its own lack of confidence in regards its own position in Papua and Aceh, where clandestine wars for independence had been going on for years.

Hassan acknowledged that the government was not in any position to reject foreign researchers from coming to the country because of the existing visa-free facility granted to visitors from Western countries, including the Netherlands and Australia.

"The problem is that the short visit visa-free facility given to tourists is often abused by researchers," he told reporters after meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

He said, however, that the visa facility could be restricted for visits to Aceh and Papua, without elaborating further. Currently, visas granted upon arrival is good for visiting any part of the archipelago.

An Australian-based researcher and an American nurse were convicted last week for violating visa regulations when they visited Aceh last year and wandered into separatist territory. Hassan said the government would be monitoring any suspicious activities by the Dutch and Australian researchers, who are reportedly planning to visit Papua.

He said these research studies could be part of a plot to "internationalize" Papua's independence issue, an independence that is being sought by some people in the province.

He noted that the Dutch parliament has urged its government to conduct research into the process by which Papua, once a Dutch colony, became part of the Indonesian republic in the 1960s.

Such a research topic could not be for purely academic purposes, he insisted. "Why now, and not 10 years ago?" he asked.

He feared that the researchers would look at the question of the act of self-determination in Papua in the 1960s only partially instead of wholly.

The minister also noted that the planned research ran parallel to demands for a revision of the history of Papua's integration with Indonesia by the Papuan Presidium Council, the group which is openly demanding for an independent state.

Besides this research commissioned by the Dutch parliament, a number of Dutch non-governmental organizations and Australian researchers had also been trying to enter Papua to conduct their own research, he said.

Sadler released from jail in Aceh

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

Jakarta -- American nurse Joy Lee Sadler was released Friday from jail in Aceh province after four months in detention for visa violations, AP reported.

Sadler, 57, cried as she left the prison for Banda Aceh airport. She will fly to Malaysia en route to the United States.

She was found guilty of violating her tourist visa by contacting guerrillas and sentenced to four months imprisonment.

Her companion, academic Lesley McCulloch ofAustralia's Tasmania University, was convicted of the same charges and sentenced to five months. She is expected to be released next month.

The women were arrested September 11, 2002 and had already served most of their time when the court found them guilty.

Papuans want Theys trial moved to Jayapura

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2003

Jakarta -- Papuans demanded on Monday that the venue of the murder trial for local separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay be moved from the East Java capital of Surabaya to their province in order for justice to take place.

"The case of Theys Eluay's murder that was perpetrated in Jayapura should be tried in Papua, so that the local people can directly monitor the trial," spokesman for former Papuan political prisoners Saul J. Bomay told the Antara news agency.

He argued that it would only be natural under the legal procedures to hold the trial in Jayapura, the capital of Papua, where the crime was committed on November 11, 2001.

Military court martial hearings in Surabaya opened for the Theys' case last Friday with seven members of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus), including Papua Kopassus commander Lt. Col. Hartomo, Capt. Rionardo, Chief Sgt. Asrial and Chief Pvt. Achmad Zulfahmi, being charged with the murder.

Three other Kopassus defendants -- Maj. Donny Hutabarat, First Lt. Agus Suprianto, First Sgt. Lorensius -- also face the same charges. Bomay said the court martial has failed to provide a sense of justice for most Papuans since it was being held outside Jayapura.

Under the Criminal Code Procedures (Kuhap), a crime must be tried in the town where it takes place, unless a security danger there forces authorities to move it to another town.

Security in Jayapura has never been mentioned as a reason, by the military, for its decision to try the Theys murder case in Surabaya.

Bomay further said what Papuans wanted to know who the mastermind was in the murder of Theys, a popular leader of the separatist Papua Presidium Council (PDP) until he was murdered.

The legal authorities must be able to transparently divulge the motives behind the kidnapping and murder of the Papuan separatist leader, he added.

He called for severe punishment for those found guilty of killing Theys and urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri's government to quickly resolve the case.

Theys was last seen on November 10, 2001, when he attended the commemoration of National Heroes' Day at the Kopassus headquarters in Jayapura. He was then kidnapped and found dead one day later.

According to the investigation documents, which the court heard during Friday's session, presented by military prosecutor Maj. Haryanto, Theys attended a dinner party held by Kopassus commander Hartomo on November 10, 2001, as part of the commemoration of the National Heroes' Day.

The seven defendants are facing up to 15 years in jail if found guilty. Their court martial will resume on Friday.

Kopassus' involvement in the killing of Theys comes at a time when its image has already sunken to a very low point.

Rights activists have blamed the special unit for a series of human rights abuses in conflict areas like Aceh and Maluku, and possibly the Freeport mine ambush in Papua.

Kopassus was also behind a series of kidnappings of activists opposing former Soeharto dictator during the reform movement that led to his ouster in 1998.

Civilian killings in Aceh drop sharply - mediator

Reuters - January 4, 2003

Jakarta -- The killing of civilians has dropped sharply in Indonesia's Aceh province since the signing of a landmark peace accord between the central government and rebels, a Geneva-based organisation that brokered the deal said.

The Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue said that in the four weeks since the agreement was signed, there had been 11 unconfirmed civilian deaths connected to the conflict. That compared to an average of 87 reported civilian killings a month for most of last year.

There has been widespread pessimism about whether the December 9 accord would hold despite international pressure on both sides to make it work, and end more than two decades of fighting that has killed at least 10,000 people.

"Even one death is one too many and both sides regret those," David Gorman, a mediator and representative of the Henry Dunant Centre in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, said in a statement obtained by Reuters on Saturday.

"But it is a key indicator of the willingness by the sides to stop the killing and that the peace process is gaining momentum." While civilian deaths have dropped, the pact has been shaken by clashes between troops and rebels and accusations from both sides, including a rebel claim that soldiers killed up to 10 villagers soon after the pact was signed.

The army has denied that charge, and it was unclear if the rebel claim was included in the unconfirmed deaths.

The statement said the unconfirmed civilian deaths since the pact were being investigated by a joint security committee, made up of representatives from the government, GAM and a third party.

Many Acehnese, although mistrustful of promises from Jakarta, have welcomed the accord, saying they had begun to feel safer.

Underscoring how the war had spiralled out of control in recent years, the Henry Dunant Centre said that in the two years leading up to the signing, a total of 4,000 people -- civilians, government troops and rebels -- were killed in the conflict.

Indonesia and the rebels signed the comprehensive pact in Switzerland after several failed ceasefires agreed since 2000.

Another problem for the accord has been rebel rejection of additional monitors from the Philippines to serve on the joint security committee along with representatives from Thailand. A number of Filipinos are already on the ground in Aceh.

The rebels claim Manila is indebted to Jakarta, which helped broker peace talks in 1996 between the Philippine government and Muslim separatists, the Moro National Liberation Front.

In Indonesia's other separatist hotspot, Papua in the remote east, a low-level guerrilla conflict has simmered for decades.

Indonesian troops tried over Papuan chief's murder

Reuters - January 3, 2003

Heri Retnowati, Surabaya -- Seven Indonesian special forces soldiers went on trial on Friday for the killing of an independence leader in Papua in what is seen as a test of Jakarta's ability to tackle rebellion in the remote province.

The November 2001 killing of the charismatic Theys Eluay, Papua's most prominent independence leader and who advocated separation through peaceful means, shocked Papuans and deepened distrust toward the central government in Jakarta.

One independence leader has said the trials of the soldiers from the feared Kopassus unit would be a farce. The hearings follow a landmark peace pact signed last month between Jakarta and rebels in Aceh, Indonesia's other separatist hot spot.

In the first clear details of what happened, military prosecutor Hariyanto said two of the accused were told by a Kopassus officer to accompany Theys in his car back home after the Papuan had eaten dinner with the local Kopassus chief.

The officer who gave that order, Lieutenant-Colonel Hartomo, is the highest-ranking soldier on trial for the murder.

Hariyanto said one of the men in Theys' car, soldier Ahmad Zulfahmi, clamped his hand over Theys' mouth three times until he stopped breathing after the victim angrily said Jakarta's promises to offer more autonomy to Papua were a deception.

"Ahmad Zulfahmi suffocated Theys with his hands. When Theys didn't move, Ahmad Zulfahmi let go and at the same time Theys yelled for help ... During the third attempt, Theys could breathe no more," Hariyanto told the military tribunal.

Lawyer Ruhut Sitompul, one of several civilian lawyers helping defend the seven, did not say if the men had denied involvement in the killing, but added there was nothing deliberate about it. Sitompul said Hartomo told his men to ask Theys about an apparent plan to declare independence.

"'It's up to you what you do to stop the victim proclaiming independence, but don't hurt him'," he quoted Hartomo as saying.

Unlike most Indonesians who are Muslim, a majority of Papuans are Christian or animist. A low-level guerrilla conflict has simmered in Papua, formerly called Irian Jaya, for decades, unlike Aceh where an independence war has killed more than 10,000 people since the mid-1970s.

Several of the accused soldiers, who followed Theys' vehicle in another car, witnessed the killing, Hariyanto said. Theys was found dead in his overturned car beside a remote road.

Hariyanto said the accused faced jail terms of 10 to 15 years, although it was unclear if all were charged with murder. Kopassus has insisted it did not order the killing.

Theys was leader of the Papua Presidium Council, which sought independence peacefully. His replacement has mocked the trials.

"Soldiers killed him and soldiers will try the case ... What kind of justice is that?" Tom Beanal said last week.

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

Many diplomats had predicted the investigation would be blocked or dropped, but attribute much of its progress to former Papua police chief, Major-General Made Mangku Pastika, who has since taken over the inquiry into the October Bali bomb attacks. He has also won praise for his handling of that investigation. The trial was adjourned until next Friday.

Indonesia's message: Researchers risk jail

Asia Times - January 3, 2003

Damien Kingsbury -- The sentencing of Australian-based academic researcher and sometime Asia Times Online contributor Dr Lesley McCulloch to five months' imprisonment in Indonesia has sent a clear signal that the Indonesian military's tolerance for what it regards as foreign interference in domestic issues has come to an end.

McCulloch was sentenced to five months on Monday for allegedly violating a tourist visa while in Indonesia's troubled province of Aceh in September. It is the first such sentence to be handed down for a foreigner in Indonesian legal history.

McCulloch's American associate, Joy Lee Sadler, a nurse, was given a four-month sentence for the same offense. The pair have been under arrest since September 11.

In one sense, the five-month sentence given to McCulloch and the lesser sentence for Sadler appear to be a compromise. The Indonesian military, the TNI, had pushed for McCulloch to be charged with the far more serious offense of possession of military secrets. In the end, both McCulloch and Sadler were charged with violating a tourist visa, which can bring up to a five-year sentence. And the prosecution, in the end, only asked for nine months in each case.

However, of the dozens, probably hundreds, of people who have been arrested for allegedly violating a tourist visa in Indonesia, usually for associating with separatists or other political outcasts, all but one have simply been deported without sentence. This includes from such troubled places as Aceh, West Papua, and East Timor. The one exception was of a journalist who was once held in West Papua for several days before being deported.

After the Bali bombing, dozens of foreign journalists also worked in Indonesia on no more than the three-month "short stay" visa granted upon arrival. But not one was questioned over the conflict between their visa and their work, or the formal requirement to have a journalist's visa.

The question is, then, why have McCulloch and Sadler been jailed? Aceh is a particularly sensitive issue for the TNI, as it has been unable to defeat the region's 26-year-old separatist movement. And in the United States, a ban on the sale or supply of military equipment, imposed after TNI-inspired carnage in East Timor in 1999, has continued to be enforced because of human- rights atrocities in Aceh. Even during Aceh's current ceasefire, some 15 civilians have been murdered by the TNI. McCulloch had earlier published reports of such abuses, as well as on the TNI's legal and illegal business interests in Aceh.

There is therefore little doubt the TNI was angry with McCulloch and wanted to punish her personally, and it repeatedly intervened with the prosecution in the McCulloch case. But more important, the TNI also wanted to send a clear message to other foreign researchers and journalists who continue to expose the TNI's uglier side.

In Sadler's case, she was said to have distributed medicine to villagers. Her sentence therefore reflects a general opposition to foreigners being present in problematic places. Related to this crackdown, senior TNI officers have recently said they will investigate the reasons for all visitors to such places as Aceh, West Papua and Maluku, despite there being no travel bans to such places. Needless to say, almost all visitors to these places, apart from aid workers (which Sadler was, unofficially) and journalists, are academic researchers. Yet the conditions for obtaining a formal research visa are exceptionally difficult; one needs a sponsor within Indonesia and exceptionally few are prepared to support politically sensitive research.

Further, the conditions of the standard "short term visit" visa that McCulloch and Sadler were traveling under remain unclear. The official Indonesian Embassy website in Canberra makes absolutely no mention of what is or is not allowed under such a visa. Indeed, the website notes tourist destinations and facilities in Aceh and Ambon/Maluku (the West Papua tourism page is missing).

As such, the vast majority of academic researchers and short-term journalists use a short-visit visa, almost always without problem. Official policy on travel in Indonesia, then, seems to be divided between what is publicly acceptable and what is privately unacceptable. Or put another way, travel in Indonesia is divided between what is and what is not politically sensitive.

Now the precedent for not knowing the difference, or for exploring the margins, is jail.

It is fair to say that McCulloch was not in Aceh as a conventional tourist. Her detailed knowledge of the conflict there precluded that. But it is also fair to say that the formal conditions of her visa and the status of Aceh mean that her jail sentence, and Sadler's, is clearly predicated on political reasons.

That they risk the possibility of becoming political prisoners is the clear message being sent by Indonesia to foreigners. It is one that will continue to worry foreign academic researchers until it is formally altered.

[Dr Damien Kingsbury is head of philosophical, political and international studies at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia, and is the author of the forthcoming book Political Power and the Indonesian Military (Routledge, April 2003). Kingsbury and Dr Lesley McCulloch recently received an Australia Research Council grant to conduct a three-year survey of the TNI's business interests.]

Hospitals in Aceh refuse to treat jailed American nurse

Jakarta Post - January 4, 2003

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh -- Jailed American nurse Joy Lee Sadler was rushed to hospital on Friday but was rejected by all hospitals in Banda Aceh for fears that her HIV illness would spread to other people.

Joy Lee Sadler, who was jailed for four months in Aceh for visa violations, fell seriously ill after 40 days of a hunger strike to protest her detention, Sadler's lawyer Rufriadi said. "Joy Lee Sadler is very weak ... so we asked permission from the Keudah penitentiary head Ace Hendarmin to allow her to be treated in hospital."

Sadler was taken to Zainoel Abidin Hospital, but moved to Harapan Bunda Hospital as the first hospital was full. However, the Harapan Bunda Hospital refused to take Sadler in for fear that her illness would spread to other patients in the hospital, he said. Her lawyers were still negotiating with Malahyati Hospital last night but the result was still unknown.

A day earlier, Sadler was sent to Zainoel Abidin Hospital, but nurses there refused to treat her for fear that they would get infected with her illness, according to Samsul of the Aceh Legal Aid Institution (LBH).

The 57-year-old from Waterloo, Iowa, has been infected with HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

Sadler was convicted on Monday of visa violations by contacting Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels. She should be freed next Friday after having served most of her sentence.

Her companion, Scottish-born academic Lesley Jane McCulloch, also stopped eating after a judge sentenced her Monday for the same offense.

McCulloch, who has been a vocal critic of alleged military abuses in the region, received a five-month sentence. The judge ruled that her actions "could have threatened national security and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia." Police have detained the women since Sept. 11.

They have stopped eating and are only drinking fruit juice.

Sadler, who continues to smoke, has claimed to have lost 7 kilograms. She has not taken her HIV medicine regularly because her family had been unable to get it to her, Rufriadi said.

Sadler complained that her injuries from ill-treatment by authorities had not healed. Soldiers repeatedly punched her in the jaw and stomach as she tried to help McCulloch during their arrest, she claimed.

She also said she suffered severe chest pains, was diagnosed with angina and is being treated with nitroglycerin.

Both women maintain their innocence. Sadler said she was in Aceh on holiday and said she had treated children and old people at a refugee camp. McCulloch, a former lecturer at the University of Tasmania in Australia, has researched the separatist uprising in Aceh for several years. She said she was not conducting any research when she was detained.

Rebels and the government signed a peace deal on December 9 aimed at ending the 26-year-old war in the resource-rich region.

Police in Papua fired on by unknown gunmen

Agence France Presse - January 1, 2003

Indonesian police were fired upon by unknown gunmen as they tried to investigate the earlier wounding of two women including the wife of a local human rights campaigner, police said.

It was unclear whether any of the officers had been wounded, Papua police spokesman Daud Sihombing told AFP Wednesday.

"A group of our officers were there to manage the earlier crime scene," he said. "They were shot at by an unknown group." Army Brigadier General Nurdin Zaenal told Elshinta radio that military officers were accompanying police. Zaenal said one soldier who was driving a military intelligence officer was wounded when three bullets hit their car.

The incident happened about 9:30am, Zaenal said from the Papuan capital Jayapura. He blamed separatist rebels for the shooting.

In the earlier incident, the two women, Else Bonai and Merauje, were travelling in a public minivan when they were fired on last Saturday near the border with Papua New Guinea.

Else is the wife of Johannes Bonai, director of the vocal human rights group Els-Ham Papua Barat. The women were wounded in the legs and admitted to hospital, Aloy Renwaring of Els-Ham said at the time. He blamed "professionals" for the shooting.

Police in Papua have said soldiers are suspected of an August ambush near the American-owned Freeport mine in which two Americans and an Indonesian were killed.

The military has denied involvement and blamed separatist rebels. It also threatened to sue Els-Ham for alleging that Kopassus special forces were involved in the ambush.

Police officers investigating that crime scene were also fired upon by what they said were unknown gunmen.

A disorganized and poorly-armed group of separatists has waged a long-running but low-level insurgency in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province.

Special status final for Papua and Aceh: Susilo

Jakarta Post - January 1, 2003

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The government told the provinces of Papua and Aceh on Monday that the special autonomy status accorded to them in January 2002 would be final and any move to secede from the country would not be tolerated.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his year-end news briefing that there was no room for the two provinces to hold a vote of self- determination like East Timor.

Papua, the country's easternmost province, has been fighting for separation from Indonesia since the 1960s, while Aceh, Indonesia's westernmost province, has been struggling for independence since 1976. Thousands of innocent civilians have been killed in both conflicts.

To appease the rebels, the central government introduced in January 2002 a special status for the two provinces, under which they can, among other things, retain up to 70 percent of the revenue derived from natural resources.

The special status, however, has been outrightly rejected by rebels in both provinces, who insist that they would not settle for anything less than independence.

The government signed on December 9 an agreement with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to end all hostilities in the troubled province. GAM, however, has not dropped its demand for independence.

Susilo stressed on Monday that the government was determined to maintain the country's territorial integrity.

"There are three major points that have become top priorities for next year and those are maintaining the existence of Indonesia as a state, keeping national integration and rebuilding Indonesia," Susilo said.

He also said that the government would closely monitor the implementation of special autonomy in Papua and Aceh.

"Together, we also have to monitor local administrations in these two provinces to make sure that the special autonomy is able to raise the standard of living for both Papuan and Acehnese," Susilo said. He also warned the political elite not to exploit people at the grassroots level in conflict-torn areas, such as Maluku, Poso in Central Sulawesi, and the border area of Atambua in West Nusa Tenggara, for the sake of their political interests ahead of the 2004 general election.

"The elite's maturity in democracy is needed so that possible political conflicts at the top level will not affect the grassroots," he said.

Secession bids will be crushed by force

Straits Times - January 2, 2003

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- Indonesia is drawing a line in the sand in its dealings with Aceh and Papua, warning that attempts to secede will be met by force.

Security czar Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Jakarta's offer of "special autonomy status" for the two strife-torn provinces was final, and there would be no tolerance for any attempt to hold an East Timor-style vote for self-determination.

Keeping them within the nation was one of the major aims of the government, he said. His warnings to resource-rich Aceh and Papua provinces come amid simmering tensions in these regions.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri had indicated several times over the last 18 months that one of her top priorities was to resolve problems in these two regions. Her administration has preferred peaceful dialogue.

But given the weight of nationalist sentiments in her Cabinet and the influence of the hawkish generals in dictating security policy in the regions, force was always considered as "an alternative if all else failed".

Over the past year, Jakarta appeared to have succeeded in the peace option by offering the two provinces special autonomy status under which they can, among other things, retain up to 70 per cent of the revenue from natural resources.

That arrangement was even formalised under a peace pact last month with rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) who have been fighting for independence since the 70s. But the agreement could go into a tailspin with the separatists still eyeing independence.

In what is turning out to be a stumbling block to peace in the strife-torn province, GAM officials are maintaining that they want next year's election to be turned into what observers described as "a referendum" on whether Aceh should stay or break away from Jakarta.

They say such moves had been left open for further negotiation during the peace talks. The peace deal centred on ending hostilities on the ground but not resolving long-term differences.

Similar sentiments exist in Papua where calls for a referendum are mounting, given the human rights abuses of the Indonesian military and exploitation of natural resources in the region.

Sources say continued resentment towards Jakarta in Aceh and Papua has given the armed forces (TNI) a reason to call for hard line measures.

In the broader scheme of things, both provinces are high on TNI's radar screen. There continues to be a high presence of military intelligence operatives in the two areas and crack troops are ready to be deployed at short notice in an emergency.

Senior military sources said that the TNI had yet to carry out a blitzkrieg against the separatists because of concerns that the international community, especially the United States, would lash out against such action.

An army general told The Straits Times: "The Americans and others want us to give peace a chance in Aceh and Papua. We have, with our proposals on special autonomy. But they are being naive in thinking that the rebels are going to roll over and accept what we have to offer. Force will continue to be an option as long as these separatists dream of an independent state."

Little New Year cheer for Scots academic in an Aceh prison

Sydney Morning Herald - January 1, 2003

Tom Hyland, Jakarta -- As a Scot, Lesley McCulloch could hardly let New Year's Eve pass without a party, however her chances of celebrating last night were limited.

McColloch is in a prison cell in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Indonesian province of Aceh, where she will spend the next six weeks for visa violations.

Until Monday, food was brought in by friends. But it is not needed now, as McCulloch says she has gone on a hunger strike in sympathy with her companion, American Joy Lee Sadler, who has not eaten since late November.

On Monday, McCulloch, 40, and Sadler, 57, were sentenced to five months and four months in jail, respectively, after being caught by soldiers leaving a rebel-held area of Aceh, which has been racked by an independence war for almost 20 years.

Taking into account the time they have already served, Sadler, a nurse, will be released in just under two weeks. McCulloch, an Australian-based academic, will be out in six weeks.

"I was hoping they'd convict us and release us immediately," McCulloch said in a message from her prison cell yesterday. "But now that I know I've got only six weeks to go, I can cope." She was more concerned about Sadler, who is HIV-positive and has been on a hunger strike, taking only vitamins and juice, since November 28 in protest at the slow progress in their trial.

McCulloch said she, too, had stopped eating after she was sentenced on Monday and would refuse to eat until Sadler was released.

The two women have been in detention since September 11. They were accused of contacting independence fighters of the Free Aceh Movement, in violation of their tourist visas.

The sentencing judge imposed a tougher penalty on McCulloch, saying her actions "could have threatened national security and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia".

In her prison message, McCulloch said the only threat she posed was to the business interests of the army and police in Aceh. She said she was targeted because of her research on the illegal business activities of the security forces.

"They're [the army and police] involved in illegal logging, drugs, illegal fishing, extorting money from local businesses and local people at every check point in Aceh ... They are involved in every area of the local economy, illegally," she said.

For this reason, the military had no interest in the success of a December 9 ceasefire deal between the rebels and the Government, which is seen as the best hope yet of ending the conflict, McCulloch said.

On her release, she will fly first to Scotland to see her family ("My mum is really stressed out about me") and to thank her supporters. Then she will return to Melbourne where she will take up an academic research grant. Her area of study will be the political economy of the Indonesian military.

As for New Year's Eve, she said: "My friends know how important it is to us Scots, so we'll have some sort of little party."

'War on terrorism'

Fifth terrorist camp found in Sulawesi

Straits Times - January 11, 2003

Jakarta -- Police have uncovered a fifth military-style training camp in South Sulawesi -- suspected to belong to the group behind last month's bombings in Makassar -- which had enlisted the support of trainers from Afghanistan and the Philippines.

The camp was found near the Towuti Lake area in Luwu regency, some 500 km from Makassar, which borders South Sulawesi and the provinces of Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.

It is suspected to belong to the group of Agung Abdul Hamid, the alleged mastermind of last month's bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in Makassar that left three dead.

South Sulawesi police chief detective Senior Commissioner Achmad Abdi said the newly discovered camp was allegedly used by the Makassar bombing suspects for training in shooting and assembling bombs.

"The place around Towuti Lake is rather specific because there are indications that it hosts shooting and bomb-making training," he said.

Commissioner Achmad said that at least three of the detained suspects, Muchtar Daeng Lau, Ilham and Anton, had confessed they once held training programmes at the Towuti Lake camp.

The police had earlier found four similar camps across South Sulawesi, which they also believe belonged to the Agung-led bombers. The four training camps were spotted in the regencies of Enrekang, Palopo, Luwu and Bulukumba, some between 250 km and 500 km from Makassar.

Commissioner Achmad said the police believe the five camps, including the Towuti Lake base, were connected but did not give more details. "The police are gathering data for further investigation into those camps," he said.

He also said that based on confessions by the suspects, between 20 and 30 people took part in training in each camp. Information and statements from the suspects have also revealed that the instructors for the camps were likely brought in from the southern Philippines and Afghanistan, he said on Monday.

The police official added that it was certain that six of the 18 suspects -- Muchtar, Usman, Masnur, Suryadi, Agung Hamid and Hisbullah Rasyid -- had been trained in the southern Philippines. "Suryadi even attended training programmes there on five different occasions," he said. One suspect, Muchtar, had once trained in Pakistan, too, he added.

The police have named 21 suspects in the December 5 bombings which killed three people and injured 11 others. But four of them -- Agung Hamid, Hisbullah Rasyid, Dahlan and Mirzal -- remain at large.

Key suspects in the Makassar attacks are alleged to have links with the suspected Bali bombers, who killed more than 190 people, mostly Westerners, last October.

Police have tied the Bali suspects with the regional Jemaah Islamiah militant group that has been blacklisted by the United Nations.

In December 2001, Indonesia's intelligence chief, Lt-General Abdullah Hendropriyono, claimed that Al-Qaeda had operated training camps in Sulawesi.

Jakarta 'lacks comprehensive policy to fight terrorism'

Straits Times - January 11, 2003

Jakarta -- Despite making progress in clamping down on suspected terrorists, Indonesia lacks a comprehensive policy to combat terrorism and puts too much weight on responding to possible attacks rather than preventing them, security analysts say.

Terrorism should remain a high concern this year even as public attention starts to shift towards the 2004 general election, they add.

Analyst Edy Prasetyono, of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), pointed out that about 70,000 foreigners had fought or trained in Afghanistan, of which half were from South-east Asia.

"But the government doesn't track their movements, so where are they now?" he remarked at a conference on Indonesia's economic and political outlook.

Mr Edy added that Indonesia's slack control over its sea and air space meant that people could move about easily without detection.

On the anti-terrorism Bill, Mr Edy remarked that it contained measures to take against terrorist strikes, but left out details on how to prevent them.

"How do we control the movement of people and their financial sources?" he asked. "The war against terrorism is a war of intelligence." Instead of being helpful in fighting terrorism, the antiterrorism Bill could instead pose a greater risk to civil liberties, Mr Edy said.

Rights activists have warned of a draconian law with which an authoritarian regime could suppress democracy.

"The government here must strike a balance between guarding security and upholding civil rights," said Mr Edy.

Sharing his views, military affairs analyst Rizal Sukma said: "What we need is a policy on combating terrorism -- a policy that is comprehensive, coherent and integral." He said the government had so far focused its efforts only on responding to terrorist attacks, but the issue of preventing terrorism should be given more importance.

Since the October 12 Bali bombing, which killed more than 190 people, mostly foreign tourists, Indonesia has set up an anti- terrorist desk to bypass bureaucracy among the authorities that handle security affairs.

The police went out of their way to show steady progress in the Bali bombing investigation and have detained 15 bombing suspects with the help of the Australian police. Military anti-terror exercises also intensified in the wake of the bombing.

"For 2003, however, the issue of preventing terrorism, called counterterrorism, should be of greater importance," Mr Rizal said, adding that preventing attacks required measures on a much broader front than what the government had taken so far.

The government should do more about transnational crimes such as money laundering, arms smuggling and immigration issues, he said.

"If someone can easily obtain an identification card, while that person is, say, holding a Dutch passport, then we have a real problem here."

Indonesia's stalled anti-terrorism drive

Asia Times - January 7, 2003

Richel Langit, Jakarta -- Dozens of people suspected of plotting the deadly Bali bombing have been arrested, and the head of the joint international team investigating the terrorist attack, Inspector General I Made Mangku Pastika, has been declared the Asian Newsmaker of the Year by the US magazine Time, but the terrorist network operating in the world's largest archipelagic country is far from being rooted out.

If anything, the ongoing investigation into the Bali attack and the subsequent arrests of suspects reveal that those terrorists have established such an extensive network that is much bigger than the government and the public at large had thought. Since the first suspect, Amrozi, was arrested in early November, new suspects have kept popping up. To date, at least 15 suspects have been apprehended and 10 others are still at large but still there is no sign that the terrorist network connected with the Bali bombings that killed nearly 200 people and wounded more than 300 on October 12 has been fully busted.

In her year-end speech, President Megawati Sukarnoputri vowed to root out the terrorist network in the country but, given how extensive it is, one wonders whether her government has the ability and resources to track down and crush those terrorist groups.

Much of the difficulty stems from the fact that Muslim hardliners have successfully stirred the country's anti-terrorism drive as a campaign dictated by foreign countries, especially the United States and her allies, to destroy Islam. This is clearly demonstrated by defense lawyers who insist on calling themselves the Muslim Defense Team, known as Tim Pembela Muslim or TPM, despite calls by some moderate Muslim groups that they get rid of the Muslim tag.

Their insistence on using the Muslim tag does not only rally Muslim groups behind suspected terrorists but also undermines efforts by moderate Muslim groups -- notably the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah -- to rid Islam of the terrorist image. NU and Muhammadiyah are the country's biggest Muslim organizations, with a combined membership of about 70 million, or almost one- third of the country's population of 215 million people, 85 percent of which are Muslims.

Leaders of the two biggest Muslim organizations, together with Catholic, Protestant, Hindu and Buddhist leaders, have been campaigning against associating terrorism with certain religious groups such as Islam. They emphasize that the involvement of certain Muslim leaders in terrorist acts has nothing to do with religion even if these criminals claim to have done their deeds to advance the interests of Islam.

One of the principal suspects in the Bali bombing, Abdul Azis, alias Imam Samudra, was able to travel safely to his home town in Serang, Banten, and escape arrest for more than a month because some religious leaders in East Java and Banten provinces gave him protection. Ali Gufron, alias Muklas, the elder brother and alleged leader of the Asia terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), also enjoyed certain protection. The United Nations included JI on its list of terrorist groups in November.

During a re-enactment of their final preparation meeting in Mojokerto, East Java, last month, many onlookers cheered Ali Gufron, Amrozi, Abdul Azis and other suspects. Some even shouted "I love you" to the handcuffed suspects. In Bandung, the capital of West Java province, T-shirts bearing the face of Imam Samudra and replicas of the T-shirt he wore when he appeared before the public for the first time after his arrest are in great demand.

The cheers and T-shirts demonstrate how the alleged terrorists, condemned by leaders of all religions in Indonesia, including Islam, and by the international community, have won admiration, or perhaps support, from some young Indonesians who may pick up the struggle if these suspected terrorists are put behind bars or are no longer around.

In Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province, where three people were killed and 11 others injured in a bomb blast on December 5, local religious leaders told police investigators not to arrest leaders of a local Muslim militia group called Laskar Jundullah, strongly suspected of being behind the bombing, to avoid possible religious conflicts. Some leaders of Laskar Jundullah are also local leaders of NU and Muhammadiyah. Laskar Jundullah is headed by Agus Dwikarna, who is currently jailed in Manila for illegal possession of explosives.

The Indonesian government's decision not to engage moderate Muslim groups in the country's campaign against terrorism may have also reinforced suspicion that the war was directed against Islam. Leaders of both NU and Muhammadiyah have thrown their support behind the government's anti-terrorism drive but their offer to help the government fight terrorism has been widely ignored by President Megawati.

NU and Muhammadiyah leaders, for example, have complained that their request to meet with Megawati to discuss ways they could help the government fight terrorism have not been granted. The participation of these two Muslim groups in fighting terrorism would have offset efforts by radical groups to rally Muslim communities behind suspected terrorists and help distance Islam from terrorism. Their campaign against identifying terrorism with Islam would have helped the government crack down on terrorist networks operating in Indonesia without fears of retaliation from Muslim groups.

But Megawati, whose leadership has come under constant scrutiny by radical Muslim groups simply because she is a woman, chose to go it alone. It is hard to fathom why the government has taken this path. It is true that fighting against terrorism is the sole responsibility of the government but, given the fact that terrorism has been identified with Islam, the involvement of those two Muslim groups in the government's anti-terrorism drive is the only recipe for success.

Government & politics

Vow to crack down on citizens who 'insult' state symbols

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2003

Jakarta -- The police reiterated once again that they would take very strict actions against demonstrators, if they planned to insult state symbols, Antara reported.

"The moves will also be imposed upon those burning posters or an effigy of the president," said Sr. Comr. Prasetyo, the spokesman of the Jakarta Police, on Thursday. He said that the perpetrators would be charged under article 134 of the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of six years in jail.

On Wednesday, President Megawati Soekarnoputri said that she could not accept in when people burned or defaced her image or that of Vice President Hamzah Haz. She demanded that the people show respect to all state symbols unconditionally.

During a series of rallies against fuel and utility price hikes, demonstrators burnt and damaged pictures and effigies of Megawati and Hamzah. Several activists of the Democratic People's Party have been arrested and charged with trying to topple the government.

On Tuesday, a 20-year-old Acehnese activist was sentenced to six months in prison for painting a red "X" over a poster of Megawati. Last year, two demonstrators were jailed in Jakarta for stepping on pictures of Megawati and Hamzah during a rally.

Before the polls, parties slug it out for symbols

Straits Times - January 9, 2003

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- With a glut of new parties set up ahead of next year's general election, disputes are breaking out over the right to use some of the most popular Indonesian signs and symbols.

Familiar icons such as the wild bull, used by the Indonesian Democratic Party -- Struggle (PDI-P), or the crescent star which represents The Crescent Star Party, are in huge demand. Logos are critical to party fortunes, both during the campaign and voting phases.

After the fall of President Suharto in 1988, the number of new parties increased sharply. Logos, therefore, became a key differentiating factor among the political parties.

On the ballot paper, the symbols are used, often because the parties have names that are too long.

Currently, 237 political parties have registered at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry for the forthcoming election, of which 137 have been recently established.

Many of them, though, are minor parties which would not qualify for the 2004 election. In 1999, only 48 out of the hundreds of parties registered were allowed to participate.

Even then, several ended up using similar logos with minor variations in colour or the thickness of the lines. During the last election, there were reports that some voters had voted for the wrong parties, because of the similarity in the logos.

The symbols of the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) Massa Marhaenis and the PNI Front Marhaenis, for instance, were nearly identical.

In the next elections, at least nine parties want to be represented by a logo featuring a wild bull inside a triangle against a red background. Among them, the Bung Karno Nationalist Party (PNBK) -- the party inspired by the ideology of the late founding president Sukarno.

Likewise, during the 1999 elections the crescent star was common in the logos of The Crescent Star Party, The United Indonesian Islamic Party and the United Indonesian Islamic Party 1905. Now four other new parties wish to use the crescent star logo.

But a newly issued Law on Political Party now prohibits parties from using logos that are the same or similar to another party's.

The director for the State Administration in the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, Mr Ramly Hutabarat, told The Straits Times: "We are going to verify the data given by the parties later this month to see whether they comply with this law. The party which had registered the logo first will be entitled to it," he said.

Analysts said the parties try to use familiar logos to cash in on the popularity of other parties. Often they have little to offer themselves.

Mr Hamid Awaluddin of the General Election Committee said: "The parties want to have the right insignias that traditionally symbolise their political affiliation to make up for their lack in substance."

Mega's party sacks dissident members from posts

Straits Times - January 9, 2003

Jakarta -- In another show of deep cracks within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), five functionaries in Lampung have been dismissed from their posts for defying directives on the recent gubernatorial election.

PDI-P deputy chairman Roy B. B. Janis announced the decision on Tuesday, saying that the disciplinary move would not, however, deprive the five officials of their party membership.

The decision was taken after a weekly party meeting, presided by President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Lampung is one of the party's influential bases, where the party won 28 of the 75 seats on offer in the 1999 general election.

This is the second time that the party has handed out heavy punishment to disloyal members since the dismissal of Mr Tarmidi Soehardjo for challenging Ms Megawati's choice of incumbent Sutiyoso as the candidate for the gubernatorial post in the capital last September.

Don't burn effigies of me and Hamzah, says Mega

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2003

Jakarta -- Unable to accept the burning of her effigy, President Megawati Soekarnoputri urged the people not to insult state symbols when expressing their aspirations, Antara reported.

"I cannot accept if [the state] flag was burnt, or effigies of me or Pak Hamzah Haz were burnt," she said Wednesday at the state palace, referring to the vice president. She did not specify any cases which had defaced state symbols.

Megawati urged people "not to forget national culture". "I asked myself once when did we, as a state, start to have such actions [of insulting state symbols]," she said.

During recent demonstration against fuel, utility price hikes, demonstrators burnt posters and effigies of Megawati and Hamzah.

On Tuesday, a female Acehnese activist was sentenced to six months in prison for painting a red "X" over a poster of Megawati. Last year, two demonstrators were jailed in Jakarta for stepping on pictures of Megawati and Hamzah during a rally.

It's open season in Indonesian politics

Straits Times - January 7, 2003

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta -- It comes as no surprise that a handful of legislators are seeking an inquiry into the S$1.2 billion purchase of a major stake in telecommunications firm Indosat by Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT).

The move by the Reform Faction (PAN), led by national assembly chairman Amien Rais, follows allegations by former president Abdurrahman Wahid that members of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's party received bribes to bolster STT's bid.

Mr Abdurrahman"s rationale? 'I want those people to sweat now, before I bring my information to the public's full attention," he said.

Underlying the crude politics being played here are threats of demonstrations and calls for Ms Megawati to resign over fuel, energy and telephone price increases in the country. Whiffs of scandals and ugly blemishes in the government's track record could be the opening shot in a smear campaign targeted against the President and her Indonesian Democratic Party -- Struggle (PDI-P).

It is open season for politicians with an eye on the presidency. Vested interests have superseded national interests.

Instead of pulling together for the sake of trying to solve the country's problems, they have become increasingly polarised. Persistent backstabbing and finger pointing among the country's political elite has exacerbated the climate of uncertainty, further eroding confidence in Indonesia as a place to do business.

It is very clear that the STT deal was done in a transparent fashion. It could have injected much-needed funds for an Indonesian economy recovering in fits and starts.

Indeed, this was the raison d'etre for legislators to approve plans to privatise state-owned enterprises weeks before STT clinched the deal. Why then all the fuss? The reason is simple.

PAN legislators allegedly stood to lose commissions if their choice, Malaysia Telkom, failed in the bid. That money could have been channelled to the party coffers and used in the presidential fight in 2004.

Having lost out in the tender, the politicians took the opportunity to question the President's nationalist credentials and pave the way for a series of other salvos fired against her administration.

This includes supporting plans by students, labour unions and activists for mass protests against Ms Megawati's price-hike decision.

These issues will be a thorn in the side of the President. But it is unlikely to unseat her, given that the parliamentary forces opposed to her are small in number.

But what it does -- without these politicians realising it, perhaps -- is undermine confidence in the Indonesian economy.

Given the profile of such a leader and the maelstrom of crises facing Indonesia, how could one ever be optimistic about the country being able to turn the corner? The answer lies in not destabilising the current administration and creating even more uncertainty. It is counter-productive to clamour for Ms Megawati's political demise.

Indonesian politicians and their allies should also understand that there are no "quick fixes" to the country's ills.

The history of mature democracies shows the tasks confronting this administration are not small. It will take many years before any real progress is made.

Indonesia's fortunes will require a higher and nobler sense of purpose by the elite -- not persistent backroom dealings and plots to support the ambitions of a few under the guise of meeting the people's aspirations.

Government told to say good bye to IMF

Jakarta Post - January 2, 2003

Jakarta -- People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais said Tuesday the government should stop working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2003, Antara reported.

"The 'dream team' cabinet cannot meet our expectations and is too dependenton the IMF, which gives us wrong diognoses and remedies. Indonesia should say good bye to the IMF," he said during a gathering to welcome year 2003.

Amien argued that the government's cooperation with the IMF has failed to produce significant economic recovery. He predicted the economic condition in the country may be worse in 2003.

Indonesia has been assisted by the IMF since the downfall of the country's economic condition in 1997.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Accused: Attorney-General 'embezzled charity funds'

Straits Times - January 11, 2003

Jakarta -- Already under investigation for corruption, Indonesia's Attorney-General was accused by police yesterday of embezzling thousands of dollars from a charity set up to help refugees.

Police say they found evidence that Muhammad Abdul Rachman siphoned 150 million rupiah from a fund that provided assistance to refugees forced from their homes by ethnic fighting in Kalimantan.

The latest allegation comes as Mr Rachman is fighting accusations that he misled state investigators by providing them with false data.

He was accused of failing to include a villa in a posh Jakarta neighbourhood and a number of bank accounts in his compulsory report to the Commission of Investigation of the Wealth of State Officials (KPKPN).

After receiving a complaint from the investigating commission, police began tracing the amount of 800 million rupiah in Mr Rachman's bank account.

They now allege that some of the money earmarked for refugees was used to buy a car for the Attorney-General.

"Investigators suspect that 150 million rupiah of a fund for Madurese refugees was embezzled by Attorney-General Abdul Rachman," said chief investigator Colonel Marsudi Hanafi.

"Rachman gave the money to a lawyer who then gave it to one of his colleagues to buy a car." A spokesman for the attorney- general's office, Antazari Azhar, said he could not comment until the police investigation was completed.

Big names under Jakarta audit body scrutiny

Straits Times - January 11, 2003

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- After pulling up President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia's main audit body is flexing its muscles and plans to fire more shots this month at big names for their questionable wealth.

The move is likely to rile government officials and parliamentarians who have thrown their weight behind its closure.

Among the heavyweights the Commission to Investigate the Wealth of Public Servants (KPKPN) plans to summon for clarifications later this month are Parliament Speaker Akbar Tandjung, Chief Justice Bagir Manan and Mr Lalu Mariyun, the South Jakarta Court Judge who threw out former president Suharto's corruption case.

President Megawati's trusted party executive Roy B.B. Janis and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ginandjar Kartasasmita are also in the commission's line of fire.

Although the body maintains that the summonses were merely "routine" to verify the assets these officials had declared, sources say they are perhaps not routine. These people had listed assets that far exceeded their supposed earnings.

Former Cabinet minister Ginandjar, for instance, reported that he owned assets worth 25.6 billion rupiah plus US$340,000 in cash, while Mr Akbar is said to have declared assets worth 33.4 billion rupiah.

The commission starts with questioning but a probe is activated if irregularities are detected.

It was a special investigation such as this which last week led to the questioning of Attorney General M.A. Rachman over allegations that he had not come clean about his wealth. Mr Rachman has denied any wrongdoing.

Late last year, President Megawati and her husband, legislator Taufik Kiemas, came under the commission's scrutiny over allegations that they had failed to report some properties they owned.

But the First Family was given a clean chit, although some of the commission's members complained recently that Ms Megawati and Mr Taufik had been uncooperative and had virtually ignored the commission's summons to sign the verified record on their assets, a necessary procedure to make the record official.

The KPKPN's high-profile targeting has ruffled quite a number of the country's top leaders, with some parliamentarians complaining that it was becoming too powerful.

A legislator who requested anonymity told The Straits Times: "It is unfair that they publicise our reports indiscriminately, even if they had no proof that we were guilty of graft because the public would not see it that way.

"While the summons might be procedural, it would attract so much media attention that we would be subjected to trial by the press in no time," he said.

Despite the results, the commission's graft-busting days are numbered. Last month, Parliament endorsed the Bill on Anti Corruption Committee, a new body that will be set up within a year and take over the KPKPN's role.

The new body is to have more clout, as it will be given the power to take over investigations from the Indonesian police and the Attorney General's Office.

However, KPKPN members think the change would result in a less effective anti-graft body. The work will be carried out by a much smaller team which will be under no obligation to make its findings public.

Said a member, Mr Chairul: "Public servants have illegally amassed their money rampantly, receiving kickbacks, for example. This has been the norm for too long. The KPKPN's policy of announcing the wealth of these civil servants to the public, acts as a deterence and would make them think twice before doing it again."

The commission plans to file a judicial review to the Supreme Court to challenge the Bill before it is signed by the President.

NGOs protest release and discharge policy

Jakarta Post - January 3, 2003

Jakarta -- A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) launched a campaign on Thursday against the much-criticized government policy of exonerating some former bank owners from their past banking crimes.

Led by Teten Masduki of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), a group of NGO officials collected signatures from professionals working in the Jakarta Stock Exchange building in a bid to drum up public support to pressure the government to drop the controversial policy.

Teten said similar campaigns would be launched in other areas of the country. He said that once sufficient public support was drummed up, the NGOs would file a class action suit against the government if it continued to refuse to reverse its "release and discharge" policy.

Teten said exonerating the former bank owners from their crimes would be a serious blow to justice. He added that over the past four years, none of the ex-bank owners had been cooperative in settling their obligations.

Under the release and discharge policy, ex-bank owners deemed cooperative in settling their debts to the government will have all criminal charges against them dropped.

The former bank owners owe huge debts to the government after their banks received about Rp 144.5 trillion in state funds to help them stay afloat during the late-1990s financial crisis.

The bank owners, however, were found to have misused most of the state funds. They also stand accused of violating the bank legal lending limit by channeling most of their banks' money to affiliated businesses. This illegal activity is seen as one of the causes of the financial crisis.

Four years ago, the previous government signed debt settlement agreements with some 35 former bank owners, under which they would have all criminal charges against them dropped if they fully repaid their debts.

By the time the agreements expired late last year, none of the former bank owners had fully settled their debts. Some of the ex-bank owners surrendered fixed assets to repay their debts, but the value of these assets has been greatly reduced due to asset deterioration.

If the government fails to force the ex-bankers to surrender additional assets, tax payers will have to shoulder more of the cost of the financial crisis.

According to reports on Thursday, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has issued a presidential directive on the release and discharge status of some ex-bankers. No details were given as to which bankers would be granted the status.

Earlier, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which is mandated to collect the debts, proposed five ex-bank owners to be categorized as cooperative debtors. Of the five, the most prominent is Sudono Salim, the founder and former owner of Bank BCA and the largest debtor. Under the new policy, the debtors would be given until June 2003 to repay their debts in full.

Antara news agency quoted IBRA chairman Syafruddin Temenggung as saying the presidential directive would be made public on January 6, 2003.

In defending the policy, Megawati has said the release and discharge policy was part of a scheme agreed to with the International Monetary Fund, and was in line with guidelines issued by the People's Consultative Assembly.

She said that after four years of stalemate, a decision must be immediately taken to resolve the debt problem to prevent it from becoming even more complicated. The President also warned that uncooperative debtors would face legal sanction.

Watchdogs threaten to sue government over R&D scheme

Jakarta Post - January 1, 2003

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- A number of professional associations and corruption watchdogs threatened on Monday to file a class action suit against the government, should President Megawati Soekarnoputri insist on releasing big debtors from possible criminal charges.

They said the plan to release the big debtors through the "release and discharge" warrant was improper and would only offend the people's sense of justice.

"We will invite the public and facilitate them for the class action suit. We believe most of the people disagree with the plan to release the debtors," said Coordinator of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) Teten Masduki in a media conference here on Monday.

Teten added the groups would also consider demanding that a judicial review be carried out by the Supreme Court, the country's highest court of justice, should the government release the big debtors, namely: Anthony Salim, Sjamsul Nursalim, Ibrahim Risjad, Sudwikatmono and Samadikun Hartono.

Also speaking at the occasion were Agus Purnomo of the Transparency International-Indonesia (TI-I), economist Faisal Basri and Rosiana Tendean of the Indonesian Professional Community (MPI).

The media conference was also attended by three legislators -- Meilono Suwondo, Julius Usman and Haryanto Taslam of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Reading out the groups' joint statement, Agus Purnomo said the plan to release the big debtors was not recognized in the country's legal system.

The groups accused the debtors of having violated the maximum legal lending limit, which is a criminal act under the country's legal system, and indicated that the government had no reason to release the debtors from criminal charges.

Faisal Basri said the plan to release the big debtors was the peak of all disorders the Indonesian people had been through. "We reject the release and discharge plan," Faisal added.

Alexander Lay of ICW emphasized that the big debtors must not be released from criminal charges as they had failed to comply with the Master of Settlement and Acquisition Agreement (MSAA), which contains the release and discharge clause for the debtors.

Citing an example, Alexander said Sjamsul Nursalim had not paid Rp 1 trillion (US$111.11 million) to the government as stipulated in the agreement. The handing over of the money would show the public his good intention to settle the case, he said.

Sjamsul also failed to provide evidence to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to prove that his financial report to the agency was accurate, Alexander added.

Agus Purnomo said the plan to release the big debtors would only create more burden for the people.

Regional/communal conflicts

Ambonese come to terms with limits of 'normalcy'

Jakarta Post - January 12, 2003

Ati Nurbaiti, Ambon -- It seems an inevitable, accepted fact of life here that while things must return to "normal", it would be wishful thinking to imagine that it means resuming normalcy in full, at least in the foreseeable future.

Young and old now say that the conflict since 1999 had a significant impact and that it brought widespread suffering to nearly all residents, with the loss of life, amounting to an unofficial estimate of over 9,000, equally painful for all.

A drive to move on has replaced earlier, bitter feelings of vengeance. "Do you want to think of life or death?" says Ali, a motorcycle taxi driver who escaped near death in one of the communal battles.

A mother who lost two teenage sons allowed herself a moment of grief, and buried her face in her hands briefly before saying, "I would become too stressed out if I kept thinking about them, it was impossible for them to stay inside while there was a war anyway."

The change that must be acknowledged is of course that although many families never thought it a problem to live among neighbors of a different religion, it is now common sense to live apart.

It is heartening in the meantime that people can move through either "Christian" or "Muslim" areas for daily activities, that they can pay much less in fees when traveling by road instead of by sea for short distances, that they can associate with relatives and friends of other religions again and that they are all fed up with violence and are determined to move on.

Families with Christian and Muslim members no longer need to meet in secret.

But having seen how violence strikes, even under the supposedly safe era of the civil emergency status, there is no way that refugees who were of religious minorities can return to their villages.

In the event of an attack on either Muslim or Christian minorities, however remote the possibility, "our neighbors would not be able to help," says Abu Kubangun, a coordinator of one the Muslim refugee camps in Ambon.

"The Christians [minorities in Muslim dominated villages] can't go anywhere either," he said, while hearkening back to a different time in Kudamati, which during the conflicts became a feared base of Christian "hardliners."

While the deadline of January 15 looms for refugees to leave the shelters, Abu, who works with almost 2,000 people from 385 families, said he did not yet know where they would go. Authorities say they have yet to find plots of land for the thousands of people who cannot return home.

The central government has said it can only financially support refugees until January 15.

Nonetheless, much greater freedom of movement has been felt in the last four months, residents say.

A taxi driver, Jefri, says drivers like himself have only been able to operate the route from the airport to downtown in the last two months, as road barriers had been taken away near the razed ruins of the 23-hectare campus of the Pattimura University and the remains of a few state-run high schools.

The fiery scenes of youngsters in war gear and carrying weapons have been replaced by soccer games and billiard tables.

But in the relatively normal looking scene downtown, several areas are still segregated, including the motorcycle taxi pools. In the new bustling market place near Hotel Amans, motorcycle taxis stand ready to cater to the shoppers who are mostly Christians, because prices are double from their own areas, which is further from Muslim-dominated downtown.

Any visitor to Muslim refugee camps would have to take a Muslim motorcycle taxi as a precaution. Many public transport vehicles need to display their routes -- their colors indicate where they are going -- which is largely to either Christian or Muslim areas.

Residents have made the best of the situation. In a new twist of the religious and ethnic divide, Christian Ambonese, faced with the need to survive after escaping violence and the destruction of their homes, are now found among pedicab drivers catering to Christian areas once operated by migrant, Muslim pedicab drivers because locals did not take menial jobs like pedicab driving or small scale trading.

Now people must face the facts of such a religious divide, which some historians blame on governmental programs over many decades, for instance in the formation of segregated settlements. Analysts say New Order politics (under Soeharto from 1966 to 1998, including the transmigration program which sent thousands of Javanese Muslims mostly to non-Muslim islands) contributed to the transformation of the social dynamics and the structure of Christian dominance in prestigious jobs, including in the government. But none of this was ever addressed until after the violence broke out.

With some discomfort, such issues were taken up in a gathering of traditional village heads (raja, or king) here, from January 9 to January 11. In the group discussion on education, the leaders and educators debated the need to balance recruitment of students and lecturers or teachers based on religion.

Charges at Pattimura University, which was dominated by Christians, in regard to the students and lecturers only surfaced after the conflict broke out in early 1999.

Similarly, accusations that Muslims were appointed to the local government positions because of nepotism were only brought up after the seemingly endless violence.

In the above talks, the need to strike a balance with all teachers and lecturers should depend on the subject matter, said one raja.

While other subjects should only screen educators on the basis of their academic and teaching competence, he said, "If children are to be taught tolerance, then teachers at the elementary level must be balanced" between Muslims and Christians.

And while Maluku residents must now deal with such issues, the elders also face the task of understanding problems of the young, such as unemployment and drug use.

Ecstasy is freely sold at nightclubs and bars, witnesses say, and even children are involved in the now open business of lottery (unyil) on the streets. One of the older lottery organizers, Aladin said he would gladly do something else if there was another good job for him, but the numbers game was currently the only thing he could do to feed his three children.

One of the speakers at the gathering of the 110 raja, noted psychologist Sarlito Wirawan, said, "The approach to the young needs an entirely different approach, their icons and jargon are totally different."

Lawyer says soldiers helped attacks by Christian gang

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2003

Jakarta -- A lawyer for a Christian gang suspected of deadly bombings and shootings in Maluku said Wednesday some attacks had been assisted by special forces soldiers, AFP reported.

Lawyer Christian Raharjaan said Tuesday detained members of the youth gang Coker (Cowok Keren or Cool Guys) have admitted they had waged a series of attacks since 2000, including last year's blast at a soccer stadium that killed four female athletes and the sinking of a boat that also killed four.

Both Muslims and Christians died in the stadium bombing. More than 5,000 people have died in clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Malukus since 1999. A government-brokered peace pact was signed inFebruary last year but sporadic violence has continued.

"During questioning, members of the Coker gang said Kopassus [special forces] soldiers gave them directives, weapons and bombs to carry out everyattack [last year]," Raharjaan said.

The 17 gang members are currently being detained at Brimob paramilitary police headquarters southeast of Jakarta.

The gang has admitted it had brought almost all the attacks since last year's peace pact, Raharjaan said, adding the group staged at least 11 bombings since 2000.

"Every explosion and shooting carried out by Coker last year was facilitated by Kopassus. It's clear that the unrest in Maluku is the work of provocateurs. They use the unrest as a pretext to create the impression that without the military, Maluku won't be safe," he added.

Maluku military spokesman Major Herry Suhardi said the military would investigate the suspects' alleged admissions. "It's a one- sided statement. The information about the involvement of Kopassus needed to be verified," he said.

Human rights/law

One women raped every five hours: Activist

Jakarta Post - January 3, 2003

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- Women, beware. Every five hours, a woman is raped in Indonesia. Every day, at least one rape case in Jakarta is reported by the media, not to mention the unreported ones, which may be triple the number.

"Our circumstances are simply unsafe ... We can see that almost every day the media carries reports on rapes and sexual violence," Rita Serena Kolibonso of the non-governmental organization Mitra Perempuan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Rita said that the number of unreported cases could be three times of the number of reported ones.

By contrast, the Jakarta Police revealed in their year-end report that there were only 107 rape cases last year. In 2001, only 89 rape cases were reported to the police. The National Police's annual report showed, however, that the number of rape cases rose by 11.93 percent in 2002, although a exact number was not given. Rita said that sexual violence, including rape, mostly against women and children, could take place anywhere and involve anyone regardless of walk of life, education or age.

"Sexual violence can happen in public places, in the workplace, at school, in prison, even in the private sphere like at home with the perpetrators are known to the victims, like their parents or relatives," Rita explained.

Rita revealed that her NGO had handled 226 cases of violence in 2002, of which 85 percent involved domestic violence.

The National Commission on Children's Protection (Komnas PA) reported earlier that during the January-November period last year, 481 cases of violence had been reported to it, 60 percent of which involved sexual abuse. The 2002 figure was over 20 percent higher than 2001's 391 cases.

Rita blasted the police and law enforcers for their failure to be proactive in investigating sexual violence despite the obvious reluctance of the victims as well the public to report such incidents to the police.

"Many people are reluctant [to report rape cases] as only a few rape cases are brought to court. Besides, in most cases, the courts only give rapists light sentences," explained Rita.

Legal considerations such as the fact that the culprit has a clean record should not be used as mitigating factors, Rita contended. She underlined that judges should consider the life- long psychological trauma suffered by the victims, not to mention possible physical damage to the victims' reproductive organs.

"It's not fair for the victims to pay the full cost of the medical examinations required to legally prove that rape has occurred," said Rita.

The light sentences handed down, often as little as one or two years in jail, made a mockery of the deterrent effect, Rita contended According to the article 285 of the Criminal Code, rape carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison. Rapes of underage children carry a maximum of nine years in prison.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Police's chief of detectives, Sr. Comr. Andi Chaeruddin, played down allegations that the police were not working proactively in tackling rape cases.

"We have assigned a special team of detectives to investigate sensitive cases related to children, teenager, and women's issues," Andi said.

In light of the psychological shock suffered by the victims, detectives from the team, Andi claimed, would visit victims to take their statements instead of summoning them to the police station. He failed to elaborate further.

Focus on Jakarta

'Becak' drivers fight for their right to operate

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2003

Evi Mariani, Jakarta -- About 150 becak (trishaw) drivers united in the Daya Manunggal Becak Driver Group (PBDM) visited the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) office in Central Jakarta Wednesday, pressing for their right to operate legally in Jakarta.

They demanded that the city administration stop raids and allocate funds towards better management of the becak transportation system instead. They also urged Komnas HAM to call on the city governor to find a fair solution for the becak issue and form a commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations on the urban poor.

Jukimin Suseno, chairman of PBDM, said that the visit to the office was the third time in two years.

In 1990, the city administration banned becak from operating in the city on the grounds that they obstructed traffic.

In 1998, however, due to the mounting economic crisis, Governor Sutiyoso allowed becak to operate again in Jakarta. Within a week, about 150 becak entered the city from surrounding areas and farther away, and Sutiyoso withdrew his decision.

Once again, becak became targets of raids by the administration. However, the city administration failed to offer a solution to address the problem, and in 1990, at the same time that massive raids were carried out, the administration promised to find other jobs for becak drivers -- a promise that the administration did not fulfill.

"It was an empty promise. Nothing was done. Instead, they suggested us to become vendors, but this would also violate the city bylaws," said Bejo, who has been a becak driver in Jakarta for 10 years.

Despite the repression of becak, they always succeeded in getting into the city furtively, leaving the city administration frustrated.

At present, hundreds of becak still operate around traditional markets and residential areas. Serving mainly housewives on their daily shopping rounds, many becak drivers have forged a unique driver-customer relationship with the housewives.

"No other transportation vehicle is willing to deliver housewives' shopping items right to their kitchen doors," said Jukimin. "Moreover, becak are cheaper and non-polluting. Therefore, they are comfortable transportation for short-distance shopping trips." Undoubtedly, becak are needed by certain people. Although rejected by the city administration, they are welcomed by Jakarta's citizens in residential areas.

In Pulomas, East Jakarta, for example, becak drivers at one time discussed their right to operate in the area with local officials and residents. The discussion resulted in a decision to allow a certain number of becak to operate in designated areas in Pulomas. However, the administration ignored the neighborhood agreement and carried out another raid.

The same thing happened to drivers in the Rawasari area of Central Jakarta. Amid the people's current discontent due to the recent fuel price hikes, observers said the government would be wise to legalize becak, which provide cheap and comfortable transportation for Jakarta's troubled residents.

Environment

Workers and people against Indorayon Utama stage joint rally

Antara - January 10, 2003

Jakarta -- Hundreds of workers grouped in the workers union of many companies joined in a rally in protest of the increase in fuel oil prices, telephone and electricity tariffs in front of the State Palace on Thursday.

Along with them were also some 200 people grouped in the Bona Pasogit, an anti-reestablishment movement of the pulp and paper factory, PT Indo Rayon Utama, in Porsea, North Sumatra.

The workers started flocking the North Merdeka Street, right in front of the Merdeka Palace at 9.45 a.m.

Among them are workers union from PT Astra Honda Motor, clad in white uniforms and white head bandages and state cable company, PT Kabel Indonesia Tbk. Meanwhile, Police had been deployed in the National Monument (Monas) area.

Bona Pasogit said today is a judgement day for the fate of thousands of Porsea people as on this day, a cabinet session will take place to discuss the resumption of the operation of the company which reportedly has caused serious pollution.

Walhi condemns reopening of troubled pulp plant

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2003

Jakarta -- The non-governmental organization, The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), condemned on Thursday the government's decision to allow controversial pulp plant PT Toba Pulp Lestari to restart operations, Antara reported.

"The issuance of the permit reveals that the government does not care about the interests of the people," Walhi said in a statement Thursday. Walhi urged the government to review its permit.

On Thursday, State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif said that the government decided to allow the plant to continue operations pending the establishment of a team to review the possibility of reopening the plant.

Earlier this week, New York-based Human Rights Watch accused the company of violating human rights in its efforts to end the people's protest.

People in Porsea, North Sumatra where the plant is located have opposed the reopening of the plant, formerly known as PT Indorayon, because of serious environmental degradation in the area.

Paper industry accused of attacks on indigenous communities

Radio Australia - January 8, 2003

A new report claims Indonesia's booming paper industry is responsible for widespread attacks on indigenous communities in Sumatra. The New York-based group Human Rights Watch also alleges police are helping suppress protests against the seizure of forest land, claiming land seizures and "brutal" assaults on local residents are commonplace. And it's calling on international donors to Indonesia to pressure Jakarta into taking action at a meeting in Bali later this month.

Presenter/Interviewer: Deborah Steele

Speakers: Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington Director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division

Jendrzejczyk: "We've been doing research for a year or so into the massive pulp and paper industry on the island of Sumatra, where there are major forestry lands that've been seized over the years, beginning in the 1980s under then president Suharto, and where local indigenous people are finding their livelihoods disappearing and often engaging in protests that then trigger very strong and sometimes violent responses from the company security forces, mobile police and company-fund militia.

"And we're hoping the issue will be discussed at the upcoming donor meeting in Bali, later this month, when forestry reform will not be on the agenda."

Steele: How widespread is this problem in Sumatra?

Jendrzejczyk: "It's a problem that's really escalated in Sumatra, where generally the pulp and paper industry in Indonesia puts the country into the top ten of the world's producers, but many of the lowland tropical forests are in Sumatra. These are lands traditionally claimed by indigenous communities who rely on them for rice farming and rubber tapping.

"But as these lands have been taken over and turned into huge platantions the loss of access to these lands have affected hundreds and hundreds of villagers who then feel they have nowhere else to turn for their livelihoods and who file land claims but find the police and military who have their own business interests are not in a position to be neutral arbitrers in those claims and those land disputes."

Steele: So what exactly is the role of security forces in this? How complicit are they in the actions of the timber companies?

Jendrzejczyk: "At two levels. One, at the stage when the lands were seized and this is mainly in the 1980s and the 1990s -- state police and company militia, trained by the police, often did this violently and certainly usually with little or no legal process or compensation.

"Secondly when there have been protests, which took place in 2001 and through last year, mobile police brigades and police backing up company officials have been complicit in or stood by and watched as villagers have been beaten sometiems, very violently by company militia and others.

"Again the police have either assisted or in most cases done nothing to intervene to prevent these kinds of abuses."

Steele: What action do you hope the donors will take on this?

Jendrzejczyk: "Well, one immediate step would be for the donors at the Bali meeting to call for a complete and transparent audit of all military and police businesses.

"Secondly to call for the creation of an independent land board or an independent ombudsman who could deal with compensation disputes over seozed forestry land.

"And thirdly the problem of impunity must be addressed. That is the Indonesian government must take responsibility for prosecuting police and private company officials who were involved in attacks and other kinds of human rights abuses against villagers in Sumatra who are affected by this ongoing problem."

Steele: The report says that these attacks on indigenous communities, the lack of the rule of law and the rural violence threaten not only rural communities but also foriegn investment -- how so?

Jendrzejczyk: "Well, at a couple of levels. First of all, some of the vast plantation supplying Asian pulp and paper, whcih is now Indonesia's largest paper producer, is piling up huge debt from its creditors and I should say that the overall pulp and paper industry in Sumatra now has debts of over $US20 billion.

"So it's not only having devastating consequences economically and in terms of human rights, but there's a huge economic price to be paid.

"This eventually is going to be passed on through these companies and creditors to the public who are somehow going to have to absorb the cost of these debts.

"So I think it is in Indonesia's direct self-interest if it wants to reform the whole forestry industry in a way that both protects the environment and protects economic growth, to begin to take these kinds of minimal reforms and again we think the Bali donor meeting is a key opportunity to press for those kinds of steps."

Jakarta may build nuclear plants for electricity by 2010

Straits Times - January 8, 2003

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Indonesia could be building nuclear power plants by the end of this decade, as part of government efforts to provide alternative energy sources to the country's power- hungry households and businesses, said senior officials yesterday.

Minister of Research and Technology Hatta Rajasa told Antara state news agency: "We have the capability to build nuclear power plants, and we should." The minister added that the country could break new ground for its first nuclear-powered electricity generator.

Its construction is targeted to start in 2010, and it is expected to be operational by 2015.

His aides at the ministry, and officials of the National Atomic Agency (Batan) were similarly upbeat about the prospects of Indonesia going nuclear to meet its energy needs.

Dr Bambang Prasetyo, a programme officer at the ministry, told The Straits Times: "Based on projections of energy needs for the future, nuclear power makes sense. Indonesia will not be reliant on this source of energy and we will still work with others like geothermal or hydro power. But nuclear is definitely one way to go."

Based on available estimates, the country would need billions of dollars worth of fresh investments into the power sector, to ensure a continued, stable power supply in the future.

Indonesian scientists, Dr Bambang added, are currently putting together feasibility studies and should have a first blueprint for the nuclear-energy programme by 2006.

According to Batan officials, the government could revive abandoned projects first conceived during the rule of former President Suharto.

Back in the mid 90s, then research and technology minister B.J. Habibie had proposed several nuclear projects, including an 800- megawatt generator located on the slopes of an active volcano in Central Java.

But public outcry and safety concerns scuttled the projects, and the economic crisis that started in 1997-1998 further shelved Indonesia's nuclear plans.

Now, the government seems savvier about potential opposition to building nuclear plants in the country.

Mr Bambang, for instance, explained that various ecological and environmental studies need to be done by 2004 to assure the public of the projects' safety.

Batan has also been lobbying quietly for legislations that would pave the way for such projects.

Mr Bambang said: "Nuclear energy can be handled safely, that's the point we need to broadcast to the general public." What is left, experts said, is convincing the public and Indonesia's neighbours that the country has enough expertise to handle such a dangerous energy source, and can provide safeguards against potential disasters.

Human Rights Watch accuses paper industry of abuses

Jakarta Post - January 7, 2003

Jakarta -- The country's booming paper industry is responsible for widespread attacks on indigenous communities in Sumatra, said a Human Rights Watch report released Monday.

According to the report, which was quoted by AFP, police are helping suppress protests against the seizure of forest land.

Land seizures and "brutal" assaults on local residents were commonplace and the human rights group urged international donors to Indonesia to pressureJakarta into taking action.

The Consultative Group on Indonesia, a major donor meeting convened by the World Bank, is scheduled for later this month in Bali.

"Donors should urge President Megawati Sukarnoputri and her government to take immediate steps to end these abuses," said Mike Jendrzejczyk, WashingtonDirector of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division.

Pulp and paper industry here has rapidly expanded since the late 1980s to become one of the world's top 10 producers.

But the industry has accumulated debts of more than 20 billion dollars and Human Rights Watch said expanding demand was consuming wide swathes ofSumatra's lowland tropical forests.

Environmentalists have predicted that Sumatra's forests would disappear in 2005 due to rampant deforestation. Much of the land is claimed by indigenous communities, who depend on it for rice farming and rubber tapping.

Health & education

Indonesia is dancing with death

Melbourne Age - January 4 2003

Tom Hyland, Jakarta -- The relentless techno beat is so loud your insides vibrate. Strobe and laser lights flash out across the crowd of maybe 5000 that surges in waves across the vast dance floor. It's 2am on a Saturday and amid the noise and crush, the mood in this north Jakarta nightclub is a strangely mellow mix of joy and energy.

The bar is doing a slow trade; the preferred intoxicant among the young middle-class Indonesians who make up the crowd is ecstasy.

A few kilometres south, just off Jalan Thamrin -- Jakarta's main avenue with its international hotels, restaurants and office towers -- is Kampung Bali, a densely populated low-income area of simple houses, narrow lanes, mosques and food stalls.

For an increasing number of young people in this neighbourhood the drug of choice is low-grade heroin. Known as putaw, it is cheap, plentiful and potentially deadly in more ways than one.

The public health clinic in Kampung Bali recently tested 98 injecting drug users for HIV, and 93 per cent of them tested positive. Another Jakarta study found that, of 210 users, 88 per cent were sharing needles. "This means of course that all, eventually, will get HIV," says a foreign consultant working on HIV/AIDS prevention.

Indonesia faces a national health disaster, which belies its reputation as the conservative home of the world's largest Muslim community. A report this week in Tempo, a respected weekly magazine, referred to the country as "A Nation of Addicts".

"This is an extremely serious issue for us. It's a threat that could kill an entire generation," says Henry Yosodiningrat, a Jakarta lawyer who heads an anti-drugs lobby group and is a member of the government's National Narcotics Agency. "There's not a school or district anywhere across the country where drugs are not used," he says.

Broto Wasisto is head of the Health Ministry's committee on drug control and a member of the national HIV/AIDS control board. "Injecting drug use is a national emergency as far as controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS is concerned," Wasisto says.

Figures on the number of illegal drug users paint an alarming picture of what, until five years ago, was being called a hidden epidemic. In February last year, a report by Melbourne's Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health estimated there were between 1.3 million and two million drug users in Indonesia, with up to one million of these injecting. Some local estimates put the number of users at four million -- about one in every 50 Indonesians.

In 1996, Jakarta's RSKO hospital, which specialises in treating drug addicts, dealt with 2000 patients; three years later the number had risen to 9000. And experts say users are getting younger, with most now aged between 16-25.

In 1995, only 2 per cent of new HIV/AIDS infections nationwide were due to drug use; by 2001 this had risen to 20 per cent. In the same year, 47 per cent of injecting drug users at RSKO hospital tested positive for HIV. Similar findings elsewhere suggest needle sharing will soon surpass unsafe sex as the most common method of contracting HIV.

Five years ago, according to health workers and drug educators, Indonesia was in denial. Officials argued that the country was simply a transit point for drugs heading elsewhere. Not any more. Now, while there is still no agreed, coordinated strategy for dealing with the problem, there is a wider debate and greater public awareness.

The full range of drugs available in the West, and more, is used here. At the north Jakarta nightclub, ecstasy, heroin and methamphetamines are offered for sale. So is premium-quality marijuana from Sumatra.

Methamphetamine, a potent form of speed known locally as shabu- shabu, is a relatively new addition to the drug scene. As well as the physical and mental risks involved in taking it, health workers fear it, too, will add to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Shabu-shabu, which can be injected, inhaled or taken orally, increases the duration and intensity of sex and reduces inhibitions, making users fearless and prone to risk-taking. It is said to be popular among prostitutes and their clients in Indonesia's massive sex industry and is cheaply produced in backyard factories.

There's a caste system among Indonesian drug users, says a foreign health worker. "The middle class use ecstasy, but lots of poorer people use shabu. It's the poor brother of cocaine," he says. "We have no idea what it's long term impact will be." Despite growing awareness of the problem, Indonesia faces unique obstacles and some reluctance in dealing with it.

"Although the use of illicit drugs is increasing, political conflict, power struggles and widespread corruption are influencing how the drug-related HIV/AIDS crisis should be tackled," the Macfarlane Burnet report said.

"The government needs to make a moral commitment to dealing with this problem," says Yosodiningrat, the anti-drugs campaigner. "But one obstacle to obtaining that commitment is that the syndicates have a lot of money to buy officials and this is a most corrupt country."

While the Indonesian press regularly reports massive drug seizures, and police stage well-publicised raids on some notorious nightclubs, big dealers are able to bribe their way out of trouble. Indonesia is a country where police and courts can be bought by the highest bidder.

Compounding the problem is evidence that elements of the underfunded police and military are themselves involved in the drug trade -- and are willing to fight public turf wars for their share of it.

"There's a high sensitivity about the role of the army in the drug trade," says a foreign drugs expert based in Jakarta. "No one will talk about this." Sometimes, however, it cannot be hidden.

In October last year, at Binjai in north Sumatra, soldiers in an army airborne unit tied up their officers and attacked police stations using rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic weapons, killing eight police and civilians. The soldiers, some of whom have since been jailed, were upset after the police arrested a drug dealer and seized 1.5 tonnes of cannabis.

The task of health workers to get politicians to focus on drug use is further complicated by the mind-boggling array of other social, economic and security crises competing for the government's attention.

Wasisto says the government's budget is stretched by too many other pressing health problems. There's a high death rate among mothers and new-born infants, as well as malaria, tuberculosis and a multitude of illnesses related to the lack of clean drinking water. "There are too many victims from all these other problems," he says.

But other obstacles in the way of those trying to grapple with Indonesia's drug problem are far from unique. Drug users remain socially stigmatised and, as in Australia, advocates of zero tolerance oppose harm minimisation policies, which they fear will ultimately lead to the legalisation of drugs. Even so, experts such as Wasisto see signs of progress.

He and his officials have studied Australian initiatives that reduce the risk to addicts, including free distribution of needles, which in Indonesia are officially available only from doctors and chemists with a prescription. He hopes to introduce two harm minimisation pilot programs in Jakarta and Bali this year.

"This is very controversial. As in many countries, people like religious leaders and police are often reluctant [to adopt harm minimisation practices]. But with intensive lobbying I'm optimistic they'll accept this method," Wasisto says.

Despite the vast cultural differences between Australia and Indonesia, the two countries face similar drug problems, according to the foreign drugs expert.

"The fact that Australians can be surprised by the extent of drug use here shows your misconceptions about the nature of this society and about your Muslim neighbours," he says.

"The problem here is the same as in Australia, only the extent is worse. People take drugs for the same reasons -- they want to have fun or they want to escape from the pressures of life. But governments just won't accept that a lot of people want to take drugs."

Economy & investment

Sharp dip in pledges for foreign direct investment

Reuters - January 9, 2003

Jakarta -- Indonesia's foreign direct investment pledges slumped 35 per cent last year compared with 2001, a bad sign for economic growth and a reminder of the nation's reputation as a tough place to do business.

State investment agency BKPM said in a statement on Tuesday that foreign investment approvals last year fell to US$9.74 billion from US$15.06 billion in 2001.

It said just over 1,000 new projects were approved last year, down from 1,180 projects in 2001. The agency gave no reason for the falls in pledges.

However, many investors have reduced their exposure to Indonesia since its plunge into political and economic turmoil in the late 1990s. They have remained wary ever since in light of concerns over the legal system, corruption, rising labour costs and security.

Businessmen were further alarmed after the terrorist attacks on Bali island last October killed nearly 200 people. "Investors face great uncertainty when they invest here," said Mr Chatib Basri, an economist at the University of Indonesia.

He cited industrial disputes and lower competitiveness with other countries such as China.

Domestic investment approvals were also down, shrinking 57 per cent to 25.26 trillion rupiah last year from the previous period, said the statement. The figures exclude the oil and gas sector. Data for pledges in this industry were not available.

Indonesia open to foreign investments

Straits Times - January 8, 2003

The recent furore over Singapore Technologies Telemedia's purchase of a major stake in Indonesia's Indosat is just a case of domestic political bickering, a former Indonesian minister said yesterday. Former trade minister Arifin M. Siregar stressed during his luncheon address at a forum organised by the Institute of South-east Asian Studies that Indonesia was open to foreign investments.

He said that opportunistic politicians, keen on strengthening their base and undermining President Megawati Sukarnoputri's party, were trying to use the rumblings over the deal -- as expressed in demonstrations by some company employees -- to their advantage.

"They realise that this is not popular with some people and hence some politicians want to use it," he said. In his talk, he said that Indonesia will in fact focus on making this year a "year of investments".

Singapore's ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh, who had raised the STT question, said he was glad that Indonesia still welcomes investments, despite recent criticisms of the deal in the Indonesian Parliament and demonstrations by Indosat workers.

"I hope that Indonesia's message to the rest of the region and the world -- that it welcomes investments -- will be heard loud and clear," Prof Koh said.

Indonesian supermarket takes on foreign giants

Asia Times - January 4, 2003

Bill Guerin -- Indonesia's largest supermarket chain PT Hero Supermarket plans to open three hypermarkets on the outskirts of Jakarta this year to stem a steady drop in the chain's market share against very strong competition from foreign retailers.

Hero already covers Jakarta and other major centers of population in the regions with its 90 supermarkets, 25 convenience stores, and 38 pharmacies. The supermarkets bring in some 90 percent of sales revenue from a wide range of fresh food, groceries, and electronic goods. In the first nine months of 2002 sales rose 19 percent to Rp667 trillion (about US$74.8 billion) but soaring costs, particularly after a 15 percent hike in electricity prices, have taken their toll.

Higher sales were offset by increasing cost of sales, just as in the full year in 2001 when sales rose 20 percent to Rp298 trillion, but were hit by increased operating expenses, up to Rp338.76 billion from Rp265.06 billion. Last year's net profit fell to Rp61.89 billion from Rp67.89 billion in 2000 while sales rose to Rp1.989 trillion from Rp1.692 trillion the previous year. Cost of 2001 sales rose to Rp1.538 trillion from Rp1.319 trillion in 2000 pushing its net operating profit lower at Rp81.45 billion, compared with Rp82.65 billion the year before.

The main mover in the company, director Steve Sondakh, has long yearned to take on the giants. When he was chairman of the Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aprindo) in 1998 he said the Jakarta city administration had made a big mistake in allowing foreign hypermarkets to operate in the city center. Aprindo backed this up with figures that showed the hypermarkets had caused a decline of 80 percent in business turnover of local retailers within a radius of five kilometers.

This was in 1998 and the association's view at the time was that foreign hypermarkets could sell at significant discounts to local retailers because they were willing to suffer losses to gain market share. Also, of course, they had plenty of available capital, something Indonesian companies lack.

Aprindo accused the foreign raiders of selling hundreds of products below cost as a way to drive local retailers out of business claiming that local fresh markets and small stores nearby were suffering a significant loss of customers. Continent, for one, denied the charges. PT Contimas Utama Indonesia, which controlled the hypermarket before it merged with Carrefour in 2000, said there was no dumping involved. Continent was able to offer low prices by accepting lower margins in return for higher volume, it said, adding that Indonesian consumers benefited from such stores as they could pay less for a wide range of products in a time of economic crisis.

Aprindo now represents some 300 retailers nationwide, including Hero and other major chains such as Matahari, Ramayana, Pasaraya and Sarinah. The two main hypermarket groups, Makro and Carrefour, are not members of Aprindo.

France's Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, took the plunge and entered Indonesia at the height of the Asian financial crisis. Carrefour opened its first two outlets when, in June 1998, the Indonesian government eliminated many restrictions on foreign retail operations. It was closely followed by another giant French player, Continent, with three outlets.

New government regulations, part of the original letter of intent commitment with the International Monetary Fund, had allowed foreign retailers for the first time ever to open stores in Indonesia. The floodgates had been opened.

This followed one of the blackest periods in contemporary Indonesian history when Jakarta was hit by four days of rioting, looting and arson that began on May 13 and resulted in damage of Rp2.5 trillion.

Hero suffered a loss of Rp140 billion. Six of its outlets were burned to the ground and 20 looted. Two thousand employees lost their jobs but the looted branches all opened up three days later.

Hero went on to make a record operating profit of US$10.2 million in 1999, an 11 percent increase over 1998.

When the French parent companies merged in a $16.5 billion deal under the name Carrefour, Continent stores disappeared, leaving five Carrefour outlets. After the merger, the number of Carrefour's outlets in Jakarta has now increased to seven, with approximately 3,500 employees, or about 400-450 employees per outlet.

Makro Asia arrived on the scene in Indonesia in 1991 under a management-cooperation agreement with SHV Holdings in the Netherlands. The first outlet opened in Jakarta in September 1992 and in the next four years nine stores were opened. During the 1998 riots Makro lost one store but that has been reopened and they have since have opened three more stores: in Semarang, Surabaya and Medan.

Hong Kong-based Dairy Farm International Holdings Ltd (a subsidiary of Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd), which operates supermarkets around the region, owns 32 percent of Hero, with the founding Kurnia family still with a majority stake of 40 percent, and the public holding the remainder.

The company opened its first outlet 30 years ago in 1972 and went public once they owned 24 supermarkets. Hero used the money to pay back bank loans and launch an aggressive campaign of expansion but only with supermarkets.

Last year Hero opened its first ever hypermarkets -- one outside Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, and another outside Jakarta.

Though consumer spending is forecast to fall sharply next year, Hero is planning to invest some $5 million to open the three new hypermarkets. The money will come from internal cash and no borrowing is planned at this stage of the expansion.

Makro is also expanding, with about two or three new outlets a year. Its president director, Simon Collins, said that from the very beginning, the aim has been to join forces and grow together with Indonesia's small-to-medium-scale businesses.

Makro said each new store needs an investment of between $5 million and $7 million including land, building and equipment, which suggests that Hero's $5 million for three outlets will not go far.

There are currently more than 527 supermarkets in Indonesia, most of them in Jakarta, the greater Jakarta area (Botabek) and Surabaya. However, with a total population of some 208 million people, supermarket penetration remains very limited, representing only one supermarket for nearly 500,000 people.

Tesco (UK) is rumored to be ready to move into Indonesia, Starmart, a convenience store chain, have 38 stores in prime locations within Greater Jakarta and Giant (US) has already opened a hypermarket in Jakarta. The latter group has been highly successful in Malaysia and Singapore.

Although retailers unable to find the right strategies in this testing sector will not survive there is certainly good money to be earned. Industry analysts say the biggest margin in the Indonesian retail industry is earned by department stores with about 35 percent, followed by convenience stores in prime locations, which can expect to make a 25 percent margin.

Supermarkets such as Hero come next and earn a 20-22 percent margin. Below these are hypermarkets, usually in a prime location, with a lot of staff, which need to make about 17-20 percent, and at the bottom of the tree is the Makro-type operation, cash and carry wholesaler, which makes about a 9 percent margin.

Makro's 12 units have 7,000-10,000 square meters of sales space and employ some 250 employees in each outlet, targeting retailers rather than consumers, they say.

Certainly Makro is the only large retail enterprise requiring registration, and they charge a small monthly fee, but many shoppers include Makro in their rounds when searching for bargains in food and non-food goods. Makro's high-volume, low- price, no-frills, cash-and-carry wholesale operations thus represent as much of a threat to Hero as Carrefour.

"We have to continue expanding otherwise our market share will continue to be eaten up by foreign competitors," Sondakh said last month when announcing the expansion plans.

Sondakh has cited the dominance of foreign hypermarkets in Taiwan, where they swept out local retail companies in six years, as one reason Indonesian retailers need to fight back.

Makro has many domestic small and medium-sized businesses as its suppliers though Hero has for long been using this style of win- win alliance to cut down on distribution and networking costs, particularly with fresh produce.

Makro is not aimed at end users and the concept is not retailing but modern wholesaling. "We really don't compete with hypermarkets such as Carrefour or Hero," said Collins. The biggest competitor for Makro, he says, is the traditional market.

Makro also believes that their existence does not threaten local markets but actually helps local small players. Collins makes the point that the ease with which Makro obtains approval and licenses shows there is no opposition from traditional businesses.

Aprindo has been pressing the government for a zoning law that would regulate the number of retailers running similar businesses in the same area. It complains not only about major groups but also others such as Indomaret and Super Indo.

Indomaret has 650 outlets around the country and Super Indo has almost 60 outlets in Jakarta and other cities such as Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Palembang.

Indonesians spent about Rp200 trillion on retail products in 2000 and the sector grew more than 20 percent in 2001. Some Rp35 trillion of this went to modern retail outlets, including Hero premises and Rp165 trillion was spent at traditional markets and community shops.

The absence of effective zoning laws and lack of regulation in the retail business means that the foreign entrants pose a major threat to local operators. "With the lack of regulation, foreign retailers are likely to triumph over local retailers," Sondakh said recently.

The battle lines are clear, Indonesia versus foreign operators. Hero is still a local company as Ipung Kurnia, Hero's president and the eldest son of the company's founder, is proud of pointing out and tries to promote a home-grown image "regardless of who the shareholders are".

Sector growth this year is expected to be below 10 percent but however testing the forthcoming battle between the local Hero and its foreign competitors, Indonesians are certain to reap the benefit of increased shopping convenience at competitive prices. Those with money to spend, that is.

Indonesia's middle class, the hypermarkets' target market, has been hardest hit by the crisis but seems to be spending as though there were no tomorrow. Despite the likelihood of serious economic hardship in the coming months in the aftermath of the October 12 bombings in Bali, throngs of shoppers can be seen regularly at traditional markets and in shopping malls and super/hyper markets.

A recent study by market research firm ACNielsen said that consumers bought retail products at the same rate as they did prior to the 1997 economic crisis though Indonesia's retail business is ranked only seventh out of 10 Asian countries outside Japan.

Indonesia says year-on-yar inflation 10.03% in December

Reuters - January 2, 2003

Jakarta -- Indonesia's year-on-year inflation was 10.03 percent in December against 10.48 percent in November, the statistics bureau said on Thursday.

The bureau said month-on-month inflation in December was 1.2 percent compared to 1.80 percent in November, still showing the impact of increased spending for year-end religious festivities.

The government had forecast inflation at 9.5 percent in 2002 from 12.55 percent the previous year.

A Reuters survey of seven research houses had forecast month-on- month inflation in December would edge down to 1.3 percent from 1.8 percent in November.

Economists had forecast year-on-year inflation in December to fall marginally to 10.45 percent from 10.48 percent in November.

Book/film reviews

Papuan love story hits Indonesian screens

Straits Times - January 6, 2003

Jakarta -- In a mainly Muslim nation dominated by Javanese culture, few Indonesians know much about the remote and mainly Christian province of Papua, beyond the stereotype of tribesmen living in the forest.

Now Javanese film-maker Garin Nugroho has made what he calls the first feature film made in Papua, a love story set against the separatist movement in Indonesia's easternmost province.

Aku Ingin Menciummu Sekali Saja (I Want To Kiss You Just One Time) confronts issues of race, religion, cultural identity and human rights which Mr Nugroho said are important for the whole country, not just Papua.

The film opened in Jakarta cinemas on December 27. "We have a problem with multiculturalism," said Mr Nugroho, who wrote and directed the movie dedicated to the murdered Papuan separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.

Mr Eluay led the pro-independence Papua Presidium Council, which favours dialogue with Jakarta. His rise to power, subsequent arrest on subversion charges and then his murder and funeral are told through news reports televised at the home of Arnold, the film's central character.

Black Papuan faces fill the screen. Just one character has the paler skin common in Java and the western Indonesian islands.

The story revolves around Arnold, his obsession with an attractive, pale-skinned young woman played by Indonesian soap opera actress Lulu Tobing, and his pretty school friend, Sonya, who loves him.

In the film, the Papuan Morning Star flag, now banned in Papua, is shown. Mr Nugroho said government intelligence agents visited him during the 12-day shoot but did not interfere in his work with the actors, none of whom except Tobing is a professional.

Papua, formerly a Dutch possession, came under Indonesian control in 1963. Separatist sentiment is widespread in Papua. It is caused partly by what many see as a plundering by Jakarta of the vast, jungle-clad province's mining and other natural resources, as well as years of human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces.

A key message of the film, Mr Nugroho said, is that love gives courage, but he denied it made a statement in support of Papuan independence. He said he prefers Papua to remain part of what he calls Indonesia's multicultural family.