Democratic struggle

Hundreds of people at the palace reject militarism

Detik.com - March 20, 2003

Yulianti, Jakarta -- Around 200 people from the Anti-Militarism People's Front (Front Rakyat Anti-Militerisme, FRAM) demonstrated in front the presidential palace and the department of defense. They were rejecting all forms of militarism in Indonesia and the world.

The demonstrators were from a number of student groups and non- government organisations including Kontras (Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence), the National Student League for Democracy, the Muhammadiyah Student Association and the People's Democratic Party. During the action in front of the palace on Thursday at 4pm they also rejected the draft law on the TNI (armed forces).

At the action, Kontras spokesperson Ori Rachman said that FRAM rejects all forms of militarism. "Right now, militarism is a threat to the world and Indonesia, such as the US attack on Iraq", he said.

In Indonesia he said, the military is still given powers to conduct dangerous acts. Such as Article 19 from the draft law on the TNI which allows the commander of the TNI to determine if there is a state of emergency and to deploy troops without the agreement of the president.

During the action, they brought five effigies in military uniform sitting on the toilet. These effigies were a symbol that the military is still conducting dirty and foul games.

They also brought a billboard measuring 5x4 metres with a pictures of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, parliamentary speakers Amien Rais and Akbar Tandjung, Vice-president Hamzah Haz, TNI commander Endriartono Sutarto and army chief Ryamizard Ryacudu with the words "Four regimes have passed, crimes by the military must be tried in accordance with social justice, now they are back". (asy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Ruling party cracks down on dissent

Green Left Weekly - March 19, 2003

James Balowski, Jakarta -- In response to continuing protests and press criticism, the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri is resorting to the tactics used by the Suharto dictatorship to suppress dissent.

A March 1 article in the Jakarta daily Kompas, "Jail for political activists", documented the arrest of 220 activists between April 17, 2002, and February 21. This figure did not include the hundreds of political activists who have been threatened, harassed, beaten or detained for short periods.

Although there has been an enormous expansion in formal democratic rights since the 1998 overthrow of the Suharto dictatorship, a repressive mentality still prevails in the state apparatus. Television images of baton-welding police in full riot gear charging peaceful protesters have become a regular feature of local news broadcasts. Demonstrators are again being driven back by water cannon, ensconced behind the locked gates of the national parliament.

Kompas told the story of Iqbal Siregar, an activist from the Islamic Youth Movement who has been held in a 5x6-metre police holding cell since January. Siregar was arrested on charges of "insulting the president" because he held a poster of Megawati with her face crossed out with black ink, which someone had given him at a rally. He was dragged out of bed by police in the middle of the night several days later.

In June last year, Nanang and Muzakkir, activists from the Popular Youth Movement (GPK), were sentenced to one year in jail by the Central Jakarta state court for insulting the president and vice president. Their arrests followed a street theatre action that used photographs of Megawati and vice-president Hamzah Haz as props. At the end of the performance, the photographs were stamped on and smeared with rice and rotten fish. No action was taken at the time, but eight days later Muzakkir was arrested in the street and Nanang abducted the next day while sleeping at his parents' house.

On July 19, Kiastomo, an activist in East Java, was arrested for burning an effigy of Megawati. On the same day, Fernandes, an activist from the People's Art Network (and a member of the People's Democratic Party, PRD), was arrested and later jailed for one year for "insulting a symbol of the state".

Arrests Iwan Dwilaksono, chairperson of the Indonesian Student League for Democracy (LMND), said that since the beginning of January, at least 47 LMND activists have been arrested. "Fourteen in Samarinda [East Kalimantan], six in Kendari [South Sulawasi], four in Palu [Central Sulawasi] and two in East Java. [Plus additional] activists arrested in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta who are still being detained by police. Most have been charged with insulting the head of state and disturbing public order." Kompas notes the striking uniformity of the charges: insulting the head of state (smearing or stamping on pictures of the president/vice president): insulting symbols of the state (burning flags); holding a demonstration without a permit; inciting others to demonstrate; resisting officers of the state; and even subversion -- the charge under which hundreds of political activists, and those struggling for independence in East Timor, Aceh and West Papua, were jailed during the Suharto years (theoretically the notorious Anti-Subversion Law was repealed in April 1999).

The official attitude of police has been to, on the one hand, claim that protests are a "natural" part of reformasi, and, on the other, to warn people not to let it "reach the point of violating the law, destroying things or disturbing public order", as Indonesian police chief General Da'i Bachtiar stated recently.

Activists view it differently. "These arrests and jailings indicate that the police are still tools of the authorities", said Dwilaksono.

Police have also used "Law Number 9/1999", which requires a permit to organise a demonstration, article 156 of the Criminal Code regarding violations of "pubic order", articles 154 and 160 regarding "incitement" and articles 214 and 218 dealing with "attacking officers of the state".

Activists from the Student Executive Council and the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI), in particular, have fallen foul of the permit law. KAMMI chairperson Hermawan told Kompas that more than 20 KAMMI students have been arrested and detained. "In Manado, North Sumatra for example, four comrades were arrested, in Surabaya [East Java] two, Makassar [South Sulawasi] three... Moreover, our comrades in Jambi [South Sumatra] were beaten and treated like criminals and held for four days and three nights", he said.

Johnson Pandjaitan, a lawyer from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association told Kompas: "Previously these articles were used along with the Anti-Subversion Law. Now, articles from the Criminal Code are being used with the Law on the Freedom to Express Opinion".

Ironically, he said, even after police had been informed of an action, they still break up demonstrations. "In the end, even this law has become a tool of repression against those who have a different opinion to that of the government", said Pandjaitan.

PRD chairperson Haris Rusli Moti told Kompas that the repressive turn of the Megawati government is a consequence of massive popular resistance to the neoliberal economic policies that it is implementing. Unable to convince the majority of people that the policies dictated by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank -- which involve price increases, cuts to subsidies, liberalisation of trade and imports and the sell-off of state assets -- are good for them (along with growing unemployment, poverty, mass sackings and the closure of factories), repression is the only recourse available to the government.

"However, the repressive policies have produced increased radicalism and an escalation in the numbers in struggle. The only means to contain the people's resistance is through correcting the policies which are the source of the unrest", Haris told Kompas.

Thuggery The arrest and jailing of activists has done little however to stem the rising tide of discontent and the regime has resorted to outright thuggery. There are frequent reports of attacks by "unknown assailants" against activists returning from demonstrations or on the offices of opposition groups. More often than not, these are carried out by thugs from Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) or Golkar, the former ruling party under Suharto (who, along with the military, are now PDIP's staunchest supporters in parliament). Offices of the PRD, LMND and GPK in particular have been targeted. On February 19 and 25, the offices of the People's Lawyers Union (SPR), which is handling a class action against Megawati, was attacked. The assailants said they would return if the suit was not withdrawn.

True to their word, they returned on March 1, kicking and beating SPR spokesperson Habibburachman. Prior to the attack, the office had received phone threats for most of the day.

At a rally of the party faithful in Jakarta on February 23, Wea, who is also the minister for labour and transmigration, warned the media and students to stop "insulting" PDIP leaders.

The February 24 Jakarta Post quoted Wea as saying: "Rakyat Merdeka [the top selling Jakarta tabloid], I warn you not to write [articles] that abuse PDIP. If they insist on insulting PDIP leaders, they will have to `face' thousands of PDIP supporters... I warn you, students, don't repeat your actions".

The following day, the PRD's Haris was quoted by Detikcom as saying that such threats are pointless because although the PDIP can mobilise large numbers of supporters, politically they carry little weight because the policies of their own party are also impacting on the lives of its membership.

"This is thuggery. We are only asking that the agenda of reformasi be implemented. If they are not capable [of doing it], then [they should] resign", Haris said.

Thirty one NGOs and PRD believe the DPR can no longer be trusted

Kompas - March 18, 2003

Jakarta -- As many as 31 non-government organisations (NGO) and one political party have agreed to conduct open resistance against the plans for the entry of the military (TNI) into the political and civil chessboard in Indonesia. This resistance is necessary because the representatives of the people in the People's Representative Assembly (DPR) can no longer be trusted because they have passed the Amendment to the Government Regulation on Anti-terrorism into a law and have given the "green light" for draft legislation on Intelligence and the TNI.

"We call on all pro-democracy and social forces to come out into the streets to hold a carnival action on March 20. This action will take the form of a rejection of the policy on the laws on Anti-terrorism, Intelligence and the TNI which clearly threaten civil society along with demanding a resolution of all existing cases of human rights violations", said Ori Rahman from the Commission for Missing Person and Victims of Violence (Kontras). Kontras is one of the NGOs which has joined the Anti-Militarism People's Forum (Forum Rakyat Anti-Militerisme).

As well as Kontras, members of the forum -- among others -- include Imparsial (Indonesian Human Rights Watch), the University of Indonesia Student Action Front, the Indonesian Catholic Students Movement, the PB Islamic Student Association, the Alliance of Independent Journalists, Pijar, the Aceh Referendum Information Centre and the National Student League for Democracy. The political party which has joined this coalition is the People's Democratic Party (PRD).

"Studying the case of the Anti-Terrorism Regulation which the DPR immediately agreed to becoming a law, we must conduct a struggle from outside parliament. The DPR is siding with the military in the upcoming 2004 general elections rather than the people.", said Jusuf Lakaseng from the PRD.

Ori said that they are extremely disappointed in the DPR. A number of larger fractions in the DPR who they had met with previously stated they agreed and would not accept the Anti- terrorism regulation in its entirety before it became a law. Afterwards however, what was agreed to was gone back on.

Ori also considered that TNI commander General Endriartono Sutarto was not constant in his own statements. For example, when meeting with the DPR, Endriartono clearly said "Don't drag the TNI into politics". However later with the emergence of Article 19 of the TNI draft law -- which gives the authority for the TNI commander to declare a state of emergency without prior agreement from the president -- clearly the TNI wishes to get back into politics.

The desire by the National Intelligence Agency to detain a person for purposes of interrogation in the draft law on Intelligence, said Ori, is a fatal error which cannot be accepted. The intelligence agencies cannot be given the authority to detain suspects. They are not a legal institution.

Al Araf added, under no circumstances should the DPR proved an opportunity to the TNI to enter into political-civil institutions. If that is allowed by the DPR, it means a democratic retreat has occurred in this nation. (SAH)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Aceh

Central Aceh isolated after Takengon violence

Jakarta Post - March 22, 2003

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Jakarta -- Central Aceh regency remains isolated, with the main highway connecting the regency with other regencies blockaded by residents following two recent violent incidents in the regency this month.

Most people in rural areas of the regency now live in fear and stay indoors because of the uncertain conditions and the prices of daily goods are rising after the transportation between Bireuen and Takengon was blockaded by local residents who are demanding justice in regard to the two incidents.

S. Sembiring whose car was set aflame and ruined during a March 15 road block incident by the militia group, said people had stopped their daily activities because of the presence of the conflicting groups of armed civilians in remote areas of the regency.

"Farmers do not go to their farmland and traders have closed their shops in small towns and villages in the regencies because they fear for their lives if attacked by any of the thugs," he said.

At least four people have killed, several others injured and eleven cars and buses were burned down by rebels in Burlintang, a small town 15 kilometer south of Takengon.

The incident followed the attack by the suspected pro Jakarta militia group on the monitoring team's Joint Security Committee (JSC) office in Takengon. The mob said they were angry about the JSC's perceived failure to stop alleged extortion by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the regency. Two JSC members were injured and three cars belonging to the team were torched. Sembiring said the situation in Takengon was still relatively normal. But he said fuel prices had risen to between Rp 3,500 (some 39 US cents) and Rp 5,000 from the current prices of Rp 1,800 to Rp 2,200.

A reliable source said that hundreds of people in Pondok Baru, some 33 kilometers east of Takengon, staged a demonstration, demanding local security authorities to enhance security both in their own villages and at traditional markets.

The demonstrators had Laskar Jihad headbands, the supposedly disbanded Java-based Muslim paramilitary gang, and claimed that GAM was being behind the two incidents.

Ela, the owner of a coffee shop in Ronga-Ronga, 40 kilometers southeast of Takengon, said she had closed her shop because of the mounting situation in the village. She said thousands of tons of fruits and vegetables have been rotting in Ronga-ronga because of the paralyzed highway.

Subsequently prices of fruit and vegetable in Banda Aceh have been rising amid the absence of supply from mountainous areas in Central Aceh. Prices of tomatoes have risen by over 70 percent from Rp 4.500 per kilogram.

Brig. Gen. Suharto, chief of the operation to restore security in Banda Aceh, said he had instructed the police and military in Bireuen and Central Aceh to boost security along the Bireuen- Takengon highway and to ensure the supply of basic commodities to the regency.

"I will go to Takengon immediately to check the social condition in the regency and urban areas in the regency," he said.

JSC blamed over extortion in Aceh

Jakarta Post - March 21, 2003

Nani Farida, Banda Aceh/Jakarta -- Acehnese people have lambasted the Joint Security Committee (JSC) enforcing the cessation of hostilities agreement in Aceh, for its failure to stop the rampant extortion committed both by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and security personnel.

Jamil, a 59-year-old retired teacher, expressed his disappointment both with the Henry Dunant Centre facilitating the peace process and JSC, because although the Acehnese people had lodged hundreds of extortion cases to be followed up, none had been investigated thoroughly so far.

"We are disappointed because we hoped for too much from the HDC and JSC," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Jamil disclosed that GAM had imposed both legal and illegal levies upon the people to raise funds by force to support its personnel and logistics.

"GAM rebels collect taxes at night. Many people have been beaten for their failure to pay their taxes to GAM," he said, saying he had just paid Rp 300,000 in taxes to GAM. He added that GAM had collected taxes since 1998.

Syaifuddin, a truck driver living in the city, backed up Jamil's story and said the extortion of drivers and bus owners was a common sight along the highway connecting Banda Aceh and Medan, the capital of North Sumatra. "They take our money by force and intimidation, and those who refuse to hand over money are beaten with guns," he said.

Many groups of Acehnese people have staged several demonstrations already at the HDC and JSC headquarters in the city to protest these legal and illegal levies imposed on them. On March 3, two JSC members were injured and three cars were burned in Takengon, Central Aceh, when hundreds of local people ran amok while protesting JSC's failure to follow up their reports on GAM's widespread extortion of residents in the regency.

Hundreds of residents of Timang Gajah, Central Aceh, are still taking refuge in a mosque in the city, and refuse to return to their home village following the unchecked extortion by security personnel deployed in the village.

Tengku Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, representing GAM in the JSC, conceded that GAM had collected taxes from the people to purchase arms. "If the Indonesian government is allowed to collect taxes from the people, we have the same authority to do so," he said. He, however, said GAM would take action against those members who imposed illegal levies on the Acehnese.

Brig. Gen. Safzen Nurdin, representing the government in the JSC, admitted the involvement of security personnel in the extortion scheme, but said it was difficult to monitor since the activity was committed along the highway.

"The Indonesian Military leadership has ordered the chief of operations to restore security here and to take strong measures against security personnel taking money from the people," he said.

JSC Chairman Maj. Gen. Tanungsuk Tuvinan admitted that JSC did not have the authority to impose any strict action against both sides breaching the peace deal.

"It is very difficult for us to seek evidence on the extortion and the imposition of strict sanctions against those violating the agreement should be entrusted both to the military and GAM leadership," he said.

Army trying to derail peace process, say Aceh rebels

Straits Times - March 21, 2003

Banda Aceh -- The Free Aceh Movement has accused the Indonesian military (TNI) of trying to undermine a peace agreement by getting people to harass monitors overseeing the pact.

"Admissions made by some of the demonstrators themselves as well as the jargon used in the posters carried by the demonstrators clearly point to the TNI's role behind the scenes," AFP reported rebel spokesman Sofyan Dawod as saying on Wednesday.

He was referring to several protests against peace monitors in recent weeks. The separatists say the military has always opposed the peace process.

"It is thus not surprising if today they are also the ones very actively conducting underground movements to derail the peace process," said Mr Sofyan.

Aceh military spokesman Firdaus Komarno denied the allegations. "The truth is the Indonesian military has never mobilised the masses," he told AFP. He said local residents were angered by the peace monitors' failure to act against alleged extortion by the rebels.

Government blames GAM for violence against JSC

Jakarta Post - March 18, 2003

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The government has moved to consult the House of Representatives (DPR) to decide on immediate action against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group, whom it said had sparked fresh violence in the province.

Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after a ministerial meeting on Aceh that GAM's failure to comply with the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement had resulted in the violence.

Susilo was referring to two recent attacks on offices of the Joint Security Committee (JSC), whose job it is to monitor the implementation of the truce, which was signed last December.

"We have been continuously evaluating the situation in Aceh. If there is a dramatic development, why should we wait until the end of the demilitarization phase? Our sovereignty is at stake," he said.

Citing intelligence reports, witnesses' accounts and a field investigation, he said that the government believed the perpetrators of the recent incident in Takengon were GAM members.

"It's interesting to note that the attack was aimed at common people, instead of the police or military. This has sparked suspicion that the attack was the work of GAM," he said.

A mob attacked the JSC offices in the Central Aceh town of Takengon on March 3, injuring two monitors from GAM and the government. Another attack took place 10 days later, targeting the JSC offices in the East Aceh town of Langsa, but no injuries were reported.

The Aceh office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) had linked the Takengon attack to the military.

JSC was established by Aceh peace broker the Henry Dunant Centre, in a bid to monitor the implementation of the demilitarization phase, which will take place over five months until July 9. The committee incorporates representatives from GAM, the government and international monitors.

Susilo said that the government move was out of its obligation to maintain the unitary state and it did not mean to violate the truce. However, Susilo said that the government would give GAM a chance to settle the conflict.

"It can only happen if all the parties are committed to the spirit of the truce and GAM does not betray it and there are no irregularities by GAM," he added.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government is set to launch a community- based development program in the established peace zones in Aceh as part of a reconstruction program in the war-torn province.

Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Yutaka Iimura said after meeting with President Megawati on Monday that the program would begin as soon as possible. However, he did not specify a date.

"The community-based development program will start soon, but we cannot give a time because we are still waiting for a proposal from the NGOs to support the program," Yutaka said.

The development project is part of the post-war reconstruction project, supported by 23 countries and international donor agencies for Aceh.

The program, supported by a US$500 million fund from the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI), began soon after Jakarta and GAM signed a peace deal in Switzerland on Dec. 9 last year.

"I stress that we continue to support the peace process in Aceh and the problem should be resolved in the context of the territorial integrity of the country," the ambassador said.

Aceh protester dies on hunger strike

Jakarta Post - March 18, 2003

Apriadi Gunawan, Jakarta -- A 12-day-long protest by 600 Acehnese transmigrant refugees over the slow disbursement of resettlement funds has claimed the life of one, and hospitalized four others.

Coordinator of the Aceh Refugee Advocacy Forum (FPAA) Ikhwaluddin Simatupang said on Monday that the 43-year old refugee, Sakino, had died of malnutrition even though he had not joined the hunger strike being staged by 48 other refugees.

Ikhwaluddin said the health situation of the approximately 600 refugees was deteriorating by the day due to a lack of food.

Since their protest began 12 days ago, he said, the refugees have been relying solely on charity from locals.

"The refugees eat only if someone gives them money. Otherwise they don't eat the whole day," Ikhwaluddin told The Jakarta Post over the phone. Sakino died on Saturday in a hospital in Langkat regency.

Four of the 48 refugees, who have been on hunger strike since last week, were rushed to Sundari Hospital in Medan on Sunday and on Monday. The refugees were protesting the suspended disbursement of resettlement funds from the government.

Last December, Jakarta suspended its aid over suspicions that Rp 2.6 billion (about US$290,000) of the Rp 105 billion program had been embezzled by local officials in North Sumatra. The humanitarian aid program covered 12,000 families, and each was to get Rp 8.75 million.

Following the protest by the refugees, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah promised last Thursday to disburse the funds to the remaining families.

On Monday, another group of 3,000 refugees from Aceh came to the office of North Sumatra Governor Rizal Nurdin, demanding the immediate disbursement of the funds as promised by Bachtiar.

Rizal, however, was in Jakarta and the 3,000 protesters decided to camp outside his office until they received a reply.

A 26-year war in Aceh between the Indonesian military and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has forced many to flee to neighboring provinces in Sumatra.

New violence mars fragile Aceh peace

Jakarta Post - March 17, 2003

Ibnu Matnoor, Banda Aceh -- The killing of four Acehnese in the latest spree of violence on Saturday has increased the distrust between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), pushing their three-month-old peace agreement closer to the brink of collapse.

Two Acehnese burned to death when an unidentified armed group set fire to 12 cars during a sweeping operation near the town of Takengon in Central Aceh. A drive-by shooting near the town of Lhokseumawe in North Aceh killed another two.

"The peace agreement has reached a critical period," said Aceh observer Otto Syamsuddin Ishak of the Civil Society Alliance for Democracy (Yappika) in Jakarta. He said that despite the steady progress in implementing the articles of the peace accord, mutual confidence on both sides was running thin.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) and GAM blame each other for the violation of the cease-fire accord, showing little of the confidence building that the agreement demanded.

In Takengon, a group of about 40 men stopped vehicles passing the village of Burlintang in Pegasing district, some 15 kilometers southeast of Banda Aceh, and eventually set fire to 12 cars and four motorcycles. It was not clear why they burned the cars after ordering everybody inside to step out. Two people were killed in the fire.

Spokesman of the Iskandar Muda military command, Lt. Col. Firdaus Kamarno, said witnesses described the group as not resembling members of either the police or the military. He suspected they were GAM. When soldiers and police arrived on the scene, the group had already left, Firdaus said.

Meanwhile, Amri Abdul Wahab, a senior GAM commander and a member of the Joint Security Committee (JSC) peace monitoring body, said GAM was not involved. Instead, he said the Takengon incident was likely the work of pro-Jakarta militias who had the backing of the military.

Elsewhere, some 10 kilometers east of Lhokseumawe in North Aceh, two people were shot dead by unidentified men in a drive-by shooting. Amri said one of the victims was a GAM police officer, 26-year-old Azhar Z. Abidin. The other victim was identified as 24-year-old student Sayuti.

Azhar, said Amri, was his adopted younger brother and was about to get married on Sunday. "This morning, he should be sitting with his family at the wedding reception," he said.

The two victims were riding a motorcycle to shop for the wedding, when an unmarked vehicle pulled up and shot them. The killer stepped out and drove away with the victim's motorcycle, while a terrified crowd stood witness to the crime.

Otto suspected the Takengon killing and other recent incidents seemed to follow a strategy designed to wreck the peace accord. "There are obviously some parties who will lose out if the peace agreement holds," Otto said, suspecting that these parties belonged to the government and the military.

He also criticized GAM for failing to restrain itself from raising the issue of independence, which TNI had used as the reason for its continued heavy presence in the province.

The peace agreement is essentially a cease-fire agreement on which to negotiate peace. But GAM has been telling Acehnese that the accord could later lead to independence, while the government said it signified the start of Aceh's permanent integration into Indonesia.

GAM has been fighting for the independence of its resource-rich province for 26 years, in a war that has claimed some 12,000 lives.

West Papua

'TNI still welcomes Freeport aid'

Jakarta Post - March 21, 2003

Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) would not ask US gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia to provide financial contributions to its soldiers.

"It's up to Freeport [whether to continue giving the assistance or not]; but we would welcome the good will from Freeport," TNI Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto told reporters after a ceremony in the Navy's marine squad on Thursday.

He said the military would continue to protect Freeport interests with or without their financial assistance because "it is considered a vital asset".

Endriartono admitted that the military and Freeport had signed an agreement over food and allowances for soldiers who guarded Freeport's 2,800-square-kilometer site.

Freeport confirmed that it had paid TNI and police security contributions totaling US$5.6 million last year.

Mining companies' role in rights abuses and violence

Joint Statement - March 19, 2003

The acknowledgement by Freeport McMoran (partly owned by Rio Tinto, the world's largest mining transnational) that it pays money to the armed forces (TNI) for security in its area of operation, confirms suspicions about the close ties between the armed forces and the police and transnational corporations.

In a report to the US Security Exchange Commission, Freeport said it paid $5.6 million to the armed forcs during 2002. Such payments are in breach of Indonesian law and raise questions about the independence of the TNI and the police in security matters. Senior officers have admitted that their troops are being paid wages directly by transnationals. The corporation's argument that the mining company is a vital object which needs protection is no excuse for such a practice.

The TNI and police are state institutions all of whose activities should be paid for out of the state budget and not by corporations. It is well known that in many areas where mining is being conducted, there is a very close relationship between the companies and the armed forces and police. The result is that when conflicts erupt between the mining corporations and local communities, the latter are at a great disadvantage.

A number of incidents have shown how the armed forces and the police have been used by the corporations to stifle unrest and facilitate their mining operations which are very exploitative and damaging. It is no exaggeration to say that the transnationals have been able to create imperiums on the territory of a sovereign state.

This only goes to show that security has now become a private business in this republic where security is available to those in a position to pay the armed forces. The payment of money by Freeport to the armed forces and the fact that the armed forces have been able to make use of transnational facilities when violating human rights and committing violence means that the transnationals are themselves directly involved in and contribute towards this violence and these abuses.

The transnationals cannot wash their hands, hide behind the armed forces and police and say that they have not been involved in the abuses and violence in their areas of operation.

It is clear from a number of incidents that the state security forces and the transnationals stand shoulder to shoulder in committing violence and human rights abuses. Still worse, such payments only promote corrupt practices by the state apparatus with very harmful consequences for the people.

It is also clear from a number of incidents that Freeport is not the only transnational that pays money to the security forces; others are doing the same thing. We therefore demand:

1. Parliament should immediately summon the directors of Freeport Indonesia and the leadership of the armed forces and the police to clarify these matters openly, to the public.

2. An independent investigation team should be set up to investigate unofficial payments being made by other transnationals operating in Indonesia, whether to the security forces or other state institutions.

3. The National Human Rights Commission should conduct investigations into human rights violations and acts of violence committed in the vicinity of mining operations and investigate the involvement of transnationals in these events, either in the form of providing company facilities for such purposes or in the payment of money to finance 'security' operations that have resulted in human rights abuses or acts of violence.

4. All mining companies including the transnationals and state companies should make their financial accounts public and stop deceiving and manipulating public opinion.

5. The goveernment should immediately give an account of the use of unofficial funds to the public.

Signatories: 1. Kontras (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence) 2. Imparsial (Indonesian Human Rights Watch) 3. JATAM (Mining Advocacy Network) 4. MPI (Mineral Policy Institute) 5. WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) 6. ELSAM (Institute for Social Study and Advocacy) 7. AMAN (Alliance of Traditional Peoples) 8. APM (Alliance of Struggling Women) 9. ICW (Indonesian Corruption Watch) 10. YAPPIKA 11. LSPP (Institute for the Study of the Press and Development) 12. YLBHI (Indonesian Legal Aid Institute)

World's apathy dooming Papuan autonomy

Asia Times - March 19, 2003

Alan Boyd, Sydney -- A diplomatic offensive by Indonesia appears to have succeeded in bumping West Papua off the global human- rights agenda, and has probably set the stage for a bloody military solution.

As another former renegade province, East Timor, prepares to assume full control of its affairs from a United Nations task force, Papua is struggling against apathy and an acute lack of awareness of its plight.

Only about 60 parliamentarians worldwide have endorsed a campaign for the UN to reopen the case file on a disputed 1969 vote that sealed the province's future as a surrogate state of Indonesia.

There has been a muted reaction to Jakarta's blatant disregard of promised political reforms. And concerns for the safety of multinational investors are taking precedence over alleged abuses by security forces. Activists supporting self-determination for Papuans fear that the tough line taken by Indonesia has scuttled any flickering hopes for a peaceful settlement of a standoff that began long before Timor captured global attention.

"The Indonesian government has recently introduced special autonomy to West Papua, but it is clear that local people will not begin to consider supporting the new political arrangements unless and until their historical grievances concerning the territory's incorporation into Indonesia are addressed, Indonesian troops are withdrawn from the territory, quasi- military forces are disbanded or expelled, and the perpetrators of human-rights violations are brought to justice," the human rights group Tapol warned in a recent report.

So far there has been limited outside support for any of these objectives, reflecting a consensus in diplomatic circles that Papua lacks the strategic interest to force a showdown with Jakarta -- whatever its moral claims to unfair treatment.

Indonesia's jurisdiction is based on a contentious 1968-69 poll of hand-picked Papuan leaders, all identified with the central government, who voted for annexation of the territory by Jakarta. Human-rights groups launched a belated campaign in 2001 for the UN to review the legality of the vote, with the eventual aim of restoring an earlier accord that backed Papua's transition to self- determination. Brokered by the United States, the 1962 New York Agreement between Indonesia and Papua's colonial ruler the Netherlands was a stopgap formula that sought to forestall an invasion by Jakarta until a plebiscite could be held in 1969.

Indonesia was given administrative control, but only on condition that rights of free speech and assembly were guaranteed, and that the population was allowed unrestricted movement. Crucially, Article 16 of the agreement stipulated that UN personnel were to be permitted to remain in the territory until the plebiscite had been completed.

Under Article 17, the UN secretary general was to dispatch his own personal representative to Papua in 1968 -- one year before the move to self-determination -- to ensure the transition was conducted in a free and fair manner. However, UN archives for this period, released in the past two years, indicate that few of the conditions were met.

It is these breaches that provided a basis for a possible diplomatic challenge. There is substantial evidence that the UN team, which was known as the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA), quickly succumbed to political and military pressure by Indonesia. "In fact it seems that the UN's priority was simply to ensure that the Papuans acquiesced to whatever fate was decided for them, even if that meant abandoning the central tenet of the agreement," reported Tapol.

Once administrative power had been transferred to Indonesia, the UN officials were told to leave, and the plebiscite was abandoned in favor of the 1969 vote by local councilors chosen by Jakarta. According to papers released by the British Foreign Office, most members of the UN General Assembly accepted that there was little to be gained from challenging Indonesia.

"The strength of the Indonesian position lies in the fact that ... they must know that, even if there are protests about the way they go through the motions of consultation, no other power is likely to conceive it as being in their interests to intervene," the office confided in a 1968 briefing document. "I understand that the exiles may find support in the Australian press. But I cannot imagine the US, Japanese, Dutch, or Australian governments putting at risk their economic and political relations with Indonesia on a matter of principle involving a relatively small number of very primitive people."

Thirty-five years on, former UN undersecretary general Chakravarthy Narasimhan, who personally endorsed the handover to Indonesia, has admitted that the international agency seriously erred. Yet the campaign for a review of the UN's handling of the issue as a possible basis for achieving self-determination has been stonewalled by the same countries that failed to pressure Jakarta when it mattered. No nation has agreed to sponsor a General Assembly motion, and the issue has been studiously avoided by most mainstream political parties.

A petition has been signed by only 63 legislators. With Canberra's support, Jakarta was able to force the Pacific Forum to drop discussion of the Papuan issue from its 2001 summit agenda and shut out delegates from the pro-independence Papuan Presidium Council.

Even the more liberal Western European nations have opted out in the face of a concerted Indonesian diplomatic barrage that has successfully used economic leverage to nullify the movement. Diplomats said concern for Jakarta's appalling human-rights record in the territory was balanced against the limited political awareness of Papuans and the more tangible benefits they could gain from their territory's attractive resource base.

"I think the impression is that one can more easily prepare a poorly developed region for self-determination by raising income levels and enabling the population instead of making empty gestures," said one envoy. "It is a question of not wanting to steer a tribal society toward democracy before it has the institutional supports in place, and in that context [independence] is not necessarily going to be a panacea against violations of individual liberties."

Jakarta has made some concessions to international opinion, though usually as part of a wider political objective. Former president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie offered a form of restricted autonomy in 1999, when Indonesia was under intense pressure from lending agencies to reduce the dominant role of the armed forces in government. But by the time President Megawati Sukarnoputri came to office two years later, the security services had managed to dilute the reforms and boost their garrison strength under the guise of safeguarding foreign investors.

The Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy (ELS-HAM), a Jakarta-based monitoring group, recorded 136 cases of extra- judicial killing and 838 instances of arbitrary detention and torture between 1998 and 2001, when the reforms were supposed to be implemented.

Conditions have taken a more ominous turn in the past two years, with the assassination of separatist leader Theys Eluay, and an attack on a mining venture operated by multinational Freeport that appears to have been orchestrated by the security forces to discredit resistance groups.

Both incidents followed the start of a 2000 operation code-named Operasi Tuntas Matoa that shifted the burden of suppressing separatist activity from the armed forces to police commandos. "The aim of the operation, as stated in a secret document which is in our possession, is 'to crush the activities of the separatists and their sympathizers'," said leading human-rights activist Carmel Budiardjo. "This is clearly a serious departure from what the police force should be doing and shows that the decision. To separate the police force from the armed forces and place it under civilian control has had no effect in changing the nature and operations of the force."

Militia activities are attracting particular concern after their inflammatory role in East Timor, Maluka and Sulawesi, where they were used with brutal effect to counter grassroots support for separatism. Tapol has accused members of the extremist Islamic Laskar Jihad of inciting growing religious tensions between the predominantly Christian Papuans and Muslim Javanese settlers.

A second group, Satgas Merah Putih (Red-and-White Task Force), which takes its name from the Indonesian flag, is reportedly recruiting and training the settlers for paramilitary activities.

The human-rights watchdog believes the increase in the security presence, especially in border regions, is a prelude to a dangerous escalation of security tensions. "Additional troops have been brought into the Jayapura area to join the already large numbers in place. This, combined with the influx of Laskar Jihad militias into the province, is a recipe for further bloodshed, loss of life and repression for local people," Tapol warned.

Lawyers call Eluay's suspected killers 'heroes'

Associated Press - March 18, 2003

Jakarta -- Describing their clients as national heroes, attorneys for seven Indonesian soldiers on trial for the killing of a leading politician in independence- minded Papua province, said their clients were innocent and charges against them should be dropped.

Military prosecutors have demanded prison terms ranging from two to three years for the assassins of Theys Eluay, a leading politician in the Indonesian province of Papua on the western half of New Guinea island. Eluay was found dead on November 10, 2001, on the outskirts of the provincial capital Jayapura, just after attending a dinner hosted by the local special forces unit.

In their plea before a military tribunal in the port city of Surabaya, the attorneys said a guilty verdict would hurt the morale of the country's military. "They are heroes who have defended the state of Indonesia," said Hotma Sitompul, the defendant's attorney. "For the sake of the law, we ask the tribunal to drop all the charges."

Sitompul said prosecutors haven't proven their clients were responsible for Eluay's death. "The autopsy was performed without the presence of forensic experts," he said. "Legally, its findings cannot be used in court."

The soldiers, including unit commander Lt. Col. Hartomo, are being tried in two separate trials. Like many Indonesians, Hartomo uses a single name.

Indonesia occupied the former Dutch colony in 1963, and its sovereignty was formalized in 1969 through a UN-sponsored referendum. Rights groups claimed the ballot was a sham, and a loosely organized guerrilla band has been fighting for independence since then.

Military commander denies armed forces being paid by Freeport

Papua Post - March 17, 2003

Jayapura -- Trikora military commander Major-General Mahidin Simbolon had strongly denied rumours (the word he used was 'rumor') that the armed forces has received US$5.6 million from PT. Freeport for guarding the mining company's operations.

He said troops were living in poor conditions. "If I got all that money, I would build a grand hotel and special barracks for the troops," he said. He said his men were only paid Rp 125,000 a month, while Papua Post reports that some soldiers are receiving as little as Rp 90,000 a month, paid by Freeport.

Simbolon said Freeport should put out a statement about the matter, to end this constant sniping at the armed forces. He confirmed that the number of TNI posts had been increased in the vicinity of the Freeport copper and gold mine, following the shooting incident last August, but said this was quite legitimate because Freeport is a "vital national enterprise".

But he said that although the number of command posts has been increased, the number of troops has remained the same. They consist of a Kostrad battalion of 450 men, plus a Brimob (special police corps) company, a special Paskhas platoon, a marines platoon on duty in the harbour and a cavalery platoon, as well as a team of snipers from Kopassus, although he added that these Kopassus troops had been withdrawn at the end of February.

In addition, Simbolon said the company provides facilities to the armed forces, such as for instance vehicles needed for operational purposes, but said this was fully appropriate, in keeping with the security operations which the armed forces are required to undertake to guard the mining company's operations. Furthermore, soldiers were frequently involved in training teams of guards employed by the company.

Simbolon is about to be replaced as military commander by Brig- General Nurdin Zainal MM. He confirmed that soldiers would continue to guard Freeport as a "vital national object" and they were acting on orders from the central government to carry out these duties. "So," he said, "it is entirely appropriate for Freeport to pay wages to the soldiers, in addition to the wages they receive from the armed forces."

According to information gathered by Papuan Post, in addition to paying wages to the troops, the mining company also pays for transportation and food supplies for the troops. According to Decky Murib, a key witness in the case of the shooting of Freeport employees last August, who worked as an operational assistant to Kopassus for ten years, local army and police commands are frequently given donations of Rp 5 million by the company, while it also covers medical expences for members of the armed forces who fall ill.

"These payments are made by the Emergency Planning and Operations Manager of the company, Tom Green," said Decky. "I know that this happens because I often visit his office."

[Slightly abridged translation posted by Tapol.]

Reformasi

Have ex-stalwarts of Indonesia's reform 'sold out'?

Straits Times - March 17, 2003

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Five years ago, they were the leading lights of a reform movement that toppled the regime of former President Suharto, surviving such horrors as abduction and torture by the Indonesian army.

But today, some of these erstwhile student and human-rights activists have been accused of losing their way. Some have become establishment figures.

Two, in particular, are now courting controversy with their suspected association with the thuggish elements, either in the military or the underworld. Last week, thug groups attacked Tempo magazine's office and assaulted its editors for publishing an article suggesting that businessman Tommy Winata was behind the massive fire in the Tanah Abang market.

But, as it turned out, the real surprise was the identity of Tommy's lawyer: Desmond Mahendra. In 1998, then a human-rights lawyer, Mr Mahendra was among the dozens of activists kidnapped by a unit of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) for links to political dissidents.

That he now represents the businessman baffled many, because of Tommy's reputed close links to the military and the police. Indeed, Mr Mahendra said he became involved with Tommy just a year after his kidnapping, but refuted accusations that he has "sold out".

He told The Straits Times: "I have not changed at all since I was kidnapped; my conscience remains. I just want to defend the truth -- which is that Tommy has been slandered." Mr Mahendra's fellow activist in the old days, Mr Pius Lustrilanang, is also under fire for his current job.

In April 1998, Mr Lustrilanang defied the threats to his life and family to make public the fact that he had been kept in captivity for two months by military men before being set free. These days, he heads the Red Alert Brigade (Brigass), a youth wing of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) with a reputation for being thugs for hire.

Mr Lustrilanang is said to have close links with some military officers, who are providing training for his militia group. Yet other kidnap victims, including Mr Haryanto Taslam, who is now a PDI-P legislator, have become politicians or businessmen.

But there are others like Mr Nezar Patria and Mr Faisol Reza, who continue to challenge the establishment.

Both were abducted for two days for their activities in the underground anti-government movement, the People's Democratic Party (PRD), and were blindfolded, beaten and administered with electric shocks.

They were later dropped off at a police station. After he was freed, Mr Reza was active for a while in PRD, when it became a small leftist political party in 1999. He says now he has given up on politics, having been disappointed by the elites he helped bring to power.

"Megawati has repeated the way of the old regime," he charged. "Her leadership is corrupt and is full of compromises with the old power centres, including the military." Of the 68 activists abducted then, 13 are still missing.

Mr Mugiyanto, also a 1998 kidnap victim, set up the Association of Family of Missing People in Indonesia (IKOHI) last year to pressure the government to reopen the case on these missing people.

He says of the experience of being a kidnap victim: "It can make you become more resistant or it can make you give up your cause or even collaborate with your captors. In my case, it has strengthened my resolve."

War in Iraq

Protesters target US fast-food outlets

Jakarta Post - March 22, 2003

Jakarta -- Hundreds of Muslims activists forced the closure of an American fast-food franchise in Surabaya, East Java, as nationwide rallies to protest the US-led war in Iraq continued on Friday.

The Muslim protesters, who represented the Indonesian Muslim Student Association (KAMMI) and the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), forced the McDonald's restaurant in Darmo Raya area to close at around 3:15 p.m. under the eyes of police officers.

Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Ilham S. said he let the closure take place after the restaurant's duty manager, Imron, agreed to the activists' demand.

"As a security officer, I'm responsible only for maintaining order, and to close the restaurant they had to ask for the management's approval. I could not intervene," Ilham said.

There were only a few customers eating in the restaurant when the anti-American protesters forced it to close, one of the restaurant employees said. "They finished their meals despite the closure," he said.

All of the restaurant's 25 employees looked on when the activists placed a plastic chain around the front door of the restaurant and attached to it a banner reading: "Sealed. Boycott American products."

No violence broke out during the move, which followed a street rally in downtown Surabaya. The protesters held a rally in front of the American Consulate General, situated 100 meters from the restaurant and prayed there.

Student activists in Bandung also posted signs to mark the closure of several Kentucky Fried Chicken and Dunkin Donuts outlets on Jl. Merdeka and Jl. Juanda. Unlike activists in Surabaya, the Bandung students allowed the restaurants to continue operating. One student, Joko Suryono, said the move served as a warning for people not to consume American products.

The move to target perceived US interests has increased in the past few days. Dozens of Islamic Youth Movement (GPI) members rallied in front of the McDonald's outlet at Sarinah shopping center on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta and stopped customers from entering the restaurant on Wednesday. Earlier on Tuesday anti-US protesters scared away customers of another American fast-food restaurant, Kentucky Fried Chicken, in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.

Anti-American protesters in Indonesia have demanded a boycott on American products and the severance of diplomatic ties with Washington. The government has dismissed the demands.

Solahuddin Wahid, deputy chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, urged Indonesians to remain calm and not to attack the interests of the US and its allies, as happened in East Java when protesters sealed off a franchise of fast-food restaurant McDonald's.

"The employees are our people and this act will hurt them," said Solahuddin, who is also a deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

In Jakarta, over 1,000 people from different groups turned up for rallies to urge the US-led coalition to stop the war in Iraq. At least eight groups of protesters, mostly from Islamic groups and students, took turns to rally in front of the US Embassy on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Jakarta.

The rallies proceeded peacefully but it were tainted by students pelting the embassy with tomatoes and water bombs. Some protesters also burned posters of US President George W. Bush.

The protesters represented the Student Executive Body (BEM) of Banten Province, National University, the United Development Party, the Indonesian Student Front, the Association of Indonesian Psychics (IPI), the Association of Islamic Mass Organizations (Goib), KAMMI and Forpin.

They voiced similar concerns about the war and the loss of innocent lives it would cause. "War will only incur losses as children lose their parents, wives lose their husbands and people live in terror and depression," said one group of students in a statement. About 600 police personnel guarded the embassy during the rally.

Similar rallies also took place in the North Sumatra capital of Medan, the Bali capital of Denpasar, the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, Semarang and many other cities.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Police have asked the public not to stage night rallies so as not to disturb public order.

Anti-war protests sweep 10 Indonesian cities

Reuters - March 21, 2003

Dean Yates and Jerry Norton, Jakarta -- Demonstrators took to the streets on Friday in 10 cities in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, to protest against US-led attacks on Iraq as clerics savaged President George Bush in mosque sermons.

But a senior Western diplomat said the possibility of demonstrations getting out of control worried him the least among several key security concerns in Indonesia because of "the commitment of the government to make sure that law and order are going to be upheld." "The government has made it clear that the demonstrations... are to be peaceful and that they will not tolerate violence and I take them at their word," the diplomat, who declined to be identified, told reporters.

The biggest of Friday's protests was in the industrial city of Surabaya, where 2,000 people marched. Some pasted signs on a McDonald's outlet, saying the restaurant had been "sealed", one witness said. There were few people inside at the time. In the West Java capital Bandung, dozens of protesters put similar signs on the windows of several American food outlets, a witness said. Patrons ignored the move and kept eating.

There were small rallies in eight other cities across the world's most populous Muslim country, local radio reported.

Several hundred demonstrators took to the streets in Jakarta in the second day of protests here. Muslim students threw eggs, tomatoes and other fruit at the wall of the British embassy.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri said on Thursday the government fiercely opposed the US-led attack on Iraq, and called for a special UN Security Council meeting aimed at stopping the war.

"Our representatives in the United Nations have consulted with the friends of Indonesia who are members of the Security Council ... The crucial thing now is to follow up this American aggression by stopping it," foreign affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Friday.

Government line disputed

But speaking at Jakarta's popular Al-Azhar mosque, cleric Anwar Ratnaprawira disputed the line taken by the government and mainstream Muslim groups that the war was not aimed at Islam. "We see how the United States is invading Iraq ... a superpower attacking a weak country. These people will not stop waging war against Islam," a grim-faced Ratnaprawira said at Friday prayers.

"Oh, God, please help your Muslim followers and punish anyone who is hostile to Islam. I don't like Saddam and his secular party but Muslims are victims of this infidel bombardment," he added, referring to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

At the capital's imposing Istiqlal mosque, the country's largest, cleric Didin Hafiuddin in his sermon said the United States would one day regret its actions. "What these arrogant nations can do is only spread war and anguish. They will face their own destruction," Hafiuddin told tens of thousands of worshippers.

Indonesia, generally a US ally, has long opposed any attack against Iraq. Political and religious leaders have warned that a strike could spark a widespread, possibly violent backlash.

Some militant groups have threatened to occupy and shut down facilities of the United States and allies like Britain and Australia, and engage in "sweeps" in which foreigners are threatened and told to leave the country.

But the senior diplomat said given the "ability and obvious will of the government to provide protection for foreigners in general [and for] diplomatic facilities, and the peaceful nature of the demonstrations to date, we have a fair amount of confidence that we're going to be OK." He said aside from demonstrations, his key security concerns were that Iraqi agents could try to instigate violent incidents and the continued threat of attacks from Jemaah Islamiah, a Southeast Asian militant network, and al Qaeda, the global network to which it has been linked.

Jemaah Islamiah has been blamed for the October bombings in Bali which killed more than 200 people, most of them foreigners.

[With reporting by Achmad Sukarsono and Devi Kausar.]

Military chief warns antiwar protesters to avoid anarchic ways

Jakarta Post - March 21, 2003

Jakarta -- Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto warned anti-war protesters in the country on Thursday to avoid staging anarchic demonstrations.

"It is the people's right to voice their opinions on war, but they should not express them in anarchic ways," Endriartono told Antara, adding that security officers would protect foreign citizens in Indonesia, whatever their political leanings.

Many Indonesian groups, including interreligious groups, have staged demonstrations to protest the US plan to launch a military strike against Iraq to disarm it of weapons of mass destruction.

Ansor, the youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, has called on Muslims to boycott US products with the strikes on Iraq.

The US launched war on Iraq on Thursday with early morning air strikes on Baghdad, pledging to oust President Saddam Hussein from power.

Muslim leaders react angrily to start of war

Agence France Presse - March 21, 2003

Both moderate and radical Indonesian Islamic leaders reacted angrily to the start of the US-led war on Iraq as police stepped up security in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation.

Outside the heavily-guarded US embassy in Jakarta an estimated 600 protesters carried signs reading "Bush, go to hell" and "Terrorism No, Justice Yes." Protests were also held in six other cities although there were no reports of major violence.

Syafii Ma'arif, the chairman of the second largest mainstream Muslim group Muhammadiyah, condemned what he called "a savage war." "I am not a defender of Saddam Hussein but I strongly wonder what right does Bush have to expel a man from his own country?" Ma'arif said.

Ma'arif, whose group claims a membership of 30 million, described President George W. Bush as "a paranoid leader." Solahuddin Wahid, deputy chairman of the largest mainstream Islamic group Nahdlatul Ulama, accused the US of "an international crime" but appealed to Indonesians to stay calm.

"There should be no US citizens or other foreigners in Indonesia harmed," Wahid told AFP.

The cabinet was holding a special meeting and was to issue a statement later.

The government has previously condemned any unilateral attack and called for diplomacy to be given more time. But ministers have said they do not see an attack on Iraq as an attack on Muslims. The Hizbut Tahrir radical Muslim group disagreed. In a statement it said the US has declared war against Muslims worldwide.

Hizbut Tahrir called on Muslims across the world to launch a jihad (holy war or struggle) to "defend the dignity of a Muslim country and its people." It said the "real evil intention of the United States ... is to control the Iraqi oilfields and spread its economic and political dominance in that region." Hizbut Tahrir spokesman Muhammad Ismail Yusanto said the attack showed the world who the real terrorist was.

"We call on all countries and their leaders to declare Bush as a terrorist and as a war criminal," he said.

Police have stepped up security at the embassies of the United States and its allies as well as at shopping malls and other locations.

At the US embassy many women in Islamic headscarves, some carrying small children, were among the protesters. "God is Great" and "America is terrorist," they shouted. About 100 police guarded the mission.

The British embassy warned late Wednesday that terrorists may take advantage of the attack on Iraq to attack Western interests in Indonesia. Bombings in Bali last October which were blamed on regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.

The embassy advised the estimated 4,000 Britons in the country to consider leaving or exercise extreme caution. "It is likely that extremists will harass Westerners in bars and nightclubs frequented by foreigners. You should avoid these establishments," the embassy said.

An Islamic youth group called Anshor has threatened to force US and allied diplomats to leave Indonesia if war breaks out. It has also threatened to try to close down all American companies operating in the country.

However Anshor's spokesman Munawar Fuad Noeh on Thursday played down the threat of violence, saying its members had been instructed not to break the law.

Indonesia braces for economic battle

Asia Times - March 20, 2003

Tony Sitathan, Jakarta -- This Thursday is a day of reckoning for Iraq, when its 48-hour ultimatum issued by the president of the United States, George W Bush, expires. The ultimatum demands that Iraq expel its president, Saddam Hussein, and send him and his family into permanent exile or face the wrath of more than 250,000 troops ready for action and positioned in neighboring countries.

For Indonesia this is certainly not welcome news. With 90 percent of its approximately 230 million population Muslim, Indonesia both politically and economically stands to lose if the US and its allies bomb Baghdad.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri made her first address on the Iraq crisis when she spoke before the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kuala Lumpur last month. She made it clear that Indonesia would not support any US-backed initiatives for war. She went on to say that Indonesia was firm in its rejection of war as a solution and supported the United Nations resolution for peaceful disarmament of Iraq instead.

But time is running out. The departure from Baghdad of the last of the UN weapons inspectors signaled the end of diplomacy and the start of anti-war protests and anti-American rhetoric by students as well as by Muslim-dominated political and religious groups in Indonesia. "We see a sudden emergence of anti- Americanism similar to the anti-capitalist and anti-imperial messages of the Sukarno era already being flashed across the media," said Theodore Rasimun, a former economics lecturer turned businessman based in East Java. "Recently there was a massive demonstration of students from the State Institute of Islamic Studies [STIAN] outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken [KFC] outlet in central Sulawesi."

He was worried that such forced closures of US food outlets and franchises would have a negative impact on foreign investors, especially now as Indonesia needs much foreign investment. The situation may also be worrying for foreign nationals working in Indonesia. "There are close to 3,000 foreign expats working in Jakarta alone. And carrying out such mass demonstrations, although peaceful at first, may draw political clout from political parties that are looking to drive a wedge between the people and the current government," he said.

The bigger question is, with anti-American and anti-British sentiments sweeping across Indonesia, how will Megawati live up to her promise of balancing US and British interests with the popular anti-war movement building up in the country? Already several Islamic-based parties, including the largest Muslim organization Nadhlatul Ulama, have mobilized close to a million Muslims who held a mass prayer for world peace in Surabaya, East Java. And several other Islamic splinter groups that are more vocal in their demonstrations have even called for a freeze of US-based assets around Indonesia, including the largest mine in Papua under Freeport, as well as a total boycott of US-based products, including popular fast-food outlets such as McDonald's and Pizza Hut.

"There is a fear that innocent people and businesses will be held hostage by people that claim to be propagating peace," remarked the manager of Sizzler, an upmarket steak and seafood eatery in an exclusive mall in South Jakarta. "Their peaceful intentions might be carried forward into threats and extortions as well as even violence." His fears are not unfounded. Already some of the electronic retailers based in Glodok and Harco Mangga Dua are considering switching some of their product lines from US brands to those of other countries. "We are dealing with IBM and Hewlett-Packard computers and spare parts including telephony products from the United States. Since our products are also sold to corporate customers as well as retail customers, we have noticed a slight dip in retail sales for our desktop IBMs and Hewlett-Packard computers that were our fastest-selling items so far," said Hock Guan, the sales manager of Toko Data-Kontrol in Harco Mangga Dua. "Now we are considering carrying other lines like Fujitsu and Acer as well as other OEM [original equipment manufacturer] brands assembled in Indonesia."

With the war with Iraq in sight, there are also predictions that the prices of basic food items and grain commodities, including sugar and rice, will go up, since these foods are mostly imported. Indonesians have already started stocking up on basic commodities, including cooking oil and rice. A visit to one of the many outlets in Jakarta for the French hypermarket Carrefour reveals brisk sales and long stretches of people at checkout payment counters. Feby Juliana, a housewife who manages a family of six, visits Carrefour regularly. She said sales during the past two weeks have been relatively good judging from her experience. "You see shelves empty and people buying more than they require. Many of them stock up on basic goods, including myself. Even toilet rolls are hot sellers," she said.

The longer the war drags on, the more damage it will do to Indonesia as well as to its relations with the United States and certain countries in Europe. Also the war will place a dampening effect on Indonesia's capital market, including its banking and financial institutions. There has been recent talk of lowering the central bank's interest rates further and accelerating capital flow into the financial markets. However, this is something that has to be done carefully, remarked Andrei Seow, a principal broker with Trimegah Securities in Indonesia. "We have to be careful not to create too much liquidity in the marketplace, with too much borrowing. Hence there is a need to regulate exchange rates and interests rates carefully with the current prevailing world economy," he said.

Should there be a prolonged encounter with Iraq lasting more than a month, for instance, there would be sizable problems with how to adjust to the price differentiations caused by the fluctuation of imported commodities, including crude oil, and the exchange rates of the rupiah to the US dollar.

So far the US greenback has been favored as the ideal rate of exchange by moneychangers as well as banks. The US dollar and the rupiah have been intertwined as legal exchange currencies for a long time. Perhaps later the euro currency would be an alternative closer to home and nearer to the heart of Indonesians than the US dollar. At that time Indonesia might be dancing to the beat of Europe and her allies instead of its stoutest Western ally and major investor, the United States of America.

Perhaps by that time the words of George Bush will have taken a new twist. And instead of a war cry, they might then be a peace bugle -- but at that time who among the businessmen and the politicians in Indonesia will be willing to lend their ears?

Muslim group threatens to oust US diplomats, launch boycott

Agence France Presse - March 19, 2003

An Islamic youth group threatened to force US and allied diplomats to leave Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim- populated nation, amid rising condemnation of the planned war against Iraq.

Anshor, the youth wing of Indonesia's largest Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, also said it plans a national boycott of US products.

"Anshor will demand the expulsion of US diplomats and government representatives and also those of its allies," the head of its communications department, Munawar Fuad Noeh, told AFP.

If the diplomats did not leave voluntarily within 48 hours from the start of any attack, "there will be the possibility of a forced expulsion by the people," an Anshor statement said Should war break out, the movement will also try to close down all US companies operating in the country, lower US flags in public places and launch a national boycott of American products. "This decision did not come from Anshor itself but following intensive discussions with other youth and religious groups and leaders," Noeh said. Anshor claims millions of members.

"Washington should realise that these anti-war sentiments are not just small ripples that it can ignore. You go and make war and you will see what you will reap," said Noeh, terming any attack a "modern form of barbarism."

Hundreds of students at Palu in Central Sulawesi barricaded a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet on Tuesday and scared away customers. "This is a US product, it must be boycotted," read a notice on the front door.

Syafii Ma'arif, head of the second largest Muslim group Muhammadiyah, described President George W. Bush as a "war criminal." "Bush needs to see a psychiatrist because his mindset is no longer normal. It is a pity to see a superpower country having a leader like him," he was quoted as saying by the Detikcom online news service.

Popular Muslim cleric Abdullah Gymnastiar also labelled Bush as a war criminal but urged restraint during protests.

Some 30 members of the Islamic Youth Movement protested in front of the US embassy and burned tyres there.

The government has condemned any military action but promised to protect foreigners and their interests. The US, Australian and British embassies are already tightly guarded.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri said Tuesday she did not object to anti-war protests but these should be peaceful.

Megawati wants to safeguard the country's new-found stability and avoid scaring off badly-needed foreign investors. The United States is Indonesia's largest export market. But she could also face a backlash if seen to be cracking down too hard on protesters.

Ibrahim Ambong, chairman of a parliamentary committee on foreign relations, condemned US plans to attack Iraq but said foreigners should not be threatened. Ambong said his committee will demand Megawati take a public stance against the planned attack.

Indonesia cabinet to meet on Iraq as Muslims angered

Reuters - March 20, 2003

Jerry Norton and Dean Yates, Jakarta -- The cabinet of the world's most populous Muslim nation was discussing the US attack on Iraq on Thursday, Indonesia's chief security minister told reporters.

Indonesian Muslim leaders immediately condemned the start of US-led strikes on Iraq, labelling them an attack on humanity and warning of big protests.

Asked on his way into the cabinet meeting for a reaction to news the United States had started the attack, security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said: "We will discuss that now." He did not elaborate, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told Reuters an official response was being drafted and would be made public after the meeting.

Indonesia, generally an ally of the United States, has consistently opposed any attack against Iraq. Political and religious leaders sounded warnings that a strike could spark a widespread, possibly violent backlash.

"This is not an attack on Islam but an attack on humanity," Syafii Maarif, head of the 30-million-strong moderate Muhammadiyah Muslim group, said on Thursday.

He said members of his organisation would probably begin street protests on Thursday but insisted they would be peaceful. He also called on other Muslim groups not to resort to violence.

The Justice Party, a conservative Muslim political party, said it expected to have 30,000 demonstrators outside the US embassy in Jakarta later on Thursday to protest against the war.

A local radio report said police in the Central Java capital of Semarang clashed with around 50 students after they burned an effigy of George Bush and a makeshift coffin. Several students were slightly injured, the report said.

Some militant groups have said they would try to occupy US facilities and US-affiliated businesses.

Although most Indonesian Muslims are moderates, opposition to a war in Iraq is widespread. Some 85 percent of the 210 million people in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, adhere to Islam.

Azyumardi Azra, president of the State Islamic University in Jakarta, Indonesia's most prestigious centre for Islamic studies, said the United States appeared to think it had the right to decide what to do with the world. "I think this really is an unjust war, it will be a tragedy for humanity," Azra said.

Police have said they were anticipating protests and have pledged to boost security at foreign embassies and other Western interests, especially those of the United States and Britain.

[With additional reporting by Achmad Sukarsono and Muklis Ali.]

Dita Sari joins mission to Baghdad

Green Left Weekly - March 19, 2003

Iggy Kim -- Dita Sari, head of the Indonesian National Front for Workers' Struggle, was in Baghdad on March 14-18 as part of high-profile Asian peace mission to Iraq. Mission members visited hospitals, orphanages and schools. They met with a wide range of Iraqi civilians. The mission was an act of solidarity and opposition to the impending war.

The other members of the delegation were Walden Bello, executive director of Focus on the Global South; Hussin Amin and Loretta Rosales, members of the Philippines House of Representatives; Jaran Ditapichai, Thailand's national human rights commissioner; Zulfiqar Gondal, a Pakistani member of parliament; and Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, the former chief of the Indian navy. A documentary film crew accompanied the mission.

The mission will issue a report and members will embark on speaking tours to publicise their findings.

Students barricade KFC restaurant in Palu

Jakarta Post - March 19, 2003

Palu -- A rally by hundreds of students opposing possible US- led military action in Iraq here on Tuesday ended with them illegally barricading an outlet of the US-based Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast-food restaurant chain.

Antara reported that the temporary action was taken by students from the State Institute for Islamic Studies (STIAN) in Datokarama, who pasted a placard reading: "This is a US product, it must be boycotted" on the outlet's front door.

They intimidated and frightened the customers who promptly left. Meanwhile, other customers apparently decided not to enter the restaurant for fear of a backlash from the demonstrators.

In his speech, chairman of the STIAN student association Erwin Samangka claimed, "that a US-led attack on Iraq would be a stark act of terrorism and the most blatant human rights violation of the century." "As such, civilized countries all over the world should oppose it," Erwin said, adding that one of the forms of opposition people could adopt was a total boycott of all US products, coupled with the freezing of US assets in Indonesia.

After threatening and illegally closing the KFC outlet, the anti-US students marched to the Central Sulawesi gubernatorial office, demanding that the regional administration freeze all US assets in the province.

No arrests were made and the police were unavailable for comment, despite earlier assurances from Cabinet ministers and the National Police chief that all foreign assets would be safeguarded.

Indonesia blasts US over ultimatum, urges diplomacy

Reuters - March 18, 2003

Dean Yates, Jakarta -- Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, blasted the United States on Tuesday for its ultimatum to Iraq as moderate Islamic leaders warned that war would trigger major street protests.

The head of Indonesia's second biggest mainstream Muslim organisation branded US President George W. Bush and the leaders of Britain and Spain war criminals, saying they were dragging the world into a war that most did not want.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the world could not afford to let diplomatic efforts to disarm Iraq die.

"We cannot accept the notion that diplomacy has run its course and we believe at this very important time what is needed is to enhance diplomatic efforts," Natalegawa said.

"But whatever course of action is taken over the next 48 hours, it will not have the support of the Indonesian government. The Indonesian government feels it is not for a single United Nations member to issue an ultimatum."

Bush has given Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to go into exile or face an attack.

Indonesian politicians and religious leaders have said they fear a backlash and possible violence in the world's fourth most populous country if a US attack on Iraq goes ahead.

Although most Indonesian Muslims are moderates, opposition to a war in Iraq is widespread and Jakarta, otherwise a close US ally and supporter of its war on terror, has repeatedly said it would not support an attack.

Strong reaction

Syafii Maarif, head of the 30-million strong moderate Muhammadiyah group, said there would be strong domestic reaction to any attack and a possible increase in extremism.

"We can categorise Mr Bush, Tony Blair and the Spanish prime minister as war criminals," Maarif said, referring to the British prime minister and Jose Maria Aznar of Spain. The three leaders, key allies, met at the weekend on the Iraq crisis.

But Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, a prominent Muslim intellectual, said while he expected big protests, he believed radical Islamic groups had lost momentum since bloody bombings on Indonesia's Bali island in October, which Indonesia has blamed on Islamic militants.

Militants have been relatively muted in the countdown to the expected attack on Iraq and most demonstrations have been peaceful.

Abshar-Abdalla said widespread opposition to conflict in Iraq and protests across the globe had convinced many Indonesians that it would not be a war against Islam. When asked whether a war on Iraq would affect bilateral relations with neighbouring Australia or the United States, Natalegawa said: "We clearly have a different approach to the US and Australia. But we still believe that if managed prudently, there will be no cost to bilateral relations." Australia on Tuesday committed itself to a US-led war on Iraq. About 2,000 Australian troops are in the Middle East.

Natalegawa said Jakarta's embassy in Iraq had temporarily shut and all its 10 diplomatic staff had been evacuated. About 35,000 Indonesians live in neighbouring Kuwait and Natalegawa said preparations were under way to ensure their safety.

[With additional reporting by Joanne Collins.]

'War on terrorism'

Disgraced military seeks powers to fight terrorism

Mercury News - March 19, 2003

Karl Schoenberger, Jakarta -- As the United States braces for a terrorist backlash from war, the Indonesian military is exploiting US concern about Islamist militants in Southeast Asia in its bid to regain the power and political clout forfeited after strongman Suharto was deposed five years ago.

The once-dominant military was internationally rebuked for human rights violations in East Timor's struggle for independence and for its ruthlessness during the 35-year reign of Suharto, a close ally of Washington. As a result of democratic reforms, the military saw its responsibilities for internal security taken away and given to a newly independent national police force. Its job was limited to defense.

Now, in the name of fighting terrorism, the army is asking the National Assembly for unprecedented authority to bypass civilian leadership and deploy forces during a national emergency in the world's most populous Muslim country.

US officials are eager to re-establish military contact with Indonesia because the Al-Qaida terrorist network and other Islamist extremist groups are believed to be operating there, drawing recruits from the country's religious schools. In the wake of the terrorist bombings in Bali in October that killed nearly 200 people, the Indonesian military's professionalism and reliability are seen as crucial to fighting international terrorists in the region.

But the military's restlessness is disturbing to Indonesian democracy advocates and foreign critics alike, who claim the armed forces have done little to reform themselves and have not been held accountable for the atrocities soldiers committed in East Timor, Aceh and other restive areas across the sprawling archipelago of more than 13,500 islands.

There have been attempts at prosecution. In August, an Indonesian human rights court acquitted six military and police officials of crimes against humanity in East Timor after the pro-independence vote three years ago. Last month, the United Nations indicted former Indonesian armed-forces chief Wiranto, along with six other senior generals and East Timor's ex-governor, for crimes against humanity.

Soldiers were found to be responsible for the assassination of a political independence leader in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, in late 2001. Elite army troops staged a bloody assault on a police camp in northern Sumatra in September to rescue a drug trafficker from detention, killing eight people. Members of the military also are suspects in an ambush in Timika, near a remote US-owned gold-and-copper mine in Papua, which killed two American teachers and a local colleague, and seriously wounded eight other Americans.

"The line between the war on terrorism and social unrest is blurred and difficult to control and dangerous to confuse," warned Murir, director of Indonesia Human Rights Watch. That's why, Murir said, the military "needs to stick with its defense role, and stay out of civil affairs."

The Timika case is the focus of a contentious debate in Washington over whether the Indonesian military has reformed itself to the point where it should be rewarded with closer ties with the United States. Former President Clinton cut off weapon sales to the military in 1993, and in 1999 Congress stop funding Pentagon training of Indonesian forces.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who was ambassador to Indonesia under President Reagan, maintains that the disgraced army is an important strategic player in counterterrorism in Asia's Islamic zone that must be accepted as part of the team, warts and all. To that end, President Bush lifted the 1999 training ban in August, but Congress has held up appropriations because of concerns the military remains corrupt.

Congressional critics and human rights activists point to schoolteacher Patsy Spier, whose husband was killed in the Timika ambush. She survived 45 terrifying minutes of gunfire, with nearly 70 pieces of shrapnel embedded in her back and liver.

Police investigators said the evidence implicated soldiers in the ambush, but the army denies any involvement. It blames the killings on separatist rebels, and has launched its own investigation. FBI agents have cooperated in the probe and are monitoring the case, an FBI official said.

"There's no reason why I should be alive after being trapped and shot at for 45 minutes. There were over 100 rounds of spent ammunition found in our car alone," Spier said. "But there must be a reason, and the only one I can think of is to find out who did this to us, and why."

She has been cooperating with the FBI and lobbying State Department officials and members of Congress to withhold funding for a small but symbolic military training program until the Timika case is resolved.

Many analysts contend the killings had something to do with security arrangements made between the local army garrison and New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, which operates the world's richest mine in the area of the killings and employed the victims as contract teachers at the school it offers to expatriate employees. Freeport allegedly paid the military as much as $5 million a year for security, according to a report by the BBC, and many observers believe soldiers may have been unhappy about a reduction in payments last year.

Another theory points to what analysts say is a more sinister effort by the military to enhance its credibility in fighting terrorism, and alleges the involvement of a high-ranking commander in the military.

"The Army may have hoped to blame the murders on West Papuan rebels who have been fighting a low-level insurgency for years seeking independence from Indonesia," said Sen. Joseph Biden, D- Del., speaking in a floor debate on military assistance in January.

In January, the Senate voted down an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have frozen the $400,000 set aside for the Indonesian military in the International Military Education and Training program.

The argument that improved relations with the Indonesian armed forces were critical to fighting terrorists in the region won the day.

sGovernment & politics

PDI-P destroys our facilities, PNBK says

Jakarta Post - March 18, 2003

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Denpasar -- The National Freedom Bulls Party (PNBK) has accused supporters of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) of attacking its office in Tabanan, Bali, over the weekend.

PNBK chairman Eros Djarot said on Monday that PDI Perjuangan supporters had not respected the words of their leader Megawati when she declared year 2003 the Year Without Violence.

"What a shame that her [Megawati's] instruction was ignored by the party's members," Eros said.

Eros, a former member of PDI Perjuangan and noted filmmaker, said some 30 men wearing masks attacked PNBK's office and supporters at around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday evening.

He said the attack was the fourth such incident against his party. Last December 27, PDI Perjuangan supporters also vandalized his party's facilities such as chairs and several party attributes.

Other cases included the intimidation of several PNBK members followed by the vandalizing of their homes, cars and motorcycles.

Eros mentioned that his party also received similar treatment from PDI Perjuangan members in Banyuwangi. "It is quite clear that they are members of PDI Perjuangan," he said.

Eros said that Megawati, as the party's leader, should be held responsible for the actions of PDI Perjuangan members. "She has in particular mentioned making Bali a nonviolent place," he said.

Meanwhile Budi Setyawan, chief of the Bali Police, guaranteed that the police would seriously investigate the alleged vandalism by the members of PDI Perjuangan.

Usdek Maharipa, deputy secretary of PDI Perjuangan, said his party had never been informed of any violent action against Eros' PNBK in Tabanan, Bali.

"We stand firm on the grounds of presumed innocent. We suspect a political maneuver is behind the report of violence by our members," he said.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Jakarta cops shielding top gangsters, says ex-police chief

Straits Times - March 22, 2003

Jakarta -- Many police officers in the Indonesian capital are involved in organised crime and provide security to top gangsters, said a former police chief.

Retired police Major-General Koesparmono Irsan warned that the widespread organised crime, which also involves policemen, was getting out of control. "I think there are many police officers who have links with gangsters," he said.

But Maj-Gen Koesparmono, who served with the police for more than 30 years, admitted that it was hard to pinpoint the officers who were part of the criminal underworld.

He believed that in most developing countries, organised crime could survive only with the help of the authorities, such as the police, or other law enforcers or government officials.

Mr Anton Medan, a gangster-turned-preacher, concurred, saying that many police, government officials and legislators regularly become protectors of gangs throughout the country.

"That is particularly true in the provinces," he said, citing rampant illegal logging in several provinces in the country by organised criminals who are in direct collusion with the authorities.

Mr Anton said that during the New Order era, there was only one really powerful criminal organisation, the youth wing of the then ruling Golkar party. The organisation, he said, squeezed protection money from businessmen.

"Currently, the condition is getting worse because most big political parties have such an organisation. Police usually back them because they are close to power," he said, adding that flourishing "private gangster organisations" are also backed by police.

He suggested that all political parties must disband their so- called youth wings or task forces which often are officially described as a private security group for campaign rallies and other large party functions.

Yogya activists demand trials for corrupt councillors

Jakarta Post - March 19, 2003

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta -- Anticorruption activists urged the prosecutors' office here on Tuesday to investigate provincial councillors and officials connected to a bribery case that led to councillor Herman Abdurrachman's two-year jail sentence.

Speaking separately to The Jakarta Post, activists from Yogyakarta Parliament Watch (Parwi), Yogyakarta Corruption Watch (YCW), and Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said that for the sake of justice, the prosecutors' office had to charge all the public officials and put them on trial.

"Corruption is an organized crime that cannot be committed by just a single person. Everybody involved deserves the same trial," Eddy O.S. Hiariej of Parwi said.

Citing Article 12 of Law 20/2001 on corruption eradication, Edy said it was not only the recipients of the bribe who deserved punishment but those who gave the bribe as well.

The Yogyakarta district court on Monday sentenced Herman to two years in prison and fined him Rp 10 million (some US$1,100) for his key role in a Rp 150 million bribery scandal in the construction of the Jogja Expo Center (JEC).

The case revolved around the provincial government's move to seek a legislative approval in November 2001 for an extra allocation of Rp 9.5 billion to complete the JEC.

During a closed-door meeting in a hotel here, Herman asked for Rp 200 million to "ease through" the legislative endorsement for the additional funds. Provincial government secretary Bambang Susanto Priyohadi approved only Rp 150 million and asked city-owned developer PT Adhi Karya, the project's contractor, to provide the money.

Also attending the meeting were the head of the administration's budget department Bambang Wisnu Handoyo, head of the provincial resettlement and infrastructure office Edi Siswanto and several councillors.

Of the 24 witnesses questioned by the prosecutors, Herman and the city-owned company's director Duljiman were named suspects. The date for Duljiman's trial remains undecided.

From the bribe, Herman took Rp 15 million and divided the remaining Rp 135 million among 24 councillors, who later decided to return the money due to its unclear origin and uneven distribution.

"It was true that the state suffered no financial loss because the money was returned. But there was also a time that all the councillors held the money and enjoyed it. That's why they also deserve the same trial," said Budi Hartono, a senior staff member at LBH Yogyakarta. Coordinator of Yogyakarta Corruption Watch (YCW), Paryanto, shared Budi Hartono's opinion, saying that bringing all the public officials to court would be a good shock therapy for all corrupters.

"Without public pressure, the prosecutors' office has the task of conducting a thorough investigation into all the people involved. The links are just too clear to ignore," said Paryanto.

Mudim Aristo, the chief prosecutor in Herman's trial, said his office had yet to decide on an investigation into the councillors and provincial officials for their alleged involvement in the case.

Police confess receiving a gift from Tomy Winata

Jakarta Post - March 19, 2003

Jakarta -- National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Tuesday that the police had accepted a gift of a car from businessman Tomy Winata, whose supporters are accused of assaulting three journalists of Tempo news magazine.

"We admit that we received a vehicle in relation to the investigation into the Bali bombings last year," Da'i was quoted by Antara as saying at a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission I for defense, foreign and political affairs.

At the hearing, city police chief Insp. Gen. MakbulPadmanagara said that he had been contacted by Tomy's supporters. "I have prepared two numbers to be contacted," Makbul told the hearing.

Hundreds of Tomy's supporters staged a rally at the magazine's offices to protest a report that linked the businessman to the recent fire at Tanah Abang market.

Several supporters have been accused of punching the journalists and one of the attackers allegedly contacted the city police chief on his cellular phone in an attempt to intimidate the journalists.

Corruption has worsened despite reform pledge

Straits Times - March 18, 2003

Robert Go, Jakarta -- Indonesian lawmakers, whose official salaries are around $3,000 a month, ride Jaguars and BMWs, and lunch regularly at five-star hotels near the parliamentary compound.

Some have disclosed having millions of dollars in their bank accounts. Senior civil servants make less, officially, so they make do with Mont Blancs and Rolexes.

Wealth-audit body KPKPN said 40 per cent of lawmakers failed to declare their assets last year. Only 35 per cent of 1,500 judges complied with auditors' requests. There is only one conclusion, experts say -- the unresponsive ones have assets and deals to hide.

Corruption is not a new game here. But if analysts in Jakarta are right, it has worsened since the so-called reform era began five years ago.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri's campaign platform in 1999 included anti-graft moves. Now, many think the pledges were empty promises.

Anti-graft protests are growing. Many are targeted at the President and her party. Even prominent PDI-P members are unhappy about the issue. Several have fired salvos at members of their own party.

More and more politicians, analysts and foreign observers now say the problem is endemic in the bureaucracy. Nothing can happen here without some form of graft to grease it along.

A further observation is that within a bureaucracy this corrupt, the only way to advance through the ranks is to participate, directly or indirectly.

It is an irony, therefore, that accusing somebody else of corrupt behaviour has become a part of Indonesian politicians' arsenal. They can sink rivals' political careers this way.

Parliamentary Speaker Akbar Tandjung is a case in point -- his dreams to be President have been dashed. Rivals within Golkar are also using the corruption charge to oust him from the party's leadership.

The problem with the scenario is that almost everyone has some dirt on everybody else. Nobody wants to push for harsh punishment.

For those not yet tainted, dishing out forgiving punishment for graft also sets a safe precedent, just in case the spotlight is focused on them.

The lesson from Indonesia: Graft pays. Also, almost everybody gets away with committing some form of it.

When Ms Megawati stands for re-election next year, she is sure to face tough questions about her government's anti-graft track record.

But corruption is an issue that goes beyond the next election. The cheque that the government is writing by going soft on corruption today will be cashed years from now. Unfortunately, few think the country can afford to pay up when the time comes.

Media/press freedom

'Fight against thuggery is for press freedom and legal certainty'

Jakarta Post - March 19, 2003

Suherdjoko and Apriadi Gunawan, Medan/Semarang -- Hundreds of journalists staged a demonstration in Semarang, the capital of Central Java, and Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, to condemn intimidation toward the media, saying thuggery in all forms must be halted to ensure legal certainty and press freedom.

More than 100 journalists from the print and the electronic media as well as activists staged a peaceful rally along the main streets of Semarang to call on the nation, especially security personnel and law enforcers, to stage an all-out battle against thuggery.

Brandishing banners condemning thuggery, the protesters from the local print media, radio and TV stations laid down their work tools such as cameras, radios, tape recorders and press cards on the street to symbolize their opposition to thuggery.

The protesters also distributed circulars containing Article 18 of the 1999 law on the media threatening violators with a maximum two-year jail sentence or a fine of Rp 500 million.

Hundreds of journalists also held a similar demonstration in Medan, declaring war against thuggery. They held a 30-meter banner reading Perang total terhadap premanisme (All-out war against thuggery).

Harsono, coordinator of the demonstration, said thuggery must be eradicated because it was the main enemy of the democracy the nation was trying to develop in the reform era.

"Thuggery, which has affected not only the media but also other parts of civil society, including the judiciary, the bureaucracy and other state institutions, must be fought.

"Democracy here will remain stagnant, the law will be in the hands of hoodlums, security personnel will never become professional and law enforcers will lose their dignity unless thuggery is eradicated immediately," said Harsono.

The demonstrations were held to support nationwide condemnation of the recent attack on the Tempo weekly magazine offices in Jakarta, which many say was not only an insult to press freedom but also to democracy. The attack occurred under the noses of police personnel by hundreds of youths believed to be acting under the orders of Artha Graha Group owner Tomy Winata.

The attack was in reaction to an article by Tempo in its March 3 issue on the recent fire at Tanah Abang textile market. The article implied that Tomy could profit from the fire. Tomy is widely thought to be close to Army officers, and has been accused of involvement in gambling activities in the country.

Harsono said there had been eight cases of violence against journalists over the last three years, but none of the cases had been resolved in court.

Reinhard Simarmata, a protester in Medan, said journalists were committed to fighting against thuggery, since several local media offices had been attacked several times in the last few years.

Hanifah Harahap, coordinator of the demonstration, said they would deliver the banner to the Tempo offices in Jakarta in an expression of solidarity.

Local & community issues

Fishermen threaten to shut down power plant

Jakarta Post - March 18, 2003

Kasparman, Padang -- Some 1,400 fishermen on Monday threatened to cut off the water supply to the Singkarak hydropower plant in West Sumatra, saying its operations had depleted the Singkarak Lake's fish population.

The fishermen, from various villages surrounding the lake, demanded the government and state-owned electricity company PLN respond to the threat the power plant posed to their livelihoods during a rally at the provincial legislature in Padang.

Although short of imposing an ultimatum, the protesters told legislators they would close a tunnel which channels water from the dam to propel the plant's turbines.

"The PLTA (hydropower plant) has drained the lake's fish population by sucking fish into the tunnel ...," Singkarak Lake fishing community forum head Masrial Akmal said.

Fishermen complained in particular about the decline in the population of the bilih fish, which they said was endemic to the lake.

Fishermen Arles Rusman said that prior to the plant's opening in 1998, he could catch between 10 kilograms and 20 kilograms of bilih fish per day. "Now catching just one kilogram is difficult," he said.

Masrial said the fisherman had been complaining ever since, but neither the government nor PLN had responded.

No one at PLN's headquarter in Jakarta could be reached for comment when telephoned after office hours on Monday.

PLN had established breeding farms to maintain fish stocks. The fry were then released into the lake, the fishermen said.

But they said this method failed to increase bilih stocks as the fry were eaten by the bigger fish in the lake.

"We know this PLTA is making a profit all the time, so we ask that some of this profit be used to compensate us for our losses," said Masrial.

The group also demanded an environmental impact study on the power plant's operations.

News & issues

'For a billion rupiah, I'll quit dancing'

Agence France Presse - March 22, 2003

Jakarta -- An Indonesian singer whose erotic dance style has stirred controversy says she will quit and attend religious classes provided she is given one billion rupiah.

Ms Inul Daratista said yesterday she had been interviewed by reporters from two American magazines asking why some people had made a fuss over her dancing She pointed out that Jakarta nightspots offered striptease shows but those who criticised her dance routine as "erotic" remained silent about the strip joints.

"Why is it me who is being chastised?" the Koran Tempo daily quoted her as saying. "Give me a billion rupiah and I'll sleep at home and join [Islamic] religious classes."

The Indonesian Ulemas Council, the leading authority on Islam in the world's most populous Muslim country, has told the dancer to repent and drop her dance routine. Islamic authorities in several provinces have banned her from performing.

Sales of Ms Inul's CDs and VCDs of dangdut -- traditional Indonesian music with a strong Indian influence -- have soared thanks to the publicity over her dancing.

Last week, the council urged political parties contesting next year's elections not to hire as campaigners artists whose performances might be considered immoral and pornographic.

The call followed reports that some parties were considering hiring Inul in the run-up to the polls.

Political parties which hire scantily dressed artists for their rallies might create a negative impression of being supporters of immorality, MUI secretary Ichwan Syams was quoted as saying. "The phenomenon of Inul Daratista might strengthen our assumptions about there being a global scenario to destroy the ummah [Muslim community] by desecrating its religious values."

President to sue daily for defamation

Jakarta Post - March 22, 2003

Jakarta -- President Megawati Soekarnoputri plans to sue Rakyat Merdeka daily for comparing her to Soemanto, a man who confessed to eating parts of dead human bodies.

"The President herself said she could not sleep after reading the newspaper's headline and decided to file a lawsuit against the paper," journalist Susanto Pudjomartono told The Jakarta Post on Friday. Susanto was referring to a headline that appeared in Rakyat Merdeka in January, which suggested that Megawati was crueler that Soemanto for raising electricity and telephone rates, and fuel prices.

Megawati announced the planned lawsuit during a luncheon with members of the Editor's Club, which was also attended by Kompas publisher Jakob Oetama, Kompas chief editor Suryopratomo, Metro TV senior editor Andy Noya and TV7 chief editor August Parengkuan.

Rakyat Merdeka daily is known for its daring headlines and is currently facing another lawsuit by House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Indonesians hit out at thugs

Straits Times - March 20, 2003

Robert Go, Jakarta -- The growing menace of premans or thugs is taking centre stage as the Indonesian public now vent their frustrations openly after the controversial Tempo magazine harassment case.

The recent episode of tycoon Tommy Winata's thugs assaulting Tempo writers after a critical story on him was published by the magazine has stoked a debate and sparked off public criticism.

In the assault case, politicians have held ad hoc hearings while the police -- yielding to strong public pressure -- have started a probe based on Tempo's complaints.

The public, however, does not believe this will affect those behind the thug gangs in any way.

Prominent activist Marco Kusumawijaya, who campaigned against Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso in last year's gubernatorial race, said: "They're everywhere, and exact a heavy cost on society. The damage is particularly harsh for the poor, who have no choice but to acquiesce." But there is mounting concern about the problem.

Jakarta dentist Agatha Purnomo complained: "Each month, two or three local youths come around asking for a donation. I pay them, because I'm afraid they would break in and ruin my office otherwise. The amount is not big, but it is a hassle."

Even those not well off want to speak up. Street vendor Hardi (not his real name), 42, at the Tanah Abang market in the heart of the city told The Jakarta Post: "After last month's fire, business here is not going very well. But I still have to pay a large proportion of my profits to thugs." The Tanah Abang market was at the centre of the Tempo controversy, for the magazine had alleged that Mr Winata, who had submitted a re-development plan for the market, could have had a hand in the fire.

Mr Hardi said he had to pay around 8,500 rupiahs (S$1.66) in "security fees" every day to five different gangs operating in the market.

Premanism, as the issue is commonly known here, has been a scourge for a while now, with the thug gangs hitting out even at prominent Indonesians who try to use legal channels to resolve disputes.

These groups exist and operate at every level of Indonesian society. They do not always use force but depend on the threat of violence to serve their masters' interests.

At lower levels of society, thugs prowl the streets and collect protection money from people who can barely afford to feed or clothe themselves.

Transport vans plying inter-city routes pay unofficial tolls at various pick-up points before local thugs allow them to pass through to the next destination point.

And at the top end, Indonesia has private armies for hire during street protests against controversial political issues of the day.

These may masquerade as youth wings of religious groups or political parties, or work more openly as feudalistic thugs who serve a master, as in the case of Mr Winata.

Political analysts said even groups such as the Defenders of Islam -- who speak up publicly against sins and make a habit of wrecking bars -- work for monetary reasons. Such groups can play more heinous roles, with experts alleging the involvement of premans in escalating social and religious conflicts in parts of the country.

Experts believe that premans will continue to figure importantly in Indonesian society unless the police and the authorities decide to crack down on these private armies.

The problem is that policemen are often co-opted and maintain friendly relations with preman dons.

And besides, the economic crisis fuels the problem by creating millions of unemployed youths who have few options but to join gangs in order to earn a living. Most observers think the problem will only get worse in the future.

Dr Tamrin Tomagola, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia, said the fact that the police force can be bought by preman leaders, coupled with the country's sluggish economy, are key factors.

He argued: "Without a crackdown by the police, these groups will multiply and flourish. And they have no recruitment problems, as millions of youths are unemployed.

"If we want to fight thugs, we have to strengthen the police force and make it more professional. And at the same time, the economy has to improve, so that these groups would find it more difficult to get fresh members."

Health & education

Indonesia's new Bill 'trying to Islamise education'

Straits Times - March 22, 2003

Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Indonesia's educators and religious leaders have called on Parliament to drop a new education Bill amid fears its controversial content will threaten private schools' autonomy and encourage religious segregation in the country.

The Bill on National Education System, now being debated in Parliament and likely to be endorsed on May 2, was drafted by lawmakers to replace the 1989 Law on Education System, considered to be irrelevant in the light of political and social changes in the country.

The new Bill is aimed at regulating the school system in the era of decentralisation when much of the central government's power is relegated to the regions. But it has been criticised as being too heavy on religion and too light on education.

About 2,000 teachers grouped under the Concerned People for National Education rallied outside the House of Representatives on Wednesday to pressure lawmakers to either review or drop the Bill.

One of the protesters, Mr B.N. Marbun, a former member of the National Commission on Human Rights, told The Straits Times: "There is a trend to Islamise our education system, which could threaten our nation's mission to educate the people."

The protesters are against a controversial provision in the Bill which requires all students to receive religious instruction according to their beliefs from teachers of the same faith, and schools to provide places of worship for all their students.

This would mean than non-Islamic private schools that have some Muslim students will have to provide Muslim teachers for religious studies, and vice versa with Islamic schools.

Currently, only state-owned schools or secular private schools offer religious classes for students of major religions, usually Islam and Christianity.

That provision in the Bill has been proposed by members of the conservative Muslim factions in Parliament who fear that some non-Muslim private schools have been forcing their religious teachings on their Muslim students.

Earlier, some Muslim groups opposed missionary institutions, accusing them of converting Muslims to Christianity. But there have been no known cases of forced conversions at private Catholic and Christian schools.

Many Indonesian Muslims send their children to Catholic schools, where the education standard is normally higher than that at state schools. This is despite the fact that these schools require all students, including non-Catholics, to attend classes on Catholicism.

Similarly, private Islamic schools, such as the Al-Azhar, also make it compulsory for non-Muslim students to attend Islamic lessons. However, their numbers are too small that they are not likely to be affected by the new legislation.

Resistance to the Bill comes mainly from private Catholic and Christian schools and educators from predominantly Christian provinces such as North Sulawesi, who see it as a threat to the tradition and character of mission schools.

The Bill is also being attacked by critics who see it as an indication that the state is increasingly interfering with the individual's rights to a religious belief.

Teachers protest over religious education bill

Radio Australia - March 19, 2003

About 3,000 Indonesian teachers have flooded the grounds of parliament in protest against a bill on religious teaching in schools.

The teachers shouted and waved placards urging the government to scrap an article in a new bill, which stipulates all students, even in religion-based schools, have the right to receive instruction in their own religion.

An Education Ministry official said the bill, expected to be passed in May, would apply to all schools.

Religion-based schools which are open to children from other faiths will in future have to provide religious teachers for those faiths.

Schools based on religions such as Catholicism or Islam have expressed reservations, saying the move would obscure their original mission.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-populated nation with some 90 per cent of its 212-million people following Islam.

But Islam is not the state religion and other faiths are respected.

Clove cigarette reform up in smoke

Sydney Morning Herald - March 17, 2003

Matthew Moore, Jakarta -- When you're talking tar, few cigarettes can match it with Indonesia's kreteks, the aromatic tobacco and clove mix preferred by 90 per cent of smokers here.

The most potent full-flavour cigarettes available in Australia these days have 14milligrams of tar and 1.4mg of nicotine. But in Indonesia the Government has decided high tar will stay.

A local cigarette manufacturer produced a table this year listing kretek cigarettes' tar figures. Gudang Garam tops the list at 53.2mg of tar. Most are in the middle and high 40s, with one less than 30mg of tar.

It's not just the cancer-causing tar, or the nicotine levels of well over 2mg, that worry health authorities. Eugenol, a substance in cloves, compounds the effect of the tar, said Dr Anhari Achadi, an adviser to the Health Minister.

Also, the Indonesian health policy adviser for the World Health Organisation, Sarah Barber, said more and more men in particular are taking up smoking.

The Government told cigarette manufacturers to reduce the tar and nicotine content in cigarettes to a maximum of 20mg of tar and 1.5mg of nicotine within three years. After protests, the regulation was replaced in 2000 giving manufacturers years more time.

This week, the Government walked away from that regulation and said it would scrap tar and nicotine reductions even though the regulation was not due to take effect for four years.

Tulis Abadi, of the Indonesian Consumer Protection Association, said elections in April next year are the reason the Government acted now.

Many of the cigarettes are hand made, so reducing tar and nicotine content requires new types of tobacco, new ways of mixing tobacco and possibly the use of filters. The industry found it easier to politicise the issue, threatening mass lay- offs of farmers and factory workers rather than adapt to the regulation, he said.

While it was negotiating this surrender last month, a group of Indonesian Government health officials was in Geneva signing up to the framework convention on tobacco control.

To have any effect, Indonesia's Parliament would have to support the framework's anti-smoking measures, such as publishing tar and nicotine content figures on packets, a prospect that now seems a long way off.

Islam/religion

Iraq war a blow for Islamic moderates

Radio Australia - March 20, 2003

Australia's Islamic neighbour Indonesia has fiercely opposed the US-led attack on Iraq calling on the UN to hold an emergency session. President Megawati Sukarnoputri who made the call after a lengthy cabinet meeting in Jakarta, had earlier assured Australian Prime Minister John Howard that she understood a war in Iraq was not a war against Islam. But is the Indonesian leader's understanding shared by the nation's majority?

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Speakers: Dr Azyumardi Azra, President of the State Islamic University, Jakarta

Azra: "I think so, at least by the formal and informal leaders In fact I attended a meeting yesterday with the Co-Ordinating Minister of Social Welfare, Yusef Galah yesterday in in his office.

"He gathered a great number of leaders, religious leaders, social leaders, informal leaders and then we agreed that the war in Iraq is not a religious war."

Lam: All the same though, do you think the war in Iraq may undermine President Megawati and indeed moderate Islamic opinion in Indonesia by providing ammunition to the more extremist views?

Azra: "The war is unfortunate because of course this is a war against humanity, we have to underline this that it is unfortunate that the wars are launched by the US and also UK and also Australia who claim to be the staunchest supporters of democracy.

"It's ironic that the United States, the British and the Australians talk about democracy but at the same time they resort to violence, to wars, instead of finding peaceful means of resolving the conflicts.

"This is unfortunate for us, for the moderate that we lose our arguments to talk about democracy, to talk about human rights, to talk about peaceful resolution of conflicts and things like that."

Lam: So are Indonesians disappointed then that Australian troops are going to be fighting alongside the US forces?

Azra: "Very, very disappointed of course, we are very disappointed because Australia is our very close neighbour. The Prime Minister John Howard should refrain himself from being directly involved in the war. Most Indonesians, regardless of religion, regardless of ethnic background, regardless of their ideology now stand against the war."

Lam: Is there a danger that that opposition to the war in Iraq might be translated into possible attacks against western targets in Indonesia?

Azra: "Of course we do not expect that because we hope that they express their opposition to wars in a peaceful manner, because we also believe that any kind of violence is not going to resolve any problem.

"But we have to make clear to the world that we are against any kind of aggression to any independent and sovereign country like Iraq.

"But we have to also make it clear that if we're against the war this doesn't mean that we love Saddam Hussein. We don't love Saddam Hussein because we know that he's a dictator. He's a ruthless dictator but at the same time it is not justified to attack Iraq."

Lam: Do you think that the more extremist elements within Indonesia may exploit the situation and try and generate more violence within Indonesia?

Azra: "That we are afraid of, we expect of course the extremists do not take this opportunity to undermine, to destabilise the country. We expect of course these are very hard painful times for us, for the fighters of democracy in Indonesia, but of course again we regret this very terrible war."

Armed forces/police

Indonesia's army plays power politics

Far Eastern Economic Review - March 27, 2003

John McBeth, Jakarta -- Controversial new legislation that would give the Indonesian armed forces unilateral authority to deploy troops in the event of an emergency appears to undermine efforts by reformers to impose civilian supremacy over the military.

Critics fear the move by a new generation of conservative officers may return the country to the days of President Suharto, when the army was used as an instrument to maintain the status quo. Analysts link this reassertion of power to several events that together have removed pressure on the military to knuckle under to civilian control.

First, international pressure on the military eased following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. Secondly, the Bali bombings last year refocused attention on domestic security. And thirdly, the Indonesian parliament seems reluctant to cross the armed forces in the run-up to mid-2004 elections.

But former Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono, the first civilian to hold the post, also places much of the blame on weak government leadership. "I blame civilian political leaders for the praetorian-guard mentality that persists among the officer corps," he told the Review. "To be sarcastic about it, the 'un- supreme quality' of civilian political leaders makes 'civilian supremacy' a farce."

Reformers had been hopeful that the military would come under civilian control after Suharto fell almost five years ago. This reform process began under President B.J. Habibie, who succeeded Suharto in mid-1998. Military representation in the regional and national parliaments, which had become enshrined under Suharto, was reduced. Active-duty officers were prohibited from being elected or appointed to positions in the civilian government.

Over time, the military broke its links to the former ruling Golkar party, and in 1999 the 200,000-strong police force was separated from the armed forces. Under Habibie's successor, Abdurrahman Wahid, the military formally abandoned dwifungsi, a doctrine dating back to Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, that gave the military both a political and a security role in Indonesian society. Last year, the People's Consultative Assembly, Indonesia's highest legislative body, voted to end the military's parliamentary participation altogether in 2004.

The furore over the current legislation, called the Indonesian Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia or TNI) Bill has focused mainly on one portion, Article 19. That is a provision under which the armed forces chief is required only to inform the president 24 hours after deploying troops when he determines the well-being of the state is at risk.

It was only this month that the full implication of the provision was publicized by civilian academics who formed part of a 48-man Defence Ministry task force assigned to consider the legislation earlier this month. Even if the offending provision is withdrawn, however, there are serious concerns that the military may prevail on legislators to overlook other flaws, especially ones that blur the lines between civilian and military authority to deal with unrest. "Article 19 is only one of the provisions that will undermine two key principles, one defining political decision- making as the basis for any military deployment, and the other laying out the importance of civilian supremacy," says Rizal Sukma, a political researcher who sat on the task force.

Critics say there is nothing in the bill that determines whether the Defence Ministry or the cabinet will decide on troop deployments to tackle the kind of domestic upheaval seen in recent years in the eastern Moluccan islands and the island of Sulawesi. Nor does the legislation spell out the limits of military involvement in domestic situations or rules of engagement.

Civilian reformers still hold out hope that Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djali or Justice Minister Yusril Izha Mahendra will make significant changes to the bill before it reaches the legislature. Some feel that there might even be an effort by the government to delay the bill until after the elections.

Says Sukma: "At the end of the day, it's the Defence Ministry that has the authority to submit the bill to parliament, not the TNI headquarters." He believes the ministry made a mistake in early 2002 when it asked the TNI to draw up the first draft of the bill, which in affect invited the military to regulate itself. Predictably, when the 48-member task force began discussing the legislation last November, it quickly became bogged down in heated debate. Eventually, the task of sorting out differences was left to a 15-man working committee, which included academics Kusnanto Anggoro and Ikrar Nusa Bhakti.

But when that working committee met for the last time in January, members failed to reach a consensus. Ikrar says it was decided that the final draft of the bill, along with proposed changes, would go back to a plenary session of the task force.

What happened next stunned the civilians, leaving them with the impression they had been dealing with a fait accompli from the start. Unknown to them, a small, four-man panel, comprising three generals and an air force colonel, quietly put the finishing touches on a separate draft -- this one closely resembling the original that the military submitted last year. On February 3, the panel bypassed the plenary session and presented its draft to Matori. Insiders say that the minister accepted it because he didn't want to risk a confrontation with the army leadership.

Sudarsono says it is clear that the original drafters paid little attention to Indonesia's constitution or the 2002 Defence Act, both of which stipulate that the sole authority to declare a national emergency rests with the president. But he notes that since mid-2001, senior officers have been genuinely concerned about the civilian political leadership, about the involvement of party leaders in money politics and, especially, about their perception that politicians show more concern for rebel casualties in places like Aceh than the casualties of their own army.

With the Defence minister and the TNI commander both occupying positions in the cabinet, it is unclear where President Megawati Sukarnoputri stands on the bill. She has generally enjoyed a close relationship with the military. But hardline army chief of staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu recently said that the military's primary institutional duty is to the people of Indonesia and it must not side with any politician.

Indonesian media quickly dubbed Article 19 as the "coup d'etat article," implying that it would allow the military to deploy troops against the government. Ryamizard -- widely regarded as one of the guiding lights behind the provision -- responded by pointing out that if the army was bent on staging a coup, it wouldn't need Article 19 anyway.

For one Western source who was intimately involved in the drafting process, the language of the bill and the way in which it has moved forward are clearly ominous signs. "The momentum is building up," he says. "Article 19 didn't fall from the sky. It's reflecting a mindset about things that are possible again. The whole discussion about the military has fallen back into the patterns that were around before Suharto's fall from power."

There is also speculation -- some of it coming from sources close to the military -- that army conservatives see Article 19 as a contingency measure to be used in two or three years if the 2004 elections fail to produce a government that can rule effectively. Analysts say if Suharto had a similar article at his disposal, he would not have had to spend three years legitimizing his hold on power after the creeping overthrow of Sukarno, Megawati's father, in 1966.

Former Attorney-General and leading Golkar party figure Marzuki Darusman sums up the feelings of civilian reformers: "The article is just sinister. How can they get away with it?"

'Small budget does not justify TNI mercenary activities'

Jakarta Post - March 18, 2003

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Pressure has continued to rise on the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police to stop allowing their personnel to receive "honorariums" from sources other than the state, with observers saying it would weaken the two security forces' commitment and loyalty to the state.

Indria Samego from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said on Monday such practices would also cause internal friction in military and police institutions, which would in turn disrupt their ability to tend to state duties.

"It creates an impression that TNI and the police are simply tools of certain companies and thus lowers their standing. The [mercenary] practice must be stopped," Indria told The Jakarta Post.

Indria, who wrote a book on the military's business involvements, emphasized that the practice could cultivate collusion among soldiers and private companies.

Legislator Arief Mudatsir Mandan, from the United Development Party (PPP) and who is in charge of state budget drafting, regretted the practice, as all expenditures and revenues of the military must be reported to the House of Representatives (DPR).

"This is a violation of the state budget. Those receiving gratuities must be punished," Arief told the Post. He added that the House defense commission would summon military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto for clarifications on this matter.

Both Indria and Arief were referring to giant mining company PT Freeport Indonesia in restive Papua province, which admitted to having paid protection money to the military and police since 1996. The company said the funds were disbursed to pay for infrastructure costs, catering, dining halls, housing, fuel, travel, vehicle repairs and maintenance, allowances for incidental and administrative costs, and community assistance programs conducted by the military and police.

In its statement released over the weekend, Freeport said it had paid US$5.6 million in protection money in 2002, up from $4.7 million in 2001.

The US-based company also said the Indonesian government had looked to the company to provide logistical and infrastructure support and supplemental funding for security operations in Papua, because of their limited resources and the remote location and lack of development in the easternmost province.

TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin acknowledged that the military also received protection money from ExxonMobile operating in the strife-torn province of Aceh. The National Police have not responded thus far.

Former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono said TNI personnel had been taking protection money since the late 1970s, when the state budget for TNI was reduced and field commanders were allowed to make extra money.

Indria said that the practice had reduced TNI and police officers to the status of mercenaries and it could cause jealousy and rivalry between those deployed to secure big companies and those who were not.

Arief emphasized that the defense budget was regulated transparently according to the state budget, and disclosed that military and police heads usually proposed their budgets to legislators and the finance ministry for approval.

"If an extra-budget income is made, either of a domestic or foreign donation, it must be recorded and reported to the House. If not, it is not transparent," he added.

Arief and Indria emphasized that the low budget allotted to TNI by the state could not justify the mercenary practice. "We all know that all departments have a small budget, not only TNI," Arief added.

TNI nothing more than mercenaries: Analysts

Jakarta Post - March 17, 2003

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) must stop collecting protection money from firms operating in the country as the largess would confirm the impression that TNI personnel were mercenaries who only sold their services to the highest bidder, analysts say.

Former defense minister Juwono Sudarsono and former Navy intelligence officer Djuanda said on Sunday that TNI should not have funding sources other than the state, and that collecting payments from other sources would erode their loyalty to the state.

"The state should be the only source of funding for the TNI," Juwono told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Djuanda said that by demanding protection, a perception had been created that the TNI was just a group of mercenaries.

"Continuing the habit of collecting fees from other sources has turned the TNI into nothing more than mercenaries and will create a loyalty crisis," Djuanda was quoted by Antara as saying on Sunday.

Yuwono and Djuanda were commenting on news reports that gold and copper mining company PT Freeport Indonesia was paying tens of billions of rupiah to TNI personnel guarding the company's operations in Papua province.

Both TNI commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and PT Freeport Indonesia have confirmed the reports. In 2002 alone, the company provided US$5.6 million for the TNI there, up from US$4.7million 2001.

Collecting protection fees from both state-owned and private firms is commonplace in Indonesia, where security personnel, both TNI and police are paid poorly, but given a free hand to "make" extra money.

Companies paying the fees are not limited to big firms like Freeport but also small firms or side-walk stalls who are required to pay protection money to either the TNI or the police.

Juwono said TNI personnel have been conducting the practices since the late 1970s, when the state budget was reduced for the TNI and the commanders in field were provided with a kind of "discretion" to acquire extra money. "When I was minister of defense, an executive from ExxonMobil, Ron Wilson, admitted that the company provided support funding for security to TNI via state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina," Juwono disclosed.

He said the money was not delivered directly because the US government banned the distribution of funds for the military or government officials for any reason.

"Usually, Pertamina plays the role as the funding channel from these mining companies for the country's security officers," Juwono remarked. However, he refused to link such payoffs with a string of violence taking place around Freeport, which many suspect could be related to a desire for an increase in fees.

The murder of separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay in 2001, and the ambush killing of two American teachers and an Indonesian employed by Freeport on a road to the mine last year were two major cases which concerned the company.

Seven soldiers from the Army's special forces, Kopassus, are on trial for the Theys murder, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is still conducting an investigation into the ambush. "The province is already a strife-torn area," Juwono remarked.

Djuanda emphasized that such payments could make soldiers loyal to whomever could pay them the most.

The former military advisor for former president Abdurrahman Wahid said that safety of the country was the main obligation of the TNI and the government had specifically assigned them to protect energy sites from any security threats.

In the two war-torn provinces of Papua and Aceh, where several giant natural resource sites are located, there is an extremely heavy presence of military and police personnel.

Military ties

Engage Indonesia's military

Far Eastern Economic Review - March 20, 2003

John B. Haseman -- Indonesia's difficult transition from autocracy to democracy is almost five years old. The huge and disparate country struggles with economic, social and political problems that have proved far more difficult than expected.

Likewise, Indonesia's military -- its most powerful and cohesive institution -- is struggling to find its role in an emerging democracy.

Indonesia's civilian institutions receive a variety of assistance in the form of international loans, educational programmes and advice to assist in the transition from autocracy to democracy. But the military -- the Tentara Nasional Indonesia , or TNI -- has received little outside help in its reform process.

Make no mistake, the TNI has much to answer for. For instance, it was implicated in supporting brutal violence in East Timor, and recently former senior TNI officers were indicted in Dili. The TNI leadership thus far has failed to come to terms with this legacy and account for the misdeeds of a tiny handful of its personnel. Retention of good relations with the United States and other countries requires that the TNI punish those responsible for those incidents.

Why then should Western democracies, and specifically the United States, resume a meaningful relationship with the TNI? The answer is simple: It is in the basic national interests of both to do so. The US began tentative steps towards restoring its relationship with the TNI after the terrorist attacks in the US dramatically changed the strategic world environment. The instrument chosen is restoration of funding for the International Military Education and Training programme, or Imet. This programme provides for the training of foreign military personnel in US military schools, where they sit side by side with their American counterparts for periods ranging from three months to a year or more.

Imet is arguably the most cost-effective instrument for military-to-military contacts the US has. Should the US resume the programme for the TNI, the immediate result would be to provide sorely needed management expertise to TNI personnel. More importantly, however, Imet is an effective programme for exposing TNI officers to key concepts about the role of the military in a democratic society, the system of civilian control of armed forces and the importance of human rights in both domestic strife and international conflict. These are exactly the requirements that Indonesia's much-criticized military needs to move forward with efforts at reform and increased professionalism.

The TNI is an inward-looking force that lacks extensive experience with the outside world. It has a low percentage of officers with higher degrees and the level of broad understanding that comes with advanced-education programmes. Isolation has not helped the military to reform, nor has it supported US strategic interests in the region.

But it is not all bad news. Many of the officers trained under the Imet programme remain in Indonesia's government, filling key cabinet and parliamentary posts. They have successfully implemented many military reforms, begun a hopeful political settlement to violence in Aceh and gave early warning about international terrorists in Indonesia. These men have been able to moderate policies of more doctrinaire officers and contain hardline efforts to reverse many important reforms in the TNI. Overseas education and international exposure has made a difference.

Ending Imet funding for Indonesia in 1993 has reaped an unfortunate legacy -- a generation of senior officers with scant knowledge of the world beyond Indonesia, and little first-hand understanding of the role of the armed forces in a democratic society. Within the TNI headquarters itself, there are only two Imet-trained senior officers, and precious few younger officers with international experience remain on active duty. A country struggling with human-rights problems and accountability needs more outside education and training, not less. As a senior US diplomat told me: "Imet is the best investment we can make in long-term grass-roots democratic values for the TNI."

Restoring Imet training will help the TNI to modernize and reform, and assist the US in meeting its strategic objectives in Asia. Overseas training by itself is not guaranteed to change the minds of its graduates or the policies of a country. But it does create friendships and professional contacts that endure for decades. Both Indonesia and the US need those friendships.

[The writer is a retired US Army colonel who served in Indonesia between 1978 and 1994, the last four years as US defence and army attache. He has written extensively on Indonesian political- military affairs, most recently as co-author with Angel Rabasa on The Military and Democracy in Indonesia: Challenges, Politics, and Power.]

Economy & investment

Letter of intent signed with IMF

Laksamana.Net - March 20, 2003

The Indonesian Government has signed a new Letter of Intent (LoI) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), together with a memorandum on eonomic and financial policies (MEFP) to IMF managing director Horst Kohler.

The documents were signed by the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Finance Minister Boediono and Governor of Bank Indonesia Syahril Sabirin.

A statement from the Coordinating Minister's office says the LoI explains progress in implementing the government's economic program, "with increasing signs that its efforts are laying the basis for a durable recovery".

The LoI will be presented to the IMF Executive Board for its consideration later this month. A successful completion of the review will enable the next IMF tranche to Indonesia of about $450 million.

The LoI states that the rupiah has strengthened, interest rates have fallen along with inflation, and the balance of payments position has improved with a further build-up in international reserves.

"Notwithstanding the tragic events in Bali last October, economic growth has been sustained," the statement said. "These positive developments were facilitated by a cautious monetary policy and continued fiscal consolidation, as well as further advances in structural reforms.

"The Government's program for 2003 aims to strengthen growth and employment prospects by enhancing competitiveness and fostering a more attractive investment climate."

The statement says action is being pursued on the following topics:

1. Consolidation of recent gains on the macroeconomic front through the continued implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies to achieve the framework targets GDP growth of 4 percent, and aims to reduce inflation to 9 percent by year-end through:

a. Monetary policy that will be geared toward maintaining a downward trend in inflation and preserving broad exchange rate stability;

b. Reducing public debt to more manageable levels, while maintaining spending on infrastructure and boosting the provision of key social services, with resulted a budget deficit of 1.8 percent of GDP, as approved by Parliament in November

c. Mobilizing non-oil tax revenues centers on a continuation of tax administration reforms initiated in 2002. In this connection, the initial operations of the Large Tax Payer Offices (LTOs), now under way since last September, will be expanded to more taxpayers in Jakarta while evaluating an expansion to other regions at a future date;

d. Implementing public debt management strategy aims to lower the budget's debt service costs, and to minimize refinancing risk by improving the maturity profile of debt. The Government Debt Securities Law has been enacted, and an interdealer market has been established to provide transparent price discovery for market players. The Government is strengthening the regulatory framework and developing the market infrastructure needed to enhance the liquidity of the secondary market for government securities.

e. Improving fiscal transparency and public sector governance remain priorities in 2003. The Government will continue its efforts at budget consolidation. All remaining funds not previously consolidated will be brought under the control of the central government. The main findings of the audit of the Reforestation Fund completed last year have been submitted to Parliament, and corrective action plans adopted. In addition, the main findings of the audits of the two investment funds (RDI and RDA) completed last year have been submitted to Parliament. Necessary corrective action plans will be developed by the government in consultation with Parliament.

f. Improving performance of the public sector is also being strengthened through the ongoing program of performance audits of state enterprises which corrective actions identified under the second round-audits are being carried out for Garuda, Pelindo II, Jasa Marga, Telkom, PT PN-IV, and a progress report on their implementation has just been published;

g. The government will also take steps to strengthen the framework for auditing military and other foundations receiving state funds or financing state activities. The government is preparing amendments to the Foundations Law, to be presented to Parliament in its next session, to clarify the legal basis for the BPK to undertake such audits.

2. Enhancement of financial system stability by further strengthening the banking system, state bank governance, and the regulatory framework

a. With regard to IBRA bank divestment, the sale of Bank Danamon has been launched, and is expected to be completed by April, followed by the plan to launch the sale of Bank Lippo;

b. With regard to the efforts to strengthen state bank governance center on steps to improve oversight and accountability, the Government is committed to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises to monitor state bank performance, and additional staffing resources are being provided to the Ministry for this purpose.

c. With respect to the restructuring and divestment of state banks, the initial public offering (IPO) of Bank Mandiri is expected to be listed in the second quarter.

d. With regard to develop sound financial sector safety net, the Ministry of Finance, with inputs from Bank Indonesia, is developing a comprehensive plan to be completed by end March 2003. 3. improvement of the investment climate through legal and other structural reforms

a. Decentralization: While significant progress has been made, further work is needed to strengthen the fiscal, legal, and administrative framework for decentralization. A priority will be to strengthen the procedures governing the issuance of regional regulations that have the potential to conflict with the national interest. To this end, the Government intends to continue its efforts to enforce existing reporting requirements and ensure compliance with government directives canceling problematic regulations.

b. Labor: Following the major reform of the rights of association and union activity in 2000, modernization of complementary labor legislation relating to industrial relations has become a priority. A bill relating to labor protection has now been passed, and the Government is working closely with Parliament to ensure that the other bill in this area, on industrial dispute resolution, is enacted during the first half of 2003.

c. Commercial Court: The emphasis in 2003 will be on the further development of the Commercial Court, which has jurisdiction over bankruptcy and intellectual property rights cases.

d. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC): The commission is expected to fully operational by no later than December 2003, as required by the Anti-Corruption law. In this regard, the government intends to submit names of candidates for the five positions of members of the ACC to Parliament by July 2003.

Indonesian recording industry at crisis point

Jakarta Post - March 17, 2003

Arya Abhiseka, Jakarta -- Oka claims that he sells every kind of music available, and has all his wares stacked neatly on a blanket spread on the street in front of West Jakarta's Glodok retail center, the city's largest market for pirated CDs and cassettes.

"Asereje [Las Ketchup] is the hottest thing lately, and I have it combined with some other artists you may like," said the Medan- born youth.

Oka sells one CD for Rp 5,000 (56 US cent) and three for Rp 10,000, much less than the official retail prices of Rp 20,000 and Rp 50,000 for cassettes and CDs respectively. "Business is very good. It's as easy as selling peanuts," he remarked.

Oka also offers music from local groups such as Dewa, Padi or Sheila on 7, complete with unofficial versions of their greatest hits. "On one CD, you can get every song from all of Dewa's albums. It's the same price as any of the others, only Rp 10,000," he said.

Riza Arsyad of jazz group Simak Dialog told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the Indonesian recording industry had reached crisis point.

"Appreciation for intellectual property has reached its lowest level ever from the public, the industry and the government, which is why piracy is so rampant," he explained.

In a bid to raise public awareness of intellectual property rights in the music industry, the government has declared March 9 as National Music Day, coinciding with the anniversary of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya, which was penned by composer Wage Rudolf Supratman.

A new intellectual property rights law was enacted last year. Many musicians, however, have recently questioned the government's political commitment to implementing the law.

"Piracy has been going on for years and continues to use the same modus operandi. Do we see any progress being made by the government in curbing it?" asked Anang Hermansyah, a noted Indonesian musician.

Anang pointed out that the government's lack of political will was also shown by the fact that if an artist scored a hit, retailers would immediately request quick deliveries in order to meet the public demand.

"Often times, however, the bureaucracy delays the delivery of products. It also leads to extra costs, and by the time the CD is on the shelves, the public could well have lost interest," he explained.

Currently Riza and a few other musicians are planning to establish a music industry watchdog to be known as the Indonesian Recording Artists Association (Asari) in an attempt to press the industry to move in the right direction.

Asari's job will include encouraging more top-ranking musicians in the recording industry's hierarchy of influence to become involved as music contract, royalty and piracy monitors.

Asari also plans to become more proactive in promoting intellectual property rights among the public.

"We take the view that musicians must take charge of the music business. We cannot rely on the government or recording companies to set the rules for the whole recording industry," he says. Indonesia has become Southeast Asia's principal digital piracy center, something that inflicts huge losses on the local recording industry.

The Sound Recording Industry Association of Indonesia (Asiri) earlier reported that currently the percentage of pirated CDs compared to originals amounted to 600 percent. The is a huge increase over the 12 percent of original recordings back in 1997.

The United States has recently warned Indonesia, and put it on its priority watchlist next to China in terms of the level of digital piracy.

The warning could also be followed by economic sanctions, with Indonesian products being denied access to the US, and eventually an all-out embargo. Riza explained that part of the problem was due to the fact that the public's access to entertainment was being restricted.

"The prices of CDs and cassettes are simply too high in view of the nation's current economic situation," he explained. Riza suggested that the government facilitate the production of affordable recordings for all levels of society.

Meanwhile, David Tambunan, a spokesman for the PT Aquarius Musikindo recording company, said that currently the recording industry could see no way of providing more affordable products as the cost of production was too high.

However, Riza claimed that the cost of materials, such as CDs and cassettes, for the production of albums was currently next to nothing. He was sure that his idea would be successful if it were acted upon.

"If the street vendors can sell a pirated CD for Rp 5,000, then we should be able to sell the original recording for Rp 8,000. Let the public decide whether they want to buy an original for Rp 8,000 or a pirated copy that is only marginally cheaper," he suggested.