Aceh

GAM willing to release hostages in return for ceasefire

Agence France Presse - January 7, 2004

Jakarta -- Separatist rebels in war-torn Aceh province said Wednesday they were willing to release 80 captives including a television cameraman in return for a two-day ceasefire.

"That's a condition that we have put forth," said the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) commander for East Aceh district, Ishak Dawood.

He said rebels would need a day to deliver the detainees to a safe place and another day to return to their camp. The detainees are held in several areas in East Aceh.

The government has sent three senior officials to Aceh to try to arrange talks with the rebels about a release. Such talks would be the first between the government and rebels since Jakarta on May 19 imposed martial law in Aceh and launched a huge military offensive.

Ishak said if the government agrees on a ceasefire, the hostages would be handed over to Red Cross representatives at a certain location. He added that GAM would not have any direct contact with the military or government representatives.

Ishak refused to describe the detainess as hostages, saying they have been with the rebels because they were suspected of spying for the military or because they had sought guerrilla protection. "We are not asking for ransom," he said.

Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu urged the government to reject the ceasefire demand. "Why should we negotiate and follow the demands of a separatist group which is currently being cornered? It is only normal for them to seek a ceasefire and we should not grant this wish," Ryacudu said in Jakarta. "GAM should be continuously cornered and the pressure should not be relaxed," Antara quoted the general, known for his hawkish stance, as saying.

Aceh journalist's 'impossible task'

BBC News - January 9, 2004 Rachel Harvey, Jakarta -- Journalists covering events in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province have faced a particularly difficult task since martial law was declared last year.

Their movements are severely restricted and local reporters are officially forbidden from contacting separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (Gam).

But one editor's testimony has shed light on the unofficial pressures being used to influence and suppress news. Maarif, whose newspaper closed last month after intimidation from the authorities, said he was hit about the head and threatened with a pistol.

A young man with an intense expression, Maarif has now fled the province and is in hiding. But even after he left, he continued to receive threatening phone calls asking where he was, and when he was coming back to the province.

Maarif, 25, moved with his family from Java to Aceh in 1981, as part of Indonesia's programme of transmigration. He may not be ethnically Acehnese, but home is where the heart is, and Maarif's heart is firmly rooted in Acehnese soil.

After university, Maarif and a group of his friends, most in their twenties, decided to start their own newspaper in Aceh. "Beudoh" was launched in early 2003, when a now collapsed peace process between the government and rebels was still in effect.

Maarif described the paper as being concerned with issues like human rights, as they affected ordinary people. He said the paper did not often tackle big political subjects.

"All the main papers at that time were supporting the government line so we wanted to present an alternative view," he said. Over a period of six months, eight editions of the tabloid were published.

Government Line But after martial law was declared in May 2003, local journalists found themselves under enormous pressure, as Maarif discovered first hand. "There was a conflict between what we wrote and what the military wanted us to write. They wanted us to support the government line, but not everyone agrees with martial law", he said.

One article in particular -- about Indonesia's forthcoming parliament elections -- attracted the attention of the military authorities. "We wrote a piece about the election in April. We said that we didn't think it would be possible to have a truly democratic election under martial law, so it would be better not to stage the poll in Aceh".

Maarif was called in for questioning. "I was interrogated for eight hours. The soldiers slapped me about the head and threw chairs across the room as a kind of shock therapy. They accused me of betraying my country. At one point they rolled up a copy of my paper and started hitting me with that".

The interrogators did not tell Maarif to close the paper. In fact they made it clear that they wanted him to continue publishing, but all articles would have to support the official military line. "They put a pistol on the table in front of me and said 'if you keep messing about like you have been, there's a bullet in here for you'".

Threats

Maarif was eventually allowed to go. After consulting his colleagues on the paper, a decision was taken to cease publication rather than compromise what they considered to be their editorial principles.

Maarif's interrogators had warned him not to tell the media what had happened. But word had already got out. "My friends already knew I had been called in for questioning." Maarif said, "and in any case the public has a right to know, so I decided to tell my story." Fearing for his safety, he also decided to leave Aceh.

Maarif's experience has left him disillusioned. He thinks it is impossible for journalists to cover the conflict in Aceh properly. "It's hard to be balanced because it's so difficult to go into the field and find out what's really happening. All the information is coming from the government or the military. It's impossible to carry out a proper investigation because all local NGO's have been closed".

Despite the difficulties, Maarif said he thought it was important for local journalists to try to tell the truth, so that their reports could be used as reference documents in the future.

But would he ever return to Aceh himself? "I really want to, but I don't think we can continue with our paper during this military emergency. Maybe when it's all over".

Government urged to fight for release of all hostages

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Nani Farida and Teuku Agam Muzakir, Banda Aceh/Lhokseumawe -- Two anti-separatist groups in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam held rallies in separate towns, demanding the government help with the relese of all people abducted by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

A group of people calling themselves the Benteng Rakyat organization (Berantas) marched on Thursday in front of the Lilawangsa military district headquarters in Lhokseumawe where several government and Red Cross officials were meeting to discuss efforts to release RCTI television cameraman Fery Santoro and other civilians being held by GAM.

GAM commander in East Aceh Ishak Daud has called for a two-day cease-fire to allow for the safe delivery of the hostages, a condition that the Indonesian Military (TNI) and martial law administration have rejected.

The Berantas members toted banners demanding the release of all the civilians which they said numbered almost 280 people.

Lt. Gen. Sudi Silalahi, secretary to the coordinating minister for security and political affairs, arrived earlier this week in Aceh along with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) to discuss negotiations about a temporary cease-fire for the release of the hostages.

Berantas coordinator Muhammad Satria Kamil said the government and the Red Cross officials should work hard for the release of "at least 279 civilians".

The demand for the civilians' release has been mounting following the death of other RCTI journalist Sory Ersa Siregar in a gunbattle between GAM rebels and TNI troops, and killed by a military bullet according to TNI's version on December 29.

Meanwhile, 30 Aceh residents from a group calling itself the Aceh Salvage Front (FPA) rallied in front of the ICRC representative office in Banda Aceh with similar demands.

The two pro-Jakarta groups have been created in the lasted eight months, since the government declared martial law in May 2003 and launched an all-out military attack to crack down on the independence struggle.

Separately, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), at a plenary meeting, decided on Thursday to establish a special team to probe the case of Fery and the late Ersa.

Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, who chairs the commission said that the commission decided to focus on only the journalists because of their "very important role in the coverage of Aceh." The commission has not yet released details about the makeup of the team. The establishment of the team will be managed by the commission's monitoring division led by M.M. Billah, whose straight-shooting criticism of martial law and allegations of abuse have irked the military.

Fery's group, including two military officers' wives, have spent six months in custody, during which the TNI and GAM argued over conditions to release the hostages. The RCTI driver managed to escape from GAM during one of the almost daily gunbattles with TNI troops.

People must be brave to act against rebels, says minister

Antara - January 7, 2004

Pulo Aceh -- Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah said the people of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) province should be brave and act against separatist rebels in order to restore security.

"It is not only the Indonesian military/police but all the components of Aceh society who are responsible for the restoration of security in the province," the minister said before thousands of people here Wednesday.

The minister came here along with Research and Technology Minister M Hatta Radjasa to visit people in remote Lapeng village in Pulau Aceh islands, some 16 miles from Aceh's provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Troops kill Aceh teenager by mistake

Agence France Presse - January 9, 2004

Banda Aceh -- Indonesian troops hunting separatist rebels in the restive province of Aceh mistakenly shot dead a teenager and wounded his younger brother, the victims' mother said yesterday.

Mrs Darwati, from Leubu Lapehan in Bireuen district, said her oldest son Muntasir, 17, was shot dead by troops on Wednesday and a younger son, Harmadi, 14, was wounded.

The 40-year-old said she, her husband Suleiman, 60, and their three sons were at their wood and bamboo hut when some 20 soldiers encircled the house and began firing shots.

The soldiers shouted to them to leave the house. They came out and lay on the ground, Mrs Darwati said. More shots were fired, only halting after she shouted that her son Harmadi was wounded.

They discovered later that Muntasir was killed by a bullet that hit him in the back. "I do not know who shot them, there were only TNI [Indonesian armed forces] personnel there," Mrs Darwati said.

The soldiers took the two boys to hospital and later transferred the injured teenager to the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

"They said that they had been looking for a vacant house which actually lies at the back of my own house, because they said there were GAM [Free Aceh Movement] members hiding there," Mrs Darwati said.

However, Aceh's military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Yani Basuki, said in a statement that the only deaths in Bireuen on Wednesday were those of two suspected rebels, aged 18 and 19, who were shot during a clash. He added that one rebel also surrendered to the authorities in Pidie on Tuesday.

The GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976. In May, the government launched an offensive to rid the province of the separatist group.

Aceh rebels, military accuse each other over bombing

Agence France Presse - January 6, 2004

Separatist rebels and the military in Indonesia's Aceh province have accused each other of responsibility for a bombing which killed 11 people at a New Year's Eve concert in the province.

The military says one of the dead has been identified as Syaiful Amri, an active Free Aceh Movement (GAM) member. It says Amri, 25, died when the bomb he was handling exploded prematurely at Peureulak in East Aceh.

GAM said Syaiful had been captured by the military three days before the blast and had been brought to the scene to discredit their movement.

"Like many other bloody incidents, the TNI [armed forces] has engineered more killings just to make us look bad," Teungku Mansoor, the rebel spokesman for the Peureulak area, told AFP in Jakarta.

"Syaiful, who carried an Indonesian ID card under the name of Abdullah Usman, was arrested in Banda Aceh on December 28. How can he prepare and conduct the bombing from detention?" GAM's operations commander for the Peureulak area, Ishak Daud, said he believed Amri had been brought to the concert without being told a bomb was about to explode.

The military denied Syaiful had been arrested before the blast. "He [Mansoor] can say whatever he wants, the fact is we had not arrested Syaiful as he has claimed," said provincial spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki Aceh police spokesman Sayed Husainy said Syaiful's body was believed to have been closest to the explosion "but we cannot say whether it was an accident or a suicide bombing."

The military is mounting an all-out offensive to crush separatists in Aceh, where GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976. The bomb, which was placed under the stage, was the worst bomb attack in years in the province. A one-year-old baby girl and a seven year-old boy were among those killed. Most victims of the separatist war, which has claimed an estimated 12,000 lives since 1976, have been civilians.

New evidence of TNI's war of repression in Aceh

World Wide Socialist Web Site - January 7, 2004

John Roberts -- For more than seven months, the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) have been waging a war of repression in the province of Aceh, aimed at crushing the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and intimidating the population as a whole.

The TNI and President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who signed an emergency decree placing the province under martial law, claimed that the "shock and awe" operation involving 40,000 soldiers and paramilitary police officers would be over quickly -- in no more than six months. But the offensive has dragged on, claiming at least 1,000 lives, and it shows no sign of winding down.

News of the conflict has been tightly controlled. The military has sought to exclude any independent witnesses by rigidly controlling access by journalists and forcing out aid organisations. Most of the limited reports from the province have come from the martial law administration itself.

Deaths, however, are reported virtually every day in the Indonesian press. On December 13, for example, the Jakarta Post reported military claims that it had killed five GAM rebels over the previous two days. The article noted that the military had not identified the rebels and had handed over their bodies to villagers for quick burials. Such practices are common place, making it difficult to verify exactly whom the military has killed.

A number of recent reports provide a more detailed picture of the TNI's activities in Aceh. A growing body of evidence points to indiscriminate civilian killings, beatings and torture, and arbitrary justice for suspects dragged before the courts.

On December 18, the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report entitled Aceh under Martial Law: Inside the Secret War, based on evidence collected from 85 Acehnese refugees interviewed in Malaysia. The 50-page report documents cases of extra-judicial murder, "disappearances", physical abuse, arbitrary detention and restrictions on freedom of movement.

The highest levels of the government and Indonesian military are promoting hostility toward the civilian population of the province. Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu baldly told the official Antara news agency on December 7: "People who dislike the military emergency in Aceh are GAM members." The witness statements make chilling reading. HRW official Brad Adams said all refugees who were interviewed had a story to tell. "We fear that the abuses we have uncovered against the civilian population may just be the tip of the iceberg ... In case after case, soldiers have gone into villages and publicly executed or beat people seemingly at random," he stated.

The report presents testimony by seven refugees who claim they have witnessed young Acehnese men being executed by the military on the presumption they were GAM sympathisers. Three others testified to HRW that they had discovered bodies after military operations in their areas.

One witness recounted an incident in Lhokseumawe last May, in which Indonesian troops dragged a man through the streets, demanding that the villagers identify him. The man was then killed by having his head repeatedly smashed against a tree. Another refugee told how troops entered the village of Peureulak in August to search for GAM members. A 20-year-old man was singled out, questioned and then shot. The soldiers ordered villagers to bury the body.

According to the testimony of another witness, a 15-year-old boy was taken away by soldiers on September 4 to answer questions on why he had bought so much fish at a market. His body was found two days later with a bullet wound to his head.

"To be young and male in Aceh is to be regarded with suspicion and to be at risk," the HRW report comments.

One witness described a seven-day ordeal in May at the hands of troops in which he saw two villagers murdered. He told HRW: "GAM is all in the mountains, but the soldiers are always in the villages looking for GAM." In an incident that took place during October, villagers in an area of East Aceh were fired on as they attempted to flee from Indonesian troops searching the area for GAM guerillas. The witness to the event was wounded. He told HRW: "The military goes beyond the targets of the operation. Violence to civilians has passed the limit. They look for GAM, come to the village. If there is no GAM, their emotions run away with them towards civilians." On the same day as HRW released its report, the BBC interviewed the Indonesian ambassador to the US, former defence minister Juwono Sudrasono. Significantly, he did not specifically deny the allegations of human rights abuses but justified them. He stated: "You cannot expect accountability in a war situation ... The precise rules of humanitarian law just go out the window once the shooting starts." Prisoners tortured Such indifference for human rights permeates the Indonesian government's operation in Aceh. An Associated Press report appearing in the Taipei Times of December 7 exposed what is meant by Indonesian officials when they boast about the "lightning quick justice" they are dispensing in the province.

An AP reporter was allowed to interview some of the 1,200 alleged Acehnese rebels being held in detention, as well as their families, Indonesian military personnel and legal aid workers. Some prisoners refused to be identified, but all painted a similar picture of their treatment. The report noted: "Suspected rebels in Indonesia's war-torn province of Aceh get multi-year prison terms after one-hour trials. Many have no lawyers. Confessions, by many accounts, are extracted through torture." The chief judge of the court at Pidie, Nani Sukmawati, admitted her court ruled on 72 cases in six weeks. Legal aid official Afridal Darmi told AP that 40 percent of those detained have no lawyer.

A teacher was sentenced to five years jail for allegedly selling rice to raise money for the rebels. There were no witnesses at the trial and the allegations were simply read out. "I blinked and the judge banged the gavel to end the trial", he said. The teacher claimed that the whole village wanted to testify that he had been raising money for his school but were too afraid to appear in court.

Like many of those interviewed, the teacher reported he had been tortured during interrogation. He said he was treated like a punching bag during several sessions each day and showed the journalist wounds from being dragged across concrete. The teacher said he had witnessed suicide attempts because some prisoners could not stand the beatings.

Whatever the military's motives for allowing this access to prisoners, the normal practice of the Indonesian authorities is to restrict media coverage rather than facilitate it.

Media blackout An earlier report published on November 25 by HRW, Aceh under Martial Law: Muzzling the Messengers: Attacks and Restrictions on the Media, detailed the systematic attempts under the martial law regime to stop any uncontrolled reporting from inside Aceh.

Prior to the clampdown on media coverage, there had been reports of serious abuses by the military. These included an incident at Mapa Mamplam on May 21 in which eyewitnesses reported the execution of villagers, including three boys. HRW notes: "Such reports have become increasingly rare, not because of an improvement in the conduct of the war, but because the messengers have been successfully muzzled." The 33-page report details how foreign journalists have been denied permits to enter the province, or subjected to arbitrary bureaucratic delays in the processing of applications. Resident foreign journalists claim to be in fear of future visa restrictions if they file critical reports. Indonesian journalists face the most severe risks and restrictions. Reporters have been arbitrarily detained and subjected to physical and verbal abuse. Journalists have been fired on, despite travelling in clearly marked vehicles. One television cameraman was tortured and murdered by unidentified attackers near the capital, Banda Aceh. Kopassus special forces troops bashed a radio journalist.

The pressure is not limited to journalists in the field. Political pressure in Jakarta has led to self-censorship in the Indonesian media, which the HRW says has resulted "in the war dropping off even Indonesia's front pages." A speech delivered on December 7 by Major-General Sudrajat, the TNI's director general for strategic defence planning, shed light on the reason for both the intensity of the Aceh operation and the Megawati government's ability to escape any serious international scrutiny.

Addressing a conference of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific in Jakarta, Sudrajat labelled the separatist movements in the resource-rich provinces of Aceh and West Papua as the greatest threat to the control to Jakarta's ruling elite. Sudrajat told the conference: "We perceive Indonesia's integrity as the primary concern, while other countries may presume terrorism is their main concern." The United States and Indonesia's neighbours such as Australia, he said, had an "understanding" about this "perception of threats" in Jakarta.

The oil and gas reserves in Aceh are not only important to Indonesia's ruling elite as a whole but also are sources of income for TNI leaders. Special security arrangements with the operators of the oil and gas field -- as well as outright extortion -- have proved very lucrative for the military high command.

The "understanding" of the US and Australia is based on their decades-long reliance on the Indonesian military to protect their commercial interests in the economically and strategically important archipelago. This understanding has been renewed since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in 1998 and the conflict over East Timor in 1999. The willingness of Washington and Canberra to ignore the state-organised terror in Aceh makes their government's accomplices to the crimes being committed.

West Papua

Probe on human rights abuse in Papua to begin

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2004

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- An ad hoc team with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will probe alleged gross violations of human rights in the province of Papua.

The 15-member team, headed by Komnas HAM member Anshari Thayib, will begin its inquiry on January 12, when eight members of the team arrive in Papua from Jakarta. One of the eight members is Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, the chairman of the Komnas HAM.

Other members are from the Komnas HAM's Papua office.

The members will meet with the chief of Trikora Military Command overseeing Papua province, followed by visits to the chief of Papua Police, the speaker of the Papua legislative council, the governor of Papua and religious, tribe and community leaders.

The team will also visit the scene where the alleged violations of human rights occurred, and will question the victims and the witnesses.

Iwan K. Niode, an ad hoc team member in Papua, told The Jakarta Post in Jayapura that one of the cases being handled by Komnas HAM was related to the arms theft on April 4 last year in Wamena, which resulted in the deaths of two soldiers and a civilian.

The other was related to the Matoa Operation in 2000, when a police outpost was attacked in Wondiboy Wasior area and five Mobile Brigade personnel and a civilian were killed.

Iwan said that local residents had become victims in the aftermath of the Wamena incident, as they had been forced to take refuge in the jungle, to avoid armed conflict between the Indonesian military (TNI) and the Papuan rebels.

Several houses, schools and places of worship were also razed after the incident.

Residents of Sandraway village in Wondiboy Wasior were also forced to flee to nearby villages, after clashes between police personnel and rebels.

The ad hoc team was established in response to reports by the local community and a visit by Komnas HAM to Papua in September last year, Iwan said.

He explained, that of the seven alleged cases of severe human rights abuses in Papua, it had been recommended that Komnas HAM probe only two. Komnas HAM would not investigate the other five cases, but make recommendations to the government.

The five other cases are: the major clashes between groups for and against the partition of the Papua province, in Timika in August last year; the death of the head of Papua Presidium Council, Theys Hiyo Eluay on Nov. 10, 2001; the shootings in Witung, on the border of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in 2002; the bloody Biak incident in 1998, when a group of people hoisted the separatist Bintang Kejora flag above the Biak water tower; and the fight for customary rights in Kimaam, Merauke in 2001.

Opposition continues against partition

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- Following a public meeting held by the Papua provincial legislative council in December last year, the council will convey the outcome of it to President Megawati Soekarnoputri in Jakarta.

The hearing was held at the compound of the legislative council on December 15 and December 16, and was attended by some 1,000 people who represented all elements of Papuan community, including the church and students.

The public hearing recommended two important things, namely that the people of Papua demanded the central government allow the establishment of the Papua People's Council (MRP), and they rejected the partition of Papua into three provinces.

"By conveying the outcome of the meeting, the central government will be properly informed on the true wishes of Papuans," said chairman of the Papua legislative council Jhon Ibo.

Whether the central government would pay attention to it was not an issue for Papuans.

"The most important thing is that we have conveyed the true aspirations of Papuans," he said.

The partition of Papua into three provinces has been an issue that has divided Papuans. Clashes occurred last year between Papuans who supported the partition and others who opposed it, leaving several people dead.

Despite the fierce opposition, the central government went ahead with the program and backed a group of Papuans supporting the partition of Papua.

A senior official at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Sitti Nurbaya, for example, has handed over Rp 2.5 million in operational funds for the newly established West Irian Jaya province.

The new provincial government, headed by the acting governor of West Irian Jaya, Bram Attururi, has already assumed office and is running government administration in the province.

Bram recently inaugurated his gubernatorial office, and continued by installing key officials to his cabinet.

Jakarta on a fault line of conflict

Sydney Morning Herald - January 7, 2004

Peter King -- Ever since East Timor was "lost" in September 1999 the Indonesian military (TNI) have shown strong determination to hold the line against what they see as the next most credible threat of "separatism" in outlying provinces, the independence movement in (West) Papua/Irian Jaya.

This year is election year in Indonesia, and civilian political leaders are vying to support the military's renewed push against the GAM independence rebels in Aceh. The army seems confident that it can develop large-scale repression also in Papua with support from secular nationalists such as President Megawati Soekarnoputri, and from Muslim-oriented leaders like the speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Amien Rais. Only a tiny handful of leading political figures, such as the former president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), now speak up for dialogue with the disgruntled.

In October 2001, under Gus Dur, the Papuans were offered special autonomy, including an all-Papuan upper house (MRP) for the local parliament. This MRP was to wield a veto power over major change to the status of the province, but it has still not been set up by Jakarta. Indeed, acting under strong military influence, Megawati has moved to split Papua into three provinces and restore the hated name of Irian Jaya. Special autonomy has virtually been abandoned and with it any semblance of serious dialogue with the Papuans.

Militias have continued to arrive in Papua from outside -- not only Laskar Jihad but also the Red and White Defenders' Front of Eurico Guterres, the former East Timorese militia leader who is free pending an appeal against a 10-year jail sentence for atrocities committed in 1999. With active army backing, these militias are recruiting locally among Indonesian settlers and indigenous Papuans.

The notorious Kopassus special forces were supposedly withdrawn from Papua when it became clear that they were involved in the murder of the independence leader Theys Eluay in October 2001 and probably the ambush-killing of American teachers near the Freeport mine in August 2002. But now Kopassus is back in force, apparently masterminding the latest extended provocation against the Papuans which has unfolded in and around the highlands town of Wamena since a break-in at a TNI armoury during April last year.

This has included the macabre execution last November of 10 members of a rebel Free Papua Organisation (OPM) group which was asking for dialogue and had offered to surrender to the military, and December's abduction from Wamena jail of 13 non-OPM highlanders being held to answer charges of separatist activity dating back to October 2000. (Their leader is the Reverend Obet Komba, local representative of the Papua Council Presidium which still supports non-violent struggle for independence. In October 2000 Obet Komba initiated efforts to stop the violence which erupted then between Papuans and Indonesian settlers in Wamena.)

The abducted Papuans are apparently held in Jayapura without legal authorisation, and there is widespread fear of foul play if they are shipped to Jakarta, as the police seem to intend. The new Papuan police chief, Timbul Silaen, ominously held that role in Dili throughout the bloodshed and destruction visited on the Timorese in 1999.

In the midst of this rising tide of violence against the Papuans it is time to reconsider the Australian stand on West Papua. The Howard Government has vehemently resisted any talk of self- determination while upholding the need for dialogue, reconciliation and a strong dose of autonomy for the Papuans.

This is just what was proposed for East Timor over many years to no avail.

But the Australian interest in Papua is potentially even greater than it was in East Timor when the Government was finally stirred to action in September of 1999. It is both humanitarian and geopolitical -- and also (increasingly) economic.

The stability of Papua New Guinea, where a far more proactive Australian role is in the offing with conditional aid and police and bureaucrats on the ground, is a key consideration. It is idle to think that Indonesian military mayhem in West Papua will not profoundly affect PNG.

What is needed now is an Australian dialogue about (West) Papua with Indonesia at all levels in which the mantra of Indonesian territorial integrity at all costs is set aside in favour of an understanding that there must be no massacre, no ethnic swamping and no more systematic marginalisation of the Papuans.

Yale University's law school has recently released a monograph inviting us to seriously consider the possibility that Indonesia's actions in Papua over the past 40 years may constitute genocide. Australia is a signatory of the Genocide Convention and should in principle be prepared to raise this issue.

Rather than go along with the hard nationalist line in Indonesia's governing circle, Australians at all levels should be reaching out to civil society in Indonesia which does not so readily assume that the unitary Indonesian state upheld by military and police violence is the panacea for the country's problems. Arguably Indonesia's potentially fatal distempers of poverty, corruption and economic stagnation would be better tackled if the twin incubuses of Aceh and Papua were removed.

With or without these provinces, however, there seems to be a good chance of Indonesia drifting or lurching towards breakdown if its deep underlying problems are not tackled soon.

Australia emerged at least temporarily as a responsible and healing liberator from the disasters of Timor in 1999. It is time to seriously consider whether we should be prepared to repeat the role in Papua. Ideally we should begin to act before disaster has struck the Papuans.

[Professor Peter King is the convener of the West Papua Project, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney. His book, "West Papua and Indonesia since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy or Chaos?" will be published by UNSW Press in March.]

Level of human rights violations in Papua still high

Kompas - January 8, 2004

Jayapura -- Two years after the implementation of the Law on Special Autonomy in West Papua, the level of human rights violations remains high. There has been no commitment from any parties to apply the Law on Special Autonomy consistently. Rather, this law is seen as disrupting the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

This issue was raised by the chairperson of the West Papua regional parliament, Dr John Ibo, in Jayapura on Wednesday January 7. The level of human rights violation over the period of two years since special autonomy was implemented in Papua has not changed. Moreover, terror and coercion against local people has been increasing and is linked with the implementation of this law.

"There are particular parties which consider this law as a part of the effort to separate Papua from KNRI, so they have coerced and terrorised civilians. In reality, this law as it was discussed and ratified by the NKRI government, was [passed] in order accelerate development, uphold human rights in Papua, and give an opportunity to the Papuan people to develop themselves", said Ibo.

Over the year 2003, around 50 civilians have been killed needlessly. The worst human rights violations, according to Ibo, have occurred in the Jayawijaya regency, that is in the villages of Kuyawage and Yale. The National Human Rights commission (Komnas HAM) has already visited the area but to this day there has been no follow-up. Komnas found strong evidence of human rights violation in the area linked with a theft from an armory at the Jayawijaya regional military command headquarters on April 4, 2003.

Each year, continued Ibo, there are Papuan people who have become casualties because they struggled for their self-esteem, dignity and honor. This struggle will continue for as long as their self-esteem, the basic rights of the Papuan people, and efforts to have the Papuan people become the lords of their own nation, as contained in the Law on Special Autonomy, are not realised.

The needless death of civilian each years is further reducing the total population of indigenous Papuans. Not only that, energy which should be directed towards local development is continuing to decline. Their deaths have brought prolonged suffering to members of their families, especially the children.

Ibo hopes that the central government will immediately put into place the regulation for the establishment of a Papua People's Assembly (MRP) which has the authority to implement all forms of legislation in Papua. Special autonomy has not been able to be implemented as was hoped because the MRP has not been ratified.

"If the MRP is ratified, the Papuan regional government will immediately issue a regulation on the implementation of the Law on Special Autonomy in the form of special regional and provincial decrees. (kor)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

'War on terrorism'

JII not part of TNI intelligence activities

BBC Worldwide Monitoring - January 9, 2004

Detikcom, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Intelligence Network (JII) is not part of intelligence activities undertaken by TNI Indonesian National Military Forces. However, JII is an organization established by an individual, namely Andang Supriyadi, and operates in the southern part of Sumatra.

In a press release from the TNI Information Centre, which was sent to detikcom on Thursday (8 January), it was explained that from its inception, the organization being in operation from 1999 to 2003, had not received any support.

However, after receiving an official letter of establishment from the Palembang Class I District Court, and listed in Book No 08/2003/P, which was signed by H Waluyo Sutjipto, an official from JII started to conduct various activities, such as compiling Majalah Intel intelligence magazine and sending JII books to a number of agencies.

It was thought that so far JII has more than 100 members, with 50 of them identified as magazine reporters, 20 of whom were working in the southern part of Sumatra, in particular in Palembang. JII has a future programme to expand its organization to central level (Jakarta), and to sub-district and village levels.

In conducting his activities, one of the JII members claimed to be a member of an intelligence network, using the pretext of researching news for Majalah Intel, in particular relating to political, economic, social, cultural, defence and security issues.

Using a name alluding to intelligence, JII aims to facilitate the search for moral support and material from government agencies and achieve other veiled aims. Therefore, the public should remain alert to the presence and activities of the JII organization.

"Whatever they are doing, JII activities are not linked with TNI intelligence," stated the TNI Information Centre press release.

National police team abducts mosque activist in Surabaya

Antara - January 10, 2004

Surabaya -- An activist of the Tanwir Mosque, Adi Suryana, who happened to be a resident of Asemrowo village, North Surabaya, was abducted on Friday by an anti-terror team from the National Police Headquarters.

"When the abductee and his son, Mahi [10], were heading to the mosque for morning prayers, policemen in plainclothes jumped out of a Kijang van to intercept him. Adi Suryana was then instructed to get into the van, thus leaving his son in big confusion," a member of the Moslem Front Defending Lawyers' Team, Fachmi H Bachmid SH, said here.

Suryana's whereabouts after being kidnapped was still a mystery.

The women of Jemaah Islamiah

BBC News - January 10, 2004

Kelly McEvers, Jakarta -- Mira Augustina married her husband the same day she met him. It was the first time he had proposed, by way of the 21-year-old's father.

"We met at nine o'clock in the morning. We talked a little, and then he asked if I wanted to be his wife. And by 6pm we were married. Oh yes, it was a very happy day for me," Augustina said.

Augustina was told her husband was an Indonesian named Mohammed Asseqof. In fact, authorities say he was an Iraqi man with a Kuwaiti passport named Omar al-Faruq, and he was reportedly a key link between al-Qaeda and the regional militant network, Jemaah Islamiah (JI), which has been blamed for the Bali bombing.

Augustina's father, an alleged arms runner, introduced al-Faruq to JI activists, as well as to his daughter. Al-Faruq was captured last year, and the CIA removed him from Indonesia. His wife and their two daughters haven't seen him since.

Augustina said she was only now coming to terms with who her husband really was, and what her marriage did to help Jemaah Islamiah.

"The marriage alliances are the glue that holds the organisation together. said Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group in Jakarta. "Oftentimes senior members of the organisation will offer their sisters or sisters-in-law to new and promising recruits, so that not only is someone drawn into the organisation, but they're drawn into the family at the same time.

"They've been in control of finances in some cases. They play a role as couriers, in ensuring that, particularly after imprisonment, communication among different members of the organisation is maintained," Ms Jones said.

She said the women of Jemaah Islamiah for the most part remain behind the scenes. "It's not a role in actively taking part in bombing activities, the way some of the women in Chechnya or in Sri Lanka have done. It's more ensuring that the organization stays solid."

One Malaysian family illustrates this more than any other. The father trained in Afghanistan in the late 1980s, where he probably met the men who would later marry two of his daughters.

One daughter, Paridah Binti Abas, is married to Ali Gufron, also known as Mukhlas, who was recently convicted of masterminding the 2002 Bali bombing.

Paridah was pregnant with her sixth child when Ali Gufron was arrested in 2002. When their son was born, the couple decided to name him after one of their heroes, Osama.

To meet Paridah now is to meet only a pair of eyes. the rest of her face is covered. She wears a black veil, a black tunic, black pants, black socks, and black sports sandals.

Paridah comes from a middle class Malaysian family. She attended high school, and is fluent in Arabic and English. "I love books. Sometimes I read the books four or five times," she said.

'Say thank you'

Paridah admits that her husband wanted to teach Bali tourists a lesson about their evil ways. But she says he didn't mean to kill so many people. Unlike Mira Augustina, Paridah seems to have known what her husband was doing all along. She says even her young children support him.

"They are convinced that their father is a mujahid, not a terrorist. They said actually Indonesia must say thank you to my father, they said, because he showed us that Bali is full of influence of 'ma'sia' ... 'bad things'."

Paridah had a comfortable childhood, but her husband Ali Gufron grew up in a poor village. He became a preacher and fled to Afghanistan to fight for a better life. Paridah now lives in that village, far from Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. There, her ailing father-in-law and mother-in-law occupy a humble shack.

They are parents to three men who have been found guilty of carrying out the Bali bombing -- Ali Gufron and his younger two brothers, Amrozi and Ali Imron.

"When people knocked on the door to ask me questions I didn't answer. I just kept quiet and hoped that they would leave. But the people are still coming. And I keep telling them that I don't know anything, I don't know anything," said Ali Gufron's mother.

In the know

But Sidney Jones said such women often are aware of their male relative's activities. "The women have to know everything that's going on because their husbands are meeting with people on a regular basis. And oftentimes, given the way that the family structure works, the women would be actively involved in helping serve the guests," she said.

The fate of Mira Augustina's husband Omar al-Faruq is uncertain. All that is known is he is still being detained by the CIA.

Paridah Binti, Abas' husband Ali Gufron, has been sentenced to death for his role in the Bali bombing. He has two more chances to appeal. Paridah said she could dream that she will have her husband home again, but she could no longer hope.

Government & politics

Absenteeism rife among legislators

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband Taufik Kiemas top the list of lawmakers who rarely or never attended House of Representatives' meetings over the past year, a parliamentary forum revealed.

The Mass Communications Forum (FKM), an organization grouping journalists covering the House, predicted that the poor attendance record of legislators would worsen in the coming months as politicians would be busy with their preparations for the April election.

The forum compiled its report from the attendance lists for every House session recorded by the House secretariat.

Other lawmakers who rarely turned up for House sessions were Soetjipto and Husni Thamrin, both of whom are also Assembly speakers.

Amien, who also chairs the National Awakening Party (PAN), and Taufik, an influential member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), are registered as members of House Commission I for security and political affairs. Soetjipto, who is also the PDI Perjuangan's secretary-general, is a member of Commission VI for social affairs, while Thamrin of the United Development Party is listed as a member of the Commission VIII for energy and mineral resources.

All 500 House members are automatically granted seats in the Assembly.

The forum's report also revealed that many House legislators attended not more than 30 percent of meetings.

They included PDI Perjuangan legislators Roy BB Janis, Jacob Tobing, Abdul Madjid, and Guruh Soekarnoputra, as well as now inactive members Indira Damayanti Sugondo and Meilono Suwondo, who never attended meetings between August and September.

Much. Dawam Anwar and Fuad Amin Imron of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction, Much. Nawir of the PPP, Probosutedjo of the Indonesian National Unity (KKI) faction and Muchtar Adam of the Reform faction were absent from all meetings between October and November, while Effendy Yusuf of Golkar and Izzul Islam of the PPP failed to put in an appearance between May and July.

"Although they cannot be labeled unscrupulous or rotten politicians, these House members have betrayed the mandate of people," said FKM spokesman Monang Sinaga.

The report comes hard on the heels of the launch of a campaign against "rotten politicians" by a group of non-governmental organizations. Rotten politicians are categorized as those who have been involved in or been associated with at least one of five types of abuse: corruption, sexual abuse, environmental destruction, drug abuse or human rights abuses.

Although poor House attendance is not included in the criteria for identifying unscrupulous politicians, Monang said such absenteeism should be taken into account by voters in the April 5 election.

FKM coordinator Sulistyo said that although the duties of the Assembly leaders were time-consuming, there were no excuses for always skipping House meetings.

"It would be better all round if the Assembly leaders performed their duty and attended House meetings," he said.

Asked if the FKM had hired lawyers in anticipation of legal action by the legislators who had been named and shamed, Sulistyo said the report was not aimed at discrediting politicians but rather to benefit the public who had voted for the lawmakers' parties during the 1999 election.

Gaudensius Suhardi, another FKM leader, said he had no worries about possible lawsuits as the data was valid and accurate.

Sulistyo said the report was dedicated to RCTI senior reporter Sory Ersa Siregar and cameraman Fery Santoro, whom he said represented press freedom. Ersa was killed in what the military claims was a gunfight while Fery is still being held by Aceh separatist rebels.

Attendance record from May to July 2003

No. Legislator Faction Number of Meetings Ill Permit Leave

1. Taufik Kiemas PDI-P 21 -- - 21

2. Amien Rais Reform 21 -- - 21

3. Tarigan Sibero PDI-P 26 26 -- -

4. Much. Nawir PPP 26 26 -- -

5. Mochtar Buchori PDI-P 21 21 -- -

6. Sutjipto PDI-P 21 -- 21 -

7. Effendy Yusuf Golkar 21 -- 21 -

8. Arifin Panigoro PDI-P 30 -- - 30

9. Daniel Yoku PDI-P 30 30 -- -

10. Husni Thamrin PPP 38 -- 38 -

11. Izzul Islam PPP 38 -- - 38

12. Indira Damayanti PDI-P 29 -- - 29

13. Meilono Suwondo PDI-p 29 -- - 29

Source: FKM

2004 elections

UGM students to monitor general election

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2004

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta -- Gadjah Mada University (UGM) is planning to replace the obligatory community service program -- which is traditionally undertaken by undergraduate students in their final year -- with a program to monitor the 2004 general election, a top UGM official has said.

Gadjah Mada University rector Sofian Effendi said that the plan was made on the possibility that the General Elections Commission (KPU) would call on universities, including UGM, not to run the community service program in rural areas ahead of the election, for fear that it could fuel tension there.

UGM, the oldest and largest university in Indonesia, held a similar program in the last election in 1999, when it was perceived as a success.

"The program will not affect students, because, having participated in the election monitoring program, they can still be awarded the credit and do not need to wait for the traditional programs after the election is over," said Sofian.

For this election, the program is in phases, namely April 1 to April 15 for the legislative election and July 1 to July 15 for the first phase of the presidential election.

Some 500 students are set to participate in each of the two phases, making a total of about 1,000 students in the program for the 2004 election. The legislative election will be held on April 5, while the presidential election will be held on July 5.

The election monitoring program, according to Sofian, would be held in four regencies in Yogyakarta province: Bantul, Gunungkidul, Kulonprogo and Sleman. These include a total of 20 subdistricts, 60 villages, 240 hamlets and 240 polling stations (TPS).

The main activities of the students will include dissemination of the election law, voter education and election monitoring activities. The first two will be carried out mostly through lectures and participatory discussions.

The main subjects to be focused on will include the election regulations, the electoral system, voters' rights and obligations, and the elections schedule.

Voters, especially first-time ones, will be the principal target audience of the activities.

Sofian also said that the participating students would not be allowed to get involved in any political activities while on the program. Anyone found to be thus involved would be disqualified. UGM is now awaiting a license from the KPU, so that it can immediately proceed with the program. Other top universities in Indonesia are planning to follow suit.

Officials irked by party paraphernalia

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Jakarta -- The city administration told political parties on Thursday not to place their flags and banners in public places before the campaign period for the 2004 General Election begins in March.

Public order agency head Soebagio confirmed that placing such articles without the consent of the city administration was a violation of Bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order.

"The public order officers have the authority to take away all paraphernalia belonging to political parties that is placed in public places," he told reporters at his office.

He said that roads and parks, especially those situated in the main thoroughfares, were among the paraphernalia-free sites.

Soebagio claimed the agency had confiscated at least 23 poles and flags belonging to some political parties in raids over the past two weeks. He declined to name the parties.

"We will continue to remove such paraphernalia from public areas in coming weeks," he added.

However, he said, the agency had yet to report the violation to the Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), which has the right to impose sanctions on defiant parties.

The existing law stipulates that a political party is only allowed to set up banners, flags and the like, in the area around a venue where it is holding a meeting or other activities. In addition, he added, the party is allowed to place flags and banners at its headquarters or branch offices.

On Tuesday, Panwaslu reported the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) to the Central Jakarta Police for campaign violations.

In a march on Jan. 4, the PPP members were allegedly distributing stickers bearing the slogan "Vote for the PPP", the party's logo and its election number.

The PKB held a similar march on December 28, 2003. Although the participants did not distribute election paraphernalia, they wore party attributes and marched along main thoroughfares.

Samples of the PPP stickers along with newspaper clippings were submitted as evidence.

Article 138 of the Election Law stipulates that those found guilty of campaigning before the official campaign period between March 11 and April 1 could face a maximum sentence of three months in jail and a Rp 1 million (US$117.6) fine.

The law provides for brief court proceedings in such cases, with a verdict being required within 30 days of a complaint being made to the police.

Youth group to boycott elections

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Surabaya -- Dozens of people grouped under the banner of the Indonesian Youth Struggle Front (FPPI) rallied on Thursday to support a poll boycott, saying the political parties contesting the 2004 elections were more concerned about their own interests rather than the public's.

Hidayah, the chairman of FPPI Surabaya, said a boycott was one way of undermining the legitimacy of the election.

During the peaceful rally, the youths unfurled banners and held up posters. They marched from the Bambu Runcing Monument on Jl. Sudirman to Jl. Gubernur Surya, located in front of the gubernatorial offices.

Despite heavy rain, the march then proceeded to the city hall on Jl. Pemuda, where police were standing by. The youths dispersed peacefully after a number of speeches were delivered.

KPU getting desperate about ballot box debacle

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- The General Elections Commission (KPU) said on Thursday it would carry out daily monitoring of the ballot box production process beginning Saturday.

The plan comes on the heels of serious concerns about a possible delay of the ballot boxes, which must be completed by the end of January. The commission has ordered 2.19 million boxes.

"We will send a team to check up on the factories of PT Survindo Indah Prestasi and PT Tjakrindo Mas, to make sure they are working efficiently and on schedule," KPU deputy secretary general Sussongko Suhardjo said.

Each monitoring team will be comprised of two officials, and each pair will be sent to the 13 factories being used by the firms.

Sussongko said the teams would stay at the factories with one person monitoring the production and the other verifying the delivery of the boxes.

The team will be coordinated by KPU senior officials R.M. Purba and Soeharso.

So far, the monitoring of ballot box production and delivery had been conducted sporadically, Sussongko said.

In early November, KPU controversially decided to award Survindo the winning bid to produce the boxes with the total score of 92, well above the minimum score of 80 based on the KPU's screening criteria point system. Nevertheless, there remained public doubt about the firm's capability.

In late December, when it became clear that Survindo would never get the job done on time, KPU fueled controversy by contracting Tjakrindo to produce 40 percent of the boxes, even though it ranked second in the tender with a score of 66.

As of December 31, Survindo had only managed to produce 30,000 of the 600,000 that it should have had finished by that time.

KPU will reevaluate the performance of both firms on Jan. 15 and decide whether or not to change the proportion required by the two companies. According to Sussongko, Survindo is obliged to have 925,857 boxes completed by Jan. 14.

Survindo executive director Sihol Manullang earlier had admitted that at the end of December, his company had produced just 40,000 boxes, despite a stated total production capacity of 40,000 boxes per day.

Using simple calculations, Survindo would only be able to reach the 600,000 mark by Jan. 14, well below its obligation of 925,857.

Tjakrindo has a total production of 60,000 boxes a day from two factories with each factory producing a stated maximum capacity of 30,000 per day.

Mochtar B.U. of Tjakrindo said to date, his firm had made 30,000 boxes in total after resuming production on Jan. 5 at one factory, while the other will not resume until Jan. 10.

He said the company would be able to meet the target of 500,000 boxes by Jan. 10. However, if the capacity numbers are correct, Tjakrindo would only be able to have 350,000 done by Jan. 14, far below KPU's expectation of 500,000 boxes.

Well-known aspirants yet to declare their wealth

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- A number of public figures who top the lists of legislative candidates representing their respective parties are among those who have not yet submitted all the required documents, including wealth declarations, to qualify for this April's election.

General Elections Commission member Anas Urbaningrum revealed on Thursday the among the well-known figures who had failed to submit all the necessary documents were President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband, Taufik Kiemas, who plans to stand in West Java.

Anas, who is in charge of the verification of legislative candidates, said Taufiq had not yet submitted his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) membership card.

Meanwhile, Taufiq's brother, Santayana Kiemas, who is also representing the PDI-P, had failed to present his party membership card and his wealth declaration.

Unlike in previous elections, all legislative candidates for the upcoming polls have to declare their assets as part of the country's faltering drive against corruption.

As of Wednesday, only 1,812 out of the 8,871 candidates had passed the administrative screening required before they will be allowed to contest the legislative elections, scheduled for April 5.

Vice President Hamzah Haz's son, Nur Agus Haz, of the United Development Party (PPP), had also still to submit his wealth declaration and sign a statement saying he would run for the legislative election, Anas said.

Agus tops the PPP's list of candidates in Jakarta.

In the spirit of keeping it in the family, the son of Reform Star Party chairman Zainuddin MZ, Fikri Haikal, was another of the candidates who has failed to declare his wealth to the KPU. He also failed to submit a medical certificate and certificate of good conduct from the court.

Social Democratic Labor Party (PBSD) leader Muchtar Pakpahan has yet to submit his wealth declaration and residential status certificate from the district chief in the place where he resides.

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid, PBR chairman Zaenuddin MZ, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Alwi Shihab and United Democratic Nationhood Party (PPDK) chairman Ryaas Rasyid were also listed as well-known candidates who had not presented wealth declarations.

Alwi had also failed to submit his photograph and a declaration stating his intention of standing in the legislative election.

The KPU announced on Tuesday that no PKB candidate had passed the administrative verification process.

Former attorney general, Andi M. Ghalib, who has joined the PPP, has also failed to pass the preliminary verification process due to his failure to submit a wealth declaration, as has political observer Andi Mallarangeng, who will represent the PPDK.

A party membership card was the only document missing from the file of noted economist Didiek Rachbini, who will represent the National Mandate Party (PAN).

The KPU has given the candidates until Jan. 19 to furnish the missing documents or otherwise they will be disqualified from standing. The commission will announce all the eligible candidates on Jan. 28 and Jan. 29.

The KPU also announced that no parties had fulfilled the 30 percent quota for women candidates in a total of 69 electoral districts.

Meanwhile, the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB) had fulfilled the minimum 30 percent quota in 50 electoral districts, the New Indonesian Alliance Party (Partai PIB) in 46, PAN in 40, PBR in 30, the Prosperous Peace Party in 26, Golkar in 25, the Regional United Party (PPD) in 16, PKB in 13, and the PDI-P in 11.

KPU, parties must agree on election rules

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) asked the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the 24 political parties eligible for the elections to reach a common understanding on several campaign regulations, which the committee described as "gray areas".

Panwaslu chairman Komaruddin Hidayat said that the KPU and other political parties must be in full agreement in regard to campaigning methods and principles.

"Without coordination between KPU and the political parties, the campaign regulations will be useless," he said during an informal meeting with representatives of 24 political parties here on Thursday.

He said the meeting was held to hear the perceptions of the political parties on the activities considered to be political campaigning.

Committee member Topo Santoso added that the KPU and political parties must focus on at least two items: The definition of campaigning and the penalty for offenders.

The Law No. 12/2003 on General Elections does not specify the definition of a campaign. It only mentions a few restrictions during the campaign.

A regulation issued by the KPU, No. 701/2003, defines a campaign as an effort aimed at convincing non-party members to vote for the party by publicizing its manifesto through the mass media, in public places or at meetings during the period designated by KPU. The need to specify the definition of a campaign has become more urgent after the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) held mass gatherings recently -- before the official campaign season has begun.

KPU has set March 11 through April 1, 2004 as the period for campaigning.

PPP chairman Hamzah Haz dismissed accusations that his party was illegally campaigning, saying that the mass gathering was part of the party's anniversary celebration.

During the meeting, Ade Nasution from the Reform Star Party (PBR) also defended several mass gatherings the party had organized.

He said that party chairman Zainuddin MZ, a noted Muslim preacher, always organized mass gatherings and would continue to do so "as long as Islam exists". "So give us the criterion of a campaign," he ordered.

Laurens Siburian said the KPU must clearly regulate the "dos and don'ts" for political parties, so parties can hold standard member meetings without violating regulations.

Also addressed in the meeting was the need to increase the number of supervisory committees at the subdistrict level.

Al Muzamil Yusuf, cochairman of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), proposed the creation of a forum to support law enforcement during the campaign period. He said the forum should comprise representatives from all 24 parties as well as the general public to support the subdistrict Election Supervisory Committees in their duties.

Based on the election law, the number of such Committees in subdistrict areas shall not be more than five.

Golkar on the road to regaining power

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Frans Sudiarsis, Research and Development Unit, Jakarta -- One of the leaders of the reform movement to topple Soeharto in 1998, Amien Rais was once very confident that we could bid good riddance to Golkar, Soeharto's political vehicle during his 32- year rule, in the 1999 party election.

However, Golkar was able to retain its power as the second strongest party with over 23.7 million votes, or 22.42 percent, much more than Amien's National Mandate Party (PAN), which garnered about 7.5 million votes, or 7.11 percent.

Now, a few months ahead of the 2004 elections, the once resented party, a legacy of Soeharto, seems to have regained favor among the public.

Like it or not, similar results were indicated in surveys conducted by the International Republican Institute (IRI), Center for the Study of Democracy and Development (CESDA) -- a division under the Institute of Research, Education and Information of Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES) -- the Danareksa Research Institute (DRI), the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), the research and development unit of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and The Asia Foundation.

These surveys all placed Golkar first and PDI Perjuangan second, indicating that people who had abandoned Golkar in the 1999 election may be returning to support the party.

Several explanations can be provided for this trend. First, as LSI's September 2003 survey shows, people are disillusioned with the snail-paced reform programs that have been under way for five years, and perceive that at least they could cope under the predictable days a la the New Order.

Although a number of macroeconomic indicators may have improved recently, this has not translated into an improvement in basic needs, living standard and employment -- which are perceived as disparate from conditions in the New Order era. The strengthening of Golkar also has something to do with its relatively central position in the country's ideological spectrum. Golkar is a pragmatic political entity that is nationalist in its general outlook, but to some extent accommodates the interests of Islamic and other religious groups at the local level.

Thus, Golkar is well-placed to welcome those Muslim voters dissatisfied with the performance of Islamic parties and nationalist parties, such as PDI Perjuangan. The continued dominance of the Association of Islamic Students (HMI), which was formerly led by Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, makes it easier for Golkar to reestablish its bases in Muslim-oriented regions.

This may explain Golkar's 1999 victory in South Sulawesi, West Sumatra and West Nusa Tenggara.

The party's third key strength is its sound organization and network. Compared to other parties, internal conflicts are considerably well-managed and cadres rarely leave due to internal spats.

Local leadership is a fourth factor. Its local executive board members are community figures well known for their administrative competence -- a number of governors in eastern Indonesia are Golkar cadres.

Aside from these four advantages, Golkar is also taking other steps to win sympathy from potential constituents other than its nearly 11 million-strong membership, for example, by holding a party convention as a democratic mechanism to select its presidential candidate. Regardless of the criticism this move prompted, Golkar attracted public attention -- free advertisement of its political stance that gave it a head start in "campaigning".

Golkar also has its weaknesses. Like other political parties, it still lacks clear programs on how to bring the country out of crisis, limiting its appeal to rational voters -- or those outside loyal circles and beyond those who would, say, simply follow their religious teachers' preferences.

Golkar might therefore be more likely to attract rural voters who simply rate past performance without any serious interest in scrutinizing future prospects and programs.

The party's national leadership is also weak. Akbar, with his deft political skills, cannot be matched by Amien and PDI Perjuangan chairman and incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri. However, his conviction for his involvement in the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) corruption case is a liability, as it reminds people of all that was bad under the New Order, in direct association with the party.

The public also viewed the party's courting of prominent and respected Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid as an effort to neutralize such a negative image, and Nurcholish's withdrawal from the party's presidential convention only fostered it.

Golkar chairman Akbar has said he "does not underestimate" any party. Could there be any serious threat from one of Golkar's splinter parties, which is courting the eldest daughter of Soeharto, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana? Siti has been popular as a charitable businesswoman, and was briefly a minister for social affairs. The party nominating her as presidential candidate is the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), led by former army chief R. Hartono, also a former Golkar executive.

However, a new party needs bold marketing tactics to establish a solid brand image in the short time remaining.

With these strengths and weaknesses, a Golkar victory in the coming elections is not impossible. Idealists thus see a serious challenge for the reform movement, as they see that the "new" Golkar still touts the same old players.

But if Golkar is looking to count on returning voters who wish for the "good old days", as the abovementioned surveys indicate, then that is the price of our seemingly endless transition period toward a reform that still lingers, unseen, beyond the horizon.

This is the second of a series of articles compiled by The Jakarta Post on the political parties contesting the 2004 elections.

One thousand UGM students to watch 2004 polls in villages

Antara - January 7, 2004

Yogyakarta -- One thousand students of Gadjah Mada State University (UGM) will actively empower eligible voters and watch the 2004 electoral process in Yogyakarta villages as part of their field study program, UGM Rector Sofian Effendi said.

The students would be sent to 60 villages in four districts in Yogyakarta province, he told reporters here Wednesday.

The students would be deployed mainly in villages that were noted for a high incidence of electoral fraud during the 1999 general elections, he said.

First time voters seek change to status quo

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- A recent survey reveals that although many respondents trust the current presidential candidates, most of them prefer other candidates to lead the nation for the next five years.

Of the 2,000 respondents, 73 percent prefer someone other than the current list of candidates to lead the country while 27 percent accept political parties' presidential candidates or politicians who have announced they would run for the presidency. according to the survey by the Student Polling Center.

The above candidates include the incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri, Akbar Tandjung, Gen. (ret) Wiranto, Hamzah Haz, Amien Rais, Nurcholish Madjid and Soeharto's daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the most preferred candidate, with 28 percent of respondents naming him.

Susilo is followed by rights activist Salahuddin Wahid (14 percent), chairman of Muhammadiyah Ahmad Syafii Maarif (10 percent), lecturer and daughter of the first vice president, Meuthia Farida Hatta (9 percent), chairman of the largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama, Hasyim Muzadi (8 percent) and former minister Siswono Yudhohusodo (7 percent).

Former president B.J. Habibie is also among the "alternative figures," with 5 percent.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Muslim preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar got 5 percent and 4 percent respectively.

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Hidayat Nurwahid who topped the list in some surveys via short messaging services (SMS) on cellular phones only got 3 percent. Polling coordinator Saifuddin Anshori said 2,000 students participated from eight cities throughout the country.

Saifuddin said that his institution targeted students because this year would be their first chance to vote. "Many surveys have been made but the organizers often neglect the rookie voters. We want to know their preferences," he said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

The survey conducted in December targeted students in Manado (North Sulawesi), Bandung (West Java), Yogyakarta, Surabaya (East Java), Medan (North Sumatra), Pontianak (West Kalimantan), Ambon (Maluku) and Jakarta. The organizers distributed questionnaires and met face to face with the students.

The survey also reveals that the students are really looking forward to the direct presidential elections -- the first to be held in Indonesia.

Most respondents (41 percent) said they would cast their vote for the presidential elections. Nineteen percent said they were most interested to cast ballot for the regency legislative council, 17 percent for House of Representatives (DPR), 12 percent for the provincial legislative council, and 11 percent for Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

Campaing rules flaws threaten elections

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The government has drafted a campaign regulation that will ban top state officials, including the President and her ministers, from using state facilities during the election campaign, but analysts said the regulation was rife with defects.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said on Wednesday that any top state officials found guilty of misusing state facilities during the campaign would be ordered to desist.

"They will be told to stop doing this immediately if they are found to be using state facilities," he told the press after inaugurating 24 new regencies and municipalities here.

The minister said the draft regulation would be brought to a Cabinet meeting scheduled for next Monday.

The campaign regulation, the minister said, would encourage state officials to use funds from their respective parties for the campaign, rather than state funds.

The current government comprises ministers from various political parties. President Megawati Soekarnoputri chairs the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Vice President Hamzah Haz leads the United Development Party and most other cabinet ministers either chair or are members of political parties.

In the country's supreme legislative organ, the People's Consultative Assembly, speaker Amien Rais chairs the National Mandate Party, while House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung holds the top job in the Golkar Party.

These top state officials will also be contesting the presidential election.

Separately, Bambang Widjojanto of the Partnership for Governance Reform said that the new campaign regulation must be packed up by severe penalties for offenders.

Bambang said the regulation should stipulate that state officials who were found guilty of misusing state facilities or funds during the campaign must be fined a sum equivalent to the value of the state facilities they made use of.

"There must be strict punishments for such offenses. Otherwise, we may rest assured that state officials will continue to misuse state facilities," he told The Jakarta Post.

Without strict penalties, he said, the parties that had representatives in state institutions would take advantage of their advantageous positions to the detriment of the newer and smaller parties.

Bambang also said he was concerned about conflicting statements from officials regarding violations of campaign regulations.

He said there was a divergence of views between the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Commission (Panwaslu) on the issue, and this could lead to confusion in the National Police, the institution that is responsible for enforcing electoral law. "There are no clear definitions of a campaign, the nature of a campaign, or the time frame of a campaign," he said.

Citing the Election Supervisory Commission, Bambang said the recent gatherings held by the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP) should be categorized as premature, illegal campaigning.

However, Article 2 of the KPU regulation on the election campaign defines a campaign as an effort aimed at convincing non-party members to vote for the party by publicizing its manifesto through the mass media, in public places or at meetings during the period designated by the KPU.

"If the KPU decides the PKB and PPP gatherings did not constitute premature campaigning, other parties will follow suit. This will be like opening a Pandora's Box," Bambang said.

Golkar could stage major comeback in election

Straits Times - January 8, 2004

Lee Kim Chew -- Indonesia's Golkar party could stage a major political comeback and beat President Megawati Sukarnoputri in the presidential election this year.

And if Golkar joins forces with Ms Megawati's party to form a ruling coalition, Indonesia will have a strong government.

Dr Rizal Mallarangeng, executive director of Freedom Institute, an independent Jakarta-based think-tank, made these predictions yesterday in his presentation at a seminar organised by the Institute of South-east Asian Studies.

He said: "The people's mood is swinging. After a series of democratic innovations, the demand now is for stability and consolidation. Increasingly, people have responded to policy and government performance. Old loyalties are still kicking, but a new factor has emerged."

A recent poll conducted by Danareksa Research Institute showed that Golkar has raced ahead of Ms Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party (Struggle) (PDI-P), and it would win an election if one was held today.

Last November, another poll put Golkar ahead at 23.1 per cent, beating the PDI-P into second place at 15.3 per cent among six major parties.

In the race for the presidency, Ms Megawati is still the front- runner, but there is a dark-horse candidate in Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhyono, the Chief Security Minister, a high-profile former general whose handling of the Aceh problem and terrorism had won him public approval.

Dr Rizal said more Indonesians now believe that the country was headed in the wrong direction with Ms Megawati's weak leadership.

He said: "Some people say this democratic government is too weak. We need a strong leader like Suharto, who can make decisions and restore order, even if it reduces rights and freedoms."

In his view, the threat posed by the Islamic parties is more apparent than real. Indonesian politics had not changed much over the past five decades, he noted. The Islamic parties in 1955 secured 39 per cent of the vote. In 1999, they garnered 31 per cent, compared to 58 per cent won by the secular parties.

In 1955, all the Islamic parties wanted Syariah law. In 1999, only two or three Islamic parties opted for it. This was an indication of their weakness, he said. "In realpolitik, the Islamic parties have declined."

Old parties may dominate elections

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2004

A. Junaidi, Jakarta -- The Habibie Center, a study center founded by former president B.J. Habibie, predicted on Wednesday the general elections would not produce leaders who cared about issues affecting the common people and would keep the existing six major political parties in power.

The center's political analyst Indria Samego said people would remain loyal to the major parties and ignore the 18 new parties due to a lack of voter education.

"Now, we have already run out of time to educate people to vote for political parties based on reason. The General Elections Commission has failed in its duty to educate voters," Indria told a media conference on Indonesia's outlook for 2004.

The 1999 general elections saw the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) win among them almost all the 500 House of Representatives seats. The six parties met the 2 percent electoral threshold, which has enabled them to qualify for this year's polls.

Indonesia will hold the legislative election on April 5 and the landmark direct presidential election on July 5 for the first phase and September 20 for the run-off.

Indria predicted the former ruling Golkar Party would defeat President Megawati Soekarnoputri's PDI-P in the legislative election, in view of the internal conflict plaguing the latter.

"But for the presidential election, Megawati and Amien Rais will emerge as the strongest contenders," he said. Amien is the leader of PAN and the People's Consultative Assembly speaker.

Indria said if Amien managed to intensify his campaign across the country, he had a fair chance of winning the presidency. "If Amien fails, Megawati will be elected for the full five-year term thanks to her popularity," said Indria, who is also a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

Amien succeeded in establishing a loose coalition among Islamic political parties and politicians that catapulted PKB founder Abdurrahman Wahid to the presidency at the expense of Megawati in the 1999 election.

In general, the Habibie Center said Megawati's administration had not made many improvements in the political sphere, regional autonomy or law enforcement in 2003.

The center's legal expert Muladi said the Supreme Court had failed to decide on high profile cases, including the corruption case involving House of Representative Speaker and Golkar Party leader Akbar Tandjung.

"The case should not be kept hanging in the balance. The Court apparently has no sense of crisis," Muladi, the justice minister under President B.J. Habibie, said.

The Jakarta High Court upheld last year Akbar's three-year prison sentence for his role in a Rp 40 billion (US$4,7 million) graft case involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). Akbar remains free pending the Supreme Court's verdict.

Muladi also supported the movement against crooked politicians, but warned the initiators of the campaign against mentioning any names as it could be libelous. "I agree to spelling out the definition of a crooked politician, but never mention any names. The politicians targeted would have strong reason to sue the movement," he claimed.

Dozens of noted intellectuals and activists launched the movement, defining crooked politicians, which included involvement in corruption, human rights violations, environmental destruction, domestic violence and drug abuse.

Legislative candidate diplomas being certified by military

Detik.com - January 6, 2004

Ahmad Fikri, Bandung -- In order to fulfill the requirements of the National Election Commission (KPU), a number of provincial legislative candidates have submitted copies of diplomas which have been certified by the Siliwangi III Regional Military Command (Kodam). The reason they gave for this was because their schools had already been closed down.

This was revealed to journalists by West Java KPU member, Memet A Hakim, at the West Java KPU offices on Jl Garut in Bandung on Monday January 5.

A diploma which has been certified by Kodam represents one of the mistakes which has been found by the West Java KPU after completing an examination of the administrative requirements for legislative candidates.

Of the 12 requirements, a number of legislative candidates were unable to submit complete dossiers. Hakim explained that the certification of a diploma is included as one of the 12 requirements which must be fulfilled. From the results of their examination of the administrative requirements however, many legislative candidates had not done this.

A number of legislative candidates said that their schools had already been closed down and their original diplomas lost. A number of them then took the initiative to submit copies of diplomas which had been certified by Kodam."[But] the total is less than 10 people", said Hakim.

Of course a copy of a diploma [certified by Kodam] will be rejected by the KPU. The KPU will only accept an statement on the validity of a diploma from two departments, that is the department of education for public schools and the department of religion for religious schools.

Disqualification

West Java KPU will submit its findings to the respective political parties. The legislative candidates have been given until January 19 to complete the requirements. "If there is just one requirement which is not fulfilled, the legislative candidate will automatically be disqualified", said Hakim. (iy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Youth protest domination of old faces in candidate lists

Detik.com - January 5, 2004

Anindhita Maharrani, Jakarta -- A number of youth organisation under the banner of Youth Community (Kaum Muda) have protested the list of legislative candidates [for the 2004 general elections] which are dominated by old faces, people who have previously been legislative members. This protest was presented by Youth Community at a press conference at the Cafe Venesia at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in Cikini, Central Jakarta, on Monday January 5.

Youth Community is made up of a number of groups including the Islamic Students Association Reform (HMI-MPO), the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and the National Student League for Democracy (LMND).

Based on Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) data, 70 per cent of those included the legislative candidate lists which have been submitted by political parties to the National Election Committee (KPU) are old faces. According to Youth Community, it is no longer appropriate for these old faces to be nominated because they have already failed to carry forward the agenda of reformasi.

"We call on the public to go to the offices of the political parties to protest the legislative candidate lists which, according to ICW, 70 per cent of which are filled with old faces who have failed to carry forward the agenda of reformasi", said PRD chairperson Haris Rusli Moti.

On Wednesday January 14, Youth Community plans to hold a demonstration at the KPU offices to protest the legislative candidate lists. As well as this, they will also be campaigning more broadly on the failures of the six large political parties(1) which will be participating in the general elections.

Haris was also of the view that the 2004 general elections do not represent a solution for the people to escape the [ongoing economic and political] crisis. "There must be an extra- parliamentary road in the sense of a broader mass movement to urge that the government be replaced with an alternative administration which is formed by young people", he said. (iy)

Notes:

1. The six big political parties which dominated the 1999 general elections are the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB).

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Quality of elections in conflict areas under threat

Kompas - January 8, 2004

Jakarta -- Holding the elections in conflict areas such as Aceh will not result in quality elections. Basically this is because violence by state security personnel against the public is still occurring, particularly violence which increases a sense of fear in society.

This was revealed by Munir from the Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) in a discussion titled "ProPatria Public" which took up the theme of "Experiences in the application of a state of emergency" in Jakarta on Wednesday January 7. The discussion, which was chaired by Stenley from the Institute for the Study of Free Flow of Information (ISAI), also presented George Yunus Adhi Tjondro, a research and publication consultant from the Free Land Institute and researcher Ikrar Nusa Bhakti from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).

"For the people of Aceh, going to the polling booths is related to [whether or not they are seen as being] loyal to NKRI [the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia], and in order to participate in the elections they must have a red-and-white identity card(1). I am convinced that the level of participation during the elections in Aceh will be the highest in Indonesia", he said.

Meanwhile Tjondro was of the assessment that the security conditions in the Poso region [of Central Sulawasi] will continue to see acts of terror over the period of the elections. Basically, there are three national interests which always come to the fore in Poso. Firstly, the preservation of the military territorial commands. Secondly, the existence of Islamic political movements who want national political domination. Thirdly, the existence of dishonesty by the forces of capital, the military and the para-militaries. "This dishonesty involves the economic interests of the conglomerates [who want] to build a new economic centre in the Gulf of Tomini", he said.

Bhakti sees the potential for violence during the elections in conflict area as being quite high. He hoped that the public will control themselves and no longer take part in open conflicts, which will only result in marshal law coming into force.

According to Bhakti, the political map of West Papua and Aceh are perhaps in the same territory, that is they are just supplementary. Moreover the public themselves are not very enthusiastic about participating in the elections.

"Although there are no political parties which are really wanted [by the people], [the former state ruling party] Golkar is however the best organised [and] perhaps will still obtain the most votes", he said.

Generally added Bhakti, based on four assumptions the elections in Papua will run smoothly and peacefully. Firstly, the majority of the Papuan people are already traumatised by the massive military operation. Secondly, the Papuan people want to obtain independence though dialogue rather than armed struggle. Thirdly, if for example there were armed attacks by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) against the population or vital military installations, this will be spontaneous. Fourthly, the OPM has already become a symbol of an earlier period of the independence struggle. (MAM).

Notes:

1. Shortly after declaring marshal law in Aceh on May 19, 2003, the emergency military command made it mandatory for people to obtain and carry new red-and-white (the colours of the Indonesian national flag) identity cards in an attempt to limit the movement of Free Aceh Movement members. Applicants were required to first obtain clearance from their village chief and local military chief before the district administration could issue the card. The applicant then had to submit the card to the local police office for the police chief's signature before getting the district chief's signature. Afterwards, the applicant then had to register the ID number with the martial law administration.

2. It is common knowledge that many Acehnese have learnt that the best way to avoid repression by the military is to give the appearance of supporting the government and military's efforts to maintain Aceh as part of Indonesia. This is most often reflected in public displays of enthusiasm during mandatory loyalty pledges. Failure to attend these and participate fully inevitably results in the individual and their families being targeted for later attention by the military.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Safeguarding the elections not to promote TNI's role

Kompas - January 8, 2004

Jakarta -- The involvement of the TNI-AD (the army) in making the 2004 general elections a success does not represent an effort or ambition on the part of the TNI-AD to extend its role.

"The participation of the TNI-AD in safeguarding and ensuring the success of the 2004 elections represents our determination to contribute to the safety of the country", said TNI-AD chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu on Wednesday January 7.

The remarks were made while giving greetings during a ceremony marking a transfer of commanders at the Kodam Jaya regional military command from Major General Djoko Santoso to Major General Agustadi SP, which was held at on the grounds of the Kodam Jaya headquarters in East Jakarta.

In order that their role in safeguarding the 2004 elections will run properly, Ryacudu explained that the neutrality of TNI offices will continue to be firmly maintained. "Don't let yourselves be influenced by a political group participating in the elections or forces outside of the formal political ranks", he said.

"Don't be trapped in practical political games. Carry out your duties as the guardian of the people during the elections. It is for this that we hope that the elections, as a festival of democracy, will run in an orderly manner, safely and successfully. Not the reverse".

Ryacudu also explained that in carrying out their duties, TNI-AD officers would also intensify their territorial intelligence activities as a source of information to determine territorial development priorities.

This charge requires correct leadership and management based on the unity of the TNI with the people, in order to increase the public's desire, together with other security forces, to safeguard their region. Because of this, each officer must be able to build dialogue, interact and communicate with all layers of society. "It is important for me to remind [you of this] because to date, the prestige of TNI-AD officers, especially among the ranks of Kodam Jaya, has been achieved because of widespread support from the public", said Ryacudu. (NIC)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Loan scandal hits Bank Mandiri

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2004

Magelang -- Some Rp 24 billion (US$2.8 million) has been embezzled from Bank Mandiri's Magelang branch, adding yet another scandal to Indonesia's bank industry.

"Three people have been named suspects, and they are being questioned by the police," said Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi, the chief of Central Java Police, on Friday.

He said that the scheme, which was used by the irresponsible parties, was similar to the one committed by suspects in the BNI and BRI scandals recently.

The BNI loan scandal centered on the channeling of export credits without proper appraisal by the bank's Kebayoran Baru branch in South Jakarta to a number of local companies to finance the export of commodities to the Congo and Kenya.

The exporters, identified as the Petindo Group and Gramarindo Group, backed up their loans request with letters of credit (L/Cs) from banks in Kenya, Switzerland and the Cook Islands. It later turned out that the exports never materialized, causing BNI to lose Rp 1.7 trillion.

Local & community issues

Protester shot dead at Australian mine in North Maluku

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Sandy Darmosumarto and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- One tribesman on the North Maluku island of Halmahera was shot dead and four others were injured when paramilitary Mobile Brigade police opened fire to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding the closure of an open pit mine operated by an Australian firm, police said on Thursday.

Six persons, including a village chief and a Christian clergyman, were arrested for allegedly "provoking" the violence on Wednesday.

National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko Ardan said some 200 Brimob troopers had been deployed to the mine in the protected forest in Toguraci on Tuesday, when the protest by the Kao and Maliput tribes began.

"They were demanding access to the mine to start their own unauthorized mining operations," Soenarko said.

Currently, there are some 5,000 Kao and Maliput tribespeople on the island.

According to Soenarko, the protest on Tuesday ended peacefully after the tribespeople met with the management of the gold mine, which is operated by PT Nusa Halmahera Mineral (NHM), a subsidiary of Australia's Newcrest Mining Ltd. However, the crowd returned the next day armed with sharp weapons, Soenarko said.

"The police fired warning shots. The second warning ricocheted and hit a protester, who later died at the hospital in Ternate," he said, referring to the North Maluku capital. The casualty was identified as 30-year-old Rusli Tungkapi, a resident of Dum-Dum Pantai village.

The Coalition Against Mining in Forests and representatives of the Kao and Malifut tribes reported the incident to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in Jakarta and demanded that the commission probe the case.

"My brothers had no intention of inciting chaos. They just wanted to stage a peaceful rally. That's why they had informed the police beforehand," said Usman Sergi, a representative of the Kao and Malifut tribes.

He said the tribes had long being demanding that NHM stop its open-pit mining in the protected forest.

"We have seen how NHM destroyed the Gosowong forest. They have exploited the gold [ore] deposits in our forest and gave us nothing but a big empty hole in the ground. Now, they are preventing us from entering our forest," Usman said.

In his response, commission member Hasballah M. Saad said the rights body would question the National Police about the incident.

Currently, NHM has a concession extending to some 52 hectares in the Toguraci forest, some two kilometers west of Gosowong, where it has been operating an open-pit mine since 1992. The Toguraci site is estimated to have gold deposits amounting to some 360,000 ounces.

In a statement on Thursday, Australian miner Newcrest Mining Ltd. said the incident took place during disturbances at its gold mine. Reuters quoted the company as saying that the violence did not disrupt mining operations. "The site is secure and safe and the mine is operating again," said Peter Reeve, a spokesman for the gold miner.

Law No. 41/2003 on forestry bans mining in protected forests as well as on ancestral land belonging to tribespeople. However, the Ministry of Forestry issued a special operating permit last year for NHM to carry out mining in the protected forest in a bid to prevent lay-offs. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources also granted the company a similar permit.

State-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang owns 17.5 percent of PT NHM's shares. The rest are owned by Newcrest Mining Ltd.

Protestor killed at Australian-operated mine in Maluku

Agence France Press - January 8, 2004

Jakarta -- One person was killed and four injured when police opened fire to disperse illegal miners occupying a gold mine operated by Australian firm Newcrest, police said Thursday.

Hundreds of people claiming ancestral ownership of the mine on eastern Halmahera island occupied the Toguraci site on Wednesday and accused the company of operating in the area illegally, said local police chief Andi Bambang.

Bambang said police fired warning shots to prevent the crowd from entering the mine and one of the protesters might have been killed by a ricochet from a bullet.

"They are not local people. They were brutal and armed with weapons like spears, machetes and crowbars. Clearly they had no intention to protest peacefully" he told AFP, adding that most of them were illegal miners from North Sulawesi province. He said the other four were injured in the melee but not by bullets.

Police arrested six people they described as provocateurs, including a village chief and a Christian priest. Bambang said police were also looking for 13 people who orchestrated the protest.

Local activist Eton Duan said the shooting was unprovoked. "The crowd did not attack the police," she said. She said police beat one protestor until he lost consciousnes The decision followed years of legal wrangling about the divestment of a 51 percent stake to local investors.

Human rights/law

Indonesia reopens graft case against Suharto

Straits Times - January 9, 2004

Jakarta -- Indonesia's Attorney-General has reopened the corruption case against former president Suharto, who seems well enough to give his eldest daughter the green light to run for president.

The A-G Office has called for another medical examination on the former leader. Doctors from the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) have been asked to carry out the job.

Deputy Attorney-General for Special Crimes Sudhono Iswahyudi said the order was issued on Dec 15 to the South Jakarta prosecutor's office to send a team of doctors to examine Suharto.

Despite an earlier medical report suggesting that Suharto was unlikely to regain his full faculties, Mr Sudhono said that the move had been taken in the light of media reports saying that the former president was actually in good health.

Mr Juan Felix Tampubolon, Suharto's lawyer, questioned the prosecutors' move to reassess his client's health.

"Earlier examinations showed that my client suffered permanent brain damage. Don't they have other things to do?" he asked, adding that all the prosecutors had to do was check his client's medical records.

In August 2002, a team of 20 physicians from the RSCM had declared that Suharto was suffering from aphasia -- total or partial loss of the ability to use and understand words.

Team leader Akmal Taher said that the former president was incapable of putting more than four words together and could not understand long sentences as he had suffered "permanent brain damage due to his previous medical history of strokes". Suharto's sickness limited his ability to communicate with others, the team concluded.

However, Suharto had twice visited his youngest son, Hutomo 'Tommy' Mandala Putra, who is serving a 15-year jail term on the Nusakambangan prison island off Java. Tommy was jailed for ordering the murder of a Supreme Court justice.

Recently, Mr R. Hartono, a retired general who leads the Concern for the Nation Functional Party, disclosed that Suharto, when consulted, had made suggestions regarding the name of the party. He had also remarked on the party's nomination of his daughter, Ms Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana, as its candidate in the presidential election.

Prosecutors accuse Suharto of enriching himself and his relatives to the tune of US$600 million in state funds plundered through a complex web of tax-free charitable foundations that he controlled.

His high-profile team of lawyers managed to convince the court that their client was too ill to stand trial. But the Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors may bring the case back to court if and when his health improves.

Judiciary remains unable to uphold justice, NGO says

Jakarta Post - January 5, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The country's judicial institutions have failed to uphold justice for all, as many verdicts have been delivered without proper legal arguments and charges have been leveled at suspects without sufficient evidence, a judiciary watchdog has said.

"We found many cases in which verdicts were made on the basis of very weak legal arguments," coordinator of the Society of Indonesian Judiciary Monitors (Mappi) Asep Rahmat Fajar told a media conference over the weekend.

Mappi, which was founded by the University of Indonesia's school of law, held the conference to disclose its review of the performance of judicial institutions in 2003. The report was issued based on on-the-spot monitoring in district courts in Greater Jakarta and Cibinong, West Java, which, it claimed, could represent the general state of the judiciary in the country.

The watchdog's annual report said judges blamed prosecutors' lack of evidence for their decisions to exonerate defendants, which had occurred many times in corruption cases.

"Evidence is one of the most important things necessary to support legal arguments," the report said.

Mappi said Indonesian judges often delivered weak sentences in criminal cases due to the absence of guidelines, and ignored minimum sentences when it came to human rights trials.

The human rights tribunal acquitted 11 defendants in the 1999 East Timor mayhem and sentenced the remaining four to between three years and 15 years in jail. The convicts remain free, pending appeal. "The court has obviously violated Law No. 26/2000 on human rights tribunals, which sets the minimum sentence at 10 years in jail," Asep said.

Mappi also highlighted the disparity in sentences handed to convicts in drug abuse, dealing or smuggling cases. Data collected by Mappi in courts in Central, South, East, West and North Jakarta and in Cibinong revealed that the judges had no clear arguments to support the disparity in sentences.

Among hundreds of drug-related cases, Mappi recorded that district courts in Jakarta sentenced defendants to between four months and 11 months in jail for violating article 78 of Law No. 22/1997 on drugs and narcotics, which is punishable by a maximum 10 years in jail and a Rp 500 million fine.

The courts also jailed defendants for four years to 20 years for violating article 82 of the law, which sets the minimum jail sentence at 20 years and the fine at Rp 1 billion. "This revealed that the courts tended to deliver lenient sentence for an offense punishable by 10 years in jail," Asep said.

The disparity, he said, was a result of the absence of Supreme Court guidelines for courts on issuing verdicts. "This situation may result in a decline of public trust in law enforcement, which has been indicated by the growing number of people who take the law into their own hands, including by attacking the courts," Asep warned.

Mappi also criticized judges for their failure to adhere to their code of professional conduct. A monitor with Mappi disclosed that several judges fell asleep during trials, were absent during hearings or opted to speed up trials in criminal cases that were punishable by custodial sentences of five years or more.

Doctors, prosecutors differ on status, Soeharto thrives

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The Attorney General's Office (AGO) claimed on Wednesday that it had ordered another medical examination for former president Soeharto in a bid to reactivate the prosecution case against him on corruption charges.

Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Sudhono Iswahyudi said, "On December 15, we asked the [South Jakarta] prosecutor's office to send a team of doctors to examine HMS again," he said, referring to Soeharto. He added that the job had been assigned to doctors from the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM).

Despite an earlier medical report suggesting that Soeharto was unlikely to regain his full faculties, Sudhono said that the move had been taken in the light of media reports saying that Soeharto was actually in good health.

However, to the surprise of many, he then claimed the Attorney General's Office lacked the money to pay for Soeharto's medical examination, which he predicted could reach Rp 200 million.

Despite Sudhono's statement, RSCM director Merdias Almatsier told The Jakarta Post that the hospital management had so far only received a letter from the prosecutors asking about developments regarding the former president's health. "Of course, we don't know anything about it as we're not responsible for monitoring his health. He has his own team of physicians," he said.

According to Merdias, his subordinates has told prosecutors that the RSCM has no records on Soeharto's recent health, but added they would examine him if directed to.

Juan Felix Tampubolon, Soeharto's lawyer, questioned the prosecutors move to reassess his client's health. "Earlier examinations showed that my client suffered permanent brain damage. Don't they have other things to do?" he asked, adding that all the prosecutors had to do was check his client's medical records.

In August 2002, a team of 20 physicians from the RSCM declared that Soeharto was suffering from aphasia -- the total or partial loss of the ability to use and understand words.

Akmal Taher, the team leader, said that Soeharto was incapable of putting more than four words together and could not understand long sentences as he had suffered "permanent brain damage due to his previous medical history of strokes", which limited his ability to communicate with others.

However, Soeharto has twice visited his youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is serving a 15-year jail term on the Nusakambangan prison island off Java for ordering the murder of a Supreme Court justice, Recently, R. Hartono, a retired general who leads the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), disclosed that Soeharto, when consulted, had made suggestions regarding the name of the party. He had also remarked on the party's nomination of his daughter, Siti "Tutut" Hardiyanti Rukmana, as its candidate in the presidential election.

Prosecutors accuse Soeharto of enriching himself and his relatives to the tune of US$600 million in state funds plundered through a complex web of tax-free charitable foundations that he controlled.

His high-profile team of lawyers managed to convince the court that their client was too ill to stand trial. The Supreme Court has ruled that prosecutors may bring the case back to court if his health improves.

Focus on Jakarta

Activists demand that rights body acts soon

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2004

Dewi Santoso and M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- The city administration's policy on transportation development, such as the construction of new elevated roads in 2003 has victimized the urban poor, a group of activists concluded in their year-end evaluation, revealed on Friday.

The Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta) chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said that the development had led to the eviction of 11,400 families, or more than 40,000 people, in 2003 alone. The figure is an increase from 36,000 people evicted in 2002.

Tigor added that last year, approximately 15,000 sidewalk vendors and 135 becak (three-wheeled pedicab) drivers had lost their jobs due to evictions. The data was collected by the Coalition of Citizens for Jakarta Transportation (Kawat), where Fakta is a member, and Swisscontact.

He claimed that Fakta and the evictees had repeatedly demanded the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) take action to prevent the evictions from occurring.

"But thus far, the Komnas HAM has not taken any action nor protected the evictees," he said, adding that this apparent disregard of the issue would only lead to more evictions.

Earlier, the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) predicted that at least 8,500 families, or around 47,500 people, would likely become homeless this year due to evictions.

Fakta demanded the city administration draft a policy that would defend the rights of the poor.

"The government can't just offer low-cost apartments to evictees. It won't mean anything if the relocation areas are far from their original residences," Tigor said.

What the people needed, he explained, was the assurance and protection of their rights, to live in proper houses and to have jobs -- a policy would secure those rights.

The Central Jakarta District Court staged on Thursday the first hearing of a legal action filed by Fakta against the Komnas HAM, for allegedly neglecting its duty to take action against the evictions.

Presiding judge Andriani Nurdin asked lawyers of both plaintiff and defendant to settle the case amicably, and gave both parties one week to find a credible third party to act as mediator. However, both parties refused.

"What we want is for Komnas HAM to apologize for the plight of the evictees ... A simple press conference would do," Tigor said.

Residents cry foul over pollution

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2004

Marilin, Depok -- Residents of Curug subdistrict, Cimanggis district, Depok, have complained about pollution in the nearby Rawa Kalong pond that killed thousands of their fish last October.

They also questioned the Depok municipality administration's seriousness in handling the matter, particularly after their last meeting when officials told residents to stop fish farming in the pond.

One resident, Benny, 58, said the administration should try to find a solution to the problem. "The administration should take stern action against those who dumped liquid waste into the pond instead of calling on us to stop fish farming there. The pond is a source of water for residents," he said on Thursday.

A neighborhood unit chief, Edy Rustiyanto, 64, said residents only wanted to help the administration monitor pollution in the pond. "If they don't dare punish the violators, what can we do? It's strange that the administration has turned a blind eye to this environmental damage," he said.

When The Jakarta Post visited the pond on Thursday, the water was brownish and there was a thick, foul smelling green liquid on the banks of the pond.

A study by the Jakarta Sanitation Technical Body on Nov. 17, 2003, found that liquid waste from PT Triple Ace's soap factory contained higher rates of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) than allowed under West Java gubernatorial decree No. 6/1999 on the environment.

The COD rate from the factory was 330 milligrams per liter, higher than the safety standard of 300 mg/l, according to the study.

Water samples taken from the residents' fish farming pond on Nov. 7, 2003, showed BOD level was 25.65 mg/l, higher than the normal level of 12 mg/l, while the COD was 170 mg/l compared to the safety standard of 100 mg/l.

The study concluded that the water in the Rawa Kalong pond was heavily polluted and would endangered living creatures.

Depok City Secretary M. Harris said the municipality had requested assistance from the Office of the State Minister for the Environment to investigate the case.

PT Triple Ace could not be contacted for comment and security guards prevented the media from entering the factory's compound.

People protest against attack on temple

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Jakarta -- Dozens of members of several associations staged a protest outside the House of Representatives compound over the recent attack on a temple on Jl. Pluit Raya, North Jakarta.

The Nation Brotherhood Forum (FPAB), the Indonesian Paranormal Association (IPI), the Association of Indonesian Recyclers (Apindo), and the Foundation of Indonesian Chinese Culture Heritage demanded that the attack was investigated further.

Foundation executive Rizal said that the temple, where a Chinese traditional healer known as Acai lived, was attacked by a group of thugs last December 10.

"We have reported the attack to the police, but no one came to investigate. Later, we filed a report with the Jakarta Police, but still no one looked into the case," he said.

The protesters left without meeting any of the legislators.

Over 47,500 Jakartans to become homeless this year

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2004

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- Amid criticism from various parties, the Jakarta administration still plans to go ahead with its eviction program which is expected to affect at least 8,500 families or around 47,500 people this year, according to the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC).

UPC executive Edi Saidi said on Wednesday that the figure was a result of monitoring by his organization of a number of state- owned and disputed plots of lands that at present are being occupied by squatters.

"Eviction of people living under the harbor toll road in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, will take place in April, while other areas will be vacated later," Edi told The Jakarta Post, adding that the squatters had received eviction notices. UPC records show that the city administration carried out evictions in 21 areas last year, affecting 8,715 people, mostly poor families.

Edi and a number of UPC executives accompanied some 300 victims of evictions and those whose houses would be razed this year in a protest at the Ministry for Settlement and Regional Infrastructure in South Jakarta on Wednesday.

The people demanded that the ministry prevent Governor Sutiyoso from continuing the evictions until alternative housing has been provided for them.

The ministry's Director General for Housing and Settlement Affairs, Sjarifuddin Akil, who met with the people, could not give any guarantee "because such a policy was under the autonomous authority of the city administration".

Edi said the evictees were unable to meet with Sutiyoso who has repeatedly said that he would not allow people to stay in the city who do not hold Jakarta identity cards.

Meanwhile, Akil revealed that the government had a program to build one million houses this year across the country. He said the ministry earmarked Rp 1.2 trillion (US$141.18 million) of its Rp 11 trillion budget for the housing program.

Akil, however, could not specify what portion of the fund would be allocated for the housing program in Jakarta, but said that the ministry had also planned to improve housing in five slums. He did not mention the areas.

"But the ministry would discuss the project further with officials from the city administration," he added.

I-box Areas scheduled for evictions in 2004

No. Places Number of affected families

1. Koja, Muara Baru 1,500 North Jakarta

2. Kebon Tebu, Muara Baru 1,500 North Jakarta

3. Tanah Merah, Plumpang 1,000 North Jakarta

4. Cakung 500 East Jakarta

5. Cipinang Besar Selatan 500 East Jakarta

6. Under Penjaringan toll road 2,000 North Jakarta

7. Bambu Larangan 1,500 West Jakarta

Total 8,500

Source: Urban Poor Consortium (UPC)

News & issues

Disasters, state violence worsen in 2004: Walhi

Jakarta Post - January 10, 2004

A. Junaidi, Jakarta -- A respected non-governmental organization predicted on Friday a gloomy outlook of the country's environment, forecasting increasing natural disasters and continued violence directed against tribespeople.

Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) executive director Longgena Ginting predicted that disasters such as floods and landslides would affect even more areas across the country this year.

"These disasters will occur as a result of the environmental destruction that has taken place in previous years due to the government's misguided policies," Longgena told a press conference to introduce Indonesian Environmental Outlook 2004.

He said the government's lack of commitment to the environmental conservation would contribute to further disasters this year. The water resources bill, permits for open-pit mining in protected forests, sand exports, and the construction of a road through the Leuser National Park in Aceh were among the government policies that would speed up environmental destruction in the country.

Walhi national council member Jhonson Pandjaitan warned of an increase in state violence against local people who protested against the government's environmentally destructive policies.

"If in the past the violence was perpetrated by the military, now it is being perpetrated by the police and intelligence officers," said Jhonson, who is also a lawyer with the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI).

He pointed to a number of clashes involving members of the state security forces working for private sector companies and local people, including incidents in Porsea in North Sumatra, Seseba, Central Sulawesi, and Bulukumba, South Sulawesi.

He viewed the government's new policy introduced last year to allow more mining companies to operate in protected areas across the country would trigger conflicts with local communities and tribespeople. In the latest incident, a tribesman was shot dead on Wednesday and six were arrested when they, along with hundreds of other tribespeople, protested against the operation of a mining company in a protected forest in Halmahera, North Maluku.

To reduce the violence, Jhonson urged the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to form investigating teams to look into a series of human right violations related to environmental issues.

"Komnas HAM is usually quick to set up teams to investigate political cases, but they are weak on environmental matters," he said.

Another speaker, climatologist Paulus Agus Winarso, agreed that the country was facing the prospect of more environmental disasters as a result of global warming and continuing environmental destruction.

"We suffer from a long dry season with little rain, but when the rain does come it is very heavy indeed. We recently witnessed storms along the north coast of Java," said Paulus, who is also a member of the National Research Council (DRN).

He said that climatic unpredictability, such as extended dry seasons and storms, was also the result of the El Nino phenomenon, which would affect the country once again this year.

BIN's plan not yet final

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja & Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- Just one day after a Cabinet minister claimed that President Megawati Soekarnoputri had given her blessing for the expansion of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) up to the regency and municipal level across the archipelago, the minister responsible for security matters in Megawati's government insisted the plan had not received the approval of the Cabinet.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday the Cabinet should first discuss the plan on the intelligence operation expansion before the President makes a decision.

"I will talk to the BIN chief first on the issue," said the minister after accompanying the President in receiving Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the State Palace. Speaking to reporters after meeting with the President on Wednesday, State Minister for State Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamim claimed that Megawati would soon sign a degree mandating BIN to open offices in all provinces, regencies and municipalities.

"There will be a presidential decree on the establishment of these offices," said Tamim who met Megawati along with BIN chief Lt. Gen. (ret) Hendropriyono who is also close to the President.

Susilo did not deny the BIN expansion plan. He also played down public fears that the government would revert to the repressive practices of the Soeharto era.

He said the offices would merely coordinate intelligence operations between the National Police, Indonesian Military (TNI), and prosecutor's offices. "It will not be as formidable as the public think," said Susilo who plans to challenge Megawati in the coming direct presidential election.

The government found strong reason to restore the powers of BIN after the October 12, 2002, Bali bomb blast and then the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta last August. Poor performance of the intelligence agencies was widely blamed for the failure to prevent the terrorist attacks.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung saw the expansion plan to strengthen BIN's capability as understandable, but criticized the decision to institutionalize the intelligence activities.

"Intelligence should have a network at every level of the government, but not by setting up offices," Akbar said during a visit to The Jakarta Post office on Thursday.

"Another important point is that BIN should be led by a person who is free from any political power and solely devoted to state duties," Akbar said, in an apparent reference to Hendropriyono's relationship with the President.

Separately, political analyst Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that the plan to open intelligence offices in regencies was excessive and could be prone to abuse.

"The plan to open offices at the regency level will be open to abuse. Some intelligence officials may use their power to extort money," he told the Post.

Indria also feared that the opening of intelligence offices in regencies would also revive the practices of the New Order government in which the people must meet many security officials to get a permit before organizing public gatherings.

Instead of establishing new offices in the regencies, Indria suggested that the government empower the existing state institutions, including the military offices.

Indria suggested that the military's territorial commands could be used to do intelligence work. "The plan clearly shows that the government is more worried about the increasing political activities of its own people," said the political scientist.

Intelligence body will have offices in regencies

Jakarta Post - January 8, 2004

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- The National Intelligence Agency (BIN) will have much broader powers soon after President Megawati Soekarnoputri signs a decree authorizing the agency to open offices in all provinces, regencies and municipalities across the country, creating new fears of repression.

State Minister for Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamim disclosed on Wednesday that the President had agreed with the expansion plan.

An official at the State Secretariat told The Jakarta Post that until now no draft decree had been submitted to the office for further discussion.

"We reported the plan to the President and there will be a presidential decree for the establishment of these offices," Feisal said after meeting with the President along with BIN chief Lt. Gen. (ret.) Hendropriyono at the State Palace. Hendropriyono himself refused to talk to journalists.

Feisal said that each of BIN's representative offices would be under the auspices of both BIN headquarters and the regional administration. "For example at the provincial level the governor will also supervise the office, while at the municipal level it will be coordinated by regents or the mayor," Feisal added.

The minister did not say whether the regional BIN offices will be directly under the authority of the local government. But with the newly expanded authority, BIN will reduce its dependence on the police and the TNI, which have offices up to the district level.

The plan to establish BIN regional offices had been discussed since late 2002, following the October 12 Bali bombing that killed more than 200 people. At that time there was strong criticism of the weak coordination among state intelligence agencies, especially between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police.

Megawati then issued Presidential Instruction No. 5/2002, naming BIN as the sole coordinator for all intelligence activities in the country.

With the presidential decree the Indonesian Military (TNI), National Police and Attorney General's Office should report their findings to BIN.

The latest move to establish regional offices has created fears of a possible return to repressive and abusive practices. During Soeharto's era, one of the intelligence agency's main activities was to spy on citizens. Intelligence officers also often abused their power to enrich themselves.

The National Coordinating Intelligence Agency (BAKIN), one of the country's intelligence units was used to detect the spread of communism and the infiltration of foreign powers.

Then president Abdurrahman Wahid scrapped the authority for BIN to coordinate intelligence activities in 2000, arguing that people did not need such tight surveillance.

However, the recent terror attacks have given new reason for BIN to regain its role in coordinating intelligence activities in the country.

Many parties, including the House of Representatives have warned that the expansion of intelligence operations would provoke public anxiety.

History of BIN

1980s - President Soeharto establishes the National Coordinating Intelligence Agency (BAKIN).

October 2000 - President Abdurrahman Wahid revamps BAKIN and changes its name to State Intelligence Agency (BIN) scrapping its coordinating authority.

October 2002 - President Megawati Soekarnoputri issues Presidential Decree No.5/2002 that reinstates BIN's coordinating power.

2003 - Megawati is slated to sign presidential decree to establish BIN regional offices in the country.

Blast rocks Medan, no casualty reported

Agence France Presse - January 6, 2004

An explosion rocked the Indonesian city of Medan in North Sumatra province late on Monday evening, but there was no immediate report of casualties, police said.

"There was a blast in Patumbak, near the Amplas [bus] terminal but there was no report of casualties," Second Sergeant PM Simanjuntak of the Medan city police headquarters said.

Simanjuntak said that the blast took place in front of an empty land plot at around 9pm and added that an anti-bomb squad was on the site combing the area for evidence and clues. He declined to comment further but said that the blast caused no damage to nearby buildings.

Witnesses at the site said that the blast followed the throwing of a small package from a speeding vehicle. Some said it involved a car, others said it was two men on a motorcycle.

Medan City Police Chief Senior Commissioner Bagus Kurniawan told journalists at the site of the blast that the explosion was due to a home-made bomb.

"It is really a home made bomb of a low-explosive type," Kurniawan said according to the Detikcom online news service. "This is purely an act of terror. We cannot yet predict what the motives of the perpetrator is beside of spreading terror," he added.

Detikcom also quoted an unnamed police source at the site of the blast as saying that police have found remains of parts of a PVC pipe believed to have been some 25-centimeters-long and nine centimeters wide, two lamp bulbs, an alarm clock, wirings and nail-like metal objects.

Indonesia has seen a series of deadly bombing attacks since 2000 targeting churches and places popular with foreigners, such as bars and hotels.

A bomb exploded at a music concert in Peureulak, Aceh, on New Year's Eve, killing 11 people and injuring many others. The military have blamed the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which is active in Aceh province north of North Sumatra province.

The most serious bomb attacks killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, in the international resort island of Bali in October 2002, when two bombs exploded near two popular nightclubs.

The government has accused the local Muslim militant Jemaah Islamiyah network, which has been linked to al-Qaeda, for several of the bombing attacks.

Indonesia has been rocked by a series of explosions since 2000 targetting churches, and sites popular among foreigners in various cities.

Foreigners scheming to break-up Indonesia: TNI

Jakarta Post - January 6, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- Indonesia may lose Papua and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam due to the possibility of a foreign conspiracy aimed at destroying the Unitary Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), the Army's chief of staff has said.

Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu said on Monday that Indonesia was facing the possibility of losing both provinces due to threats from modern warfare.

Rampant human rights allegations made by foreign parties against the military in the provinces were part of a foreign conspiracy to separate the provinces from Indonesia, he told a seminar. The conspirators had established several non-governmental organizations to meet their goals, he said, without elaborating.

"If the campaign succeeds, and the United Nations and certain foreign countries step in, it's over [for Indonesia to keep Aceh and Papua] ... We are facing modern warfare, which does not use military power in its initial stages. It is much cheaper, yet more effective than conventional warfare," Ryamizard said.

He added the government had to resolve the Aceh case firmly. Otherwise, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) would be stronger and able to separate from Indonesia.

There would then be civil war, he said. "GAM would kill locals that supported NKRI." He also urged "one voice" in settling the separatist problem.

"Otherwise, separatism will be widespread and will claim the lives of some 10 million to 30 million people. Am I frightening you? I am not, that is the scenario. We are only trying to guard our country," Ryamizard said. He said his estimates were based on the death toll in Cambodia in the 1970s when 3 million of a population of 7 million were killed. He was once assigned to the UN peacekeeping force in Cambodia.

Separately, military observer Ikrar Nusa Bhakti of the Indonesia Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said the military had been haunted by prejudice following the separation of East Timor from Indonesia two years ago.

"Foreign intervention is possible due to a foreign country's responsibility to protect its citizens who are killed or tortured abroad. It would not happen if the political authority of a country did not order its defense bodies to use an approach based on violence," he told The Jakarta Post.

Ikrar said further violence would be instigated if the government continued to use a military approach. "Support for the Free Papua Organization (OPM) has been decreasing since Papuans prefer dialog, as offered by the Papua Presidium Council," said Ikrar, who also studies Papua affairs.

He noted that recent clashes in Papua, particularly in Timika, were incited by the government's decision to divide the province into three. Timika was intended to be the capital of Central Irian Jaya province.

TNI is deploying some 9,000 troops in the province, including an additional 2,600 soldiers. TNI Headquarters has said that the additional troops are mandatory to guard several places in Papua, especially along the border with Papua New Guinea.

Resource-rich Papua joined Indonesia in 1963. Indonesia formalized its occupation in 1969 following a UN-sanctioned ballot. Ever since, the poorly armed OPM has fought a sporadic campaign for independence.

Both local and international rights bodies have accused the TNI of rights abuses in a number of areas, including Papua and Aceh.

Demonstrations at the Kontras, Imparsial and PBHI offices

Tempo Interactive - February 6, 2004

Muhamad Fasabeni, Jakarta -- Arriving in three Metro Mini Number 79 busses at 11am, around 60 people demonstrated at the offices of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) and Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) on Friday February 6 at 11am. They were lead by Taufik from the Pesisir Tangerang Social Resources Foundation.

They first went to the Kontras' offices then to the offices of PBHI and Imparsial. At the Kontras' offices they held speeches and a "happening-art" action rejecting non-government organisations (NGO) which have been infiltrated by capitalists.

"Local agents have become an important part of, and cannot be separated from a program of expansion by foreign parties and NGOs which have been infiltrated by capitalist", said one of the demonstrators.

They also demanded that NGOs must be fair and objective in enforcing human rights and rejected all forms of foreign intervention. "Human rights must not become a political tool and an extension of the hands of foreigners", said one of the speakers. They also shouted"don't sell the Indonesian nation".

Taufik said that the aim of the demonstration was because in their view NGO always think that they are right."We are concerned about the nation, so we feel pity for military leaders who are continually being harassed and hurt", said Taufik.

When asked why they held demonstrations against these three NGOs, Taufik responded by saying that it was because these three NGO were very well know by the public.

At the Imparsial offices they were unable to enter the grounds and only held a demonstration outside which blocked the street and caused a traffic jam because only one lane was left free. During the demonstration they were escorted by members of the police.

At the PBHI offices, according to Taufik, they were met by the head of PBHI, Hendardi, and Basir Bahuga, although there was no dialogue. "We didn't hold a dialogue [with them] because we only intended to express our views", he said. They brought a number of banners with them some of which read"Where is human rights justice located" and "Don't sell the country for personal interests".

Basir Bahuga from PBHI's legal division, said that he truly regretted the action because the aim of the demonstration was not clear. He also added that although Hendardi was there, they did not ask for a dialogue.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Bali/tourism

Jakarta's visa fee blow to tourism

Australian Financial Review - January 5, 2004

Andrew Burrell, Jakarta -- Indonesia's $5.7 billion tourism industry, still struggling to recover from the Bali bombings and last year's SARS outbreak, has been hit by a government decision to begin charging foreign visitors a visa fee from next month.

The move means tourists from 20 countries, including Australia, Japan and much of Europe, the biggest sources of foreign tourists, will be charged between $US25 and $US50 ($33 and $66) for a visa upon arrival in Indonesia.

The new policy also cuts the length of a tourist stay from 60 days to 30 days, in a potential blow to the backpacker sector.

Indonesia's tourism industry has run a strong campaign against the introduction of the visa, fearing it will jeopardise the gradual recovery in Bali, where terrorists blew up two nightclubs on October 12, 2002, killing 202 people.

Bali, the jewel of Indonesian tourism, has also been affected by the SARS epidemic that swept much of Asia, and the war in Iraq.

On Friday, Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who has led the push for the new visa, announced after a meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri that the policy would begin on February 1.

Mr Mahendra is a hardline Muslim politician known for his prickly attitude to some foreigners, including Australians. Most recently, he sparked controversy over a television interview in which he said he "hates" the Dutch, Indonesia's former colonial rulers.

Mr Mahendra did not reveal the amount of the visa fee, but a cabinet meeting last month reportedly proposed a $US25 fee, which must be approved by the Finance Minister. The fee could be as high as $US50.

Tourists from nine countries will not need visas because their governments grant similar privileges to Indonesians.

Under the new policy, tourists can buy the 30-day visas only at airports in Jakarta, Denpasar, Medan, Manado, Padang and Surabaya and at several seaports.

The announcement of the plan came on the same day a powerful earthquake hit eastern Bali and its neighbouring tourist island of Lombok, in the latest economic blow to the region.

The quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale and had its epicentre in the Lombok Strait, injured dozens of people and caused damage to hundreds of buildings on the two islands. The main tourist areas in southern Bali were not affected.

Five million foreign tourists visited Indonesia in 2002, generating $5.7 billion in much-needed revenue for the economy. Arrivals are expected to have declined by about 12 per cent last year due to terrorism fears, SARS and the Iraq war.

Armed forces/police

Army has new deputy chief

Jakarta Post - January 9, 2004

Jakarta -- Army chief Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu installed on Thursday Maj. Gen. Djoko Santoso as his deputy to replace Lt. Gen. Darsono, who is retiring.

On Wednesday Djoko turned over his post as chief of the Jakarta Military Command to Maj. Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo. Djoko was top graduate of the Indonesian Military Academy in 1975 and spent most of his career at the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) which was once led by Ryamizard, In 2001, Djoko was assigned to Maluku to lead security restoration in the province, which had seen years of bloody sectarian conflict.

Djoko was born in the Central Java town of Surakarta in 1953. He had served in the former Indonesian province of East Timor in 1976, 1981 and 1988 as part of the Seroja military operations. He has also experience as a legislator when he served the House of Representatives' TNI faction in the late 1990s.

Statement reflection that TNI doesn't want to be corrected

Detik.com - January 6, 2004

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta -- According to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the statement by army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu that there 60,000 foreign agents in Indonesia is nothing new. However this statement reflects an anxiety and unwillingness on the part of the military to be corrected.

"The unwillingness to be monitored is also a consequence of the implications of applying various policies of violence" said Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid to reporters at his office on Jl. Cisadane in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Tuesday January 6.

Hamid was of the view that it was incorrect for the army chief to make such a statement. This is because the one who should be speaking on such matters should be a state officials from the ministry of defense or the president. Hamid made the assessment that Ryacudu's statement is closely linked with the aim of helping politicians from the old era [of former President Suharto's New Order regime] to win the 2004 general elections.

According to Hamid, it is clear that this statement is aimed at non-government organisations (NGOs) or elements in civil society who has criticised government policies on the military's security approach, particularly [as it has been applied] in Aceh and West Papua. Kontras however, as an NGO which has often been accused of being foreign [agents], will not be making any charges.

"[I want to make it] clear that Kontras will not be making any charges because the statement is not a big issue. In the past we have often been accused of being foreign agents or anti- democratic. This is a just problem of paradigm. The military still sees [civil] society as a threat", said Hamid accusingly.

Hamid also took the opportunity to express his disappointment with the civilian political authorities who felt no crime had been committed when the military announced that 340 people have been killed in Aceh. "[This means that they] are not asking for responsibility to be taken by the military", said Hamid accusingly. (gtp)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Economy & investment

Indonesian government can't bury mining conflicts

Asia Times - January 10, 2004

Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- Jakarta plans to sell small stakes in three state-owned mining companies this year as part of efforts to meet its privatization target of Rp5 trillion (US$590 million). Up to 14 percent stakes in miners Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam (Bukit Asam), PT Timah Indonesia (Timah) and Aneka Tambang (Antam) will be offered.

These are all healthy, well run companies, and shares in several mining companies rose last week upon news of the planned share sales. But the rally masks pessimism about the sector in the long run.

Coal miner Bukit Asam expects to post a net profit of over Rp200 billion ($23 million) for last year helped by stronger coal prices.

Timah, the world's largest integrated tin miner, expects final net profits of around Rp80 billion, a massive jump from Rp11.28 billion in 2002 though still puny compared with its Rp331 billion earnings in 2000. Sales last year rose to $200 million amid higher tin prices and rising volume, and this year may be better. Timah forecasts world tin prices rising above $5,500 per ton and demand 5 to 10 percent higher thanks to more buoyant electronics and automotive industries. Gold and nickel miner Antam is one of Indonesia's top diversified mining companies and its largest nickel producer. It also won the 2003 Annual Report Award in the publicly listed company category. Despite depressed markets at present, Antam is pressing ahead with a third smelter project, FeNi III, to process low-grade nickel, projected to boost annual production by about 15,000 tons in 2006.

Bleak prospects

In spite of the success of these three companies, Indonesia's mining sector ranked 27th out of 35 countries for "attractiveness" in a 2001-2002 industry survey, and that ranking surely hasn't improved in recent years. Though Article 33 of the 1945 constitution specifically requires the land and natural resources of Indonesia to be used for the benefit of the people, mining analysts say unfulfilled potential costs the state vast prospective revenue from taxes, royalties and profit sharing, while local communities miss out on thousands of job opportunities.

Industry analysts predict only a handful of miners -- PT Freeport Indonesia (gold and copper), PT Inco (nickel), PT Kaltim Prima Coal, PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (gold and copper), and PT Adaro Indonesia (coal) -- may still be operating in Indonesia by the end of the decade.

Investment and exploration in the sector has ground toward a halt over the last six years due to illegal mining, uncertainty about government policy, high taxes, lack of security guarantees, corruption and concerns over regional autonomy legislation.

This slowdown is costing the government dearly. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said state revenue from the mining sector amounted to only Rp1.07 trillion ($127 million) in 2003, down from Rp1.3 trillion in 2002.

Ironically, Indonesia is still one the world's most geologically promising countries, but as existing mineral reserves become exhausted, many mining companies are closing up shop and leaving Indonesia for better digging abroad.

Rio Tinto, for example, has been in Indonesia for three decades, but is now rapidly downgrading its operations. Its Kelian goldmine in Kalimantan will shut down this year, and its Citra Palu mine in Sulawesi is up for sale.

Last year's move by Rio Tinto and BP Plc to sell their stake in the country's second largest coal producer, PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), to local company PT Bumi Resources, was the beginning of the end for the Anglo-Australian giant.

Rio Tinto's Indonesian exploration activities have been scaled down, and its only remaining investment will be its interest in the Grasberg mine in Papua, operated by American giant Freeport.

The changes follow years of frustration with the uncertainty in the country's mining policy. In 2002, Aurora Gold packed up and left, claming it was helpless against the ravages of illegal miners.

No confidence vote

Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) warned that more foreign companies might follow suit without improvements in the investment climate for mining. "It has become a growing trend now among foreign mining companies to sell their mining interests in Indonesia," IMA executive director P L Coutrier said. "They simply have no confidence in the country's mining policy."

BHP-Billiton's proposed nickel mine in a protected forest on Gag Island, off West Papua, has been delayed for years because of environmental concerns. The Raja Ampat archipelago (which includes Gag) contains some of the richest coral reefs in the world, and UNESCO says the plan for submarine tailings disposal would introduce mining waste into a highly biodiverse marine environment, inviting disaster.

The major battles are being fought over forestry law 41/1999, which prohibits open pit mining in protected forest areas. Protected forest areas currently stand at 11.4 million hectares out of an estimated total 85 million hectares of forest, while current mining concessions cover an estimated 47 to 67 million hectares of forest and other areas.

However, miners say that virtually all of Indonesia's forests include rock that may contain commercially viable deposits, including the protected areas. "Most of the mineral deposits are located in the forests, so if all forests are considered protected forest, we won't have any new mining areas to work on," Antam's development director Darma Ambiar said last month.

BHP-Billiton and fellow multinationals Rio Tinto, Freeport MacMoran, Newmont, BP and Inco have been in the forefront of lobbying the government to open up protected forests for mining, but there is no end in sight to the conflict.

The government planned to issue permits to 15 mining companies to resume their work in protected forests. Those companies -- Freeport Indonesia in Papua; Newmont in Nusa Tenggara; International Nickel Indonesia (Inco), Indominco Mandiri, Arutmin Indonesia, Aneka Tambang, Karimun Granite, Nusa Halmahera Minerals in Maluku; Natarang Mining in Lampung; Meares Soputan Mining, Nabire Bakti Mining, Meratus Sumber Mas, Weda Bay Nikel, Gag Nickel and Citra in Palu -- all signed their contracts before the law was enacted and their working areas became classified as protected forest.

According to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, the decision to grant permits was taken at a ministerial meeting on June 18 last year. He said at the time that the new permits only awaited President Megawati Sukarnoputri's approval. The government later prioritized 13 companies that had all actually been mining before the ban.

Lightning strikes

Legislators from House of Representatives Commission III on forestry affairs and Commission VIII on mining affairs screened the sites in a series of what miners termed "lightning" visits, and in November, Commission III rejected the proposed permits.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti immediately appealed to legislators to reverse the decision, saying companies with signed contracts should be allowed to proceed. Kuntjoro-Jakti added that Indonesia needs additional investment of $170 billion over the next five years to develop mining infrastructure, particularly in eastern Indonesia. "After 2007, there will be no new activities," he warned. "Please allow these 13 companies to go in."

Government documents assert the 13 mining companies have invested $7.6 billion in Indonesian projects. They claim the new projects would lead to $380 million annual revenue and jobs for 47,269 local workers. Analysts estimate the government could also face $22.8 billion in costs and compensation payments through litigation if it fails to honor the mining contracts.

While acknowledging concerns over environmental degradation, Kuntjoro-Jakti noted the 13 companies' mines would occupy only 2 percent of total protected forest areas. But with April's legislative elections only weeks away, lawmakers are very unlikely to reverse their decision and risk the wrath of rural voters. A long awaited presidential decree on mining reportedly due soon may override the House on these 13 permits, but it won't end the conflict over mining.

Mining is one of Indonesia's biggest industries. According to Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo, investment from the four biggest concessions alone amounts to $9 billion. But mining also can destroy natural resources on which many millions of rural and urban Indonesians depend for their livelihoods, and it can endanger their health.

An Indonesian non-governmental organization coalition led by Mining Advocacy Network, known by its Indonesian acronym JATAM, has spearheaded a campaign to maintain the ban. The coalition argues that if the government caves in to mining multinationals, the outcome will be continued conflict with local communities whose lands will be taken for mining. On Thursday, paramilitary police in North Maluku shot dead a local man demonstrating for an end to mining in a protected forest area.

Blind eye

Opponents of mining also predict more fatal floods and landslides will take place as forest cover is lost. They accuse the government of turning a blind eye to environmental and social consequences for the sake of big corporations.

During a single week last July, protests against mining in protected forests took place in 13 cities in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Sulawesi, and Java, including the capital, Jakarta. In both Central Sulawesi and South Kalimantan, provincial governments have refused permission for mining in their protected forests, and Kalimantan has declared a province- wide mining moratorium. These local rules conflict with national mining laws, adding another layer of uncertainty to the industry.

Amid the web of restrictions and regulations, rampant illegal mining is inflicting massive losses on the government. Last month, retired general Muzani Syukur, chairing the government team tasked with implementing Presidential Decree No.25/2001 on the eradication of illegal mining, fuel smuggling and electricity theft, said illegal mining caused annual losses of Rp 3.3 trillion ($389.4 million), three times previous estimates.

"The losses exclude environmental destruction, pollution and other forms of damage whose impacts are far greater than the material losses," Syukur said, blaming the problem on "reform euphoria, weak law enforcement and the poor performance of state officials".

But he added it was impossible for the government to take stern measures against illegal miners because there are so many of them. "Around 75,000 people currently engage in illegal mining. If each of them has four family members to feed, will we take action against all of them?" he asked.

Minister says economic growth depends on stable poll

Antara - January 6, 2004

Jakarta -- Indonesian Finance Minister Boediono said Indonesia's economic growth would persist if the next election was run well and the political situation remained stable.

He said that Indonesian economy's future would depend on the domestic political as well as security situation. He hoped that the Indonesian economy in 2004 would be better than that of the previous year.

"We hoped that our economy to grow well if the election is smooth. I hope our economy will keep growing," he said while attending the first trading day of the Jakarta Stock Exchange yesterday.

He said that the Indonesian economy in 2003 was on the right track. Among other indicators, he said the inflation rate was within the expected range of 5 per cent to 6 per cent.

He also showed that the Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite Index had increased dramatically last year. "It means that the growth rate of the stock exchange is positive even though some day before the crisis the index reached higher level," he said.

Senior Economic Minister Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti said that market players, shares issuers, and investors are the front guards of Indonesian economy. He said that those market players had significantly contributed to the economic activities in 2003.

Economic stability of the country, he said, can be measured not only by the stability of the domestic exchange rate but also by the stock market index, transaction volume, and market capitalization of the stock market.