Aceh

Troops kill eight rebels in war-ravaged Aceh

Agence France Presse - September 13, 2003

Eight separatist rebels including a local leader have been killed in fresh clashes in Indonesia's war-torn Aceh province, the military said.

Teungku Ramli Basyah, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) deputy chief for Pase region, and his bodyguard were killed during a raid in the Keude Geudumbak area of North Aceh on Thursday, said Major General Bambang Darmono, commander of the military operation in the province. He said Basyah, 35, was a deputy of Sofyan Daud, GAM commander for the Pase district in northern Aceh. Daud was not immediately reachable for confirmation.

Both rebels had tried to escape but soldiers had closed all exit points in the area during the raid, Darmono told a press conference. He said soldiers seized a handgun and some ammunition from Basyah. The general said local residents had reported Basyah's activities in the area. Basyah had managed to escape two previous raids. A resident told reporters that the pair had fought for 20 minutes before being killed.

Troops shot dead three suspected rebels in separate clashes in the Samalanga area of Bireuen district on Wednesday and Thursday, said Aceh military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki. He said soldiers killed three other guerrillas in South Aceh's Bakongan area and the Tiro area of Pidie district on Wednesday.

Basuki said security forces also arrested 12 suspected rebels in several areas in the past three days.

The military is now in its fourth month of an all-out drive to rid the resource-rich province on Sumatra island of the rebels, who have been fighting for independence since 1976.

Military spokesman Ditya Sudarsono said Friday that as of Thursday troops had killed 845 guerrillas, while more than 1,800 others had been arrested or had surrendered since the offensive began on May 19. The military had lost 39 soldiers and the police 15 officers.

Aceh police say at least 319 civilians have been killed during the same period while 108 have gone missing. They did not say which side was to blame for the civilian deaths.

Jakarta mulls listing GAM as terorist group

Jakarta Post - September 13, 2003

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The government has prepared the necessary documents to have the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group and its leaders placed on the United Nations's list of terrorist groups, a government official says.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Friday that the government had enough evidence to convince the world that GAM had been involved in a series of terrorist acts in the country. "Everything is ready. If the government decides to take GAM to the United Nations Security Council, we are ready now," said Marty.

GAM, which has been fighting for independence for the resource- rich province since 1976, has been implicated in a number of explosions in the capital, including the 2000 Jakarta Stock Exchange blast, two bomb explosions at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in April this year and at Cijantung Mall in July 2002. "There is no doubt that the organization has been involved in a series of terrorist acts in Indonesia," Marty said.

Marty said the government had been considering the option for some time, but had decided to postpone it pending the result of the ongoing legal process against GAM leaders in Sweden. "We choose to put the option on hold, pending the result from Swedish authorities regarding our request to take action against GAM leaders," the official said.

He explained that an organization or individual could be included on the UN consolidated terrorist list at the request of any member country providing there was no objection from other member countries. Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers separatist group is one example of a rebel group included on the UN terrorist list.

The government launched on May 19 a joint operation aimed at stamping out GAM rebels from the country's westernmost province. More than three months into the operation, government troops have managed to incapacitate only 35 percent of GAM's 5,000 rebels. There are currently 35,000 troops and 14,000 police personnel on the field tracking down GAM rebels.

The government has also urged the Swedish government to take action against GAM leaders Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmood and Zaini Abdullah, who live in the country and have Swedish citizenship. President Megawati Soekarnoputri's special envoy Ali Alatas submitted legal evidence against these men to the Swedish government earlier this year. The Swedish government has promised to proceed with the legal examination to determine whether the Indonesian government had a strong case against the rebel leaders.

The inclusion of GAM on the UN terrorist list would put pressure on the Swedish government to take legal action against GAM leaders, as the listing would make it obligatory to do so.

Earlier, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police had included proof of GAM's alleged involvement in April's bombing near the UN headquarter in Jakarta and at the airport in evidence submitted to the Swedish government. "We have presented new legal evidence, such as the possible involvement of GAM rebels in the recent bombings in the capital," Da'i said. He said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would submit additional proof upon request from Sweden.

Revoking military emergency a precondition for elections

Sinar Harapan - September 16, 2003

Jakarta -- Revoking the status of a military emergency in Aceh is a prerequisite for holding general elections in Aceh. If not, it will be difficult to hope for quality elections.

This was the common thread in the discussion "Empowering the 2004 Elections to Resolve the Aceh Conflict" which was held in Jakarta on Monday September 15. Appearing as a speaker was the Managing Coordinator of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), Ray Rangkuti and Australian Indonesian-ist, Max Lane.

"If elections are still going to be held in Aceh the military emergency must be ended first and the administration returned to the civilian [government]. If not, it will be difficult to hope for a quality election there. The large number of troops in Aceh will only benefit the large [political] parties", said Rangkuti.

According to Rangkuti, a quality election has a number of prerequisites. Firstly, everyone who has the right to vote must do so in a safe atmosphere, without coercion, to ensure that their choice is in accordance with their conscience. However providing a feeling of safety during the elections in Aceh represents the big problem.

Secondly, there is a concern among Acehnese people that if they are too accommodating towards the elections they will come under pressure from GAM [the armed separatist Free Aceh Movement], while if they are not accommodative enough they will be stamped with the anti-NKRI tag [anti- the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia which implies support for independence and/or GAM].

Thirdly, there will be many situations which are unjust during as campaign it proceeds in Aceh. Fourthly, there is no guarantee of security over the distribution of logistics [for the election] in Aceh which could disrupt the elections.

"There is still another problem, where the TPS (polling booth) will be located. If it is near a military barracks there will certainly be a problem. The TPSs must be in a neutral place and must be easy to access", said Ray.

Nevertheless, Ray was convinced that the elections in Aceh would still be held because of the political reasons which are a consideration for the government. According to Ray, the government will explain to the public that the situation in Aceh is safe, with the elections as evidence of this. Secondly, though the elections, the government will also obtain legitimisation that Aceh is part of NKRI.

Ray also declared that only the big parties would participate in the election in Aceh, because it is difficult for the new parties to obtain the access to establish branches there because of security problems.

Cease fire Meanwhile, Max Lane said that aside from the need to end the military emergency, there needs to be a cease fire agreement. Max Lane added that what is needed in the elections is an agreement that all spectrums be given the same opportunities, both those who are pro-NKRI and those who are pro-referendum and independence.

"If only the large parties participate in the elections in Aceh, there will not be any party which is articulating a referendum. If the elections in Aceh are not in accordance with these preconditions the local elections will not produce any kind of resolution. The election must be carried out in a peaceful atmosphere", he said.

On the preconditions which were mentioned earlier, Max Lane said the elections in Aceh must produce a semi-final (sic) resolution between the struggle to win two different visions, that is independence or continuing to maintain Aceh as part of NKRI.

Max Lane hoped that the elections which will be carried out in Aceh will be able to change the mentality and methods of rule in the territory. So far according to Lane, the mentality and methods of rule in Aceh are still the same as during the period of the New Order [regime of former President Suharto].

"This struggle over the two vision of independence or pro-NKRI cannot be resolved by just asking the people to put up red and white [national] flags", said Max Lane. (emy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Human rights monitor: 'Lift martial law!'

Green Left Weekly - September 10, 2003

Vannessa Hearman, Melbourne -- Rachland Nashidik, who visited Australia at the invitation of Indonesian Solidarity, is program director of Imparsial, a human-rights monitoring organisation in Indonesia. Nashidik's main message, when he spoke at Melbourne University on August 26, was that the Indonesian government must lift martial law in Aceh.

Nashidik said that Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri had given a "blank cheque" to the Indonesian military (TNI) in Aceh. He said he was concerned that the Acehnese people's democratic right to participate in the 2004 Indonesian election would not be respected under martial law. "The TNI [has] warned that martial law could last for 10 years in Aceh', he said.

Nashidik argued that it was too late to demand that Indonesia return to the negotiating table, as TNI figures such as Kiki Syahnakri and Eddy Sudradjat are already claiming victory in Aceh. Instead, martial law must be lifted and civil and democratic rights returned to the Acehnese. "People have to register their names when they want to buy phone cards even, such is the level of harassment of civilians there", Nashidik pointed out.

Nashidik said the key issue is that the Acehnese people should be free to choose the political arrangements for their territory.

Nashidik said Australians should reject Canberra reestablishing ties with the TNI, "especially Kopassus", the TNI's feared special forces unit. General Sriyanto, head of Kopassus, is due to visit Australia in September. He is facing trial before an Indonesian human rights tribunal over the 1984 shootings of Muslim protesters in Tanjung Priok. Nashidik said resumption of military ties would send "a very bad signal" to the Indonesian people.

"The terrorist threat is real in Indonesia and it frightens us, but intelligence agencies such as BIN [the National Intelligence Body] are using this as an opportunity to grab extra power", Nashidik explained. A new intelligence training academy has been set up in Batam Island, off Sumatra.

100 women raped since martial law declared

Green Left Weekly - September 10, 2003

James Balowski, Jakarta -- As many as 100 women have been raped since martial law was declared in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh on May 19. A report, evaluating the first 100 days of Jakarta's so-called "integrated operation" to restore "security and order" and crush the Free Aceh Movement, was presented to the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) on August 28 by the Friends of Aceh (FOA).

The report said most of the victims were too frightened to take legal action; only 21 cases of rape or sexual harassment have been reported to police. Last July, three solders in Aceh were convicted of rape and given short jail terms by a military court.

FOA is a coalition of non-government organisations, which includes the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association, Solidarity Without Borders, the Kotaraja Forum, Daughters of Aceh for Justice, the Purple Institute, National Solidarity for Papua and the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence.

In one particular case, FOA cited the gang rape of a 16-year-old woman by five Indonesian military (TNI) personnel in the sub- district of Keramat in North Aceh. Following the incident, the victim and her family were threatened by members of the district military command (Koramil) and warned not to report the attack to police.

The Lhokseumawe military command in North Aceh rejected FOA's account of the incident. TNI spokesperson Bambang Darmono was quoted by the Jakarta daily Kompas on September 2 as saying that the "perpetrators were all civilians" and called the report a "cheap shot" intended to "damage TNI's image" and create a "pretext" to call for an end to the military operation in Aceh. Darmono also said that he was opposed to any attempt by FOA to come to Lhokseumawe to gather evidence to support its findings.

However, Darmono admitted to Kompas that the incident was reported to Koramil. He said a member of Koramil proposed to the victim that she seek a "peaceful resolution" to the case. The woman was then struck by a Koramil member, Sargent Bakhtiar, who was annoyed because the victim declared that a junior officer had joined in the rape. He said that the case is now being processed by North Aceh district police.

In response to the report, Komnas HAM chairperson Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara told Kompas that, if the report is correct, it represents a gross violation of human rights and that Komnas HAM will be sending its Ad Hoc Team for Aceh to investigate.

Nusantara added that, regardless of who the perpetrators were, the attacks must be given serious attention as women often become the victims in armed conflicts. He said the general picture being painted in Aceh was one of ongoing and widespread violence against civilians.

Forced relocation is a crime

Kompas - September 10, 2003

Jakarta - The forced relocation of a population, as has occurred in Aceh, can be viewed as a crime against humanity. Therefore the regional emergency military command (PDMD) must avoid relocating populations forcibly.

The working coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, raised this issue in a discussion titled "The Fate of Acehnese Refugees: Between Coercion and Suffering" in Jakarta on Tuesday September 9.

In his working paper, he said that the PDMD should instead heed the stipulations of international and national law before taking coercive action. He warned that "The forced relocation of a population, either through a [direct] order or because of the negligence of a superior, can be categorised as a crime against humanity and the [actions of the] perpetrator as well as their superior should be investigated by a human rights court.

"Based on the principles of command responsibility, the emergency military command cannot avoid responsibility for criminal acts of this kind. On the contrary, they can also face criminal charges if it fulfills certain conditions, such as those referred to in Article 42 of Law Number 26/2000 on Human Rights Tribunals", said Usman.

Another speaker, a staff teacher from a course on social law and development from the University of Indonesia's Faculty of Law, Heru Susetyo, gave an explanation on the general [legal] principles [involved] in handling internal refugees.

First of all, refugees must enjoy the same rights and freedoms under the protection of national and international law as other citizens in their country. Discrimination on the grounds of their status as a refugee is prohibited [under law].

The party most responsible in this case is the central authorities. They are obliged to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to refugees in their region.

Quoting from Kontras data, Usman said that the number of refugees in Aceh this year had reached 83,682 families or 334,727 people. If this is compared with the total population in Aceh of 4.2 million, the total number of refugees can be categorised being high. If this is calculated from the beginning of the military emergency in Aceh [which was declared on May 19] up until August 21, the total number of refugees has reached 107,267 people. Of this number, 18,397 people are still in refugee camps. (win)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Malaysia walks tightrope on Aceh refugees

Asia Times - September 9, 2003

Baradan Kuppusamy, Kuala Lumpur -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is sending a delegation to Kuala Lumpur to discuss the fate of some 2,500 Acehnese asylum seekers.

"A high-level UNHCR delegation is flying in from Geneva on Wednesday to hold discussions with Malaysian officials. We hope to resolve the status of all the asylum seekers," said an official, who declined to be named.

Asylum seekers, who fled after the Indonesian military began on May 19 its offensive to quell the 27-year-old separatist rebellion in Aceh, have been granted temporary protection letters by the UNHCR but remain slated for deportation by the Malaysian government.

In a statement in Geneva last Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, who is expected to head the delegation to Kuala Lumpur, said the planned deportation runs counter to "assurances" given by the Malaysian authorities. He said the officials had agreed the asylum seekers "would not be returned to a situation which could endanger their lives and well-being".

Lubbers said in the statement posted on the UNHCR website that it hoped the Malaysian government would observe a moratorium on deportations. "We have been in telephone conversations with the authorities since [last] week," he said.

Indonesian officials were reported to have asked Malaysia to send the Acehnese back to the country.

Last month, police arrested 232 Acehnese as they approached the UNHCR office here to seek protection. They are now being held at a detention camp in northern Malaysia, pending deportation by ship across the Straits of Malacca and back to Indonesia. The detained Acehnese include women and children.

"If deported, they will be killed or imprisoned. The Indonesian military's human-rights record in Aceh is appalling," said Dr P Ramasamy, who studies regional conflicts involving minorities at the National University of Malaysia. "Malaysia should not bow to Indonesia pressure and refuse shelter to the Acehnese. We must help," he said.

Officials had said 12 of the 232 Acehnese were deported late last month after they agreed to leave voluntarily, but rights activists allege the 12 could have agreed because of duress.

The police operation last month during which 232 Acehnese were arrested was put on hold after an international outcry. The remaining asylum seekers given the temporary letters are believed to have dispersed and are living in squatter settlements in and around the capital.

Although not arrested, the fate of all the Acehnese is in the balance, said the UNHCR official, noting that has been an upsurge in asylum seekers since the May offensive in Aceh.

Meanwhile, several US representatives have added weight to the UNHCR demands in a protest letter to Malaysian Ambassador in Washington Ghazzali Sheikh-Abdul-Khalid, saying that last month's deportation of the 12 Acehnese was "unacceptable" and runs counter to humanitarian values and laws. "We urge that your government's authorities abide by international law and not forcibly return any more Acehnese to Aceh," they said.

Ramasamy said that Malaysia had "closed an eye" to the hundreds of Acehnese landing here after Aceh was put under martial rule in May, but that pressure from Indonesia had led to a change in policy.

He said Malaysia's position hardened immediately after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri met last month at their annual summit. Mahathir said after the meeting that Acehnese fleeing here would be arrested and deported. "They are illegal immigrants and they came here to look for jobs," he said.

Malaysia is not a signatory of the UN convention on refugees and therefore says it is not legally bound to shelter the Acehnese. As undocumented immigrants, Acehnese can be subjected to tough immigration laws that provide for five-year jail term, fine and whipping for entry without valid documents.

"The Acehnese, some of them flew in on commercial flights, were looking for jobs when arrested," said a Foreign Ministry official. "Some of them have relatives here and are well looked after ... they are not refugees."

Malaysia also fears that because of the proximity of the troubled province -- just five hours by slow boat across the Straits of Malacca -- that Acehnese would swamp the country if the government recognizes them as refugees.

While Malaysia maintains that it does not recognize refugees or asylum seekers, it has nevertheless selectively given shelter to peoples from troubled regions as diverse as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Palestine, Africa and the southern Philippines. But it has dithered over sheltering Acehnese largely because of pressure from "big brother" Indonesia and the fear that the crisis would balloon.

The national human-rights group Suaram rebuked the government for pursuing its "myopic" policy of lumping refugees as undocumented migrants, saying this worsens the refugees' suffering. "Deporting them is like signing their death warrant," said Suaram coordinator Cynthia Gabriel. "Malaysia's continued disregard of humanitarian laws and shoddy treatment of asylum seekers is appalling." She said it is not difficult to differentiate between economic migrants such as Indonesian and Bangladeshi workers and Acehnese fleeing war and persecution.

Echoing similar sentiments, Ramasamy said the government can and must "safely house" Acehnese until the end of the military offensive in Aceh. "It is the only decent and proper thing to do," he said. "The country is already flooded with migrant workers and we are still requesting for more workers from neighboring countries. Why just deny help for Acehnese?" Ramasamy said, urging the government not to bow to Indonesian pressure.

Observers said the government is likely to take a middle line -- deporting some Acehnese while quietly allowing others to stay here temporarily until the situation in Aceh improves.

UN officials estimate that more than 10,000 people have died in the conflict in Aceh since 1976, most of them civilians. About 1,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians in the current military offensive, activists say, and 46,000 people internally displaced.

Rebels kill woman and daughters: Military

Agence France Presse - September 9, 2003

Banda Aceh -- Indonesia's military accused separatist rebels on Tuesday of gunning down a woman and her two daughters at their home in war-torn Aceh province.

Spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki said four people led by a known member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) burst into a house at Baroh village in Pidie district late Sunday. He said the woman and two of her daughters were shot dead on the spot while another daughter was in critical condition in hospital.

"The motive for the slaughter is that the victims have been known to have been close with personnel of the Indonesian armed forces," Basuki said. GAM could not immediately be reached for comment.

The military is now in the fourth month of an all-out drive to rid the resource-rich province on Sumatra island of the rebels, who have been fighting for independence since 1976.

Three killed in war-ravaged Aceh

Agence France Presse - September 8, 2003

Three people including a soldier have been killed in clashes between troops and separatists in the Indonesian province of Aceh, the military said.

A first sergeant was shot dead during a clash at Bukit Seuntang in North Aceh late Sunday afternoon, said military spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki.

Soldiers shot dead a rebel during a raid on a suspected hideout at Bakongan in South Aceh on Sunday morning, Basuki said. He said two guerrillas were captured in a similar raid at Ingin Jaya in Aceh Besar district later the same day.

A civilian was found dead with a gunshot wound in the head at Kruet Tempen in Pidie district on Sunday, Basuki said.

Troops combing the Buloh Blang Ara region in North Aceh district on Sunday found two home-made bombs planted on a road and defused them, he added.

The military is now in its fourth month of an all-out drive to rid the resource-rich province on Sumatra island of the rebels, who have been fighting for independence since 1976.

On Saturday the military said it had so far killed 830 guerrillas while more than 1,700 others have been arrested or had surrendered since May 19. The military had lost 36 soldiers and the police 15 men as of Saturday.

Aceh police said at least 319 civilians have been killed during the same period while 108 have gone missing. They did not say which side was to blame.

Government urged to justify plans to extend operation

Jakarta Post - September 8, 2003

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The 2004 general elections should not be used as an excuse by the government to maintain the presence of thousands of troops in the war-torn Aceh province, says a former minister.

The military campaign against the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has undermined several fundamental rights of civilians, including freedom of expression, former minister of justice and human rights Hasballah M. Saad said on Sunday.

"Under martial law, the military has the authority to put aside other existing regulations for the sake of so-called security interests, including the possible elimination of non-governmental organizations in Aceh, despite their important role in assessing fairness and accountability in the elections," he told The Jakarta Post.

Hasballah was responding to an earlier remark made by the Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto who said that he would propose an extension of the six-month military offensive in Aceh and maintain the presence of some 35,000 troops there at least until the 2004 general elections.

Jakarta imposed martial law on May 19 in an integrated operation in Aceh, which was supposed to have included a humanitarian operation, security operation, law enforcement and empowerment of the local administration.

Speaking at a hearing with House of Representative Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs, Endriartono argued that the huge number of troops in Aceh was required to provide security for the Acehnese in exercising their right to vote. The police have said that more than 300 civilians have died since the military operation started.

Hasballah said that the government should invite public participation, instead of listening to personal opinions, before deciding whether or not to extend the military operation for another six months.

"Such a massive deployment of troops in Aceh will only close the door on democracy and adversely affect the Acehnese in channeling their aspirations. Under martial law, the military also has the authority to put aside other regulations for the sake of security," said Hasballah who is also a former senior advisor on Aceh issues at the Ministry for Political and Security Affairs.

He said he was doubtful that the military would be able to ensure transparency in the elections.

Under the Emergency Law, the military should complete its operation in May 2004, or two months before the country holds a direct presidential and vice presidential election. The National Elections Commission (KPU) is slated to hold the legislative elections in April 2004.

Aceh martial law administrator Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya has given a guarantee that Aceh will participate in the general elections despite the ongoing conflict.

Hasballah further demanded a thorough evaluation of the operations, saying that the government had failed to synchronize it. "Only if the military operation is able to accelerate results in the three other operations, can we agree to the proposed extension," Hasballah said.

Separately, legislator Amris Hassan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) spelled out conditions for the government's plan to extent its military operation in Aceh, underlining that the offensive should be followed by improvements in humanitarian efforts as well as transparency in its budget.

Amris said that lawmakers should also demand firmer legal action against soldiers who committed abuses while carrying out their tasks, arguing that "many abuses are still taking place in the province." He did not discount the military's achievement in establishing a conducive situation in the four-month-long campaign and said that it would be up to the lawmakers to consider whether to allow the presence of thousands of security personnel up until the 2004 general elections.

House Commission I set up a monitoring team soon after the military campaign started in Aceh. According to Amris, the team noted the operation had failed to promote transparency in the operation's budget, had made little progress in providing humanitarian assistance and had committed countless human rights abuses.

West Papua

Collapse of promised Papua autonomy deal

Radio Australia - September 10, 2003

Dr Laurence Sullivan is a British lawyer who's been working on Indonesia's current Special Autonomy Law for the restive, but resource-rich province of Papua. He says the Indonesian Government's failure so far to grant promised autonomy to Papua is actually helping the independence movement, and undermining the unity of the Indonesian state.

Presenter/Interviewer: Nic Maclellan

Speakers: Doctor Lawrence Sullivan, International law expert.

Sullivan: I would have to say that there has not been significant progress. A large round-table meeting was held in Jayapura in July, with stakeholders from the Provincial government, the central government and various community groups in Papua and it concluded that Special Autonomy has only been 10 per cent implemented -- and this is over 18 months after Special Autonomy became valid law of Indonesia.

MacLellan: The Autonomy Law proposed the establishment of a Papuan People's Assembly. Has this body been established?

Sullivan: No, that body has not yet been established and the non-existence of the Papuan People's Assembly is one of the core problems with the Special Autonomy Law.

The Special Autonomy Law quite clearly states that the province would make a proposal to establish this Assembly, and then the Government would have to issue a regulation to establish the Assembly within one month of receiving the proposal.

Papua Province submitted the proposal to Jakarta in July 2002, and the government has still not yet completed the regulation and issued it. So the regulation is now one year late and this is clearly in violation of Indonesia's own Special Autonomy Law.

MacLellan: Indonesia's President Megawati Sukarnoputri has also proposed dividing the province of Papua into three separate provinces. Has this affected the way the law would be implemented?

Sullivan: Yes it has. The issuing of the Presidential Instruction in January of this year was most unexpected in Papua and it is not clear what effect the Presidential Instruction and the fragmentation of Papua will have on Special Autonomy.

The government says that it will implement the three provinces plan, and then it will implement Special Autonomy. But seven months after the issuing the presidential instruction, the government has still not give a coherent detailed explanation of how these two apparently contradictory policies will be compatible.

MacLellan: Indonesia goes into national elections in 2004. Do you think the election period will provide a context where this law can proceed?

Sullivan: I'm not sure if the election period will assist the process, but I would hope that in the aftermath of the general elections next year that significant players in Jakarta will be able to have a fresh look at Indonesia's Papua policy and revert to the autonomy strategy that is clearly laid out in the Special Autonomy Law of giving Papua autonomy to satisfy its legitimate grievances, while maintaining the territorial integrity of Indonesia.

MacLellan: As well as those that support greater autonomy for Papua, there's also a strong independence movement. Do you think Jakarta's stand has strengthened or weakened supporters of autonomy?

Sullivan: I think the government's actions in the past year and a half have undermined those Papuans who are involved in the Special Autonomy process and were prepared to work with Jakarta.

As you said, many components of the community in Papua were never that keen on Special Autonomy and one of there arguments was that Jakarta would never implement a meaningful level of autonomy to Papua, and up to now that argument has been proven correct.

This is one of the main problems I think: the non-implementation of special autonomy is bad for Papua but it's also bad for Indonesia, and it would appear to me that Jakarta does not yet fully understand how an autonomous system of governance works.

The idea that to keep the country together, you have to let go and you have to let the Papuans express their identity and culture and give them self-government within the country and then they will be happier to stay within the country.

I think it's ironic that certain elements in Jakarta who claim to be defending the territorial integrity of the state, but by their actions they are actually strengthening the independence movement and undermining Indonesia.

Stone age meets Christ

Reuters - September 9, 2003

Dean Yates, Hebuba -- Against the backdrop of mist-shrouded mountains and a new brick church, tribesmen in Indonesia's restive Papua province grabbed their bows and began firing arrows into more than 100 pigs tied to stakes. The dying pigs howled and thrashed madly. A few bloodied beasts broke free, sending women and children scattering until groups of men from the warlike Dani tribe brought them down. One huge pig made it to the nearby Baliem river. Three youths jumped in and kept its head under the water until it drowned.

All this time, 2,000 villagers danced to mark the opening of a new Catholic church -- celebrated with a traditional pig feast -- keeping alive the customs of the central highland's Baliem valley, a lush region hidden from the world until an American explorer discovered it in 1938.

Tradition still thrives in Papua, the Indonesian western half of New Guinea island where some tribes only emerged from the Stone Age decades ago. But those traditions, especially in places such as the Baliem valley, have had to fight the forces of Christian missionaries, tourism and a government in Jakarta bent on modernisation.

Once, cannibalism was rife. So was tribal warfare. And despite the cold, Dani men wore nothing but penis gourds, a dried vegetable sheath held in place by a string around the waist. The warring among Dani clans and the taking of heads has largely disappeared, although media recently reported two tribes in this region battled for days over a land dispute, killing three. Fewer men wear the penis gourds.

But the pig feasts, such as the one at Hebuba village, remain and the Dani identify strongly with their culture and history. "There is no contradiction between our religion and the ancient traditions," said church official Niko Lani, wearing black trousers and shirt and white tennis shoes. Several feathers were tucked into a band around his head. "But religion helped get rid of bad things."

Pigs, painted faces and penis sheaths

At the pig feast, only a few old men wore the gourds. Many had war paint on their faces, or yellow and white feathers from Papua's famous birds of paradise in elaborate head-dresses. Home to the highest peaks between the Himalayas and the Andes, few places are as remote or inhospitable as Papua. The Baliem and its administrative capital Wamena -- 3,500 km east of Jakarta -- is accessible only by plane.

Largely Christian and animist Papua was incorporated into the world's most populous Muslim nation in 1963. In 1969, a UN-run plebiscite held among local leaders resulted in a vote to join Indonesia. The vote has been called unfair. The Baliem is a 60-km by 15-km pocket of land nestled amid rugged mountains. It is home to 120,000 people, including migrants from other parts of Indonesia who control commerce. Besides their farming skills, the Dani have few other ways to make money. That has forced many to cash in on their culture. Photograph a Dani wearing a gourd and he will seek payment.

At several villages, great leaders of the past called "big men", who have been smoke-cured into a mummified squat, are brought out of thatched huts for $6 (four pounds). In the same villages, bare-breasted women in grass skirts will pose -- for 1,000 rupiah (10 cents) a photo. Tribal fights can be commissioned, as can a pig slaughter. Still, Dani leaders scoff when asked if their culture has been commoditised or might be dying out. "We cannot be separated from our culture," said clan leader Jali Mabel at Jiwika village after emerging from his hut, his forehead smeared with black soot and wearing only a gourd. Maybe so, but contact with the outside world has given the young a choice. At the church festival, their shirt of choice had the name Beckham or Rivaldo inscribed on the back.

Converting the cannibals

Another influence has been mainly American missionaries, who poured into the Baliem valley in the 1950s. Two hours drive from Hebuba, over rickety wooden bridges and a pot-holed road, lies the Protestant village of Pyramid. Here, white clapboard houses with brick chimneys stand in contrast to the domed thatched Dani huts.

Most missionaries have since left Pyramid, handing over the reins to local priests. Missionaries are revered by some Papuans in the highlands. But senior members of the Papuan church elite accuse the conservative evangelical groups of brainwashing. Indeed, missionaries are treading an increasingly fine line when it comes to converting Papuans as Indonesia takes on a more Muslim flavour. Several missionaries approached by Reuters declined to speak about their work or status in Papua.

Prominent Protestant church leader Benny Giay slammed the conservative evangelical groups. "Wherever they have gone, they have brainwashed I think maybe three generations of church leadership with their own understanding of Christianity, which is not open to our culture, our wisdom, our history," said Giay.

Local officials have never really had a problem with the missionaries, seeing them as a bridge to the remote regions. Back at the festival, pigs roasted under log fires. One fearsome looking Dani man, tusks through his nose and a spear in his hand, paced around the field, chanting a welcome to visitors. His only other attire -- white Adidas tennis shorts. "We will pass these traditions on to our children, like our fathers did," said Josep Siep, watching the display, as he shared tobacco with two other men wearing nothing but a sheath and multi-coloured feathers in their hair. Those who worship football superstars David Beckham and Rivaldo may think otherwise.

Troubled Papua fears for future

Reuters - September 9, 2003

Dean Yates, Wamena -- It was a typical Sunday in a village not far from the highland town of Wamena in Indonesia's restive Papua province.

Word spread that police from the feared elite mobile brigade were on their way. Villagers, wearing their best clothes at a Mass in a church, dropped their prayer books and fled, said one village elder. Many ran for the mountains that ring this mainly Christian region of the world's most populous Muslim nation. The police never came that Sunday a few months ago, but the incident demonstrates the fear of the security forces across the giant province.

Following the military's fresh offensive in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island, in which more than 800 people have been killed since May 19, independence and religious leaders worry the country's other separatist hot spot will be next. What happens in Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, will say much about how far Indonesia is prepared to go to keep the archipelago together. Foreign investors, eyeing the province's vast natural resources, will be watching in particular.

Already, Jakarta's plan to split Papua into three provinces has sparked discontent, and in recent weeks at least four people have been killed in clashes. That could start a fresh cycle of violence. "This just showed how scared people are. Villagers are still traumatised by past military operations," said the elder, who asked that neither his name nor that of the village be used.

Larger in area than Japan, Papua has had an unhappy history since Indonesia wrested control from former colonial ruler the Netherlands in 1963. The United Nations later sanctioned a vote by hand-picked local representatives that has been called unfair. Jakarta says it has brought development to Papua, introducing modernity to people who only recently have emerged from the Stone Age. The army denies charges of rights abuses.

Intimidation and distrust

But a 10-day trip through this untamed region on the western side of New Guinea island, where some tribesmen wear nothing but penis sheaths, shows many Papuans want independence, having lost faith in the government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri, especially since she signed the plan to split Papua in January. Intimidation of Jakarta's opponents had grown, some said.

Another potential flashpoint could be violence with migrants from other parts of Indonesia. They comprise at least one third of Papua's population and control the economy. "Living here, being part of this community, part of these people, you feel like there is a systematic agenda from Jakarta to create conflict," said Benny Giay, a respected Protestant church leader, wearing a knitted pouch for his handphone which had Papua's banned independence flag woven on it. Community leaders said Jakarta's plan to split up Papua was a response to a growing movement of political and religious figures backing independence. The declaration of one separate province was postponed last month after rival groups fought with spears and four people were killed. The government argues that splitting up Papua will make it easier to spread the province's wealth.

But at the heart of any debate about Papua is the military, which has about 10,000 troops in the province. Papua, also called West Papua, helps the generals meet shortfalls from the state budget, which only covers a third of their operational needs, through protection for foreign investment projects and the military's own businesses. "West Papua for the military is a treasure trove," said Denise Leith, an Australian academic and author of "The Politics of Power: Freeport in Suharto's Indonesia". "That's one reason why they would be far less willing to let go of West Papua than they ever were with East Timor." The military and the Jakarta elite are still chastened by East Timor's loss in 1999, when the former Portuguese colony voted in a UN-sponsored ballot to break from Indonesian rule.

Educated people the threat

Papua military chief Major-General Zainal Nurdin dismissed threats from a dwindling band of rebels called the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) who have fought for independence for decades. What concerned Nurdin was a civilian movement whose members, he said, were using "clever" ways to pursue independence, such as linking their agenda to human rights, traditional land usage issues and demands for a revision of Papua's history. "It's like this. If this is not handled seriously now, later it will become worse," he said. Nurdin said this group of "educated" people could be anyone.

Indeed, there was a flowering of openness in Papua after the downfall of former autocratic President Suharto in 1998. Tribal and community leaders established the Papuan Presidium Council, which sought independence peacefully. It stole the spotlight from OPM. Then, in November 2001, special forces soldiers killed the presidium's leader, Theys Eluay. Some were jailed, with the toughest sentence three-and-a-half years. Nurdin said if people were scared of the military, it was because of the past, not post-Suharto military policies.

He said there was no need for martial law similar to that imposed in Aceh. Accusations that the military wanted to create conflict were nonsense while charges that the generals were using Papua to make money were "vulgar", he said. "Why would it be good to be in a conflict area? That's very tiring. That's why I said if there are groups who still don't like us, they will seek any reason [to attack us]," he said.

That doesn't wash with Eluay's replacement as leader of the presidium, Tom Beanal. "For 40 years we have been deceived. Every policy has been made with the intention of getting rid of the Papuans," he said.

Komnas HAM launches probe into rights abuses in Papua

Jakarta Post - September 10, 2003

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- A seven-member team from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has begun to investigate allegations of human rights abuses in the province of Papua.

The team, led by Safroedin Bahar, arrived in the provincial capital Jayapura on Monday evening to begin a one-week inquiry. It met separately on Tuesday with Papua Governor Jaap Salossa, church leaders and activists from non-governmental organizations.

The team is scheduled on Wednesday to meet with Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Budi Utomo, Trikora Military commander Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal and the deputy speaker of the Papua legislative council, John Ibo.

It will gather data and information in Jayapura, Wamena, Wasior and Timika, where non-governmental organizations have accused security personnel of human rights violations.

The Komnas HAM mission also will look into the murder case of separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, who was found dead in his car on November 11, 2001. Several members of the Army's elite Kopassus force were convicted in the killing.

"We will meet with the Papua police chief to get information on the cases of Theys and Wasior, while from the Trikora Military commander we want to get information about the Wamena case," Safroedin said on Tuesday.

He said the inquiry into the murder of Theys, a former leader of the Papua Presidium Council, would focus on reports of human rights violations.

The team is being assisted by Papuan activists Demianus Wakman, Iwan K Nidoe and Salomina Yaboisembut. It is divided into two groups -- one to investigate alleged human rights abuses in the areas of Timika and Wasior, the other in examine the murder of Theys and allegations of rights abuses in Wamena, Safroedin said.

In Wamena regency, the team will investigate the validity of a report released by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence stating that at least 16 villagers were killed in the course of a search by soldiers for guns stolen by suspected separatist rebels in April of this year.

The dead were mostly from the village of Kuyawage, according to the June 6 report, which stated that other villagers also died of starvation after fleeing to the forest in order to avoid the soldiers.

The weapons were stolen on April 4 in a raid that left three people, including two soldiers, dead. The attackers made off with 29 firearms, 22 of which were later recovered by the military.

Safroedin said the team would speak with villagers in Kuyawage to obtain first-hand information on the alleged deaths. "However, I have been told that access to Kuyawage is very difficult as it only can be reached by plane," he said.

In Timika, the Komnas HAM team will look into allegations of human rights violations when two American teachers and one Indonesian were killed in an ambush by gunmen near the US gold and copper mine PT Freeport Indonesia.

Also in Timika, the team is planning to investigate alleged human rights abuses during recent tribal clashes between opponents and supporters of the creation of Central Irian Jaya province. At least five people were killed in a week of fighting last month after Central Irian Jaya was declared a province.

Members of the Komnas HAM team will also look into a 2001 attack that took place in Wasior. The attack, which left five members of the police's Mobile Brigade dead, was blamed on a group of unidentified gunmen.

Safroedin said the findings of the team would be discussed during a plenary meeting of Komnas HAM in Jakarta. "The team has been given until October 24 2003 to complete its work. The results of its investigations will be presented during the plenary meeting to draft recommendations for the President and ministers," he said.

Indonesia says may close restive Papua to tourists

Reuters - September 10, 2003

Jakarta -- Indonesia said on Wednesday it might ban foreign tourists from visiting restive Papua, where four people have been killed and dozens wounded in recent clashes over government plans to divide the province.

War-torn Aceh province, Indonesia's other separatist hot spot, was closed to tourists in June and restrictions placed on aid agencies and foreign media working there.

"Yes it is true," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa when asked about reports the government was considering closing Papua to foreign tourists. "Tourist visas for those entering Indonesia should specifically exempt areas of unrest. This means Aceh and Papua."

Separatist insurgencies have been simmering in the two provinces -- Aceh in Indonesia's northwest and Papua in its far east -- for decades. Government forces launched a major offensive against the Aceh rebels in May. Some foreigners had used tourist visas to travel to Papua while conducting activities seen by the government as inappropriate, the spokesman said. He did not elaborate.

Papua is a giant province on the western side of New Guinea island where some tribes only emerged from the Stone Age in recent decades. Foreign tourists have never visited Papua in large numbers, but its jungles, huge array of wildlife and fascinating cultures have plenty of appeal for those looking for adventure.

"At the minimum, there is the potential impact on their safety, like the case with Germany," Natalegawa said. The tourist ban in Aceh came after troops shot dead a German tourist who failed to identify himself to a night patrol.

The government put Aceh under martial law when it launched the fresh offensive against Free Aceh Movement rebels. More than 800 people have been killed. The military says most were rebels.

The unrest in Papua followed a government decision early this year to divide Indonesia's largest yet most under-populated province into three in a bid to accelerate development in the resource-rich region.

Many analysts see the move as an attempt to weaken the independence movement.

The government said after the clashes erupted last month it had shelved plans for one of the new provinces.

Largely Christian and animist Papua was incorporated into the world's most populous Muslim country in 1963. In 1969, a UN-run plebiscite held among local leaders resulted in a vote to join Indonesia. The vote has been widely criticised as unfair.

Foreign supporters of Papua separatism to be monitored

Kompas - September 9, 2003

Jakarta -- Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda has stated that the government is continuing to monitor the possibility of support from a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region for a group of people in Papua who have ideas of Papuan independence, separating from the Republic of Indonesia. The government will ask countries which support Indonesia's territorial integrity to be consistent in their positions.

"We must be realistic because on two out of three occasions in conferences of Asia Pacific countries at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), participating countries have repeatedly given support to our territorial integrity and sovereignty over Papua. However we will continue to monitor [the situation]", explained Wirajuda.

According to Wirajuda, the support [for Indonesia] by countries in the Asia Pacific region who are members of PIF materialised in the release of the August 19 Declaration. In this declaration, countries in the Asia Pacific region explicitly referred to Indonesia as the authority which has sovereignty over Papua. Aside from this, these countries also reiterated their support for the complete and immediate implementation of special autonomy [in West Papua].

Indications of Vanuatu's support in providing an opportunity for the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to open representative offices in the country were denied by Vanuatu's foreign affairs department in late August.

"We are monitoring this issue and after we checked (there), for the existence of OPM, GAM or RMS (Maluku South Republic) representative offices in Vanuatu it was denied. Although there are representatives [of these movements] in Vanuatu, clearly it has not been admitted to. As long as there are representative in the country, we will take diplomatic action", he said.

With regard to suspicions of Australia's involvement in [supporting the separatist movement in] Papua, up until this time no evidence has been found. Formally and on several occasions, the Australian government has instead [given its] full support for Indonesia's territorial integrity including over Papua.

"In relation to this suspicion, the Australian government has asked us [to provide them with] evidence if we find indications that that Australian non-government organisations are conducting pro-independence activities in Papua. If such evidence is found, the Australian government will take action", explain Wirajuda.

Taking diplomatic steps

Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said that friendly countries have consistently done the right thing though statements supporting the sovereignty and integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia.

"This consistency should materialise in a position of not supporting any of the separatist [movements] on our country, either in Aceh or the OPM in Papua", said Yudhoyono after presenting greetings from President Megawati Sukarnoputri at the opening of the general session of the 24th Asian Inter- Parliamentary Organization at the national parliamentary complex on Monday September 8.

In relation to reports that Vanuatu supports the separatist movement in Papua, Yudhoyono added that so far, in fact there is not complete information on the report.

According to information from the Indonesian minister of foreign affairs, officially Vanuatu has never given formal support to the OPM. "If it is actually true that Vanuatu formally and officially supports the OPM or GAM, as a sovereign nation, of course we will do something [about it]", said Yudhoyono.

According to Yudhoyono, Indonesia will definitely take appropriate diplomatic steps if there are friendly countries which openly support separatist movements [in Indonesia]. "In concrete terms we will study [the facts] first. Of course the government will not be hasty [in its actions]", said Yudhoyono. (B14/INU)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Komnas HAM set to verify reports of abuses in Papua

Jakarta Post - September 9, 2003

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- A National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) team is scheduled to arrive here on Monday to investigate reports of human rights abuses in the troubled province of Papua.

The team will gather data and information in Wamena, Wasior and Timika, where non-governmental organizations have accused security personnel of human rights violations.

Latifah Anum Siregar, secretary of the Coalition of Non- Governmental Organizations for Human Rights Protection and Enforcement, said on Friday she had received a letter from Komnas HAM confirming the planned arrival of its team. The six-member team will comprise Sriyana, Safarudin Baharudin, Solahudin Wahid, Mansur Fakri, Amirudin Indri and Eka Sapta Rahmani. The inquiry team will be assisted by Papuan activists Demianus Wakman, Iwan K Nidoe and Salomina Yaboisembut.

Latifah told The Jakarta Post that the team would visit Timika to investigate alleged human rights abuses during recent tribal clashes between opponents and supporters of the creation of Central Irian Jaya province. At least five people were killed in the one-week fighting after Central Irian Jaya was declared a province, a move supported by the central government.

In Wamena, the team will investigate the validity of a report released by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) stating that at least 16 villagers were killed as troops searched for guns stolen by suspected Papuan rebels in April this year. The dead civilians were mostly from Kuyawage village, according to the June 6 report, which said that other villagers had also died from starvation in the forest, where they had gone to hide.

In the arms raid on April 4, three people, including two soldiers, were killed when attackers made off with 29 firearms. Twenty-two of the firearms were later recovered by the military. The 2001 Wasior incident left five members of the police Mobile Brigade dead. The attack was blamed on a group of unidentified gunmen. After the incident, the police launched an operation to search for the attackers. "There were allegations of human rights violations in the case. So, Komnas HAM is sending the team to Wasior," Latifah said.

Jayapura Military Commander Col. Agus Muljadi has hailed Komnas HAM's inquiry, saying the human rights group needed to witness conditions in Papua for itself. "It's good. We hope Komnas HAM will view the problem objectively and not seek fault with the security forces," he told the Post on Friday.

Jakarta to proceed with Papua split, warned of dire result

Jakarta Post - September 9, 2003

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- An expert warned on Monday of more troubles as a result of the government's failure to involve local participation in its plan to divide Papua into three provinces.

Sociologist Daniel Dhakidae suggested that the government be prepared to revise the plan or even drop it as opposition to the partition was quite serious.

"Listen to the Papuans because this is a complicated case. Wrong moves will create more troubles in the future," he said after a seminar on regional autonomy at the National Institute of Science (LIPI) here.

He said the division of the province not only affected the local culture but the politics and economy due to the fact that Papua is a home to a huge amount of natural resources.

Days of clashes rocked the Papuan town of Timika last month following the declaration of Central Irian Jaya province. At least three people were known to have been killed as a direct result of the week-long conflict.

Daniel suggested that the government focus on the creation of more regencies in Papua instead of dividing the province into three. "The real autonomy is supposedly in the hands of regencies, which will exercise their authority to provide better public services for their people," Daniel said.

He added that autonomous regencies had less possibility of demanding separation from the unitary Republic of Indonesia as compared to provinces which were granted autonomy.

Separately, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said the government would proceed with its plan to split Papua into three provinces despite the controversy, claiming the government had a legal basis to do it. He said the government so far had no intention of dropping Law No. 45/1999 which stipulates the partition of vast Irian Jaya, the former name of Papua, into three provinces.

Hari played down the decision made by the previous government of President Abdurrahman Wahid to put the implementation of the law on hold due to a lack of popular support among Papuans, calling it a political decision.

The minister also said a team in charge of synchronizing legislation on Papua had proposed adjustments to Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, particularly on the establishment of Papua People's Assembly (MRP).

The assembly, he said, would serve as a cultural body, representing women, local figures and religious leaders, but without decision-making power. He said the special autonomy would be given also to the two proposed provinces in Papua.

Labour issues

KPC declares force majeure due to strike

Jakarta Post - September 10, 2003

Jakarta -- Coal mining company PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) declared force majeure on overdue shipments to a number of its customers in response to a worker strike that has entered its second week.

"After careful consideration, we regret that we have to declare a force majeure to some of our customers," KPC president Noke Kiroyan said in a press release on Tuesday that was received by The Jakarta Post. But the company said it remained hopeful it would be able to reach an agreement with workers to end the strike.

KPC, which operates a coal mine in East Kalimantan, one of the country's largest, has been forced to halt production since August 29 due to a strike by employees. The striking employees are demanding a bonus from the company's current shareholders: Anglo-American energy company BP PLC and Anglo-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto.

The strike began after BP and Rio Tinto, which jointly own KPC, announced they were selling their entire stake in the company to local mining company PT Bumi Resources for US$500 million, including $187 million worth of debt. The deal is expected to be completed by this October.

A majority of the company's 2,700 employees are taking part in the action, as they demand 15 percent of the proceeds of the sale. The shareholders have agreed to pay the workers a bonus, but they consider the amount demanded by the strikers to be unreasonable.

The strike is causing KPC losses of $500,000 daily. The government said earlier the strike could cost the state up to $3 million in lost royalties if it continued for more than a month. Under its contract, KPC has to pay 13.5 percent of the proceeds from its output to the government.

"KPC management has continuously urged the employees to return to work and allow the process of mediation to continue," Noke said in the release.

Besides the strike, KPC still faces a prolonged dispute with the local administration over the ownership of KPC's mining site in Sangatta, East Kalimantan.

Under the coal agreement signed by KPC in 1982, the company is obliged to sell 51 percent of its shares to Indonesian individuals, companies or the government. The divestment was to have taken place 10 years after the company began production, which was in 2001, but still has not occurred.

The East Kalimantan administration has been eying shares in the company for years, and has been adamant that it should be given the first opportunity to buy the KPC shares.

Last year, the central government stepped in and ruled that a 20 percent stake would go to state coal mining firm PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam, and the remaining 31 percent to the local governments As part of this agreement, a 51 percent stake in the company was valued at $820 million.

In July, Rio Tinto and BP shocked observers by announcing they were selling the entire stake in KPC to Bumi for $500 million.

Bumi has said it will negotiate with the local government and has promise to go ahead with the divestment process. Meanwhile, the East Kalimantan administration is preparing a lawsuit against Rio Tinto and BP over the sale to Bumi.

The province's legal representative said the lawsuit aims to focus a light on possible irregularities in the sale.

Sukhoigate

Megawati evades Sukhoi probe as House kills resolution

Jakarta Post - September 9, 2003

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Members of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I for security affairs rejected on Monday a resolution to officially hold President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Industry and Trade Minister Rini Soewandi responsible for the "unlawful" purchase of four Russian Sukhoi warplanes and two assault helicopters.

The commission accepted in full the report submitted by its special committee investigating the alleged unlawful procurement of two Su-27s and two Su-30s as well as two Mi-35 assault helicopters from Russia in April.

The report, which calls for some type of admonishment for the government officials involved in the deal, which included a counter-trade component, will be submitted to DPR leaders by Commission I.

The unwillingness by the commission members to hold Megawati and Rini accountable in the high profile deal virtually kills the resolution, which was drawn up by legislators from the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction.

"We regret the rejection of other factions in the House's defense commission. Those involved in the unlawful deal should be penalized," said Effendi Choirie, deputy commission chairman from PKB faction after the faction's internal meeting here on Monday.

In addition to Megawati and Rini, the PKB faction demanded that Indonesian military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and State Logistics Agency (Bulog) head Widjanarko Puspoyo be held responsible.

The House's defense commission set up an inquiry committee on June 30, 2003 to launch a probe into alleged irregularities in the purchase, which was finalized on April 24.

Some legislators claimed that corrupt practices had taken place in the US$192.6 million deal. After questioning several figures and government officials knowledgeable about the deal, the committee said that the Sukhoi purchase was justified.

Choirie said the committee of inquiry learned that the counter- trade deal had violated both national defense and state budget laws, therefore the committee should recommend penalties for those involved.

Fellow PKB legislator Chatibul Umam Wiranu concurred with Choirie, saying that the plan to summon the President over the issue could not be executed due to the rejection of other factions.

Separately, chairman of House Commission I Ibrahim Ambong disclosed that other factions disagreed with the opinion of PKB and said that legislators must not interfere into legal matters.

Ambong, however, said that there was still an opportunity to follow up on the findings of the inquiry committee. "There is still a chance to follow up the inquiry. It depends on the 'interpretation' by each legislator," Ambong told the press.

With the final meeting into the Sukhoi purchase, Ambong said that the inquiry committee was dissolved and its 24-page report would be given to the House leaders.

It remains to be seen whether legislators will still continue the investigation into the purchase of Sukhoi jets.

Meanwhile, the mechanics have finished putting together the aircraft and test flights were planned on September 11.

The aircraft will also be on display at the commemoration of the Indonesian military (TNI) anniversary on October 5.

'War on terrorism'

Legalising TNI's role in the anti-terrorist law is dangerous

Kompas - September 13, 2003

Jakarta -- In a press statement issued by the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial), which was presented by Imparsial program director Rachland Nashidik on Friday September 13, [the organisation warned that] legalising the permanent role and powers of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) in Law Number 15/2003 on the Elimination of Criminal Acts of Terrorism though an amendment is dangerous. This legalisation will actually give a legal basis in the form of law to the TNI to be autonomous from civilian political authority in matters of law and security.

Several days ago, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, stated that the legalisation of the role and powers of the TNI to work together with legal/security agencies to tackle the danger of terrorism will be regulated under Law Number 15/2003.

In relation to this, Imparsial urged the minister to clarify the aim and direction of this new policy. This policy is dangerous because it will permanently legalise the role and powers of the TNI in matters of law and security.

Based on Law Number 3/2003 on National Defense, the president has the full political authority to decide on policies regarding the TNI, including in decisions to mobilise TNI forces to confront the threat of an armed force.

According to Imparsial, permanently legalising the role and powers of the TNI in matters of law and security through Law Number 15/2003, will actually provide a legal basis in the form of law for the TNI to be autonomous from civilian political authority in matters of law and security. "Therefore this will negate the authority which is [presently] held by the president and the DPR [People's Representative Assembly] over the military", said Rachland.

The minister's reasons [for proposing the policy] is that terrorism is an external threat -- and because of this the TNI, as the instrument of national defense, has the authority to deal with it -- none of this can be accepted [said Rachland]. The initiative to provide a permanent role and powers to the military in matters of law and security represents an improvisation which threatens the fundamental strength of democratic life.

Negating civil authority

The Executive Director of Imparsial, Munir, said that giving permanent powers to the TNI to tackle terrorism will in fact add to the types of routine assignments TNI has as an organisation.

In reality, giving an assignment of a routine nature which is outside of the immediate routine tasks of defense should only be done in the form of a political decision by the president which is of a non-permanent character. So, outside of the routine tasks of defense, all assignments given to the TNI should be of an ad hoc character only with limited aims. That is what is regulated under the law on national defense.

The idea of including the TNI in the anti-terrorist law is a idea which will negate the position of civilian political authority in making an evaluation of and deciding when the TNI will be used.

"So, all of the political decision making which was previously in the hands president will be sidelined if the TNI is involved in tackling terrorism. The TNI will be given permanent powers though the process [of amending] this law", said Munir. (LOK)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Defiant Bali bomb mastermind Samudra sentenced to death

Agence France Presse - September 10, 2003

The Islamic militant who masterminded the Bali bombings was sentenced to death by firing squad after an Indonesian court found him guilty of an "extraordinary crime against humanity."

Imam Samudra waved his fist defiantly and shouted "Allahu Akbar [God is greatest]!" three times after judges sentenced him for the attack on two nightclubs which killed 202 people from 21 countries last October.

Judge Ifa Sudewi said there were no mitigating factors. Samudra, she said, committed "an extraordinary crime and a crime against humanity." Samudra again yelled "Allahu Akbar" as paramilitary police gripped his arms and led him out of court. "Go to hell, kafir [infidels]!" he shouted in Arabic.

Investigators believe Samudra is a leading member of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network, which staged the attack on Western holidaymakers to avenge oppression of Muslims worldwide. He is the second Bali bomber to be sentenced to death -- after Amrozi on August 7 -- for the worst act of terror since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

"The defendant is seen as playing a dominant role in the Bali bomb blasts and therefore the judges declare that he is the intellectual actor behind the Bali bomb explosions," Sudewi said. She called the bombings "a cruel, savage, inhuman and from the religious aspect, a forbidden action."

The Afghanistan-trained Samudra, who wore a white Muslim shirt and black cap, has said previously he would welcome death as bringing him closer to God. But Qadhar Faisal, one of his lawyers, told reporters he had instructed them before the verdict to appeal any death sentence. Faisal said Samudra believed the verdict was "haram" (forbidden under Islam) because he should have been tried under Islamic law.

The world's largest Muslim-populated nation, long criticised for ignoring terrorist threats, sprang into action after the Bali bombings killed 164 foreigners -- including 88 Australians -- and 38 Indonesians. More than 30 Bali suspects are under arrest and most are on trial. They include an alleged senior JI operative called Mukhlas, who is said to have authorised Samudra to go ahead with the attack, and Ali Imron, one of the bombmakers.

Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imron are brothers. Prosecutors are seeking death for Mukhlas and 20 years for Imron. Samudra, 33, attended planning meetings, selected the blast targets in Bali and assigned tasks to the bombers as part of a jihad (holy war) against the United States and its allies. He never admitted links to JI but made no secret of his motives.

"This war is against America and the world understands that America is conceited, arrogant, savage and brutal," he said during the trial. "The war against America and its allies is a war against evil, against tyranny and a war against terrorism and this is jihad in the path of Allah."

Samudra had sought to play down his role in the Bali attack, denying he was the one who picked the targets or gave orders to fellow bombers but admitting involvement in and responsibility for the blasts.

Throughout his trial he displayed a chilling indifference to his victims. He expressed only perfunctory regret at the death of Muslims in Bali, describing it as a "side effect." An unidentified Australian relative of one victim told Elshinta radio he was "very happy" at the outcome. "Tonight when he sits back in his cell he might think about the people that he's actually killed, he might actually finally start to feel some remorse away from the cameras. Who knows?"

Ketut Jontri, whose taxi driver husband was killed in the blast, told AFP she was "very pleased" with the sentence. "One thing that I really want is that when he is executed, I can be allowed to watch -- because otherwise I will not believe that he has been executed."

Minister discusses revised terror law

Jakarta Post - September 10, 2003

Jakarta -- Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Tuesday the revised antiterrorism law would not allow intelligence officers to arrest or investigate suspects.

The minister said the police would remain the primary agency for carrying out those two tasks. "It is not our intention that the revision would give such authority to the intelligence agencies," Yusril said.

However, the proposed revisions would provide a clear legal foundation for the Indonesian Military to take part in the fight against terrorism. The military would be given the power to take preemptive steps to prevent terrorist attacks, he said. "In almost every country in the world, the military plays such a role in combating terrorism," he said.

The revision was prompted by the latest terrorist attack in the country. Last month's bombing at the JW Marriott Hotel in South Jakarta killed 12 people.

Anti-terrorist law revisions to give greater role to TNI

Kompas - September 10, 2003

Jakarta -- The government has acknowledged that one of the intentions of the revisions or amendments to Law Number 15/2003 on the Elimination of Criminal Acts of Terrorism is to give a role to the Indonesian armed forces (TNI). Giving this role to the TNI is not considered to be in contradiction with the decision to separate the national police from the TNI because the character of terrorism is transnational and can be categorised as a external threat to national sovereignty.

This issue was raised by the Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Minister for Justice and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, following a politics and security coordination meeting on Tuesday September 9. "Terrorism in its broader meaning touches on aspects of security and at the same time law", said Yudhoyono.

In order to deal with terrorism in a complete and integrated manner, the police, judiciary, courts and intelligence institutions shall have respective roles and positions in combating terrorism. "Likewise the TNI [will have a role]. The TNI has the capacity, established units, they are trained and equipped to deal with acts of terror", he said.

Yudhoyono said that the TNI's role would be different from other security agencies and will be regulated under the revisions to Law Number 15/2003. "Some of this is already regulated under Law Number 15/2003. That which hasn't will be sharpened up in the revisions to the law", he said.

The old TNI

Yusril acknowledged that he has had extensive discussions [on the matter] with TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto. With regard to the stipulations in MPR Decree Number VII/2000 on the [respective] roles of the TNI and police in which the roles of the TNI and police have been explicitly separated, he asked that this not been viewed to rigidly.

According to Yusril, terrorism can be viewed as one of the threats against the sovereignty of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. The TNI therefore has a legal basis to take part in dealing with terrorism.

According to Yusril the revisions to Law Number 15/2003 will provide a clear legal basis on the TNI's powers in dealing with terrorism, not just in terms of rescuing hostages. The TNI will also be able to carry out measures to combat, prevent and check acts of terrorism.

"Providing powers to the TNI will not result in, will not be as if the TNI will return to being the old TNI. Decree Number VII/2000 and VIII/2000 provide for this possibility", he said.

Although the role and coordination of intelligence agencies will be added to, Yusril explained that the intelligence agencies will not be given powers to arrest or interrogate a person who is suspected to be planning an act of terrorism. (INU)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Indonesian Muslims draw clear distance from terrorists

Jakarta Post - September 9, 2003

R. William Liddle -- Many years ago, when I was a young and impressionable scholar, I had an opportunity to interview a senior American embassy political officer who had served several tours in Indonesia. We were interrupted by an American journalist, just arrived in Jakarta and on a tight schedule, with an assignment to write about Islam. In my presence the officer described at length the differences between sunni and syiah (shi'ite) Islam.

The syiah, he said, were represented by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU, or the Awakening of the Traditional Religious Scholars), the largest Muslim organization in the country. They were the biggest threat to American interests because they lived in the villages, rejected modern life, and were plotting to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state. I was astounded by his analysis, mainly because virtually all Indonesian Muslims are sunni, but also because even then it was clear to academic observers that NU was a force for moderation, not radicalism, in Indonesian political life.

No US embassy officer today would make such basic mistakes. Judging from news reports on the sentencing of militant Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, however, many foreigners still misread Indonesian Islamic politics. For example, a prominent risk consultant is quoted as saying that the Ba'asyir verdict demonstrates a lack of governmental will to crack down on terrorists, apparently forgetting that just last month Amrozi, the Bali bomber, was sentenced to death. He was also assuming, too facilely, that the courts automatically do what the government tells them to do.

The New York Times lead story claimed that "today's verdict will reinforce the view of many Indonesians, including senior political leaders, that the United States has exaggerated the terrorism problem here." Another piece, appearing on the same day, asserts that "The moderate strand of Islam that absorbed touches of Buddhism and Hinduism is being eroded, some fear at a rapid pace." Alarmingly, "Some have begun to ask whether the Islamists who want to create a caliphate across the Muslim areas of Southeast Asia will at the very least eventually succeed in Indonesia." Results of a survey are cited to the effect that 60 percent of the respondents would not object to the introduction of the sharia, "the often harsh Muslim system of justice."

In the Indonesian media, the reaction to the verdict was strikingly different. Most headlines said that Ba'asyir had been found guilty and sentenced to four years, which was indeed the heart of the story. Some expressed surprise that he received such a long sentence, given the circumstantial nature of much of the evidence and the prosecutor's dependence on witnesses who could not be brought to Jakarta.

The most important witness, Omar al-Faruq, spirited away by the US after he was captured in West Java last year, had not even been directly questioned by Indonesian authorities. Moreover, Ba'asyir is reported by the widely-respected International Crisis Group (ICG) to have been sidelined years ago by the most militant members of Jamaah Islamiyah, the organization which he co-founded in Malaysia in the mid-1990s.

"Ba'asyir undoubtedly knows far more than he has been willing to divulge about JI operations," concluded the ICG in December 2002, "but he is unlikely to have been the mastermind of JI attacks." No foreign media, to my knowledge, referred to the ICG study in their analyses of the Ba'asyir verdict.

The real trend in Indonesian Islamic politics in the last year has been to draw a brighter line between the violent few represented in organizations such as Jamaah Islamiyah and the huge majority of Muslims, moderates and conservatives, who condemn violence.

After the Bali bombings, many moderates tried to protect Ba'asyir and JI; for a time they even took seriously the popular conspiracy theories blaming Mossad, the CIA, or rogue elements in the Indonesian army. With good reason: For decades President Soeharto and his generals plotted against politically active Muslims, often falsely accusing them of violent conspiracies.

The moderates, and even many conservatives, were turned around by good police work. Amrozi, Imam Samudra, and the other arrested bombers were clearly Muslims, though misguided in their beliefs, who belonged to the JI network. Early this year, a young Prosperous Justice Party (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera) conservative told me that "we know who the terrorists are, and we are determined to keep them out of our party."

The other two Muslim parties, the United Development Party (PPP) and Crescent Star Party (PBB), though in favor of an Islamic state, are also opposed to violence. The three parties together won less than 15 percent of the vote in the 1999 elections. According to the most reliable polls, those percentages are about the same today.

Are Muslim terrorists a threat to Indonesian society and to the United States? Undoubtedly they are. The Bali and JW Marriott bombs, made in Indonesia but targeted at Americans, are clear proof. Is moderate Islam being eroded by the terrorists or by the conservatives who share some of the terrorists' goals if not their means? Most of the evidence points in the other direction.

The moderates control Indonesian Islam's key social and educational organizations, NU and Muhammadiyah (NU's modernist counterpart), each of which has tens of millions of members. Moreover, the survey cited by The New York Times also shows that devout Muslims who are socially and politically active mostly join and vote for non-Muslim political parties, including President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

While they support the sharia in general terms (as indeed good Muslims everywhere are obliged to do), they oppose stoning for adultery and amputation for thievery. In short, Indonesian Islam remains a beacon of moderation.

[R. William Liddle is a Professor of Political Science from the Ohio State University, Ohio.]

Indonesia begins freezing assets of militants

Jakarta Post - September 9, 2003

Jakarta (Agencies) -- Indonesia has begun freezing the assets of militants whom the United States identified last week as suspected members of the al Qaeda-linked Jamaah Islamiah Muslim group, the foreign minister said on Tuesday.

There are at least seven Indonesians on the 20-name US list of people whose assets should be frozen, including several already in custody and suspected of involvement in last year's Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

"It has begun. I know that actions to eliminate the support for terrorism have taken place," Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said as quoted by Reuters. He said Indonesia had been freezing assets whenever it saw a transaction that was believed linked to terror but he gave no details.

Wirajuda said tracking suspects' accounts might be difficult as some may not even have registered assets. "The question is whether they have accounts that can be frozen. They may not even have an account at all," he said.

Most of the suspects come from modest backgrounds, he said. On Monday, legislator Barlianta Harahap said that the freezing of four bank accounts under the name of Agus Dwikarna, an Indonesian national who is being detained in the Philippines on charges of involvement in terrorism, in some Indonesian banks is contrary to the Law on Central Bank Indonesia.

Harahap told Antara that Bank Indonesia cannot freeze individuals' assets without clear reasons as stipulated in the banking law. "Agus Dwikarna had not been proven guilty by court," he said.

Bank Indonesia may make decision to freeze Agus Dwikarna's financial assets only after receiving necessary and sufficient proofs about his involvement in the terrorist activities, Haraahap said.

If JI exists name names, top Muslim urges

Melbourne Age - September 9, 2003

Matthew More, Jakarta -- The head of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation has questioned the existence of Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia.

This comes as prosecutors filed an appeal against the acquittal last week of Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir on a charge of being JI's spiritual leader in Indonesia.

In remarks that further cloud Indonesia's campaign against terrorism, the chairman of the moderate Nahdlatul Ulama organisation, Hasyim Muzadi, said if the governments of Indonesia and the US want people to believe in JI's existence they should formally announce the names of the office bearers.

"As the head of NU [which claims 40 million members] I meet with Islamic mass organisations every day from all over Indonesia but I've never heard of JI and the people I meet have never heard of JI either," he said. "They must prove it. The Government has to announce who is the head, who is the secretary and what is the structure. JI is a strange name to us; the Government has never informed us officially about whether JI exists."

His remarks are the latest from several Indonesian leaders who have criticised aspects of the US campaign against terrorism in the wake of Bashir's acquittal last week on a charge that he was JI's spiritual leader.

The prosecutor of Bashir, Firdaus Dewilmar, said he filed appeals in two courts yesterday including one that argues that Bashir is the emir, or spiritual leader, of JI and that he was the leader of a campaign of treason designed to bring down Indonesia's Government. Bashir was last week acquitted of these charges although he was convicted of a less serious treason charge together with immigration offences.

Mr Firdaus said the more serious charges were the subject of an appeal in the Jakarta Higher Court. A separate appeal in the Supreme Court would seek to prove Bashir is a foreigner and no longer an Indonesian citizen after spending 14 years in Malaysia. Lawyers for Bashir last week filed an appeal against his convictions and the four-year jail sentence.

Mr Hasyim's remarks yesterday had some of the flavour of an attack last week by Indonesian Vice-President Hamzah Haz. He called the US the "king of terrorists" for invading Iraq in what appeared an early sign the terrorist issue would be caught up in the intense election campaign in the lead-up to next year's poll.

While Mr Hasyim said such language was "too much", he too criticised the US. "It is just possible the US commits terrorism, but not the whole country," he said.

With more than 30 Indonesians on trial for terrorism in Bali, Mr Hasyim agreed there was a terrorism problem in his country. "Terrorism exists in Indonesia but the influence is coming from the Middle East. It's brought to Indonesia by Indonesians but it's not the character of Indonesians. The mainstream of Indonesian religion is moderate," he said.

He also criticised a decision last week by the US Government to freeze the assets of 19 JI members which he said should not proceed until there was proof of JI's existence. "It's the job of the intelligence agencies and police ... and the US to prove it."

Government & politics

'Regional autonomy on the wrong track'

Jakarta Post - September 10, 2003

Sari P. Setiogi and M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- The implementation of regional autonomy has turned both provincial and regental legislatures into oligarchic entities eager to fight for their own interests, a survey says.

A five-year survey chaired by noted sociologist Daniel Sparringa showed that local legislatures were also prone to anarchy. "There are five big groups of people's perceptions to regional councillors," Daniel Sparingga said on the sidelines of the VIII National Congress of Science 2003.

The first was that regional counselors were prone to oligarchy practices. "They misuse people's trust to serve their own interests instead of the people's interest," said Daniel.

Many such cases had happened in the country, such as the suit and traveling budget requested by the Jakarta City Council recently. People saw such practices as the regional counselors' effort to enrich themselves.

Another image was that regional councillors in most cases were becoming free-floating elite as they were not attached to the community they were supposed to represent. "They become insensitive and careless with many real problems faced by the people in their regions."

He also said that local councillors were prone to becoming "moral brokers" as they were forcing certain value among the people, although the values were not wanted by the community. As an example, he mentioned the tendency of some regional councillors to close amusement places during the fasting month and establishing sharia law.

"The regional councillors are also sometimes developing anarchism by issuing regional laws that are not in line, even sometimes contrary, to existing laws. It happens particularly with economic-related laws," said Daniel.

Anther criticism directed at the regional councillors was that most members were acting as aliens instead of speaking with the same "language" as the community. As the result, people would feel isolated from their councillors. The research was conducted by Daniel over the last five years across the country, from Sabang in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam to Merauke in Papua.

Separately, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said, after regional autonomy had been implemented for three years, that the central government was alarmed by a tendency of a number of local administrations to manipulate the newly found power for the benefit of their respective regions.

He told members of the House of Representatives' Commission II on legal affairs that a number of local administrations in resource-rich regions claimed the full ownership of natural resources, while disregarding the plight of neighboring poor provinces and regencies.

"To make things worse, the natural resources were later controlled by certain majority ethnic groups in the region. This easily fuels resentment from disenfranchised ethnic groups and such a condition might trigger clashes between the two," he said.

Hari also cited a number of cases where local administrations imposed regulations that were meant simply to enrich local leaders.

The central government has been under fire, especially from foreign investors, saying that the regional autonomy policy was confusing and gave rise to too many local regulations that placed additional burdens on their companies.

The minister said that due to the distortion in the implementation of the regional autonomy law, the central government was determined to revise the law despite opposition from the regions.

Central bank not a political tool: Kadin chairman

Antara - September 8, 2003

Bengkuliu, Bengkulu -- Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) Aburizal Bakrie reminded everyone that Bank Indonesia was the country's monetary authority. It could not be used as a political instrument for a certain party or ruling party.

Turning the bank into a political instrument for the sake of certain political interests was against economic principles, he said here over the weekend.

The central bank, he said, should be granted a full mandate to maintain the dynamic stability of inflation, interest, and exchange rates.

The stability of exchange rate is important for businessmen, he said, adding that stable rupiah will facilitate the investment planning for them.

He further said the bank's autonomy status does mean that it has to "close its eyes on any surrounding condition". "The bank should be able to touch on the heart of national economy," he added.

In certain condition like this current time, the central bank should be able to boost expansive monetary policies to support the real sector.

The banking sector, he said, has been able to obtain the people's fund mounting to Rp890 trillion (US$104 billion), but only Rp425 trillion is returned to the public, while the remaining Rp465 trillion remains an unproductive fund.

"If the bank can accelerate the disbursement for investment in the real sector, the economic wheel may move and the business world will be able to give hopes to millions of jobless people," he added.

Regional governments levy new and strange taxes

Straits Times - September 8, 2003

Robert Go -- Decentralisation has resulted in dubious enterprises in Kutai Kartanegara and strange regulations in various parts of the archipelago.

Mr Syaukani's East Kalimantan regency is one of the country's richest regencies, with 470,000 people and a budget this year of around S$550 million. But his government has sunk a fair bit of that into a high-tech planetarium, a re-decoration project of Parliament, his office, and the Kumala island in the middle of the Mahakam River.

Mr Syaukani defends his record by pointing out that his government has provided free schooling for kids and two planned hospitals by this year. Yet decentralisation observers said more accountability is required in such regions.

Kumala, 3km long and only 72 ha, boasts a 100m skytower with a viewing area on top, fancy hotels, and a suspension bridge. An aquarium is devoted to the Mahakam Dolphin, a unique freshwater mammal. Visitors can also enjoy sporting facilities, restaurants and bungalows.

Mr Syaukani declined to open the books on Kumala, the same way he dodged questions on how much of Kutai's total budget remains in reserve at the end of each year. Inquiries by The Straits Times produced estimates of S$5 million each on the sky train and skytower, and around the same amount for reclamation projects to increase the island's total size. A local businessman admitted having made unofficial payments to Kumala accounts prior to starting a project there.

Experts said if decentralisation is to succeed in Indonesia, such behaviour must end. Finding themselves with more decision-making powers, many regions have decided to increase local revenues by getting creative: They've found new ways to tax people and businesses.

Dr David Ray, a trade adviser working with the Indonesian Ministry of Trade and Industry, said retribution charges have always existed in the country. Regional governments, in the age of decentralisation, simply added thousands of new such laws.

Here are some examples:

Clove and cinnamon tax: Last year, the provincial government of North Sulawesi imposed retribution charges on exporters of cloves and cinnamon.

Cow, goat, buffalo and horse taxes: In 2001, South Bengkulu regency in Sumatra Island levied a charge on farm animals taken beyond its borders, including on cows, buffaloes and horses. The local government took an extra step and required all such "exports" to go through a "medical examination". Of course, it charged extra fees for those services as well.

Chainsaw tax: The South Bengkulu regency also tried to enact retribution on chainsaws worth one million rupiah per item per year. The Home Affairs Ministry shot down this law, saying there is no reason for the local government to tax the use of chainsaws.

2004 elections

Abstention not significant in 2004 polls: Experts

Jakarta Post - September 13, 2003

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Despite high public distrust toward political parties, abstention will not be that significant in the 2004 general elections, political analysts say.

The number of people not exercising their voting rights may be negligible, should political parties improve their performance ahead of the elections.

E. Shobirin Nadj, a researcher with the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education, and Information (LP3ES), told a discussion here on Friday that those who distrusted political parties could still vote for individuals as this would be possible in the open-list legislative election and the direct presidential election.

"The public's distrust toward political parties does not necessarily mean that the people will abstain in elections, because they can vote for individuals to be legislators," Shobirin said.

Indonesia will hold legislative elections in April 2004 and the two-phased direct presidential elections in June and September 2004. Abstention is defined as an intentional act by a registered voter not to cast their vote in an election.

Shobirin said the number of people not exercising their voting rights in Indonesia's polls had never exceeded seven percent.

A survey by LP3ES in May revealed that the number of people intending to abstain from voting in the 2004 election was four percent. The total registered voters in the upcoming elections is about 145 million people.

Analyst J. Kristiadi concurred with Shobirin, but had his own theory. According to him, the abstention issue was the discourse of people in urban areas, not the people in rural areas. "People in the countryside still have high hopes for the general elections and will cast their votes," said Kristiadi, a researcher with the Centre of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

He added that, abstention would not be high because of "mobilization" through the practice of money politics. "In the New Order era, mass mobilization was conducted by state officials. But, now political leaders use money to mobilize the people," Kristiadi said.

Meanwhile, deputy secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Pramono Anung Wibowo, also said Friday that abstention would not be significant in 2004 elections because people could vote individuals not political parties.

All three speakers strongly rejected any move to ban abstention. Shobirin emphasized that abstention was the instrument of the public, to pressure political parties to improve their performance. "I believe political parties will never reform themselves without public pressure," Shobirin said.

Kristiadi suggested that people supporting abstention prepare the next step to improve democracy. He said political parties would be bankrupted should the number of people abstaining the elections keep getting higher.

PDI-P prepares for polls

Laksamana.Net - September 13, 2003

Faced with the serious threats posed by other political parties in the 2004 general elections, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has closed ranks in a move to consolidate the party rank and file at a two-day National Leadership Meeting in Yogyakarta beginning September 9.

Deputy Secretary General Pramono Anung said after the closing ceremony that the meeting had made two important decisions.

First, PDI-P will set up a success team with the task of winning the presidential and vice presidential election in the first round. "The success team institutionally will be under the direct command of the Central Executive Board. The team consists of 17 members," he told reporters.

According to Pramono, the team will be guided by four principles. It must involve professionals, it will have authority over campaign, determine the major themes of the campaign and discuss support systems for the presidential and vice presidential election.

Pramono did not say who will be nominated as running mate to party leader and President Megawati Sukarnoputri but hinted that PDI-P would select the candidate who would draw most votes.

Analysts believe Pramono's statement has reinforced previous speculation that Megawati will nominate a running mate acceptable to the two biggest Muslim organizations, the traditionalist Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and modernist Muhammadiyah.

If Megawati stick to this criteria, a vice president acceptable to NU and Muhammadiyah could be someone from outside the organizations or a non-party politician. "Through this corridor, Madam Megawati as the party chairwoman will choose her running mate, and it is her right to choose her vice president," Pramono concluded.

The second decision reasserted the party commitment that provincial chapters and branches will be given the authority to nominate legislative candidates starting from the process of recruitment.

As stipulated under the new election law, the authority of a party central executive board (DPP) in determining the legislative candidates is just 40%. The remaining 60% will be shared between the provincial chapters and branches.

This position will dramatically change PDI-P's choice of candidates. In 1999, much power was taken by Megawati's inner circle, including her husband, Taufik Kiemas. Inevitably, the recruitment and selection of legislative candidates within PDI-P was marred by collusion and nepotism. Megawati and PDI-P have good reason to prepare for the worst in the coming election.

Under the new election law, only parties that receive more than 5% of the vote in April's legislative election can field a presidential candidate in the general election to be held in July. To win the presidency, a candidate must receive a majority of the national vote and more than 20% of the vote in at least half of Indonesia's provinces.

In the 1999 elections, Megawati and PDI-P won 36 million votes or 32% percent of 112 million votes cast. Golkar got 24 million or 21%, the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP) led by the incumbent Vice President Hamzah Haz garnered 11 million or 10%, while former President and former NU General Chairman Abdurrahman Wahid's National Awakening Party (PKB) got 13 million votes. Amien Rais of the National Mandate Party (PAN) garnered only 8 million.

Realizing that there is no single party capable of winning an absolute majority, Megawati and PDI-P are aware that despite the need to forge coalitions with other parties, the performance of PDI-P and Mega personally will be of prime importance.

Swing voters or the "floating mass" threw their weight behind Megawati and PDI-P in the 1999 election in the hope that Megawati would aggressively push reform. Megawati had been a symbol of resistance to Suharto since 1993. But several elements among the reform movement groups including university students and human right activists now believe that she has betrayed the cause of reform in favor of business and military interests.

Several analysts say her chance of winning back her disenchanted supporters will depend on her willingness not to take sides with entrenched political elites, whether from Golkar or the other parties, which have a track record of involvement in the political and economic system of the Suharto regime.

In the aftermath of the 1999 poll, Megawati ironically became the victim of her own success. She was denied the presidency thanks to the backstage political maneuverings of several small Muslim- based parties led by Amien Rais. To some, this seemed a total betrayal of the people's aspiration, and it could only have happened, one analyst said, because there were just too many political parties.

Ideally, political parties have one purpose: to fight for the aspirations and well-being of their constituents. Many, if not all, parties in Indonesia have been set up for a different reason: to gain short-term economic benefit for the party leaders and their friends.

Examination by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry has shown that many political parties have no clear political platform, and their leaders are reduced to stuttering when asked to explain their party's platform. Many have no permanent offices, much less headquarters.

In such a situation, the 1999 presidential election showed that the absence of a clear winner for the post meant that aspirants had to engage in vote buying to ensure victory. Small parties vied to sell their votes to the highest bidder.

Significantly, the PDI-P success team has been tasked with regulating and managing campaign donations. There has never been a financial audit carried out to discover how political parties are spending the state funds they receive. In the absence of such oversight, it is highly likely that some leaders merely use the funds for their own personal needs.

In 1999, then-president B.J. Habibie enacted two laws -- the Political Party and the General Election laws -- that required political parties to submit financial reports to the Supreme Court before and after general elections and by the end of each year.

Until now not one political party has bothered to comply. Instead of disbanding these defiant political parties in accordance with the law, the Supreme Court has only sent out toothless warning letters.

Don't let the DPD become a vehicle for the 'old' politicians

Kompas - September 10, 2003

Jakarta -- It is hoped that society will be on its guard against the possibility that Regional Representative Assemblies (DPD) will not become an platform for "old" politicians to make a come back. Throughout the period leading up to the day when votes are counted therefore, exposing the political track record of a perspective candidate members of the DPD must be part of the educational material [provided to the public] so as to produce shrewd and rational voters.

"The phenomena of ex-state officials followed by their relatives who are dominating those who have registered as prospective candidate members for the DPD indicates that there is a desire on the part of "old" politicians to participate in Indonesia future political process", said Bambang Widjojanto, a consultant from the Partnership for Governance Reform, speaking to journalists on Tuesday September 9 in Jakarta.

Of late, these ex-state officials, wives of state officials, businesspeople and social figures have been registering themselves to become DPD members. In relation to this Bambang warned that [society] must anticipate the possibility that they are not considering what their contribution will be through the DPD but are only thinking about repositioning their political power.

Block the black politicians

Bambang grouped prospective candidate members of the DPD into four categories, that is those people who truly have an interest in making a contribution, the "old" politicians who have been sidelined, "questionable" people who are hoping for certain kinds legal cover and people who wish to build or maintain their political networks.

Considering the various motives of prospective candidate members of the DPD, Bambang went on to warn that there is a need to educate voters so that they are more shrewd and rational in making their choice. Voters must be offered election indicators to avoid choosing improper candidates.

The vice-coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), Luky Djani also agreed, [saying that] the phenomena of the return of old politicians to the public stage through the institution of the DPD must be accompanied by a movement in civil society to expose the track record of perspective candidate members of the DPD. If indeed there is valid data on the bad track record of a perspective candidate, that data can be publicised openly as a campaign to prevent the entry of "black" politicians into representative institutions.

Perspective candidates who are "good" must also be motivated to have be courage to compete head-to-dead with the "old" politicians which have a bad track record. "This is our hope, don't let the DPD instead become the Regional Retirees Assembly" (Dewan Pensiunan Daerah), said Luky.

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]

New party forms 'extensive progressive network'

Green Left Weekly - September 10, 2003

Max Lane, Jakarta -- On August 28, the Party of United Peoples Opposition (POPOR) submitted the necessary documentation to the Indonesian authorities to be registered as a legal political party.

New laws have created three categories of parties. The first is those parties that have no legal recognition. They can carry out campaign activities but cannot stand in elections or have the status of a legal entity. Such parties cannot sign contracts, open bank accounts and so on.

The second category is legally recognised parties. These parties have the status of a legal entity and can apply to be registered as an electoral participant. The third are parties that have legal recognition and are registered as an electoral participant.

POPOR will now be subject to a "verification" process in order to gain the second category status of a legally recognised party. It will then have until October to submit documentation to the General Elections Commission to win the right to participate in elections.

In order to be granted legal recognition, POPOR must prove that it has branches, with duly recognised executive boards, in at least half of Indonesia's 32 provinces. It must also prove that in each of these provinces, it has leaderships in half of the regencies. It must also prove that it has leaderships in at least 25% of the districts in each regency.

Verification teams from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights are now visiting provinces, regencies and district towns to confirm the party's documentation. Checks include sighting all internal party documents regarding the appointment or election of party executive boards at each level.

Every member of the board must present a valid state identity card that shows they are a resident in the area. At every level, it must be shown that the party has a physical headquarters, with a sign out front stating the party's name and branch, and with the party flag, as well as the Indonesian flag. Each headquarters must also show it has means of communication, such as telephones or, at district level, at least a typewriter and letterhead.

The local branch must also have letters from the district, regency or provincial office stating it is aware of the existence of the branch. The branch must also have a letter from the owners of the building in which the office is situated stating that they are aware that the premises is being used as a political party office.

In an outstanding effort, POPOR, which was only founded on July 28, has been able to submit documentation for 18 provinces, and the requisite number of regencies and districts. Activists from its component organisations, in particular the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD), spread out from the major cities to make contact with members, ex-members, sympathisers, and members and leaders of a range of other organisations interested in joining, campaigning for or otherwise helping POPOR. Everybody has reported an extremely heartening response.

"No matter where our people have visited", POPOR chairperson Dita Sari told Green Left Weekly, "the overwhelming sentiment among the people is to reject the existing political elite. Everywhere there is every kind of group organising, with every kind of issue, complaint or demand imaginable." Sari and other activists explained that the reaction to the formation of POPOR throughout the country has varied. "In some places, whole organisations have affiliated. In other areas, individual leaders of trade unions we had hardly known before became the leaders of local POPOR branches, in some cases people did not want to formally join but mobilised their members to campaign to set up POPOR." In some cases, local branches of other left-oriented parties have decided to join POPOR, despite their national offices failing to do so.

Sari also explained that POPOR's progress was still in a very early stage. "We are still small and have no resources compared to the mainstream parties. And we still have to win registration with the General Elections Commission", she said. Electoral registration requires proof of the existence of branches in two- thirds of all provinces and in two-thirds of all regencies in each of those provinces. In addition, the party must present the identity cards and party membership cards of a minimum of 1000 members from each regency in which it claims to have members.

"We are still optimistic, despite our lack of financial resources", Sari told GLW. "This is the biggest extension yet of the democratic and progressive network throughout Indonesia. There is just no other party that has broken away from the old Suharto-era way of doing things: the old 'bread-and-circus' style of politics. Buying votes and putting on festivals. There are more and more workers, farmers, poor people in the kampungs [poor neighbourhoods], who have real grievances on almost every front, who are suffering dreadfully under the neoliberal policies of the government and who are sick of its empty talk. They all want a new kind of politics. They are ready to act. The question is, can we get our message to them." Sari also explained that the early coalitions between the PRD and parties like the Bung Karno Nationalist Party (PNBK) and the Peoples Struggle Party (PPR) had collapsed. The PNBK, a dissident breakaway from the Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's party, initially put its name to a very progressive joint platform with the PRD and other groups. Since then it has dropped any collaboration and is engaged in a "kind of policy-free populism". The PPR also dropped out of joint work, declaring that it would go it alone. In the end , it failed to submit the necessary documentation to become a legally registered party. It is possible that PPR may again work with POPOR.

As the new party's confidence grows with the success of the POPOR registration campaign, there is talk of POPOR participating in Indonesia's first direct presidential election, set for next July.

Any party that gets 3% of the vote in the general election can nominate a candidate. The logical candidate to lead such a campaign, which could further extend the progressive democratic network, would be Dita Sari. However, she is not eligible to stand as a recent law on presidential elections stipulates that a presidential candidate must be over the age of 40. This law disqualifies the generation that led the fight to overthrow the Suharto dictatorship.

Survey shows Golkar conventions a ruse

Jakarta Post - September 9, 2003

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- Over 40 percent of respondents in five major cities in Indonesia stated that the national convention series being held by Golkar to select its presidential candidate was merely a ploy to boost the party's tainted image, according to a survey released on Monday.

The survey, conducted by the Center for Electoral Reform (CETRO), involved 946 respondents from five major cities; Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Makassar and Pontianak. It also revealed that 73 percent of respondents perceived the convention as undemocratic because it only allowed a number of party officials to take part.

Some 57 percent of the respondents also said that the party chairman Akbar Tandjung should not have been allowed to take part in the convention because of his legal problems.

Akbar has been convicted and sentenced to three years in jail for misusing state funds intended to feed the poor when he was the state secretary during the 17-month administration of president B.J. Habibie between 1998 and 1999. He is currently waiting for a Supreme Court decision over his appeal.

"He [Akbar] also should not have been allowed to take part in the nomination process given his position as the party chairman," the survey results indicated.

Executive Director of CETRO, Smita Notosusanto said on Monday that the survey results indicated that respondents were split over how to view the Golkar convention process because many did not know much about it.

"The survey was conducted when there was adequate reporting from the media on the initial stage of the convention, but unfortunately what the people know about it is merely about the candidates," she said during a press briefing on Monday.

She said that most of the respondents had no idea about what was actually going on.

From July 2003 through February next year, Golkar has been and will continue to hold a series of conventions from time to time in different parts of the country to finally decide on its presidential and vice-presidential candidates who will represent the party in the 2004 election.

Several figures, including media tycoon Surya Paloh, Gen. (ret.) Wiranto and the former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto, Yogyakarta governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, have decided to vie for the top spot during the process.

Respected Muslim scholar Nurcholis Madjid had earlier agreed to join Golkar's nomination competition, but dropped his bid after he deemed some of the procedures allowed as unfair.

The convention series was conceived after the House's approval of the presidential election bill, which allows a convicted criminal to run for president, provided that the sentence is less than five years.

Political analysts have earlier said that the Golkar convention was only a move to divert attention from the legal problems dogging chairman Akbar Tandjung, and thus might serve merely as a vehicle to secure his nomination for president.

[A similar report was carried by the Jakarta daily Kompas on the same day with the title "Golkar convention begins to gain public trust". Based on the same survey, the Kompas article said that "... more than half of the respondents (58 per cent) did not agree if [asked if] the convention was just machinations. There were only 42 per cent who agreed" - James Balowski.]

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Officials turn a blind eye to smuggling

Jakarta Post - September 10, 2003

Apriadi Gunawan, Tanjung Balai, North Sumatra -- Smuggling has persisted in a seemingly unchecked manner at perhaps 15 small seaports in North Sumatra province despite the presence of security forces, according to some officials and residents.

"Usually, goods smuggled to and from abroad are loaded and unloaded in the small seaports throughout the night," Syaiful Ganda, a fisherman from Tanjung Balai regency, told The Jakarta Post. "There are always security people around when the smuggled goods are loaded and unloaded," he added.

Syaiful said such illegal practices have taken place for a long time in and out of the ports that are operated by private companies and used normally for ferrying passengers to neighboring islands.

Some of these ports, numbering at least 15, are located between larger ports in Tanjung Balai and Bagan Asahan. Others are found in Nibung Bay and Es Dengki. Syaiful said smugglers have operated in such places virtually unchallenged, thanks to the apparent backing from certain government and security officers.

Other local fishermen and residents said smuggling practices continued in Tanjung Balai, even though police and port authorities have launched the occasional raid against smugglers in North Sumatra. "How can smuggling in Tanjung Balai be stopped, while almost all officials there, including those from the local customs office and the water police, are suspected of taking bribes from smugglers," Syaiful claimed.

One of the cases included around 100 tons of plastics which were allegedly smuggled from neighboring Malaysia to Tanjung Balai. The shipment, allegedly belonging to a businessman from Medan, was unloaded from a ship at 9:25 p.m. on September 5, 2003., according to local fishermen.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Adityawarman, chief of the security operations unit at the Belawan port in Medan, did not specifically deny the widespread accusations that certain officers were involved in the smuggling.

Officials of local excise and customs offices should be most to blame because they should be on the "front lines" in dealing with smuggling cases through seaports, he said. "We [police] are essentially the second line of defense," Adityawarman added.

He confirmed that smugglers had been operating mostly along North Sumatra's east coast ranging from Belawan, Asahan and Tanjung Balai to Labuhan Batu.

Private ports, particularly those around Tanjung Balai, have played vital roles in the increase of smuggling practices, he said. "For smugglers, the geographic location of Tanjung Balai is very strategic because there are many river inlets that can be used as safe places to hide their ships," Adityawarman added.

He said many cases of smuggling, which had been dealt with by his office, revealed that most of the smuggled goods were shipped to and from Singapore and Klang Port in Malaysia. Tanjung Balai is about a 2-hour journey from Klang Port.

Fishermen in Tanjung Balai said on Saturday that they had received a report that several ships carrying smuggled sugar and electronic goods were sailing from Klang Port. However, Adityawarman could not confirm the report.

He claimed that it was impossible for smugglers to operate through official ports as security inspections were tightly imposed on every ship.

Decentralisation blighted by graft

Straits Times - September 8, 2003

Robert Go, Kutai Kartanegara -- Children go to school for free, college students get scholarships, and child labour will be abolished by 2005 in this small town on the edge of the vast rainforest on the island of Borneo. Teachers earn twice as much as they did in 1998, get subsidies for motorcycles, and work in computer-equipped classrooms.

Farmers also get a break in the Kutai Kartanegara regency, one of eight administrative regions, known as regencies, in East Kalimantan province. Thousands of tractors and modern farming tools are leased or sold to farmers at big discounts. Two hospitals are being built, one at each end of the sprawling regency, so the sick would not have to travel far.

At first glance, the decentralisation programme Indonesia embarked on in 2001 seems to be working wonders. But a closer look uncovers worrying signs.

A lavish resort the government is building on Kumala Island is only one of a number of dubious enterprises sprouting across Indonesia.

To encourage democracy and accountability throughout its extensive archipelago of more than 13,000 islands, Jakarta has put more power in the hands of their many regency-level governments. But in the process, some analysts fear, the central government might also have unwittingly decentralised corruption. Local players now take stakes, instead of officials from Jakarta. The people remain the losers.

For that reason, the government is considering overhauling the programme. It may curb the powers it gave regencies and give them instead to the next tier of administration, officials at the provincial level. But some governments, particularly those which have reaped great financial rewards from decentralisation, are unlikely to sit still as Jakarta tinkers, observers said.

Looking princely wearing his tailored uniforms, golden civil servant's pin and matching Mont Blanc pens in the left breast pocket, Kutai regent Syaukani talked about how well his region has fared since decentralisation.

Seated on an orange-leather-and-carved-wood sofa, he said: "Before, we were spectators watching our wealth carted away to Jakarta. Now we are participants. There is no turning back." Indeed, Mr Budi Dharmawan, a businessman based in Semarang, Central Java and a brother of Development Minister Kwik Kian Gie, said: "If you compare [things now] to a few years ago, you see many changes. The media, for instance, has highlighted corruption and forced the government to become cleaner."

In some places, a reverse of the decentralisation policy could be counter-productive. Ms Rustriningsih, 36, who runs the Kebumen regency in Central Java, has been praised for her anti-graft crusades. She has cleaned up her bureaucracy and tried to involve the people in its decision-making process, including budget planning. But anecdotes about graft abound.

A Jakarta-based contractor said a regent in Irian Jaya marked up a street-lamp project to 800 million rupiah, cheating his people of around 600 million rupiah. An official in Central Java reportedly ordered "improvements" on a road that was paved the year before, and creamed off 200 million rupiah from the project's cost.

Dr Tukiman Taruna, a community development specialist at Diponegoro University, said most regions suffer from the problem of a lack of accountability. He said: "Projects give opportunities for corruption. Mark-up levels are steep, sometimes more than 300 per cent. There is no questioning from the people -- no control."

In Semarang, officials described a budget item, tagged "contingency funds" and amounting to nearly $1 million Singapore, as a yearly unofficial payment to legislators. Each year, mayors or regents present accountability speeches to local parliaments.

Regional autonomy moves began in 1999

Indonesia's decentralisation was implemented in 2001 but has its beginnings in 1999 when former president B.J. Habibie's interim government drafted two constitutional laws for regional autonomy.

The first law focused on political decentralisation. Governments became responsible for delivering public services, and setting agricultural and other policies. A second law focused on finance.

Regencies now control 90 per cent of income from property tax, 80 per cent of income from forestry, mining and fisheries, 15 per cent of money from oil production and 30 per cent of gas revenues.

The central government provides specific and general grants to the regions based on a series of complex formulas.

Through regional autonomy, Indonesia meant to address two main issues: First, during the Suharto era, all decisions were made in Jakarta, and locals had little say. Decentralisation was supposed to give people more control over their immediate regions.

Second, autonomy was meant to reduce separatist sentiment in resource-rich areas like Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Separatist movements in the two regions accused the Suharto government of stealing locally-generated revenue.

Local & community issues

With less red tape, regions can better plan for needs

Straits Times - September 8, 2003

Robert Go -- Kebumen and Semarang in Central Java are two places which have used their increased powers wisely.

Kebumen is a poor region in Central Java with 1.2 million people and a budget this year of 380 billion rupiah, run by Ms Rustriningsih, 36.

"Our budget is small," she said. "We make the most of it by cutting costs and being conscious that every rupiah goes towards something concrete." Thus, she has been cleaning up the bureaucracy and making sure that the people are involved in the decision-making process.

Since she took over in Kebumen in 2000, she has removed under- qualified or corrupt officials. About 100 civil servants have been asked to accept early retirement. Those who could not be pushed out have been transferred to less strategic jobs, "where their failings won't translate into major losses", she said.

Ms Rustriningsih has also made education a priority. She uses money saved from other budget sectors to fix school buildings and improve teachers' salaries. She also lives up to her reputation as an anti-corruption crusader.

Earlier this year, the police acted on reports that a village chief had swindled his own people through a land scheme. The man has since resigned from the job and his case is making its way through the court system.

Ms Rustriningsih's initiatives, according to decentralisation observers, show how good leaders can use autonomy to the regions' benefits. Unfortunately, even she knows that she is in the vast minority.

"We have little money, but our programme focus is on fixing the system instead of raising funds. Most regions focus more on the second approach. That is a problem."

Like Kebumen, Semarang officials put their new powers to good use. When they wanted to raise local revenues three years ago, they decided to make its bureaucracy more efficient and tax collection procedures more honest by computerising the system.

The city, with about 1.3 million people and a yearly budget of about 500 billion rupiah, asked restaurants and hotels to record and calculate service taxes electronically. The approach has paid dividends.

Mr Farchan, a senior economic planning official in the city, said: "Collection rates jumped, and revenues for the city increased." The Central Java provincial capital was also the first Indonesian city to publish its budget and account for how most of its money was spent. Its decentralisation process helped cut red tape and costs, and improve services to people.

Decentralisation watchdog KPPOD rated Semarang this year as the most attractive city in the country for investments. Said KPPOD director Agung Pambhudi: "Some regions went nuts and imposed all kinds of new taxes to get more money. Places like Semarang didn't go that way. Overall, we think they have got a better approach to decentralisation."

Human rights/law

Komnas HAM writes to Megawati on G30S/PKI prisoners

Detik.com - August 26, 2003

Rizal Maslan, Jakarta - On Monday August 25, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) sent a letter to President Megawati Sukarnoputri requesting that G30S/PKI(1) political prisoners who are innocent be rehabilitated. The matter was in reference to considerations made by the Supreme Court to provide such rehabilitation.

The Komnas HAM letter, reference number 147/TUA/VIII/2003, was sent to Megawati earlier this afternoon and signed by Komnas HAM chairperson Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara.

According to Garuda, the letter was sent in order that the government, in this matter President Megawati, take immediate steps to rehabilitate political prisoners and ex-PKI prisoners who are innocent. "We are pushing this issue because tapols and napols(2) have never been found guilty by the courts(3). Aside from this, they have been discriminated against by the New Order regime [of former President Suharto]. According to Paragraph 3 of Law Number 39/1999 on Human Rights this is wrong", Garuda told journalists at the Komnas HAM office on Jl. Latuharhary in Menteng, Central Jakarta on Monday.

Aside from this continued Garuda, the outcome of amendments based on Paragraph 14 Article 1 of the 1945 Constitution says that the president shall provide amnesty and rehabilitation after consideration by Supreme Court. The Supreme Court itself has already sent a letter dated June 13, 2003, reference number KMA/403/VI/2003, in which the Supreme Court's consideration was that G30S/PKI victims should be rehabilitated.

Garuda said that in fact, [as a result of what was] in the Supreme Court's letter, the government must take the decision to provide rehabilitation and amnesty. Because the Supreme Court has already agreed [to this] in its consideration, the president is in fact already able to do this with reference to the Supreme Court's decision. "The Supreme Court has carried out its constitutional task, now it is up to the president [to act upon the Court's decision]", he explained again.

Is he optimistic that the president will grant this? Garuda only hoped that it will be able to be granted. "The Supreme Court has already given [the case] its consideration, it is hoped that the president can also [do this]", he answered. (djo, zal)

Notes

1. G30S/PKI: Gerakan 30 September/Partai Komunis Indonesia, the September 30 Movement/Indonesian Communist Party. An acronym referring to the alleged coup attempt in 1965 which the New Order regime blamed on the PKI. G30S was a grouping of middle ranking officers lead by Lieutenant Colonel Untung, who kidnapped and killed six generals whom they accused of being members of a "Council of Generals" allegedly organising a coup against Indonesia's founding President Sukarno.

2. The terms Tapol and Napol both mean political prisoner. The distinction between the two is that Tapols are political prisoners who have never been tried or sentenced and Napols are political prisoners have been tried and sentenced by a court (usually by a military rather than civilian court).

3. The majority of people jailed for their alleged involvement in the G30S/PKI affair were never tried or convicted and in cases where they were, it was by military not civilian courts.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Leaders mull action against militant group

Lusa - September 1, 2003

Dili -- East Timor's leaders met Monday to discuss "urgent" measures to control the activities of a militant nationalist group that has been accused of fomenting instability in the new nation.

The Committee for Popular Defense -- Democratic Republic of East Timor (CPD-RDTL) was formed by breakaway elements of the ruling Fretilin party and has regularly been accused by Dili authorities of organizing "destabilizing activities".

President Xanana Gusmco recently made a fact-finding trip to the east of Timor and he gave Prime Minsiter Mari Alkatii and parliamentary speaker Francisco Guterres an account of this visit at their Monday meeting.

Gusmco's aide, Agio Pereira, said the president had seen evidence of the CPD being "active among the population". "The president will let the government see what measures can be taken on these affairs, which need to be overcome", said Pereira.

Guterres said that Gusmco's report showed that "the CPD continues to be entrenched in its positions and does not seek any development in the process".

Alkatiri said joint "political pressure" from all of Timor's sovereign bodies, as well as "social action" among communities vulnerable to the militant group's activities were needed.

The CPD first emerged onto Timor's political scene in November, 1999 and has been blamed for various acts aimed at destabilizing the nation, including an alleged plot to assassinate the president in 2001.

The group has been a constant thorn in the flesh for the Dili government, both before and after independence in 2002, and was also alleged to have had shady dealings with Indonesian security and intelligence officials.

Reconciliation & justice

NGO worried abouth legal loopholes in Priok case

Jakarta Post - September 10, 2003

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- The prosecution of those alleged to have taken part in the massacre of at least 33 people by the Indonesian Military in Tanjung Priok in 1984 would be hampered by a lack of clear guidelines, a human rights watchdog has warned.

Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) coordinator Ifdhal Kasim said Tuesday that the prosecutors would have difficulties presenting evidence and witnesses.

"Besides, the 19-year-old case must be dropped because, according to the Criminal Code, all cases that are older than 12 years and have not been tried, automatically expire." Ifdhal also said the prosecutors might fail to identify who was the most responsible because the first suspects to be tried were low-ranking soldiers carrying out orders from above.

"In a bid to ensure a fair trial, we also recommend the court not allow the defendants to wear their institution's uniforms because the trial is on them themselves, not on their institution."

The first hearing would be held at the Jakarta Human Rights Court on September 15, in which a group of soldiers face charges of crimes against humanity.

The shooting outside a mosque in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on September 12, 1984, claimed 33 lives and injured 55 others, according to an investigation conducted by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in 2001.

The Attorney General's Office has declared 14 active and retired military personnel suspects in the case. The highest ranked officer in the list of suspects is Commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrassan, who at that time was chief of the North Jakarta military district operational unit.

Visiting Kopassus chief to face trial for rights abuses

Green Left Weekly - September 10, 2003

Pip Hinman & Vannessa Hearman -- The Kopassus chief, Commander Major General Sriyanto, invited to Australia to cement a military deal with Canberra, will shortly be tried for human rights abuses in Indonesia.

Sriyanto, who graduated from the Indonesian Military Academy in 1974, and was given the job of head of the TNI's elite special (Kopassus) forces in July 2002, has been accused of abuses dating back 20 years.

Rachland Nashidik, a representative of Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (Imparsial), who visited Australia last week, said that Sriyanto has been indicted to face charges relating to the killing of Muslim protesters at Tanjung Priok in northern Jakarta in 1984. It is still not known how many people died when the TNI opened fire on the protesters. Bodies were exhumed as late as 2000 as part of the Indonesian Human Rights Commission's investigation into the killings.

On August 27, five judges were appointed to preside over an ad hoc tribunal (similar to that dealing with the 1999 carnage in East Timor) to begin hearings into the Tanjung Priok case. Fourteen people will be tried, many of whom were serving officers in the TNI's Greater Jakarta regional command.

The case has suffered lengthy delays since the beginning of this year. This is indicative of the reluctance in the attorney- general's department to punish TNI members. The Indonesian daily Kompas reported on September 4 that Beni Biki, coordinator of the Tanjung Priok Victims' Group, criticised the TNI for its stand that the past "need not be uncovered".

The Timor tribunal, which delivered its final judgment on August 5, has been condemned worldwide for its lenient sentences, and Timorese solidarity organisations are now campaigning for an international tribunal. Despite this, the fact that the government has been forced to hold these ad hoc tribunals indicates the pressure it is under to be seen to be bringing the perpetrators of human rights abuses -- the military -- to justice.

The 1984 shootings had long been a symbol of Muslim resentment against the former Suharto dictatorship. In April 1985, sentences of one to three years' jail were handed down to 28 people accused of "waging resistance in violence" against the armed forces. Calls for a public inquiry were ignored.

Under President Abdurrahman Wahid, the families of the victims had hoped justice would be done. But a June 2000 Komnas HAM inquiry found that while "human rights violations did occur", it was not a "massacre". The report said that 33 people died, including nine killed by the protesters, and that 36 others were tortured by soldiers. A report by the Al Araf mosque stated that 63 people died and more than 100 people were seriously wounded in the attack.

The Komnas HAM inquiry, which lasted three months, concluded that it had no legal power to conduct a further investigation and recommended that the government apologise and compensate the families of the victims. Along with Sriyanto, then a captain in the north Jakarta military, former generals "Benny" Murdani and former vice-president General Try Sutrisno were implicated in the Tanjug Priok massacre. In March 2001, Sriyanto and other high- ranking officers signed an agreement with relatives of the massacre victims, in the hope the TNI would not have to face legal action over the incident.

Sriyanto has also been accused of playing a role in the riots in Solo in May 1998 when he was chief of the local military command. A report by Laksamana.Net in 2000 stated that Sriyanto was in charge when officers brutally attacked student protesters there, just before Suharto was forced to step down. Sriyanto then blamed the violence on the left-wing People's Democratic Party.

Kopassus is notorious for its human rights violations throughout Indonesia and East Timor. In the final months of the Suharto regime, a Kopassus team abducted and tortured several pro- democracy activists. Some of the activists have never been found, believed to have been killed by the feared unit.

Kopassus officers are also believed to be responsible for the November 2001 murder of West Papua's pro-independence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.

Among Sriyanto's fellow graduates were Lieutenant General Prabowo, a former chief of Kopassus and Kostrad. He was dismissed from the military in 1998 for his role in abducting pro-democracy activists. Major General Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, another fellow graduate, has been accused of playing a key role in the formation of East Timor's murderous pro-Indonesia militia groups in 1999.

Human rights and solidarity organisations are urging the Coalition government not to renew ties with the TNI and Kopassus. A sign-on statement, initiated by Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP), calls on the Coalition government not "to drag Indonesia back to the past".

It accuses Canberra of "interfering in Indonesian politics on the side of the most militaristic and anti-democratic groups", and charges that renewing military ties with Jakarta would be "helping Jakarta defeat the movements for genuine democracy and social justice, [that] begun with the overthrow of Suharto in 1998".

"Terrorism in Indonesia, and elsewhere, can only really be tackled by reducing the inequalities between the impoverished majority and a tiny elite, and by ending the reliance on the old Suharto methods of violence, repression, and intrigues by the military and intelligence agencies -- what Indonesians call the 'security approach'", ASAP chairperson Max Lane said.

He said that Canberra must end its "special relationship" with the Indonesian elite, and instead build one with the democratic forces, including non-government organisations, across Indonesia. "Ending all military ties would send a clear message that Australia does not support this militaristic policy which is unlikely to solve the complex range of issues currently facing the peoples of Indonesia."

Ex-generals face charges over 1984 massacre

Associated Press - September 9, 2003

Jakarta -- Indonesian prosecutors yesterday charged two retired army generals in the massacre of more than 30 Muslim protesters two decades ago during the rule of former president Suharto.

Major-General Pranowo and Brigadier-General Rudolf Butarbutar joined 11 other military officials charged over the 1984 killings. "We have received the separate dossiers of the two defendants," said Mr Andi Samsan Nganro, a spokesman for the five-judge panel convened in the Central Jakarta District Court.

They are accused of not controlling troops who allegedly killed protesters.

Focus on Jakarta

Evicted residents demand compensation from landownder

Jakarta Post - September 9, 2003

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, Jakarta -- Camping on the rubble of their old houses on Jl. Pipa in Sunter Jaya, North Jakarta, the residents fear two things as night falls: the rain and the police who, on previous nights, forced them to vacate the land.

"We will insist on staying here until the person who claims to own the land gives us the compensation we were promised for our houses," Mahfud, a factory worker who lived in the area for four years, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

With makeshift tents made from plastic sheets and cardboard boxes, about 80 families are living amid their destroyed homes in a little area surrounded by a three-meter tall wall.

After losing all their belongings, they now depend on donated rice and instant noodles for their food.

The residents are bewildered by the North Jakarta mayoralty's decision to bulldoze their houses last Tuesday, with the dispute over the ownership of the land still in the hands of the Jakarta High Court.

"There was no court verdict ordering us to leave the land. Moreover, we bought the land back in 1998 and 1999 from the workers here, who said their boss was halting plans to build an office for the Timor car company on the land," Mahfud said.

He was referring to PT Timor Putra Nasional, owned by Hutomo Putra Mandala, the youngest son of former president Soeharto. At the time, Hutomo held the right to import Korean-made KIA cars and sell them here under the name Timor.

The 4.5-hectare plot of land known as Catering hamlet, named after the profession of the first owner of the land, was handed to the now-defunct Bank Surya in 1997 by Anton Tjahayadikarta, the second person to own the land.

According to the North Jakarta office of the National Land Agency, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) took over ownership of the land in 1999, along with other assets of Bank Surya.

It is not clear whether IBRA sold the land, but residents said that Anton held several meetings with subdistrict chief Sunyoto, in which he promised to pay Rp 500,000 (US$58) in compensation to the owners of each of the 140 houses in the hamlet for vacating the area.

Residents of the hamlet were not given notice that their houses were to be destroyed on Tuesday. One resident was hospitalized when he was hit be debris from one of the destroyed houses.

"There was no notice of the eviction. We were not given time to save our belongings before they smashed our houses," one resident, Marsum, said.

He said the North Jakarta public order officers who evicted them took everything, including television sets and piggy banks.

The public order officers also took the electricity and water meters that proved the residents were customers of the state- owned electricity company and the city-owned tap water company, he said. "We were electricity and water customers. That is proof that we were legal residents," Marsum said.

'Bajaj drivers to suffer the most'

Jakarta Post - September 8, 2003

Zakki Hakim, Jakarta -- "When kancil is released, common people like me will suffer the most," said Sukim, 35, a Bajaj (three- wheeled motorized vehicle) driver in Rawamangun, East Jakarta on Sunday.

Sukim, who has been driving Bajaj for nine years, is worried because word on the street has it that every five Bajaj must be exchanged with one Indonesian-made Kancil. Naturally, he fears he will lose his livelihood.

Currently, there are at least 14,000 Bajaj operating across the city. That means some 11,200 drivers could become jobless.

The city administration has proposed that every Bajaj be traded in for around Rp 5 million as a down payment for one Kancil, which manufacturer PT Kancil Automotive Marketing Industries sells at Rp 34 million.

"I guess Bajaj owners would be reluctant to support the replacement program, since the current market price of Bajaj is around Rp 20 million," said another Bajaj driver, Gatam.

The daily rental for a Kancil is proposed to be between Rp 60,000 and Rp 70,000 per day, while a Bajaj's rental fee is only Rp 40,000 per day.

Gatam is certain that driving a Kancil would reduce his earnings. The Kancil manufacturer had earlier proposed that bajaj drivers pay a daily rental fee of Rp 50,000.

Maintenance of a Bajaj is easier because its body is made of steel, while a Kancil is made of fiberglass, he argued. Consequently, if a Kancil's body was damaged, say in a collision, the driver must replace the whole body of the vehicle, he said Moreover, since Bajaj had been operating in the capital since the mid-1970s, its spare parts are easy to find, he said.

Despite objections from Bajaj drivers, Governor Sutiyoso announced on Friday the city administration would issue permits for 400 Kancil this week.

Bajaj was first produced by Bajaj Auto Ltd India, and was introduced in the country in 1975 during the administration of Governor Ali Sadikin, who sought an alternative to the motorized, rickshaw-like helicak.

Environment

Minister says reforestation pledge will achieves little

Jakarta Post - September 13, 2003

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar -- As Indonesia's priceless rainforests continue to disappear at alarming rates, 15 provinces signed an agreement in the South Sulawesi town of Malino to replant around 300,000 hectares of barren land. However, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, speaking at the ceremony, held out little hope it would actually achieve anything.

The Malino Pledge, was signed at the annual meeting of the National Movement for Land and Forest Rehabilitation (GNRHL), which concluded Friday. Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa also addressed the meeting.

But several other Cabinet members, including Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno and Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim, failed to attend for unspecified reasons, while most governors only sent representatives.

Unlike previous agreements signed in the mountainous resort, Yusuf expressed pessimism the agreement would be effective.

He said regional administrations were not serious about the reforestation program as only South Sulawesi Governor Amien Syam and West Sumatra Governor Zainal Bakar attended.

Kalla recalled two previous agreements signed in Malino, which he organized successfully to end the bloody sectarian conflicts in the Central Sulawesi regency of Poso and in Maluku in Dec. 21, 2001 and Feb. 11, 2002 respectively.

He warned that the remaining forest areas would become desserts within 100 years unless reforestation programs were implemented immediately, as illegal logging was still rampant.

Due to illegal logging, Indonesia, once renowned for its large tropical forests, loses up to 2 million hectares of forests annually. Barren or deforested areas now total 56 million hectares across the country.

Prakosa shared Kalla's opinion that the nation had failed to stop the widespread illegal logging. Both ministers could not say why.

The Indonesian Military, National Police and big businesses in collusions with government figures or authorities are known to be responsible. Many of the logs are sold to neighboring countries such as Malaysia or Singapore for reexport to South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, the United States and Europe who do little to stem the flow.

Yusuf said Indonesia would continue suffering from annual natural disasters resulting from deforestation. "Numerous natural disasters will continue to befall the country depending on the season. Water crisis, drought and harvest failure have affected the people during the dry season while floods and many diseases have claimed lives in the rainy season and all these disasters have a lot to do with the deteriorating environment. We have to pay a high price." Prakosa said that the government would carry out reforestation in phases.

He said that in the first year in 2002, the government had replanted 300,000 hectares of barren land and had raised it to 500,000 hectares this year. "When the five-year program ends in 2007, a total of 3 million hectares of wasteland across the country will be reforested," Prakosa said. He said the government had allocated Rp 15 trillion (US$1.7 million) for the five-year program.

Logging on to blame international demand

Laksamana.Net - September 9, 2003

Rather than point her finger at endemic corruption and poor law enforcement, President Megawati Sukarnoputri says rampant illegal logging in Indonesia is due to rising international demand for timber.

"The increased demand for wood in the international market, the higher production of wood-based furniture products and the extension of wood-related industries, inevitably trigger illegal logging," she was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.

She made the comment on Monday during the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, West Java.

The president said Indonesia has limited resources to combat illegal logging but would do its best to halt deforestation. "Surely there are a lot of causes and conditions that lie behind these circumstances. But despite that, we will do our outmost to stop it," she was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

Megawati said the nation should no longer view forests as an exploitable natural resource, but as assets that should be preserved and protected.

Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim last month said logging would be banned in Java because it had exacerbated this year's severe drought. But analysts say he lacks adequate authority to deal appropriately with illegal logging syndicates.

Environmentalists say widespread corruption and poor law enforcement are the main causes of illegal logging in Indonesia.

Megawati said the government has developed a thorough conservation plan to eradicate illegal logging, fight forest fires, rehabilitate damaged forests, and restructure the forestry sector.

In April, she urged police to cease their involvement in illegal logging and timber smuggling. "It is ironic that police are involved in smuggling amid the government's serious efforts to combat such illegal practices," said the president, who is a keen gardener and former biology student.

Experts estimate about 80% of all logging in Indonesia is illegal and say the problem will take years to overcome, by which time there won't be much left of the country's forests.

Makarim last year asked Greenpeace to help the government combat illegal logging, but he has said little about rounding up and jailing corrupt military officials, police and bureaucrats involved in the timber smuggling business.

Indonesia lost an estimated 40 million hectares of rainforests due to the rampant plunder of forests during the 32-year regime of former president Suharto.

The fall of Suharto in 1998 sparked an increase in the level of unsustainable logging, as powerful regional timber barons -- often linked to smuggling networks in neighboring countries and beyond -- took advantage of a breakdown in centralized control to take over from the state-sponsored exploitation of the nation's forests.

Environmentalists warn that at the current rate of deforestation in Indonesia, lowland forests will disappear from Sumatra by 2005 and from Kalimantan by 2010, while the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has said tropical forests will disappear from Papua within 15 years unless serious action is taken.

Many illegal logging bosses target national parks and use violence and intimidation to stop anyone who gets in their way. The problem is exacerbated by a lack of law enforcement, the complicity of corrupt police and military officials, and the government's abysmal failure to deal with the problem.

CIFOR was established in 1993 with the aim of using scientific knowledge to influence major decisions affecting the world's tropical forests and the people who depend on them. The center's internationally recruited scientists are based in Bogor but conduct research activities throughout the world in conjunction with several institutional partners. The center has an annual budget of more than $11 million and is involved in research activities in more than 30 countries.

In 1996 the Indonesian government allocated 300,000 hectares of forest in East Kalimantan to CIFOR as a long-term experimental site for developing and testing practices needed to implement sustainable forest management. The Bulungan Research Forest encompasses a number of indigenous groups and a wide range of forest types and human activities.

CIFOR is developing experimental forests in a 3,000-hectare area in Malinau district, East Kalimantan province. The international research agency also maintains a 57-hectare experimental forest around its headquarters in Dermaga, Bogor.

Reforestation program off target

Jakarta Post - September 10, 2003

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The government has already conceded that its 2003 reforestation target is unlikely to be met, even before the program has been launched.

Forestry Minister M. Prakosa said on Tuesday that a tight schedule and lack of preparation would make it almost impossible for the government to meet its ambitious plan to reforest some 300,000 hectares of land in a critical state across the country in 2003.

"Technically it's very difficult to do but we'll try our best," Prakosa said after a meeting with House of Representatives Commission III on Tuesday.

Prakosa acknowledged that his ministry, which leads the country's National Movement for Land and Forest Rehabilitation (GNRHL), had sent a letter to the House notifying it of its inability to carry out the project. When asked why the government was continuing with the project, he replied, "Whatever happens, the project must continue."

Ministry Director General for Forest Rehabilitation Sutino Wibowo said the project would likely manage to reforest some 70 percent of a targeted 300,000 hectares. "We were supposed to start preparing the plant seeds in July. But, we're able to do it only now due to lengthy negotiations between our ministry and the House [on the use of reforestation funds]," he said.

The government has allocated some Rp 400 billion to buy plant seeds for the project. Planting of the seeds for the 300,000 hectares of land is expected to start and be completed in December.

Asked whether the government would meet its reforestation target, Sutino said: "It's only a target. We don't know yet how much will be achieved." He said the government would not force itself to reforest 300,000 hectares of barren land this year. "If we can only achieve 70 percent, so be it. Otherwise, it will be prone to manipulation as occurred in the past," said Sutino without elaborating.

The ministry would plant the remaining seeds to achieve the target, in addition to next year's project to reforest 500,000 land, he said.

This year's reforestation program, worth Rp 1.2 trillion, will mark the beginning of the government's ambitious plan to replant some 3 million hectares of woodland across the country within five years.

Prakosa said the government had scaled down its plan to buy 300 million plant seeds to 262 million due to the tight schedule and lack of time.

Sutino explained that dozens of state-owned and private companies had been enlisted to sell the plant seeds. "We haven't signed any contract for seed purchase," he said, adding that the government would tender for plant seed purchase soon. In a bid to prevent manipulation, Sutino said, the ministry would pay the companies after they completed their work.

Several non-government organizations have also called on the government to postpone the project this year, alleging that the tight schedule would give rise to numerous reasons for the government to buy plant seeds from contractors, even though the species were not demanded by people, in a bid to meet its target.

The government has been urged to revise its target as the forestry ministry has only been able to manage to achieve 1 percent of its annual program to reforest 67,000 hectares of critical land.

Bali/tourism

Get ready to pay for tourist visas

Laksamana.Net - September 9, 2003

A controversial new policy abolishing visa-free entry for citizens of 39 countries and reducing the length of a tourist visa from 60 to 30 days will come into force on December 1, the government announced Tuesday. Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that under the new system, visa-free entry will only be granted to citizens of 11 countries that offer the same facility to Indonesians.

The government currently grants 60-day tourist visas on arrival to citizens of 50 countries.

Last month, thousands of tourism industry workers on Bali demonstrated against the new policy. They said it would cause further economic problems for the resort island, which was devastated by October's nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. In response to the protest, Yusril said the tourism industry should provide free hotel rooms if it wants to attract more tourists.

Many observers have said the move to scrap visa-free entry will destroy efforts to revive the tourism industry, which has been further hit this year by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bomb attacks in Jakarta.

The new visa regulation is mandated in a decree signed by President Megawati Sukarnoputri on March 31. Yusril said certain details of the new policy are yet to be finalized and will require approval from Megawati and her cabinet. For example, he did not say how much the new tourist visas would cost. Officials have previously said the cost could be anywhere from $30 to $50.

Although the new policy signifies an end to visa-free entry for citizens of 39 countries, Yusril said only 23 countries had been selected so far. They are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and United States of America.

Once the new policy comes into effect, citizens of the following countries will also likely lose the visa-free facility: Austria, Belgium, Egypt, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Slovak, Sweden, Venezuela and Yugoslavia.

The 11 countries that offer Indonesians visa-free facilities are: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Hong Kong, Macau, Turkey, Peru, Chile and Morocco.

Yusril said the 30-day tourist visas would only be renewable for 15 days to approved applicants for an additional fee.

He said the new policy will be socialized at Indonesia's main airports and seaports, adding that immigration offices at the points of entry are making preparations so that tourists can be charged for their visas on arrival.

The Directorate General of Immigration and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry have repeatedly tried to justify the revocation of free tourist visas on the grounds that many foreigners work in Indonesia illegally, but expatriates have ridiculed most of their arguments.

Yusril earlier this year argued the policy is vital to protect Indonesia's internal security. "We have found some cases which involved political activities that support the separatist movement in Indonesia," he said in April.

He was referring to a case last September, when authorities arrested and later jailed British academic Lesley McCulloch and American nurse Joy Lee Sadler for misusing their tourist visas by meeting with separatist rebels in Aceh province.

Critics of the policy point out that any foreigners determined to undermine Indonesia's security will willingly pay $50 for a 30- day visa, whereas foreign tourists would think twice about choosing Indonesia as a holiday destination.

Yusril has argued that making tourists pay for visas will boost Indonesia's foreign exchange earnings. "Let's say we stated $40 for one person, if 5 million people come to Indonesia every year, we will receive $200 million from visas and this will earn much more than the plantation companies in Indonesia," he said.

Last year 5.03 million tourists visited Indonesia, down slightly from 5.15 million in 2001. Analysts say numbers are likely to fall further this year because of concerns following SARS and the terrorist bombings.

Many expatriates in Indonesia feel the new visa policy is simply an effort to enable Indonesia's notoriously corrupt immigration officials to extort more money from foreigners.

Islam/religion

US must alter attitude to avoid backlash in Indonesia

Straits Times - September 13, 2003

Commentary by Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo, Jakarta -- It seems that Americans are wondering why more and more Muslims in Indonesia are getting annoyed with the US, including "moderate" Muslims.

The New York Times published an article on September 3 entitled "Once Mild, Islam Looks Harsher In Indonesia". It said that the moderate strand of Islam in Indonesia is being eroded rapidly and wonders whether the country is becoming the "caliphate" of the 21st century.

Washington is sending experts, led by its former ambassador to Syria, Mr Edward Djerejian, to Indonesia to find out what is wrong and how the US could come up with a programme that would conquer the hearts and minds of Muslims in Indonesia.

It is highly debatable whether the moderate strand of Islam in Indonesia is becoming weaker, although more and more Muslims here are becoming impatient with America, including the moderates.

In the past, the majority of Muslims in Indonesia did not perceive the US in a negative way. On the contrary, many Muslim scholars and intellectuals who had gained the opportunity to visit the US and study there were very much in favour of America. Also at the Muslim grassroots level, there was scarcely a ripple of anti-Americanism -- unlike today.

However, after the end of the Cold War and the defeat of communism by the West, many Muslims sensed a change in America's attitude towards Islam. They felt that the cordial relationship between the US and Islam, including Islam in Indonesia, was over, because the former American attitude was perceived to be less than genuine -- more a strategic move to get Muslim support for Washington's struggle against the communist bloc.

The most radical change in the US attitude towards Islam began after September 11, 2001. Most Muslims in Indonesia condemned the terrorist acts, as much as they condemned the Bali and J.W. Marriott Hotel bombings. However, they felt that after the September 11 attacks, the US began to stigmatise Islam.

Regardless of many in the US denying the notion of a "clash of civilisations" following the terrorist acts, the feeling spread among Muslims that America was treating Islam very differently from before. It was as if Islam was replacing communism as American enemy No. 1, despite repeated denials by the US government.

It was as if terrorism only had an Islamic brand, although there had also been terrorism in Ireland and many other places involving non-Muslims. Muslims here have heard or experienced personally how Muslims in America are treated, or upon arrival there, and they do not like it.

In the eyes of moderate Muslims here, the US military offensive against Afghanistan was not so much an effort to eliminate Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, but more a move to safeguard US interests in resources.

Many realise that the group around President George W. Bush has for a long time planned to build an oil pipeline from Central Asia through Afghanistan to the Indian Ocean, but had failed to persuade the Afghan Taleban government to cooperate with the project.

To achieve its objectives, the US did not shy away from using aerial bombings, which caused many casualties among ordinary Afghans. The double standards and arrogance of power demonstrated by America were all too obvious, while the US constantly presses other nations to observe human rights strictly.

The attack on Iraq was a much stronger cause of annoyance. This act of war was a clear violation of international law and a clear rejection of the authority of the United Nations.

Hegemonic ambitions were obvious from the statements of US leaders. Many Americans denied the attack was aimed at controlling Iraqi oil. They said the objective was to liquidate Saddam Hussein's regime and to remould Iraq into a model of democracy that could influence the rest of the Middle East. Civilian casualties were worth the price. But for many Muslims here, this was all hypocrisy and arrogance.

We know many Americans are also frustrated with their own leaders. One is Mr Clyde Prestowitz, author of Rogue Nation (Basic Books, New York, 2003), who has also visited Indonesia and Malaysia. He wrote: "Strategically important and traditional practitioners of a liberal Islam, neither [Indonesia nor Malaysia] has significant ties with the Middle East. Yet few conversations could get past the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio.

"Every night on television, they see US leaders holding pep rallies with Israeli leaders and Israelis using American weapons to attack Palestinian targets." The result, he added, "...is that many old friends of America conclude that the US is attacking Islam itself".

If America wants to be a hegemonic power that has the respect and trust of other nations, it must be a benign one and not cause a reaction of hate or fear.

Although Indonesia will not become a caliphate of the 21st century, considering that most Muslims do not favour replacing the Republic with an Islamic state, it will not be easy for America to have the majority of Indonesians side with it as long as it does not change its attitude vis-a-vis the world, and, in particular, Islam.

[The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network. The author is former governor of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas) in Jakarta.]

Armed forces/police

TNI back to square one

Jakarta Post Editorial - September 8, 2003

Public radio in the early 1960s aired patriotic songs every one hour or so. The lyrics of one song were "Liberate Irian, Liberate Irian" (Seize Irian, Seize Irian). It was around the time when the country had yet to win Irian Jaya -- now Papua -- back from the Dutch colonial government.

Unfortunately, the song is still relevant today to some Papuans, especially those who aspire to secede from Indonesia. Resentment against Jakarta has not waned 40 years after Irian Jaya was liberated in 1963, mainly because of Jakarta's mishandling of this resource-rich-province.

Last week the government decided to send more troops to Papua, not to liberate it but to boost military strength there, according to Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto.

Only two weeks ago, a communal conflict broke out in Timika killing five people and injuring a dozen others. It was partly triggered by the government's recent, controversial decision to divide the huge province into three provinces. Critics say that the government's decision -- to divide the province into West Irian Jaya, Central Irian Jaya and Papua -- was made to weaken the separatist movement in the easternmost province. Nevertheless, the decision has been temporarily suspended due to the conflict.

The addition of four battalions to the existing three battalions in the province looks rational, especially if one considers the enormous size of the province. But it is a disturbing image if seen as an attempt by the military to preserve its infamous territorial command structure.

For 30 years, under the rule of autocrat Soeharto, the structure had been an instrument to ensure the military's political supremacy, as well as the root of numerous human rights abuses. This was the reason why the reputation of the military reached its zenith right after Soeharto's downfall.

The people's suspicion toward TNI today stems from this period. Bad elements in this otherwise very important institution have been suspected to have engineered communal clashes in the former province of East Timor, Maluku province and the town of Poso, Central Sulawesi in post-Soeharto years. Too bad our legal system has significantly failed to bring these cases to light.

Past experience shows that sending troops to conflict areas -- despite the otherwise noble intention of bringing peace -- only creates more problems. Military solutions to political problems are most likely to flop.

The military operation in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) in the 1990s failed to subdue the decades-old struggle of Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement). Ironically, the post-Soeharto government under President Megawati Soekarnoputri -- breaking their past promise, to pursue peaceful means -- launched another operation, starting on May 19 this year.

The military, who promised to end the current war in NAD in six months, has to eat its own words. It has now hinted that the conflict -- that has brought so much misery to the Acehnese -- might extend to next year. In the meantime, at least 319 civilians have been killed and more than 100 others injured, according to the police.

In Papua, the government has been waging sporadic battles against the separatist movement since the 1960s without success.

What needs to be done by the government, the people and the military in both these troubled provinces is to embrace the local people in an honest and genuine manner, to talk to them from the heart, to listen to their grievances patiently and to find ways to fulfill their demands. Bullets do not pay and they will never win the hearts of the people.

The first step in this direction is the willingness of hard- liners within the TNI to abandon their old way of doing things. This entails a redefinition of responses to numerous challenges facing TNI. Only then will the TNI recoup its glorious reputation in its journey to become a professional institution. Otherwise, God forbid, will we witness the days where Papuans and Acehnese see their struggle as a war to free themselves from Indonesian colonizers?

International relations

Unhappy anniversary for US-Indonesia ties

Asia Times - September 11, 2003

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar -- It has been an exciting two years in the relationship between the United States, the world's only remaining superpower, and Indonesia, the nation with the world's largest Muslim population.

The good fortune that paved Megawati Sukarnoputri's path to her father's old job just weeks earlier fated her to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House after the September 11, 2001, attacks. That visit established some enduring themes: The US would seek Indonesian support for the "war on terror" for symbolic and strategic reasons. Renewed US aid to Indonesian's largely unreformed military would be a focus for that support. Indonesia would be coy about the presence of terrorist organizations on its soil and adamant about denying links between terrorism and Islam.

Over the past 24 months, those themes have been played out with such great skill that not only has each nation failed to get what it wants, but each has suffered serious damage to its interests, and the bilateral relationship has deteriorated. Happy anniversary!

Cracked embargo

The post-September 11 meeting between George W Bush and Megawati went as well as could be expected for this pair of presidential offspring who jointly comprise a full wit. Megawati got nearly a half-billion dollars in aid that cracked the embargo on military assistance; Bush got a photo opportunity with a Muslim national leader who denounced terror as well as those who would equate terrorism and Islam.

Despite support from the United Nations, Indonesia was among the most vocal opponents of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Jakarta's US Embassy was the site of fiery protests denouncing the US war on Islam that Indonesian leaders pointedly tolerated, though threats of violence such as "sweeping" Westerners out of Indonesia were condemned. Indonesia denied it had terrorists, despite violence directed at civilians across the archipelago, from communal warfare to bombs at the Jakarta Stock Exchange and churches on Christmas Eve.

Bilateral relations were frosty publicly and, embassy sources say, politically, though security forces welcomed renewed links with Uncle Sam. The US also cherished these rekindled contacts, even though the military remained unrepentant about past abuses while undertaking new ones. For instance, in November 2001, elite Kopassus troops murdered Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay.

The security forces, politicians and the West argued about whether there were terrorists operating in Indonesia even after the evidence from Omar al-Faruq, an al-Qaeda operative seized in West Java. Then the Bali bombings in October last year changed the debate.

Pages turn

After Bali, Megawati appeared on television and dared utter the T-word. Police vigorously pursued the bombers with the help of investigators from Australia, the United States and other friendly nations. The security forces withdrew their support from violent groups such as Laksar Jihad, which recruited fighters to kill Christians in the Malukus and Sulawesi. An anti-terrorism law quickly went on the books. Everyone seemed to be on the same page, more or less.

The invasion of Iraq changed things from Indonesia's perspective. The US "war on terrorism" looked much more like a war on Islam. Public protests in Jakarta were more muted, but politicians again felt compelled to condemn the United States. This new attitude didn't change Indonesia's expectations for US aid as well as investment by US companies and spending by US tourists despite concerns about security that last month's Marriott bombing in Jakarta confirmed. (Indonesia nevertheless condemns Western travel warnings against visiting the country.)

Indonesia, for its part, has disappointed the United States and its allies. Local politicians have sought to exploit situations for their own purposes. (Gee, what a shock that must be to the folks in Washington!) The police have failed to prevent two high-profile attacks targeting Americans (many victims were Indonesians, but it's the thought that counts), the Bali and Marriott attacks. Local and expatriate populations are aware of the threat even if they're not cowed by it; that's a partial victory for the terrorists.

The armed forces, which the United States saw as the most viable national institution and the one it hopes to influence, hasn't changed. In addition to the Theys murder, investigators found that the armed forces were behind the ambush outside the Freeport-McMoran complex in Papua. That incident gave the US Congress ammunition to delay the resumption of aid to the army. Trials for atrocities in East Timor whitewashed the military's role.

After the Marriott blast, there was a brief move to upgrade last year's anti-terrorism law to a more draconian measure modeled after the Internal Security Acts found in Malaysia or Singapore, which would have given security forces more clout. The military has also resumed the war in Aceh, meaning the armed forces are in charge of the two areas with resources of greatest interest to the United States. Whether that's coincidence or design is open to question, but the US blueprint envisaged more influence over the generals at this point.

Trial separation

The verdict in the trial of alleged Jemaah Islamya leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir displayed the sense of mutual disappointment and frustration between Indonesia and the West. US officials complained privately that the four-year term for Ba'asyir was too lenient, and Australian Prime Minister John Howard said so publicly.

Those comments elevate Ba'asyir's claims of martyrdom and offer confirmation that his prosecution and other anti-terrorism measures are part of a Western conspiracy against Islam. They also underline the Western assumption that courts follow the direction of politicians. The verdict suggests political leaders are reluctant to alienate what they contend is a tiny minority of radicals.

Islamic leaders also fail to speak out against the alleged fringe: when a lawyer for convicted Bali bomber Amrozi said he planned to appeal his client's death sentence on the grounds that he "only wanted to kill Americans and Jews", no mainstream leader stood up to denounce the sentiment. However, don't think mainstream Muslim organizations are insensitive. They scolded police for using the term Jemaah Islamya (since it translates as "Muslim community") in connection with the Marriott attack, even though confessed members of the radical group implicated their colleagues in the bombing.

Indonesians also bristle at the criticism of their judicial system, pointing out that Ba'asyir was convicted and death sentences have been handed down in the Bali cases, all in transparent trials under the world spotlight, something the United States hasn't managed in two years since September 11. The justice minister blamed the US -- and questioned its commitment fighting terrorism -- for not providing greater access to Hambali, al-Qaeda's alleged kingpin in Southeast Asia. Since Indonesia-born Hambali was captured, Indonesia has complained about its inability to question him, alternating with announcements that it dispatched teams to do so, and lobbied for his eventual return for trial in his homeland. The verdict in the Ba'asyir case probably lessens that possibility dramatically.

Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz unwittingly summed up the sad state of the relationship between his country and the West when he criticized the United States for backing Muslims (as the head of an Islamic party, Haz and others tend to ignore the 20 million to 50 million Indonesians who are not Muslims) into a corner. He warned the US not to punish Indonesia for the actions of a few radicals -- and not to withhold investment that Indonesia so desperately needs.

After two years of engagement on the terrorism issue, the United States and Indonesia are talking past each other, neither side is getting what it wants, and the terrorists continue to prosper. The US can help the situation by dropping its focus on the Indonesian military that's failed to seize its good fortune (or thinks it can get away with anything in the eyes of kindly Uncle Sam) and finding new subjects to discuss besides terrorism, but Indonesia has the real heavy lifting to do.

Unfair as it may seem, Indonesia's main complaints -- US favoritism toward Israel and the Iraq occupation -- are things over which it has little control and, more to the point, have little real impact on Indonesia, which should be focused on its own shattered economy and security. Thrust into a potential leading role in the global war on terrorism, two years on, Indonesia's leadership has led the nation to a position as one of terrorism's leading victims.

Economy & investment

Don't expect business as usual next year: Boediono

Jakarta Post - September 13, 2003

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- Minister of Finance Boediono warned bankers on Friday to remain prudent as the economy would continue to face uncertainties next year.

Boediono explained that the uncertainties escalated because of possible political tension during the general election year and at a time when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would no longer take an active role in designing the country's economic programs. "Don't expect business as usual this year and next year because we are still in a phase of political and economic transition. The country's condition will remain vigilant," he said.

Boediono made the statement during the 15th congress of the Federation of Private Domestic Banks (Perbanas). Perbanas currently has 79 member private banks. Before the late 1990s financial crisis, members totaled 166 banks.

The minister said the government had outlined several strategies to help the economy survive the perilous period mainly by maintaining macroeconomic and fiscal stability.

"The most important thing during the transition is that we have to maintain a stable macroeconomic condition. Without it the micro, or the real sector, which currently under performs, can further plunge," he said.

He added that as this would be the main economic policy focus, the government would not provide any fiscal stimulus package for the business sector. "There will be no stimulus for the micro sector next year because our fiscal condition is still inadequate for that. I know that our policy is conservative, but we need to be very careful," he said.

The government has implemented belt-tightening measures to establish fiscal stability following the financial crisis with the budget deficit this year expected to reach 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The budget deficit was about 3.7 percent of GDP three years ago. Next year, the deficit is projected to decline to 1.2 percent of GDP.

Over the past couple of years, the government has managed to stabilize macroeconomic indicators. Inflation has declined markedly and the government now expects it will be in the range of 5 percent to 6 percent by year-end. The government also managed to stabilize the rupiah at around Rp 8,500-Rp 8,600 against the US dollar.

During the banking congress, Boediono also said the absence of IMF programs next year would become a challenge, especially in gaining confidence from investors. "The IMF's letter of intent has been considered by investors and business people as the benchmark. Thus, we are now preparing a new benchmark called the white paper," said Boediono, referring to a document containing the government's post-IMF economic programs.

He expected the white paper document to be published in the middle of this month. Boediono urged banks to monitor the implementation of the economic programs set under the white paper document. The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has set up a special unit to do the monitoring role.