Aceh

Government seeks a change on Aceh emergency

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- Cabinet members dealing with security decided on Sunday their short-term priority programs, including a comprehensive review of the state of civil emergency in Aceh.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A. S. said an assessment would be conducted to determine whether the integrated operations now underway in the province had resulted in significant progress.

"In a bid to get fresh reports on the latest situation in Aceh, all related ministers should do field visits and see whether the integrated operations have met their set goals," Widodo said.

The administration of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri imposed martial law on the entire province of Aceh on May 19, 2003 and launched major military operations against Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels. The operations were launched after a six- month-old peace agreement collapsed.

Megawati lowered the martial law status to a state of civil emergency on May 2004, citing improvement in security. The former president assigned then chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to monitor the implementation of the emergency status in the province.

Widodo said the government of President Susilo might maintain the state of civil emergency, albeit partially in several areas believed to be GAM strongholds. Another option was to lift the emergency status but keep the military operation intact.

Also present in the meeting on Sunday were Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin, State Minister of Communication and Information Sofyan A. Djalil, Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf, Attorney General Abdul Rachman Saleh, the National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Adang Dorodjatun and the TNI Chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto.

On political affairs, they highlighted the preparations for the direct election of regional government heads and amendments to Law No. 21/2002 on special autonomy for Papua. The issues will be tackled by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Widodo said direct elections of local leaders would occur in at least 150 provinces and regencies. "We will draw up clear regulations on the direct elections and disseminate them nationwide," he said.

Megawati's administration planned for the elections to take place in 2005, and so revised the Law on Regional Autonomy No. 22/1999.

The former president also revised the special autonomy law for Papua by eliminating the political roles of the Papuan People's Council (MRP). The decision sparked controversy as the original status of the MRP was one of the hallmarks of the law meant to empower the Papuans. Under the original law, all policies that would affect the life of people at large in the province required approval from the MRP.

Meanwhile, Juwono would focus on efforts to lobby the United States to lift its military embargo and boost the military-to- military relationship between the two countries.

On law enforcement, Widodo encouraged the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Attorney General's Office to concentrate on settling corruption cases, particularly the fraud case involving state bank BNI.

Widodo also stated that the security authorities had to prioritize the manhunt of most wanted bomb experts Dr. Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohd. Top for their alleged roles in a number of major terror attacks in the country.

Asked whether the President would adopt a strict carrot and stick approach, Widodo said: "If they [the police] fail to capture those men, we shouldn't immediately punish them, as we consider the effort the more important thing."

According to Sofyan, all of the ministers were also told to avoid foreign trips within the first 100 days in office in a bid to make them focus on domestic problems.

Aceh governor suggests state of emergency be extended

Tempo Interactive - October 26, 2004

Jakarta -- Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) governor Abdullah Puteh has said that the existence of the Free Aceh Movement in Aceh is still of concern.

Therefore, he has suggested three alternatives as regards the state of civil emergency in the province, which shall end on November 19.

These are: extending the civil state of emergency for a further six months; extending the civil state of emergency only for a further three months; or imposing a civil state of emergency in certain areas of Aceh.

"All decision regarding this matter rest entirely with the government," Puteh told reporters after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Office on Monday (25/10).

The Aceh governor also said that the situation in the province was already far more conducive than before. (Sapto P-Koran Tempo)

Acehnese want peace, justice and freedom

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

Nani Farida and Tiarma Siboro, Banda Aceh/Jakarta -- Peace, safety and justice for local officials implicated in corruption are all that the Acehnese are demanding from the Susilo administration as it prepares new policies for the province.

Jailani Hasan, 67, a local informal leader, said he did not care whether the government extended or lifted the state of civil emergency in Aceh as long as peace and order were maintained.

"I support whatever the government decides for Aceh as long as the policies bring us a better life," Jailani said. "We saw nothing change under martial law or the state of civil emergency. Soldiers in the field always behave the same and arbitrary arrests have continued."

Hasan, 50, a street vendor who makes a living out of repairing shoes, said he longed for a safe and peaceful life, no matter what the new President decided for the province.

Different opinions were aired by activists who said they expected the government to lift the state of emergency in Aceh to provide its people with more freedom.

"It has been so long since a state of emergency was declared in Aceh, I wish the government would lift it to pave the way for freedom and democracy for everyone," said Rufriadi, a lawyer from the Aceh branch of the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH).

Another activist, Akhiruddin, asked the government to impose civilian administration throughout province, while criticizing the government for failing to eradicate rampant corruption involving local government officials, despite the fact that security personnel were granted power to probe cases under the state of emergency.

The government is reviewing the state of emergency in Aceh, which is due to expire on November 19. There are three options on offer: restore normal order, extend the state of emergency, and partially maintain the status in certain areas prone to conflict.

"Indeed, there are some management hiccups there because the incumbent governor cannot carry out his job as administrator of the civil emergency as a result of the ongoing legal process against him," Widodo said after a coordination meeting on Aceh on Tuesday.

He was referring to Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh, who has been named a suspect by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in the alleged markup of a helicopter purchase in 2000. Widodo, however, fell short of saying whether his office -- which also oversees legal reform in the country -- would take measures to accelerate the legal process against Puteh.

Present during Tuesday's meeting were, among others, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, Iskandar Muda Military Commander Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya, who oversees Aceh, and Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Bachrumsyah Kasman, who is also the acting civil emergency administrator in Aceh.

Endriartono said the TNI had managed to reduce the number of Free Aceh Movement members to about 2,200 from 5,000 since a major offensive against the rebels began in May 2003.

Report on the torture of Acehnese political prisoners

Tapol - October 29, 2004

[The following report was filed by the Aceh Working Group on 18 October, following their investigation of three places of detention, in Aceh and Java. The Group investigated 71 cases of persons who were repeatedly beaten and subjected to torture, both during interrogation as well as after having been tried in court, on charges of involvement in GAM, the Free Aceh Movement.]

The perpetrators consisted of members of the police special command Brimob, the marines and members of the intelligence agency, SGI., said Henrie, speaking for the human rights advocacy organisation, PBHI, at a press conference held in the Munir Room of Imparsial Secretariat in Jakarta on 14 October.

The following is an account by Diwan (45) -- not his real name -- who was detained for two months in the police resort command in Aceh:

I was born in Aceh and am an Acehnese. The authorities accused me of being a GAM member because I had met GAM members on several occasions. They allege that I helped GAM in their struggle for a free Aceh. My arrest was nothing less than a kidnap. I "disappeared" for six days, during which my family were not able to discover where I was.

As I was to discover, there are several stages through which every detainee must go if they happen to "drop by" (mampir) in the police command. The first stage is the arrest which is when some people are killed. Then, after being arrested, the victim will be tortured by officials of the intelligence unit. This is the harshest time. Thereafter the victims are shut up in a cell, where he/she will be maltreated by the warder.

I still feel the terrible stress I was under when I think back about what happened. There is nothing humane about it at all. If it were only a question of being bashed about, till your face looks like a "louhan fish", perhaps that would be normal. I saw a prisoner whose hands had been burnt with fire, who had had lighted cigarettes on his body. After that, he was strung up by his feet, his head hanging down; then his chest was struck with a stick until he vomited blood.

To be honest, my own experience was moderate by comparison. For the first ten days, nothing happened to me. except for being intimidated with such harsh words that I could not sleep at night, fearing that my end was near.

On one occasion, I managed to thwart the intentions of the cell warder to torture another prisoner. How did I do it? I engaged him in conversation, then offered him some fag money. Don't think I was trying to be a hero. It was just that I couldn't stand what was going on, especially when I heard the yells of the other prisoners. I was sometimes reduced to tears, thinking about what the others were going through. I was not able to use this trick again because it was now my turn to be tortured. At first, I was tortured by the intel who interrogated me.

Whenever the answer I gave was not satisfactory, I was struck over and over again till I was covered with bruises and swellings. The hitting turned into punches and beatings on several occasions, if my answers were not satisfactory. Interrogation by the Serse (research officers) was not as bad as by the intel.

Things came to a head when they struck me with a heavy wooden rod, making my whole body very painful. The marks remained with me for several days. And the hearing in both my ears was damaged. All the time that this was going on, I did not see a lawyer. According to regulations, statements made under such circumstances are not acceptable by law.

During the time I was detained, three men disappeared and have not been accounted for. Whether they were innocent or guilty is not at all clear. The first was M. Noer Basyan. As far as I know, he was detained for 22 days. Then the intel took him away to be photographed but no one knows where he was taken. The second one to disappear was Yuslizar, from South Aceh, who was arrested by Gegana (a police special unit) in Aceh Besar. He was held for just a short while then taken away and never came back. The third was Syahril who, they say, died in crossfire in Ulee Kareng. It sounds stange, doesn't it, but we must get used to such strange things happening.

I once saw a prisoner die in the cell. I saw him on one occasion. His name was Ali Akbar and he was arrested in Lampaseh, Banda Aceh. He was so badly tortured that he fell ill and was taken to hospital for treatment. After he had recovered slightly, they tortured him again and he died.

They drew up a BAP (Interrogation Report) for me, but everything in it was exactly as the intel wanted. They were able to get what they wanted after torturing me relentlessly. After that, I was not tortured much and I was moved to a prison and became a prisoner of the prosecution office. I was glad to be moved to the prison because things there were much better there than at the police command. I was able to follow the news and get a newspaper. And what is most important, I was able to meet my beloved wife and children without any restrictions.

FPDRA rejects extension of civil emergency in Aceh

Tempo Interactive - October 28, 2004

Sunariah, Jakarta -- The Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (Front Perlawanan Demokratik Rakyat Aceh, FPDRA) has rejected a decision by the coordinating minister of politics, legal and security affairs to extend the civil emergency in Aceh.

Earlier on Tuesday, the minister said that the government was considering three options to resolve the conflict in Aceh, to extend the civil emergency (for six to three months), extend the civil emergency in specific areas (where the Free Aceh Movement still has a base) or reduce the status to one of a civil authority.

According to FPDRA chairperson Thamrin Ananda, none of these three options will bring about any real changes for the people of Aceh. "The government of [President Susilo Bambang] Yudhoyono should initiates such changes by reviewing the deployment of troops in Aceh and revoking the state of civil emergency", said Ananda on Thursday October 28. Ananda believes that by revoking the civil emergency, the Yudhoyono government would then have the opportunity to resolve the Aceh conflict politically, that is by making peace with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group.

Furthermore said Ananda, at yesterday's meeting they only sought to find a scapegoat for the continued problems in Aceh by saying that the problem was caused by mismanagement of the operation. "In fact that is not [the problem], they are only scapegoating the management of the operation to cover up the failures of martial law and the civil emergency in Aceh", he said.

If it is indeed true that the security situation in Aceh is conducive then the Yudhoyono government should end the state of civil emergency, not consider the implementation of these three options. "[Whether or not a] conducive atmosphere [really does exist] in Aceh cannot be determined if the civil emergency is still in place", he added.

Ananda also expressed his regret over Yudhoyono's stance on the issue since he has not even touched on the plan to give amnesty to Acehnese political prisoners. During the president's election campaign in Sumatra, Yudhoyono said that he would give amnesty to prisoners including GAM prisoners. If this can become a reality it could signal that the government is prepared make peace with GAM.

In addition to reviewing the state of civil emergency and the deployment of troops, in order to promptly bring peace to Aceh the government but should hold a dialogue with all elements of Acehnese society, including GAM. Before this however, the government should withdrawal its troops from Aceh, release political prisoners and implement a cease fire. GAM must do likewise and must restrain itself and be prepared to sit together with the government in dialogue.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

EU wants to see Aceh and Papua for themselves

Tempo Interactive - October 28, 2004

Flamboyan, Jakarta -- The head of the European Union's Troika Delegation, Bernard Bot, said on Thursday October 28 that they were interested in visiting Aceh and West Papua.

Indonesia, according to foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda, understands the EU's wish to visit the two conflict prone provinces. "They want to know about the latest developments in the two provinces", he said.

According to Bot, their planned visit is intend to understand developments in the situation in these two provinces. "The relationship which we and Indonesia wish to develop includes issues of political and human rights", he said.

Wirajuda said that Aceh and West Papua have never closed to international visits. "In Aceh, we received representatives from the International Red Cross to determine [the deployment] of their teams", he said.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Government may allow foreign diplomats to visit Aceh

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2004

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government will review the visa procedures for foreign diplomats to facilitate their travel to Indonesia, particularly Aceh, foreign affairs minister Hassan Wirayuda said on Thursday.

Hassan was commenting on an appeal by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union (EU).

In a meeting on October 11, the council asked Indonesia's new President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to allow non-governmental organizations normal access to Aceh and to consider the possibility of field visits by diplomats.

"We are reviewing the possibility of making the visa procedures easier," Hassan said after a meeting with an EU mission.

The EU mission was led by Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, who is also the president of the EU's Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers. He was accompanied by representatives from Luxembourg, which will take over the EU presidency next year, and the European Commission.

Bot said during a brief joint press briefing that he had asked his Indonesian counterpart to facilitate visits by foreign diplomats to Aceh and Papua. "Indonesia said it is examining our request," he said.

Bot met with Susilo in the morning and Hassan in the afternoon. Only four questions from journalists were entertained during the press briefing, as the foreign guests had to make their way through Jakarta's traffic to catch their plane back to Europe on Thursday.

Bot and Hassan agreed to hold regular ministerial meetings alternately in Indonesia (Jakarta) and Europe (Brussels). "This new format reflects the agreement on both sides to strengthen Indonesia-EU relations," said Hassan.

Bot also reiterated the EU's pledge to support Indonesia's reform process, and the EU's commitment to Indonesia's territorial integrity. "The EU expresses new confidence in the new government," Bot said.

NGOs call on Yudhoyono to fulfil his promises on Aceh

Kompas - October 30, 2004

Jakarta -- Two Acehnese non-government organisations, the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (Front Perlawanan Demokratik Rakyat Aceh, FPDRA) and the Acehnese Democratic Women's Organisation (Organisasi Perempuan Aceh Demokrati, ORPAD) are demanding the fulfillment of President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono's promise during the election campaign that there would be changes in Aceh. They are calling for a promise of amnesty for all prisoners of war as was taken up during the campaign.

"The handling of the Aceh problem as was put forward during the [rencent] coordinating meeting of politics, law and security affairs several days ago is a continuation of the [policies] of the [previous] government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Vice-president Hamzah Haz. The promises for a change were no more than campaign rhetoric", said FPDRA chairperson Thamrin Ananda at a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday October 28. Ananda was accompanied by ORPAD chairperson Raihana Diani.

Ananda said that the promise for change which was offered by Yudhoyono and Vice-president Jusuf Kalla during their election campaign in Aceh was no more than rhetoric. The government has drawn the conclusion that the problems in Aceh are problems in the management of the operation. Thus the protracted problems in Aceh have been reduced to an a-historical conclusion which fails to touch on the root of the problem.

Missing the point

The claim that Aceh is safe because of elections in the province ran smoothly cannot be used as a measure because the elections in Aceh were held under a state of martial law and then civil emergency which clearly does not fulfill democratic standards. There was also the problem of coercion by the military to force the people to participate in the elections.

"There were many issues which were not touched on during the coordinating meeting, such as the huge number of human rights violations during the integrated operation which in essence is a military operation. In addition to this, the coordinating meeting also failed to discuses alternative steps to resolve the Aceh problem peacefully and democratically which would represent a concrete change in the way the Aceh problem is handled as was promised by Yudhoyono [during his election campaign]", said Ananda.

Moreover, during the meeting the government discussed plans extend the state of civil emergency in Aceh in three possible formats, extending the civil emergency, maintaining the civil emergency in some parts of the province which are trouble spots while the third option was to reduce the state of civil emergency to one of a civil administration. "The various outcomes from the politics, law and security coordinating meeting do not reflect any change in [the approach] to resolving the [conflict in] Aceh. We want to propose concrete ways of resolving the Aceh [problem]", he said.

Raihana meanwhile said that over the next 100 days, the Yudhoyono-Kalla administration must come up with a resolution the Aceh question which is peaceful and democratic so that no more lives will be lost in Aceh, either on the part of the TNI (armed forces) and police, civilians or members of the Free Aceh Movement. A reduction in the level of violence therefore is the most important starting point to resolve the Aceh question. (VIN)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Gunmen kill teacher, shoot two other civilians

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- A group of armed men shot dead an elementary school teacher and injured his son and a neighbor in Sawang district, South Aceh regency, according to an official military account on Friday.

Capt. Anang Murtiyono, a spokesman for the Teuku Umar district military command in Meulaboh, Aceh, blamed Thursday's incident on the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

"Those perpetrating the shooting were GAM members. They numbered 10 people carrying four firearms," he told The Jakarta Post. Anang said the ambush took place at around 7:30 p.m. at Trieng Meuduroe Baru village, some 600 kilometers west of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Husaini, 42, was a teacher at Panton Luas elementary school, while his 16-year old son, Fazlie, was wounded when a bullet grazed his ear.

At the time, Husaini and his family were seated outside their home after breaking the fast. Suddenly, a group of 10 gunmen approached them and shot Husaini in the leg. He tried to flee into the house but the attackers chased him. He was later found dead in a room.

When the armed men left, they met a civilian patrol guard, Salrani, 43, who passed in front of Husaini's house. "They also shot Salrani in the right arm," Anang added.

He said security forces were looking for the gunmen. GAM members could not be reached for comment on the latest attack on civilians.

The killing of Husaini brought the death toll to 15 of school teachers who have been killed since May 19, 2003, when the government placed Aceh under martial law.

On May 19 this year, martial law was lifted and replaced by a state of civil emergency. The military claims that more than 2,200 guerrilla rebels have been killed since the start of this latest offensive in the 30-year war against GAM.

Human rights activists say many of those killed were ordinary civilians. Since the separatist fighting started in 1970s, more than 100 teachers have been killed.

Government troops kill seven suspected rebels in Aceh

Associated Press - October 31, 2004

Banda Aceh -- Indonesian troops killed seven men they claimed were separatist rebels in the country's oil-and-gas rich Aceh province, the military said Sunday.

Soldiers gunned down four alleged Free Aceh Movement guerrillas near the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. Three others were killed in two gunbattles in Aceh Besar and South Aceh, military spokesman Ari Mulya Asnawi said.

Rebels couldn't be reached for comment. Human rights groups accuse the military of operating death squads in the province, and claim many of the victims killed are civilians.

The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting since 1976 for an independent homeland in the resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

At least 13,000 people have been killed since Jakarta launched a new offensive in May 2003, when internationally brokered peace talks broke down.

West Papua

Papua, integrity and Susilo's presidency

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

Agus Sumule, Manokwari -- The downfall of former president Soeharto on May 21, 1998, undoubtedly fueled the widespread revival of free speech among the people -- including Papuans -- in determining their own future. And as the reform movement, or reformasi, swept across the archipelago, it revealed itself in Papua with the indigenous people of the province demanding merdeka -- or simply "M" among locals -- meaning separation from Indonesia.

Many reasons lie behind this demand, but they can basically be grouped into three main categories.

First of all are those factors related to human rights violations. Issues included under this category are extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention of civilians, as well as disrespect of the government and the private sector for the indigenous people's customary rights to natural resources.

Second, are factors related to Papua's political history. Many Papuans believe that they have not been given a fair chance to determine their own future. They claim that the New York Agreement drawn up in 1962 under the auspices of the United Nations to end the dispute between Indonesia and the Dutch over Netherlands New Guinea -- the former name for Papua -- was done without consulting the Papuan people and without their consent.

Third, are factors related to the unfair distribution of wealth and social services. Papua is one of the most wealthy provinces of Indonesia due to its natural resources: minerals, oil and gas, forest products and fish. Yet, these resources are continually tapped for the benefit of others. Furthermore, the Papuans' efforts to claim their rights have met repeatedly with stern military/police actions.

Fourth, at the micro level is the economic discrepancy that has already caused social jealousy and is manifested in the marginalization of the indigenous people in their positions and role in the modern economy.

As a result, many indigenous Papuans came to believe that 35 years was long enough a time to measure Indonesia's seriousness in improving the Papuan people's welfare through equal treatment.

Facing the increasing demand for a self-determination ballot or an independence referendum, the People's Consultative Assembly, the highest law-making body in the country, reached a consensus to give Papua the authority to deal with its own affairs under special autonomy, stipulated in Assembly Decree No. 4/1999.

Despite their skepticism, the Papuan people accepted the special autonomy as a means to resolve the issue.

In its implementation, however, Jakarta again deceived the Papuan people with its reluctance to fully enforce Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, a new legislation endorsed by the government and the House of Representatives.

Fearing that special autonomy would be used as a political vehicle to promote Papuan independence, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri delayed the establishment of the Papuan Consultative Assembly (MRP) and the issuance of necessary government regulations to enforce the law. Worse, Megawati issued the controversial Presidential Instruction No. 1/2003 to enforce Law No. 45/1999 on the division of Papua into three provinces for security, political and economical interests.

The Papuan people knew that then-chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono disagreed with Jakarta's betrayal of the national consensus on Papua. Consequently, the majority of Papuans voted for Susilo-Kalla in the presidential election upon the single hope that he would implement the Special Autonomy Law on Papua and resolve the issue.

The question remains as to why the Papuans preferred a retired army general than Megawati, even though many of them had suffered under the heavy military presence in the province since 1963. Furthermore, how should Susilo and his administration respond to their trust and mandate?

Susilo was viewed by many Papuans as the only other minister in Megawati's Cabinet besides foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda who was consistent in maintaining that special autonomy was the solution to the Papua issue.

Obviously, Papuans gave their mandate to Susilo for one reason: he was perceived as the leader most likely to keep the government's promises under the Special Autonomy Law on Papua. He thus has no option but to fulfill this promise during his presidency.

First, it is imperative that Susilo immediately pledge his intention to implement special autonomy in Papua fully, and use the law as the basis for his policies on the province.

Second, Susilo needs to set up a capable institution to assist him in managing the complex problems of Papua. This institution should be manned by individuals he trusts -- and equally important, these individuals must also be accepted by Papuans.

Third, a government regulation on the MRP should be issued within the first 100 days of the Susilo administration. The draft regulation was submitted in July 2002 by the provincial legislature and should have been approved by August of that year, as stipulated in Article 72 of the Special Autonomy Law on Papua.

Fourth, the controversial Presidential Instruction should be reviewed. Even without a specific presidential instruction, the division of Papua into three provinces will eventually take place as anticipated in Article 76 of the Special Autonomy Law. As such, the Susilo administration needs to issue the regulation on MRP, and the province will be divided into three as stipulated.

Supremacy of law should be the key principle of the Susilo administration in dealing with the division of Papua. The so- called "political reality" of Western Papua province, created by a mere presidential instruction, should be dealt with by using the Special Autonomy Law.

Fifth, the government must engage in a series of constructive dialog with different circles in Papuan society.

Finally, it is crucial that the government and the Papuan people begin preparations for a new era under a fully implemented special autonomy. It is no exaggeration to say that special autonomy is the only remaining option for Indonesia to maintain Papua, peacefully and constitutionally, as an integral part of the country. If the Papuan people's trust erodes further due to the inconsistency and inability of the new administration -- including the local government -- to deliver the promises made under the Special Autonomy Law, the national integrity inclusive of Papua will come under tremendous threat.

If the Susilo administration is serious about the implementation of special autonomy in Papua, and the Papuan government and people fulfill their responsibilities, we will witness a significant improvement in the socio-political situation in Papua from 2004 to 2009. On the other hand, if special autonomy fails to be applied during Susilo's term, Indonesia's nightmare of losing Papua will very likely come true.

[The writer is a researcher at Cenderawasih University in Manokwari, Papua, and is a member of the Task Force for Papua's Special Autonomy.]

Team formed to investigate Papua shootings

Cendrawasih Pos - October 29, 2003

Jayapura -- XVII/Trikora Commander, Maj-Gen Nurdin Zainal MM, on Thursday (28 October) fulfilled his promise to meet with students and residents of Koteka in relation to the "Mulia Case" which resulted in several deaths. The meeting went for several hours at the Papua Regional People's Consultative Council (DPRD) and the parties agreed to form a team to investigate the Mulia case.

Demonstration Coordinator, Jefry Pagawa, was given the first opportunity to present his opinion and concentrated on describing the chronology of the Mulia case.

Jefry said that TNI/Police received information on 17 August that Guliat Tabuni would enter Mulia City to create disturbances and ruin celebrations for Indonesia's 59th Independence Day. Based on this information, around six members of the Special Forces (Kopassus) without permission or the knowledge of the Puncak Jaya Regency Government immediately went to the location at Gurage at around 1600 local time.

However, after several hours no one had located Guliat Tabuni. Then at 0900 local time, Guliat Tabuni's whereabouts were discovered, because a Kopassus member entered via his courier which then resulted in a chase and gun battle. "Two members of Guliat Tabuni's group died and one soldier was shot as a result of the gun battle," he said.

Jefry also said that security authorities had fabricated information and at the time Guliat Tabuni had actually arrived from Timika simply to see his relatives and visit the graves of relatives and his father.

Jefry said that a result of these events was that on 14 September seven members of Kopassus couldn't find anyone in Mulia between 1500 to 0500 local time.

At the time, Jefry said, a mother left Honai and told people not to tell others about the Kopassus members there. At this time, they [Kopassus] immediately went to the Church and through the window saw Priest Elisa Tabuni sitting down reading the Bible.

"Elisa Tabuni was forcibly summoned outside, met with them and told to go with them. They were on foot and Elisa Tabuni's child -- an official at the church in Monia -went with them," Jefry said. During the walk, they were asked the whereabouts of Guliat Tabuni. The two servants of God said they didn't know the whereabouts of Guliat Tabuni.

The Kopassus members did not accept their answer. "They were then asked to pray, but while they were praying, she was shot and her child escaped despite being seriously wounded after being shot in the head," Jefry said.

On hearing the shots, Jefry said, Guliat Tabuni immediately went to the location where the shots were fired and put up resistance. Separated by only five metres, Guliat Tabuni and the Kopassus troops shot it out and eventually one Kopassus member suffered light wounds.

Then on 15 September at 1400 local time there was a meeting between the TNI and religious and community leaders. This incident was discussed at the meeting.

After Jefry Pagawa talked at length, the second opportunity to speak was given to a Bintang Mountain leader Socrates Sofyan Yoman, who had just returned from Puncak Jaya.

Socrates said Guliat Tabuni had come to Mulia for several reasons. Firstly, he wanted to see his parent's grave and secondly he wanted to stop tree felling in his village where the forest is protected from logging.

"The Regent knew of his arrival through the District Chief Arnolus Tabuni who is used as a courier for meetings with Guliat Tabuni. The Regent told Guliat not to create disturbances and the security authorities got wind of this information," Socrates said.

On 14 September, Socrates said, Priest Elisa Tabuni -- who is known in her village as a churh official -- was organizing the seven members of the congregation shot. "I don't want to accuse those who did it, but I have proof," Socrates said.

Another incident, according to Socrates, occurred on 16 October when two members of Kopassus met the local chief, took the rope used to tie up Priest Elisa Tabuni for evidence, then interrogated [him] until 12 midnight and told [him] not to say it was Kopassus who murdered them. "Her child was the one who informed me. It's better for us to be honest, open with each other and appreciate each other," Socrates said.

As a result of this incident, residents have stopped worshipping at 22 churches as they have fled to the forest. In addition, it was also reported that members of TNI/Police (Mobile Brigade) shot around eight pigs and then sold them.

"We very much regret the Papua Regional Police Chief, Inspector General GM Timbul Silaen, who refused to hold a triangle synod due to security reasons," Socrates said.

According to the Trikora Commander, the gun battle between the task force and TPN/OPM [National Liberation Army/Free Papua Movement] on 14 September began in August 2004 when the TNI detected a TPN/OPM group led by Guliat Tabuni in Lima Jari Village, Tinggi Nambut District, Puncak Jaya Regency.

After learning of their whereabouts, on 17 August 2004 a TNI task force undertook reconnaissance patrols in Tinggi Nambut District near Kampong Gurage, Lima Jari Village. At this time there was a gun battle and one soldier, Private First Class Oji, was evacuated to Jayapura and then Jakarta.

After the gun battle, a task force on patrol in Kampong Monia, Lima Jari Village on 14 September 2004 at 0630 led by Captain Erina Sohi carried out security in a box formation.

"This was done due to information that the TPN/OPM group was near two high locations. Legislation states that TNI has the duty of facing armed separatist groups. However before this, an investigation was done to determine whether it was the TPN/OPM there," he said.

At the time, Major General Nurdin Zainal said, members of the task force had got close to the location and were in box formation. Yet a person then went past who said he was a church official [literally: herder] and the Military District Commander ordered his officers to arrest the suspicious person close to Guliat Tabuni's position.

"He was not killed when arrested, but detained. At the same time, a youth was [also] arrested carrying books on Papuan independence," he said.

Based on this situation, the team commander thought his troop's movements had been detected by the opposing forces and that it was dangerous. Thus it was decided to retreat and the troops could no longer conduct investigations.

When they were retreating, MajGen Nurdin Zainal said, there was a gun battle and the team commander's suspicions that the patrol had been detected by the opposing forces turned out to be correct.

"During the gun battle, one of my soldiers was shot, then according to the Military District Commander's observations Priest Elisa Tabuni was also shot. This type of situation forced our troops to seek safety and so we could not evacuate the wounded Elisa Tabuni," Maj-Gen Nurdin Zainal said.

Maj-Gen Nurdin Zainal also said that he received a letter from the Puncak Jaya Regent to the DPRD for TNI/Police to evacuate a victim. "I gave the order not to deploy troops first. I asked the Regent and community leaders with the assistance of the police to negotiate with TPN/OPM to evacuate the victim, however this failed as TPN/OPM obstructed us by saying the corpse had been burnt," Maj-Gen Nurdin Zainal said.

[From BBC Monitoring Service.]

Anti-military demonstration in West Papua

Tempo Interactive - October 30, 2004

Cunding Levi and Lita Oetomo, Jayapura -- Thousands of demonstrators from the Papua People's Anti-Militarism Front (Front Rakyat Papua Anti Militerisme, FRPAM) led by Jefrison A. Pagawak demonstrated again on Friday October 29. This time, the public demonstration which was joined by students from the mountain areas of Central Papua was held on the grounds of the offices of the Papuan governor in the provincial capital of Jayapura a day after a demonstration was held at the offices of the Papuan provincial parliament, also in Jayapura.

The demonstrators wanted to meet with the governor, J.P. Solossa, to ask him to immediately dismiss Elieser Renmaur, the regent of Puncak Jaya, from his post. This is because according to the commander of the Trikora/XVII military command, Major-General Nurdin Zainal, who they met with at the provincial parliament on Thursday October 28, it was the regent who had asked the TNI (armed forces) to deploy troops in the Puncak Jaya regency. They said that presence of large number of troops in the area would result in [more] civilian casualties.

The Trikora military commander said this request was made in a letter he received from the Puncak Jaya regent which had been endorsed by the local council. "We also want the Mulia case to be investigated as quickly as possible and the formation of an independent team to investigate the affair", said Pagawak who is the chairperson of FRPAM.

As a result of the lateness of the Papua provincial council in meeting with the demonstrators they became emotional and it was apparent that the situation was becoming heated and slightly out of control. As a consequence, scores of security personnel from the local police formed a barrier at the entrance to the governor's offices and appeared to be at a high state of readiness. In the end however, one of the demonstrators was able to reduce the level of tension and calm was restored after the deputy-governor Constant Karma and the chairperson of the provincial parliament John Ibo met with them.

During the meeting Ibo agreed to form an independent team to investigate the Mulia case which resulted in the death of a number of civilians, one of which was a priest named Elisa Tabuni. He also agreed to follow up the protesters' demands that regent of Puncak Jaya be removed from his post.

Karma said that for the record they would study and reexamine the letter requesting the deployment of troops which was referred to earlier by the demonstrators. "We are therefore planning that on Tuesday November 2 all council members will hold a meeting to discuss the issue of what happened in Mulia in the Puncak Jaya regency", said Karma before the crowd who were visibly wet because of a heavy downpour.

After listening to the statements by Ibo and Karma the demonstrators held prayers and agreed to return peacefully to their homes.

A day before the demonstrators met with Zainal at in the offices of the provincial parliament. Coming out of the meeting which lasted several hours, was an agreement to form an independent investigative team to uncover the truth behind the Mulia case.

Led by Pagawak, the demonstrators on Thursday came in larger numbers than on Wednesday October 27 and arrived at the provincial parliament at exactly 11am. Also present among the demonstrators was a public figure and intellectual from the central mountains, Father Socrates Sofyan Yoman.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Labour issues

Indonesia to take back illegal workers from Malaysia

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta -- The government is making the necessary preparations to facilitate the return of an estimated 160,000 Indonesian illegal workers from Malaysia to celebrate Idul Fitri in their home villages.

Director General of Overseas Labor Placement at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, I Gusti Made Arka, said here on Tuesday that the government would provide additional services and additional public transportation in the nearest ports to the workers' hometowns.

More detailed arrangements to welcome the workers home would be discussed during a technical meeting involving the manpower ministry, the transportation ministry, the home ministry and the Directorate General of Immigration on Wednesday, Arka said.

He asserted that the handling of the workers's return would be done extra carefully as it would coincide with the exodus of millions of people across the country prior to the Idul Fitri holidays, which will fall on November 15. Around 160,000 out of an estimated 700,000 Indonesian workers working illegally in Malaysia are expected to return home following the Malaysian government's offer of an amnesty to those who are willing to leave the neighboring country between October 29 and November 14.

The amnesty is only for illegal workers who have no airline or ship tickets and who are not facing prosecution in the Malaysian courts.

Arka said the government would deploy extra personnel and more vehicles to transport the migrant workers to their hometowns.

"There will be more personnel and public transportation standing by at sea and airports in Sumatra, Java, West Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan and Sulawesi to make sure the workers are transported and arrive in their home villages safely," he said.

Arka said Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Fahmi Idris would visit Kuala Lumpur to coordinate with his Malaysian counterpart on a planned massive deportation of around 600,000 more illegal workers in January.

"The mission's main purpose is to make sure that the deportations will be conducted in a gradual and humane manner. We will also ensure Malaysia that we will enhance security at the border with Indonesia as early as possible to prevent to prevent Indonesian migrants from entering Malaysia illegally.

"On our side, we will enforce the law on the placement and protection of workers overseas against anyone and any company supplying illegal workers to the neighboring country," he said.

Malaysia is scheduled to launch an operation to crack down on around 1.2 million illegal workers, mostly from Indonesia, in January. They will be deported to seaports close to their hometowns in Indonesia and will be given pocket money.

Fahmi said on Tuesday that the government would allocate Rp 104 billion (US$11.4 million) out of the 2005 state budget to transport the deported illegals back to their home villages.

"Workers bringing money with them from Malaysia will be encouraged and trained to become entrepreneurs in their home villages while those wishing to return to Malaysia will be required to obtain the necessary documents," he said.

The government has admitted it will be unable to provide jobs for the workers as the country has yet to fully recover from the economic crisis. The level of open unemployment at home has reached almost 10 million.

Constitutional Court acts to protect workers' rights

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- Employers can no longer dismiss striking workers or those implicated in crimes without due process of law, the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday.

But the court rejected the motion filed by nine representatives of various labor unions who demanded that Law No. 13/2003 on manpower be revoked. Only two of nine judges conducting a judicial review of the law, Abdul Mukthie Fadjar and Laica Marzuki, voted in favor of the plaintiffs, saying the law was against the Constitution.

The court annulled Article 158 of the law, which allows employers to fire workers for allegedly being involved in crimes or serious mistakes, such as stealing company property or provoking colleagues to commit unlawful acts. Dismissal is possible if the workers are caught red-handed or if they admit their wrongdoings or are reported by their supervisors.

"The Constitution guarantees that every citizen is equal before the law. Article 158 of the law, which allows employers to dismiss their workers for alleged crimes without due process of law, is against the Constitution, therefore, it must be declared non binding," Constitutional Court president Jimly Asshidiqie told a hearing on Thursday.

The Constitutional Court's verdict is final and legally binding. As a consequence of the ruling, employers can only dismiss workers who are fond guilty by the Supreme Court.

The Constitutional Court also scrapped Article 186 of the Manpower Law that criminalizes participation in a strike or asking other workers to join a strike. Violation of the article under the Manpower Law carries a minimum sentence of one month in prison and a maximum of four years or a fine between Rp 10 million (US$1,098) and Rp 400 million.

"The Court considers the sanctions are not proportional as they reduce the right to strike and infringe on workers' freedom of expression, which is a basic right guaranteed by the Constitution," Jimly said.

The panel of judges also criticized the authorities for failing to protect the rights of workers. "It is apparent that the authorities failed to monitor and enforce the law to protect the rights of workers," the verdict says.

Abdul Mukthie and Laica presented their dissenting opinions, saying the Court was supposed to annul more articles in the law. Both justices highlighted the issue of outsourcing, which is acknowledged by the law, which they said was against the "Constitution's paradigm of protecting citizens" as it reduced workers to a mere commodity. "The Constitution is based on human rights. It is regretful therefore, that the Manpower Law is inhumane," the justices said in their opinion read out by Jimly.

Syaiful Tavip, one of the plaintiffs, expressed regret that the court failed to revoke articles that recognize outsourcing, the establishment of working contracts between employers and worker unions and administrative procedures required to stage a strike.

Migrants begin trickling home from Malaysia

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Batam/Samarinda/Jakarta -- Hundreds of Indonesian workers in Malaysia began returning home on Friday, marking the first day of the 17-day amnesty program for illegal workers offered by the Malaysian government.

Boarding ferries, the workers, many who said they had become alienated or disillusioned working in Malaysia, headed to ports on Batam, and in Nunukan island in East Kalimantan.

Not all the workers had entered Malaysia illegally. Of the 230 migrant workers that arrived at the Batam Center port, 94 had gone to Malaysia with legal immigration and working documents.

Data showed 336 Indonesian migrant workers had entered two ports in Batam as of Friday evening, while a similar number entered Tunon Taka seaport in Nunukan, deputy regent Kasmir Foret said.

Upon alighting from the ferries, some workers headed to barracks provided by local government and manpower recruitment agencies (PJTKI), while others headed to cheap hotels before they continued their journeys home.

Under the program, the Malaysian government is encouraging an estimated 1.2 million illegal migrant workers, mostly from Indonesia, to return home until November 14 without punishment ahead of the Idul Fitri celebrations.

The workers, also from the Philippines and China, are part of total estimated 2.4 million migrant workers in Malaysia. All travel fares are paid by the workers.

Raids are planned after the amnesty ends and illegal workers who are caught will be fined and caned by the Malaysian police and then deported.

A similar amnesty was offered to migrants by the Malaysian government two years ago.

Some Indonesian workers said they were delighted they could join the program. "I will not return. The working conditions were terrible and I'm afraid of being whipped if I am caught," said Afsoni, a 21-year-old from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, quoted by Reuters.

Afsoni said he had worked in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, where he was paid 30 Malaysian ringgit (US$7.9) a day and allowed to sleep for just four hours each night.

State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto said the government would offer positions in 17 state-owned enterprises to the returning workers.

Students/youth

Demonstrations enliven Youth Pledge Day commemoration

Koran Tempo - October 29, 2004

Agus R/Supriyantho/Dian Y/Mahbub, Surabaya -- Commemorations of Youth Pledge Day in various parts of the country yesterday were enlivened by a number of demonstrations. In the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, around 20 activists from the Left Democratic Force (LDF) held a demonstration at the State Grahadi Building wearing bamboo hats traditionally worn by farmers. They presented five demands to newly installed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla including calling for all harmful legislation to be revised.

"Reject all forms of land evictions, uphold the supremacy of the law and increase subsidies for education. We call for the victims of land evictions to receive an adequate standard of living", said action spokesperson Arif Linoha.

In Jember, East Java, around 100 student activist held an event titled "Youth Congress 2004". The event which was organised by a number of student groups was held at the local parliament. Most of the participants wore clothing and accessories from an earlier time, such as white long-sleeved shirts and large black rimmed glasses; some came riding old-style bicycles and horse-drawn carts.

According the head of the organising committee, M. Hakim Yunisar, the event was intended as an auto-criticism of the younger generation who are experiencing a decline in youthful spirit. During the event which was taken up with speeches and theatrical actions, they formulated three paradigms of struggle, including saving the nation from global capitalism by rejecting foreign debt and ending the privatisation of state assets.

In the Central Java provincial capital of Semarang, Around 30 students from the National Student League for Democracy (LMND) commemorated Youth Pledge Day with a rally from Jalan Simpang Lima to the water fountain roundabout on Jalan Pahlawan. Carrying flags, posters and banners, they called on the government to make its promises a reality. "We again warn the new government to immediately improve people's welfare as they have promised ", said LMND spokesperson Bagas yesterday.

In a leaflet which was distributed to pedestrians, they also called for the government to immediately build a clean government, to try the corrupters and criminals from the New Order regime of former President Suharto, to build a sovereign and democratic administration, to end the land evictions and evictions of petty traders, to end the privatisation of state owned enterprises and to have the courage to reject foreign intervention in establishing a government and economy of the people.

"We call on all youth, students, the urban poor, on workers, farmers and street traders to continue to pressure the new president [to fulfil his] promise to resolved the country's problems", said Bagus.

A formal commemoration of the Youth Pledge Day was also held at the officers of the Central Java governor. Students and a number of other youth groups including the Indonesian National Youth Committee held a similar events.

In Mataram, the commemoration of Youth Pledge Day was lead by the governor of West Nusa Tenggara H. Lalu Serinata. He invited the public of West Nusa Tenggara to stop thinking in ways which are backward, sectarian and which foster egoism because this neglects the tasks and responsibilities which inspired the spirit of the youth pledge.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

'War on terrorism'

Bashir on trial again in Indonesia

Sydney Morning Herald - October 27, 2004

Abu Bakar Bashir, the Muslim cleric who was cleared last year of leading Jemaah Islamiah, goes on trial again on Thursday accused of involvement in the Bali and Marriott hotel bombings.

Bashir faces a possible death sentence under new Indonesian terrorism laws if convicted on the first count, which accuses him of planning and inciting others to attack the US-managed JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in August 2003. Twelve people died in the suicide bombing.

In a second count, he faces a possible 20 years to life in prison under the criminal code for involvement in the October 2002 Bali bombing which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Bashir maintained that the charges have been trumped up against him after political pressure from the United States.

"I'm ready because I have to prove that I am innocent," he said in a prison interview with the Seven Network. "I hope the judges will be free from pressure from God's enemies, especially the devil [US President] George Bush."

The white-bearded Bashir wore a white Islamic cap, matching scarf and green shirt. He smiled and looked relaxed. He said his jail was clean and quiet. He also had access to a mobile phone.

The case against Bashir is expected to last at least a month was prepared well before Indonesia's new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office last week. Nevertheless, Australia and other Western countries will closely watch the trial as a gauge of the country's stance against terrorism.

Yudhoyono has made fighting terrorism a priority, particularly in the wake of September's truck bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta that left 10 Indonesians dead. "It's going to be a pretty good test case for the courts, to see how they're able to manage these kinds of trials," said a Western diplomat, requesting anonymity.

Wirawan Adnan, one of about 12 lawyers who will defend the white-bearded Bashir during the trial, says the charges against his client were "ridiculous".

The indictment again accuses Bashir, 66, of leading al-Qaeda linked JI, which seeks an Islamic state in South-East Asia through armed holy war. It says he visited their military training academy in Mindanao, the Philippines, in April 2000 and relayed a "ruling from Osama bin Laden which permitted attacks and killings of Americans and their allies".

Several members of the group who trained at the academy went on to conduct terrorist actions, the indictment says. Among them were Azahari Husin and Noordin Muhammad Top, two Malaysians accused of involvement in both the Bali and Marriott attacks. They remain on the loose. Police say they are also the prime suspects behind the embassy bombing. Bashir is not charged with that blast.

"I think it's still going to be a hard case for the prosecution to convict him on," said Sidney Jones, South-East Asia project director for the International Crisis Group think-tank. "My guess is he probably will get convicted under that criminal code offence. I'm not sure they're going to be able to make the terror charge stick."

Amid a violent protest by his supporters, Bashir was rearrested by police on suspicion of terrorism last April moments after he finished serving a jail term for immigration offences. He was sentenced to four years in jail in September 2003 for involvement in a Jemaah Islamiah plot to overthrow the government but judges said there was no proof he led the network. Higher courts overturned the treason conviction.

Adnan said it did not make sense that Bashir was again accused of leading the group. "It wasn't proven whether or not Jemaah Islamiah exists," he said. "So why is he still accused of things that were put aside by the court?"

The lawyer also dismissed the accusation that Bashir was behind the Marriott attack, which happened when he had already been detained by police for eight months. As for the Bali attack, another person had already been convicted of masterminding it, Adnan said.

The lawyer said he thought Bashir would be found guilty and spend the rest of his life behind bars. "We might obtain a fair trial but we won't get a just verdict," he said. "Because this is clearly an order from America that Abu Bakar Bashir be detained." A ferocious critic of the United States and Australia, Bashir has always denied he is linked to terrorism. He condemned last month's Australian Embassy bombing, saying it was not the way to fight for the upholding of Islamic law.

Observers say that even if Bashir ends up behind bars, as long as other prime suspects remain free it will be more of a symbolic victory rather than a means of stopping terrorism.

"As far as stemming other terrorist attacks ... it's the other guys that are still out there," the diplomat said. "That's what you've got to worry about," agreed Jones.

Baasyir claims Bush, Howard behind trial

Laksamana.Net - October 28, 2004

Radical Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Baasyir says charges that he was behind the deadly Bali and Marriott Hotel bombings were trumped up by US President George W. Bush and his "slave" Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

"Everyone knows, even schoolchildren know, that it's Bush and his slave John Howard. This trial is taking place at the behest of Howard," the 66-year-old cleric told reporters on Thursday outside his Jakarta prison.

The trial is being held at an auditorium at the Agriculture Ministry in Ragunan, South Jakarta, due to reasons of space and security.

"Anything that doesn't fulfill Bush's interests is considered terrorism by Bush," he said on arriving at the trial venue. Baasyir then challenged Bush to prove the charges made against him of being a terrorist. "That's certainly his view. What's important is proving it," he said. The cleric insisted he was innocent. "Clearly I feel I am not guilty. I'm convinced of that."

Hundreds of reporters were present for the opening day of the trial and had to wear special identity cards issued by South Jakarta District Court.

About 65 members of Baasyir's Indonesian Mujahidin Council arrived at the makeshift courtroom at 7.45am. They promised not to disturb the peace and police allowed them to enter auditorium at 9am. Before being permitted entry they had to give their identity cards to police. There was a massive police presence around the trial venue, including 700 officers and two water canons.

Inside the court, Baasyir's supporters shouted "Allahu Akbar [God is Great]" as he entered the building. They ceased the chant when the cleric raised his hand to request their silence.

He identified himself before the court and prosecutors then commenced the three-hour-long process of reading out the 65-page indictment. After that, Baasyir obtained permission to address the five-member panel of judges on three matters that he said proved the US and Australia were behind his detention and trial.

First, he said, the US consul in the North Sumatra capital of Medan had complained to state prosecutors when an alleged terrorist, whom he could not name, had been acquitted. Second, he said, his prolonged detention was "clearly ordered by the US". Third, he added, American and Australian diplomats had recently complained to prosecutors and judges when charges of immigration violations against Islamic radical Abu Jibril were dropped. "So the judges must be on their guard against Allah's enemies, the US and Australia, based on these three events," he said.

Chief prosecutor Salman Maryadi responded to Baasyir's third argument by pointing out that Jibril had never been acquitted, but was actually sentenced to five months and 15 days in jail for immigration violations.

The charges

Prosecutors accused Baasyir of being the spiritual leader of regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, and the August 2003 blast at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people. Baasyir was charged under Law No.16/2003 on Anti-Terrorism and under the Criminal Code.

The anti-terror law was used to charge him in relation to the Marriott bombing, the establishment of a terrorism training camp at Mindanao in the southern Philippines, and the discovery of a cache of explosives in Central Java in July.

He is charged with: planning and/or inciting acts of terrorism; using his position to influence and/or persuade others to commit acts of terrorism; conspiring to commit acts of terrorism; deliberately assisting terrorists; and withholding information on acts of terrorism. If convicted of the terrorism offenses he could face the death penalty.

Baasyir could not be charged over the Bali bombings attacks under the anti-terror legislation because the Constitutional Court in July ruled that the law cannot be applied retroactively. Instead, the prosecution used the Criminal Code to charge him over the Bali attacks. Prosecutors said he was part of a "sinister conspiracy" behind the bombings and that in August 2002 he gave one of the bombers, Amrozi, tacit approval to carry out the plan.

According to the indictment, when Amrozi met with Baasyir in the Central Java city of Sukoharjo to seek his blessing to carry out "an agenda" in Bali, the cleric had replied: "It's up to you because you know the situation in the field." If convicted under the Criminal Code, Baasyir could face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Terror training camp

Prosecutors said that Baasyir, in his capacity as the Emir (spiritual leader) of Jemaah Islamiyah, had conspired with Imron Baihaki to establish the Hudaibiyah Camp in the southern Philippines in order to train terrorists.

They said Baasyir, while in Indonesia, received regular reports from camp commander Baihaki on developments in the training of militants. The court heard the camp had taught its recruits how to assemble, transport and plant bombs, how to use firearms, as well as engineering, fighting and guerrilla warfare tactics.

Baasyir was accused of visiting the camp in April 2000 to inspect a graduation ceremony of 2,000 militants. During the ceremony, he allegedly told Baihaki pass on an edict from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- who he had met in Afghanistan -- that the US and its allies must be opposed. According to the indictment, the edict "permitted the waging of war against and the killing of Americans and their allies".

Prosecutors said those who had studied at the camp included four men involved in the Marriott bombing: Ismail, Tohir, Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top.

Ismail is serving a 12-year jail sentence for transporting and storing the explosives used in the attack and assisting in the assembly of the bomb. Tohir is serving a 10-year sentence for buying the vehicle used in the attack and helping to transport the explosives.

Malaysian citizens Azahari and Noordin have been accused of involvement in the Bali bombings and of masterminding the Marriott bombing. They are also suspected of masterminding the September 9, 2004, bomb blast that killed 11 people outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. The two remain at large, apparently in Indonesia, and police have warned they could be planning more attacks.

Former student

The prosecution said Baasyir was accompanied during his visit to the terror training camp in the Philippines by Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi. Al-Ghozi, a self-confessed member of Jemaah Islamiyah, had studied in the 1980s at Baasyir's Al-Mukmin Islamic Boarding School in Ngruki, near the Central Java city of Solo.

He was shot dead in the Philippines in October 2003 after escaped from a high-security Manila jail, where he was serving a 17-year sentence for possession of more than a ton of explosives. Part of the cache was used to blow up a Manila train and other targets in December 2000, killing 22 people; while the remainder was to have been used against Western targets in Singapore, including the US and Australian embassies.

Al-Ghozi had also admitted to involvement in the August 2000 bombing outside the Central Jakarta resident of former Philippine ambassador Leonides Caday. The explosion, which killed two people and left 21 injured, was allegedly carried out to avenge attacks on Abu Sayyaf separatists in the southern Philippines.

Release request

Defense lawyer Achmad Michdan asked the court to release Baasyir from prison on "humanitarian grounds" due to his frailty and advanced age. He guaranteed that Baasyir would not try to escape, destroy material evidence or carry out any criminal actions if released.

"Ustadz [teacher] Bakar has been continually detained since the New Order era [of former president Suharto] until now, whereas hoodlums are allowed to roam free," he was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal. "We ask the judges to consider postponing his detention and to avoid external pressure," he added. Presiding judge Sudarto said he will consider the request when the trial resumes next Thursday.

Prosecutors are expected to call more than 70 witnesses to prove their case against Baasyir. During Baasyir's treason trial last year, most of the evidence incriminating him as the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah came from detained Jemaah Islamiyah members in Singapore and Malaysia.

In contrast to last year's trial, when Baasyir read Islamic books, refused to speak and generally ignored proceedings, he is now paying close attention. Nevertheless, after the indictment against him was read out, the cleric said he was "still confused". Under Indonesian law, the trial must conclude within five months.

Background

Baasyir was first arrested back in 1978 and sentenced to nine years in jail for subversion for links to two outlawed Islamic militia groups. He was released from prison in 1982 and fled to Malaysia in 1985 to escape further charges. It was while in Malaysia that he allegedly co-founded Jemaah Islamiyah.

He returned to Indonesia following the May 1998 resignation of Suharto and resumed his role as head of the Al-Mukmin Islamic Boarding School.

Police arrested Baasyir on October 19, 2002, in the aftermath of the Bali bombings, but authorities at that time were unable to produce any hard evidence linking him to the attacks.

Although an avowed supporter of bin Laden, Baasyir has consistently denied any involvement in Jemaah Islamiyah and insists all of the accusations against him are part of a US-led conspiracy to discredit Islam.

In September 2003, Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Baasyir to four years in prison for treason, immigration violations and forging documents. But the court said he was not guilty of leading Jemaah Islamiyah or masterminding a plot to use religious violence to overthrow the government and assassinate then president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

In December 2003, Jakarta High Court announced it had overturned the cleric's treason conviction and reduced his jail sentence to three years. In March 2004, the Supreme Court further reduced the sentence to one and a half years.

The sentence reductions meant the cleric was released on April 30 -- at which point police immediately re-arrested him, citing new evidence to charge him with leading Jemaah Islamiyah.

Indonesian cleric back in the dock

Asia Times - October 29, 2004

Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- Smack in the middle of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, hordes of international and local reporters have descended on a makeshift courtroom here to witness the long-awaited and pivotal trial that pits the state against one of its people, 66-year-old militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

The trial opened on Thursday, only eight days after the inauguration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the retired general who swept to power promising to crack down on terrorism.

Feelings among Muslims everywhere were running high this week anyway, angered and outraged over the "brutal" and "inhumane" treatment of Muslim protesters in Thailand. A total of 78 Thai Muslim protesters suffocated to death when they were crammed into army trucks for more than six hours after a protest on Monday at the Tak Bai district police station in Thailand's Narathiwat province. Others died of injuries inflicted by police, brining the total number of deaths to more than 80. "They packed them like sardines into trucks. It's inhumane during this holy fasting month of Ramadan," said Amidhan, head of the influential Indonesian Council of Ulemas (Islamic religious leaders).

A spokesperson from Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, called the security forces' actions "brutal". "What happened was state terrorism," said Dien Syamsuddin. "We strongly denounce it."

Meanwhile, outside the court, an auditorium at the Agriculture Ministry in South Jakarta, hundreds of Muslims from various groups gathered, though a very large police presence ensured there was little disturbance. Inside, scores of Ba'asyir's supporters shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest), as police packing M-16 assault rifles led the cleric to his chair in front of the judges.

In the 65-page indictment, which took three hours to read out, Ba'asyir was charged with a string of offences. Some charges relate to the Jakarta JW Marriott Hotel bombing last August when 12 people were killed, as well as the establishment of a training camp on the Philippine island of Mindanao and the discovery of a cache of explosives in July this year.

Though the offenses theoretically all come under stringent anti- terrorism legislation passed in the wake of the October 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, Ba'asyir cannot be charged for those attacks under that legislation, because of a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that the legislation, passed after those attacks, could not be applied retroactively. He has instead been charged on criminal counts related to Bali under the country's criminal code.

The case for the prosecution rests on proving that Ba'asyir is or was the spiritual leader of the regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) -- and therefore must have known about that attacks, even if he did not actually plan them.

He is charged with ordering a fatwa, or religious decree from Osama bin Laden to wage war against and to kill Americans and their allies, to be disseminated among JI members. Although an avowed supporter of Osama bin Laden, Ba'asyir has consistently denied any involvement in JI and insists all the accusations against him are part of a US-led conspiracy to discredit Islam.

Though the majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderates, militants like Ba'asyir, who also heads the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), which wants to turn Indonesia into a religious state ruled by Islamic law, feed on the anti-Western sentiment spawned by the earlier demonizing of Islam by the American press and the insensitive use of words like "crusade" by the US leadership. Many Indonesians see the West as always having an ulterior motive and bent on world domination. You are either against terrorism or with it, said the West's new Charlemagne, US President George W Bush, not long after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Conversely, Western misconceptions of Islam in Indonesia, particularly the tendency to equate Islam with extremism, help give radical groups an edge of credence in mainstream society.

True to form, Ba'asyir, just before the end of the session, launched into a tirade accusing the Americans and Australians of forcing his prosecution. "I ask the panel of judges and the prosecutors to be careful of attempts from these two enemies of God, the United States and Australia," he told the panel of judges.

Ba'asyir's lawyers appear to have jumped on the same bandwagon. "We hope this trial won't be interfered in by a certain political power, especially a foreign one," Muhammad Assegaf, the lead lawyer in the defense team, told Reuters.

Little wonder that the US Embassy warned in a statement on Thursday that the "venue of the terrorism trial ... could draw large crowds", while also reiterating an earlier warning to Americans to stay away from "all stand-alone bars, clubs or nightclubs, which could be attacked by protesters". In April, Ba'asyir's supporters fought pitched street battles with police when they re-arrested the cleric as he walked out of Jakarta's Salemba prison after serving 18 months on immigration violations charges.

US fails to lend a hand

Though the Bush administration has been exerting strong pressure on Jakarta to prosecute Ba'asyir, it has steadfastly refused to help the prosecutors.

Some of the allegations against Ba'asyir come from suspected terrorist mastermind Hambali, alias Riduan Isamuddin, al-Qaeda's operational point man in Southeast Asia. According to a report from the 9-11 Commission, the US federal commission that probed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Hambali told American interrogators that he had pledged his loyalty to and got his orders from Ba'asyir. Hambali was seized in a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation in Bangkok in August 2003 and has since been held by the Americans at a secret location.

More than a year later Indonesian police have still not been allowed to interrogate him directly, which means, ironically, that prosecutors cannot introduce the Hambali allegations in court without his actually being present as a witness, to give Ba'asyir's lawyers an opportunity to cross-examine him.

According to the charges against Ba'asyir, a month before the Bali blasts Ba'asyir met with the infamous "smiling bomber" Amrozi, later sentenced to death after being convicted of involvement in the bombings, and discussed plans for an attack.

Militants who confessed to involvement in the Marriott bombing claimed the US-owned hotel was attacked to avenge injustices perpetrated by Americans and Australians against Muslims in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Yet most of those killed in the blast were Muslims. The one foreign fatality was a Dutch banker. Seventeen people have now been convicted in connection with that bombing, which also has been blamed on the JI.

Indonesia's Islamic condition

Though some 89% of Indonesia's 220 million people profess a belief in Islam, the country is not an Islamic state. It does not represent the fundamentalist Islam of Pakistan or Iran, but a much more emancipated and diluted version of the ancient religion.

The country was founded as a secular state and remains that to this day, though it has, in the past, suffered violence at the hands of those flying the banner of Islam.

The earliest example of violence perpetrated in the name of Islam was the Darul Islam movement led by a Javanese mystic named Kartosuwirjo, who declared an independent Islamic state in West Java in 1948. Over the next 14 years, more than 40,000 people lost their lives and at least 1 million were displaced. The rebellion was crushed by founding president Sukarno in 1962 and its leader executed.

Later, during Suharto's rule, hardline Islamic groups were a major target of state surveillance and repression. Suharto's former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Ahmad Hendropriyono was often linked to the brutal suppression of Muslims who opposed the regime. Various acts of violence and subversion were blamed on them, although some evidence suggests that intelligence agencies played a role in manipulating former Darul Islam elements.

Hendropriyono, a retired general, was also a key player in former president Megawati Sukarnoputri's "war against terror", with BIN identifying and arresting several suspected terrorists. He had demanded tougher laws and greater powers for intelligence agencies to combat terror. A key loyalist of Megawati, he resigned after Yudhoyono took office.

Militant groups come out of the woodwork

Following Suharto's downfall in May 1998, a number of militant Islamic groups came out of the woodwork. Laskar Jihad, the main group, deployed up to 6,000 paramilitary fighters to "protect Muslims" in the bloody Christian-Muslim conflicts in Maluku and Central Sulawesi provinces but later disbanded shortly after the Bali attacks in 2002.

The Indonesian Mujahidin Council that Ba'asyir heads -- many members of which were outside the courtroom on Thursday, shouting anti-American slogans -- and the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI), in the news again for violence against "places of vice", were the other two main organizations that quickly became known for violent behavior, though they remained on the fringes of society.

There is still no evidence that either of these militant groups have committed terrorist acts, but both remain committed to the full implementation of Islamic law in Indonesia.

This squares with the alleged JI dream that a Southeast Asian Islamic caliphate can be established within the next 10 to 15 years.

Juwono Sudarsono, the new defense minister who held the same post under former president Abdurrahman Wahid, has described this dream, the so-called street Islam, as the main appeal for the Islamic poor.

The appeal of street Islam, and bin Ladenism, to several Islamic groups in Indonesia is shallow, but its very simplicity explains a lot for them, Sudarsono said, adding "I think the poor have always been easily manipulated by the angry middle class, who have become disillusioned with their respective governments."

Yet the solid foundation of Islam in Indonesia is still built on the two broadly based organizations, Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, which claim a membership of more than 25% of all Indonesians. Both are moderate in philosophy and support the country's religiously neutral philosophy of Pancasila, rejecting calls for Indonesia to become an Islamic state.

The radicals, including Ba'asyir, want Islamic law (Sharia) to be forced on the world's biggest Muslim population, and many claim they are ready to die to achieve this.

Domestic politics will play an important role in the outcome of this trial. A severe sentence for Ba'asyir, who could, in theory, face a firing squad, could mean that he would become a martyr in Islamic politics. On the other hand, for the public in general, a fair trial for the cleric would earn kudos at home for the president and bring the radicals down a peg or two.

The Indonesian judiciary, almost without exception, serves the country's vested interests, which at the moment can safely be assumed to be those of the new president. But with Western and Islamic opinion polarized on the opposite sides of the scales of justice, Yudhoyono and the judges will need to strike a balance between the need to send a strong signal to extremists that the fight against terrorism will be fought on Indonesian soil, regardless of considerations of religion and associated risks, and the real risk of alienating the West as he starts his five- year term.

[Bill Guerin has worked for 19 years in Indonesia as a journalist and editor. He specializes in business/economy issues and political analysis related to Indonesia. He has been a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000 and has also been published by the BBC on East Timor.]

Government & politics

Ministers told to quit party jobs

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- Calls are mounting for Cabinet members to relinquish their posts in political parties and business enterprises to avoid conflict of interests and to allow them to focus on state duties.

Analysts Johannes Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Saldi Isra of the Padang-based Andalas University said on Monday that although there was no regulation requiring ministers to quit their party jobs, such a move would be a logical consequence of the pledge they made to the President.

"The ministers have signed a contract that they will work to the utmost to help President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono fulfill his campaign promises -- and this will be an uphill struggle. They must concentrate on the job and end any activities relating to political parties or business endeavors," Kristiadi said.

Should they not resign, the ministers' work in Cabinet would be compromised by time spent working with their political parties, he said.

Several Cabinet ministers have wavered about relinquishing their party posts, while Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra and PBB secretary general Malam Sambat Ka'ban have explicitly refused to give up their political jobs, saying there would be no conflict of interest if they were kept on as party leaders.

Six other politically appointed ministers said the final say on whether they should resign remained hanging in the balance pending decisions from their parties.

Kristiadi doubted political parties would dismiss members who had been appointed ministers.

"Part of the parties' objectives is to accumulate power and the appointment of their members as ministers could meet this goal," he said.

Saldi said if the ministers did not resign from political posts their portfolios, and the nation's development, would suffer.

"We have learned from past experience that ministers strive only for their party interests," he said.

The likelihood of these ministers resigning however was small as their appointments were precisely because of their political affiliation, he said.

"President Susilo handpicked them because they are representatives of political parties, which would likely ease the way for him in the House of Representatives," he said.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakri said on Monday he no longer held any positions in his business empire starting as of June.

"I have let younger people take over my duties. It is now my turn to give my service to the public," he said.

Government remains cautious over subsidy cut

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

Jakarta -- While giving assurances that there would be no populist measures in its economic policies, the new government remains cautious over whether or not to cut fuel subsidies in the near future.

Against a backdrop of a tight budget, every policy adopted would have to be prudent and accountable, thus providing no room for populist policies, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie told a breaking-of-the-fast forum on Monday.

"I can assure you that there will be no populist policies from this government," Aburizal said before the forum, which was attended by top businessmen and executives of state companies, as well as some ministers.

When pressed afterwards, he stopped short, however, of saying that the remarks could be interpreted as meaning there would be a cut in fuel subsidies. The fuel subsidy policy is one that many regard as populist, with the government keeping the subsidy system in place despite the fact that it is bleeding the treasury dry and that much of the subsidy spending is actually enjoyed by the well-off. "We haven't got to that stage as yet," Abdurizal said.

The government, with the consent of the legislature, has set aside Rp 59.2 trillion this year for fuel subsidies -- a more than 300 percent increase over the earlier target of Rp 14.5 trillion, due to soaring global oil prices.

Despite being an oil-exporting country, Indonesia imports about one fifth of the crude oil used for fuel consumption at home and sold at subsidized prices. This means the higher the oil price goes, the more money the government has to spend on subsidies.

This has revived the debate on cutting fuel subsidies by applying a more targeted, pro-poor subsidy scheme -- which could in turn help ease the burden on the state budget while at the same time making sure the money goes where it is needed.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also said during the election campaign that he would not hesitate to take tough measures, including cutting subsidies, if that was in the best interests of the country. To date however, no decision has been made on the issue.

Cutting the subsidies, which would push domestic fuel prices higher, is a sensitive issue as it affects almost all elements in society. Higher production costs for business and operating costs for public transportation are among the effects that a decision to cut subsidies would have.

Elsewhere, Aburizal acknowledged the problems the costly subsidies were causing for the state budget, but insisted that a cut in subsidies would first require a thorough analysis to minimize the adverse impacts.

Instead, he suggested the use of more gas and coal as alternative sources of energy, although it would require time to provide the necessary infrastructure.

"Gas is a lot cheaper [than oil]. If we can promote using it, the public would not need a subsidy as the price is already cheap. So, in that sense, we would reduce fuel subsidies by reducing our dependency on oil," he said. "But, that's not a job for the first 100 days. It will be a three-year job for us to convert from oil to gas and coal."

Pro-government legislators boycott meetings

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Five factions supporting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono boycotted on Tuesday a House of Representatives (DPR) plenary meeting and refused to submit candidates names for the election of committee leaders.

The move renders it almost impossible for commissions and auxiliary bodies to choose their leaders, necessary to draw up their work timetable.

The absence of the five factions -- the United Development Party (PPP), the Democratic Party (PD), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Democratic Pioneer Star (BPD) -- raised fears that the maneuver would delay all other activities in the House, including the talks on the replacement of Indonesian Military (TNI) chief.

House Speaker Agung Laksono decided to delay the plenary meeting until Wednesday, but the five factions said Tuesday that they would boycott the meeting until their demands were met.

The five factions, known also as the People's Coalition group, had demanded that commission and auxiliary bodies chairmanships be distributed proportionally among factions, which means bigger factions would get more chairmanships than smaller ones. All 10 factions in the House had earlier agreed on such an arrangement on October 18, but it later hit a snag as factions squabbled over the leadership of desirable commissions.

That prompted factions belonging to the Nationhood Coalition -- consisting of the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Reform Star Faction and the Prosperous Peace Party -- to propose that the commission and auxiliary body chairmanships be put to vote.

The National Awakening Party (PKB), which had previously joined the People's Coalition, has thrown its support behind the Nationhood Coalition. Should the chairmanships be put to vote, the Nationhood Coalition would likely win all the top places in the commission and auxiliary bodies, a situation that could stymie all Susilo's planned reforms.

The People's Coalition's boycott means the members of the Nationhood Coalition cannot hold the election as House internal regulations stipulate a plenary meeting must be attended by more than half of the coalitions in the House.

"We have delay the plenary meeting because we cannot make any decisions under such circumstances," Agung said, referring to the meeting that was only attended by five factions.

Under the House's standing orders, a meeting can make decision if it is attended by more than half of the factions or at least six factions.

Earlier, factions in the House agreed that Golkar, which has biggest number of votes will have four commission chairmanship posts and 11 deputy chairmanship posts. The PDI-P would get three chairmanship and nine deputy chairmanship posts, while the PPP, the Democrats, and PAN would get two chairmanship posts each, with the PKB only one.

The PKB rejected the scheme, claiming the division unfair. Holding 52 seats, it demanded two chairmanship posts, equal to PAN which has 53 seats. Sources said that the PKB initiated a new scheme and sought support from Golkar and PDI-P factions to sweep chairmanship posts in all the commissions and the auxiliary bodies. Under the election proposal, Golkar, PDI-P, and PKB would get seven, six, and three chairmanship posts respectively.

President rejects resignation of military chief

Agence France Presse - October 27, 2004

Indonesia's new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has refused to accept the resignation of military chief General Endriartono Sutarto.

Andi Mallarangeng said Yudhoyono has withdrawn a letter to parliament sent by former president Megawati Sukarnoputri a few weeks before the end of her term. The letter told legislators of Sutarto's resignation and proposed army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu as his replacement.

"The reason behind the withdrawal of the letter is that the government is now in the middle of a consolidation process and a change in military leadership is deemed not appropriate for the time being," Mallarangeng told AFP.

Yudhoyono took office last week. Under the law, parliament has to approve the resignation and new appointment. Mallarangeng said Sutarto's request would be reconsidered "at a more appropriate time".

Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said later that Sutarto has agreed to carry on as military chief until further notice. "At the appropriate time, there will be a change, but not partial or in bits because, it is true, there is a plan to replace all top officials in the Indonesian armed forces, including the national police chief and the head of the [three] forces," Silalahi said.

The police are actually a separate agency and no longer part of the armed forces.

Silalahi said the decision to retain Sutarto was purely based on the fact that changes were not desirable during a period of consolidation.

Sutarto, 57, has said he tendered his resignation to Megawati in September because he was already past retirement age and there was a need for new leadership in the armed forces.

But a Western diplomat has told reporters that Sutarto opposed a decision by Megawati to award two retired generals in her cabinet honorary rank promotions in the last days of her administration. In an interview with Tempo weekly magazine, Sutarto attacked the promotions given to then-security minister Hari Sabarno and then-national intelligence agency chief Abdullah Hendropriyono.

Sutarto is seen as a straightforward general who believes the military should be under civilian control. Under the rule of dictator Suharto, which ended in 1998, the military was heavily involved in politics.

Masses expect real change from Yudhoyono

Green Left Weekly - October 27, 2004

James Balowski, Jakarta -- On October 20, former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- popularly known as SBY -- and business tycoon Jusuf Kalla were sworn in as Indonesia's first directly elected president and vice-president.

The Yudhoyono-Kalla duet garnered 61% of the vote in the second- round of the presidential elections on September 20, decisively defeating incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Megawati's three-year administration was punished by voters for failing to deal with rampant corruption, human rights abuses by the military, massive unemployment, rising prices and for forcing through unpopular neoliberal policies such as privatisation, mass dismissals and cuts to health and education.

Yudhoyono's election campaign played on the popular sentiment for change by promising to create a functioning bureaucracy, legal certainty and the rebuilding the nation's crumbling infrastructure. In was a campaign dominated by large doses of rhetoric about solving problems but no discussion of how this would be done.

Despite Yudhoyono's apparent landslide victory and popular mandate for change, even his most ardent supporters are not expecting any substantial policy changes, with many predicting a very short honeymoon as a prelude to a popular revolt as the illusions of an increasingly impatient and angry public start to evaporate.

In fact, Yudhoyono's only definite policy proposal to date has been a promise not to go overseas during the first 100 days of his presidency -- a dig at Megawati who earned the public's ire by going on frequent overseas shopping trips.

Under the headline, "Man of promise may need his nation's patience", the Sydney Morning Herald's Jakarta correspondent Matthew Moore argued in its October 21 edition that Yudhoyono "had not even been sworn in as Indonesia's sixth president when the first demonstrators arrived at the parliament's gates. They carried placards demanding corrupt businessmen be jailed, and while there was no venom in their demands for justice, their presence was another reminder that the people are growing impatient."

On October 18, the recently formed United People for Genuine Change (PRPS) alliance held a press conference in Jakarta to announce that hundreds of protesters would attend Yudhoyono's inauguration to call on the new government to "uphold the promises which have been made" and that the PRPS would be organising a campaign to maintain pressure on the government.

The PRPS is made up of some 25 non-government, student and worker organisations including the Democratic Student Network (JMD), the People's Cultural Network (Jaker), the Action Study Circle for Indonesian Democracy (LS-ADI), the People's Democratic Party (PRD), the National Student League for Democracy (LMND), the Jakarta Student Consortium (KMJ), the Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP), Senjata Kartini (a women's NGO), the Jakarta Student Network (JMJ), the Families of Missing Persons in Indonesia (Ikohi), the Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI) and the Association of Independent Trade Unions (GSBI).

True to its word, the PRPS organised simultaneous demonstrations across the country on October 20 -- from the West Java capital city of Bandung to Bali. Demonstrations were even held on the isolated East Java island of Madura.

In Jakarta, hundreds of protesters from the PRPS, the Indonesian Muslim Student Front, the Greater Jakarta Student Executive Council and the People's Movement for Law Supremacy rallied outside the national parliament calling on Yudhoyono to implement genuine change.

Demonstrations calling for an end to the state of civil emergency in Aceh and the withdrawal of troops were also held by the Acehnese Democratic Women's Organisation (ORPAD) and the Acehnese Popular Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA).

In a media statement, PRPS called for a "clean" government that would bring corrupt officials to trial, create employment, end mass dismissals, increase wages and initiate a program of industrialisation. It also called for Indonesian troops to be withdrawn from Aceh and West Papua, abolition of the Indonesia Armed Forces' territorial commands which allow the military to act as a political security force at all levels of society.

Following the rally, PRPS spokesperson Lukman Hakim told Green Left Weekly that the activist coalition was formed in response to the democracy movement's need to build an alternative political force to address the needs of ordinary people.

"SBY's inauguration provides us with a 'momentum' to pressure the government to implement genuine change. One-hundred days is enough time for the new government to demonstrate if it really has such a commitment", Hakim said. "Although it will be difficult to mobilise people over the fasting month [Ramadan] we are planning a series of public seminars and press conferences to maintain public pressure on the government."

He added that Yudhoyono's new cabinet line-up is already a cause for concern with key posts such economics minister going to business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, a strong supporter of the International Monetary Fund's neoliberal prescriptions. Planning minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and trade minister Mari Pangestu are also widely regarded as being pro-IMF.

Officials prohibited from relationships out of wedlock

Detik.com - October 27, 2004

Luhur Hertanto, Jakarta -- Home affairs minister M. Ma'ruf has prohibited all of the staff in his department from living with a women or men as man and wife without being officially married. In addition to this, Ma'ruf has also asked his staff not to receive presents or gifts in any form which can reasonably be believed to be related to their work as civil servants.

This prohibition represents one part of a new set of rules to safeguard the morals and ethics of Echelon I level civil servants in the home affairs department. The rule is part of Home Affairs Ministry Instruction Number 7/2004 on Upholding the Working Principles of Home Affairs Department Officials dated October 27 as a means of spelling out the political contract of the United Indonesian Cabinet of recently installed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"Our ministry is the first to bring such a political contract into force for its Echelon level officials", department spokesperson Ujang Sudirman told journalists at his offices on Jalan Merdeka Utara in Jakarta on Wednesday October 27.

As well as monitoring the morals and ethics of civil servants continued Sudirman, one of the aims of issuing the instruction is to maintain work discipline. Ten of the articles in the instruction are an effort to increase work ethics. One of them, is being ready, on the occasional orders of their superiors, to work for as long as 24 hours. This however is for the sake of the department, not the personal interests of government heads.

Other clauses cover prohibiting staff from levels IV/A and above from holding second jobs or being involved in other businesses. Those who want to be involved in such activities are required to obtain written permission from their immediate superiors.

Sudirman admitted that the instruction only covers department of home affairs staff but is spear-heading the governments efforts to provide services to the public. "We hope that it will not be long before governors issues such regulations their staff in the districts", he added. (rif)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]

Jakarta's new agenda: Nine days down, 91 to go

Asia Times - October 28, 2004

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar -- Newly inaugurated Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also known as SBY, is borrowing a page from another president known by his three initials: America's Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR (1933-1945). In his first 100 days in office, FDR enacted sweeping changes to combat the Great Depression that began years before his term and lasted for more than a decade. Yudhoyono is also promising swift action in his first 100 days to confront Indonesia's lingering economic, political and social maladies.

Not all of FDR's initial ideas were right, but his resolute steps lifted the country's spirits and signaled a decisive break from the previous administration. It would be a great trick for SBY to duplicate on these leading domestic issues. As the first directly elected president in Indonesian history, Yudhoyono has a mandate for change.

Unfortunately, SBY doesn't have the tools at his disposal for historical changes that FDR did. For example, Yudhoyono doesn't have a platform, partners or a program. Rather than hit the ground running the way FDR did seven decades ago, it will be a challenge for SBY to hit the ground without falling flat on his face. Having taken the oath of office on October 20, Yudhoyono has already served nine days as president. Over the next 91 days, the best he can realistically do is create policies that might address key issues in the remainder of his five-year term.

Voting for nothing

Although he topped the field in the first round of voting in July and received a 61% mandate in the run-off against incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri, September's election wasn't about policies but personalities. After all, Yudhoyono and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla, were once two of the leading ministers in Megawati's cabinet, so it's not as if they planned to chart a radical new course for the country.

Moreover, from the time he quit Megawati's cabinet in a huff in March, SBY found himself leading the polls by a wide margin. Thus his election campaign avoided taking positions that might have cost him supporters. He spoke in platitudes; in favor of more jobs, against corruption, and for national unity. So while SBY got a big portion of the vote, it wasn't an endorsement of any particular policy.

As the head of a new party, Yudhoyono didn't have a deep pool of talent from which to draw his new 36-member cabinet. With his party holding less than 10% of the seats in the legislature, SBY needed to reach out to various factions in order to broaden his support with an eye toward finding a legislative majority for his programs. As a result, his cabinet is a reflection of the need for political balancing and compromise, rather than a unified team marching in a bold direction set by the president.

The cabinet's initial task is not to enact decisive programs that address national priorities such as economic growth, corruption and rule of law, but to formulate plans for tackling these problems. Regardless, whatever plans emerge are unlikely to be bold, fresh initiatives given the combination of old faces and compromised choices in the cabinet as well as Yudhoyono's famously cautious nature that his overwhelming mandate seems to have left unchanged.

Countdown to accountability

If, at the end of his first 100 days, ministers announce plans to grapple with the country's most pressing problems, this certainly will represent a major accomplishment and a significant break from the past. The act of government officials declaring their intentions and inviting public accountability would be a radical change for Indonesia. But the real test won't be declaring the plans, or even making them succeed, but seeing whether these policies have a real impact on key issues: will they produce real economic recovery, public safety, and national unity? It will take thousands of days for those results to be seen.

The focus on Yudhoyono's first 100 days is solely a public- relations move. And at the end of that time, the best Indonesians can expect is a public-relations victory. That may be an improvement over the uncommunicative Megawati regime, but it won't produce added jobs or investment or provide anything else of substance.

Sadly, if SBY's first 100 days are destined to be little more than a public-relations exercise, he's already let a major opportunity pass. Last Friday night, vigilantes from the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) attacked Star Deli, a popular nightspot in South Jakarta's fashionable Kemang district frequented by the city's expatriates.

Star Deli had committed the crime of serving alcohol during Ramadan. While these attacks typically are perpetrated in the name of Islam, often they are associated with payoffs, or lack thereof, to authorities. Police had warned Star Deli's proprietors of a possible attack early in the day and, the owner said, forced an early closing. But police weren't around when FPI's mob showed up about an hour later and trashed the restaurant.

The sound of one headline dueling

Yudhoyono says one of his top priorities is to improve the climate for investment. A key concern holding back foreign investment is violence against Western targets by Islamic groups. While the FPI attack doesn't compare to the Bali bombings of 2002, the blasts at Jakarta's Marriott Hotel last year and the Australian Embassy last month, it fits the pattern that makes Westerners reluctant to visit Indonesia, let alone live, work or invest there. It makes headlines: "Muslim group plans more anti- booze attacks," wrote Reuters.

More than changes in some obscure tax regulations or a proposed new law that will go to the bottom of the legislature's in-tray, a forceful statement by SBY against the attack and the law enforcement failure behind it would have produced an equally strong counter headline: Indonesia's new president condemns radical Muslims.

A sharp public statement against vigilantes would have sent a message that there's a new sheriff in town and lawlessness will no longer be tolerated. (The second terrorism trial of alleged Jemaah Islamiyah leader Abu Bakar Ba'asyir opened on Thursday, but that's not a proper situation for presidential grandstanding.) Instead, SBY greeted the attack and police reaction to it with a silence worthy of Megawati. That's no way to win a war on terror, nor hearts and minds in a public relations war.

[Gary LaMoshi, a longtime editor of investor rights advocate eRaider.com, has also contributed to Slate and Salon.com. He has worked as a broadcast producer and as a print writer and editor in the United States and Asia. He moved to Hong Kong in 1995 and now splits his time between there and Indonesia.]

Golkar controls parliament posts

Laksamana.Net - October 28, 2004

The Golkar Party, which dominated Indonesian politics under former dictator Suharto, may have lost this year's presidential election but it now controls the lion's share of important posts in the national parliament.

Reitred general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) won a landslide victory in the September 20 run-off presidential election against then-incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri, but his so-called 'People's Coalition' of five small parties controls just a fraction of the 550 seats in the House of Representatives.

Most of the House seats are held by parties belonging to the "National Coalition", which was formed to back Megawati's re- election bid. The principle parties of the National Coalition are: Golkar, which is the single largest party in parliament with 128 seats; and Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which holds 109 seats.

SBY's supporters have been wary of a Golkar/PDI-P takeover of the new parliament and voting on the leadership of the lower and upper chambers has been fraught with intense lobbying and backroom dealings.

In the end, Golkar succeeded in reasserting itself. Golkar stalwart Agung Laksono, who was youth and sports affairs minister under Suharto's handpicked successor B.J. Habibie, was elected DPR speaker earlier this month. Fellow Golkar veteran Ginandjar Kartasasmita, who held positions in five cabinets under Suharto and Habibie, was voted speaker of the 128-member Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

The DPR and DPD combine to form the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which meets annually and is the highest legislative body in the land, with the power to dismiss the president.

The SBY camp breathed a sigh of relief when Hidayat Nur Wahid, leader of the Islam-based reformist Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) that supported SBY at the presidential elections, was narrowly elected speaker of the MPR on October 6.

The final stage in the showdown over parliamentary leadership positions came to a head on Thursday when legislators covened to elect the new leaders and deputy leaders of the House commissions.

The five factions backing SBY in parliament had threatened to boycott the session, but House speaker Agung Laksono told reporters early Thursday that the parties had agreed to suspend the voting until Friday. He emerged later in the day, however, to announce that two commissions had nevertheless gone ahead and elected their leader and three deputies, reported detikcom.

Commission XI on finance was the first off the blocks. Following the decision on the leadership of the most "lucrative" commission, the other commissions subsequently fell into line.

By the close of Thursday's session, only Commission VIII had yet to decide on its new leader and three deputies. Two other commissions left deputy leadership positions vacant, but are set to fill the vacancies on Friday.

Golkar emerged with the largest number of commission leaders and deputies, followed by PDI-P, while SBY's own Democrat Party went without a place at all, despite holding 57 seats in the House.

Golkar managed to secure the leadership of five commissions and install a total of eight deputies on the 10 commissions that voted on Thursday. PDI-P, meanwhile, won leadership of four commissions and extended its reach into eight other commissions through the placement of deputies.

The National Awakening Party (PKB) of former president Abdurahman Wahid, which backed SBY over Megawati, emerged with one commission leader and a further nine deputies.

The National Mandate Party (PAN), which controls 52 seats -- the same number as PKB -- has two party members installed as deputy commission leaders. Interestingly, DPR deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar announced later that both Sujud Surojudin and Alvin Lee had not been nominated at the party's behest but had rather nominated themselves as individuals.

The Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), which controls 12 seats and joined the coalition that backed Mega, also has two deputy commission leaders.

The United Development Party (PPP) controls 57 seats but emerged without a single commission leader or deputy. Hidayat Nur Wahid's PKS also went without any representation on the commissions.

Following is a breakdown of the new leadership of the House commissions obtained from the detikcom news website late Thursday.

Commission I on defense, foreign affairs and information: Leader: Theo Sambuaga (Golkar) Deputy leaders: Sidharto Danusubroto (PDIP) Hajriyanto Tohari (Golkar) Effendy Choirie (PKB)

Commission II on internal government, regional autonomy, state apparatus and agrarian affairs: Leader: Ferry Mursyidan Baldan (Golkar) Deputy leaders: Alex Litay (PDIP) Ida Fauziah (PKB). One position undecided

Commission III on law, legislation, human rights and security: Leader: Teras Narang (PDIP) Deputy leaders: Akil Mochtar (Golkar) Taufikurrahman Saleh (PKB) Yosef Umar Hadi (PDIP) Commission VI on agricultural and plantation affairs: Leader: Mindo Sianipar (PDIP) Deputy leaders: Fahri Andi Leluasa (Golkar) Sujud Surojudin (PAN) Arifin Junaedi (PKB)

Commission V on transportation and communication: Leader: Sofyan Miledari (Golkar) Deputy leaders: Sumaryoto (PDIP) Erman Suparno (PKB). One position undecided

Commission VI on trade and industry: Leader: Kofifah Indar Parawangsa (PKB) Deputy leaders: Ade Komaruddin (Golkar) Irmadi Lubis (PDIP) Constan M Ponggawa (PDS)

Commission VII on human resources, research/technology and the environment: Leader: Agusman Efendi (Golkar) Deputy leaders: Sony Keraf (PDIP) Alvin Lee (PAN) Misbah Hidayat (PKB)

Commission VIII Voting suspended until Friday (29/10/04).

Commission IX on population, health and labor: Leader: Gunawan Slamet (PDIP) Deputy leaders: Ribka Tjiptaning (PDIP) Charles J Mesang (Golkar) Muhjidin Arubusman (PKB)

Commission X on education, sports, tourism and the arts: Leader: Heri Akhmadi (PDIP) Deputy leaders: Soeratal (PDIP) Anwar Arifin (Golkar) Masduki Badlawi (PKB)

Commission XI on finance: Leader: Paskah Suzeta (Golkar) Deputy leaders: Max Muin (PDIP) Ali Masykur Musa (PKB) Norman Siahaan (PDS)

34% of Yudhoyono's cabinet has links with New Order

Detik.com - October 29, 2004

Nala Edwin, Jakarta -- The Committee to Monitor the New Order (Komite Waspada Orde Baru, Tewas Orba) says that the Indonesian Cabinet of Unity is ridden with people from former President Suharto's New Order regime. There are indications that 34.21 per cent of the members in the cabinet of newly installed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) have links with the New Order.

This assessment was presented by Tewas Orba's secretary Safinuddin during a press conference at the organisation's secretariat on Jalan Pasar Minggu Raya in East Jakarta on Friday October 29. Also present at the conference was Tewas Orba presidium chair Judilhery Justam.

Safinuddin said that there are indications that Yudhoyono and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla's cabinet have more members connected to the New Order than the cabinets of former President Megawati Sukarnoputri or former President Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur). During the Gus Dur administration only 33.33 per cent of cabinet members had links with the New Order and during the Megawati administration 31.25 per cent.

"During the Gus Dur administration there were five people who were former high ranking officials in the New Order regime, in Mega's time there were three people, and in the SBY-Kalla administration five people. They are [Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs] Widodo AS, [Home Affairs Minister] M. Ma'ruf, [Cabinet Secretary] Sudi Silalahi, [State Minister of Administrative Reforms] Taufik Efendi and [Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries] Fredy Numberi", said Safinuddin.

Safinuddin specifically highlighted a number of questionable figures in the cabinet's economic team, in particular the coordinating minister for the economy, Aburizal Bakrie, who is the owner of Bank Nusa National and received money from the Bank Indonesia's Liquidity Support Fund (BLBI) which in the end was taken over by the government. He is also linked to the ownership of 10 per cent of the shares in PT Freeport which has caused the state financial loses.

In the People's Representative Assembly meanwhile, there has been a reduction in the number of people linked with the New Order. In 1999 more than half of the assembly members were former New Order politicians. In 2004 this fell to 39.82 per cent.

In the Regional Representative Councils, 42 out of 128 members or 32.81 per cent are former New Order politicians. "This institution is chaired by Ginandjar Kartasasmita who on many occasion held ministerial posts during Suharto's time. He also has legal problems as it is believed that he has been involved in a number of corruption cases", explained Safinuddin.

By way of clarification, Safinuddin explained that an indication that a person is linked to the New Order is that during New Order period they held posts such as ministers, governors, mayors, regents, high ranking officers in the TNI (armed forces) or police, were legislative members, leaders of political parties which were products of the new order such as the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the United Development Party or leaders of mass organisations which supported the New Order. (gtp)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Ministers, legislators slow to report assets

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- None of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet members had submitted a wealth report to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as of Friday, a commission member stated.

As part of efforts to create a clean government, Susilo told his new ministers last Friday to submit their reports to the commission within a week.

But KPK deputy chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said Friday that his office had yet to get the reports from the Cabinet members.

He also said that none of the legislators sworn in on October 1 had submitted their wealth reports. "We haven't received any," Erry said.

The commission, which was set up to fight corruption here, gave legislators until November 1 to submit their wealth reports.

On Thursday, KPK chairman Taufikurrahman Ruki met Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi, however Sudi requested more time for the ministers to complete their wealth reports.

There was no official announcement about their tardiness, but Ruki said that some of the new ministers had never filled out a wealth report and so were not familiar with the requirements.

As for the legislators, KPK director for wealth reports M. Yasin said the office had not yet received any wealth reports from the new national or city legislators.

He explained that his office had asked the General Elections Commission (KPU) to forward the wealth reports that they had received from legislators before the election.

"We do not have exact figures for all the regional and national legislators across the country. But the KPU has those figures," Yasin said.

Candidates contesting the April 5 legislative elections were required to submit their wealth reports to the commission before being declared eligible to run.

There are roughly 12,000 legislators at various administrative levels around the country.

KPU member Mulyana W. Kusuma admitted that his office had the reports, but stressed that they were not complete.

"The reports are very short, but we will send them if the KPK needs them," he said.

Law No. 28/1999 on good governance and Law No. 30/2002 on the antigraft commission requires state officials to declare their wealth before and after assuming office.

The laws require other state officials, including legislators, to submit their wealth reports to the KPK in a bid to maintain transparency and monitor possible irregularities.

However, there is no penalty stipulated for state officials who fail to disclose their wealth. If state officials make false statements on their wealth reports, they can only be charged with making false reports.

The KPK will only look into reports that seem to contain irregularities.

President, House face off on TNI issue

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- House of Representative speakers and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met for the first time on Friday amid tension between the two sides over who should lead the Indonesian Military (TNI).

The dispute over the controversial establishment of House commission leaders was also top of the agenda in the 30-minute talks, which was not in Susilo's schedule for the day until the last minute.

Agung told a post-meeting conference the President had agreed to accept the House's intention to continue the nomination of Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu as TNI chief, replacing Gen. Endriartono Sutarto by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri: an apparent backdown from his earlier position.

"We informed the President about the establishment of the commissions in the House, including the appointment of commission leaders. We also told him some of the leadership posts remained vacant as we have allocated them to other parties," Agung said, referring to parties that supported Susilo's presidential bid in the September 20 election.

Agung said the President wanted the House to begin its duties as soon as possible. The House leaders come from parties that have vowed to build a strong opposition to the president.

Judging from his latest move, Susilo seems to be making reconciliation with the House a priority following his inauguration last week. If Susilo has accepted the establishment of the House commission leaders it would be a blow to his own People's Coalition in the House, which has boycotted the commission election process and filed a no-confidence motion against House leaders.

Agung said the President was aware of the House's authority to continue the discussion on TNI change of guard and was likely to accept Ryamizard's appointment.

State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who also attended the meeting, confirmed the decision. "President Susilo is likely to appoint the same candidate for the TNI chief post, so the problem is not so critical," he said.

It remains unclear, however, whether Susilo will withdraw his letter asking House leaders to suspend talks on TNI chief succession. In the letter, Susilo said the succession would be part of his administration's comprehensive reshuffle of the armed forces leadership.

In the last days of her term, Megawati sent her own letter to House leaders, approving the resignation bid of Endriartono and appointing Ryamizard as the acting TNI chief. The House, however, could not respond as the commission mandated to discuss the matter did not yet exist.

Agung said on Friday that Endriartono remained the TNI chief until the House Commission I finished the process of Ryamizard's appointment soon.

After the meeting with House leaders, Susilo summoned Endriartono, Ryamizard, Air Force chief Marshall Chappy Hakim, Navy chief Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh and National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar. There was no official statement on the substance of the meeting, but Endriartono said TNI official statement would be announced on Monday

Opposing House factions cling to their positions

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Jakarta -- The two opposing factions in the House of Representatives remained locked in their respective positions on Friday, raising the possibility of a lengthy deadlock in the legislative body.

Members of the Nationhood Coalition and the National Awakening Party (PKB) proceeded with commission meetings on Friday, while the People's Coalition issued a no-confidence motion against House leaders, all of whom are from the Nationhood Coalition.

The Nationhood Coalition consists of Golkar, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) and the Reform Star Party (PBR). The members of the People's Coalition include the United Development Party (PPP), National Mandate Party (PAN), Democratic Party, Prosperous Peace Party (PKS) and several smaller parties grouped under the Democratic Pioneer Reform faction.

"We have to start our work as legislators. That is our moral responsibility," House Speaker Agung Laksono of Golkar said.

The House's defense commission and its honor council held separate internal meetings on Friday to discuss their agendas.

Members of the commission and council seemed unfazed by claims that plenary meetings attended by the Nationhood Coalition and the PKB over the past few days were illegitimate and thus could not produce legally binding decisions.

Members of the People's Coalition have boycotted all House meetings since Tuesday, after their demand that commission chairmanship posts be distributed proportionately was rejected by the Nationhood Coalition, which wanted to put the posts to the vote.

The proportional system would ensure that each faction -- including members of the People's Coalition, which supports the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- would receive chairmanship posts. Voting on the posts, on the other hand, would lead to a dominance of the leadership positions by Golkar and PDI-P, the two largest factions in the House.

With the People's Coalition boycotting the meetings, the plenary sessions held on Wednesday and Thursday were attended by five factions only, short of the six factions required by the House's standing orders to make a plenary meeting legitimate.

The Nationhood Coalition and the PKB, however, agreed to amend the standing orders on Thursday to make plenary meetings attended by more than half of all legislators, regardless of the number of factions represented, a quorum and thus able to take binding decisions. The PPP, meanwhile, said on Friday it had submitted a motion of no-confidence against House leaders for violating the standing orders on the formation of commissions and auxiliary bodies.

"The implication is that we will not attend meetings and consider commission leaders elected by violating the standing orders as illegitimate," PPP secretary-general Lukman Hakim was quoted by Antara as saying.

Saying that all of the other members of the People's Coalition were behind the PPP, Lukman also criticized the House leaders for siding with the Nationhood Coalition rather than attempting to bridge the differences between the two coalitions.

PAN faction chairman Abdillah Toha, meanwhile, urged the government not to send ministers to hold hearings with the House commissions until this controversy was resolved.

Non-governmental activists called on Friday on the Constitutional Court to step in an settle the dispute in the House to prevent the situation from deteriorating.

"It is not only illegitimate (the election of the commission leaders), but the process is a violation of political ethics," said Bivitri Susanti of the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies.

Smita Notosusanto of the Center for Electoral Reform and Firmansyah Arifin of the Consortium for National Law Reform suggested that the Constitutional Court play a role in settling the dispute.

Shock therapy fails to jolt

Sydney Morning Herald - October 30, 2004

Matthew Moore and Karuni Rompies, Jakarta -- In the months before he was swept to office, Indonesia's new president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, promised a 100-day plan as a way of breaking through the malaise of President Megawati Soekaroputri's administration.

In a country tired of do-little government the idea had strong appeal, something Dr Yudhoyono recognised at his first cabinet meeting, where he described the plan as "shock therapy" -- a phrase that has intensified expectations.

But 10 days into his administration, there is scant detail of what the plan involves or what shock therapy will entail. Instead, there has been a series of wacky announcements by new ministers.

The Minister for State Apparatus, Taufiq Effendi, promised that in the first 100 days his ministry would recruit "204,584 employees for the position of teachers, medical staff and other strategic posts".

The Minister for Social Affairs, Bachtiar Chamsyah, proposed a no-guarantee credit scheme to provide amounts from $80 to $800 to help the poor. "This is to eliminate poverty," he said.

Free food for pilgrims in Mecca was one idea thrown up by the Religious Affairs Ministry. Free houses were promised by the Housing Ministry.

The Forests Minister, Malam Sambat Kaban, stunned those fighting to save what is left of Indonesia's forests when he was quoted by the Jakarta Post as advocating a return to the days of former Soeharto-era logging supremo, Bob Hasan, who has just been let out out of jail.

An Indonesian expert from the Australian National University, Dr Greg Fealy, said that he has been reading details of what he called these "cloud cuckoo land" pronouncements with a sense of disbelief.

With no sign yet of a serious 100-day plan, Dr Yudhoyono has spent much of his first days in office trying to set a tone for his new government.

One day he made a public visit to the offices of the Attorney- General and the police chief to repeat his call for a crackdown on corruption. The next day it was over to Customs and Excise to urge an end to smuggling, before heading over to the tax office to ask for a huge increase in the amount of revenue collected.

The important decision so far has been the selection of his new cabinet. Dr Yudhoyono had promised professionals appointed on merit. But with his Democrat Party holding just 10 per cent of the seats in parliament, he has been forced to compromise, and the response has been patchy at best.

The appointment of the business tycoon and Golkar party figure Aburizal Bakrie as Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy was largely seen as a retrograde step.

So, too, the decision to put a noted economist, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, into the National Planning Agency instead of making her the finance minister, a job taken by a little known bureaucrat.

To the Indonesia representative of the Asia Foundation, Dr Douglas Ramage, the new cabinet was "more or less like the last cabinet", with some notable differences, especially in the justice system.

He expected a concerted effort to prosecute known corruption offenders because of the "outstanding choice" of a Supreme Court judge, Abdul Rahman Saleh, as the Attorney-General.

He also praised the new Justice Minister, Hamid Awaluddin, but admitted he was a little perturbed by his "distasteful" decision last weekend to visit and be photographed with Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged leader of Jemaah Islamiah, who went on trial this week over the Bali and Marriott hotel bombings.

Dr Greg Barton, of Deakin University, was concerned the new cabinet would be reluctant to pursue Jemaah Islamiah and could allow support to grow for Bashir. "The Attorney General's position will be quite significant when it comes to pursuing JI and it may be the case that Saleh will go softer on Abu Bakar Bashir than others," he said.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Forestry officials graft suspects

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Puji Santoso, Pekanbaru -- The Prosecutor's Office has named the head of the Kampar Forestry and Plantations Office (Kadishutbun), Kamril Nur, as a suspect in the embezzlement of Rp 3.8 billion (US$422,000) allocated for the development of an oil palm plantation in Kampar regency.

Prosecutors have also named the manager of the project, Repanis, as a suspect. "They were charged as suspects after being questioned by prosecutors for a second time, and will be detained soon," Enita Menhar, a Riau Prosecutor's Office spokesman, said on Saturday. The two would be detained on the grounds that they had not been cooperative during the investigation, said Enita.

Meanwhile, Edward, an assistant with the Riau Prosecutor's Office Special Crimes Unit, confirmed that the two suspects would be detained. "Both suspects will be held to expedite the investigation process, and we are preparing detention orders for both of them," said Edward.

The corruption case came to light after the Riau prosecutors unearthed irregularities in the agribusiness project in Kampar regency in 2003. Based on the project blueprint, the government allocated Rp 3.8 billion for the planting of oil palms on 700 hectares of land. An additional sum of Rp 1.7 billion was provided for the maintenance of the oil palms.

The suspects claimed that the project had been completed recently, but when checked by the Kampar audit agency and the prosecutors, the palm oil project was found to only extend to 150 hectares of land rather than 700 hectares originally planned.

Probe into councillors must stop: Protesters

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

Semarang -- About 2,000 people calling themselves the Marhaen People's Alliance staged protest on Monday here, demanding local prosecutors stop a probe into a Rp 14 billion (US$1.5 million) corruption case involving Central Java councillors.

The protesters said the graft charges were politically motivated and should be halted.

The protesters were supporters of Mardijo, the former chairman of Central Java council from 1999 to this year and the former chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's Central Java chapter.

Government plans to send corruptors to prison island

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- In an apparent start of the government's "shock therapy" on graft and terrorism, the government announced on Monday it planned to send people convicted of serious corruption and terror offenses to Nusakambangan prison island.

Minister for Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin said, however, only corrupters serving long sentences in Jakarta who had exhausted their appeal options would be moved to the Batu penitentiary on the island.

"I don't want to name them, but obviously those who have received stiff sentences [would go]. A priority would be given to those who are serving long prison terms," Hamid said.

The announcement came after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said corruption eradication was a top priority and that he would personally lead the drive.

However, a high-ranking ministry official familiar with the island laughed at the "shock therapy" concept, saying the condition of prisons on Nusakambangan was better and more relaxed than those in Jakarta.

"I once saw inmates sitting under the sun on the seashore watching members of the Army's Special Force [Kopassus] doing military exercises," he said. The official said he traveled to the island every year.

There are only few graft convicts serving jail terms in Jakarta. Among them are Beddu Amang, a former chairman of State Logistics Agency (Bulog) convicted to three years' jail for graft, and Pande Lubis, a former deputy chief of the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (BPPN), sentenced to six years' jail for his involvement in the Bank Bali scandal.

Most convicted terrorists, including those sentenced to death, are appealing their verdicts and are unlikely to be sent to Nusakambangan any time soon.

Other convicts in high-profile graft cases, including those involved in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI), fled the country before being brought to justice.

Most of those implicated in the Rp 1.7 trillion (US$185 million) Bank Nasional Indonesia (BNI) scandal, who were sentenced to jail for between eight and 15 years, are also appealing their cases.

The Batu penitentiary is not a maximum security prison, unlike the two other jails on the island -- Karanganyar and Karangtengah.

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the son of former president Soeharto, is currently serving his 15-year jail term in Batu. Previously, businessman Muhammad "Bob" Hasan also served his time there, but was let out after serving more than half of his sentence.

Asked about what the ministry would do about high-profile graft convicts enjoying more privileges on the restricted Nusakambangan island, Hamid said the ministry would increase security there.

Banda Aceh mayor gets five years in prison for graft

Deutsche Presse Agentur - October 26, 2004

Banda Aceh -- A district court in the restive province of Aceh sentenced Tuesday the mayor of the capital, Banda Aceh, to five years in prison for embezzling more than US$386,000 in state funds.

Banda Aceh Mayor Zulkarnain was found guilty of violating anti- corruption laws. In previous court hearings, government prosecutors demanded 10 years in prison for Zulkarnain.

Presiding judge Syafruddin Nasution said in his verdict Zulkarnain had been found legally and convicingly guilty of violating anti-corruption laws that caused the state to suffer Rp3.5 billion ($386,700) in losses.

Nasution said the defendant, together with other suspects, were guilty of enriching themselves with money allocated to help improve people's welfare as part of the government's program to alleviate poverty in the province.

Besides handing down the five-year sentence, the court also ordered Zulkarnain to return the money to the government and pay a 200,000-rupiah ($22,000 dollar) fine.

Zulkarnain's case was one of a number of graft cases that have plagued Aceh.

KPK to focus on three cases

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

Jakarta -- The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Tuesday it would devote much of its energy to alleged graft in the sale of Pertamina supertankers, haj arrangements by the ministry of religion and procurement of equipment by the state radio RRI.

"We are now conducting an investigation into the cases," deputy KPK chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said after a meeting with the Professional Civil Society (MPM) on Tuesday. Erry said the investigation would require quite a bit of time because the cases are "complicated", he said. The commission considers the cases high profile.

The commission, which is expected to bring two high profile cases to anti-corruption court soon, is currently investigating four other cases, including alleged markups in the busway project by the Jakarta administration.

Police, AGO go for minor cases to meet target

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2004

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- Responding to the war on corruption launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the National Police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) have decided to prioritize several graft cases in the first 100 days of the new administration.

National Police director of the corruption crimes division, Brig. Gen. Indarto, said on Thursday that investigators would concentrate on finishing the case files for the alleged corruption cases involving Karaha Bodas, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh and Bank Swansarindo as well as question former attorney general MA Rachman. "We must concentrate on cases that we can resolve in the next 100 days. In the meantime, we are still trying to gather evidence in other cases," said Indarto.

Police suspect that there were markups by the Texas-based Karaha Bodas Company at a geothermal plant in Garut, West Java. They have named former head of Pertamina's geothermal division Priyanto, his aide Syafei Sulaiman and American Robert D. McCutchen of KBC as suspects for their alleged roles in fictitious transactions and cost markups in the project, which may have cause billions of rupiah in state losses. Indarto said police were now trying to fulfill requests in the case file returned by prosecutors.

In Puteh's graft case, which has reportedly cost the nation Rp 30 billion, police have yet to gather hard evidence to link the Aceh governor with the case. William Taylor, a local businessman, is the only suspect so far in the case. Previously, he had been questioned by the Aceh police. His testimony led the police to Puteh.

Another corruption case involving Bank Swansarindo, now known as Bank Persarikatan since it was acquired by several individuals from the country's second largest Muslim association Muhammadiyah, was recently made public by the police. "We have yet to find suspects in the case that has caused Rp 60 billion in state losses," said Indarto.

In the case of alleged corruption by former Attorney General MA Rachman, he was accused of failing to include a luxury house and a number of bank accounts on his income report to the government's wealth audit commission. However, the police could not proceed with the case before because former president Megawati refused them permission to interrogate Rachman. "We now have a schedule to interrogate MA Rachman after we review his case," Indarto said.

However, many much bigger cases were not mentioned by the police, the Rp 20.9 trillion Account No. 502 case and the Rp 900 billion government commodity regulator (Bulog) fiasco. Th Bulog case centers around embezzlement of surplus subsidy funds. Police investigators declared seven suspects in 2003 but they were forced to release them due to their failure to submit solid evidence to the prosecutor's office.

Even more confusing was the way in which the police handled the Account No. 502 case. They had once named several high-ranking officials from Bank Indonesia, the now-defunct Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA) and individuals from private companies, but later denied ever having declared them suspects.

The Attorney General's Office has also been concentrating on a few relatively medium-profile cases to resolve in the next 100 days.

AGO spokesman RJ Soehandojo said that they were preparing to bring Adrian Waworuntu, a key suspect in the Rp 1.7 trillion BNI scandal, to court as soon as possible while announcing that they intended to prioritize other cases, such as the Rp 3.8 billion markup allegation at PT Angkasa Pura II and the Rp 2.2 billion graft case involving the regent of Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

Some of the high-profile cases that have been halted or have been idle for some time at the AGO, include the graft case involving Regional Representative Council (DPD) chairman Ginandjar Kartasasmita and the more than Rp 120 trillion Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support Fund (BLBI) embezzlement case. Neither of those cases were mentioned on Thursday.

Cops, officials, thugs worst highway robbers: Truckers

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2004

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Oyos Saroso, Jakarta/Lampung -- Pardede, a truck driver, had just eaten a meal at a busy roadside Begadang Restaurant, Bandarlampung. But while his stomach was full, his wallet was not.

Gazing out at the traffic, it did not take much time for Pardede to share his concerns with The Jakarta Post. His main problem was the extortion along Sumatra highways -- the illegal levies he had to pay to police and officials at the many weighing stations.

Pardede said most of the stations were not about protecting standards or safety but about collecting illegal levies. Most inspections were generally lackadaisical, he said.

"Even though the load we carry does not exceed the required tonnage, we still have to pay levies," Pardede, who usually transports fruit from Medan to the Kramat Jati wholesale market in Jakarta, said.

Pardede said extortion was widespread on highways in South Sumatra, Lampung, and when entering Jakarta.

Drivers, he said, usually set aside about Rp 400,000 (US$44.00) to Rp 500,000 for uang rokok, or "cigarette money", for a one-way journey, because there were up to 30 of such posts on a normal route, be they official weighing stations or illegal ones, along the highway. "Our employers always provide money, about Rp 300,000 for a one-way trip, but the amount is never enough," he said.

Djauluhan Sidabutar, a driver for a cargo company in Pluit, North Jakarta, agreed. He said almost all police offices, highway checkpoints, military posts and special forestry police units on the East and Central Sumatra highways imposed between Rp 20,000 and Rp 100,000 each in illegal levies on trucks transporting commodities from Sumatra to Java. Sidabutar said most drivers had no other choice but to pay the illegal fees to ensure they arrived at their destinations on time.

"Despite no traffic violations and complete paperwork, all officers find new excuses for extorting drivers and we generally give up because we cannot argue. If we are involved in bickering, our trucks will be forcefully withheld," Sidabutar said in Jakarta.

Highway extortion by officials was less common during the iron- fisted rule of former president Soeharto but became more widespread after the dictator stepped down in 1998, he said. "During the New Order era, we paid only [military] security personnel. Now, we are facing hoodlums, police stations, police precincts, patrolling police, military offices, public transport office personnel, and weigh bridges."

The rampant extortion has sometimes spurred drivers into acts of violence. In mid-August, several truck drivers, furious over the illegal levies, went on a rampage and destroyed a collection post in Natar, South Lampung, putting it out of action for two months.

While the cost to business for the highway extortion has not been calculated, it is part of Rp 3 trillion a year in illegal levies estimated to be paid by businesses nationwide. The money goes to gangsters, corrupt government officials and security personnel, a joint study by the Center of Asia-Pacific Studies and the United States Agency for International Development says.

The study based on a survey of 100 manufacturing companies in Sumatra, Java and Bali shows investors paid about 7.5 percent of their export fees in illegal levies. The study's team leader, Mudrajad Kuncoro, said recently official export fees for manufacturing products had reached Rp 4 million a container.

"[It's not surprising] the illegal levies have reached about Rp 3 trillion because Indonesia exports around 10 million containers of manufactured products annually," he said.

Jambi's West Tanjungjabung Regent Usman Ermulan called on the new government to show its commitment to eliminating illegal levies, to ensure the distribution of basic commodities, and to attract investors to Sumatra.

Media/press freedom

Press freedom eroding, says Reporters sans Frontier

Jakarta Post - October 28, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati -- Press freedom in Indonesia remains under serious threat due to the existence of outdated laws, and killings and physical attacks targeting journalists, an international press organization has said in a report.

The Reporters sans Frontier (RSF) organization ranked Indonesia 117th out of 167 countries surveyed in its third annual worldwide press freedom index, which was released on Tuesday.

Besides killings and physical attacks targeting journalists, the group specifically pointed to the government's decision to make Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam out-of-bounds to the media during martial law there between May 2003 and May 2004.

Indonesia was ranked 110th out of 166 countries surveyed by the RSF last year, a drop from 57th the previous year. Press figures in the country acknowledged that press freedom here had continued to deteriorate despite the media boom following the fall of Soeharto's New Order regime in 1998.

"Indeed, the situation is very bad as both the authorities and members of society remain unaware of the need for press freedom even though Indonesia has gained wider freedom thanks to reform," Atmakusumah Astraatmadja, a former Press Council chairman, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said most Indonesians, who had lived under authoritarian rule for more than 40 years, considered the press to merely be a business instead of an integral part of democracy.

Atmakusumah also highlighted the fact that Indonesia had also failed to update the Criminal Code in line with the changing times. The Criminal Code contained 35 articles that permitted the criminal prosecution of journalists for their writings.

There were also 10 laws, such as the Copyright Law, the Companies Law, the Monopolies Law and the States of Emergency Law, whose articles could be used to criminalize the press and journalists. Worse, Atmakusumah revealed that the revised criminal code, drafted by a team under former justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, contained 45 articles that could be used to criminalize journalists and media.

Hinca Panjaitan, a member of the Press Council, said that the fact that Indonesia's decision to use legislation to bring criminal prosecutions against the press showed that the authorities lack the commitment to upholding press freedom.

A number of journalists have been prosecuted for their stories. The latest was Bambang Harymurti, the chief editor of Tempo magazine, who was sentenced to one year in jail for the weekly's report on the alleged involvement of a businessman in a fire that razed Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta last year.

"Legal protection is very important for protecting press freedom," he said, while calling on the new government to pay a serious attention to the issue.

Apart from the legal aspect, both Atmakusumah and Hinca agreed that the country's media and journalists had been facing threats from both the authorities and members of society.

Earlier this year, Ersa Siregar, a reporter with RCTI television was killed in a shootout between the military and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels in Aceh.

The country also witnessed a number of physical attacks on media institutions and journalists that were committed by members of society who felt upset by stories involving them.

"Any physical acts against the news media are unacceptable. If they deem a story to be insulting, they must file an objection with the media outlet and not launch a physical attack," Hinca said.

Atmakusumah said that most Indonesians were incapable of properly appreciating press freedom. They would not hesitate to attack a media outlet or a journalist if they believed a news story prejudiced them, even if it was accurate, he added.

"They hate it if the media disturbs their comfortable lives. They are not aware that publishing negative news is also one of the main duties of the media -- part of its social control function.

"I don't think we will go back to the past but it is clear that we need to devote more energy to fighting for real press freedom in the country," he said.

Human rights/law

Presumptuous to nominate itself as head of UN commission

Detik.com - October 28, 2004

Meriam Debora, Jakarta -- Moves to nominate Indonesia as the head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and as a permanent member of the Security Council are presumptuous because of the many cases of human rights violations in Indonesia which have yet to be resolved.

This statement was made by the coordinator of the Committee for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, during a press conference at the Kontras' offices on Jalan Borobudur Menteng in Central Jakarta on Thursday October 28.

"I think this is positive but the move is presumptuous bearing in mind that Indonesia's human rights record is not very good. For example the perpetrators of human rights violations in Tanjung Priok(1) and East Timor have been released. Not to mention the [question of the] ratification of a number of international conventions such as linking the principle of civil and political rights", said Hamid.

According to Hamid, if Indonesia is willing to ratify a number of international conventions then it is reasonable for the Indonesian government to nominate itself. "In spite of this we see that there is a good opportunity for Indonesia to become a member of the UN Security Council because of the political situation in [other] Asian [countries] which is no better than Indonesia", he continued.

Hamid went on to talk about the situation in various Asian countries with regard to human rights. "It's the turn for an Asian country to become the head of the UN Human Rights Commission for the 61st session next year. India and Pakistan have also nominated themselves to head the commission, but there is still the problem of the conflict in Kashmir and the gross human rights violations [occurring] there. Just recently in Thailand there has been serious crimes against humanity. Singapore does hot have civil liberties and instead tends toward authoritarianism, this is also the case in Malaysia", he explained.

Nevertheless said Hamid, support does exist for the nomination. "There may be some support, [because] the UN is in a dilemma. On the one side it is indeed Asia's turn and Indonesia has a good chance because it can be said that it is better than other Asian countries on the issue of human rights. But on the other hand the UN is still not satisfied [with Indonesia's record] because of the release of perpetrators of human rights crimes in East Timor", asserted Hamid.

Moreover, in Hamid's view the Indonesian government will be scorned upon by the international community. "Because on the one side, although it would hold a position of prestige, on the other they are aware that it is true that Indonesia has not fully implemented the country's [commitment] to advance and protect human rights. Just because Indonesia could holds a position of prestige this does not mean that Indonesia will be exempt from criticism or influence by the international community on efforts to uphold human rights", said Hamid. (dit)

Notes:

1. On 12 September 1984, dozens of people were killed and injured when troops fired on Muslim demonstrators in the port district of Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. The perpetrators of the killings did not come to trial until 2003-2004 and the majority were released or given extremely light sentences.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Conditional support for bid to head rights commission

Kompas - October 29, 2004

Jakarta -- A number of non-government organisations (NGOs) who are concerned with issues of human rights are supporting the Indonesian government's nomination as the head of the United Nations Human Rights Commission on the condition that the government must first resolve cases of human rights violations which have occurred in the country.

This was taken up during a press conference on Thursday October 28 which was attended by a number of NGOs including the Indonesian NGO Coalition for International Human Right Advocacy (HRWG), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Institute for Public Research and Advocacy (Elsam), Indonesian Human Rights Monitoring, Demos, the International NGO Forum for Indonesian Development (INFID) and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PPHI).

In a joint press release the organisations said that for Indonesia to become a member of the UN Security Council it indeed appears ambitious and unrealistic. But for it to become the head of the UN Human Rights Commission for the 61st session next year is realistic in terms of the logic of international politics.

In addition to this, in nominating itself as the head of the Human Rights Commission, Indonesia has a number of advantages going for it. One of these is because it is Asia's turn and secondly because Indonesia is one of the countries which has the greatest chance because India and Pakistan, who have also nominated themselves, are blocked because they are in the midst of a dispute.

HRWG coordinator Rafendi Djamin said that Indonesia's chances of winning the position of head of the Human Rights Commission are very good. Indonesia therefore must demonstrate the highest international commitment to resolving cases of human rights violations such as those which have occurred in West Papua, Aceh and East Timor. (sie/vin)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Stop forced eviction now: Geneva-based rights group

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- An international housing rights protection organization called on the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to put a stop to forced evictions in Indonesia.

The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) said on Friday that forced evictions in Indonesia were "endemic" and had reached alarming levels, and the new administration must act quickly to stop the inhumane practice.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso recently gave orders to the new mayors of West and Central Jakarta to step up the evictions of street vendors and squatters in their respective mayoralties.

"We urge the new government to respect calls for a moratorium on forced evictions throughout Indonesia, suspend all plans for forced evictions immediately and ensure that no public or private institution carries out forced evictions," COHRE senior legal officer Cassandra Goldie told a press briefing here.

Goldie said that the government must ensure that policies at all administrative levels are consistent with housing rights.

She said evictions in the country were frequently carried out violently and violated the sense of justice. "They are carried out violently ... with bulldozers, sometimes with people still living in their homes," she said.

Indonesia has a poor record on housing rights protection. In 2001, about 50,000 people were forcefully evicted from their homes and places of work in Jakarta alone. Between August and October of last year, over 15,000 city dwellers were evicted by the Jakarta city administration.

COHRE also recorded the destruction of housing and loss of land in other areas of the country, including strife-torn provinces.

For its poor housing rights record, COHRE accorded Indonesia, along with Guatemala and Serbia Montenegro, a dubious international award for housing rights violators.

COHRE launched a five-year global campaign against evictions this year.

Goldie said that on the rare occasions when evictions were inevitable, the government must ensure that the human rights of the evictees were respected, that the evictees were consulted first before being told to leave their homes and that they received adequate compensation.

Barkah Gumulya of the Urban Poor Consortium, a local partner of COHRE, said that given the myriad factors contributing to forced evictions, the government, city dwellers and relevant non- governmental organizations must find workable solutions.

"One of the reasons for evictions of the urban poor is because the city administration never asks them to partake in drawing up policies concerning where they can live and do business," he said.

News & issues

Many residents have no access to power

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

Palembang -- More than half of South Sumatra's residents have no access to electricity, due to the remote locations of their homes, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Of 1.1 million households in South Sumatra, 60 percent have no access to electricity, said chief of the South Sumatra administration's Village Electricity Program Zahirsyah.

Many areas of the province are mountainous, causing state electricity company PT PLN difficulties in setting up its network there, said Zahirsyah.

Environment

Destructive fishing and Togean Islands coral

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

Fachruddin Majeri Mangunjaya, Jakarta -- We set off for a Bajau village on Kabalutan island, Palu from the port of Ampana, on Sulawesi's eastern peninsula. The journey was exhausting, but the still, clear waters of the Togean islands -- which Kabalutan is among -- was compensation enough.

The wooden houses of the Bajau people are roofed with palm leaves and built on stilts over the water. While each house has its own yard, the boundaries between them are often unclear.

The village has a population of approximately 2000, or 250 families, whose livelihoods depend on fishing. Kabalutan island is an offshore reef no more than three hectares in size. It is very hard to find fresh water there, which is mostly brought in from other islands, and vegetation comprises a couple of palm trees.

Fishing is the main source of revenue for the village. The Bajau traditionally dive for fish, but also catch them by trawling out at sea. However, in recent times, some fishermen have employed other methods -- which are harmful to the environment -- to catch fish, including the use of explosives and potassium cyanide.

"Cyanide fishing" has become popular with the increased trade of napoleon and grouper fish, which must be caught alive. The fish are transported to Palu to be exported to Hong Kong. The fish are briefly intoxicated before being revived, but the poison also kills coral, as well as plankton (microorganisms eaten by small fish) in the vicinity of its use.

"The poison may harm the environment within a one kilometer radius," said Khairul Anwar, a marine biologist with Conservation International Indonesia (CI), during a field visit to Kabalutan Island at the end of last September. Such harmful practices have allegedly been used in the area since the 1980s.

Mahmud, 45, explained that it was harder than ever to make a living. Fifteen years ago he could catch 20 kilograms to 25 kilograms of fish every time he went out to sea. "Before our catch was always sufficient, but now it isn't even enough to cover our costs," said the fisherman, who is also a teacher at Al-Khairat Islamic School.

He said that he used to fish just once a week, and spent the rest of the week teaching. His income from fishing was a lot more than the salary of a public servant of III C class (on an average of Rp 1.2 million per month). Now, he has to fish every night to make ends meet. "We cannot even catch sea cucumbers, let alone fish," he complained.

Guru Mahmud, a fisherman, has dedicated his life to teaching religion. Some 100 students attend his dirt-floored school. But his students can no longer afford the donation of Rp 1,000 a month, which they had previously given him to teach. "I don't mind if they can't pay, as long as I can still go out to sea," Guru said. Classes are held in the afternoon while he fishes at night to make a living.

He is thankful that people are now aware of the damage done by certain fishing methods. Fishermen of several villages have started to make efforts to save the Togean islands. "If we cannot overcome the problem, future generations will suffer. Where could they go to find fish?" Mahmud said.

A number of fishermen have established associations to curtail destructive fishing activities. The initiative started with the establishment of a Marine Conservation Area (DPL) by the people. Its management, as well as sanctions for violators, are stipulated under village regulations (PERDES). The conservation area in accompanied by another in Kilat Bay.

"We hope that such community efforts will set an example for others, so that the conservation areas expand," said Christoverius Hutabarat, M.Si., program manager of CI in Palu. The CI has been working on community empowerment in the area for several years and within Indonesia for seven.

Guru Mahmud explained that religion prohibits the destruction of the land and sea by humans. "I am just a regular line fisherman, I don't use bombs. Their lives are no better than mine. I have enough food. I also smoke like them. In fact, they face risks -- some of them were hurt in an explosion, which they set off," he said.

[Fachruddin Majeri Mangunjaya is an environmental journalist with Conservation International Indonesia.]

Environment in big cities is poor and harmful to health

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- The environment in the country's major cities is poor condition and adversely affects the population's health, a report says.

The 2003 State of the Environment Report in Indonesia released by the Office of the State Minister of the Environment on Tuesday says that the quality of air and water is generally poor, while that of the country's pristine woodlands, water and its biodiversity has decreased over the past year.

Data collected from five major cities revealed that urban populations inhale polluted air that contains toxic materials above the tolerable level of 150 microgram/m3.

"Jakarta has 57 days per year when the quality of air exceeds the level, followed by Pekanbaru's 40 days per year, Pontianak's 28, Palangkaraya's 17 and Bandung's 10," the report says. As a result, the risk of Indonesian urban populations having health problems is 12.8 times greater than those who reside in cities with less gas-emitting motor vehicles.

The previous report showed that as a result of lead pollution, the IQ of children decreased every year.

As to water, the report says the population lacks access to clean water either due to drought or heavy pollution. Research on the quality of water that runs through West Java's main rivers -- Citarum, Cisadane, Ciliwung, Cileungsi and Cimanuk -- found that it has been polluted with Coliform bacteria above the tolerable level of 2,000 units per 100 millimeter.

It also says that almost all rivers in the country have been polluted from upstream. "Because rivers are the usual source of water, consumers are susceptible to communicable diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid, skin problems and hepatitis," the report says. The report attributes water pollution to industrial and agricultural activities as well as domestic waste.

Similar woes also afflict marine life, which has deteriorated over the years. "Surveys at 52 spots show that 70 percent of our coral reefs are in bad shape due to the use of explosives and trawlers for fishing, hazardous materials from the shore and tourist activities," the report says. Indonesia is home to 42,000 square kilometers, or 16.5 percent, of the world's coral reefs.

The country also recorded a decrease in mangrove forests from 72,330 hectares in the 1980-1990 period to 60,070 hectares in the 1990-2000 period.

The pace of illegal logging has reached a worrisome level and inflicts severe losses on the state, says the report. "In 2001, 56.98 million hectares of woodlands were deforested. Total losses from the illegal activity in 2002 was Rp 30.42 trillion," the report says.

Aside from the material losses, forest destruction resulted in a greater frequency of natural disasters. "In 2003, landslides occurred in 111 locations in 13 provinces. Central Java and West Java had the most, respectively with 48 and 33 landslides," it says.

Environmental destruction has also contributed to the extinction of rare species. "In February 2003, 90 types of vegetation and 176 animal species were on the brink of extinction," the report says, quoting a finding from research jointly conducted by Indonesian, Dutch, Japanese and British scientists.

State Minister of the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said that the report could help the government draw up an environmentally friendly development plan. "This could serve as a solid foundation for a environment-aware government," he said.

'Debt-for-nature swaps questionable'

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2004

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- The absence of clear-cut domestic regulations sanctioning the debt-for-nature-swap (DNS) scheme has hampered the way for its full-fledged implementation, a non- governmental organization says.

The Kehati biodiversity foundation said Thursday that there were neither ministries nor government agencies authorized to manage and hold responsibility for the implementation of the swap scheme.

Indonesia has been seeking to swap bilateral debts with nature conservation, under which money allocated to pay foreign loans would be redirected to paying conservation initiatives.

Agung Purnomo of Kehati said the absence of a single agency had resulted in frustrating rivalries among government agencies in the dragging negotiation process and became major constraint for the implementation of the DNS in the country.

Agung also said the absence of such a rigorous institution had deterred conservation investors from joining the fray.

"The existing task force on debt-for-nature swap does not have the mechanism to register conservation investors and is incapable of providing up-to-date information on the debt swap implementation," Agung said in a seminar here.

A DNS is the cancellation of debts, particularly foreign debts, in exchange for a commitment to mobilize domestic financing for the conservation of natural resources or the environment. Indonesia's external debts currently stand at US$73 billion.

Past experiences also showed that an agreed upon DNS was not implemented due to turbulent political and economic environment. Between March 1999 and January 2002, the pursuance of the scheme was stalled because the country had to undergo three changes of presidents and four coordinating ministers for the economy.

Thus far, only one debt-swap scheme that has been implemented in the country. The DM50 million worth scheme was initiated by the German government and aimed at improving the country's education.

The German government has also offered the Indonesian government a DNS worth US$400 million for conservation of what was once a peat land in Kalimantan.

Starting in 1998, Kehati along with other conservation organizations World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International and TMC Nature Conservancy had promoted the application of DNS scheme for Indonesia.

Currently, Kehati is negotiating for the purchase of the country's external debt at a discount from the English government with funding raised from donor governments or private donors. The English government had laid down conditions that Indonesian debt could only be bought by a third party.

In April 2003, Kehati expected to buy back Indonesian debts with 80 percent of discount, but the English authority rejected the proposal. Last February, Kehati lowered the discount rate ro 32.5 percent, but to no avail.

If approved, Kehati had planned to sell the debt to the government with up to 15 percent discount. The margin from the sale would then be devoted to conserving the environment.

Nine pollution cases found in 2004: Walhi

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Palembang -- The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) disclosed on Friday that it had discovered at least nine high- profile pollution cases over the past year.

Aidil Fitri, director of Walhi South Sumatra, said five cases were found in the provincial capital of Palembang, including the Musi River contamination and an oil spill in Rebo River caused by state oil and gas company PT Pertamina.

Walhi has filed a lawsuit against the alleged polluter in one of the cases, and will file suits against the remaining eight with a Jambi court soon.

Health & education

School collapses, wounding four

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Bandarlampung -- Four students are in intensive care in a hospital after the roof of their senior high school in Kotabumi, North Lampung regency collapsed a few days ago.

Fourteen students were admitted to the hospital after the incident on Friday, but 10 of them were later discharged.

School principal Amrin said the roof collapsed because the main wooden structure was weak. "We last renovated the building six years ago. Maybe we used low grade wood," he said.

North Lampung Regent Hairi Fasya said on Sunday after visiting the school that his administration would cover the medical expenses of the injured students and rebuild the school.

Government committed to liberalizing education sector

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

Zakki P. Hakim and Sri Wahyuni, Jakarta/Yogyakarta -- The new government remains committed to liberalizing the country's education sector in line with the World Trade Organization plan, despite protests from local university rectors, who fear they will not be able to compete with top universities from other countries that would be allowed to operate here.

But Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu said that the government would take into account the condition of the local education sector in talks with the WTO on how far the country would open the sector to foreign competition and on the time schedule.

"It is not a matter of refusing to liberalize the education sector, but a matter of committing to when and how far we will open up our education sector," Mari told reporters after an economic ministers meeting on Tuesday.

She was responding to an earlier appeal from local universities calling on the new government to refuse the inclusion of tertiary education services in WTO liberalization talks.

"Universities are not a business commodity that can be liberalized in such a way. Apart from their task of transferring and developing knowledge and sciences, they also have the task of maintaining and developing the nation.

"How can they carry these holy tasks if they are regulated under free trade frameworks within the WTO?" wondered Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Rector Sofian Effendi.

The Forum of Indonesian Rectors (FRI) and the Rectors' Assembly of the State-Owned Universities (MR-PTN) are preparing a declaration of refusal in a bid to "save national education from the negative effect of globalization."

The liberalization of the education sector is part of the WTO's plan to open up the global services sector in a bid to boost investment and trade in the sector. It is stipulated under the General Agreement of Trade in Services, which among others provides options for foreign universities to open campuses in Indonesia, or foreign lecturers to teach in Indonesian universities.

"We could allow foreigners to open universities, or let expatriates become lecturers here," said Mari, who is also an economist with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and in the past had been active in WTO talks.

Mari said that the Indonesian government had a deadline until May next year to submit its commitment on the liberalization of the overall service sector to the WTO.

"For the time being, we are having intensive talks, not only with people from the education sector, but also from all sectors of services, to find out how Indonesia would want its commitment to look like," she said.

"Having a commitment does not mean we open the sector tomorrow. There will be a time frame, depending on the readiness of the respective sectors," she added.

Meanwhile, Sofian claimed that the inclusion of the education sector in WTO talks was a maneuver by the US and Australia to obtain greater business opportunities in developing countries like those in Southeast Asia.

He gave the example of a 2003 survey by Tong University in Shanghai, China and not a single university in the region was included in the world's top 500 universities.

"The US and Australia see the gap as a business opportunity, thus they lobbied for the inclusion of tertiary education as a service needed to be regulated by WTO," Sofian explained.

Separately, the ministry's head of sub-directorate of multilateral cooperation on services, Herliza, said that the country would benefit greatly from the education liberalization drive.

"The competition would force local universities to improve their quality. And in the end, the people who would be benefited the most would be students, who will get a better education," Herliza told The Jakarta Post.

She said that if Indonesia opted to shut the doors to foreign universities or teachers, local students would go to neighboring countries, where branches of top schools like Harvard were accepted.

Low condom use hampering HIV prevention

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Ben Harkness, Jakarta -- As of July, 2004 the official number of HIV/AIDS infections in Indonesia recorded by the Indonesian Department of Health was 4,389. However, a widely accepted estimate of the true number of cases is between 100 000 and 150 000. The most common means of transmission (around 49 percent) is heterosexual contact but intra-venous drug use is rapidly becoming an equally common way for the virus to spread. The highest number of cases is found in Jakarta followed by Papua, East Java, Bali and Riau. HIV infections are also beginning to spread into non-high risk groups within the community.

This problem is not going unchecked. A number of government bodies, international and local NGOs, health centres, and religious organisations are working to address this problem, particularly in the sex industry and injecting drug user (IDU) community. However, their efforts are still being hampered by ignorance, apathy and taboo. Generally low levels of sexual health knowledge within the community, for example, have resulted in widespread myths and misinformation about condoms and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention.

Many people still believe condoms have pores and are therefore useless, condoms are difficult to put on or reduce the enjoyment of sex, STIs including HIV can be prevented by taking antibiotics before or after sex, and someone's HIV status can be determined from their physical appearance, if they seem outwardly healthy condoms are not necessary. As a result, condom use both for protection in commercial sex transactions and as a means of contraception remains very low.

Unlike many other large cities, prostitution in Jakarta is through indirect sex with brothels themselves being a relatively rare phenomenon. Instead, various karaoke bars, health spas and massage parlors, in addition to offering the advertised services, will often facilitate sexual transactions between clients and workers.

This scenario of indirect sex, however, has implications for HIV/AIDS prevention. While many local government officials and law enforcers are fully aware of the true nature of such venues, they officially uphold the pretense that a massage parlor only provides massages and a karaoke bar is home only to off-key renditions of Rod Stewart and Frank Sinatra.

When public outcry becomes too loud, law enforcers will conduct raids on various venues, looking for evidence that sexual transactions are taking place. While these raids are usually just a means of extracting payment from managers rather than any genuine attempt to uphold moral standards, the fear of being fined or shut down means such venues will rarely stock condoms for their clients.

Both the reluctance for clients to use condoms and for venues to stock them has dramatic implications. Condoms are the only way to prevent the spread of STIs and HIV through sexual contact. With the estimated number of Indonesian males visiting female sex workers each year ranging from 6.9 million to 9.6 million, Indonesia runs the risk of widespread STI infection.

There have, however, been some positive developments in the fight against HIV. Police are beginning to show increased levels of tolerance, no longer arresting venue workers for simply stocking condoms. Arrests are now only made if direct evidence of prostitution is found. This increased level of tolerance has also meant managers are beginning to provide condoms for their clients and staff.

Several managers have even taken more active steps in the fight against HIV and formed the Communication Forum for Entertainment Venues Concerned with HIV/AIDS, abbreviated in Indonesian to the slightly catchier name of Forkihpa. This forum actively approaches other venue managers not involved in HIV prevention education to explain the social and financial impacts HIV can have. This forum is also providing input to relevant government bodies in designing more effective HIV/AIDS prevention legislation.

In addition, research by Yayasan Kusuma Buana, a Jakarta-based public health NGO, has shown that the percentage of sex workers in the "always use condoms" category has increased from 10 percent to 39 percent with similar improvements in the "usually use condoms" category. These results have been attributed largely to the HIV/AIDS education activities being conducted by NGOs like Yayasan Kusuma Buana in Jakarta's red-light districts. However, for the spread of HIV through the sex industry to be prevented, there needs to be 100 percent condom use.

Government policy on prostitution in Indonesia has always been confusing. There are laws prohibiting the facilitation of commercial sex transactions (acting as a pimp) and the trade of women and children but there is no law in Indonesia that prohibits prostitution itself. Despite this, it is usually sex workers rather than managers or clients who attract the condemnation of society or the attention of police. Often referred to in Indonesian as "women without morals", female sex workers are often targeted as needing social rehabilitation. The role of clients in perpetuating the cycle of prostitution, in comparison, largely escapes public criticism.

At present the West Jakarta district government is drafting a decree that would enforce compulsory condom use in entertainment venues throughout West Jakarta. The decree represents an enormous opportunity for the government to take effective and meaningful steps towards curbing Indonesia's growing HIV/AIDS infection rates.

If the decree allows for increased discussion on condom use, encourages a multi-sectoral approach to HIV/AIDS prevention in the sex industry, and introduces penalties for establishments not enforcing condom use with their clients then significant behavioural change is possible. However, if the decree contains ambiguity and rhetoric or lacks the means for effective enforcement then HIV infection rates will continue to climb.

[The writer is currently working in Jakarta through Australian Volunteers International (AVI).]

Bali/tourism

Visa policy discourages Bali tourists

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

The Jakarta Post, Denpasar -- The visa-on-arrival policy has discouraged foreigners from traveling to Bali, the country's main tourist destination, a recent survey revealed. From the responses of 10,000 people, the survey found that more than 50 percent of those interviewed would not return to Bali due to the new policy.

The survey was conducted by the Bali Hotels Association (BHA) in cooperation with the Bali Tourism Board (BTB), in response to the government's request for the tourist industry to provide "real data" on the impact of the new visa policy which began to take effect in February 2004.

The results of the survey were presented on Friday to State Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik during a meeting of all stakeholders of the Bali tourist industry at the office of Bali Governor I Dewa Made Beratha. "Bali is the first province in Indonesia to have conducted such a survey," said BTB chairman Putu Agus Antara.

The visa policy restricts visa-free entry to tourists from 21 countries, down from the previous list of 60 countries. It exempts those from nine countries and two regions: Brunei, Chile, Hongkong, Macau, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

The three-day visa, for US$10, and 30-day visa, for $25, are issued on arrival to nationals from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. Citizens of countries not on either list must apply for a visa at the Indonesian Embassy in their respective countries.

The government has said that the new policy would have little impact on the country's tourist industry and would generate more income for the state.

For its survey, the BHA distributed questionnaires across 55 star-rated and luxury hotels affiliated with it, to guests as they checked in. Of 2,119 respondents who completed the questionnaires, 99.6 percent said they required visas to enter Indonesia.

According to the survey, 20 percent of all respondents, including 25 percent of Japanese and 31 percent of Dutch visitors surveyed, said they were disappointment with the lack of efficiency in visa service and processing. Most tourists visiting Bali are Japanese or Taiwanese. The survey also noticed that nearly all respondents found airport services discourteous.

Around 20 to 30 percent of them knew nothing of the new visa regulations, while more than half of the Japanese respondents found the airport process confusing, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs website makes no mention of the new visa policy and still mentions a visa-free short-term visit of up to 60 days.

The survey also discovered that visa processing was time consuming. Most people applying for visas at embassies abroad said it took them more than one to two full weeks to get a visa. While the set target time for processing visas at the airport is 10 minutes, the average waiting time of those surveyed was 25 minutes. For the Taiwanese, the average waiting time at the airport was 48 minutes.

More than half of the respondents said the procedure would probably deter them from returning to Indonesia.

The findings were announced as Bali's tourist industry recorded a decline in source markets, particularly from Europe and Scandinavia, while, at the same time, Thailand enjoyed an increase. Thailand received 10 million visitors in 2003, as compared to 4.2 million tourists who visited Indonesia that year.

"Arrival statistics indicate the recovery of tourism in Bali," said BHA chairman Robert Kelsall. "But we are creating a precarious situation, with Bali's source markets becoming more limited as we experience declines in key source markets which historically produced quality visitors who stayed longer and consequently spent more."

Bali was hit by terror attacks in October 2002, which left 202 people dead, at a time when the tourist industry was struggling to regain its footing following the economic crisis at the end of the 1990s.

In its recommendations, the BHA pushed for quick and easy visa processing, particularly for key markets, and the extension of visa-on-arrival facilities to countries that have historically supported Indonesian tourism, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Spain, Sweden, Greece and Austria.

Islam/religion

'Vandalism embarrasses Muslims'

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

At least two known vigilante groups have been conducting raids and trashing entertainment spots across Greater Jakarta during Ramadhan fasting month. Although Jakarta Police said they objected to the vandalism, the police only guarded the raid and had yet to arrest any of the groups' members. The Jakarta Post asked some residents about their opinion on the vandalism.

Buchari Hanafi, 34, a notary in Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang. He lives in Pancoran, South Jakarta: As a Muslim, I think what these people do is a slap in the face to all Muslims because Islam is a peaceful religion and doesn't encourage vandalism.

These people have wrongly interpreted the do's and don'ts of Islam. They fail to see that even the implementation of sharia in Muslim countries is in the hands of law enforcement officials, not the general public. In Indonesia it has its own legal system, government, and law enforcement institutions and no one has the right to take the law into their own hands.

Brian, 30, is an administrative employee at a foreign insurance company on Jl. Sudirman, South Jakarta. He lives in a rented home in Salemba Bluntas, Central Jakarta: I am very concerned to hear many reports about vandalism and violent actions of these groups. It is irony to see that the groups have exerted violence in the name of religion, though, we all know that no religion will tolerate violence in their teachings.

Any form of violence will only victimize the innocent. In the case of the closure of Sang Timur school used as a house of worship, it's the students who have become the victims as they could not study.

In the case of vandalism to entertainment spots, the low-income workers are mostly affected by the closure of businesses. I hope all concerned parties could sit in a dialogue to seek an amicable solution for the problems.

Amien OKs party for Muhammadiyah

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Yogyakarta -- The National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais said on Saturday he would let Muhammadiyah followers build their own political party if they perceived that PAN had failed to accommodate their aspirations. "I think it is a good idea to establish a new party. But it should not be just a discourse but real action," said Amien, who is a former chairman of Muhammadiyah.

The former People's Consultative Assembly's speaker, however, denied allegations that PAN has failed to live up to Muhammadiyah supporters' demands.

"The most important thing is PAN stays an open party as Islam teaches us to protect everybody regardless of ethnicity or race," he said.

Indonesia's moral defenders take a swipe at sin

Asia Times - October 26, 2004

Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- Indonesia's self-appointed guardians of morality, the once disbanded radical Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI), have once again resorted to violence in the nation's capital, Jakarta.

The first attack came late Friday night when around 300 FPI storm troopers broke into the Star Deli restaurant in the elite residential and entertainment district of Kemang in South Jakarta. The restaurant had closed, after being tipped off by the police, but the FPI cadres smashed the windows and chairs. No one was injured in the attack, which, it is claimed, police did nothing to stop.

On Saturday the US Embassy issued a statement warning Americans in Indonesia to take precautions against such attacks, raising fears that the "sweeping" could affect tourism prospects. Jakarta Police quickly deployed 600 Mobile Brigade members and 500 officers to patrol the streets of the capital, with Jakarta police chief, Inspector General Firman Gani, saying the vandalism was "out of line" and definitely a violation of the law.

FPI spokesman Alawi Usman, however, was quick to defend the group's actions. "We are against immorality," he told foreign reporters the day after the Star Deli attack. "We are doing this for the future of the country's youth."

The FPI has a history of attacking places of "recreation" where they believe prostitution or gambling is taking place. In the past they have closed down brothels, burned entertainment centers and physically attacked sex workers. Their leader, Al-Habib Muhammad Rizieq bin Hussein Syihab, more popularly called Habib Rizieq, spent several months in prison last year for orchestrating attacks on "iniquitous" nightspots, bars and cafes in 2001.

Though the nightlife business rubs them up the wrong way all year round, the radicals reserve their main impetus for the fasting month of Ramadhan. Two weeks ago the FPI warned that they would once again take the law into their own hands if city officials failed to close the countless pubs, discotheques and massage parlors they deem as "sinful places".

Other Muslim groups, including the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI), Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, the Indonesian Islamic Students Association (PII) and Indonesian Muslim Action Student Front (KAMMI), also demanded nightspots close during Ramadhan.

Though some 89% of Indonesia's 220 million people are Muslims, many do not strictly follow the tenets of Islam, preferring to combine the religion with traditional spiritual and cultural beliefs. However, Muslims are forbidden to eat, drink, smoke, and engage in sexual intercourse from sunrise until sunset during the fasting month.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's response to threats by the FPI that they would, as in the past, not focus their minds on fasting but on raids on nightspots, was that such acts would only tarnish the city's image and mar the peace of Ramadhan.

Though the pleasure palaces have occasionally been ordered to close for the whole month in the past, despite complaints about loss of business, this year the Jakarta city council did what it usually does -- compromise, in the wider interests of the population at large, by limiting their hours of operation for the month.

Warning that only the police or appointed government institutions had the authority to raid entertainment centers, Sutiyoso issued a decree allowing the nightspots, often frequented by foreigners, to open in the hours after the breaking of the fast and prior to the meal before sunrise.

However, alcohol can be sold and drunk, and these establishments remain open, during the rest of the year. The reasons for double standards by local administrations, in enforcing the law and upholding Islamic teachings, are not difficult to understand. The "illegal" sex business is now a major industry that directly or indirectly contributes to employment, national income and economic growth, although it remains against the law.

Authorities collect substantial revenues in areas where prostitution thrives, both illegally from bribes and corruption, but also legally from licensing fees and taxes on the many hotels, bars, restaurants and the like that flourish in its wake.

Many observers expected the FPI threat to be a hollow one this year. After all, new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, widely expected to give a much higher priority to security issues and improve the country's image in the eyes of the international world, was inaugurated during the first week of Ramadhan, which lasts until mid-November.

Despite this, FPI paramilitary troops "visited" several restaurants and cafes across the capital and in the metropolitan districts of Tangerang, Bekasi, and Depok last week in a series of "sweeping processions". Then on Friday the first act of violence occurred when the Star Deli restaurant was attacked.

The outward face of a gentle and traditional Muslim-dominated Indonesian society has long been at odds with the stark reality that overt sexuality and drug use have exploded since the early days of the regional financial crisis.

The FPI leadership claims the organization's long-term aim is to rid the country of alcohol, drugs, gambling and prostitution and that they only attack places that blatantly operate in defiance of community standards.

Many Indonesians, however, see the movement as largely made up of preman (thugs). Critics claim that extorting money from frightened bar owners is their primary motive, rather than defending Islamic principles and cleansing society. It is also claimed that the group has been in cahoots with police and soldiers, even in competition with them, to extort protection money from owners of nightspots.

Even Pemuda Pancasila, a rival vigilante group that ran protection rackets in the Suharto days, has accused the FPI of raiding bars and clubs that do not pay sufficient protection money. In 2001 and 2002 the FPI carried out violent attacks on Jakarta's Jalan Jaksa -- a street frequented by foreign backpackers and sex workers.

Claiming to defend Islam, the FPI spontaneously declared itself a "party" on August 17, 1998, during the unrest shortly after Suharto's downfall. In November of that year the group hit the streets with some 2,500 machete-wielding men to help military- backed civilian security forces secure the general session of the 1998 People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The president at the time, BJ Habibie, was supported not only by the FPI but also by mainstream Islam, including many Islamic leaders who had supported Suharto in the last five years of his rule.

However, Juwono Sudarsono, appointed defense minister last week by president Yudhoyono, recalled later that there were elements of the police and the military intent on undermining Habibie's authority.

In any event, hundreds of students, together with pro-democracy activists, claiming the session was simply a means to legalize the Habibie leadership, marched to the parliament building to express their demands for reform.

The demonstrators kept troops tied down for hours but then dispersed to avoid the FPI. As they regrouped nearby, and while troops and police relaxed, the FPI members, wielding their machetes, marched toward the demonstrators and laid into them.

The FPI later claimed that their presence at the parliament building was to boost moral and character reforms. "If the morals and characters are not reformed then it would be useless to talk about reform in economy, political affairs, and law," FPI leader Rizieq said.

In 2002 the FPI was the largest group of demonstrators in front of the US Embassy in Jakarta when the bombing of Afghanistan began and promised to send volunteers to defend fellow Muslims against the American offensive.

Along with other radical groups Hizbut Tahrir (Party of Struggle) and the Gerakan Pemuda Islam (Islamic Youth Movement), the FPI took to the streets in March last year in a show of strength to protest against the invasion of Iraq, threatening to attack Westerners.

Prior to the Bali blasts in October 2002, which claimed more than 200 lives, the authorities appeared to turn a blind eye to the FPI's raids, lending credence to claims that the organization was backed by powerful officials in the security forces.

Though Rizieq was arrested four days after the Bali blasts, he was quickly released and placed under house arrest after the FPI announced publicly that it had decided to call it a day and refrain from "further tarnishing the image of Islam". Laskar Jihad, another, more violent Islamic militia, disbanded around the same time. In January 2003 that group's leader, Jafar Umar Thalib, was acquitted on charges of fomenting religious violence in the Maluku islands and inciting hatred of the government and then-president Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Megawati had walked a thin tightrope, trying to juggle and balance the needs of her country in terms of a secure and safe environment for investment, with the threats posed to Indonesia's vast majority of peace-loving Muslims by the radicalized few, who alleged she was siding with the Americans in adopting anti- terrorism policies.

Sudarsono, the first civilian defense minister in four decades, when serving under former president Abdurrahman Wahid from October 1999 to August 2000, is on record as saying that the Megawati government's firm stance against terrorism was being deliberately manipulated by Islamic groups to encourage its perception as being "against Islam".

Nonetheless, Megawati started to crack down on Islamic extremism, despite concerns that any move against hardline Muslims, such as Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, would be politically divisive at a time when she clearly needed support from Muslim parties if she was to win another term.

Ba'asyir, the alleged spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, was arrested, tried and sentenced to four years in jail for treason. The aging cleric is now awaiting trial in connection with the Bali bombings. Several of his followers are among those convicted of involvement in those bombings, with sentences ranging from three years to death.

At the opening of his trial in May 2003, Rizieq denied any wrongdoing and defended his actions, claiming they were in line with religious and state laws. He said managers of "immoral" nightspots and the police who protect them were the ones who should be on trial. Rizieq broke the terms of his house arrest status on April 8 by leaving Indonesia. He was subsequently arrested upon his return to Jakarta on April 20. The following day his supporters helped him escape from police custody at a public prosecutor's office, but he later surrendered and was sent to jail, though claiming that his detention was the result of a conspiracy between police and the operators of illegal gambling dens.

He was sentenced to seven months behind bars for inciting public unrest and insulting the government. Released from jail in November last year, Rizieq told a crowd of cheering supporters he would continue his campaign for the imposition of Islamic law and the closure of entertainment venues deemed an affront to Islam.

Young urbanites from the lower strata of society make up the majority of FPI followers. Most are not well educated, and many are unemployed. Though the rhetoric and violence may be appealing to these Muslims, it is not winning broad support among the Muslim community. Those calling for violence and aggression in Indonesia are still preaching in a wilderness.

Even the Indonesian Ulamas Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia or MUI), Indonesia's highest authority on Islamic matters, said in a statement on Sunday that the actions of the FPI "would tarnish the reputation of Islam".

"Leave the matter to the police," Admiral Widodo, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said after a security meeting on Sunday. "Only the police have the authority to take legal measures" against violators of a law, he said, adding that the government was responsible for protecting both foreigners and Indonesians.

But Darmawan, leader of the Kemang community forum, has promised to take the fight to the streets. Kemang is home to hundreds of foreign businessmen and wealthy Indonesians, including those who operate businesses and are not necessary Muslims. "We don't want this neighborhood, where we make our livings, to be destroyed. We will defend it with all our might," Darmawan was quoted as saying.

FPI commander Jafar Sidiq, however, was not impressed, warning that the raids would continue, since "the authority is lax in its supervision".

[Bill Guerin has worked for 19 years in Indonesia as a journalist and editor. He specializes in business/economy issues and political analysis related to Indonesia. He has been a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000 and has also been published by the BBC on East Timor.]

SBY says he'll be a roaming ambassador for moderate Islam

Agence France Presse - October 29, 2004

Newly-elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would consider becoming a globe-trotting advocate for moderate Islam, promoting peace in hotspots such as the Middle East.

Yudhoyono said he wanted Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, to be a model for moderate Islamic democracy.

"I could go to other part of the world, by for example, playing a more active role in the Middle East, by having greater communications with Islamic countries worldwide," he told Australia's Channel Nine. "And of course, if everything is going well, then Indonesia can be a good example, a good model of Islam that is compatible with democracy," he said.

Yudhoyono also rejected Australian overtures for a new security treaty between but said he did want to hold security talks with Canberra. The idea of a new Australia-Indonesia pact to replace an agreement that was scrapped when Canberra sent troops into East Timor in 1999 was floated by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer last week.

Yudhoyono said he he had not received a proposal from the Australian government and he did not believe a treaty was appropriate. "What we need now is a kind of security dialogue, a forum that could discuss different issues on matters on security," he told Channel Nine.

"I don't have any proposal submitted by the Australian government related to the so-called security treaty. But for me, it would be more proper if we just go to strengthen our security dialogue, as also happened within the ASEAN context."

The newly-elected Indonesian president also suggested Australia's support for the US-led war in Iraq had raised the country's profile as a terrorist target. "We know the act of terrorism grows in recent years because of many international factors," Yudhoyono said.

"The situation in the Middle East, in Iraq and other places may cause solidarity among the terrorists to attack certain target. For example westerners target."

Armed forces/defense

Hadi Waluyo named Kostrad commander

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- After leaving the post vacant for more than two months, the Indonesian Military (TNI) appointed Lt. Gen. Hadi Waluyo as commander of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) on Monday.

Hadi, currently commander of the Military Education and Training Command (Kodiklat) in Bandung, West Java, was a classmate of former Kostrad commander Lt. Gen. Bibit Waluyo, who retired on Aug. 5, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 55. The post has been vacant since then and, pending the appointment of a new commander, Kostrad was put directly under Army chief Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, who was appointed acting TNI chief following the resignation of Gen. Endriartono Sutarto from that post early in October.

According to Col. D.J. Nachrowi of the TNI's information department, the appointment of Hadi and 65 other high- and middle-ranking military officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force was signed by Endriartono, whose retirement and replacement is being discussed in the House of Representatives (DPR).

Hadi will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Kornel Simbolon as Kodiklat commander.

Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Safzen Nurdin, currently commander of the Navy's Education and Training Command (Kodik AL), was appointed as commander of the Marine Corps. His post as commander of Kodik AL will be filled by Commodore Waldi Murad.

"The current reshuffle does not involve regional military commanders," Nachrowi said, without elaborating.

Bibit left his post as Kostrad commander on Aug. 5, without the Army naming a successor. Gen. Ryamizard has been Kostrad chief since then.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a private meeting last Friday with Endriartono, during which the President allegedly expressed his deep concern over the post's prolonged vacancy.

Hadi -- who was also a classmate of the incumbent Cabinet Secretary Lt. Gen. (ret) Sudi Silalahi and former Indonesian Military Police chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Sulaiman A.B. -- was posted as Tanjungpura Military commander overseeing Kalimantan province up until 2002.

Kostrad has no less the 29,000 troops, making it the military unit with the most troops. Both former authoritarian leader Soeharto and former presidential candidate Gen. (ret) Wiranto once led the unit.

Indonesia to seek weapons from eastern Europe, Japan

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Jakarta (Agencies) -- The newly appointed defense minister said on Monday Indonesia would shift its purchase of military equipment to nations other than the United States, its traditional supplier.

"We will explore all other countries for arms supplies, such as Japan and eastern Europe. Earlier, we sought weapons from South Korea and Singapore," Juwono Sudarsono told reporters. Juwono said he planned to visit Poland soon to look into the possibility of buying arms from that country.

Last year, Indonesia bought four Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters for the Air Force and several Mil Mi assault/transport helicopters for the army, along with a number of KT-1B training planes from South Korea for the Air Force academy.

In regards the US military embargo still in place, Juwono said he would visit Washington to discuss the resumption of military ties. The US Congress has continued to block motions to resume military ties with Indonesia, which were severed in 1999 when Indonesian soldiers and militias took part in a rampage and killed hundreds of people in East Timor following its independence referendum.

"But we will never beg," Juwono said, adding that he would probably visit Washington sometime next month.

Indonesia wants to resume full military ties with the US so it can buy new military equipment and take part in US defense training programs.

Juwono said the embargo actually hurting the US itself, as it sold on a few military equipment in the past. "They sold, for example, the C-130 Hercules transport planes which was also affected by the embargo, due to the scarcity of spare parts.

"We use these planes mostly for humanitarian missions, as well as deploying troops to conflict areas," he said. He added that the embargo had prevented such missions from going smoothly.

Military ties

Defence minister questions US stance on rights issue

Banjarmasin Post - October 26, 2004

Jakarta -- At the very start of his tenure, newly installed Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono has fired his first shot. He has promised that he wouldn't be asking never mind begging from America on the issue of the US arms embargo.

However, he would be clarifying issues about weapons required by Indonesia. "I will be explaining to America that we will never beg. We will only commit to conditions that are mutually acceptable.

On many occasions, the US has added clauses often referred to as prerequisite conditions. America only views human rights from political and civil aspects. They are weak on the social, economic and cultural aspects. And there are plenty of human rights violations going on in that country," said Juwono at a press conference after taking over as defence minister on Monday 25 October.

The defence minister explained that America should look at human rights overall in Indonesia. He said that the UN Charter contained five aspects that must be adhered to with regard to human rights, namely civil political, economic, social and cultural. He continued to emphasize that it was not enough to view cases involving breaches of human rights in Indonesia from the civil and political aspects only. However, he did admit that the TNI [Indonesian National Military Forces] had perpetrated some violations of human rights.

"However, it is extremely unfair to view this from just the civil and political aspects. If the five aspects of human rights I referred to earlier were looked at in a balanced way, then Indonesia's record is not too bad," Juwono emphasized.

Outgoing Defence Minister Matori Abdul Djalil did not attend the handover/takeover of office as he was ill.

[From BBC World Monitoring Service.]

Business & investment

Money laundering measures could risk competitiveness

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta -- In its effort to remove Indonesia from the list of non-cooperative countries in the global fight against money laundering, the government should not adopt measures that would be harmful to local businesses and affect competitiveness, a business group says.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) representative Thomas Darmawan said the government should consider input from the business community before adopting any anti-money laundering measures set by international institutions.

"The measures could mean more paperwork and confirmations, which would eventually result in extra costs for exporters and importers," Thomas told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

International money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a Paris-based agency set up by some developed nations, decided on Friday to retain Indonesia and other five nations on its list of non-cooperative countries and territories in the battle against money laundering.

However, FATF has agreed to send their envoys, possibly in January next year, where Indonesia might be able to convince the global watchdog to remove the country from the list by presenting measures adopted by the government to stamp out money laundering.

Thomas urged government to negotiate with the FATF into not accepting rules that would hamper businesses in the country.

"The business community here fully supports efforts to fight money laundering, but we must be careful in adopting or ratifying international regulations as they could unnecessarily hamper businesses in the country by creating new costs," he said.

On the list of non-cooperative countries since 2001, Indonesia risks several sanctions, which include higher risk premiums imposed on local firms when making transactions with international firms; termination of correspondence alliances between local banks and banks in member countries of FATF; and the rejection of letters of credit (L/Cs) issued by local banks.

Publicly listed Bank Negara Indonesia president Sigit Pramono said that although his bank had yet to suffer from such negative consequences, he acknowledged the risks.

"There are risks that corresponding overseas banks might complicate procedures in transactions with local banks. That would be the biggest threat. And it could happen at any time," Sigit told the Post.

He said that it was the central bank's responsibility to ensure all banks meet international prudential management principles, which include the "know-your-customer" concept, requiring banks to know where their customers' money come from.

Many banks still neglected checking up on their clients and most customers preferred banks with less procedures than banks with rigid rules, he said.

Money laundering is the practice of transferring funds generated from criminal acts by investing them in legitimate businesses. Such criminal acts include corruption, bribery, smuggling, banking-related crimes, drug-related crimes, human trafficking, gambling and terrorism.

Indonesia's Financial Transaction and Report Analysis Center (PPATK) chairman Yunus Husein said there had been several cases where local banks had already encountered difficulties in dealing with foreign banks.

"Bank Mandiri had to have additional inquiries in London," he said. Moreover, an Indonesian was once denied to exchange currencies in the Netherlands, due to the non-cooperative list status, he said.

Indonesia has made some attempts to get off the list by adopting several measures, but to no avail. They include the drafting of the anti-money laundering law and the establishment of PPATK.

Under the law, PPATK is tasked with collecting, recording and analyzing all suspicious financial transactions provided by banks and non-bank financial institutions in the country. PPATK has the authority to carry out audits on banks and other financial institutions.

However, PPATK has no authority to freeze assets and/or accounts belonging to suspected money launderers, monitor phone calls or e-mail, or secretly record interviews or conversations involving suspected money launderers.

Jury is still out

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

The financial markets were not overly enthusiastic about the economic lineup in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's United Indonesia Cabinet. But neither did they punish the new government. Both the Jakarta Stock Exchange's composite price index and the rupiah remained rather flat on Thursday and Friday, waiting for positive new factors to rekindle enthusiasm.

Encouraging, too, is the fact that there were no completely thumbs-down responses to the new economic team. The markets have apparently taking into account the multitude of political compromises and competing interest groups the new President has been required to take on board.

The reactions so far have mostly been reasonable -- a wise stance of giving the new Cabinet the benefit of the doubt. It is obviously too early to judge the effectiveness of the new economic team, even though many had expected bolder moves by Susilo given his strong political mandate from the public.

For one thing, the President should have demonstrated greater political courage in abolishing the ministry overseeing state- owned companies, especially in the light of the enactment of the State Finances Law in 2003, which stipulates that all state assets, including state companies, come under the jurisdiction and management of the minister of finance.

Maintaining a special ministerial portfolio overseeing state enterprises will only serve to increase the layers of bureaucracy the executives of state companies have to deal with in making managerial decisions, thereby making state companies more vulnerable to interference by vested-interest groups. There have been numerous complaints by CEOs in the state sector of far too many interventions from the so-called representatives of the shareholder (government), who by definition can be officials of the ministries of state enterprises or finance, and of the other line ministries that act as the regulatory authorities in the fields in which the state companies operate.

In reality, the country's 160 state companies could be overseen by a director general at the finance ministry based on their business plans. Most important, however, is that their directors and commissioners be selected based on their capabilities and achievements.

Susilo should not have split the trade and industry ministry into two separate entities as this will lead to an unnecessary waste of the time that the new government simply does not have. It will take at least six months to complete the bureaucratic procedures and arrangements for the establishment of two separate ministries, and perhaps another six months for the realignment process to be completed.

Trade and industry are deeply interrelated. In fact, trade, whether it involves importing, exporting or selling on the domestic market, is simply the end of a long, chain of processes. Take manufacturing exports, for example. These represent the products of a series of activities that start with the importation of basic raw materials, and include port handling, customs clearance, transportation to factories, production processes in plants, etc. Each link in the process influences the competitiveness of the export or the product.

That is why teamwork and coordination is so crucial for the economic team. A misconceived fiscal policy could immediately kill an otherwise good agricultural measure or an excellent industrial policy instrument. Inefficient port handling can nullify the efficacy of low interest loans for export financing.

Some may doubt that the rich mix of businessmen, technocrats, politicians and bureaucrats who make up Susilo's economic team will be able to deliver good teamwork and coordination. On the contrary, we see this wide variety of professional skills and approaches as an advantage that will enrich and enliven discussions around the Cabinet table.

We should not forget that Susilo, himself an economist with a fresh PhD in agronomy, will also set up an economic council of advisers from various disciplines to help inform him of all the policy alternatives that are available. As an economist, the President will not likely content himself with merely looking at the grand design. He will conduct tight, hands-on management of economic policy-making, digging into the nitty-gritty of every policy alternative before making a final decision. Not a single major economic policy will see the light of the day without Susilo's fiat. In any case, the first official remarks made by the economics ministers immediately after their appointments give us even stronger grounds for giving the economic team the benefit of the doubt. The chief economics minister and the ministers of finance, state enterprises, industry, trade and development planning said all the right things about the most pressing economic problems the country is facing.

Moreover, the effectiveness of whatever economic policies are adopted will depend largely on law enforcement. In this regard, the fact that the Cabinet includes a team of credible ministers and officers in the legal sphere is most encouraging.

Manufacturers to raise prices amid oil price hike

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Tony Hotland, Jakarta -- Worldwide oil prices that have zipped over historical highs are beginning to take a toll on domestic manufacturers, inevitably forcing them to jack up prices.

Chairman of the Indonesian Food and Beverages Association Thomas Darmawan said that many producers were mulling over whether to pass the adverse effect onto consumers.

"Production costs have been going up over the past few months, especially for plastics that are used a lot in this industry. But some have yet to raise prices to prevent lower sales during the busy season in the next two months. They'll probably wait until early next year," Thomas told The Jakarta Post. Except for producers of packaged mineral water, he quickly added.

"Many of them have imposed new prices on several products, such as glass and bottle packaging, by about 8 percent. Plastic prices have gone up by at least 50 percent over the course of the year," said Thomas.

International plastic prices, he said, currently stood at US$1,400 per ton, far from the figure of $900 in January, thus keeping prices the same out of question as the material accounted for up to 85 percent of production costs. Thomas said producers were compensating for the escalating costs by cutting corners in other areas such as advertising, promotion and research, although it was still not sufficient to avoid eroding profit. "I'm sure profits are falling, but I cannot say how much," he said.

President director of the country's largest mineral water producer PT Aqua Golden Mississippi, Willy Sidharta, said Aqua would likely make adjustments soon. "Profits are affected, but not significantly for now. Besides, the total sales volume of mineral water for this year is to grow by 15 percent compared to last year. We still can tolerate the higher costs," he said.

Global oil prices have expanded by at least 10 percent during the year, last week peaking at $55 per barrel, over fears of limited supply. Analysts predict they could even surpass the $60 level by early next year.

Electronic manufacturer Electrolux is not spared. Company marketing director Indrayana said Electrolux was set to adjust prices up by 2 percent on average next month. "100 percent of our products are imported and our [overseas] suppliers are saying costs are going up by 4 percent to 5 percent. However, we'll probably won't raise prices on products that have a large market size because they're more price sensitive, such as 14-inch televisions or one-door refrigerators," he told the Post.

Like packaged mineral water, most of raw materials for electronic products are also plastic-based. "Since our products are imported, we're also dealing with transportation costs. That's why we're trying to increase efficiency by taking products from Asia rather than Europe, for example," Indra said.

Leading pulp and paper producer Sinar Mas Group has also adjusted prices due to the higher cost of transportation. "Eighty percent of our products are exported to the United States and Japan. Transportation costs have been getting more costly over the past four months and we had to seek alternatives," said company director Yan Partawijaya.

He said the company was seeking more opportunities to sell its products to the local or Southeast Asian markets to cut expenses. Nevertheless, Yan was upbeat the company's sales would still grow by 5 percent this year as demand seemed to be unaffected by the soaring oil prices.

But analysts have that the oil hike could put a brake on demand as households and companies would allocate more funds for fuel.

Study shows business climate among the worst in world

Jakarta Post - October 25, 2004

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta -- Mr. President, you have a tough job ahead: Indonesia has been ranked as one of the most difficult places in the world to do business in, a new report from the World Bank Group finds.

During his election campaign, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said improving the business climate in the country tops his list of priorities. A better business environment would generate higher economic growth and eventually reduce unemployment.

The report, in the form of a book titled Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth -- cosponsored by the World Bank and its private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) -- should help the government decide what needs to be done.

Part of a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance or impede business activities, it ranks Indonesia along with Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in the bottom quartile of the 145 nations surveyed on the ease of doing business. Entrepreneurs in those countries found it more difficult to start, operate, or close a business than in most other East Asian nations.

At the other end of the scale, seven economies in the East Asia- Pacific region ranked in the top quartile of the 145-nation survey; New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia.

"On average, it takes a business six procedures, 8 percent of income per capita and 27 days to get started in high-income OECD countries; in East Asian countries, the same process takes 9 procedures, 60 percent of income per capita and 61 days." However, "Among the worst performers in time of business registration were Cambodia [94 days], Indonesia [151] and Laos [198]," the report says.

Indonesia has been relying on domestic consumption to fuel economic growth as investors remain wary of the country due to the adverse business climate here. Legal uncertainty, security issues, and the poor implementation of regional autonomy have added to the endemic problems of red-tape and corruption -- all major turn-offs to investors. The economy is projected to grow by 4.8 percent and 5.4 percent this year and the next, respectively, which would be the fastest rate since the crisis. However, more foreign investment would make Indonesia's recovery faster and would soak up unemployment, easing the burden on the poor who are being hurt the most by the nation's economic slump.

IFC country manager German A. Vegarra said Susilo and his Cabinet were sending out strong signals they were committed to improving the country. "We are optimistic that if he [Susilo] really does what he says, I think things will be better. Addressing unemployment is the key and that's what they have said must be addressed. So far, I like what I hear. "Of course, it will take time. But [what] we expect is a lot of clear directions for improvement," Vegarra said in a recent interview.

Hans Shrader, the program manager for the IFC Business Enabling Environment service unit, meanwhile, offered ways to quickly improve the country's business climate. He suggested a one-stop shop mechanism, in which municipal offices processed all the required documentation for businesses to attain permits or licenses.

"Another aspect is a regulatory impact assessment [of new laws]. Before legislation is introduced to parliament, there should be an assessment as to what the cost of the legislation would be on businesses, and what its impact on the business environment would be," Shrader said.

New government aims to resolve problems in SOEs

Jakarta Post - October 27, 2004

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- The new government under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will push efforts to resolve protracted problems in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in its first 100 days, in a bid to help the companies run their businesses more efficiently.

"The ministry's short-term programs will be mostly focused on settling problems in the SOEs, so that they can operate safely without any disturbance," said State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto after attending a coordination meeting of economic ministers on Tuesday.

"Aside from that, we will also review the master plan for developing the SOEs for the next five years," said Sugiharto, who is a former chief financial officer at publicly listed energy firm PT Medco Energi Internasional.

According to Sugiharto, his office had identified several problems, which must be immediately settled, such as the lengthy dispute between state oil and gas company PT Pertamina with the US-based power firm Karaha Bodas Company (KBC).

The International Arbitration Court in Geneva ruled nearly two years ago that Pertamina must pay damages of US$299 million, including accrued interest, to KBC after the government suspended the company's power project in the wake of the late 1990s financial crisis. Pertamina was KBC's partner in the project.

The government has ordered Pertamina not to pay the claim, pending investigation from the police over a corruption allegation in the KBC's power project.

Other problems that will be settled within this year are the dispute between the government and Mexico-based cement giant Cemex SA over the latter's investment in cement producer PT Semen Gresik, and a decision by the previous government to close down fertilizer manufacturer PT Asean Aceh Fertilizers (AAF).

Sugiharto, however, said the government had not yet decided how to solve the problems, and would discuss them further with the president in the next Cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday.

"We are still in the process of seeking ways to settle the problems. We hope to come up with concrete solutions in the next Cabinet meeting," said Sugiharto.

Sugiharto also said that the government would appoint, as soon as possible, a new board of directors for national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

The current Garuda management has been in limbo for more than a year after their tenure expired, following the failure of the previous government in appointing replacements due to alleged collusion in the selection process.

Elsewhere, regarding the planned privatization of several SOEs this year, Sugiharto said the ministry would consult further with the Ministry of Finance.

"We will see the outlook, whether it is urgent or not. The 2004 state budget is almost at its end anyway. So I guess it is not necessary for us to [further] carry out the privatization programs this year," he said.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said the new government would continue the privatization programs of SOEs set out by the previous government, but with a new method.

Aburizal refused to disclose the programs or the new scheme, but he hinted that privatization programs should support the government's efforts to lower the deficit in the state budget and help increase state income from SOEs.

"Basically we will continue with the privatization programs designed by the previous government, but with new ideas and a new style," said Aburizal.

Bring down the barriers to business: World Bank

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Tony Hotland and Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta -- The World Bank urged the new government on Friday to fix the country's adverse investment climate in a bid to accelerate economic growth and create jobs.

Speaking during a presentation of the 2005 World Development Report here on Friday, the Bank's visiting managing director Peter Woicke said Indonesia had to minimize policy-related risks and costs as well as barriers to competition facing firms of all types -- from farmers and micro-entrepreneurs to local and multinational manufacturing companies.

"This report shows how climate improvements drive growth by encouraging investment and productivity. Improvements also help reduce poverty by expanding opportunities for poor people," said Woicke, who is also vice president at the Bank's investment arm, the International Finance Corporation. The global report was first launched in September.

Indonesia's new administration should consider a medium-term plan that provided a benchmark against which to measure the government's performance and give firms of all sizes the confidence that conditions would continue to improve and support productive investment, Woicke said.

The World Bank's country manager for Indonesia, Andrew Steer, said he had met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono early in the day to submit the report.

"I believe, and that's what he told me, that the President fully understands the problems the country is dealing with. I didn't give any suggestions or whatsoever, only assuring him that we're prepared to help him in any possible measures," Steer said.

Among Indonesia's major turn-offs to new investments, as seen in the report, are policy-related risks. Uncertainty about the content and implementation of government policies is the top- rated concern, with other risks including macroeconomic instability, arbitrary regulations, and weak protection of property rights.

Policy-related costs shouldered by firms due to the hefty red tape and corruption is also substantial, coupled with the lack of basic infrastructure to uphold new investments.

Previous surveys have ranked Indonesia's bureaucracy as inflexible and the country as one of the most difficult places in the world to do business.

A 2003 survey by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed Indonesia receiving negative levels of materialized foreign direct investment, putting it on a par with resource-poor countries like the Solomon Islands and Yemen.

Other Asian countries received strong FDIs, such as China and Singapore (more than $5 billion), and India, Korea and Malaysia ($2 billion to $4.9 billion). Indonesia has been relying heavily on domestic consumption to fuel economic growth as investors remain wary of the country due to the poor business climate.

While the economy is expected to expand by 4.8 percent this year, the new government aims to push growth to an average of 6.6 percent per year during the next five years.

Meanwhile, chairman of the National Economic Recovery Committee (KPEN) Sofyan Wanandi said the country would be able to attract up to US$20 billion in fresh investments next year if the government applied the economic measures proposed by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Kadin earlier this week presented a road map on how to develop the country's industry and investment sectors.

"There would be between $10 billion and $20 billion in fresh domestic and foreign investments entering the country in the first year of the new administration, under the conditions created if the road map was applied," Sofyan said.

He said foreign investors from Europe, US and Japan were queuing right now to meet with the new government to make new investment commitments in the manufacturing and infrastructure sector.

Opinion & analysis

Skeptically hopeful

Jakarta Post - October 26, 2004

It all sounds too familiar. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed to make fighting corruption one of the top priorities of his government, declaring in his inauguration speech last week that he was personally leading the campaign. He also promised to appoint someone tough as attorney general: His choice was Abdul Rahman Saleh, a respected judge who had been cleaning up the Supreme Court.

Sure, there were plenty of calls for the new President to take the campaign more seriously than his predecessors ever did -- and there is no shortage of suggestions on what he should do. But we have been down that road time and again; we have heard or seen it all before. And until we see some real results, we simply won't be impressed by mere words.

Three presidents have come and gone since the collapse of the corrupt Soeharto regime in 1998, and every one of them promised exactly the same thing. They said they were going to go after big-time corruptors, repossess all stolen assets to shore up the ailing economy and send them to jail. For good measure, they all vowed to establish a clean government, one free of corruption.

What have those three presidents achieved in six years? Court convictions for corruptors have been few and far between. Very little money or assets have been reclaimed. Most high-profile corruption investigations fell apart on the way, if not in the police's hands, then in those of government prosecutors or judges somewhere along the tiers of the judicial system. Some corruption suspects even slipped through the cracks in the middle of an investigation and fled abroad. Rather than putting them in jail, we have allowed them to roam free, not only to enjoy their ill- gotten wealth, but also to steal some more by default. Rather than repossessing what rightfully belongs to the state -- and thus taxpayers -- the government -- and again, taxpayers -- have become ever more indebted. Rather than wiping out corruption, we have let it multiply; and rather than evolving into a cleaner government, we have devolved into a dirtier one.

B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri all promised to wage a war against corruption, but this was just empty rhetoric. So why would anyone think that Susilo would be any more successful or sincere in his efforts? The new President does have some things going for him, though.

Since he is the only president thus far to have been directly elected by the people, he commands a strong political mandate. His landslide victory in the September 20 election runoff has endowed him with an unprecedented political capital to do whatever it takes to fix the nation's problems, including the rampant corruption.

He also has at his disposal a number of legal instruments that have been established only recently to combat corruption: There is the Corruption Eradication Commission with its vast legal powers; the newly established Corruption Court to try big-time corruptors; and a clause in the Anticorruption Law that allows the burden of proof to be shifted from prosecutors to suspects.

He also has some things going against him. The inclusion of one or two figures with poor track records in accountability has fueled public skepticism about his ability to wage an effective campaign. Their presence will haunt the government and could even undermine the campaign altogether.

That corruption is a serious problem is a matter of which everyone is aware. Susilo was elected president partly, if not largely, because many people in this country hoped that he would, for once and all, address this problem more seriously than his predecessors.

The country has tolerated corruption far too long under many pretexts -- and excuses. A classic argument is that some corruption is necessary to grease the economic wheels and the bureaucracy. Another is that some corruption in government is acceptable so that civil servants may supplement their meager incomes.

It is this tolerance that has allowed corruption to spin out of control, consequently leading to Indonesia's near state of bankruptcy in 1998. We have recovered -- though only just -- thanks to massive international support.

But we seem not to have learned our lesson. Corruption is again in vogue, because past leaders have allowed it to regenerate with impunity. Not surprisingly, these leaders -- or their close associates -- were themselves implicated in corruption scandals.

The chief lesson of the 1990s is clear: We must adopt an attitude of zero tolerance when it comes to corruption. President Susilo's gradualist approach suggests that some corruption might be tolerated, but this is a sure recipe for another bankruptcy. Hope amid skepticism is thus the public's take on Susilo's anticorruption campaign.

We know he has the political capital, and we know that all he needs to do is to turn this into political will. What we are not so sure about is whether he has the guts to do what needs to be done.

Not as free as we think

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 29, 2004

The press in our former colony, the tiny East Timor, is much more free than ours; the new nation ranks number 57 together with Ghana and a notch above Thailand on a newly released list that ranks 167 countries. In the region, Indonesia, ranked at 117 with Nigeria, is not all that far above Malaysia, which ranks number 122 on the list compiled by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

That wasn't very nice of them. Surely, years after strongman Soeharto stepped down, we should be further up that list? Just look at the crowded newsstands, the multiple choice offered by television and radio stations, all with their own news programs, and so many talking heads that many are fed up with them.

But the RSF, a reputable international organization that had sent out questionnaires with 52 criteria to assess press freedom, said the reason why countries with "free and lively independent media" like Indonesia, India (120th) and the Philippines (111th), ended up at the bottom half of the index, were the physical attacks on -- and murders of -- journalists, and outdated laws.

These factors apparently contributed to the continued fall of Indonesia's RSF ranking. Last year we ranked 110th out of 166 countries, far from number 57 in 2002.

So, while we may think we're a fairly liberal country compared to some neighbors, the brief "RSF verdict" reminds us that there is homework overdue when it comes to taking offense at what has been reported in the public forum.

Much needs to be done to increase the media's professionalism, as violations of ethics remain widespread, for all to see. Professionalism is one tool to ensure the accurate flow of information to the public; yet another is free space for journalists to do their jobs. Ranking low, in terms of global press freedom, signals little understanding here of its importance.

Consider the recent sentence of one year in jail received by editor-in-chief of the leading Tempo magazine Bambang Harymurti, who was declared guilty of defamation, a violation of the Criminal Code inherited from Dutch rule. Organizations concerned with freedom of expression immediately went to the Supreme Court with members of the media, stressing that the Press Law should be used in such cases.

Inspired by the Americans in Iraq, in the martial-law zone of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, journalists were "free" to tail the military in its "embedded" program as long as they didn't go anywhere else, and as long as they could make themselves available for hours of questioning on their reports to the military authorities. With operation costs in Aceh draining media industry budgets, and with only boring one-side stories to show for it, many of the media horde trooped out. Meanwhile, the Acehnese complained that they had been forgotten, and that things had little improved since martial law was lifted.

As for the new President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, he hasn't made his position on press freedom all that clear, but his emphasis on the media's "responsibility" in a campaign speech harks back to the words of former legislators, who had suggested changes to the Press Law. They wanted the introduction of harsher penalties for the press.

Maybe it's a rule of thumb that new governments that represent the renewed spirit of the people -- like Indonesia a few years ago and currently East Timor -- welcome the media with open arms as a symbol of wanting "to listen to what the people say," to borrow from the President himself. But, after the first few years, or the first few months of administrations, we've learned the hard way not to believe that freedom in the honeymoon period will last forever.

So again, one part of the homework of the media would be to ensure the free and accurate flow of information to the public, which would include increasing professionalism.

Another part would be the continued, active role in advocating for even more freedom -- for one, we don't even have a law on free access to information. Freedom, like professionalism, is not a coveted Western import; without the space and tools to pursue its job in facilitating citizens to make informed decisions on matters that concern them, the media would be merely trumpeting the words of the powerful -- of which the people have had more than enough.

Political contract, a source of irony and amusement

Jakarta Post - October 29, 2004

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta -- When asked about the decision of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to oblige his ministers to sign a "political contract" before their appointments, a senior government official who has served three presidents replied, "You remember president Habibie?" According to the official, top government officials from the central government down to the lowest tier of local government obediently followed the habits of President B.J. Habibie, who replaced Soeharto in 1998 and then ruled the country until October 1999.

"When Habibie pronounced the word ekonomi in the English way, wore a peci and hugged people and kissed their cheeks, regardless of whether they were men or women, nearly all government officials started pronouncing the word ekonomi like native English speakers. They also suddenly became enthusiastic about embracing other people," the official said laughing. "As soon as Habibie was out, we stopped kissing each other," he added.

What he wanted to say was that these contracts could go the same way as the parroting of Habibie's habits by his ministers. In Indonesia, when a minister likes to wear batik the staff of the ministry will very likely follow his example. Susilo once described how one of his close aides made the same mistakes as he did when they played golf together.

When the wife of then president Soeharto, Tien, was still alive, it was virtually impossible for a state employee, whether military or civilian, to divorce his wife or take another wife as Tien was very strict about the anti-polygamy rules. After she died in 1996, the rules slowly but surely came to be ignored.

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab has announced that all first and second echelon officials in the ministries that he oversees will be required to sign political contracts. According to law, all civil servants are required to be loyal to the state and not to the government. It is not inconceivable that the Jakarta governor, Sutiyoso, will also order his subordinates to sign a loyalty pledge (hopefully not just to the governor but to Jakartans as well), and for his subordinates to also require their subordinates to ink such documents Journalists will likely be receiving many more invitations from local government offices to cover similar ceremonies in the near future.

Susilo is the country's first president who was directly elected by the people. He clearly realized that the people want a evidence that their new leader will perform better then his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, in eradicating corruption and in upholding the law. He won a strong mandate for this from the people.

The 36-strong Cabinet have signed written pledges expressing a readiness to be fired anytime by the President if they failed to remain honest, clean and loyal to the state. The ministers must also realize their only duty is to serve the President in bringing Indonesia out its current economic difficulties.

The ministers must remember it is much more difficult to be elected as a legislator at the local level compared to becoming a Cabinet member. A legislator must first win the approval of his party to be nominated as a councillor by the party and then he must fight to win the seat together with his party. To become a minister, however, it is enough just to get the nod from the President.

Even without the contract, the ministers should be ashamed of themselves if they fail to stay clean and honest. With the Koran for Muslims, the Bible for Protestants and Catholics, and the relevant holy books for Buddhists and Hindus, they vow to reject "bribery in any form, and to be loyal to the state" during their installation ceremonies.

But it is not uncommon that such swearing-in ceremonies at the State Palace are also attended by businessmen, who are later found to be working closely with the ministers in enriching not just the state but also their own pockets. There are rumors that a fugitive from justice was those present during the installation of the Cabinet last Thursday.

Quoting a Minang anecdote, a friend said that if he was one day to be sworn in as a government official, he would say in his oath, "I swear I will not accept any bribes except when I have no choice".

We must give an opportunity to the President to prove his commitment. Compared to his five predecessors, Susilo is not only the president with the most legitimacy but also the best prepared president. As a military officer, he must have been well-versed as regards dirty practices in government, including corruption and abuse of power.

First of all, people want to see that his family -- his two sons, wife and relatives -- do not become involved in business, directly or indirectly. When Megawati became president in 2001 she boasted that her family, including her husband Taufik Kiemas and her relatives, would shun the temptation to abuse power during her presidency. If asked now, could she still convince the public that Taufik is as clean as she promised he would be three years ago? The contract is a symbol of a strong determination on the part of Susilo to create a clean and effective government. He has visited the tax and customs and excise offices, the Attorney General's Office and National Police Headquarters. These four institutions are perceived by the public as being mired in corruption.

Despite his lack of support in the House of Representatives, Susilo has the overwhelming support of the people. The public are rational enough not to expect too much from their new leader. What they expect is that Susilo will be honest, smart and courageous enough to fulfill his promises. Indonesians understand the mammoth task confronting him.

He has all the necessary qualifications to lead the country. If he is able to clean up his inner circle, then people will be convinced that he is really serious. The President has decided to live at the Merdeka Palace so as to make his comings and goings more visible to his people. However, we should not forget that when president Abdurrahman Wahid lived in the palace during his nearly two-year presidency, dodgy business people found that access was not completely closed off to him.

[The author is a staff writer for The Jakarta Post.]

Low productivity in the textile sector

Jakarta Post - October 30, 2004

Dan Kingsley, Jakarta -- We have read quite a bit recently about how Indonesia's non-oil manufacturing exports have been decreasing. In fact, there has actually been negative investment in this sector if the number of international trading companies (export manufacturing, retail buyers, international investors) that have left the country is taken into account.

Given that non-oil manufacturing exports are mostly comprised of labor-intensive industries such as garments and furniture, many Indonesians lost their jobs in recent years, while an average of 2-2.5 million new job seekers are estimated to be entering the labor market annually.

The textile and garment industry is a major labor-intensive source of employment opportunities. It has, however, seen a decline in international competitiveness due to rising labor costs and other factors, including recent increases in infrastructure costs, national autonomy measures and tight lending policies.

It has been anticipated by many foreign buyers, branded label companies, and manufacturing firms that the situation will only worsen in the textile/garment sector beginning in 2005, when the implementation of the quota free era begins. At this time the 10 year phase out period established at the Uruguay Round will end, and quotas from 146 World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries will expire.

Two key factors challenging the industry today -- increased competition from lower-cost overseas producers and the imminent end of the quota system -- are to a large extent beyond the industry's control. Of course the second factor cannot be controlled, as foreign buyers try to establish new sources in countries such as China and Vietnam. In these countries higher productivity in factory production translates into cheaper prices.

This is not to say that the Indonesian worker is less productive. Indonesian garment and textile worker, supervisors and managers are very experienced in fact, and are as productive as those in other countries given the same machinery and factory conditions. However, due to a lack of new investment in the industry, many workers are working in old, outdated factories and with technologically uncompetitive machinery.

As in any manufacturing industry it is necessary to continually update technology in order to remain competitive.

The lack of capital reinvestment in new machinery and facilities has not been consistent with either the global competition, or with what would be considered best business practices.

A comprehensive survey by PT Sucofindo surveyor company of over 4,000 companies between 2001 and 2004 revealed the fact that to be globally competitive the industry must invest over USS500 million. The ministry of trade and industry has acknowledged this.

Why, if labor costs are relatively cheap in Indonesia, are producers successful under the era of quota restrictions choosing not to re-invest in the industry as the non-quota era approaches? These are smart businessmen, who have obviously researched the competitive situation through their buyers, if not directly. They know the relative costs of production in other countries, so they obviously feel that Indonesian costs are not competitive, and choose not to compete on a level playing field.

It comes down to productivity; costs in Indonesia are higher because the total process of buying components, hiring labor, producing the product and getting it to the shop or port is higher than in other countries. This process is known as the supply chain, and to become globally competitive the sector must reduce these supply chain costs to levels at or below competing nations.

It is vital that we look at all of the factors contributing to the high cost/productivity ratio along the production chain: Labor costs: Recent labor regulations on severance pay, and especially Law No. 13 passed in December 2003 on manpower, have drastically increased the costs of doing business. Foreign competitor countries do not require the exorbitant costs incurred through similar labor laws in their respective countries.

The supply chain: These costs will include local transportation, local government charges and "lobbying" charges. Each of these three components in the supply chain was estimated to be up to 3 percent of total production cost.

There will be serious problems when honest hard working people lose their jobs due to inefficient production. This will be compounded by the fact that many factories will plead that they do not have the funds for severance pay, and make the necessary donation to the relevant authority to back them up. Then things will really hit the fan, so to speak.

Astute measures to counter this disadvantage in the short term have been proposed, such as signing free trade agreements with large buying countries such as the US in order to reduce tariffs. However, the government should take a serious business diagnose of why the costs of domestic production have been so high.

[The write is Managing Director of Trade Management and Development Services.]

A House divided

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 30, 2004

As the nation clamors for change, the conduct currently being exhibited by the honorable members of our national legislature, the House of Representatives, does not bode well for the immediate future of democracy in Indonesia.

In one of the latest developments in the political tug-of-war that has been going on for days in that exalted all of the people's representatives, the Nationhood Coalition -- comprising the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) plus three other factions of lesser individual clout -- has taken it upon itself to appoint its own members as chairmen or deputy chairmen of the various House commissions. Obviously, the support of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction has been valuable help for the coalition in attaining its target of dominating the entire House and deserves to be rewarded.

This grab for power, needless to say, has drawn the protest of the coalition's rival People's Coalition, which comprises five minority parties, including the Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which, though small, recorded a phenomenal rise in popularity in the recent legislative elections. The People's Coalition, which has boycotted the sessions, has remained steadfast in its rejection of the decisions that were taken by the Assembly in their absence -- and in defiance, it says, of an accord reached earlier by all the House's factions.

While attendance is not obligatory under House standing orders, all the moves and counter moves that have so far been made by both sides in this struggle clearly demonstrate the disregard that our honorable people's representatives seem to have for the interests of the people whom they are supposed to represent. Little, if anything, seems to have changed in this respect since the days when the dictatorial New Order regime was in power, from the late 1960s up to the present.

In the meantime, while the impasse continues, the House's angry reaction to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's letter retracting an earlier one sent by his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, accepting the resignation of the chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI), Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, gives reason for even more concern. By abrogating Megawati's letter -- which the House had already approved in an earlier session -- the President is showing contempt of the legislature, members of the Nationhood Coalition say.

Calls have been made by several of its House members to use its right of interpellation and summon the President to explain his action before the legislature. No one, of course, disputes the right of the House to summon officials, from Cabinet ministers up to the President, and demand clarification on policy decisions that they feel are inconsistent with the nation's interests. It is the motive behind the action, however, that has raised eyebrows across the nation.

Although observers have long foreseen the hurdles that the Nationhood Coalition seem at present to be busy putting in the President's path, observers worry about the possibility of a real confrontation building up between the President on one side and the legislature on the other.

Admittedly, the possibility of the current climate of mutual resentment in the House growing into a storm that could endanger the government or the nation's stability appears at this point to be quite remote. Nevertheless, even a standoff in the current less-than-amicable relationship between the House and the chief executive can have serious consequences for a nation hungry for change and betterment.

Under the circumstances, the best that Indonesians can do is hope that good statesmanship will prevail on both sides. The President must realize that cooperation with the legislature is a necessity. The factions in the House, on the other hand, would do well to keep in mind that Susilo is the first Indonesian president to be handpicked by the bearers of the nation's sovereignty: the people. Obviously, it would not be in the best interest of the future of the political parties represented to appear to be working to upset the will of the people.