Aceh

Push for revival of Aceh dialog

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- An intensive peace process should follow the visit of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, or else local people will lose trust in the new administration, observers say.

Legislator Teuku Muhammad Nurlif and Acehnese rights campaigner Hasballah M. Saad suggested that the President open a dialog with all Acehnese civilians, including members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), to tap more input on how the road to peace should proceed.

Nurlif and Hasballah said that during his visit on Friday, the President failed to identify the policies he would implement in boosting the peace process in the conflict-torn province. "The visit did not offer anything new to the Aceh people. I hope the government will resume the dialog of the past," Hasballah told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

During his first visit since assuming power on Friday, Susilo maintained that special autonomy status was the best way to resolve the Aceh conflict. The five-hour visit was made just one week after Susilo extended the state of civil emergency in the province for six months. GAM rebels have been fighting for independence since 1976. More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since that time.

Under the special autonomy scheme introduced on January 1, 2001, Aceh is free to run its own affairs except for areas concerning defense, finance, foreign relations, and religious affairs.

Hasballah said that the previous Aceh peace process had led to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA), although this later collapsed. "The fact that there has been an intention for dialog must be followed up as a new starting point," he said.

Hasballah doubted the participants in a dialog with the President on Friday truly represented the Aceh people. Some 400 people were selected by the local government to attend the one-hour dialog. Beside organizing a dialog with Aceh people, Hasballah suggested that the president assign ministers or aides to resume talks with GAM leaders.

Nurlif, meanwhile, expected the government to focus on innovative policies to help the province's economy recover after decades of conflict. Taking an example, he said the government could revive the supply of gas and energy from Arun to big companies located in Aceh, such as the fertilizer and paper firms. Gas supply to these companies has been terminated for the sake of exports.

"I think Pak Purnomo [Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources] should resign if he fails to supply energy to local companies," Nurlif said.

Both Nurlif and Hasballah called for the establishment of a national committee to help find solutions to the Aceh conflict. The committee could consist of Acehnese leaders and non-Acehnese figures who are familiar with the real needs of people in the westernmost province.

Commenting on the plan to grant Aceh rebels amnesty, Hasballah and Nurlif suggested that the government specify what policies would be implemented after the amnesty was granted. "The social and economic aspects of ex-rebels should also be taken into account," Hasballah said.

Yudhoyono betrays the Acehnese people

Green Left Weekly - December 1, 2004

James Balowski, Jakarta -- The new government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has barely been in office one month but has already broken a key election promises -- to seek a peaceful solution to the prolonged conflict in Indonesia's northern-most province of Aceh.

On November 19, the government announced it would extend the state of civil emergency in Aceh until May, the only change being it will be reviewed monthly and if there are significant but as yet undefined improvements, the order may be reviewed and adjusted accordingly.

Aceh was placed under martial law on May 19, 2003, after Jakarta sabotaged peace talks with the armed separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). This was reduced to a state civil emergency on November 19, which has been in place since then.

It also launched its so-called "integrated operation" to win the hearts and minds of the Acehnese and destroy GAM, which it then estimated at some 5000 armed fighters. Eighteen months later it says 2500 remain -- hardly a decisive military victory.

Human rights organisations say that most of the 2300 or more who have been killed, disappeared or imprisoned are civilians. Reports of torture, abductions and rape are widespread and the province is now the most corrupt in the country.

In making the announcement, Yudhoyono said that while "seeking a new approach", the operation will be carried out in a way which is "of a better quality, more concrete, with clear aims, implemented transparently and free of distortions and corruption". The status will be maintained to "safeguard the 'momentum' and continuity of the recovery in Aceh", Yudhoyono told Tempo Interactive on November 18.

Army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu meanwhile was quoted by the November 17 Jakarta Post as saying "We are only trying to bring about peace in Aceh and the decision to impose the emergency was taken to ensure the security of the people". He added that GAM still posed a threat so military operations would continue until they were eliminated.

The government has also ruled out any foreign role while also offering amnesty to rebels who give up their struggle. GAM spokesperson Abdullah Zaini has dismissed the offer and called on the government to return to the negotiating table.

Writing in the November 19 Jakarta Post, Damien Kingsbury, a senior lecturer from Deakin University said, "What the Indonesian government also seems not to realize is that opposition to Jakarta's authority in Aceh is not just from a handful of [exiled Acehnese] men in Stockholm and misguided idealists in Aceh. It is keenly felt by an overwhelming majority of Acehnese.

"This explains why, although GAM has suffered some losses over the past 18 months, it has been able to draw on a large reservoir of volunteers waiting to step up and fight. Martial law might have been intended to crush GAM, but as many predicted, it has not significantly diminished GAM's military capacity, and has only hardened the resolve of Aceh's population against the TNI [armed forces] and the government it represents."

Kingsbury points out that now, trapped by TNI-backed demands that GAM surrender and accept special autonomy as a precursor to peace, the government has imposed preconditions that make peace talks impossible. GAM on the other hand, has dropped most of its preconditions recognising that its claims will have to be negotiated -- the very thing talks are about.

Critics have condemned the policy saying it is no different from the approach taken by the 32-year Suharto dictatorship which left some 13,000 dead when Aceh was designated a "special military operations" area between 1989 to 1998.

A November 20 editorial in the Jakarta Daily lamented, "It's appalling to see a golden opportunity slip through the fingers of former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and prove to the nation that he is true to his word. People are asking, why did Susilo make a decision that, in effect, froze investigations into corruption cases in Aceh province, and cut into efforts to organise direct elections for local government? Isn't this counter to his own image as a reformer?" "...It now looks as if Susilo's administration does not differ much from its predecessor, and Susilo seems to have forgotten the campaign promise he made a couple of months ago when he said he would bring change to Aceh once he became president."

On November 24, the defence commission of the House of Representatives told the Jakarta Post that the house did not support the extension and those parliamentary leaders who supported it did so in an "individual capacity".

Acehnese legislators too responded coldly complaining that they were not involved in the decision and called for a peaceful settlement. "As far as I know, the Aceh council never recommended that the president extend the state of civil emergency. Rather, we urged the government to pursue a dialog to deal with the problems in Aceh", said legislator Waisul Qarany Aly.

Aceh councillor Nasir Djamil called the decision a setback asking, "If the interests of the Acehnese people was one of the reasons behind the decision, what mistakes did we commit that we have to live under a state of emergency?" Non-government and human rights groups have been unanimous in their condemnation.

At a press conference in Jakarta on November 18 (by which time the decision was known), the Aceh Working Group (AWG), the Centre for Electoral Reform (Cetro) and Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) said the decision was "disappointing" and indicated that Yudhoyono's position is inconsistent with his campaign promises.

"We condemn the extension of civil emergency in Aceh. Although the decision has been issued and it is too late to be reversed and has made us ashamed, disappointed and angry, we demand that the government open up access to information in order to monitor efforts to uphold human rights and the law as well as access for humanitarian aid", AWG coordinator Rusdi Marpaung was quoted as saying by the Kompas daily on November 20.

On the same day the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) -- established by renowned human rights activist Munir, who was murdered on September 7 -- issued a similar statement. "SBY [Yudhoyono] promised to resolve [the conflict in] Aceh peacefully and through dialogue with GAM. But not one of these promises has been fulfilled by SBY and this will definitely increase the Acehnese people's disappointment with the government", Kontras member Edwin Partogi told Detik.com on November 18. "So Kontras is urging the government to review the decision... and that the government and GAM return to the negotiating table", said Partogi.

On November 24 -- in the first public demonstration since the Ramadhan fasting month ended -- a coalition of activists from SEGERA, the Solidarity Movement with the People of Aceh, held a demonstration at the State Palace demanding the state of emergency be revoked, all non-organic troops be withdrawn, the perpetrators of human rights violations be tried and for both parties to return to the negotiating table.

People's Democratic Party general secretary Zelly Ariane told the crowd "What is so difficult to resolve the Aceh problem peacefully? Only because according to the government the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is final. Final, why? Who decided this? Not the ordinary Indonesian people." Reihana Diani from the Women's Organisation for Aceh Democracy said the extension is evidence that the Yudhoyono government is pursuing the same militaristic policies as his predecessor Megawati.

Following the demonstration, action coordinator Lukman Hakim told Green Left Weekly that the extension will not resolve the problem and that on the contrary, it is an a-historical policy. "The extension of the civil emergency indicates Yudhoyono has no new approach to resolving the conflict peacefully. This is in total contrast with what he said during his election campaign, the very reason the Acehnese people voted for him."

People celebrating GAM's anniversary will be shot on sight

Sinar Harapan - December 3, 2004

Banda Aceh -- In the lead up to the anniversary of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) security forces in Aceh have forbidden people from joining in the celebrations. If any civilians or GAM members are seen raising the Red Crescent Moon flag, GAM's symbol, they will be shot on sight. Journalists have who cover such activities will not be tolerated.

"We have given instructions to soldiers in the field to shoot all of them, whether they be rebels or civilians who participate in raising the flag", said the commander of the Lilawangsa 011 District Military Command (Korem), Colonel A.Y. Nasution, in North Aceh on Thursday December 2.

He said that although there will be no special operation to prevent the celebration of the anniversary troops will still be ordered to patrol all areas. "None of the troops will have a break. All of them will be active", he said.

Nasution explained that they had issued an instruction to shoot people on the spot whether they be members of GAM or civilians who are participating in raising the flag. They will also not tolerate journalists who cover GAM anniversary events. And if there are any journalists who cover such events security forces will not be responsible for their safety.

"If there are journalists who go in, the risk is their own resposiblility. So go ahead, but I have ordered that where there are such incidents, they will be fired on by artillery, small arms or aircraft", he said.

Separately, the spokesperson for the Aceh Regional Civil Emergency Administrator (PDSD), chief commander Sayed Hoesainy, told Sinar Harapan on Friday that he had pleaded with and forbidden people not to be influenced by or participate in GAM's anniversary events. "The TNI [armed forces] and police will increase its patrol activities in places which are suspected to GAM anniversary sites", he said.

Hoesainy admitted that so far they still do not have data on the location of the main anniversary event as they did last year. However according to estimates, GAM anniversary events will be organised in the remaining black zones. "I estimate that this year GAM's anniversary will not be like the previous year. We have almost all trouble spots under control", he revealed.

[Abridged translation by James Balowski. The second section of the report covered an earlier fatal shooting of seven GAM members by TNI forces.]

Conflict of business interests behind TNI-Brimob clash

Sinar Harapan - November 29, 2004

Jakarta -- A conflict over palm oil business interests is suspected to have been the trigger behind the armed clash between TNI (armed forces) troops and the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in the village of Seuneubok Bace in East Aceh on Thursday November 25.

This was revealed by a Sinar Harapan source within the East Aceh police department when they were contacted on Saturday morning. The source said that the Brimob post in Seuneubok Bace village had been turned into a forward sectoral coordinating command post for all troops deployed in East Aceh. "It's not just Brimob, but marines and other TNI task force units which are constantly dropping by the Brimob post", said the source.

Meanwhile the deputy-commander of the East Aceh district task force Superintendent Agustri who was contacted by Sinar Harapan on Saturday morning explained that the attack on the Brimob post was planned beforehand. This was revealed by short message service (SMS) messages which were found in a cellular phone being held as evidence in the incident.

"From a number of read SMSs from the mobile phone it is known that the attack on the Brimob post in the Seuneubok Bace village was planned the day beforehand and involved a certain private from Rifle Company B, Peudawa, Battalion 111, who is being investigated and is known by the name Haris", revealed Agustri. The SMSs also described the moment of the attack on the Brimob post.

During the attack a Brimob member Private Juanzein was shot dead by a bullet in the head. Three other Brimob members, Privates Faizal, Alida and Dikdik Santosa were seriously wounded in the shooting. Private Juanzein's body was returned to his home in Palembang, South Sumatra on Friday.

Colonel Azmin Yusri Nasution from the Lilawangsa 011 Sub-regency Military Command meanwhile says that they have detained 25 TNI soldiers from Rifle Company B in relation to the attack. According to Nasution the 25 were arrested on Friday by the Iskandar Muda I military police. "I have taken measures against my soldiers and jailed the lot of them immediately. We have put the soldiers who I consider to be at fault in jail", he said.

When asked about the reasons for the attack Nasution said that the incident occurred because of a misunderstanding however he declined to give details about what the misunderstanding was about.

Responding to the incident, J. Kristiadi, a military observer from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and People's Representative Assembly member Happy Bone Zulkarnaen who were contacted by Sinar Harapan on Saturday morning said that excessive inter-force arrogance was often the trigger for such clashes.

According to Kristiadi, this arrogance results in a loss of respect for other forces saying that an effort must be made to eliminate this sense of supremacy between different forces. If not such clashes will continue to occur.

The basic problems is in fact related to the TNI and police's professionalism which includes the capabilities of each forces, ethics, discipline and social responsibility between forces. "They must have social responsibility to the public", he said.

Happy Bone Zulkarnaen said that this is not the first such clash which has occurred in Aceh but that incidents like this have occurred repeatedly. "Actually, were sick and tired of warning them. But, the clash occurred because of excessive corps solidarity", he explained.

According to Zulkarnaen such clashes can also be triggered because troops feel fed up and are therefore easily offended and angered. In fact the condition of the soldiers should be understood by their superiors. "The chief of the TNI has said [soldiers] are fed up. If this is so there must be proper management of the rotation of soldiers so that soldiers there [in Aceh] continue to be physically and mentally fit", he said.

He said that if such clashes continue to occur it will create a negative image in the "eyes" of the public especially when such clashes occur in conflict areas where their duty is to protect the public.

If civilians clash he said, it can be broken up by the security forces. But if it is the security forces who are armed and trained in stopping clashes obviously there is no one who can break them up. "If it is they themselves who clash, then who will protect the public. This creates a poor image", said Zulkarnaen.

TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto meanwhile said that the investigation into the incident between rogue TNI soldiers and Brimob has been handed over to the commander of the Iskandar Muda Territorial Military Command and the head of the Aceh police.

"It was just a misunderstanding. But in order to resolve it we have handed it over to the military and police commanders so that the issue can be resolved optimally", he told journalists in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Friday.

Furthermore said Sutarto, he hoped that the incident would not be repeated. "If indeed there is [someone] who is guilty, yeah and punished, don't let there be others who hold a grudge or feel hurt, [deal with it] though good law enforcement", he said. Sutarto was accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's on a visit to Aceh.

"They must have a feeling of mutual respect for each other. If they are on guard for each other, I think what occurred in East Aceh will not be repeated", he said. (nor/ina/ady)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]

Government urged to review Aceh Autonomy Law

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- A Working Group for Aceh called for a revision of the special autonomy for the troubled province, arguing that it had failed to address the roots of the problems.

Acehnese sociologist Otto Syamsuddin Ishak said the law, which authorizes the province to implement sharia, merely regulated "Islamic rules -- such as the way people are to dress -- instead of the implementation of the Islamic Law."

Contrasting it to the weakness of police and others in dealing with rampant corruption involving officials of the Aceh administration, Otto wondered aloud why the police remained silent over such cases, while on the other hand, the "sharia police arrest Acehnese women who are not wearing Islamic attire appropriately or young couples flirting in public."

The group also called on the government to allow Acehnese to set up local political parties and form their own government. "The government should also create political freedom in the province, including the setting up of local parties," Otto said.

"All Acehnese should be allowed to vote in a local election and allow GAM to substitute their armed struggle with a political one. Let them monitor all the policies made by local administration and let them manage their own local administration. This what we call special autonomy," he added.

The activists' call came days after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stressed that the special autonomy was the best way to resolve the Aceh conflict, signaling that there would be no policy changes in dealing with the secessionist movement. Under the special autonomy arrangements introduced on January 1, 2001, Aceh is supposed to be free to run its own affairs except in the fields of defense, fiscal, foreign and religious affairs.

GAM leadership, however, has rejected the arrangement, saying that they want full independence as they have stated that, "Indonesia's colonization of Aceh" was the main problem.

The working group also asked for additional articles in the autonomy law to regulate a mechanism to resolve human rights abuses in the province to promote justice for the Acehnese.

The working group consists of several non-governmental organizations, including Imparsial, the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Human Rights Watch Group (HRWG) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Human rights abuses were reportedly rampant during the decades- long military operation that ended in 1998. An inquiry team set up by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) found that at least 5,000 civilians were killed and thousands more tortured and maimed during the 10-year military operation.

Aceh rebels raising flag 'will be shot on sight'

Straits Times - December 4, 2004

Banda Aceh -- Officials threatened to "shoot on sight" rebels caught raising separatist flags in Aceh province to mark the anniversary of their movement today. But the rebels remained defiant.

Anyone raising Free Aceh Movement (GAM) flags or attending ceremonies would be warned, said chief administrator Bachrumsyah Kasman of the state of emergency in the province. Those ignoring the warnings would be "shot on sight", he said.

GAM in the past has marked the anniversary of its founding on Dec 4, 1976, with parades, flag-raisings and calls for a general strike. This year, the province is under a state of emergency enforced by some 35,000 police and troops.

Mr Bachrumsyah said residents could go about their daily activities but should avoid flag ceremonies. Rebel leaders say they will mark the anniversary despite the intensified pressure.

Last week, during his first trip to the province since taking office, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono offered the rebels amnesty if they would drop their bid for independence. But they rejected the offer.

On Thursday, Indonesia's military chief said his forces were bringing stability to the province.

General Endriartono Sutarto told Parliament that a total of 3,216 rebels had been killed since May last year. He said 2,577 rebels had surrendered and 2,031 had been captured, leaving a force of about 2,049 -- far less than rebel estimates of 4,000 fighters.

"The military is only responsible for supporting the process of restoring security in the restive province which, in general, is getting more conducive," he said.

Rebel spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah, based in Sweden, denied the claims. He said most of the dead were civilians and only "a couple hundred" rebels had been killed in the fighting since last year.

"We're not denying that some of our soldiers have been killed but it's much less than what the military estimates," he said. "There will never be stability until the Acehnese aspirations are met, which is independence."

Government tightens its grip ahead of GAM anniversary

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Nani Afrida and Tiarma Siboro, Banda Aceh/Jakarta -- Anticipating possible skirmishes during the 28th anniversary of the Aceh Free Movement (GAM) on December 4, the civil emergency administration on Friday banned the populace from engaging in any activities related to the occasion.

Acting administrator of the civil emergency, Insp. Gen. Bahrumsyah Kasman, ordered all private institutions, government agencies, non-governmental organizations as well as the media to ignore the commemoration.

"All institutions are barred from discussing, producing, disseminating or broadcasting information related to the anniversary of the separatist movement," Bahrumsyah said, adding that the public should also notify the security authorities over possible breaches of the order.

He also called on security personnel deployed in the strife-torn province to step up their vigilance. "Security personnel are urged to take more initiatives in responding to developments and take all necessary actions in accordance with existing regulations," he said.

The civil emergency administration in Aceh has beefed up security measures in areas considered as GAM strongholds, such as Tanah Jambo Aye, Matangkuli, Sawang Langkahan and Nisam subdistricts. It also plans to deploy reconnaissance aircraft to monitor the activities of the separatist movement and launch airstrikes if necessary.

Government-sponsored anti-separatist groups are also expected to boost the drive by providing free medical services for residents in Nisam, Paya Bakong, Matangkuli and Lhokseumawe.

The civil emergency administration issued the order based on Government Regulation No. 2/2004 on the extension of civil emergency in the province. "Violators of this order will be charged under the law on the state of emergency and/or relevant regulations," Bachrumsyah said.

Although not cowed by the order, GAM earlier appealed to Acehnese to stay at their homes and halt all activities during the commemoration, citing people's safety as the main reason. "The anniversary is a historical moment for all Acehnese and we [GAM] believe that all of us pay the same reverence to the event. And since the safety of all Acehnese is our concern, we ask you all to stay at home and stop your activities between 6 a.m. and 12 midday, during which we (GAM) will hold the commemoration," GAM Commander-in-Chief Teungku Muzakkir Manaf said from the movement's central command headquarters in the Tiro area.

Muzakkir's statement was aimed at cautioning Acehnese with the prospect of government's troops intensifying their operations to prevent GAM-related activities throughout the territory where Jakarta has imposed state of emergency for the past one-and-half year to crush the secessionist movement.

GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 people. The government launched a major operation to crush the rebels in May last year, costing the state Rp 2.6 trillion (US$288.9 million). The Indonesian Military claimed to have killed 3,200 rebels and captured 4,500 others during the operation.

Calm prevails on GAM anniversary

Jakarta Post - December 5, 2004

Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- Amid stepped-up security measures imposed by the civil emergency administration, conditions in strife-torn Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam remained relatively calm on the 28th anniversary of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on Saturday.

Defying an order issued by GAM leaders that the Acehnese stay at home between 6 a.m. and 12 midday, people in the country's westernmost province went about their daily activities without disruption, as indicated by, among other things, the continued operation of intercity buses.

However, bus and minivan drivers said there had been a decline in the number of passengers. In areas like Pidie, North Aceh, East Aceh and Southwest of Aceh, traditional markets were open and serving customers as usual.

The only major incident was an armed clash involving an ambush by 20 fully armed GAM members on Indonesian Military (TNI) troops. Two TNI troops were wounded in the incident.

GAM commander Teungku Muzakkir Manaf appealed to the Acehnese to stay at home on the anniversary, citing public safety as the main reason.

As usual, all activities that could be considered even remotely related to the GAM anniversary were completely banned by the authorities. The civil emergency administration has also stepped up security measures in areas considered to be GAM strongholds in Tanah Jambo Aye, Matangkuli, Sawang, Langkahan and Nisam subdistricts.

On the eve of the anniversary, security personnel rounded up 39 civilians in Bireun for questioning. Aceh police spokesman Sr. Comr. Sayed Hoesayni said that they were arrested after gathering in a hut. "However, they were released after they showed us their ID cards. They are coconut croppers who are to be sent to Banda Aceh, but their employer apparently forgot to tell the local village head," he said.

Despite the fact that the life appeared to go on as normal, GAM said that it had observed the occasion in a fitting manner. "Although the celebrations were less vibrant that those of previous years, we still observed it properly. In Pidie, the ceremony was led by regional GAM commander Sardjani Abdullah," GAM spokesman in Pidie, Adi Laweueng, told The Jakarta Post.

He said that the occasion was used to swear in new officials who would fill a number of positions left vacant after a number of senior GAM officials were arrested by the military.

The central government has imposed a state of emergency in the resource-rich province for the past one-and-a-half years to squash the secessionist movement. It has so far cost the state Rp 2.6 trillion (US288.9 million).

West Papua

West Papua, bone of contention between government and Papuans

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The establishment of West Papua province could remain a stumbling block in the relations between the central government and Papuans, if it is not resolved in a way that both sides agree upon.

Two Papuan groups once again called on the government on Monday to back off and discontinue the partition of Papua province, despite the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court that recognizes the newly established West Papua province.

The working group on Papua (Pokja Papua) asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is scheduled to visit the province on New Year's eve, to clear up the mess and implement the Autonomy Law in Papua.

"The root of the problem in Papua is trust. Jakarta clearly distrusts Papua, and vice versa. The implementation of the Autonomy Law is the only way to break it," Frans Maniagasi, a Papuan intellectual with Pokja Papua, said during a discussion here.

To implement the law, Frans said, the government must facilitate the establishment of the Papua People's Council (MRP), as mandated by Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua.

Like Pokja Papua, the Alliance of Democracy for Papua also believes that the establishment of the MRP was a necessary step because the separation of Papua into several provinces can only be decided upon by the MRP, not by the central government, as stipulated in the Autonomy Law.

Iwan Miode of the alliance brushed aside concerns from some people who claim that the establishment of the MRP could lead to the separation of Papua from Indonesia, noting that the law requires the council members to be committed to the sovereignty of Indonesia.

"The law strictly specifies that the council members must be Papuans who are Indonesian citizens and fully agree with Pancasila [the 5-pillared state ideology] and the Constitution," he said. According to the law, the council must consist of representatives of women, cultural groups and religious groups.

Nevertheless, both Pokja Papua and the Alliance of Democracy for Papua asserted that the planned MRP must serve as a consultative body, instead of merely cultural body.

President Susilo has ordered the immediate establishment of the MRP, but emphasized that the council would simply be a cultural representative of the country's easternmost province.

On several occasions, he has claimed that the full implementation of the Autonomy Law was the solution to separatist sentiments in Papua, where a separatist group has been fighting for independence since the 1960s.

Most activists agree that the conflicts and separatist movements in Papua are a results of Jakarta's exploitative policies in the province.

Rich in natural resources, including gold and oil, Papua has attracted both domestic and foreign investors. Foreign investors have been working on mining, oil and gas sectors, while domestic investors have been involved in forestry, however, there are allegations of widespread illegal logging.

HIV/AIDS now major threat to Papuan tribes

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes it, may be contributing to the extinction of some of Papua's 250 tribes. With a population of 2.4 million, 15,000 people in the province have developed the disease, while 660,000 are HIV positive.

In Papua, the virus has generally been transmitted through sexual intercourse. Of the 1,706 HIV positive cases recorded by the provincial health office, 1,623 people were infected by means of sexual contact, three via blood transfusion and 80 others in "as yet unknown ways".

HIV/AIDS was reportedly discovered in Papua for the first time in 1992, affecting four Thai fishermen fishing in Merauke waters and two local commercial sex workers. Since then, the virus has spread to remote parts of the region, penetrating tribal enclaves.

The disease can be quickly transmitted through blood, semen, pre-ejaculate fluids or vaginal fluids. Thus, the sexual partner of an HIV positive person may be unaware that they have the infection, continuing to have casual sex.

According to John Rahail of the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI), several factors are directly or indirectly conducive to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Papua, such as economic disparity, which may force village girls to become prostitutes, or engage in underage sex.

In Jayapura city alone, some 250 local girls have become sex workers.

Based on a survey by Lilis Damayanti from the University of Indonesia with the assistance of John Rahail from PKBI-Papua in 2003, 12 percent of 2,100 secondary school students in the regencies of Jayapura, Sorong, Manokwari, Biak and Jayawijaya had already had sex, 15.2 percent of whom had experienced intercourse between the ages of eight to 12, with friends or sex workers.

The same outcome was shown by Leslie Butt's sex survey in 2001 in the regencies of Papua, Merauke, Jayapura, Sorong and Jayawijaya. Of 196 respondents, 29 percent had had sex for the first time at an age below 15.

The risk of infection is increased by the practice of old customs among certain Papuan tribes, which promote sex deals like spouse swaps, widow transfers to younger brothers, and parties meant to seek new matches or marriage partners, with tribal chiefs having greater freedom to choose whomever they desire.

Papua's natural resources have also lured outsiders to the region, who bring with them urban habits such as drinking alcohol and gambling, as well as supporting the sex industry. One of the resources exploited without regulations to protect local cultures is gaharu(aloe wood) in Assue district, Mappi regency, southern Papua.

Felix Yus Mawengkang, a priest from the Justice and Peace Solidarity (SKP) of the Merauke bishopric, said before gaharu businessmen ventured to the regency, no HIV/AIDS cases had been recorded there; but 10 years afterward, among a population of 9,500, 35 people were living with HIV/AIDS.

If one case were assumed to represent 100 people living with HIV/AIDS, by applying tip-of-the-iceberg estimation, there would be around 3,500 people living with HIV/AIDS in the regency.

"Within five to ten years, two tribes in Assue, Awyu and Wiyagar, may be extinct due to HIV/AIDS," Mawengkang warned.

Besides Assue, all regencies and cities in Papua have been affected by the virus.

The regencies with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS are Merauke with 657 cases, followed by Timika with 592, Jayapura with 141 and Sorong with 121.

Timika is the location of PT Freeport, Sorong and Merauke have timber and fish industries while Jayapura is the economic and business center of the province.

Productive age groups mostly register the highest figures, with the 20 to 29 bracket listing 711 cases, 30 to 39 (411), 15 to 19, (156), 40 to 49 (134) and 50 to 59 (48).

"People living with HIV/AIDS are mostly in their productive and sexually active years, so unless such developments are promptly curbed, a lot more people will be infected," said chairman of the Papuan AIDS Control Commission and Papuan Deputy Governor Constant Karma.

Condom use, according to Karma, had been successfully used as a method of HIV/AIDS prevention in Uganda. In 1982, the virus was detected in Uganda with its population of 22.7 million. In 1999, 1.4 million people were HIV positive and 800,000 people with AIDS died.

"At that time, there were AIDS deaths and funerals every day," he recalled, adding that the critical situation prompted all stakeholders to be engaged in a war on AIDS, though at first the church refused to be involved.

Prevention through the program of ABC -- Abstain, Be faithful and (use) Condoms, was finally accepted by all parties, including the church -- which originally regarded the condom campaign as promoting sexually free behavior -- after witnessing the numerous lives claimed by the disease daily.

Condoms were accepted by all circles. Their application was likened to the use of umbrellas when it rains, a necessity rather than something that is used for pleasure. "So, condoms were only used under the pressure of necessity, rather than suggested for unrestricted contact," he explained.

The same campaign in Papua has also faced protests from some social workers, like Rika Kapisa from Pro Life Pondok Agape, which is engaged in antiabortion advocacy.

Rika claimed campaigning for condom use was like encouraging people to have sex.

She said that the proper method should be abstention from premarital or illicit sex and repentance.

In response, Karma said condoms should only be used as a last resort, while the avoidance of premarital or illicit sex remained essential in HIV/AIDS prevention.

Papua has only a small number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in the prevention of HIV/AIDS, while the virus continues to spread through sexual contact, including with commercial sex workers.

Only 26 local and 10 foreign NGOs are involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Papua, meaning the dissemination of information to the public is very limited.

"Many people continue to have casual sex as they are ignorant of the dangers, while many of those who live in more isolated locations remain uninformed and even unaware that they might be infected. "All parties involved in HIV/AIDS prevention should be involved in enlightening them," Rika said.

Violence flares in West Papua

Australian Associated Press - December 1, 2004

Violence has flared in the capital of Indonesia's troubled province of West Papua as security forces moved to break up a flag-raising ceremony by independence supporters, a Sydney-based human rights monitor said today.

Five people were shot and wounded and at least 18 people arrested as 100 police dispersed the gathering at Trikora soccer field in Adepura, a suburb of Jayapura, just before 4.00pm (AEST) today, John Rumbiak, international spokesman for the Papuan human rights group Elsham, said.

Mr Rumbiak, who is now based in Sydney, said an Elsham human rights worker who witnessed the demonstration had been beaten as he tried to photograph the clash.

Two of the event organisers had also been beaten by police as they were taken away on a police truck for interrogation in the city centre, Mr Rumbiak said, quoting a report by phone from his colleagues in Jayapura. Another 16 people were being questioned at the local Adepura police station.

Among the five people wounded were 20-year-old Marselina Gobay, who was shot in the leg, and 24-year-old Yermia Kayame, shot in the head. The five people suffering gunshot wounds were being treated at a local hospital, Mr Rumbiak said.

December 1 commemorates the first West Papuan national congress in 1961, organised by the then ruling Dutch as a preparation for independence. Last week, Indonesian authorities had warned activists not to raise their distinctive blue, white and red Morning Star flag today.

"The concern is that this is a peaceful demonstration and from a human rights perspective it has to be allowed to take place," Mr Rumbiak said. "It is freedom of expression."

Mr Rumbiak said the demonstration had been calling on newly- elected Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to initiate a peaceful dialogue between the government and independence supporters.

Last month human rights advocates in Australia and Indonesia said a fresh military crackdown in the heavily-forested highlands district of Puncak Jaya had left eight people dead and forced thousands of locals tribespeople to flee their villages.

Indonesia's resource-rich easternmost province, formerly known as Irian Jaya, has been the site of sporadic violence since the early 1960s when Indonesia assumed control from the Dutch.

There were now more than 25,000 troops based in the province after a build-up over the last two years, Mr Rumbiak said. Journalists are banned from entering the province.

Independence celebration turns into clash, several injured

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Agencies -- Police personnel clashed on Wednesday with pro- independence Papuans in Trikora field, Jayapura, after the independence supporters hoisted in the area the Bintang Kejora flag, the symbol of the Papua independence movement. Several people were injured after the clash, but no fatalities were reported in the incident.

The flag flew for one hour in the field in Abepura area, Jayapura, but it was lowered by a nationalist group, after police reinforcements arrived in the area.

The clash began when some 200 pro-independence Papuans descended onto the large Trikora field and began to hoist the flag on a wooden pole, to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Papua independence movement. Several police personnel were trying to persuade the Papuans to lower the flag, but they refused to heed the call. The police personnel then forcefully seized the flag pole, but the pole was quickly seized back by the pro- independence supporters.

Police fired warning shots and beat the Papuans with batons, but the Papuans fought back. Outnumbered, the police personnel retreated resulting in a one-hour stand-off, while the rebel flag continued to fly. Hundreds of local residents watched the incident from the roadside.

However, dozens of police reinforcements arrived in the area some time later forcing the separatist supporters to retreat, and allowing a nationalist group to tear the flag down, Antara news agency reported.

The group of Papuans later performed prayers in the field, located in the compound of Cenderawasih University, Jayapura and then dispersed peacefully. Police personnel detained several people believed to have led the flag-hoisting ceremony, including Philep Karma and Yusaac Pakage.

There were conflicting reports over the number of people injured in the scuffle. The Detikcom news portal reported that three people were injured by rubber bullets, while SCTV private television station reported seven injured.

After the incident, police and Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel tightly secured downtown Jayapura and conducted random checks on passersby in search of sharp weapons and arms. The situation was largely under control in the city following the incident.

Pro-independence Papuans, who are campaigning for Papua's separation from Indonesia, have traditionally celebrated the anniversary of Papua independence on December 1. The flag hoisting ceremony was once allowed under Abdurrahman Wahid administration, but it was banned after Megawati Soekarnoputri, a nationalist, took office in 2001.

December 1 was marked as the independence day of Papua after separatists proclaimed the state of West Papua on December 1, 1962. Indonesia took effective control of Papua territory a year later, after which the separatist movement continued to wage a low-level guerrilla revolt in the province.

The time bomb that is Papua

Asia Times - December 3, 2004

Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- Violence erupted in the capital of Indonesia's troubled province of West Papua on Wednesday as security forces moved to break up a flag-raising ceremony by independence supporters who had gathered to celebrate West Papua Day, according to a Sydney-based human rights monitor.

Five people were shot and wounded and at least 18 people arrested as 100 police dispersed a gathering at the Trikora soccer field in Adepura, a suburb of Jayapura, said John Rumbiak, an international advocacy coordinator for the Papuan human-rights group Elsham.

Rumbiak, who is based in Sydney, said an Elsham human-rights worker who witnessed the demonstration had been beaten as he tried to photograph the clash. Two of the event organizers also were beaten by police while being taken away on a police truck for interrogation in the city center, Rumbiak, quoting a report from his colleagues in Jayapura, said during a phone interview. Another 16 people were being questioned at the local Adepura police station, he said.

Early last month Rumbiak warned that increasing militarization in the province, coupled with human-rights abuses and persistent demands for independence, had turned Papua into a "time bomb waiting to go off". There also have been concerns that a simmering separatist movement and unrest over Jakarta's plan to partition Papua into three provinces could badly impact business and the national economy. Human-rights groups have called on newly elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to improve the protection of human rights in Papua and elsewhere by reforming the Indonesian military (TNI), but the military has already said it will "crush" separatism in Papua after it has completed its recently extended offensive in Aceh province.

A day to remember

Wednesday marked West Papua Day, which commemorates the first West Papuan national congress in 1961, organized by the then- ruling Dutch as a preparation for independence. Last week, Indonesian authorities warned activists not to raise their distinctive blue, white and red Morning Star flag, or other Papuan symbols that are against the unitary state of Indonesia, to mark the separatist movement's 42nd anniversary.

"The concern is that this is a peaceful demonstration and from a human-rights perspective it has to be allowed to take place," Rumbiak said. "It is freedom of expression." Rumbiak said the demonstration had been calling on Yudhoyono to initiate a peaceful dialogue between the government and independence supporters.

Papua is Indonesia's largest and least-populated province. It is also one of its wealthiest, making it a target for manipulation, power-grabbing and political opportunism by Jakarta. With a population of only 2.4 million, it is three and a half times bigger than Java, which has four provinces plus the capital, Jakarta. Indigenous Papuans claim their rich resources are continually tapped for the benefit of others, and their efforts to claim their rights have been met repeatedly with harsh responses from the military and police.

The province is home to American mining giant Freeport McMoRan's gold and copper mines, whose operations are the cornerstone of Papua's economic importance to Jakarta. Freeport's open-cut operations at its concession on the massive Grasberg mine site -- spanning more than 2.5 kilometers in width, and sitting 4,270 meters above sea level -- move 700,000 tons of rock every day. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even at this rate, the deposits of gold and copper are so large the company's operations are predicted to last at least another 30 years.

In addition, Anglo-American energy giant BP Plc has just confirmed it will soon start construction on its massive Tangguh project, which will be one of the largest gas fields in Asia when it is completed in 2007.

No say from the outset

Papuans 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-controlled New Guinea -- the former name for Papua -- was done without consulting them and without their consent.

Later, in 1969, Indonesia, with US support, short-circuited a UN-supervised plebiscite on the sovereignty of the territory and engineered the seizure of West Papua, the western half of New Guinea, thereby ensuring that the territory would remain under Indonesian control.

Previously classified US government documents, released by the US National Security Archive to mark the 35th anniversary of this "Act of Free Choice", show that the US ignored reporting from its own officials that detailed Jakarta's efforts to rig the vote.

Henry Kissinger, as a board director and retained consultant for many years for Freeport, was accused of making personal gains from Indonesian control over West Papua. The documents show that Kissinger, who was then US national security adviser, advised former president Richard Nixon to back the Indonesian takeover in West Papua.

Halliburton wins contract

Democrats long have accused the current administration of US President George W Bush of showing favoritism to Halliburton, headed by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000. Curiously, BP has awarded the contract for design, procurement, and construction and commissioning services at Tangguh to Halliburton's engineering and construction arm, KBR (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) in a 50-50 joint venture partnership with JGC Corporation of Japan.

Cheney is a key player in the Bush administration's push to persuade Congress to fund an International Military Education and Training (IMET) program for Indonesia. Congress had held up the funds until such time as Bush could certify that the Indonesian government and its military were taking effective measures to investigate an ambush on August 31, 2002, that killed three Freeport employees, two Americans and an Indonesian, and wounded 12 others, on the road leading from Tembagapura to the Grasberg mine.

Congress first restricted Indonesia's IMET funds following the 1991 massacre of 270 civilians in Santa Cruz, East Timor. All military ties were then suspended in 1999, when a TNI-organized militia ravaged East Timor following the UN-sponsored independence vote.

Not long after the integrated offensive aimed at "crushing" Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels in Aceh was launched last year, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to suspend the IMET funds yet again -- not in censure of Jakarta's mission to crush its own people, but over the Freeport ambush.

The separatist movement at the other end of the archipelago from Aceh is spearheaded by a group of poorly armed independence fighters known as the Free Papua Organization (Organisasi Papua Merdeka or OPM). The TNI have always blamed the OPM for the attack near the Grasberg mine. The day after the ambush, government forces shot dead an unidentified Papuan male, whom they claimed was both a member of the OPM and responsible for the attack.

A police report two months after the ambush found that the OPM was an unlikely suspect because the group "never attacks white people". It concluded that TNI involvement "was a strong possibility".

Earlier killing spawns protection

This was not the first time a Freeport employee had been shot and killed on the same road. On November 8, 1994, Gordan Rumaropena, a Papuan working for Freeport, was shot dead while driving along the access road. The shooting, which both the military and Freeport blamed on the OPM, was the catalyst for the company's request for a stronger military presence in the area.

The result of this was an expanded military operation, which led to well-documented human-rights violations against the indigenous peoples living within and around the concession area.

TNI gets only 30% of its funding from the central government and makes up the shortfall by its widespread involvement in businesses, both legal and illegal. Payments for security services received from multinationals in the lucrative extractive industries, such as Freeport's and ExxonMobil's natural-gas facilities in Aceh, have provided TNI with a significant source of income.

Freeport paid US$10.7 million in protection money to TNI from 2000-02, but abruptly stopped the payments shortly before the ambush. To appease investor anger and disgust after the meltdown of Enron and WorldCom, the Bush administration pushed a bill through Congress that demanded greater corporate accountability. The ensuing Corporate Fraud Act, implemented on July 26, 2002, required the disclosure of such payments.

TNI commander-in-chief General Endriartono Sutarto, eventually admitting that his troops were receiving Freeport funds, which he described as "pocket money", proposed a new system where troops would only protect installations deemed to be of "vital importance" to Indonesia.

In late June this year, then-attorney general John Ashcroft convinced a federal grand jury to indict Anthonuis Wamang for the ambush. The indictment identifies Wamang as an OPM commander. Ashcroft's statement on the killings also cleared TNI of any role in the attack. His announcement came just one day after a US congressional subcommittee renewed a ban on the provision of funds for the IMET program for Indonesia, prompting claims that Washington was sacrificing justice for the victims for the sake of resuming bilateral military ties.

The TNI, theoretically, had a number of motives for staging an attack. The killing of American citizens certainly provided a convenient argument to strengthen its case for the resumption of close ties as part of the Bush administration's "war on terrorism", or it could have been an attempt by local commanders to extort more protection money from Freeport. More tellingly, the TNI also could have used the ambush to strengthen its hand in further crackdowns on separatist organizations in Papua, Aceh and elsewhere.

A tale of three presidents

Five years ago interim Indonesian president B J Habibie had been under pressure from community, tribal and religious leaders in what was then Irian Jaya (now West Papua) to grant the province the same option -- separation from the republic -- that he had offered to East Timor. In early 1999 they called openly for a referendum on independence, but the House of Representatives would have none of it, agreeing instead to Habibie's alternative proposal, to split the province into three. Later that year the House passed Law No 49/1999 to authorize the partition.

Under president Abdurrahman Wahid (1991-2001) a different approach was used to reduce separatist sentiments in the territory. The province was renamed Papua, and Wahid opted not to implement the legislation. He allowed Papuans to fly the Morning Star flag -- the symbol of their independence movement -- and passed legislation granting Papua greater autonomy.

Wahid's Law No 21/2001 on special autonomy for the province would have allowed Papuans to manage their own affairs and receive 70% of oil and gas revenues and 80% of revenues from natural resources such as forestry, fisheries and mining (excluding Freeport's taxes). It was never implemented.

Fearing that special autonomy would be used as a political vehicle to promote independence, Wahid's successor, Megawati Sukarnoputri, delayed the establishment of the Papuan Consultative Assembly (MRP) and the issuance of necessary government regulations to enforce the law.

Divide and rule

Worse still, in January 2003 Megawati issued a controversial Presidential Instruction, No 1/2003, to enforce Law No 45/1999 on the division of Papua into three provinces -- Papua, West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya.

Critics said partitioning the province was a ploy to serve the interests of certain business, military and political groups in Jakarta, instead of the Papuan people, and was a ploy by Jakarta to divide and conquer Papua. Efforts to push through the formation of West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya provinces sparked fierce criticism and several deadly clashes. Extra- judicial executions, disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention of civilians were reported throughout 2003.

In early November, the Constitutional Court overturned the 1999 law, claiming it was unconstitutional, but the head of the court, Jimly Asshidiqie, said that as West Irian Jaya had already been established in line with constitutional requirements, including the election of local representatives, it should remain a separate province.

Problem lands in Yudhoyono's lap

In other words, the new province, created as a fait accompli by a mere presidential instruction, has been legitimized and Megawati's successor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has inherited yet another pressing problem not of his own making, one that could badly impact business and the national economy.

Indonesia, which has abundant reserves of gas, was once one of the world's top liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers but has been struggling lately in an increasingly competitive market. The Tangguh plant is expected to produce between 7 million and 8 million tons of LNG per annum in the first phase of production and BP has so far secured deals to supply a combined 7.6 million tons of LNG worldwide; to San Diego-based Sempra Energy, South Korea's K-Power Co and steelmaker Posco, as well as a plant in China's Fujian province.

The general security situation in West Papua and Indonesia as a whole is a key factor in winning long-term gas supply contracts. The simmering separatist movement, unrest over Jakarta's plan to partition Papua into three provinces and the oversupply in the world gas market make the Tangguh project a higher-risk than most.

New York-based Human Rights Watch has called on Yudhoyono to improve the protection of human rights in Papua and elsewhere by reforming the TNI, but the military has already said it will "crush" separatism in Papua after it has completed its recently extended offensive in Aceh.

Yudhoyono won majority votes in Papua during both rounds of the presidential election and the National Forum for Human Rights Concerns in Papua (FNKHP), which he chaired before he became president, has urged him to support the Papuan people by implementing Law No 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua and reconsider the division of Papua into several provinces.

Killing Americans is terrorism

After six months of investigation, a National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) fact-finding team found that both soldiers and police were involved in serious rights violations in Papua's Wasior regency in 2001 and Wamena regency in 2003.

The "war against terror" is the ideal cop out for Washington and its allies to ignore such human-rights violations, and it appears that the fact that American citizens were killed in Papua was the deciding factor in prompting the senators to impose further restrictions.

Ashcroft and Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller not only blamed the Papua separatists for the Freeport attack but, astonishingly, claimed Wamang's indictment was a victory in the "war on terrorism". Mueller claimed that the investigation illustrated "the importance of international cooperation to combat terrorism".

Restoration of military cooperation between the US and Indonesia seems likely sooner rather than later, but unless the idea of partitioning Papua is abandoned by the new government, the gloomy scenario predicted by Rumbiak could well materialize during Yudhoyono's watch.

[Bill Guerin, a weekly Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has worked in Indonesia for 19 years in journalism and editorial positions. He has been published by the BBC on East Timor and specializes in business/economic and political analysis in Indonesia.]

Labour issues

Indonesian employee loyalty lowest in Asia

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Jakarta -- Two out of three Indonesian employees say they would move to a different company even if the position, field of work and remuneration were the same as in their current company.

"This indicates a low level of commitment and loyalty that is quite significant among Indonesian employees. This low level of commitment is actually 22 percent lower than 10 other Asian countries," Watson Wyatt, a human resources consultancy, said in a study titled "WorkIndonesia 2004/2005".

The study is part of the "WorkAsia 2004/2005" study being carried out in 11 Asia-Pacific countries, and is aimed at discovering employee perceptions about various issues related to their work and employers.

According to Lilis Halim, PT Watson Wyatt Indonesia's president director, more than 8,000 respondents from 46 firms representing 14 industries in Indonesia participated in the "WorkIndonesia 200/2005" study.

Around 10 topics related to human resources were covered by the study, including remuneration and benefits, communication, employee training and advancement, job satisfaction, leadership and management effectiveness, supervision, performance management, work environment, innovation and teamwork, she said.

Besides low commitment, the remuneration and benefits category was one of the lowest scoring subject categories in both Indonesia and other Asian countries. Leadership and supervision issues scored low in Indonesia compared to its Asia Pacific neighbors.

"Indonesian employees felt they were not receiving adequate assistance with their career and professional development from their superiors, when in fact career development opportunities are one of the things that Indonesian employees most yearn for, and are most interested in," the study said.

Workers protest minimum wage

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Bandung -- At least 3,000 workers in Cimahi regency staged a protest on Tuesday outside the regent's office, demanding that he raise the minimum wage in the regency.

The workers said the minimum wage in Cimahi had to equal the minimum wage in Bandung municipality, as the cost of living in the two regions was the same.

The current minimum wage in Cimahi is Rp 610,000 per month, while it is Rp 642,500 per month in Bandung.

Thousands of Batam workers demand wage increase

Detik.com - December 4, 2004

Chaidir Anwar Tanjung, Pekanbaru -- On Saturday November 4, more than 5000 workers from the Indonesian Workers Metal Federation (Federasi Buruh Metal Indonesia, FBMI) went on strike demanding that the government of Riau province revise the minimum regional wage level.

The demonstrators, who originated from three industrial zone in Batam, had been demonstrating at the Riau governor's office on Jalan Sudirman in Pekanbaru since 10am.

Earlier, the Riau government had set the minimum regional wage for Batam at 635,000 rupiah per month. The workers were calling on the governor, Ismet Abdullah, who is also the head of the Batam Authority to review the decision.

The workers were received by the head of the Riau provincial labour department, Azwar Taufik. "The governor is not here at the moment, but I am certain that the governor will be prepared to reconsider the decision", said Taufik.

Because the Riau provincial minimum wage is inadequate, workers believe that the provincial government is siding with business rather than thinking about the welfare of workers. In fact a number of industrial zones in Batam are the property of foreign investors.

As a result of the action the roads leading towards the office of the mayor, governor and the international ferry terminal were close for four hours. (dit)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Jakarta says no to higher salary

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Jakarta -- The Jakarta administration turned a deaf ear to workers' pleas for a revision to the minimum wage for 2005 of Rp 711,843 (US$79) to Rp 759,532, the estimated minimum cost of living in the capital.

City Manpower Agency head Ali Zubeir said on Thursday that as Governor Sutiyoso had signed the decree on the minimum wage for next year, there would be no more revisions.

"If we approve such a demand, it would encourage workers in other regions to demand a similar revision. It would cause chaos all over the country," Ali told workers. "Moreover, it would be opposed by the employers, who have calculated labor costs into their 2005 budget."

The gubernatorial decree was signed on November 5, but the announcement was made one week later due to workers' initial demand for an increase of up to about Rp 1 million from the current Rp 671,550.

Ali explained that the calculation did not include the estimated increase in fuel prices expected next year.

The workers grouped under the United Labor Alliance rejected the decree and the proposed minimum wage, as they said workers' representatives were not consulted in calculating the amount.

The Jakarta Workers Association (Aspek) chairman Gibson Sihombing said that workers would continue to reject the proposed minimum wage until the administration adjusted it with the official minimum cost of living of Rp 759,532. The figure for the minimum cost of living is based on a joint survey made in July by administration officials, employers' associations and workers' unions.

According to Gibson, the decree violated Law No. 13/2003 on manpower, which rules that the minimum wage must cover the minimum cost of living for workers. "All unions in Greater Jakarta will stage a protest if the administration does not fulfill our demand by December 6. We will also report the governor to the police for violating the law," he said.

Land/rural issues

Government to double agricultural exports

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

The government has set itself a target of raising exports of agricultural products to US$9 billion in 2009, or more than double this year's estimate of $3.7 billion, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyanto said his ministry aimed to increase the annual production of food crops by 2 percent, horticulture by 5 percent, plantation commodities by 5 percent and livestock by 5 percent.

"These are among the eight priority targets to be achieved over the next five years," said the minister during a meeting with the House of Representatives agriculture commission. Anton was quoted by Antara as saying that the contribution of the agriculture sector to gross domestic product would also be increased by 2.5 percent per annum.

"We also aim to increase farmers' real incomes by 3.5 percent per year, as well as strengthen food sovereignty by cutting imports of staple foods by an average of 10 percent each year," Anton said.

The new minister acknowledged that his predecessor had brought tremendous improvements to the country's agricultural sector, although he stressed that a host of problems, obstacles and challenges still remained.

One of the challenges, he said, was to ensure that the sector could play a key role not only in establishing food sovereignty but also in providing new jobs and spurring the national economy.

"It is hoped that the agricultural sector will increase their its foreign exchange contribution from $7.8 billion to $12 billion by 2009," he said.

'War on terror'

Steady cash and friends keeps Azahari free

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Vientiane -- While police may be intensifying their hunt for terrorist suspect Azahari bin Husin, they admit they are still playing an extended catch-me-if-you-can game with the notorious bombmaker. With a small legion of followers and a continued cash supply, the Malaysian national seems to be as effective in evading arrest as he is at making bombs.

Despite a national manhunt and a one billion rupiah (US$100,000) bounty on his head, Azahari, who has been implicated by police in most major terrorist attacks in Indonesia since 2002, continues to elude police.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar was guarded when asked how quickly Azahari could be caught. Speaking while accompanying President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to the two-day ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, on Sunday, Da'i conceded that a dedicated network of followers had allowed Azahari to evade the slowly closing police net.

He revealed that police were at one time confident about apprehending Azahari after discovering he had rented a house in Cengkareng. But a low-key stakeout of the house ended without a result, when Azahari did not return. It turned out the terror suspects had a precise monitoring system -- phoning the house regularly every two hours. If after two calls there was no reply it was assumed those minding the hideout had been arrested.

What was worrying was the likelihood Azahari had attracted new recruits and passed on his lethal knowledge, Da'i said. One of the four men who was recently arrested in connection with the Bali bombing had already been trained to manufacture a bomb and could have begun operating independently, he said.

It is still unclear just how of Azahari's comrades in arms are at large but several key suspects, such as Zulkarnain, Dulmatin and Jubir, are still on the police's most-wanted list. "We have not heard of [Zulkarnain and Dulmatin] since the Bali bombing," Da'i said.

One of the ways to track the terrorists, through their money trail, had not gotten any easier as they had stopped using wire transfers to channel money, Da'i said. "Since the Bali bombing, this is all done in cash now." While police suspect some donations come from Indonesians, they also believe a significant portion of the funds arrive from abroad. One of the financiers recently arrested has admitted that money for the group came from "outside". "He did not exactly say from where but from our analysis the money must have came from overseas," Da'i said.

The scope of the terrorist network was further highlighted by the fact that TNT, one of the primary components in Azahari's bombs, was also likely acquired and smuggled from abroad. Police believed southern Thailand and the southern Philippines were likely places where this high-explosive was acquired, he said.

Da'i brushed off suggestions the explosive could have been acquired through the local Indonesian black market, saying police had found no evidence of this. However, he conceded bomb-making components might have been stolen from local munitions stores in Indonesia.

Ba'asyir is spiritual head of JI, say members

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta -- Two Malaysian militants testifying in the trial of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir acknowledged on Tuesday that the elderly cleric was the spiritual leader of the regional terrorist group, Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).

Malaysians Syamsul Bahri and Amran bin Mansur, who fled to Indonesia in 2002 and 2003 respectively to avoid arrest by the Malaysian police, also admitted that they were members of JI, which the United Nations has declared a terrorist organization.

Ba'asyir is currently on trial for his alleged role in the deadly Bali bombing in October 2002 and the J.W. Marriott Hotel attack that killed 12 people in August 2003.

Bahri said he was told by Mukhlas, who was sentenced to death for his role in the Bali bombings, that the white-haired cleric assumed the JI leadership after founder Abdullah Sungkar died in 1999.

However, he said that he had never witnessed Ba'aysir acting as the leader of the terrorist group, saying that he only met the cleric on a number of occasions, including when Ba'aysir gave religious sermons at Islamic boarding schools in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. "I have met Ba'aysir four times, three times in Malaysia in 1990, 1998 and 1999, and once in Pakistan in 1992," Bahri said.

Meanwhile, Amran, also known by his Indonesian name, Andi Saputro, said that he had also heard that Ba'asyir took over the JI leadership following the death of Abdullah Sungkar. "I did hear people saying that Ba'aysir was selected to replace Abdullah Sungkar as JI leader but some people also said that it was Abu Rusdan, not Abu Bakar Ba'asyir," said Amran.

Both witnesses admitted that they had received military training during their time as JI members from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. "Mukhlas, who is my brother-in-law, offered me an opportunity to go to Pakistan to learn more about Islam, and when I arrived there I found that it was actually some sort of military training that was involved," Bahri said.

He also said that he had been training to handle explosives in Pakistan and later learned how to make detonators in Solo, Central Java, after he fled to Indonesia in 2002.

Amran also admitted that he went to Camp Abubakar in the southern Philippines to receive further military training for around one month in 1998, and continued his training in Pakistan before heading for Kabul, Afghanistan, where he stayed for four months learning how to handle weapons.

Both witnesses said that they knew Azahari and Noordin Moch. Top, believed to be the masterminds behind the Mariott bombing in August last year. "At first I did not believe that JI members were behind the Bali and Marriott bombings because as far as I knew, our teachings did not permit such things [bombings]. However, I later learned that my fellow members Azahari and Noordin were suspected by the police of taking part in the Marriott bombing," Bahri said.

Ba'aysir has been in prison since shortly after the Bali bombings. He was cleared of terror charges but convicted of immigration violations during a 2003 trial. He was rearrested after completing his sentence in April this year and has been detained ever since.

A total of 77 witnesses are scheduled to testify during the trial, including convicted Bali and Marriott bombers Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Gufron, and alleged JI members Wan Min bin Wan Mat and Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana.

Marriott bombing 'inspired by Osama'

Straits Times - December 3, 2004

Jakarta -- The bombing last year of the JW Marriott hotel in Indonesia's capital was inspired by Osama bin Laden, a militant who was convicted in the attack and who claims to have met the Al-Qaeda leader said yesterday. "I met Osama frequently in Afghanistan and heard him speak about waging war against America and its allies," said Mohammad Rais, giving testimony in the trial of alleged terrorist leader Abu Bakar Bashir. "We saw the Marriott attack as a message from Osama," he said.

He also said Osama once invited Bashir to live in Afghanistan. "If Bashir feels no longer comfortable here [in Indonesia], Osama asked Bashir to go there," Rais told the court in reply to a question from the judge.

Bashir has been charged with heading Al-Qaeda's alleged affiliate in South-east Asia, the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group, and of inciting his followers to take part in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, and the Marriott attack that left 12 dead.

Earlier yesterday, another militant testified that Bashir gave a speech to recruits at a southern Philippines terrorist-training camp where Muslim militants learned bombmaking. But the witness, Yudi Lukito, failed to support prosecutors assertions that Bashir incited militants to attack Western targets in the 2000 speech.

Bashir denies visiting the Philippines that year. He has voiced support for Osama as a defender of Islam, but has repeatedly denied involvement in terrorism.

Lukito, an Islamic militant serving a prison term for illegal weapons possession, told the court he had seen a white-robed Bashir at the Philippines camp in 2000.

"I saw him directly for about five to 10 minutes," he said. "He told us that as Muslims we are brothers and that we have to help Muslim brothers everywhere." Lukito said he learnt weapon- handling and bomb-making skills at the camp.

Security officials say JI used camps in the southern Philippines to train terrorist recruits.

Earlier this week, three witnesses called by the prosecution -- also Islamic militants serving jail time -- failed to directly implicate Bashir in any alleged crimes.

A Jakarta court last year acquitted Bashir of heading JI, which has been blamed for the Bali and Marriott bombings, and the blast in September outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta that killed 10 Indonesians. At the time, prosecutors were criticised for bungling the case.

Bashir was re-arrested and put on trial again after pressure from the United States and Australia, which have publicly accused Bashir of being a key South-east Asian terrorist.

Ba'asyir 'unaware' of Marriot attack

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Jakarta -- Five witnesses testifying in the Abu Bakar Ba'asyir trial said on Thursday that they had met with the cleric either in Malaysia, Afghanistan or Philippines, but ruled out his having a hand in the J.W. Marriot Hotel bombing in August 2003.

The witnesses were Yudi Lukito Kurniawan alias Ismail alias Abdurrahman, Ir. Bambang Tetuko, Muh Rais, Ismail alias Muh Ikhwan alias Agus, and Masrizal bin Ali Umar alias Tohir.

Ismail, who is serving a 12-year-jail term for the Marriott hotel bombing, told the court that only five people, including he himself, had knowledge about the plan to bomb the hotel.

Aside from Ismail, the four others were fugitive Malaysians Noordin Mohd. Top and Azahari Husin, suicide bomber Asmar Latin Sani and a man called Masrizal bin Ali Umar alias Tohir.

The white-haired cleric is accused of inciting his followers to carry out the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people and of plotting the Marriott attack that claimed 12 lives. He could be sentenced to death if found guilty.

Tohir, who was also called at the trial, said that Noordin was the real mastermind of the Marriott attack, and that Ba'aysir had never given the order nor provided funding.

Their testimony concurred with the statements by two Malaysian militants, Syamsul Bahri and Amran bin Mansur, who were called as witnesses during Ba'asyir's earlier trial.

Although they all confessed to being JI members and said that Ba'aysir was the spiritual leader of the regional terrorist group, none of them said they had ever witnessed Ba'aysir acting as the leader of the terrorist group.

However, a team of prosecutors led by Salman Maryadi was sure that Ba'aysir was the mastermind behind the Marriott bombing. "Someone can plan an evil act without directly being involved in the act according to Article 55 of the Antiterrorism Law," Salman said.

AFP reported that prosecutors said that Ba'aysir had visited a military training camp in April 2002 in Afghanistan and relayed a fatwa by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that permitted the killings of American and their allies.

Witness Mohamad Rais said he gave a message to Ba'asyir from Osama bin Laden in 2001 saying that the cleric was invited to Afghanistan if he no longer felt comfortable living in Indonesia.

Rais said he conveyed the message when he returned to Indonesia and Ba'aysir replied "God willing". However, the cleric denied he ever received such a message.

The trial, in which 77 witnesses are scheduled to be called, was adjourned until next Thursday.

JI member links Bashir, bin Laden

Melbourne Age - December 3, 2004

Matthew Moore, Jakarta -- A confessed member of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network says he personally delivered an invitation from Osama bin Laden to Abu Bakar Bashir offering the militant cleric refuge in Afghanistan.

Muhammad Rais, serving seven years jail for transporting explosives used to bomb Jakarta's JW Marriott hotel last year, said top JI leader Hambali gave him the message for Bashir when they met in Pakistan in 2001.

Rais told South Jakarta District Court he then went to Bashir's Islamic boarding school at Ngruki in Central Java, where he had studied as a boy, and delivered bin Laden's offer.

Although JI is often connected to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, Rais's testimony was the first time a JI member has given such evidence in court linking Bashir to bin Laden.

"Hambali asked me: 'Do you think you will stop by the Ngruki pesantren [boarding school]'?" Rais told the five judges. "I have no plans," Rais says he told Hambali, who, he said, then replied: "If you do, please convey best regards from Sheik Osama."

When a judge asked if there was any other message, Rais said: "Yes there was." Asked what that was, Rais said: "If Ustad [Bashir] no longer feels safe here [in Indonesia], Osama invites him to go to Afghanistan."

After giving his dramatic evidence, Rais, 29, wearing Western clothes, stood and embraced Bashir, kissing him on both cheeks before the court broke for lunch. Bashir smiled but did not respond until after the lunch adjournment, when he denied receiving the invitation, denied knowing Rais and denied ever having met him.

Bashir is facing his second trial in two years as prosecutors try to prove he is the head of JI. A conviction would carry a maximum death penalty under anti-terrorism laws.

Earlier yesterday, two other witnesses gave evidence that Bashir was the emir, or spiritual leader, of JI, the group blamed for carrying out the Bali and Marriott bombings as well as other terrorist attacks.

Since his arrest in the days after the Bali bombings, Bashir has denied the existence of JI, although police say they have more than 70 witnesses whose evidence will now prove otherwise.

The first witness yesterday, Yudi Lukito Kurniawan, 30, told the court he had studied bomb-making and military skills in a JI camp in the southern Philippines and that Bashir had visited the camp in 2000.

After initially looking at Bashir across the courtroom and identifying him as "probably" the man who came to Camp Hudaibiyah in Mindanao, he walked right up to Bashir, looked him in the face and said he was definitely the one who had inspected the class.

Bashir had worn white clothes, and stayed for around two hours. Although Bashir looked "younger" and "cleaner" then, he agreed he was "certain" he had identified Bashir correctly.

Bambang Tetuko, a lecturer in Semarang, central Java, said he had been sworn into JI in 1989 in Solo, had served as JI treasurer for central Java and was sure Bashir was JI's spiritual leader. He told the court of a meeting of JI members in Bogor, south of Jakarta, in July or August 2000, where Bashir had been asked how he could simultaneously be leader of JI and the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI). Bashir answered the question by saying, "In both positions there are benefits," Tetuko told the court.

Bashir denied he had been to the Philippines or to Camp Hudaibiyah and said in July and August 2000 he was busy preparing for MMI's first congress and was not at a meeting in Bogor.

The case will continue next week and is not expected to finish until well into next year.

Politics/political parties

Opposing NU factions scrap it out for top post

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Blontank Poer and Muhammad Nafik, Surakarta -- Tensions ran high on the first day of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) congress here on Sunday as senior ulema at odds over the nomination of incumbent leader Hasyim Muzadi launched an open campaign for their respective candidates.

The pro-Hasyim camp led by Idris Marzuki from Lirboyo in Kediri, East Java, announced its official support for the incumbent's reelection bid shortly after the organization's five-day congress was opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Donohudan Haj Dormitory, some 15 kilometers from Surakarta. Idris said Sahal Mahfudz, the current chairman of the powerful syuriah (lawmaking body) in the nation's largest Muslim organization should be reelected for a second five-year term.

Hours later, a rival camp held a separate conference to nominate former Indonesian president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who chaired NU for 15 years until 1999, to replace Sahal. The group also nominated charismatic cleric and poet Mustofa "Gus Mus" Bisri as the NU new tanfidziyah (executive body) chairman. The election will cap the five-yearly congress on Thursday.

During the opening ceremony, Gus Dur along with his wife, Sinta Nuriyah, and daughter Zannuba Arifah Chafsoh led a rally at the congress by dozens of his supporters in protest against Hasyim's bid for reelection.

The protesters slammed the organizing committee for allegedly not inviting several senior clerics, who were all believed to be opponents of Hasyim, to the congress. They included Gus Dur's uncle Yusuf Hasyim, Abdullah Faqih from Langitan in Tuban, Ahmad Mas Subadar from Pasuruan, Muslim Rifa'i Imampuro, better known as Mbah Lim from Klaten, Mahfudz Ridwan from Salatiga, Mufid Mas'ud from Surakarta and Zainal Abidin from Krapyak in Yogyakarta.

Several of the clerics confirmed they had not been invited to the congress but this was denied by committee chairman Ahmad Bagdja.

The protesters marched to the Donohudan compound and were later stopped by Banser security guards at the gate. However, Gus Dur, his wheelchair ridden wife and daughter were allowed to enter. The noisy protest drew the attention of the more than 3,500 participants at the congress.

Gus Dur then took a seat at the back of the conference with other low-ranking participants. He left the event shortly after the opening ceremony ended.

The pro-Gus Dur faction is supported by a number of senior clerics -- Nurul Huda Jazuli from Ploso in Kediri, Abdullah Abbas from Cirebon), Hamdan Cholid from Martapura in South Kalimantan, Sanusi Baco from South Sulawesi, Azis Amin from Jakarta, Zaenuddin Maftuhin from Rembang, Mahfud Sobari from Mojokerto, Hanif Muslich from Demak, Muhaiminan Gunardo from Parakan in Temanggung, Chotib Umar from Jember, Tuan Guru Turmudzi Badruddin from Lombok, and Mas Subadar from Pasuruan.

All the clerics publicly voiced their support for the Gus Dur-Gus Mus pairing during the congress. They also asked Gus Dur to resign as the chief patron of the NU-founded National Awakening Party (PKB) if elected in the congress, Muhaiminan said.

Rival clerics in support of Hasyim include Muchid Muzadi from Jember, Zainuddin Jazuli from Ploso, Kediri, Anwar Mansyur from Lirboyo, Masduki Mahfudz from Malang, Mutawakkil Alallah from Probolinggo, Mawardi from Langitan, Masruri Mughni from Brebes, Fawaid As'ad Syamsul Arifin from Situbondo and Ghafur from Lamongan.

"We have decided to weigh our backing for the reelection bids of Hasyim and Sahal in the congress," said Idris Marzuki, spokesman for the pro-Hasyim camp.

The two rival ulema factions have been embroiled in a bitter conflict after Gus Dur and his followers accused Hasyim of dragging the 40 million-strong NU into politics for his personal interests.

The accusations came as Hasyim stood as the running mate to former president and candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri in the recent presidential election without the endorsement of the PKB. Megawati, who lost to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the poll, helped oust Gus Dur from the presidency in 2001.

No more practical politics, NU leaders say

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Muhammad Nafik and Suherdjoko, Surakarta -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened a five-day congress of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) here on Sunday, with its senior leaders strongly criticizing the group, the largest Muslim organization in the country, for its involvement in politics.

They demanded that the NU congress toughen its standing orders, so its members can stick to khittah (the organization's commitment made in 1984 to stay out of politics).

"If we want to examine it, the bitter experience that we have undergone is because we have been inconsistent in applying khittah," NU syuriah (lawmaking body) chairman Sahal Mahfudz said in his opening speech during the congress.

"NU, according to its khittah, only focuses on 'the politics of nationhood' to secure the unity of Republic of Indonesia and 'politics of the people' aimed at looking after the people, not on 'the politics of power', or actual politics," he added.

Sahal's criticism came amid mounting accusations that NU executive leader Hasyim Muzadi breached the khittah when he stood as the running mate of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in the July and September elections.

Hasyim allegedly mobilized NU support for his vice presidential bid, despite the fact that he was non-active as the organization's chairman when he ran in the election.

The prevailing standing orders require NU executives to temporarily relinquish their posts if they want to contest government or legislative seats. NU officials are also banned from serving as board members in any political party.

Sahal said NU does not prohibit its members from playing a role in politics, but their lack of understanding of khittah or their being inconsistent about the guidelines often leads them to involve NU as an institution in politics, thus neglecting the bigger interests of the organization and the nation at large.

"It's time for NU to fully wean NU members who use their right to be involved in politics by setting strict rules in order to stop their explicit and implicit practices that drag the institution into political goals," he added.

Sahal, an influential and charismatic cleric who also chairs the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), urged the NU to annul the 'modified khittah' it had agreed on during the 1999 congress in Lirboyo, Kediri, which ordered the religious organization to structurally back the National Awakening Party (PKB) it founded months earlier.

Other senior ulema gave a positive response to Sahal's comments, saying the current national congress being held at Donohudan Haj Dormitory in Surakarta, Central Java, should renew its commitment to quit politics.

"NU should not be linked to any political party, but NU is inseparable from politics for the interests of its members and the nation," said leader of the Lirboyo Islamic boarding school Idris Marzuki, who backs the reelection bid of Hasyim for a second five-year term.

Earlier in the day, President Susilo opened the congress, which was attended by more than 3,500 leaders from NU's 450 provincial and regental branches across the country. Many Cabinet ministers, diplomats and foreign observers also attended.

In his speech during the opening ceremony Susilo, who is directly leading the anticorruption drive, asked the NU to help ensure that Indonesia becomes a "clean and civilized nation".

"I am sure that under the leadership of the ulema, our people will be able to demonstrate true human values, so we can become a civilized society," he said.

The President said the NU had played a major role in nation building in addressing backwardness and asked it to forge ahead with this noble mission in the future.

Gus Dur-Hasyim showdown heats up NU congress

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2004

Muhammad Nafik and Bontank Poer and Slamet Susanto, Surakarta -- A showdown between former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and incumbent chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Hasyim Muzadi over the NU chairmanship heated up on the second day of the organization's national congress here on Monday with two camps mobilizing their ranks.

Hasyim, who is seeking reelection as the chairman of the NU tanfidziyah (executive body), rallied support from inside the NU national congress through a speech defending his reelection bid, while Gus Dur's camp -- which opposes Hasyim's reelection -- fought from the outside, with a demonstration and lobbying.

Speaking before 3,500 congress participants, Hasyim spoke out against Gus Dur camp's accusation that he had politicized NU by being nominated as a vice presidential candidate in the presidential election.

He contended in his accountability speech that he was non active as NU chairman when he ran in the presidential election as his position at the time was taken over by acting chairman Masdar F. Mas'udi. "Why have I been accused of violating khittah?" Hasyim asked, referring to NU's pledge to shun politics.

His accountability speech received both applause and laughter from the participants, showing that support for the incumbent chairman remained solid.

In a session to respond to the report, at least 12 provincial NU branches from outside Java accepted it, with 10 of them announcing their support for Hasyim. They were branches from Papua, Banten, Lampung, Aceh, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Bangka Belitung, West Nusa Tenggara, Jambi and Maluku.

"Under Pak Hasyim, NU's existence can be further felt in the regions and this had not happened previously. Besides, NU is getting better administratively and organizationally," said AF Mafthukhin, a delegate from Nabire in Papua.

A participant from Temanggung, Central Java, Chanidar, made a similar comment and said that one of Hasyim's achievements was that he managed to collect more than Rp 5.4 billion for NU's coffers.

Hasyim said the money, the sources of which remain unclear, would be handed over to a new leader of the NU central board if he was not reelected.

In a related development on Monday, dozens of Gus Dur's supporters continued an anti-Hasyim protest outside the Donohudan Haj Dormitory, the congress venue, demanding that the NU central board be transparent in its financial report.

The Gus Dur camp has nominated charismatic cleric and poet Mustofa "Gus Mus" Bisri, but it is not yet clear how strong the support is from structural NU branches for him.

To further block Hasyim's nomination, Gus Dur has run for the chairmanship of the syuriah (law making body), which has the power to censure candidates for the chairmanship of tanfidziyah.

Gus Dur faces the incumbent Sahal Mahfudz. However, many congress participants have said that Sahal, who also chairs the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), would likely withdraw his nomination bid if Gus Dur presses ahead with his plan.

If Hasyim is reelected, a split is imminent in the nation's largest Muslim organization as Gus Dur has repeatedly threatened to establish a NU splinter group if the incumbent leader wins a second five-year term.

Budiman Sudjatmiko and 51 activists join PDI-P

Detik.com - December 3, 2004

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta -- Around 52 activists have declared the formation of the Volunteers for Democratic Struggle (Relawan Perjuangan Demokrasi, RPD) and say they have decided to join with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). One of them is the former chairperson of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), Budiman Sudjatmiko.

The declaration took place at the Hotel Sofyan Betawi on Jalan Cut Meutia in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Friday December 3. Aside from Sudjatmiko other activists include Rahardjo Waluyo Jati from the PRD, former Information Centre for Action and Reformation Network (Pijar) chairperson Haikal, Akuat Supriyanto, Beathor Suryadi, Masinton Pasaribu from the Indonesian Youth Front (FPPI) and Sinyo from the Joint People's Movement (GBR).

In a statement read by Sudjatmiko, they said that they were launching the RPD and joining with the PDI-P in order to return the party to being a party based on populist struggle. "Or principle is that a political party must always be sustained by the life blood, the determination of energy and ideas. Therefore although so far the functions of this political party have yet to be optimal and even that here and there [the party] has weaknesses we are of the view that it is inappropriate for a political party to be ignored in [the struggle to] build democracy", he said.

Sudjatmiko said that their own struggle had similarities with the spirit of the PDI-P. Therefore he continued, they had chosen a political party which is nationalist, pluralist and with a populist base. "Although there is still much which must be sorted out in terms of professionalism, ethics and morals, in the vision of struggle and other programs within the PDI-P, all of this is a challenge for the PDI-P to become the party of the little people", he said.

When asked if their merger into the PDI-P was because they were tired of the road and want seek their fortunes, Sudjatmiko firmly denied this saying the task of the younger generation is not to just maintain their idealism but to make it into reality.

"We have not changed in terms of our idealism, but we just want to realise our ideas and concepts within a party. On the issue of being poor or not, we are not seeking riches within the party. Certainly in the past there have been those of us who have worked in other places. We will demonstrate [in practice] that we are not seeking riches in the party", he asserted.

Beathor Suryadi added that the entry of youth into the PDI-P will provide significant capital to the party lead by former President Megawati Sukarnoputri. To date, pro-democracy activists have only been spectators and have been sidelined. "If is for this [reason] that we chose the PDI-P as a party which is open, pluralist and nationalist as our political tool", he said.

Membership forms

Following the declaration, they filled in forms to obtain party membership cards which were then handed over to People's Representative Assembly member Trimedya Panjaitan who was present at the event.

"I am not a central executive board member [but] perhaps later [I] can find the right time to hand over (the forms) to the central executive board, perhaps they could also be given to the chairperson. But I don't know when the [right] time will be. But yes, after the plenary meeting to prepare for the PDI-P's congress last night, the central executive board was pleased with these friends joining [the party], the only thing remaining is what kind of ceremonial process [will be organised] to present the party membership cards [to them]", he explained.

Panjaitan warned that the atmosphere within the movements is different from a political party and therefore he hoped that they would not try to position themselves in too high a position. "If [you try] to position yourself too highly [you] will be disappointed. But if [you] have a commitment to restore the PDI- P's image as the party of the little people, we can work together", he said. (rif)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

NU sets double standard on bribery

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Muhammad Nafik, Surakarta -- Paying money to officials or brokers in order to obtain posts in governmental agencies that require a civil service exam is considered a bribe, which is forbidden, or haram, under Islamic law, according to a regulatory commission of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

However, the payment of gratuities is halal -- permitted under sharia -- if prospective civil servants pass their exam, but are barred from assuming the posts unless they paid money, added the nation's largest Muslim organization.

"It means a dloror [emergency] situation, which permits Muslims to pay a bribe in order to claim their rights," senior cleric Masyhuri Na'im said on Wednesday. Masyhuri was chairing a commission meeting on contentious, contemporary Islamic issues.

Asked who would determine that a case was an emergency situation, Masyhuri replied: "Anyone, but they must follow the basic principles of dloror as regulated by Islamic law." For example, he said, eating a pig was haram for Muslims except in certain emergency cases, such as serious health problems that required the consumption of the animal or parts of the animal for treatment.

However, the NU agreed that receiving a bribe from prospective civil servants in any situation was strictly haram.

Bribery was one of four controversial issues discussed by the commission during the five-day NU national congress in Surakarta, Central Java, which will end on Thursday.

More than five hours was needed by the commission to resolve the bribery issue concerning prospective civil servants, as its members -- all experts in sharia law -- strongly defended their respective arguments.

Among the three other issues -- DNA testing to determine bloodlines, localizing prostitution and capital punishment for drug dealers -- the bribery issue raised the most heated debate.

A participant proposed that bribery be declared haram so as not to provide any opportunity for the people, particularly Muslims, to commit bribery under any circumstances. The commission rejected the suggestion unanimously, but did not provide a clear explanation for its decision.

In response to the double-standard ruling that allowed bribery in emergencies, several observers of the meeting questioned the organization's commitment to eradicating corruption. Bribing officials and other authorities for civil service posts is common practice in Indonesia.

The commission agreed to forbid the use of DNA tests to determine spiritual ancestry, even though the scientific method could prove biological bloodlines. "However, this method can be used to confirm the termination of family lines under sharia," Masyhuri said.

He said under Islamic law, spiritual ancestry was determined through the confessions of the concerned parties, or via witnesses who testified that the concerned parties were related. This also means that two biologically unrelated people can become legitimate relatives if both declare it.

The DNA testing issue was important, as it concerned the legacy of material inheritance and legitimacy of heirship, as well as the religious legitimacy of a marriage.

The NU has banned localizing prostitution -- of organizing commercial sex workers within a particular area -- as doing so would mean to tolerate and accept the vice, which was haram.

On capital punishment for drug dealers, the NU sided with the government's policy, despite the strong objection of human rights activists. The organization argued that a drug dealer committed an extraordinary crime that caused worldly destruction and the death of others, and thereby deserved to be sentenced to death. "Allah commands us so," Masyhuri said.

Hasyim-Sahal back in NU top spots

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Surakarta/Surabaya -- Nahdlatul Ulama head Hasyim Muzadi stared down an attack by a rival faction on Thursday, winning reelection as NU chairman for another five years.

Haysim and NU lawmaking body chief Sahal Mahfudz staved off the persistent efforts of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who had tried to rally support from senior clerics to dethrone Hasyim. Gus Dur chaired the 40 million-member organization for 15 years before he was elected Indonesian president in 1999.

Sahal, a charismatic cleric who also leads the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), was unanimously reelected as the NU's powerful syuriah (lawmaking body) chairman, while Hasyim saw off a light challenge from young figure F. Masdar Mas'udi in the runoff.

The unanimous decision to reelect Sahal came after he emerged the sole candidate to qualify for the runoff. A candidate in each election required 99 votes to reach the runoff.

A speechless Gus Dur immediately left the venue shortly after he saw his defeat at the hand of Sahal in the first-round of elections. Gus Dur had repeatedly threatened to set up a splinter faction of the organization if Hasyim won his reelection.

The win of Sahal and Hasyim had been widely predicted by many at the congress, despite Gus Dur's resistance. Hasyim shook hands with Masdar who congratulated him on his victory. Others scrambled to join in hugging and shaking hands with Hasyim.

Masdar said he hoped the election had not involved vote buying as alleged by the Gus Dur camp and young NU activists and observers.

Separately, Hasyim appealed to all NU figures to unite and end the bitter bickering over his chairmanship. "For NU's progress in the future, let us forget all offensive things and let's join forces again for the sake of NU," Hasyim said after his win.

He said he would meet Gus Dur and other senior ulema opposed to his win and ask them to cancel their plans to establish a rival NU faction.

Hasyim's appeal might have already born fruit as several senior pro-Gus Dur clerics issued a statement in Surabaya, saying they had accepted the reelection of Hasyim and would not support any moves to set up a breakaway organization.

Subadar said respected cleric Abdullah Faqih of Langitan in Tuban also endorsed Hasyim's reelection. "After a thorough deliberation, we decided not to found a rival NU faction as it would only split people at the grassroots," Subadar said.

The clerics, he said, deemed Hasyim's reelection a result of the democratic process, due to his outright majority win. "It means they [NU followers] still trust Hasyim, even though by taking part in the presidential election a few months ago he dragged NU into politics," Subadar said.

Hasyim contested the election as the running mate for then incumbent president Megawati Soekarnoputri, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. They lost to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla in the Sept. 20 runoff.

Speaking during the closing ceremony of the five-day congress, Sahal vowed to consolidate the organization's support in order to prevent an imminent split. "This congress has diminished the spirit of our brotherhood. I promise to consolidate support from all figures to settle this internal conflict," Sahal said.

The five-day congress, held at the Donohudan Haj Dormitory, was closed by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Golkar may curb voting rights

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- A close aide of Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said on Friday that the party's regency chapters may not be given the right to vote in the upcoming national congress to avoid possible vote buying.

"We are afraid of money politics. The congress is too close to the convention, we fear that the convention experience would repeat itself," Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa said here on Friday.

During the presidential convention in April, Akbar was defeated by Gen. (ret) Wiranto in the battle to be named Golkar's presidential candidate amid vote buying allegations.

Golkar, the political machinery of former authoritarian leader Soeharto, will hold a national congress in Denpasar, Bali from December 15 to December 20 to elect a chairman who will lead the party for the next five years.

Aside from Akbar, some senior party cadres have been touted as possible chairpersons, including Gen. Wiranto, Surya Paloh and Marwah Daud Ibrahim.

Under the party's regulations, only the Central Executive Board (DPP), 33 provincial chapters (DPD I) and two affiliated organizations have voting rights in the election of party chairperson. The DPP has said it would not exercise its voting rights.

Agun, who is also a member of the steering committee for the congress, said that even if regency chapters were granted voting rights, it would not be made effective during the upcoming congress.

Zainal Bintang from the Mutual Aid Family Conference (MKGR), a Golkar-linked youth organization, had said earlier that giving regency chapters voting rights would boost Golkar's image.

MKGR, the Mutual Assistance Cooperative (KOSGORO) and the Indonesian Central Organization for Independent Employees (SOKSI) have demanded that regency chapters be given voting rights.

Sources said that the organizations, sponsored by old Golkar members including former state secretary Moerdiono, former vice president Sudharmono and former People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Harmoko, supported Wiranto as Golkar chairman.

Agun said he hoped Golkar, the country's biggest party, would be led by its own cadre and that giving regency chapters voting rights would only open the chance for outsiders to chair Golkar.

Meanwhile, political observer Fachry Ali said the issue in the Golkar Congress had shifted from the capability of the nominees to Golkar's internal regulations.

Fachry said the congress would become a battle between Golkar leaders who control the party (Akbar's faction) and those who stay outside (the old figures). "Anyone who does not control the organizations will have difficulties in winning," he said.

NU ends alliance with PKB

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Surakarta -- Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has enacted several important policies including revoking its order to back the National Awakening Party (PKB) it founded after the downfall of president Soeharto in 1998.

All 40 million members of the nation's largest Muslim organization are now free to support any political party in next elections according to their own wishes.

The decision was made at the NU's five-day national congress in Surakarta, Central Java, which ended on Thursday. The previous congress held in 1999 in Kediri, East Java, recommended that the nation's largest Muslim organization vote for the PKB in the general elections.

With NU support, the PKB was ranked the third largest party in term of votes in the 1999 elections after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party. But in term of seats in the House of Representatives, the PKB came fourth after the United Development Party (PPP).

Ahead of the 2004 elections to elect legislative members, resistance mounted inside the NU to maintain its backing for the PKB after the party's chief patron Abdurrahman Wahid picked several non-NU figures, like Alwi Shihab and Mahfud MD, to take control of the organization.

Many senior NU leaders, including newly-reelected NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi, were reportedly dissatisfied over this issue.

Through the Surakarta congress, the NU also reaffirmed its stance of rejecting all forms of Islamic extremism and fundamentalism in support of the global war on terror. However, it opposed religious liberalism, which younger NU scholars are promoting to fight extremism and radicalism in the interpretation of Islamic teachings. The anti-liberalism policy came amid strong protests by a number of senior ulama against the existence of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) led by a young NU scholar, Ulil Abshar Abdalla.

When seeking re-election for a second five-year term, Hasyim said that NU did not recognize religious liberalism or extremism. "NU stands between extremism and liberalism, and embraces pluralism and moderation," he added.

Mun'im DZ, who chaired the NU's sub-commission on politics, said on Friday that his organization will continue its religious traditions in developing Islam through "deep and comprehensive understanding". "NU does not recognize formalistic interpretations of Islamic teachings, which are expressed in tensions that could lead to violence," he said. Mun'im said religious expressions in the form of violence were against the principles of peace (Islam).

Solahuddin Wahid, a former deputy NU leader who chaired the commission on tausiyah (recommendations), said the congress also reaffirmed its nationhood commitment based on the state ideology of Pancasila. "The economic crisis and an excessive reform spirit have resulted in the loss of national integrity with the emergence of federalist and separatist movements, which threaten the country's unity," he said.

Efforts to strengthen the commitment to nationhood, Solahuddin added, cannot be made with force and violence, but through new cultural strategies. The NU urged the government to reject all forms of economic imperialism and liberalism.

Solahuddin said the NU saw that the current global campaign for free trade was actually part of a new economic imperialism. "Globalization has been used to overpower other countries because it always creates new dependencies of the weak on the strong," he added.

The congress also recommended that the NU central board set up a television station to educate the nation on moral values. The recommendation came following the popularity of certain national TV programs in the world's largest Muslim country, which NU leaders said went against religious teachings and traditions.

Hasyim staves off challenge to stay as NU head

Straits Times - December 4, 2004

Surabaya -- Nahdlatul Ulama head Hasyim Muzadi has stared down an attack by a rival faction, winning re-election as the chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic grassroots organisation for another five years.

Mr Hasyim and NU lawmaking body chief Sahal Mahfudz staved off the persistent efforts of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, who had tried to rally support from senior clerics to dethrone Mr Hasyim.

Mr Abdurrahman, known popularly as Gus Dur, chaired the 40 million-member organisation for 15 years before being elected Indonesian president in 1999. Mr Sahal, a charismatic cleric who also leads the Indonesian Ulema Council, was on Thursday re- elected unanimously as the NU's powerful syuriah (lawmaking body) chairman, while Mr Hasyim saw off a light challenge from young figure F. Masdar Mas'udi in the run-off.

The decision to re-elect Mr Sahal came after he emerged as the sole candidate to qualify for the run-off. A candidate in each election required 99 votes to reach the run-off. A speechless Mr Abdurrahman left the venue shortly after seeing his defeat at the hands of Mr Sahal in the first round of elections.

The victories of Mr Sahal and Mr Hasyim had been widely predicted by many at the congress, despite Mr Abdurrahman's resistance.

The former president had threatened repeatedly to set up a splinter faction of the organisation if Mr Hasyim was re-elected.

Mr Hasyim appealed to the partymen to end the bickering, saying he would meet Mr Abdurrahman and other senior clerics opposed to his win and ask them to cancel their plans to establish a rival NU faction. His words seemed to have had the desired effect. Several senior pro-Abdurrahman clerics later issued a statement saying they would not support any moves to set up a breakaway organisation.

Mr Hasyim contested Indonesia's first presidential election as the running mate to incumbent Megawati Sukarnoputri. They lost to Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Mr Jusuf Kalla in the September 20 run-off.

The five-day congress was closed by Mr Jusuf.

Government/civil service

Civil service is government's 'political machine'

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2004

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on members of the Indonesian Civil Servants Association (Korpri) across the country to comply with regulations set by the government, saying that the bureaucracy was the government's political machine.

"Civil servants are the government's political machine and should work in accordance with government regulations," Kalla said in front of hundreds of civil servants attending a ceremony marking Civil Servants Day at Bung Karno Sports Complex on Monday.

Kalla underlined that only with the strong support of civil servants could the government perform effectively. "The success of the government very much depends on the performance of civil servants, who serve as the bureaucratic arms of the government," Kalla said.

During the Soeharto era, civil servants -- of which there are around four million in the country -- were often exploited to support the regime. The large number of civil servants did not only serve as the bulk of voters for Soeharto's Golkar Party, but also as a political machine that ensured the party's victory in every election for 32 years. Since the reform movement kicked off in 1998, civil servants have left politics and stayed neutral in every election.

During the ceremony, Kalla also said that the government was fully aware of the fact that the welfare of civil servants needed to be improved. "The government realizes that we have to improve civil servants' welfare for them to perform well, but it can only be done if the country is in a better economic condition," he said. He said that the government would continue to improve the remuneration system for civil servants, and that it would introduce a "reward-and-punishment system" in order to boost their performance.

During the ceremony, Korpri chairman Feisal Tamim said that he hoped the new government would maintain its policy of providing 13 months' salary for civil servants yearly. "We hope that the policy will continue as the 13 months' salary means a great deal to civil servants," the former state minister of administrative reforms said.

House delays all bill deliberations

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The House of Represantives legislation body (Baleg) agreed on Monday to delay all bill deliberations, pending discussions between the government and the legislators on which bills should be dealt with first.

Baleg chairman Muhammad AS Hikam said the discussions with the government would take place in January and could take some time to reach an agreement. "After hearing public input, we will discuss it with the government. Possibly, we will start the deliberation of bills in February," Hikam said after a hearing with eight non-governmental organizations (NGOs) here on Monday.

Many have hoped that the House would improve its performance by speeding up the deliberations of at least 61 backlogged bills.

Hikam said that only through discussions with the government could the lawmakers reach a common understanding on which bills should be put on the priority list. He added that the legislation body had also invited input from all 11 House commissions, but not all of them had responded.

According to Law No. 10/2004 on lawmaking processes, the legislation activities should refer to the priority set out in the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) jointly decided by the House and the government. The government has not yet issued an opinion on the bill priorities.

Meanwhile, NGO activists proposed that the House deliberate upon a variety of bills. Indro Sugianto from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) suggested that lawmakers ought to focus on natural resources management (PSDA) and the free access to information (KMI). Once a natural resources management law is passed, he said, it would ensure environmental conservation. "Besides, it is also mandated in a decree of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)," Indro said.

Munarman from the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) said that any law resulting from legislation process in the House must not be make more problems for people. Taking as an example, Munarman said that the stipulation in the Antiterror Law and the intelligence bill gives too much authority to intelligence officials to arrest terrorist suspects, without much solid evidence. "In fact, only police officers according to the Criminal Code are given the power to arrest people," he said.

Munarman also called for the revision of the National Police Law and place the police under a ministry, be it the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

In the meantime, Ratna Bantara Munti from the Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (LBH APIK) demanded that lawmakers put the bills on human trafficking, marriage and rape on the priority list. "The House must also deliberate on the health bill, especially the protection of a woman's reproductive rights," she said.

Susilo hindering House's performance: Legislators

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Legislators implied on Wednesday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held them back in bill deliberations by deferring the issuance of a decree on coordination between the House of Representatives and the government in the lawmaking process.

"We hope this [issuance of the presidential decree] is part of the first 100-day program of the new government," legislator Djuhad Mahja from the United Development Party (PPP) said on Wednesday at a hearing with Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin.

Under Law No. 10/2004 on legislative process, the president must issue a decree prioritizing bills before the House can set its deliberation schedule. Susilo, who was inducted into office on October 20, has yet to issue the decree, so the House cannot start any deliberations.

The House Legislative Body said earlier that lawmakers would still debate with the government on priority bills in January, and deliberations could only take place after the discussions.

Legislator Andi Mattalatta of the Golkar Party suggested on Wednesday that the government would also provide its reasons for prioritizing particular bills. According to the Constitution, the House has jurisdiction over legislation, but also rules that the government must approve all laws for enactment.

Law No. 10/2004 also declares that bill deliberations must follow the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), which is to be prepared jointly by the House and the government.

Discussion on the Prolegnas also cannot commence, pending the issuance of the presidential decree. The Prolegnas is designed to coordinate state institutes in drawing up bills on various issues.

During Wednesday's hearing, justice minister Hamid disclosed that the government was still discussing the content of the presidential decree. "Although the legislation process involves two parties, the House and the government, we hope it can be conducted in a harmonious and orderly manner," Hamid said.

Meanwhile, legislator Andi said he hoped the legislation program, to be discussed by the government and the House, would promote comprehensive changes to the judiciary. "The Prolegnas must be based on clear intentions, namely the willingness to launch total reform in the country's legal system," he said.

Andi emphasized that the program must not only consist of bills to be brought for deliberation in the House, but must also thoroughly delineate the reasoning behind the prioritization of certain bills over others.

Separately during the hearing, Hamid said the government encouraged the establishment of regional committees that would promote human rights issues and development.

The establishment of regional committees is to support the national action plan on human rights, or RAN-HAM, introduced by the President on October 26.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Attorney general to review major corruption cases

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2004

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- The Attorney General's Office promised Monday to complete hundreds of corruption cases throughout the country within three months, including a review of big cases.

After being pressed by legislators, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh disclosed at a hearing that his office would review big cases that had been buried by the so-called "order to stop investigation", popularly known as SP3. "The Attorney General's Office has already reviewed two SP3s and before the three-month deadline expires we expect to have reviewed five big cases with SP3s. We want to see if the law has been applied correctly," Abdul Rahman said in a hearing with the House of Representatives's Commission III on law, human rights and security.

Abdul Rahman, however, refused to name the five big corruption cases, only saying that the cases related to the alleged misuse of Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) disbursed to bail- out ailing banks in the wake of the 1998 financial crisis.

The cases likely include one involving owner of Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI) group Sjamsul Nursalim, whose corruption case had been dropped at the end of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri's tenure.

Also, the Attorney General's Office disclosed recently that it was reviewing a closed corruption case involving former energy minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita, currently chairman of the Regional Representative Council.

Apart from reviewing high-profile SP3s, according to Deputy Attorney General for Special Crime Soedono Iswahyudi, prosecutors' offices across the country would bring 62 corruption cases to trial in the next two months.

Again, he refused to disclose the cases and only said "they include ones that have been in the limelight and have drawn public attention." In addition, Soedono revealed that prosecutors' offices would start fresh probes into 86 corruption cases. Currently, he said, the offices were still investigating 76 corruption cases.

Revelations of the AGO's drive to handle corruption cases came only after legislators pressed Abdul Rahman to disclose what he would do about rampant corruption in the country.

Legislator Patrialis Akbar of the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction criticized the Attorney General's Office's reluctance to take more initiatives in probing corruption cases, rather than expecting reports from the public.

Panda Nababan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction also expressed his dissatisfaction with the attorney general.

He noted that because of his relatively good track record Abdul Rahman could have brought about change to the Attorney General's Office. "Instead, we are all only buoyed by a pledge that all will be resolved in the first 100 days," he said.

Mega gets third notice from anti-corruption body

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has sent its third warning letters to former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and her Cabinet members as the December 21 deadline for wealth reports looms.

M. Yasin, KPK director handling government officials' wealth reports, told reporters on Wednesday that only former vice president Hamzah Haz and former tourism and cultural minister I Gede Ardika had submitted their reports.

"Ibu Mega reported her wealth before presidential elections began in July, but she has not yet sent us the report on her latest wealth obtained between that time and the end of her presidency in October," Yasin said.

Megawati, who is also the leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), reportedly bought a house on Jl. Teuku Umar in an upmarket area of Menteng worth Rp 20 billion just before she left office.

The ministers in Megawati's Cabinet that were retained by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, have already declared their respective wealth reports; namely, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Hassan Wirajuda, as well as National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and Indonesia Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto.

Law No. 28/1999 on corruption-free governance and Law No. 30/2002 on the KPK require state officials to declare their wealth within a certain period of time after either inauguration or when they leave office.

The laws require other state officials, including legislators, to submit their wealth reports to the commission to maintain transparency and monitor possible irregularities. However, the laws do not impose sanctions for government officials who refuse to submit their wealth reports.

Yasin also stated that the KPK had yet to obtain wealth reports from seven of the 547 members of the House of Representatives (DPR), either from the General Elections Commission (KPU) or the legislators themselves.

While members of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) who have not yet declared their wealth stands at 55 of the 128.

The KPU requires legislative candidates to submit their reports before entering their names in the legislative election in April.

DPD members who have not submitted their wealth reports included Mooryati Sudibyo, a DPD member who is also the deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), DPD deputy chairman Irman Gusman, La Ode Ida, Raja Inal Siregar and Budi Santoso.

The deadline for both legislators and DPD members to submit their reports was on Wednesday, two months after their inauguration on October 1. KPK leaders earlier vowed to turn in former and new state officials, including ministers and legislators, to the police if any failed to submit their latest wealth reports to the commission.

City officials close ranks as graft allegations hit home

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- The city administration has requested the West Jakarta Prosecutor's Office to release two of its officials following their detention by the prosecutors over their alleged involvement in scams worth Rp 1.4 billion (US$155,555.56).

"The administration, through the Jakarta Parks Agency head (Sarwo Handhayani), has sent a letter to the prosecutor's office asking for their release," the assistant to the city secretary for administration and staffing, Moerdiman, told reporters at City Hall on Wednesday.

The director of the South Jakarta Parks Office, Harun Al Rasyid, and Sri Budi Setiati, the director of the West Jakarta Parks Office, have been detained by the prosecutor's office since Tuesday.

They are suspected of enriching themselves with funds that should have been used for the development of parks in West Jakarta last year.

Harun is alleged to have embezzled the money from January to July 2003 when he was still serving as West Jakarta Parks Office director, while Sri allegedly embezzled the money from August to December 2003.

Moerdiman said that West Jakarta Mayor Fajar A. Panjaitan and South Jakarta Mayor Dadang Kafrawi would also send letters to guaranteeing that the officials would not abscond or tamper with evidence.

"As the legal efforts are continuing, we expect the suspects to be able to report for work as usual. We have to abide by the presumption of innocence," he added.

The release request was made in light of the officials' positions as work unit leaders. The administration fears that their detention will disrupt their units' day-to-day activities.

Lawyers from the South Jakarta and West Jakarta administrations having been accompanying the suspects during questioning.

The arrest of the two officials shocked the city administration as it had received no warning of an impending corruption investigation from the prosecutor's office.

"We only heard about the arrests from the media. We didn't get any prior notice from the prosecutor's office," said City Legal Affairs Office director Deded Sukandar.

Prosecutor Joko Yuhono said the investigators had yet to receive the letter. "I've just finished questioning them today." The Attorney General's Office announced recently that Jakarta is the third most corrupt provincial administration after East Java and West Java.

Susilo declines to suspend Puteh immediately

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- While vowing to lead the fight against corruption, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has declined to suspend corruption suspect Abdullah Puteh immediately, as ordered by the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf said on Friday that the President would suspend the governor after the commission has indicted him. "If the case file has already been handed over [to the court] and [Puteh] is declared a defendant, then the President will suspend him," Ma'ruf said after declaring his wealth to the KPK.

KPK sent a letter to President Susilo on Wednesday ordering him to suspend Puteh immediately. The commission sent a similar letter to former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in July, but Puteh, who has been accused of marking up the price of a Russian-made assault helicopter, was only stripped of his power as the administrator of Aceh's Civil Emergency.

Under Law No. 23/2002 concerning the KPK, the commission has the power to order the superiors of high-ranking state officials accused of corruption to remove such officials. Ma'ruf said that Puteh would be stripped of all his powers once the KPK indicted him.

Separately, Chief Justice Bagir Manan said KPK would hand over Puteh's case file soon to the Central Jakarta District Court, which oversees the first anti-corruption court in the country. Judges, who will hear the case, are expected to end their special training in corruption cases by December 8.

"They could submit his case file anytime. They will register the case and as soon as the judges finish their training, it will be heard," he told reporters in his office. KPK has named Puteh as a suspect for allegedly marking up the purchase of a Russian helicopter bought by the Aceh administration in 2001. The graft cost the state about Rp 4 billion (US$440,000).

Megawati, who promised to dismiss Puteh during a televised presidential campaign, did issue Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No.2/2004 requiring him to comply with the KPK probe into his graft case. However, KPK considered the decree imprecise.

Article 12 (e) of Law No. 30/2002 concerning the KPK states that the commission has the authority to order the supervisor of a suspect to suspend him from his position.

Article 46 of the same law states that it replaces other specific laws concerning suspects who are state officials to ensure smooth investigation, meaning that the law on special autonomy (for Aceh) was not applicable in the case of Puteh.

The law on special autonomy requires the central government to secure approval from the local legislature before suspending a governor.

Puteh is continuing to perform duties as Aceh's governor. When Susilo visited Aceh as president for the first time two weeks ago, Puteh was the host.

In another development, Susilo signed more approval letters for police to investigate two regents and a legislator allegedly involved in various corruption cases.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said in a press conference here Friday that President Susilo had issued permits for police to question the South and West Halmahera regents, and a member of the House of Representatives from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

"The announcement is to underline the President's commitment that he is in charge in the fight against corruption," the spokesman said.

Media/press freedom

Kiss of death may be on the lips for TV stations

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Now that a three-month grace period has expired, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) is set to crack down hard against radio or television stations violating government-dictated broadcasting guidelines.

The KPI issued the guidelines on August 30 and gave the broadcasting stations three months to adjust.

KPI member Ade Armando expressed regret that despite the probation period, television stations had not demonstrated good will in following the guidelines.

"We've received hundreds of letters from the people who complaining about television stations for continuously running programs that exploit violence, obscenity and mysticism during the transition period," he told the House of Representatives' Commission I on security and information on Tuesday.

According to the broadcasting guidelines, television stations are only allowed to air programs containing violence, obscenity, or mysticism between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., so children will not see them as readily. TV stations are also banned from showing sexual acts, including two people engaged in the act of kissing on the lips.

Most of the stations are still running programs that exploit violence, obscenity or mysticism during prime time, when most children are still awake.

Ade warned the television stations of the penalties that the KPI could impose on them for the violations.

Punishment for violations of the broadcasting guidelines range from official reprimands to revocation of broadcasting licenses, according to Law No. 32/2002 on broadcasting.

Deputy chairman of the House commission I Effendy Choirie said he hoped the broadcasting guidelines would help improve the quality of television programs.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Amris Fuad Hasan said that only 20 percent of the television programs were of good quality. "The rest makes us look stupid," he added.

During the hearing, the KPI also demanded that the House put pressure on the government to issue a government regulation on broadcasting as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, another KPI member, Sasa Djuarsa, told the lawmakers the nine KPI members had received their salaries for the first time in 10 months. "Thank God, we have received our salaries, therefore we could celebrate Idul Fitri," Sasa added.

Based on the presidential decree, the chairman and the deputy chairman of the KPI each receives Rp 14,375,000 (US$1,500) in monthly salary while each KPI member earns Rp 12,500,000.

Human rights/law

Right body wants judicial power

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has called for a revision of human rights Law Number 39/1999, to empower it with the right to press state institutions to follow up on the findings of its investigations.

Komnas HAM Chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara complained on Tuesday that some of the commission's findings were not followed up on by state institutions, rendering its investigations useless.

"The commission must be given the right to file lawsuits against institutions that do not follow up on its findings. We propose that the law be revised," Abdul Hakim said on the sidelines of a hearing with the House's Commission III for law and legislation, human rights and security affairs here on Tuesday.

He also asked the House of Representatives (DPR) to carry out a performance audit aimed at assessing the work of the commission and other state institutions -- including the National Police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) -- which have received recommendations from the commission but failed to follow up on them.

"Such an audit would verify whether the commission and the AGO have carried out their respective duties properly. Then, we will know the problem," he said.

Taking the cases as examples, Abdul Hakim said that the commission had declared the Trisakti shootings and May 1998 riots, as well as the bloody incidents of Semanggi I and Semanggi II in 1999, as gross violations of human rights.

The national commission had recommended that the AGO follow up on its findings, which it has not done to this day. Abdul Hakim said the AGO has refused to talk about the commission's recommendations. The AGO declined to follow up on the commission's findings on the grounds that the House had declared the incidents "ordinary human rights violations".

During a hearing with the commission earlier, legislators promised to reopen those cases. Trimedya Panjaitan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said, during Tuesday's hearing, that the House could be held accountable for the uncertain legal process of the human rights violation cases.

"The legislators are morally accountable, because they declared those incidents to be ordinary violations," Trimedya said, referring to the House's investigation led by Panda Nababan, a fellow legislator from the PDI-P.

Alluding to public demand for an investigation into human rights violations allegedly involving Soeharto, he said that most cases of rights violations had been handled by the police.

The July 27 case has been handled by police, while the Tanjung Priok case has been taken to court, but rights cases allegedly involving Soeharto, including the mysterious shooting (Petrus) in the 1980s and the Buru case -- which saw hundreds of people linked to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) jailed without trial -- have not been investigated.

Touchy Indonesia keeps tight lid on foreign researchers

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The government is drafting a new decree setting out even more onerous rules for foreign scientists conducting research here due to a growing number of "illegal studies", an official says.

The deputy chairman of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Lukman Hakim, claimed on Tuesday that not only had illegal studies cost the country dearly but also given rise to security concerns.

"Many foreigners conduct studies here and exploit our natural laboratories without permits from LIPI. We have found that they often do not benefit our national interest," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar here.

Presidential Decree No. 100/2002 designates LIPI as the only body in Indonesia that can issue permits to foreigners to conduct research here. The decree was issued to give effect to Law No. 18/2002 on science and technology.

Foreigners who violate their permits in conducting studies here face a maximum of six months in jail and fines of up to Rp 5 million (US$555), as well as immediate deportation, according to the law. British academic Lesley McCulloch was sentenced to five months on December 30, 2003, for violating the terms of her visa. Having entered the country on a tourist visa, she was arrested by Aceh Police for conducting a study in the war-torn province along with her American friend, Joy Sadler.

LIPI promotions director Krisbiwati said that a foreign scientist was deported recently as he attempted to illegally take a number of butterflies out of the country illegally after conducting a study here.

To obtain a LIPI permit to conduct a study here, foreign scientists must, among other requirements, submit six copies of the study proposal, including its purpose and the methodology to be employed, file a recommendation from the Indonesian embassy in the applicants' country of origin, refrain from engaging in political activities while here, and sign an agreement forcing them to team up with local partners. To conduct a study, a foreign researcher is charged US$100 and another $50 for extension of his of her stay.

Lukman acknowledged that many applicants complained about the requirements. "But we have to enforce the regulation. We have seen various cases where foreign researchers have claimed the intellectual property rights to studies that were actually conducted by their Indonesian counterparts," Lukman said.

Krisbiwati said that this year alone, around 200 foreign researchers had applied for permits to conduct studies here. Most of these were on anthropology, sociology and biodiversity. The applications had come from researchers from Japan, the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Canada, Norway and Switzerland.

The government still bans foreign researchers from conducting studies in the conflict-prone areas of Aceh, Papua, Poso in South Sulawesi, and Ambon in Maluku.

Murdered activist's wife threatened

Green Left Weekly - December 1, 2004

James Balowski, Jakarta -- For the second time since the murder of renowned Indonesian human rights activist Munir, his family has been threatened -- this time with a clear warning not to blame the Indonesian military (TNI) for his death.

On November 20, Munir's wife Suciwati receive a package in the mail containing a dismembered chicken and a note reading, "Beware. Do not connect the TNI with Munir's death. Do you want to end up like this?"

In an interview with Detik.com on November 21, Suciwati revealed that two days after Munir's murder she received an anonymous letter "welcoming" his death. "[It said] hopefully [Munir's] spirit is not being set upon by the spirits of the nation's heroes who were felled by bullets in defense of the country [that] Munir died vomiting because [he had] consumed too much money from the state or non-government organisations", she told Detik.

Suciwati has vowed not to be silenced, telling journalists "When my husband was still alive, we used to live with terror... We never told the public about it because we didn't want to give the threats importance." She has refused to say who she thinks killed her husband. "The murderer could be anyone", she said.

Thirty-eight-year-old Munir died aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight hours before landing in Amsterdam on September 7. His death was originally blamed on a heart attack but the autopsy found he died of arsenic poisoning.

Munir rose to prominence in 1998, when he was involved in investigating the abduction and torture of pro-democracy activists by the notorious elite special forces, Kopassus. Kopassus, which has enforced terror in East Timor and Aceh, has also been linked with extremist Islamic groups such as Laskar Jihad and Jemaah Islamiah -- the group blamed for the Bali bombing and the recent bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.

Munir had been recently highly critical of the National Intelligence Agency over its anti-democratic terrorism bill and a law that reasserts the TNI's internal political and security role.

Rights groups are calling on the government to form a special investigation team as they believe that "people in high places" may be involved and warn that if the case goes unsolved it will sanction the continued use of political assassinations in Indonesia.

Initially the TNI remained tight-lipped, but after another threatening package was mailed to the Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), which Munir founded, on November 23, it has denied involvement.

Speaking to journalists during the four-day Jakarta Arms Expo TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto said speculation was blowing the case out of proportion and would hinder the investigation. He cited the Timika case as an example which had also been used to "corner" the TNI.

In August 2003, two US school teachers and an Indonesian national were shot dead in an ambush in Timika, West Papua. Indonesian police and rights groups found evidence that the TNI was behind the attack although an investigation by the FBI, which has been called a "white-wash", later exonerated the TNI and blamed "rouge elements" of the separatist Free Papua Movement. The killings remain a key sticking point in Washington's efforts to reestablish military funding and training for the TNI.

Government must sign UN declaration on rights defenders

Detik.com - December 1, 2004

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta -- Following the death of renowned human rights activist Munir on September 7, non-government organisations have been urging the government to sign the United Nations 1998 Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders. They are also calling on the People's Representative Assembly (DPR) to discuss the Draft Law on the Protection of Witnesses and Victims.

This was conveyed by the Solidarity Forum for Indonesian Human Rights Defenders (Forum Solidaritas Pembela HAM Indonesia, FSPHI) at a press conference which was held at the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) secretariat in Central Jakarta on Wednesday November 1.

Attending the press conference was the coordinator of HRWG, Rafendi Djamin, the chairperson of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), Ifdhal Kasim, the former chairperson of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Foundation (PBHI), Hendardi, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, Zoemrotin, Rita Kalibongso from the women's organisation Mitra Perempuan and a number of other activists.

"We are asking the government to immediately sign the 1998 UN declaration on the protection of human rights defenders. This would represent a form of commitment by the government to provide protection to human rights workers following the experience of Munir's death and [the deaths of] a number of other human rights defenders", said Kasim.

According to Kasim, the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must demonstrate its commitment to addressing human rights issues in Indonesia both to the general public as well as the international community, in particular in relation to the protection of human rights defenders because it has been noted that many human rights violations in Indonesia have transgressed this declaration.

Kasim gave as examples the attacks on the offices of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and PBHI, the cases in Aceh and West Papua as well as environmental, education and worker related cases. Moreover, next January 17, Indonesia will officially become the head of the UN Human Rights Commission for the 61st session.

"If the case of Munir's murder is not solved and there are no developments on protecting human rights defenders then the Indonesian government will only embarrass itself in international forums", he continued.

Mitra Perempuan chairperson Kalibongso added that Munir's death must be used to generate a momentum for Indonesia to quickly move to ensure the protection of human rights defenders by immediately discussing the Draft Law on the Protection of Witnesses and Victims.

"But unfortunately, up until now the DPR has not touched on the matter. During the session in Geneva, Indonesia said repeatedly that it will soon enact legislation on the protection of witnesses and victims. It must therefore, be discussed immediately", added Kalibongso. (aan)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Focus on Jakarta

City's population dragnet kicks off in December

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- In order to prevent the already over- populated city from further ballooning due to the influx of new arrivals after Idul Fitri, the Jakarta administration is set to launch an operation targeting new migrants early next month.

"The operation is specifically targeting new migrants who have no guarantee at all of permanent jobs or places to stay in the capital," Jakarta spokesman Catur Laswanto said on Sunday.

Catur said that the operation was aimed at controlling the massive influx of newcomers days after the Idul Fitri holiday on November 14 and November 15.

The City Population and Civil Registration Agency reported that at least 190,356 new migrants had entered the capital in the last two weeks.

The number was obtained from the difference between the number of people leaving the capital, 2,213,812, and the number of people returning, 2,404,168. This year's figure is lower than past years, when an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 new migrants entered the capital.

According to newly issued Bylaw No. 4/2004 on population registration, migrants have to register themselves with subdistrict offices or the City Population and Civil Registration Agency two weeks after their arrival at the latest.

Several municipalities said that they would launch the operation, named Operasi Yustisi Kependudukan 2004, early in December. "The operation will be launched simultaneously throughout the city, especially in areas suspected of harboring the new migrants," said Rosyik Muhammad, an official with the Central Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Office.

Rosyik said his office would start the operation on December 2, targeting residential areas in Sawah Besar, Senen and Kemayoran. He estimated that out of the 190,356 new migrants, 29,238 were staying in Central Jakarta. Last year, the new migrants living in the municipality were around 37,000.

He asserted that the decline in the number of new arrivals in the capital was due to the call made to those returning to their home villages by Governor Sutiyoso not to take their friends and relatives back to the city to work, as the new migrants, who are mostly unskilled, would only further add to the city's headaches.

"We would have no problem if they just come for a picnic. But, if they are coming to seek work, they are completely wrong. Job opportunities are hard to find here, especially for those who have no skills," Sutiyoso said.

With around 70 percent of the money in the country circulating in Jakarta, the city is still a magnet for people from less developed areas.

According to the new bylaw, new migrants who violate the bylaw may face a maximum sentence of three months in prison, or a Rp 5 million fine.

Busway sales over 33 billion rupiah in 10 months

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Jakarta -- Since its grand opening 10 months ago, the management of the TransJakarta Busway has contributed Rp 33.89 billion (US$3.76 million) to the city's coffers, however most of that has already been spent on the salaries and expenses incurred by the city.

Established in a gubernatorial decree, the busway management is not entitled to profit from the daily income, according to TransJakarta Busway chairman Irzal Djamal. "We make deposits at the city's Bank DKI. From ticket sales, we earn over Rp 100 million each day. The largest revenue month was October with Rp 3.8 billion," he was quoted as saying by Antara on the weekend.

According to an official at City Hall, the operation of the busway costs the city some Rp 3 billion per month. From the amount, Rp 2.3 billion goes to busway operator PT Jakarta Express Trans, Rp 500 million to the company providing the attendants at busway stops and another Rp 190 million to pay the security guards.

Rainy season catches Jakarta government with pants down

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Jakarta -- Residents in several flood-prone areas across the capital have not yet prepared for potential floods this rainy season, although the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) has warned Jakartans that rains would peak within two weeks.

Those living in Kapuk, Kali Kamal, Penjaringan and Pluit in North Jakarta, and along the banks of the West Flood Canal in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, had still not been informed by subdistrict administrations as to their contingency plans.

Mamat, a 37-year-old squatter who lives along the canal, said he had not heard anything from subdistrict officials as to the measures he should take in coping with the annual floods, even though the area was submerged in over one meter of water last year.

"The neighborhood unit chief only told us to be prepared for the floods. Nothing else. I don't know what to do," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Marzuki, 45, a resident of Kapuk, said he had not seen nor heard officials preparing in anticipation of floods, such as readying rubber dinghies and setting up flood centers.

"What dinghy? It seems the officials will leave us to face the floods on our own. Last year, they did not come until there was a death or unless they were criticized on TV," said Marzuki, whose house was inundated by two meters of water last year.

A private elementary school in Penjaringan has been flooded for a week, following heavy rains that fell several days in a row. The school is located next to the former site of Krida Sasana sport stadium. The plot, which is being turned into a shopping center, has been raised by about a meter, thereby spilling a greater volume of runoff down into the school.

The 1,000 students have continued to study in the school, although they are surrounded by water. Meanwhile, the school has apparently become a victim of official neglect.

"I am afraid the condition will become worse in coming days as the rain continues to fall. Subdistrict and district heads have given up on asking for help from the city ... Parents fear the threat of dengue fever because of the still water surrounding the school," Pluit Raya principal Mushonef said.

BMG Meteorological Public Services head Achmad Zakir said the precipitation would become heavier over the next two weeks. "Rain will only fall during the afternoons and evenings this next week at an average of 15 millimeters per day -- a light downpour. After that, precipitation could reach an average 50mm per day," he told the Post.

Three consecutive days of heavy rains -- 50mm to 75mm daily -- would be enough to cause floods in the capital.

The biggest flood to hit the capital most recently was in early 2002, when 168 of the 262 city subdistricts were swamped, 31 people were killed, more than 300,000 others were forced from their homes to stay in makeshift shelters and transportation systems were paralyzed for about a week.

City blames polluted rivers for fish kills in bay

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- The death of thousands of fish and clams in waters off Ancol Beach on Tuesday was likely caused by pollution in the city's toxic rivers, the Environmental Management Agency said.

Agency head Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said on Thursday the fish had likely died of asphyxiation. "The phenomenon was probably caused by a drop in oxygen in the seawater. We do not find that it was caused by toxic materials dumped in the area," he said.

Tests had shown there was a significant drop of oxygen in the water to less than 1 milligram/litter of water, compared to the normal figure of 6 mg/l, he said.

A Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) expert who was part of the investigating team, Tri Pantono, said the highly polluted Jakarta rivers flowing into the bay were the likely cause.

"The oxygen content in the blackish rivers is near zero. If such polluted waters comes in large amounts to the sea, it would surely affect the oxygen content in the seawater... It is important to note the incident took place after heavy rains when the water flow of the rivers is usually high," he said.

The environmental management agency, together with experts from the IPB, the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences earlier took water and fish samples in the area for a laboratory examination.

Kosasih said the team estimated it saw about two tons of dying and dead fish floating in a one-kilometer radius between Marina Bay and Horison Hotel. "We estimate more fish died there. The figures could be in the dozens of tons," he said, adding that the phenomenon reoccurred on Wednesday in a wider area.

Kosasih said many of the dead fish were popular with consumers, including milkfish, shrimps, and rays. However, he said his agency had no information about the dangers of consuming the fish.

Thousands of fish, shrimps and clams died earlier in May in waters off Ancol Beach near the Kamal Muara area. That time officials said the deaths were a natural occurrence; a boom in the population of phytoplankton sparked a corresponding increase in algae, causing a red tide phenomenon that absorbed the oxygen in the seawater.

Non-governmental organization Indonesian Forum for the Environment has voiced suspicion that the fish and clams were being killed by high levels of pollution in Jakarta Bay. The organization has alleged that industrial plants located in the area dump unprocessed waste into the bay.

A number of city councillors also raised concern that the fish were dying because of industrial waste being dumped into the bay by nearby plants, questioning why the red tide was not occurring in other coastal areas in the country.

'Kancil' starts invasion of city streets

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Evi Mariani, Jakarta -- It has been a week since kancil, 4- wheeled mini-taxis, hit the streets of Jakarta, but their presence is very limited because only 26 are in operation thus far.

The locally made vehicles were produced in a bid to phase out the Indian-made bajaj (three-wheeled motorized taxis) which are notorious for their shrill engines and thick, black smoke.

Is taking a ride in a kancil more comfortable than a bajaj, one may ask. Two popular jokes on bajaj need to be remembered: The brakes of a bajaj are on the driver's shoulder, meaning you have to tap him there to make him stop, and only God and the driver know when it will turn. Neither of these jokes will apply to the kancil.

A kancil passenger can comfortably sit in the front seat and buckle up for safety. The safety belts can help a passenger to cope with the bumpy ride, although it is less bumpy than a bajaj.

The back seat of the kancil can accommodate up to three medium- sized passengers, although it is not recommended for safety reasons. It is also equipped with a mini fan for the passengers' comfort.

Despite such conveniences in comparison to the bajaj, the kancil cannot match the agility of its Indian cousin.

A bajaj driver can easily cope with some very tight angles, especially for quick u-turns, but a kancil driver must make several forward-and-reverse movements to make the turn.

With a speed of less than 60 kilometers per hour, kancil is not allowed to use the toll roads.

However, some people worry that a kancil ride will be more expensive than a bajaj ride, but that has been denied by the head of the Jakarta's Bajaj Drivers Cooperative (Kosobja), Mariyun, who says, "Customers can haggle with drivers just as they always have with bajaj drivers." He claimed that their new mini-taxis had received a warm welcome from Jakartans. "Drivers are upbeat about them and we anticipate that it will continue to have a warm reception from the public," he said.

Mariyun said the cooperative had decided that a kancil driver must pay for the rental fee of Rp 96,500 (US$10.72) per day.

"From that amount, some Rp 53,500 will go toward the purchasing loan on the kancil. We expect within four years, a driver will completely own the Rp 43.9 million vehicle," he said. "By the end of December, we expect 200 units to be operating." Mariyun said bajaj drivers, who plan to switch to the kancil, must obtain a special driver's license.

The Kancil will also have a variety of colors on its body, but the roof will be orange. The body of the vehicle is offered for companies to put their advertising there.

Tanah Abang vendors to lose permits, says operator

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- A court order meant to protect the livelihoods of 3,000 vendors in the Tanah Abang textile market would actually stop most of them from trading, the market's operator claims.

City-run market operator PD Pasar Jaya said it would not be able to renew the permits of more than 2,600 of the vendors because of an asset preservation order issued by the Central Jakarta District Court.

The order would forbid PD Pasar Jaya from renovating, tearing down or selling the market indefinitely. The company, which is in a dispute with the traders over planned renovations, says the order would also restrict it from administrative business.

Only 600 traders, whose long-term permits expire in 2007 and 2024, would not be affected by the ruling, PD Pasar Jaya lawyer Listyo Winarno said.

A spokesman for the traders, Sofyan Masyud, said they were disturbed by the claim. "I can't immediately comment on this situation. I have to discuss it first with other traders to look deeper into the case," he told The Jakarta Post.

Listyo said the court order would "only boomerang back on the traders". "Under the current legal status, the company will not be able to renew the permits," he said. Traders whose permits had expired must leave the premises, he said.

However, Listyo also said PD Pasar Jaya had yet to receive the order, or the details of a separate civil lawsuit filed against it by traders at the West Jakarta District Court.

Traders took the action against PD Pasar Jaya and its private business partner, PT Sari Kebon Jeruk Permai, on November 22 to fight the two entities' plans for the market.

As the market is located in Central Jakarta, the West Jakarta court has requested the Central Jakarta court to execute the preservation order. However, a court spokesman confirmed it had yet to issue the order on Friday.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso suspected that the latest ruling was marred by "irregularities". He said the West Jakarta court had failed to inform the city, as the owner of the land and property, prior to the execution of the order. "The court should have issued summonses for hearings before making any ruling," he said.

Listyo said PD Pasar Jaya planned to sue the traders at the Central Jakarta court in response. "We will also request the court revoke the ruling," he said.

The market operator and PT Sari plan to completely rebuild Tanah Abang's Market's blocks B, C, D and E. A study by the Bandung Institute of Technology' School of Civil Engineering says the four blocks are in danger of collapsing because they are gravely structurally unsound.

Traders oppose the plan because they say the fees the operator plans to charge in the new market are too high. The traders, some of whom have permits to operate in the old market until 2024, also oppose its demolition.

News & issues

Top separatist gets nine years in prison

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2004

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon -- The Ambon District Court sentenced on Monday the secretary-general of the Maluku Sovereignty Front (FKM), Moses Tuanakotta, to nine years in prison for subversion.

The sentence was six years lighter than what prosecutors had been seeking.

Moses was found guilty of violating articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code for leading a South Maluku Republic (RMS) flag- raising ceremony on April 25, 2004, in front of the residence of FKM leader Dr. Alex Manuputty on Jl. Dr. Kayadoe in Kudamati, Ambon.

The ceremony, which was attended by at least 200 supporters and sympathizers, was held to mark the 54th anniversary of the self- declared South Maluku Republic.

Presiding judge Robert Limbong said the prosecution had proven beyond a doubt that Moses was guilty of subversion and that his actions had threatened the unity of the nation.

"His actions also caused public chaos," the judge said when reading the verdict. The judge said that since its establishment on June 15, 2000, the FKM had been fighting to separate Maluku from Indonesia. He said the group wrongly regarded the South Maluku Republic as a sovereign territory that gained its independence on April 25, 1950.

The judge said Moses claimed the South Maluku Republic was not only recognized by Christians but also by Maluku Muslims. "According to the defendant, Maluku has been annexed by Indonesia and its people colonized by Indonesia," he said.

As secretary-general of the FKM, Moses reportedly planned strategies to separate Maluku from Indonesia. His position became more important when FKM leaders Dr. Alex Manuputty and Semuel Waeleruny went into exile in 2003.

Moses invited supporters and sympathizers to attend the RMS flag-raising ceremony with an ad in the Siwalima newspaper on April 19 under the heading: "FKM hopes to raise the RMS flag on April 25." During the ceremony, FKM activists raised the flags of the RMS and the United Nations side by side. This was followed by Moses reading a declaration of RMS independence written by Alex Manuputty. Those in attendance then sang the RMS national anthem, Hena Masawaya. "What the defendant did at Kudamati was an attack on the sovereignty of the nation," said Robert.

The government says the event triggered three days of violence in Ambon that lasted until April 28, leaving at least 41 people dead. Most of those who were killed were shot by unidentified gunmen.

Robert said the incriminating factors against Moses included the fact that he had caused a public disturbance, he was not remorseful and he had the stated desire to separate Maluku from Indonesia.

However, the court also took into account the fact that Moses was well mannered during the trial, had never been convicted of a crime before and had a family to support.

Environment

NGOs urge river free of home factories

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang -- Tangerang's main river, the Cisadane, is now lined with clusters of home factories, which has prompted environmentalists to demand the regency administration to get rid of the buildings and return the riverbanks to their previous function as green areas.

Gema Palu, a non-governmental organization focusing on environmental protection, revealed on Thursday the result of its recent survey that showed a large number of buildings on the riverbanks were established without permits from the administration.

Dozens of the factories there operate without the required permits from the administration nor do they have proper waste treatment, said Gema Palu chairman, Mansur. "We urge the administration to take action and sort out the illegal businesses and factories along the river because they are violating the law," he said.

The home factories produce a range of products from plastic bags and fiber goods to plates and motorboats.

As the businesses there were essentially illegal, according to Mansur, they did not contribute to the regency tax revenue "but continued to make money on public property, while polluting the river".

In the survey, some of the factories claimed they had obtained permits from the Coordinating Unit for Technical Control for the Ciliwung-Cisadane Rivers (KUPTSCC), formerly the Banten Provincial Coordinating Body for Ciliwung-Cisadane River Areas Control (BPSDA).

But head of Tangerang KUPTSCC, Suparno, said the body had never issued such a permit. "We've already asked the administration to evict them," he added.

Head of Tangerang environmental impact management agency Deden Sugandhi promised to put things back in order and to cope with problems emerging along the riverbanks. "We will take over the case under coordination with the KUPTSCC and Gema Palu," he said.

However, Deden was unable to give an exact date that his agency would take action against the illegal buildings and factories, saying that he would also need to coordinate with other bureaucrats from the trade and industry agency, the spatial and building layout agency and the manpower agency.

Ban on beach reclamation ignored

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Two private companies are apparently continuing land reclamation work along the coastline of Dadap village in Kosambi district, Tangerang regency, despite a ban issued by Regent Ismet Iskandar.

District chief Rudi Maesal said on Saturday he had no idea if PT Koperasi Pasir Putih and PT Parung Harapan had resumed their reclamation projects.

The two companies are each reclaiming a five-hectare beach, with KPP planning to develop an amusement park and Parung Harapan intending to develop a plush housing estate and a warehouse complex.

Rudi said executives from the two companies had promised to halt further work until they had completed an environmental impact analysis (Amdal) and other documents required for government approval of the projects.

The companies allegedly began reclaiming the coastline without first submitting an Amdal and procuring a development permit.

"We will build a gate to block dump trucks transporting soil from entering the site," Rudi said. No executives from either company could be reached for comment.

Reclamation work in the area started in 2000, inciting strong protests from locals and environmentalists for clearing virgin mangrove forests, killing marine life and coral reefs, as well as putting hundreds of fishermen out of work.

Environmental activists plan to file a lawsuit against the administration over the matter, and are gathering evidence for the legal motion. "We have sent a team of lawyers to Dadap Beach to investigate," said Karya Ersada of the Indonesian Environmental Activists Alliance.

Article 38 of Environment Law No. 23/1997 stipulates that those found responsible for the destruction of mangrove forests face a maximum sentence of 10 years and a Rp 500 million (US$55,555.56) fine. "The reclamation work has also violated State Minister of the Environment Decree No. 17/2001, which requires proper Amdal," he added.

Government files lawsuit against PT Newmont

Tempo Interactive - November 29, 2004

Jakarta -- The Indonesian government has officially announced that environmental pollution has taken place in Buyat Bay, Minahasa, North Sulawesi.

The pollution was caused by the tailing waste process, conducted by PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, which is considered to have violated regulations. Furthermore, the government has stated its support for legal action and taking PT Newmont to court.

According to Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab, the conclusion on the pollution in Buyat Bay was announced following a report made by State Minister of Research and Technology Kusmayanto Kadiman regarding the verification team research on Tuesday (23/11).

Shihab stated that the verification team was formed to verify the research made by the joint investigation team established by the State Minister for the Environment.

"The team has concluded that the work results of the joint investigation team are valid," Shihab told reporters following a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Merdeka Selatan Palace on Wednesday (24/11).

According to Shihab, the work results of the joint team are accessible by members of the public. "Today [Wednesday 24/11], we open the work result sof the joint team to the public so that the method and system of these results can be held accountable," he stated.

Shihab added that the conclusion of the verification team has urged the government to continue the legal process against those allegedly responsible in the case in the courts. National Police headquarters (HQ) is still investigating the case.

Richard Ness, President Director of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR), together with six members of staff are named as suspects in this pollution case. PT Newmont is also named as a suspect regarding a corporate crime based on Law No.23/1997 on Environmental Management.

Shihab said that the government would be responsible in settling all problems that have occurred due to the pollution.

State Minister of for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar stated that the joint investigation into Buyat Bay pollution found high levels of arsenic rather than mercury in Buyat Bay waters. "So, this is quite different with the pollution case in Minamata," he stated.

Witoelar plans to reallocate Buyat residents to save them and the environment. "It will take a period of 30 years to return the condition of the local environment to normal," he said. However, Witoelar stated, he was considering other possibilities to settle this matter.

Newmont spokesman Rubi Purnomo said that he was prepared to follow all legal process in this case. "We will be cooperative even in the court room," he told Tempo on Wednesday night [23/11] in response to the findings of the verification team.

However, Purnomo said that Newmont has never been included in the verification team. "We [Newmont] are never allowed to take part in this verification team," he said.

So far, Purnomo stated, Newmont is still awaiting permission from the government to re-open the factory following its closing on August 31.

After waiting for the issuing of the license, PT Newmont shall conduct monitoring and evaluation of the area's recovery for three years. "We will do as mandated by the mining closure agreement," Purnomo said.

[Yura Syahrul & RR Ariyani-Tempo News Room.]

Illegal logging costing 60 trillion rupiah annually

Tempo Interactive - December 2, 2004

Pekanbaru-RoL -- The Minister of Forestry, H. MS Kaban, says that level of illegal logging in Indonesia is resulting in financial losses to the state amounting to 60 trillion rupiah per year

Kaban revealed this during a workshop on the elimination of illegal logging in Pekanbaru in Riau province on Thursday. Moreover, every year the theft of timber is reducing forest cover in Indonesia by 2.8 million hectares.

For example he said, if 30 cubic metres of wood is taken then multiplied by 2.8 million hectares it means that around 72 million cubic metres of timber is being lost. Meanwhile the state budget it only acknowledges the felling of 5.7 [million] cubic metres annually.

"If we use the calculation of 30 cubic metres then the money which is lost as a result of these activities is just under 80 billion rupiah per year. In fact Indonesia's losses from this have reached 60 trillion rupiah per year", said the minister.

This data he continued, only calculates the removal of timber and does not yet take account of the loss of flora and fauna as well as rare plants which are located in Indonesia's forests.

He also revealed that if this illegal logging continues within the next 25 years Indonesia will not have any natural forests left. According to 2002 estimates that there are only 55 million hectares of natural forest remaining. "If illegal logging continues to deplete the forests in Indonesia, in 25 more years Indonesia will not have any natural forests", said Kaban. ant/aih

Translators note:

To put this figure in perspective, at the current price of oil on the world market, the government is budgeting 59.3 trillion rupiah for fuel subsidies which it says it can no longer afford. It is of course common knowledge that government officials, the police and military are heavily involved in illegal timber smuggling.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Health & education

Teachers demand more than just pay hike

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Sari P. Setiogi and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- Indonesian teachers marked the 36th anniversary of their organization on Thursday with a demand for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration to pay more respect to their achievements.

Siti Aisah of Cempaka High School in Central Jakarta suggested that the government should stop presenting medals to performing teachers, saying it contributes little to their efforts in raising educational standards.

Siti, one of 133 teachers who won Citibank funds to develop a creative learning method recently, said she would prefer full scholarships to government awards.

"We need to improve our knowledge, we need to keep learning. Most of the scholarships are only partial, and that forces us to find ways to cover the rest ourselves. It makes us unable to concentrate fully on our study," Siti told The Jakarta Post.

The quality of teachers has become a major concern as the country is trying to boost the standard of national education.

Another teacher, St. Isrin L. Chandra of Purnama High School in South Jakarta, said the government had not provided teachers with opportunities to advance their knowledge and enrich their careers.

"Teachers should be given more opportunities to raise their structural promotion level. The bureaucracy is too complicated," said Isrin, who has remained a temporary civil servant despite having taught students for 19 years.

Unlike Siti, Isrin won the Citibank innovation fund last year.

Isrin suggested that the government open more opportunities for teachers to study abroad and have their minds opened to other teaching systems.

He acknowledged that teachers' financial welfare remained a major concern throughout the country. Taking his own experience an example, he said he received his salary every three to six months.

The teachers' concerns came as the President commemorated the anniversary of the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) with hundreds of teachers from across the country at the Bung Karno sports complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

In his speech, Susilo asked Minister of National Education and regional administrations to undertake measures in an attempt to improve teachers welfare.

Underlining the fact that most teachers lived below the poverty line, Susilo said breakthrough policies from regional administrations were needed to raise the salary of teachers, particularly those who serve in conflict-prone and remote areas.

"We all know that the teachers' welfare has a correlation with the quality of our education," the President said. However, the President failed to promise an increase in government spending on teachers salaries.

The 1945 Constitution states that the education budget must account for at least 20 percent of the total state budget. But the government admitted it could not afford to meet this requirement immediately.

At one point, Susilo interrupted his speech when he saw some teachers talking to each other, falling asleep or leaving the venue. "Teachers, I expect you to listen to my speech," he paused for a few minutes before continuing.

The celebration also coincided with the national campaign to promote teaching as a profession.

During the celebration, Susilo awarded five governors and 10 regents for their achievements in fighting illiteracy in their respective areas. The President also awarded Satya Lencana Karya Satya medals to five teachers for service of between 20 to 30 years.

Islam/religion

SBY orders study into prejudice

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assigned Religious Minister Maftuh Basyuni to find out how prevalent religious discrimination is in the country and to review the controversial joint ministerial letter on the construction of places of worship.

"The President has instructed the minister to carefully study the existing problems so that undesirable cases such as the Sang Timur case in Tangerang will not happen again," chairman of the Indonesia Churches Association (PGI) Nathan Setiabudi said after a meeting with Susilo on Saturday.

Local Muslim residents around the Sang Timur Catholic School blocked all the roads to and constructed a brick wall at the entrance of the school complex. The standoff lasted for several weeks this past October. The conflict began after the local residents became fed up with the Catholics, who had also been using the school building for Sunday services over the past 12 years.

The Catholic community had complained that their plan to build a church in the area had failed to materialize because the majority of the population, Muslims, opposed it.

Under a joint ministerial agreement signed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1969, any plan to build a place of worship, including mosques, churches or temples, must be approved by the surrounding neighborhood.

The ruling has made it very difficult for non-Muslims, about 11 percent of the country's population, to set up places of worship as Muslim residents usually refuse to endorse any plan to build anything other than a mosque.

"We understand that the case is quite sensitive and could become a new source of problems, but that should not be a reason to endorse injustice," Nathan said.

He also said that the President had issued a special instruction for intelligence officials and law enforcers in areas prone to religious conflict such as Central Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua. "The President has issued a special instruction for areas in conflict," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

According to Nathan, the President's first instruction was about the improvement of security in conflict areas, the second was on the improvement of intelligence operations, both at the central and regional levels, to detect possible security disturbances, and the third was on improved law enforcement.

Susilo specifically ordered a 24-hour security patrol in villages in those areas to prevent a possible escalation of conflicts at the grassroots level.

Nathan added that the President expected all perpetrators to be prosecuted accordingly. "The instructions are addressed to security officials, intelligence bodies and law enforcers," he told reporters.

Nathan also said that the condition in some conflict areas was improving, meaning that villagers were not easily provoked by troublemakers that have, as their main agenda, to foment further unrest. "Today it's not easy to incite conflicts between communities, despite possible attempts to provoke it. And that is a step forward," he said.

The conflict in Papua involves several issues including the division of the island into two provinces as well as a low level separatist movement.

Spreading Islam not about conversion, say scholars

Straits Times - November 30, 2004

Jakarta -- Muslim scholars stressed at the weekend that the propagation of Islamic teachings was actually a call to discuss the teachings of Islam.

It was an invitation to the message and discourse about Islam and did not involve conversion, said the scholars who were speaking at the end of a two-day seminar. The event was jointly organised by the International Centre for Islam and Pluralism and the European Union.

Dr Imtiyaz Yusuf of Bangkok's Assumption University said that in the midst of religious militancy tending to alienate and anger people from other religious beliefs, the time was right to remind Muslims that the Quran teaches religious and cultural pluralism.

"Through the Quran, God plans to build a peaceful coexistence between societies. There should be no coercion with regard to a religious conversion," he said at the seminar.

Islamic militancy has come under the spotlight following a series of terrorist attacks worldwide, including Indonesia, blamed largely on Muslim groups.

Dr Yusuf said that cross-cultural Islamic missionary activities aim to present the message of Islam to humanity in a comprehensive manner, and should not be restricted to mere politics.

"Its cross-cultural dimension also requires contemporary Muslims to expose themselves to learn about other religions and cultures they encounter each day," he said.

Fellow Islamic scholar Maarof Salleh of the Institute of South- east Asian Studies in Singapore said that propagation of Islamic teachings should be conducted "democratically". "Muslim scholars should not have the view that Islam is superior to other religions," he said.

The Muslim scholars said that respect of other religions could start with educating students about the different religious beliefs in the world. Recommendations from the seminar would be relayed to more than 2,000 Islamic schools across Indonesia.

Indonesian volunteers join Iraqi resistance

Sydney Morning Herald - November 30, 2004

Jakarta -- An Indonesian Islamist group said yesterday it was sending volunteers to help Iraq's resistance forces.

The Islamic Defenders' Front opened registration on Friday and its operational chairman, Machsuni Kaloko, said that 300 people had signed up so far.

"We have decided to send volunteers to Falluja," he said. "We must help Iraqis resist US forces." Only volunteers who met the group's conditions, which include consent from their wives or parents, would be sent to Iraq. They would be trained before leaving Indonesia, he said.

Mr Kaloko said he was aware the Government would not approve the group's plans.

An unknown number of Indonesians joined the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s and received military training there. Some of the Afghan alumni have been implicated in terrorism attacks in Indonesia. The Islamic Defenders' Front emerged several years ago when it attacked Jakarta nightspots it accused of harbouring prostitutes and drug traffickers. After a period of of inactivity the group staged raids on several nightspots during the Muslim fast of Ramadan last month.

The US-led assault on Falluja, which has claimed 2000 lives, has increased anti-American sentiment in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country. Yesterday, an estimated 8000 Muslims staged a peaceful protest outside the US embassy in Jakarta to denounce the Falluja onslaught.

It appeared yesterday that resistance fighters from Falluja had spread to the north of Iraq as supporters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for slaughtering members of the Iraqi security forces in Mosul.

A statement posted on an Islamist website in the name of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is led by al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for killing 17 members of the fledgling security forces and a Kurdish militiaman in the city.

At least 50 people have been killed in Mosul in the past 10 days. Most of the victims are believed to have been supporters of the interim government or members of the security forces.

US marines said they killed several resistance fighters and seized 32 suspects in a series of actions south of Baghdad on Sunday that included a high-speed raid on suspected weapons dumps on the Euphrates. Two marines died in the operation.

Education key to foster religious tolerance: Expert

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- The close alignment between religion and politics has resulted in a decline in tolerance among the adherents of different religious over the past few years, aggravating the problems facing the country.

Franz Magnis Suseno, a professor of political ethics at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy, said on Thursday there had been a trend of turning religious teachings into rigid ideologies that deprived religions of their humanistic values.

"Among the indications of the ideologization of religion is the rise of fundamentalist groups... which hold the view that minority groups have to bow down to the majority. The ability of people of different religious persuasions to live side by side has gone up in the air," Magnis told a seminar organized by Atmajaya Catholic University here.

The German-born scholar said that such notions were used to justify the use of extreme measures. He said a dialog with the fundamentalists looked almost impossible due to their stubbornness in interpreting religious teachings.

"They [the fundamentalists] even close their doors to differences within their own groups," Magnis said. Magnis said that this worrying tendency had disrupted the peaceful coexistence among religions that had been a feature of this country for centuries.

"Islam, for example, when it first arrived here blended nicely with local traditions. During the course of history, normal features of religion here have been tolerance and humanism. We can still see this legacy in Muslim organizations like Nahdlatul Ulama [NU]," he said. Magnis said that intolerance was one of five problems that had aggravated the problems facing the country, besides violence, lack of discipline, mysticism and what he termed "instant" culture.

He said that amid the current dismal state of interfaith relations, education was the key to sowing the seeds of tolerance from the earliest stages. "Education has to be developed so as to enable students to live in a pluralist society," he said.

Following the collapse of former president Soeharto's New Order regime, the country has witnessed a series of bloody clashes involving Christians and Muslims in Maluku and Poso in Central Sulawesi. Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of others displaced in the conflicts.

The religious and sectarian conflicts have given rise to antagonism and growing prejudice among people of different religious beliefs.

Muslim scholar Qomari Anwar, rector of the Jakarta-based Hamka University, said intolerance was a product of the narrow interpretation of religious creeds. "There are people who only emphasize the ritual and formalistic aspects of religious teachings, overlooking the true substance that lies behind them," he said.

He said that the formalistic approach to religion resulted in low levels of social responsibility and the ignoring of others. "They are only interested in personal piety and individual salvation. A person can pray five times a day, but can still have a black heart," he said.

Armed forces/defense

TNI's weapon systems third worst in South-East Asia

Kompas - December 3, 2004

Jakarta -- The weapon systems belonging to the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) is a cause for concern. Compared with the systems belonging to the armed forces in other South-East Asian countries the TNI's is among the worst, only ahead of Cambodia and Laos.

During a working meeting with the People's Representative Assembly Commission I, TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto candidly revealed the poor state of the TNI's weapon systems. Also present at the meeting was Army Chief of Staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu, Air-force Chief Marshal Chappy Hakim and Navy Chief Admiral Bernard Kent Sondakh.

"The [state of] our weaponry is obviously very disheartening as it is only better than Laos and Cambodia. This statement doesn't need to be off the record", said commission member Slamet Effendy Yusuf from the Golkar Party fraction. According to Yusuf, the state of the TNI's weapon systems is at a minimum and must immediately be dealt with and supported financially. Commission I must continue to support budget increases for the TNI because without adequate weapon systems it will be impossible to overcome external threats.

In a written report presented by Sutarto he said that the weapon systems belonging to the TNI are still far from adequate. The national air defense system is still not fully operational in eastern Indonesia because the radar units are seriously limited and out-of-date. Fighter planes and short- and medium-range anti-aircraft missiles are inadequate for the territory which must be covered.

The navy explained Sutarto, currently has 117 ships of various types. If measured against the size of Indonesia's territorial waters it should have a minimum of 762 ships. The air force meanwhile has seven fighter squadrons, five transport squadrons, one surveillance squadron, three helicopter squadrons, two training squadrons, 16 air-defense radar units and three wings of special air force troops which an average level of readiness of 60 per cent. If measured against the size of Indonesia's air space it should have around 2000 aircraft of various types. The TNI is also still using outdated weapon systems including some from Russia purchased many years ago. "The Russians themselves were confused because they didn't know where they were made on account of their age", said Sutarto.

In response to the report, A.S. Hikam from the National Awakening Party fraction urged the TNI to work to seriously strengthen the public's trust with regard to budget management transparency. According to Hikam the public's mistrust has caused people to have a skewed view about whether or not the TNI really wants to improve the capability of its weapon systems.

Ade Daud from the Star Reform Party fraction asked the TNI to prepare a financial report. He also asked that the TNI explain the position of its financial backers who it is often said prop up the TNI's financial needs. "Are the financial backers the ones who control the military or does the military control the financial backers", he said loudly. In relation to the US arms embargo Daud also asked the TNI to turn towards Russia to purchase equipment. (sut)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

TNI will give up business if budget is sufficient

Detik.com - November 30, 2004

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta -- The TNI (armed forces) says that it will give up its military business provided that its funding through the state budget is realised. This is because soldiers are educated to fight not conduct business.

"Basically soldiers are educated and trained for war and how to win any engagements they are confronted with. Soldiers are not trained to conduct business", said TNI chief General Endriartono Sutarto following a seminar titled "Concepts on the strategic role of the TNI and intelligence under a democratic state" at the Hotel Gran Melia in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Tuesday November 30.

Sutarto was responding to questions from journalists on appeals that the TNI actively hand over the military's businesses to the government. "We are still running these business at the moment because the reality is that the budgetary funds we get for the interests of [soldiers'] welfare is far from adequate. Therefore we must find a solution so that all of their needs are fulfilled in accordance with what is mandated under law", said Sutarto.

Under the Law on the TNI he explained, it refers to how this funding will be backed up though the state budget. But the reality is that this is still unable to be realised. This means that the mandate of the law cannot yet be realised.

"Because our budget is still far from what is needed. We need to find a way to break though [the problem]. If then the mandate of the law is carried though, the TNI's businesses will be got rid of. Because this is not something done by a professional military. So go a head by all means", retorted Sutarto.

How much income is generated by the military businesses? "Hey, I'm not conversant about that. In the case of military businesses it isn't structured administratively. They are conducting [business] in legal fields. But in essence we agree with getting rid of them", he said.

So military businesses are not to be handed over the government now?, pressed one of the journalists. "Hopefully in five years we will hand them over. But it depends on whether the government can replace [the funds we get from] them", said Sutarto.

During the seminar, Sutarto explained again that the TNI accepts that it should be placed under the structure of the department of defense. But this must be done slowly with consideration being given to the timing.

"We don't oppose the TNI being under the ministry of defense. If that's what everyone wants, we accept it. But consideration must be given to its timing. We want to make a real contribution to this country, not to instead be counter-productive", he said.

Under Article 3 of the Law on the position of the TNI, Sutarto admitted that it includes a section on the deployment of troops from the three wings of the TNI under his command which are in the hands of the president. This is also in accordance with the 1945 Constitution and the Law on National Defense.

"And yes, is should be so. We cannot merely look at an ideal arrangement, but must also look at its reality. Certainly we must [strive to] achieve our ideals, placing the TNI under the ministry of defense as a part of the creation of civil supremacy. But if they are not qualified yet, we'll just wait", said Sutarto.

He then went on to again talk about the TNI's political neutrality and that they no longer want to be bound up in practical politics or to a particular political party so that the military can be neutral. "I trust the present minister of defense (Juwono Sudarsono) who is free of political interests. We want it to be done slowly and carefully", said Sutarto. (sss)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

House accepts Endriartono after reshuffle dispute

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The House of Representatives's defense commission held a hearing with Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto Thursday, the first since the controversy surrounding the replacement of the TNI chief.

During the hearing, which was presided over by commission chairman Theo L. Sambuaga, some legislators questioned why Endriartono continued in his post despite the acceptance of his resignation by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in October.

Responding to the questions, Endriartono said that he had suggested to Megawati that he be replaced for the sake of regeneration. "At that time, I had reached the mandatory retirement age, so I thought it would be better for the president to give someone else the military's top post," Endriartono said.

Megawati sent a letter to the House on October 8, informing legislators that she intended to dismiss Endriartono and to appoint Army chief of staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu as TNI chief.

Under the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law, the appointment of the TNI chief requires the consent of the House. In October 25, however, President Susilo revoked the letter and declared that Endriartono was still the TNI chief. The fact that Susilo revoked the letter allowed Endriartono to stay on as military chief.

Endriartono denied suggestions that was trying to maintain his position as TNI chief. Although he had called for regeneration, the final say was up to the President. "It do not have the right to make the decision myself," said Endriartono, who was also accompanied by Ryamizard. Endriartono said he could not just leave his post without the approval of the President.

The commission demanded on Thursday that the TNI evaluate its business activities and start planning to move out of business activities as required under the TNI Law (No.34/2004).

It also suggested that the TNI start drafting its annual budget estimates without taking into account the revenue the TNI gains from its business activities. "The TNI must draft a comprehensive plan to give up its business activities," Theo said.

During the hearing, the TNI chief said that TNI's equipment was in poor shape, leaving the country vulnerable to foreign attack. Currently, the total military establishment stands at 347,272, including 268,661 personnel in the Army, 53,913 in the Navy, and 24,698 in the Air Force.

Separately, commission deputy chairman Effendy Choirie of the National Awakening Party (PKB) said that he push ahead with an effort to summon President Susilo to explain why he canceled the replacement of the TNI chief.

State of the Indonesian Military

Army: Kostrad -- two combat divisions, consisting of 18 infantry battalions and 16 other battalions. Kopassus -- four combat groups

Navy: 119 warships of various types, 201 smaller vessels, 73 patrol aircraft, eight naval bases. The Navy says the ideal number of ships is 762.

Air Force: Seven combat squadrons, five carrier squadrons, one interceptor squadron, three helicopter squadrons, two training squadrons, 16 air bases. The Air Force says there is a need for 2,000 more aircraft.

[Source: House/TNI meeting.]

Police/law enforcement

Moonlighting common among police officers

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- "We need to find other sources of income beside our salary," said First Sgt. Yono (not his real name), a 36-year-old officer of the police's Mobile Brigade, adding that his monthly salary was around Rp 1 million (US$111.11).

The amount is only a bit higher than the minimum cost of living for laborers, set by the manpower ministry at Rp 759,532. "As long as our commander knows in advance, we can take the job. Besides, guarding people or a company is a good thing," Yono said over the weekend.

He added that the offer to guard a place or secure an event could come from their commander or a colleague, many of whom actively seek clients. Yono said he preferred to get information about a job from a colleague rather than his commander, as company owners or event organizers would directly negotiate with the commander.

"If the job is offered by a colleague, we can get more money as we directly negotiate with our 'employer'. Still, we must inform our commander and hand over some 'commission' from our fee," he said.

According to Yono, most of the time his unit commander would take care of inter-unit coordination. "Low-ranking officers like me know nothing. All we know is we have to safeguard a place, people or event. I'm sure the eight Mobile Brigade officers who secured the Bojong dump relied on their commander in coordinating with other forces," he said.

Yono was referring to the eight Mobile Brigade officers who were guarding the Bojong waste treatment facility in Bogor regency, West Java, when a protest by locals -- opposing the presence of the plant -- turned violent in a clash between the protesters and the officers.

Witnesses said the Mobile Brigade officers fired live bullets at the protesters, injuring six of them. The involvement of Brimob officers was also questioned by legislators. Moreover, Bogor Police denied that the plant's operator, PT Wira Guna Sejahtera, had ever requested that the officers guard the site. In fact, Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito claimed that the Mobile Brigade officers had been hired by the operator.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman denied that many of his officers had taken side jobs, but admitted that Mobile Brigade officers could not guard a place without an order from their chief. "We are still questioning them to discover whether they received a direct order [from their commander] to guard the plant. Please, wait for the result. If they did not get an order, we will punish them accordingly," he said.

Six low-ranking police officers were questioned by the police ethics committee in a hearing on Friday. They denied involvement in the bloody clash.

Another Mobile Brigade officer, First Private Yadi, (also not his real name), 24, said the officers' monthly salary was barely enough to feed their families. "That's why we must be 'clever' in moonlighting. As long as we don't neglect our duty, the offer to guard places, people or events is the right choice, rather than abusing our power, or committing a crime," he said.

He said that many officers from different units of the police force had been involved in protecting drug dealing, gambling or prostitution rackets. "Almost all military officers do the same thing. My colleagues in Bojong were just unlucky that the incident made national headlines," he added.

Policemen nabbed after drinking spree

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Jongker Rumthe, Manado -- Seven boozing policemen whose unruly escapades almost caused a riot in Tuminting, Manado, have been thrown into the drunk tank until they are disciplined, the North Sulawesi Police say.

The officers, six of whom who are members of the province's Mobile Brigade unit and one who is from the Likupang station, have been in police custody since Sunday night.

Provincial police provost and chief of security Adj. Comr. M. Syahrir said on Tuesday the measures taken by his department would prove to the public the North Sulawesi Police were not above the law.

The incident took place on Saturday night when the seven policemen were called to a noisy family function in Tuminting and were seen carousing with the residents instead of quieting them down.

One of them, who witness said appeared drunk, became unruly and abusive and left the house, shouting obscenities. He then allegedly assaulted a resident in the area who had approached him and tried to calm him down.

Other residents in the area became angry and demanded the other policemen censure their drunken colleague. Instead the officers screamed abusive language on them.

The situation became tense and was not defused until a local called the provost who soon arrived at the scene and apprehended the seven drunks.

North Sulawesi police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Budhy Wibowo Sumantri confirmed the incident and promised to thoroughly investigate the case.

Every inch has a price in Cipinang prison, say visitors

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- A woman produced her identity card and Rp 15,000 (US$1.67), and handed them over to the prison guard at the entrance to the Cipinang penitentiary in East Jakarta.

The identity card she would get back later after seeing her son, but she still had to cough up Rp 15,000 a go at each of the three subsequent gates.

The last gate is in front of the waiting room, where she hoped to meet her son, who had been sentenced to one year in jail on drugs charges.

"I have to pay them if I want to see my son without having to wait for a long time or to be sent home," 46-year-old Sari told The Jakarta Post recently.

Besides paying for her weekly visit, Sari said she had to pay Rp 200,000 for the cell her son shared with another 25 inmates, plus Rp 250,000 per month for meals.

"I don't understand why I have to pay for the cell, but I'm afraid something bad will happen to my son if I don't. I hope the government does something about this," she said.

As an employee of a firm based in Cakung, East Jakarta, she has to spend a significant portion of her salary to cover all the expenses.

The Cipinang prison has two sections; the first is in the old building and houses 3,249 inmates convicted of various crimes, mostly robbery and murder. The maximum capacity of this section is only 2,000 inmates.

The newly built section is designed for those convicted of drug offenses.

Many visitors said the "rental" for a cell in the new building could reach up to Rp 4 million per year.

Cipinang warden Djoko Mardjo, however, denied that visitors had to pay in order to visit inmates.

"No, we require no payments for visits here. I've never heard of any such payments. Where did you get the information?," he demanded of the Post.

The government says it cannot afford to provide food and healthcare service to inmates.

A recent report from the Ministry of Justice says that the annual health budget provided for inmates is $1.

However, it is not clear whether the money demanded from visitors is used to help cover the prison's day-to-day running costs or is merely part of an extortion racket.

Asked about the penitentiary's budget, Djoko refused to discussed what he called the prison's "internal affairs".

University of Indonesia legal expert Rudy Satrio said that bribery was rampant among officers of the penitentiary because of the lack of state funds for the running of the prison and low salaries.

"It's a give-and-take phenomenon. If an inmate needs good service then he will have to pay for it. The officers will take whatever opportunities arise considering that most of them have salaries of less than Rp 1 million per month," Rudy told the Post.

Another woman in the waiting room, Agnes (not her real name), 36, also voiced complaints, saying that she had paid a lot to ensure her husband's "security and comfort".

For Rp 400,000 per month, her husband had a "VIP room" which was clean and had a fan inside.

She said that she had to pay Rp 200,000 per week for meals and another Rp 150,000 to the guards for every visit she made to her husband -- a convicted drug dealer.

But she would no longer have to pay as her husband's jail term came to an end that day.

"It seems that every inch inside this penitentiary has a price tag. We need money if we want to visit here," said Agnes.

Disciplinary body finds 16 police officers guilty

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Evi Mariani, Jakarta -- Fourteen police officers have been found guilty of using unnecessary disciplinary methods to restore order during the November 22 protest at Bojong waste treatment facility in Bogor, while two others were declared guilty of violating the Criminal Code, for causing serious injuries to others.

"The police disciplinary committee hearing decided that six Bogor Police officers were guilty of disciplinary violations. Two of their colleagues had violated the Criminal Code on two counts -- causing serious injuries to others and unpleasant conduct," Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito said on Wednesday.

Eight members of the police's Mobile Brigade were also found guilty of using excessive methods to restore order.

During the meeting, Bambang defended himself against what he called, "unfair news coverage". He argued that police had been subjected to "psychological pressure" during the bloody clash and responded accordingly. "The officers saw their commanders being beaten up by protesters, some of their motorbikes were burned", he said.

The November 22 protest marked the peak of locals' strong opposition to the presence of the waste treatment plant, for fear that it would damage their environment and endanger their health. The plant has the capacity to absorb 2,000 tons of Jakarta's 6,000 tons of daily waste and 400 tons of Bogor's daily waste.

Bambang claimed he had been questioned by the National Police's internal affairs division, but declined to give details.

Internal affairs chief Brig. Gen. Rajiman Tarigan said his department had questioned several low- and middle-ranking officers and issued some decisions.

"We questioned eight Bogor Police officers and eight Mobile Brigade officers," he said. "We will question high-ranking officers, including Bambang, later, particularly over his leadership." Three middle-ranking Mobile Brigade officers were found guilty of abusing their power. Police issued warning letters to them. Five low-ranking officers were also found guilty of power abuse while on duty. "As a consequence, their planned promotions will be delayed," Tarigan said.

In a hearing with House of Representatives' Commission III for law and legislation, a group of 19 non-governmental organizations called on lawmakers to set up an independent team to investigate the Bojong conflict.

Slamet Daroyani of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), urged the commission to demand that the Bogor Police release all residents in detention.

Eighteen residents have been named suspects in the case and their case files submitted to Cibinong Prosecutor's Office.

Military ties

Defense expo pays off for embargoed Indonesia

Jakarta Post - November 29, 2004

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- A three-day exhibit, Indo Defense Expo 2004, showcasing defense equipment, concluded on Saturday, providing Indonesia with opportunities to replenish its defense equipment and technology despite the embargo imposed by the United States and its allies.

"It's good that we may be able to find better partners in developing our defense system. Although no deals have been struck, the exhibition's objective of linking participants and prospective buyers here has been achieved," said Ministry of Defense's Director of Procurement Aqlani Maza said.

All deals will be made in January when Indonesia invites potential arms suppliers to a roundtable discussion for talks on the country's future defense system.

The discussion will take place on the resort island of Bali and will be attended by military top brass, state officials and experts who will exchange arguments and views on the country's defense system. Also invited to the event are foreign arms suppliers from Russia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and South Korea.

The ministry's Director General of Defense Strategy Sudrajat has said that Indonesia would definitely turn to Eastern European countries as arms shopping destinations after the long-standing military embargo imposed by Washington.

Some Eastern European countries have proposed various deals, including the Czech Republic, which has offered a joint venture to produce armored personnel carriers. The budget, however, remains a major constraint, said Sudrajat.

For the 2005 fiscal year, the government has allocated Rp 21 trillion (US$2.3 billion) for defense expenditure. It accounts for only 6 percent of the state budget.

The military has repeatedly blamed the state budget restriction for its involvement in businesses to raise the money it needs to cover its operational costs and improve the welfare of personnel.

During the exhibition, the Army expressed interest in buying four artillery cannons from Poland to replace similar weapons which have not been operational since 2003. They will be placed in several regions, including Lhokseumawe in Aceh and Bontang in East Kalimantan, where security problem have threatened oil and other natural resources exploitation there.

The National Police will buy Barracuda armored vehicles produced by South Korea's Daewoo, while the Navy is considering the purchase of rubber boats from the Netherlands.

For the next fiscal year, the Air Force has also proposed the purchase of eight of Russia's Sukhoi jet fighters, to complete the purchase of a squadron of new warplanes which was initiated last year.

Indonesia bought four Sukhois and two MI-35 assault helicopters from Russia in 2003. Further cooperation between the two countries may materialize.

Indonesia has been seeking alternative arms suppliers after the US imposed a weapons embargo following the atrocities that took place in East Timor in 1992. The embargo was reinforced in 1999 following the violence that occurred in the former Indonesian province after people there voted for independence.

"Of course, we have to adjust the budget to cover the arms purchase. But at least, the opportunities are close enough for us to end our dependence on a sole country [as a supplier]," Aqlani said.

No less than 240 companies producing defense technology and military hardware participated in the exhibition.

Indonesia, Russia cozy up over arms sales

Asia Times - December 1, 2004

David Isenberg -- The four-day Indo Defense Expo 2004 arms show in Jakarta last week turned out to be one of those shindigs where everyone, both buyers and sellers, was a winner. But the future benefit for the people of Indonesia and the Southeast Asian region remains to be seen.

The arms show was held in the Indonesian capital from November 24-27, and foreign arms makers were there in force. This was only to be expected, as the international arms market has been a buyers' market for several years, and no niche is too small be overlooked. The expo, the first to be hosted in Jakarta, featured about 250 participants from around the world.

The largest stand at the expo was Russia's state arms-exporting company Rosoboronexport, which facilitated last year's sale of four Sukhoi fighters to Indonesia. More than 20 other Russian armaments companies also displayed their products there.

During the show, an official of Russia's Sukhoi Air Holding, a military-aircraft-building company, announced that it will be able to export 80-100 "Su" fighters to the Asia-Pacific region in the next five-year period, excluding already concluded contracts. All but completed is a US$250 million contract on the delivery to Indonesia in 2005 of eight fighters -- six Su-27SK and two Su- 30MK aircraft -- an adviser to the company's director general Alexei Poveshchenko told the Russian news agency Itar-Tass. The Indonesian air force will then have 12 such super-modern warplanes.

The Indonesian military also expressed interest in purchasing Russian long- and medium-range air-defense systems, such as the TOP-M1 and BUK-M1-2 systems.

Russia has a long history of weapons trade with Indonesia. In the past, Indonesia has procured 14 submarines, missile carriers and torpedo boats from the country. In 2000, Indonesia bought 12 BTR-80 armored personnel carriers, 16 Mi-2 and four Mi-8 helicopters, 9,000 Kalashnikov submachine-guns and ammunition from Russia.

Moreover, Russia is willing to sell its wares on other than a strictly cash basis. Russian officials have said they are willing to take payment on a counter-trade basis, meaning they would accept goods such as rubber, tin and palm oil that are in high demand in Russia.

And consistent with its no-money-down, easy-financing approach, an official from Rosoboronexport said on Monday that taking into account the interest shown in Russian weapons at the show, Russia could offer Indonesia a special arms sales and military-technical cooperation program.

"We are prepared to draw up a targeted program of military- technical cooperation with Indonesia if that country makes such proposals," Nikolay Dimidyuk from Rosoboronexport told MosNews. "Indonesia showed exceptional and unprecedented interest in the weapons and military hardware on display at the exhibition," he said.

During the show, the Indonesian army also expressed interest in buying artillery cannons from Poland to replace similar weapons that have not been operational since 2003.

Other countries represented at the expo were Canada, France, Germany, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Singapore and South Korea. Other firms that were present included DaimlerChrysler AG, which was exhibiting its Unimog and Atego transport trucks, and Daewoo, which already has carried out a $60 million overhaul of an Indonesian submarine and is in discussions to refit a second such vessel.

Although no specific deals with Indonesia were announced at the show, suppliers won't have long to wait. All deals will be made in January, when Indonesia invites potential weapons suppliers to the island of Bali for a roundtable discussion on the country's future military needs. Invited to the event are suppliers from Russia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and South Korea.

Indonesia's military has suffered in terms of new equipment and technology upgrades due to the 1999 embargo on arms sales that the United States imposed after Indonesian troops and their proxy militias killed nearly 1,500 people in East Timor. According to officials at the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, 70% of the country's current military equipment was imported from the US. The embargo, which has left US A-4, F-5 and F-16 planes in need of spare parts, has made it difficult for Indonesia to upgrade its military capabilities.

To remedy that, Juwono Sudarsono, Indonesia's new defense minister, is expected to visit the US early next year to lobby for an end to the embargo, part of fresh moves to improve relations. But given the reality of the embargo, Indonesia has been looking for alternative arms suppliers over the past few years, particularly among Eastern European countries and their long-established arms industries, which often offer better terms than US suppliers.

The only US company in the exhibition was the San Francisco-based American Technologies Network Corp, which supplies night-vision goggles and similar products.

While the arms embargo is bad news for US weapons manufacturers, it has been manna from heaven for non-US arms suppliers, both major and minor. Back in May, for example, the Indonesian navy indicated its plans for a counter-trade deal in which it would acquire two submarines from the South Korean navy in exchange for 30 Indonesian-built CN-236 twin-turboprop transport aircraft.

In addition, the United Kingdom has supplied Hawk jets and armored personnel carriers, which have been used in the country's troubled Aceh province despite bilateral agreements designed to ensure that the equipment is not used against separatist forces.

In August then-Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri said the government would buy more Russian warplanes in the near future. Megawati, who visited Russia in 2003 to sign a $192 million deal for four Sukhoi jet fighters and two Mi-35 military helicopters, planned to increase them into one squadron each. Under the terms of that deal, palm oil and other barter transactions were a major part of the payment; Russia was paid only $26 million in cash.

In October the Netherlands shipyard Royal Schelde and Thales announced that it had signed several contracts for the delivery of a wide range of products that are to be installed on the two corvettes Royal Schelde will build for the Indonesian navy. The value of the contracts amounts to approximately $79.7 million.

[David Isenberg, a senior analyst with the Washington-based British American Security Information Council (BASIC), has a wide background in arms control and national-security issues. The views expressed are his own.]

TNI urged to use arms industry to reduce US dependency

Antara - December 2, 2004

Jakarta -- A member of the House of Representatives urged on Thursday the Indonesian Military (TNI) to empower Indonesia's weapons-related industries, to relieve its dependency on the United States in procuring weaponry.

The US applied an embargo on Indonesia following the Santa Cruz, East Timor incident in 1992, and further tightened the clamp following the riot after the UN-sponsored referendum in 1999 that led to East Timor's independence. Great Britain followed suit.

E.E. Mangindaan of the Democrat Party Faction, himself a retired general, told TNI chief Gen. Endriarto Sutarto to empower Indonesia's weaponry-related industries to overcome the shortage. "We should sit together and find a way to maximize our arms- related industries so we can be independent in procuring weapons," he said.

Indonesia owns a number of American-made jets such as A-4 Skyhawks, F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-5 Tigers as well as C-130 Hercules transporters.

Indonesia's state-owned, arms-related industries include rifle and ammunition maker PT Pindad, shipbuilder PT PAL and aircraftmaker PT DI.

During the meeting, Endriartono said TNI weaponry was among the poorest in ASEAN and comparable only to those of minnows Cambodia or Laos. He also said that the TNI only had some 347,000 soldiers from the three services, far from sufficient to safeguard Indonesian territory. "The minimum should be 0.4% percent of the population, or about 800,000 soldiers. Ideally, 1% of the population," he said.

Indonesia, US militaries maintain cooperation

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Jakarta -- Despite the prolonged arms embargo imposed by the United States on Indonesia, the militaries of the two countries are attempting to maintain their cooperation.

A group of 30 information officers from the Indonesian Army, Navy and Air Force and six counterparts from the US Pacific Command concluded a three-day discussion on Thursday on how to present information and news to the press.

During the event, the officers shared experiences in dealing with the media, including how to present intelligence information without jeopardizing the operation. Public affairs chief of the US Army Pacific Command Lt. Col. John Williams hailed the Indonesian Military program to embed journalists during the operation to crush rebels in Aceh. "We did the same in Iraq," he said.

Business & investment

Government sees 2005 deficit widen to 1% of GDP

Jakarta Post - November 30, 2004

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta -- The government is considering revising upward next year's state budget deficit to 1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from a previous projection of 0.8 percent, the finance minister said.

Speaking on Monday during the ministry's first meeting with House of Representatives Commission XI for financial affairs, Minister of Finance Yusuf Anwar said that such a revision was necessary to anticipate next year's rising costs for the fuel subsidy, as well as expenditure for infrastructure projects that the government has planned to help stimulate economic growth.

"A deficit target of 0.8 percent [of the GDP], based on oil prices at US$24 [per barrel], would be hard to achieve," he said. "It would be more manageable if it was set at 1 percent." And with still high global oil prices feeding fuel subsidies, Yusuf explained that it would therefore be impossible for the government not to hike fuel prices next year to meet even that high level of deficit.

"The sooner we adjust fuel prices, the better it will be for our fiscal condition," he said. "It would have no effect on the deficit if it were done near the end of the (budget) year." Yusuf, however, said that the planned fuel price hike and budget revision would be done in consultation with the House, and that it would still conform with the country's goal of eventually reaching a zero budget deficit by 2006.

Meanwhile, concerning the 2004 budget deficit target, Yusuf affirmed previous estimates that it would widen to around 1.4-1.5 percent of GDP compared to the initial target of 1.3 percent of GDP.

"With revenue at Rp 316.1 trillion [$35.1 billion] and expenditure at Rp 341.1 trillion, the deficit has therefore reached Rp 25.0 trillion, or 95.1 percent of its limit," he said.

Meanwhile, legislators expressed concern over this year's widening deficit, and the government's efforts in plugging it.

Achmad Hafiz Zawawi of the Golkar Party asked the minister not to downplay the effect of the rising deficit, as even a rise of 0.2 percent -- amounting to some Rp 860 billion -- could be instead used to ease unemployment in the country. "Assuming a minimum wage of Rp 700,000 per month, such an amount could create thousands of jobs per year," he said.

Rama Pratama of the Justice Prosperity Party, meanwhile, questioned why the government always related the deficit with the fuel subsidy, when it was actually foreign debts that mostly placed a strain on the budget.

"The government has to allocate a lot of money in the budget for debt installments and their interest," he said. "New debts, meanwhile, are actually used just for servicing old debts." On a similar note, Dradjat Wibowo of the National Mandate Party questioned a commitment from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to disburse a $725 million loan to the government by December upon conforming to certain requests from them.

"Although it could help plug the deficit, the government has to openly explain to the public whether the requests include the privatization of valuable state-owned enterprises, for such a small loan," he said.

Consumer confidence rises to 37-month high

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Delight and relief after the successful elections lifted the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) by 6.2 percent to a 37-month high of 105.8 in October, Danareksa Research Institute (DRI) announced on Tuesday.

According to DRI, the Present Situation Index (PSI) climbed 2.9 percent to a 35-month high of 84.2, while the Expectation Index (EI) soared by 8.1 percent to 122.0, a level unseen since October 2001.

People were not as nervous as in previous months and could even feel content following the official announcement of the presidential election in early October, DRI said in a press statement.

With the risks from elections decreasing substantially with the inauguration of Indonesia's new leaders, optimism grew hoping the new government would soon realize its promise of improving the welfare of the nation's citizens, it said.

Accordingly, the Consumer Confidence in the Government Index (CCGI) jumped 6.7 percent to a 34-month high of 129.4 in the October survey.

People are expecting that the new government's economic program succeed and result in an abundance of jobs and the improvement of family income.

DRI suggested that the government should manage the expectations to anticipate changes in people's sentiment toward the administration as it would take considerable time before it could met people's expectations.

Retail sales to expand 25%-30% next year

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta -- The country's retail sector is projected to continue enjoying strong sales growth of between 25 percent and 30 percent next year on the back of robust consumer consumption and increased purchasing power of households as economic growth accelerates, according to an industry association.

Indonesian Retail Merchants Association (Aprindo) chairman Handaka Santosa said on Tuesday that plans by the new government to push economic growth higher and create more jobs would increase the purchasing power of the public, which in turn would increases the sales of retailers. "We are optimistic that sales will expand by between 25 percent and 30 percent next year," Handaka said.

The economy this year was expected to grow by around 4.8 percent and accelerate to around 5.4 percent next year as investment started to recover and consumer spending remained strong.

The national retail industry had an annual turnover of Rp 600 trillion ($65.22 billion), according to an AC Nielsen survey, positioning the second in Asia Pacific after China.

Retailers here are reaping healthy sales revenues as consumers continue to be willing to spend their money. The relatively benign inflationary environment was helping improve consumer purchasing power and allow the central bank to cut interest rates, prompting banks and consumer finance firms to offer cheaper loans to consumers.

Handaka said that retailers will also continue to expand their operations to take advantage of the strong sales outlook.

Over the past couple of years, local and foreign retailers here have been aggressively opening new outlets. From 1998 until the first half of this year, five hypermarket operators opened 54 outlets in greater Jakarta alone.

Earlier report said that five giant retailers, including Carrefour, Alfa, Makro, Giant and Hypermart, had plans to expand their businesses in big cities outside Java island, such as Medan, Palembang, Pekan Baru, Balikpapan and Makassar.

Elsewhere, Handaka said that the expansion plans by foreign retailers would force local retailers to become more efficient, which would in turn benefit customers.

"Through fair competition, we might have a better chance of merging with foreign retailers or even competing against them in their home countries, as we already have experience of competing against them here," he said.

Handaka opposed suggestions that the government should protect local retailers against competition from their foreign rivals. "If you never let a baby out of her cradle, the baby won't never be able to walk on her own," he said.

However, he said that one vital factor that needed to be improved was human resources, as a Chinese sales assistant, for example, was far more productive than an Indonesian one.

Public to pay 40% more on fuel

Jakarta Post - December 1, 2004

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta -- The public will pay up to 40 percent more for fuel by early next year, as the government insists on raising the price of the commodity in order to lower subsidy costs, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Tuesday.

The government has been facing increasingly higher subsidy costs, which has been soaring due to red-hot global oil prices.

"[The price hike is] projected to be about 40 percent," Kalla said on the sidelines of a seminar, adding that the government could no longer afford to shoulder greater subsidies for the commodity, which is largely enjoyed by car owners.

With the government maintaining fuel prices through the year, some Rp 10 trillion per month of the budget needed to be set aside for the subsidy, he said.

"That's the largest subsidy ever covered by the government in the history of this country. It is high time for the government to move away from populist measures that come at the expense of most people," said Kalla.

In the past, any effort by the government to raise fuel prices in order to cut down on the subsidy sparked protests, which often turned violent.

The sensitivity of the issue is such that former president Megawati Soekarnoputri decided against a price increase this year to preserve peace during the general elections. However, concerns have been growing over the subsidy policy amid the surging global price of oil, which rose to an historic high of over US$55 per barrel several weeks ago before sliding recently.

On Monday, oil prices rose again with the North Sea Brent blend jumping by $1.18 a barrel to $45.75 and US crude by 32 US cents to $49.76.

The fuel subsidy is estimated to reach a whopping Rp 59.2 trillion this year on the back of the global oil price, against an initial projection of Rp 14.5 billion. In comparison, Rp 71.9 trillion has been budgeted for development spending this year. The latest finance ministry data showed that the fuel subsidy has cost the government more than Rp 46 trillion as of November 23.

In addition to being a huge burden on the cash-strapped budget, the fact that the subsidy is enjoyed largely by the haves -- and that it has encouraged the smuggling of subsidized fuel overseas due to wide price disparities -- has added pressure on the government to review the scheme.

A World Bank survey confirms that the subsidy scheme benefited the rich five times more than it did the poor.

Assuming a 2005 global oil price at $24 a barrel, the state budget has allocated a Rp 19 trillion fuel subsidy.

Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati assented that a fuel price hike of 10 percent to 40 percent was imminent next year, and that a government team was studying a modified, pro-poor subsidy scheme to replace the existing one.

However, Mulyani said any changes to the subsidy scheme would be consulted first with the House of Representatives before enacting.

Both Kalla and Mulyani said the provision of direct subsidies to the poor -- meaning additional subsidies in education, health care and others would be provided in exchange for fuel subsidy cuts -- was among the options being studied.

Government eyes higher growth in manufacturing

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Jakarta -- The government aims to boost growth in the country's manufacturing sector -- the largest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) -- to an average of 8 percent per year in the next five years, from about 5 percent currently.

Speaking to legislators on Wednesday, Minister of National Development Planning (Bappenas) Sri Mulyani Indrawati said such growth was needed to help push the economy to grow at pre-crisis levels.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), manufacturing makes up about 30 percent of annual GDP. But, while it was growing by 10 percent to 11 percent before the 1998 economic crisis, it had not reached those levels since.

"From 1998 onward, the sector's growth averaged about 5 percent. Not only that, the decline has also been highlighted by capital outflows and relocations of many businesses [out of the country]," Sri Mulyani said during a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission XI on financial affairs.

"We aim to reach 8 percent growth. But obviously we need more investment flows to do that, especially from the private sector as the government's financing ability is very limited." A more robust growth in the manufacturing sector, in which many companies are labor-intensive, would eventually be beneficial in helping contain the massive unemployment problem here, she added.

The country's economy needs to grow by at least 6 percent per year just to keep up with the millions of new workers entering the job market annually. However, the slow progress in investment has hurt prospects for growth. Investment, or gross fixed capital formation, makes up about 18 percent of total GDP, BPS data showed.

"We aim to increase that to 24.4 percent by 2009. Improved investment, along with improving exports, is the best answer to generating economic growth to the pre-crisis level." She did not elaborate on what to do to attract investment, in which she added, Indonesia would need well over US$100 billion over the next five years to reach an average economic growth of 6.6 percent -- the target this government has pledged to meet.

As for exports, notably non-oil and gas commodities, she said the government wanted to boost the growth from only around 2 percent in 2004 to 8.7 percent by 2009. With investment and exports improving at that pace, the economy should grow by 6.6 percent in 2009, added Sri Mulyani. The economy is likely to grow this year by about 4.8 percent.

Elsewhere, aside from strengthening the manufacturing industry, the government was also committed to boosting the performance of the agriculture sector, which is set to decline this year by 2.9 percent due to a number of problems. Previously, growth in that key sector averaged 3.3 percent, Sri said.

Problems that have been detrimental to accelerating growth in the sector include farmland conservation, massive migration from rural to urban areas, lack of access to water supplies and inadequate irrigation facilities.

Exports jumped to $7.27 billion in October

Jakarta Post - December 2, 2004

Jakarta -- Exports in October jumped by 46 percent from the same period last year, defying earlier concerns that the country was losing its share in the export market due to tougher competition from more efficient economies.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Wednesday that exports soared to US$7.27 billion during the month, from $4.99 billion in October 2003. The BPS said higher oil and gas exports and non-oil and gas exports both contributed to the strong export revenue.

"The latest data shows that Indonesian exports continues to grow, and will hopefully maintain this record-high state until the end of the year," said senior BPS official Dantes Simbolon.

"Our star in exports for this month is the furniture industry," he said. "This is because many people tend to renovate and redecorate their houses toward the end of the year, and our furniture industry has grabbed this opportunity." He said, however, that the largest contributor in non-oil and gas exports remained electrical appliances and machinery, although its contribution dropped by more than 50 percent compared to September.

Japan was the largest market for non-oil and gas products in October, followed by the US, Singapore and China.

Exports in the period from January to October increased by more than 15 percent from the same 10-month period last year to $58.5 billion, with non-oil and gas exports increasing by 15.76 percent to $45.66 billion and oil and gas exports rising by 12.74 percent to $12.87 billion.

The government, which has targeted non-oil and gas exports to grow by 7 percent to about $50 billion, is hoping that exports will play an increasing role in accelerating economic growth.

The economy is expected to grow by 4.8 percent this year and 5.4 percent next year, with growth dependent mainly on domestic consumption over the past few years.

Meanwhile, imports increased in October by 57 percent from the previous month to $4.3 billion, and the trade surplus widened to $2.95 billion, from $2.92 billion in September.

Legal uncertainty main snag: S&P

Jakarta Post - December 3, 2004

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta -- Despite improving interest rates and a peaceful election year, legal uncertainties remain the main obstacle for Indonesian firms in obtaining business finance, a report from global rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) said.

S&P director for corporate finance ratings, Greg Pau, said that there were at least three major challenges for corporations in the country, which could affect their businesses and therefore their ratings in the eyes of creditors.

"They are regulatory, law enforcement, and counterparty risks, causing investor confidence to remain fragile," Pau said on Thursday, during the launching of the report.

The report, made jointly with PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (Pefindo), assessed the challenges and opportunities for 25 prominent players in the country's key industries.

Among the companies that S&P had rated as the country's best in terms of their business and financial profiles, were state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom and cellular company PT Telkomsel -- both receiving a B+ rating with a positive outlook.

Indonesia's sovereign credit ratings currently stand at B/Positive/B for foreign currency, and B+/Positive/B for local currency.

An S&P "B" rating means that a company or country is more vulnerable to adverse business, financial and economic conditions but currently has the capacity to meet financial commitments.

Explaining the regulatory risks, Pau took an example of the government's previous policy to restrict exports of palm oil, which had caused companies in the sector to be deprived of much needed foreign currencies to service their debts.

Uncertainty in the country's legal system, meanwhile, was shown in last year's controversial defaulting of insurance company PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife, and the revision of toll road firm PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada's revenue share agreement with the government.

"Several companies also face counterparty risks as their sales are limited to certain buyers, while the buyers themselves are in a weak financial position," Pau said.

"The government's fiscal consolidation efforts by boosting tax revenues and reducing fuel subsidies could also eat into consumer spending power, thus affecting company sales and revenues." Despite all the factors limiting the country's companies to do business and obtain loans, Pefindo director Eva M. Nuis said that they could still promote their strong points to get loans from banks, which she said would remain the major contributor to corporate financing in the future.

"Even small and medium enterprises could take advantage as more banks become interested in retail credit," she said.

"Companies could also look into the promising domestic and international bond markets to finance their businesses." Data compiled by S&P shows that bank credits to corporates amount to Rp 505 trillion (US$56.1 billion) as of September 2004. Corporate domestic bonds currently amount to Rp 55 trillion, while international bonds stand at Rp 49 trillion -- both of which are dominated by bonds from financially sound banks and telecommunication firms.

"This fact shows that investors are interested in prospective companies which do business in sectors where regulations are already clear," Pau said.

Moral hazards of tax amnesty

Jakarta Post Editorial - December 3, 2004

We are quite apprehensive about the real objective behind the government's plan to grant a tax amnesty. While no further developments have been heard regarding the long-awaited tax administrative reform, the new government has revived the idea of a tax amnesty, which had been banished by the previous administration as economically unfeasible and a gross violation of the people's sense of fairness.

Few technical details were immediately available about the planned amnesty, which has yet to be formulated into a bill for approval by the House of Representatives. Nevertheless, the mere plan to include a tax amnesty in the priority agenda of the new government has raised eyebrows, especially because Aburizal Bakrie, the chief economics minister in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet, is a former chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Kadin has been promoting the idea of a tax amnesty since last year as part of its comprehensive tax reform proposal to the government. The group has argued that such a facility is necessary to broaden the tax base and lure back billions of dollars parked overseas by Indonesian conglomerates during the height of the economic crisis in 1998.

True, the cash-strapped government is desperate for new private investment to reinvigorate the economy and to broaden the tax base and increase tax revenue. The number of registered personal income taxpayers is still less than 1 percent of the total population.

Moreover, tax evasion is pervasive, as can be seen from the low tax ratio (tax receipts against gross domestic product) of less than 13 percent. And similar programs in many countries have shown that a well-administered tax amnesty can bring millions of individuals and businesses onto the tax rolls for the first time.

However, the situation in Indonesia is not conducive for the implementation of such a facility. Given the utterly corrupt and inefficient tax administration, granting an indiscriminate tax amnesty now would mostly benefit the big conglomerates whose bankrupt banks and companies previously cost taxpayers about the equivalent of US$75 billion.

If a tax amnesty is the only incentive that will encourage these conglomerates to bring back their funds from overseas, it is not worth the government's time to woo back such skittish investors. They already demonstrated their lack of faith in the country by transferring their money overseas.

It would be a grave insult to the public's sense of justice if these same debtor conglomerates, which have been able to reacquire their assets at less than 30 percent of their original value, were allowed to enjoy such a generous tax relief.

There is nonetheless a real need for a tax amnesty, but on a strictly selective basis, granted mainly to small and medium- sized businesses to encourage them to go legitimate, and to net taxpayers who in the past chose to evade their taxes because the corrupt tax administration made this much simpler and cheaper than registering as taxpayers.

A tax amnesty is supposed to encourage people and firms to register as taxpayers without fear of prosecution for past tax debts.

But granting a tax amnesty without first establishing a strong tax administration would only cause moral hazards as people, expecting another amnesty in the future, would lower their tax compliance and honest taxpayers would be discouraged from continuing their voluntary compliance.

An indiscriminate tax amnesty would also hurt the people's sense of justice, especially if the facility was put in place early next year at the same time the government was raising fuel prices.

A strong and efficient tax administration is a prerequisite for making a tax amnesty effective in achieving its main objectives, because the tax amnesty period should be followed immediately by strong low enforcement against tax evaders and cheaters.

An effective tax administration will be able to send the message that the tax amnesty is a one-time deal, a one-time opportunity to make up for past mistakes, and that in the future all tax evaders will be punished.

The government should therefore give top priority to the completion of bills on income tax, value added tax and the general rules and procedures of taxation before granting any tax amnesty.

Giants cough as poor smokers switch brands

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- Poverty has not stopped the poor from smoking -- the latest market research shows they have just switched to cheaper non-branded cigarettes, which is giving the country's traditional tobacco giants a proverbial kick in the butt.

And ironically, these smoking habits, the experts say, are also an indication of the relative health of the economy; they show that the poor, stuck with their cheap tobacco, cannot taste the benefits of the recent economic growth.

As the cigarette companies' largest market declines, the fight now is for the buyers from the middle- and upper-income brackets, the statistics show.

This shift of smokers' appetites in the lower-end market segment, the largest base for giants like PT Gudang Garam and PT Djarum Kudus, is reflected in data issued by the Indonesian Association of Cigarette Companies (GAAPRI), in which the market share of these companies has declined in the third quarter of this year.

Publicly listed Gudang Garam and non-listed Djarum are the nation's largest and second-largest cigarette producers respectively. Both companies have lost market share to publicly listed PT HM Sampoerna, the country's third-largest cigarette producer, and to smaller producers of budget "no-name" cigarettes.

Sampoerna is known for its cigarettes aimed at the middle and upper-income market, such as the hand-rolled "Dji Sam Soe" and machine-rolled low tar "A Mild".

According to GAAPRI, the market share of Gudang Garam for both hand-rolled and machine-rolled cigarettes has declined to 34 percent in the third quarter from 37.2 percent in the same period last year. Its rival Djarum has also suffered a drop in market share to 18.8 percent from 19.1 percent. Meanwhile, Sampoerna enjoys an increase in market share to 21 percent from 19.1 percent.

The statistics also show other producers; the non-branded products and international makers of "prestige" brands -- Philip Morris Indonesia and British American Tobacco -- are enjoying a higher market share; from 24.1 percent in the third quarter last year to 25.4 percent in the same period this year.

While things may be getting sweeter for the underdogs peddling their addictions to the middle classes, the results show that life for the poor, whatever they smoke, remains a drag.

"Higher economic growth, which is supposed to fuel higher consumer spending, has not necessarily helped drive up consumption for low-income people," said Gudang Garam director and corporate secretary Heru Budiman on Friday.

"Our cigarette production is likely to remain flat this year. The higher economic growth has only affected the middle- and upper- class buyers," said Heru.

The industry's total output for both the hand-rolled and machine-rolled tobacco is expected to reach about 196 billion sticks this year, still below the pre-financial crisis level of 198 billion sticks in 1997.

The Kediri-based Gudang Garam produced 50.6 billion sticks of cigarettes in the first nine months of this year, relatively flat in growth compared to 50.3 billion sticks it produced in the same period of last year.

For the full year, the company has expected to produce some 63 billion sticks, from its installed capacity of 110 billion sticks per year.

Heru said the projected higher economic growth of 5.2 percent next year would mean nothing for the poor unless there were sufficient jobs for them.

"The higher economic growth it turns out is only being enjoyed by those with the middle and upper incomes, while those in the lower income bracket remain poor," he said, adding that the urban areas would be the main sources of growth next year.

Mandiri sees lending growing over 20% in 2005

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

State-owned Bank Mandiri, the nation's largest bank in terms of assets, estimates that lending may grow by at least 20 percent next year on the back of rising business confidence and improving security and political conditions.

Mandiri president director E.C.W. Neloe said the lending growth next year might exceed the bank's forecast, following the government's requests to the banking sector to help channel loans to finance massive infrastructure projects at home.

"Mandiri has targeted lending to grow by at least 20 percent next year. The lending may increase further if the government is serious in speeding up the construction of infrastructure to support the business community," said Neloe after a public briefing to investors and media on Friday.

The bank's 20 percent lending growth may equal some Rp 18 trillion (about US$2 billion), since the bank has previously said its lending this year might grow by at about 20 percent.

In the first nine months ending September this year, the bank has channeled some Rp 12 trillion in loans. The bank's consolidated lending as of September stands at Rp 87.03 trillion compared to Rp 75.9 trillion in December last year.

Vice president Jusuf Kalla has previously said the government would form a consortium, consisting of state-owned banks, to help channel loans to finance the construction of 1,500-kilometer toll roads that would link Merak in Banten with Banyuwangi in East Java.

The government is expected to construct some 300 kilometers of toll roads per year, with an annual investment as high as Rp 30 trillion.

"Mandiri is ready to help meet the government's request in assisting with funding for the project. However, there should be a comprehensive study over the feasibility of the projects offered to local banks," said Neloe.

Elsewhere, regarding the bank's non-performing loans with several ailing companies, Mandiri corporate banking director Soleh Tasripan said there has been progress in efforts to recover the loans.

Soleh said the bank would sign a restructuring agreement with troubled pulp and paper producer PT Kiani Kertas this month, as the firm's new investor, Singapore-registered Novela International, had injected $50 million in working capital into the firm to improve its business operation.

The capital is needed to help revive Kiani's business so that it can pay its debts to Mandiri, amounting to about $201 million.

Tasripan said the restructuring agreement would also include an extension to seven years for Kiani to settle its debts to Mandiri. "Normally restructuring takes about five years. But we have proposed to the central bank for a possible extension to up to seven years," said Soleh.

Due primarily to Kiani's bad loans, Mandiri's gross non- performing loans (NPL) ratio remains high at 7.2 percent as of September this year, compared to the central bank's 5 percent limit.

Soleh also said that the bank was expecting to recoup some of its money this year from ailing retailer Pasaraya as the company managed to sell its building in Manggarai, Central Jakarta, for about Rp 160 billion.

Government urged to resolve high cost economy

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

Jakarta -- A number of Japanese investors complained to the Minister of Industry Andung A. Nitimihardja over obstacles in investing in the country, which led to a high cost economy and turned away potential investors.

"Although overall the country's investment climate has improved, there are still a number of problems that need to be resolved by the new government," said Yoshihiro Koki, the president director of PT Megapolis Manunggal Industrial Development (MMID), on Friday.

Koki expressed his concerns to Andung, during the minister's visit to the MM2100 industrial area in Cikarang, Bekasi, as reported by Antara.

The problems include the lack of infrastructure such as roads, ports and telecommunication facilities, while at the same time investors had to deal with bureaucratic red tape both in the central and local governments, illegal fees, and local "mafia," he explained.

"All these problems result in a high cost economy, which makes it hard for us to compete with other companies investing in other countries," Koki said.

Andung said that the new government was determined to quickly resolve the problems faced by investors. "The government is committed to improving the welfare of the nation, therefore we take investment problems very seriously," he said.

The new government is under pressure to attract new investment, which is crucial to accelerate economic growth and to curb unemployment.

According to Koki, there are 182 firms from various countries in the MM2100 industrial area, which was first opened in 1990. Out of the 182 companies, he said, 137 firms were fully operational, 13 were still developing their sites and the remaining 32 were still in the stage of preparation.

Japanese firms dominated the area with 104 companies, followed by 46 local companies and 32 companies from various other countries. "The other countries include South Korea, Taiwan, Spain and the Philippines," Koki said.

Furthermore, he said that the investment value of the 137 firms reached US$3.4 billion. "Our target by the end of 2008 is to have 210 companies investing in the area. Therefore, we urged the government to tackle the problems faced by investors seriously," he said.

Government asked to time oil price hike

Jakarta Post - December 4, 2004

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta -- Bank Indonesia is asking the government to carefully consider the timing of its plan to raise domestic fuel prices next year, so as to keep its effect on the country's inflation rate within manageable limits.

"I agree with recent suggestions that the hike be done during harvest time," the central bank's deputy governor Hartadi Sarwono said on Friday. "It would also be better if the government decided to raise fuel prices when the rupiah exchange rate was at a better level."

Hartadi explained that if the hike was done during the harvest time, then a lower price of staple food items during that time could counterbalance a possible rise in the prices of other goods affected by the fuel price hike.

A stronger local unit, meanwhile, would mean that the price of imported goods could be maintained, averaging out inflation as well. The rupiah, however, weakened 0.4 percent to Rp 9,066 per dollar on Friday.

"Pressure on inflation could further be relaxed if the government could ensure the distribution of goods, particularly of staple needs. The problem is that many producers and distributors tend to raise their prices whenever a fuel price hike occurs, even when it doesn't have anything to do with their cost of production," Hartadi said.

"The government should also properly channel fuel subsidy funds it will save from the hike for health, educational, and infrastructure development purposes." Hartadi added that the central bank would not be too hasty in making any monetary policies, such as adjusting its SBI benchmark interest rate, to counter a possible rise in the inflation.

"As long as core inflation maintains its current stable trend, then we see no need for such an intervention," he said. The core inflation rate is the underlying inflation rate of a country's economy, excluding volatile energy and food prices.

The Central Statistics Agency earlier this month reported a year-on-year inflation rate of 6.18 percent as of November. The government has set its inflation target at 7.0 percent for this year, and at 5.5 percent for 2005.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal affirmed that the government would raise fuel prices in the first quarter of next year, sometime during harvest time. "But we are still working out the available options and we'll consult with the House of Representatives, because what is good for the state [budget] is not necessarily good for the people," he said.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said there were five options now being considered by the government: First, raising prices only for industrial diesel oil, bunker oil and Premium gasoline; second, raising prices only for bunker oil and industrial diesel oil; third, raising prices only for Premium gasoline; fourth, raising prices for oil automotive diesel oil for transportation sector; fifth, raising prices only for automotive diesel oil and kerosene. The government will carefully study the options, before making a decision, he said.

Elsewhere, the Indonesian Consumer Foundation demanded that the government publicize the evaluation of last year's fuel price hike before acting to raise them again. "This is not about us agreeing with [the planned fuel hike] or not, but if the government wants to hike prices, it must not burden the poor too much," YLKI chairperson Indah Suksmaningsih said.

"And to keep matters transparent, the government must first share with the public the results of the last fuel hike, on whether it had burdened poor people or not." Furthermore, the government has to familiarize the public with the hike plan to avoid possible resistance and inform the public to what extent the plan would affect their lives, Indah added.

"I also urge the public to talk to the government on how the hike affects them, because honestly, they are the ones who will carry more burden than the rich people or the decision makers themselves," she said.