Aceh

Anti-corruption activist arrested in Aceh sent to hospital

Associated Press - February 4, 2005

Irwan Firdaus, Banda Aceh -- An Indonesian anti-corruption activist detained on allegations of stealing aid in the tsunami- ravaged province of Aceh was hospitalized Friday after complaining of injuries sustained while in police custody.

Farid Faqih, who heads the Government Watch group and had been working for the UN World Food Program, has said he was beaten by several military police at a military air base in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Military police have questioned an officer, Capt. Syuib Mahmud, over the alleged beating.

His face bruised, Faqih was taken to Teuku Fakinah hospital on Friday. A police paramedic, Dr. Heri, said Faqih need treatment but refused to say if his injuries were caused by beatings.

The plight of Faqih, a longtime critic of corruption in the armed forces, has drawn considerable media attention because he had recently accused government officials in Aceh of trying to win more aid by inflating the number of refugees in camps.

Nations and private organizations have donated generous sums to Indonesia to help fund relief work in Aceh, on the northern tip of Indonesia' Sumatra island, where the casualties were the highest among the 11 nations hit by the December 26 earthquake and destructive waves.

But Indonesia's relief effort has been has been plagued by concerns of corruption. The country, which estimates the rebuilding will cost US$4.5 billion over five years, is ranked among the world's most corrupt nations by independent watchdog group Transparency International.

Police detained Faqih on January 26 for allegedly stealing two truckloads of food, medicine and computers. Troops said the aid was being unloaded from military cargo aircraft.

Faqih has denied any wrongdoing, and said he was helping to distribute aid. UN officials said Faqih was signed to help with relief work.

Faqih's lawyer, Syarifudin Yusuf, said his client had vomited several times Friday morning, and complained of pain in his stomach, chest and ear. "These injuries could be the result of beatings," Yusuf said. "He's been really tired and has not had his head and chest examined."

Indonesian law allows police to detain a suspect for a maximum of 24 hours without charge, but that period can be extended to 20 days if police determine they have substantial evidence of a crime.

Indonesian soldiers have a history of abusing suspects in their custody, human rights groups say. They also accuse the military of not doing enough to punish those who break the law.

Crisis profile: Deadlock in Indonesia's Aceh conflict

Reuters/AlertNet - February 3, 2005

Katherine Arie -- Just weeks after the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami left over 230,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia's Aceh province, a decades-old conflict between government forces and Acehnese separatists flared up once again.

Even on the day after the tsunami, government forces launched military operations that killed four members of Aceh's separatist movement. Since the disaster, the government says it has killed some 200 separatists.

But the sheer scale of the tsunami tragedy softened hearts, and in late January 2005 representatives of the Indonesian government and rebel leaders met face to face in Helsinki for the first peace talks in nearly two years.

The government and rebels had reached a deal in 2003, but it collapsed in part over the sticky issue of autonomy. Shortly thereafter, the government launched a massive military offensive and imposed a state of emergency.

The Helsinki talks in January, while cordial, failed to make a breakthrough and a settlement remains elusive. According to political analysts, neither side is willing to give any ground. They say the separatists will accept nothing less than independence while Jakarta has no intention of giving up the resource-rich province.

What are the origins of the separatist movement in Aceh?

The Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM), or the Free Aceh Movement, began in 1976 when founder Hasan di Tiro initiated an armed struggle against Jakarta and declared Aceh's independence. Fierce reaction from government troops forced de Tiro and other GAM leaders to flee to Sweden, where they live to this day.

GAM's main grievances include economic and social issues, Indonesian military heavy handedness in suppressing resistance, as well as the more fundamental and deep-rooted issue of nationalism.

Why nationalism? But aren't the people of Aceh Indonesian?

Acehnese don't consider themselves Indonesian, a fact GAM uses as justification for the insurgency and as fodder for popularising its cause. GAM maintains that Jakarta is an occupying power in Aceh, and that the Acehnese people are culturally and linguistically different from other Indonesians.

The Acehnese language is related to modern Malay languages, which include most other languages in Indonesia -- Indonesian, Javanese, and Balinese -- but it also has clear ties to Chamic languages, which are primarily found in southern Vietnam.

This concept of Acehnese distinctiveness is key to understanding how Acehnese people see themselves vis-a-vis other Indonesians. Acehnese identity was largely formed in the 16th century, when Aceh, then an independent sultanate, emerged as a crucial player in the southeast Indian Ocean trade.

Trade brought the Acehnese into contact with fellow Muslim traders from present day India, the Arabian peninsula and as far away as the Ottoman empire. On the other hand, Aceh's relationship with traditional Indonesians, in particular the Javanese, Indonesia's largest ethnic group was limited despite their proximity.

How has Aceh's identity influenced its history?

The development of Acehnese identity helped to reinforce a feisty resistance to foreign domination over the past two centuries. Aceh has a proud history of fending off outsiders, including repeated invasions by Dutch colonisers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

After World War Two, when Aceh was briefly occupied by Japan, control of the province fell to the newly independent Java-based state of Indonesia.

In the 1950s, Acehnese pro-Islamic rebels challenged the secular, central government in Jakarta, winning autonomy in religious, educational and cultural matters in 1959. To this day, practicing Muslims in Aceh are more orthodox than most other Indonesians.

GAM has used Aceh's reputation for throwing off the yoke of foreign domination as a rallying cry since the 1970s.

How popular is the separatist movement?

While most Acehnese support the insurgency in general, it is debatable whether there is widespread support for GAM, and many people do not find its historical arguments wholly persuasive.

Sympathy for the separatist movement has waxed and waned over the years. At different times Acehnese civilians have blamed GAM and its guerrilla tactics -- the destruction of schools, government institutions and power lines, kidnappings and hijackings -- for the brutal crackdowns visited upon them by military forces, although there is evidence that violence perpetrated by the military, especially in recent years, has spurred calls for independence.

The perception that Jakarta is exploiting the region feeds deep resentment. Aceh provides 15 to 20 percent Indonesia's gas and oil output but it remains one of the country's poorest provinces. That Aceh has not reaped obvious benefits from its vast natural resources is a point of contention that has been discussed in peace negotiations over the years.

What is the humanitarian situation in Aceh now?

Post-tsunami, the humanitarian situation in Aceh has never been more dire. The tsunami destroyed scores of villages and ruined infrastructure. Overall damage estimates have topped $4.4 billion.

More than 400,000 people have been left homeless and are at risk of disease, particularly measles and malaria. Survivors of the disaster are psychologically traumatised, and doctors estimate that some 90 percent will suffer post-traumatic stress disorder.

Even before the tsunami disaster, conflict had taken its toll. Much of the province's infrastructure was dysfunctional. Back in 2003, following the massive government offensive, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that the population would not be able to rely on the already weak health services.

To make matters worse, thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire between GAM fighters and military forces. Since the early 1990s, human rights groups have documented serious human rights violations and abuses by both sides.

Aid has poured in to the devastated province, and the task of rebuilding has begun. Here, at least, the Indonesian government and GAM have the same goal. Even so, it looks unlikely that negotiators will ultimately find common ground.

No need for cease-fire with GAM: Army chief

Detik.com - February 1, 2005

Fedhly Averouss Bey, Jakarta -- Army chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu says that a resolution to the conflict between the Republic of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) doesn't really need to be achieved through negotiations or a cease-fire. The only way that the conflict will end is if GAM surrenders to the TNI (armed forces).

Ryacudu revealed this to journalists at the army's headquarters on Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara in Jakarta on Tuesday February 1. "We who are defending the state must use arms, [we] don't need a cease-fire. It's preposterous, with [only] 2,000 GAM opponents remaining why should we have a cease-fire.", he explained.

Because of this he continued, he doesn't want to know about recent negotiations between the government and the GAM leadership in Helsinki, Finland. Negotiations which were the government's idea have not resulted any kind of agreement.

"I don't want to know about the issue of negotiations, I'm not taking part in the negotiations because it's not my job. I am a professional soldier, getting involved in politics isn't professional. It's obvious, GAM surrenders, [and the problem] is solved", he explained.

Ryacudu also said that defensive actions against GAM have no time limit. "If they keep away from us we'll leave them alone, but if they bother us what else can we do we must defend ourselves", he said. (umi)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Aceh conflict will be resolved if GAM surrenders: Army chief

Tempo Interactive - February 1, 2005

Jakarta -- Army chief Ryamrizard Ryacudu says that the TNI (armed forces) will continue to take a defensive position with regard to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in spite of the fact that negotiations between GAM and the Indonesian government in Helsinki Finland have failed to produce an agreement.

"We will continue to be defensive. But if they bother [us] what else can [we] do", Ryacudu told journalists following a TMMD (TNI unites to develop the villages) coordinating meeting at the Bina Yudha II Room at the army's headquarters in Central Jakarta on Tuesday February 1. Ryacudu also stated that there was no time limit for the TNI to remain deployed in Aceh.

When asked about the TNI's attitude on the request for a cease- fire by GAM, Ryacudu answered that the TNI has taken no position on accepting a cease-fire. "If GAM asks for a cease-fire well that's [up to] them. It's impossible for us who are defending the state to seek a cease-fire, what's the story?", he said.

According to Ryacudu, in order to resolve the Aceh problem GAM must give up and surrender their arms. "If [GAM] doesn't surrender yeah well there'll be no resolution", he said.

Ryacudu said that the negotiations being held between the Indonesian Republic and GAM are a form of good faith on the part of the government's to bring peace to Aceh. Ryacudu also revealed that post the tsunami there have been around 78 GAM members who have surrendered and been detained. (Agus Supriyanto)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Continued clashes hamper tsunami relief efforts

Newsday (Long Island, NY) - February 3, 2005

Letta Tayler, Bukit Barisan mountain range -- The armed rebels huddled in the drizzle in their remote mountain hideout, a cluster of bamboo platforms and tattered tarps in a mosquito- infested jungle.

Under a makeshift canopy, two fighters who had been ambushed by the Indonesian army a few days earlier fretted that they had no fresh bandages for their gunshot wounds.

Did the visitors bring the cigarettes, asked Muharram, the rebels' camouflage-clad commander, explaining that supplies were scarce since the army had pushed his men deep into the interior. What about the antibiotics for the wounded fighters? And might he have the reporter's flashlight when she left?

Despite pledges from the Indonesian army and separatist rebels to halt their protracted guerrilla war during tsunami recovery efforts, the military is clashing with the guerrillas almost daily in Aceh Province, ground zero of the December 26 disaster.

The skirmishes are posing a risk to tsunami survivors and to scores of international relief groups operating in western Aceh. They also have dimmed prospects for upcoming peace talks to end three decades of conflict.

Indonesian authorities contend they are striking the rebels in self-defense. They paint the separatists as a threat to relief operations, saying they are stealing humanitarian food handouts and could kill or kidnap aid workers. But in a rare interview at his mountain camp, Muharram, who like many Acehnese uses one name, blamed the Indonesian armed forces, saying they are capitalizing on the chaos that followed the tsunami to rout the rebels and terrorize civilians so they won't back the separatists.

"It's the Indonesian military that won't stop its attacks," said Muharram, a wiry, muscular man of 30 whose fatigues were emblazoned with the star-and-crescent flag of Aceh. He also said the military, not the rebels, was stealing relief supplies.

"We welcome the international workers that have come here to aid the tsunami victims," Muharram said as he sat cross-legged on a tarp in his hideaway, guarded by two dozen armed men. "Please tell them, do not leave until the misery is over."

The army claims to have killed more than 200 rebels in skirmishes since the tsunami -- nearly double the toll in months preceding the disaster -- but most of those dead are civilians, according to Muharram, northwestern provincial commander for the Free Aceh Movement, known by its Acehnese acronymn, GAM.

Military officials deny any wrongdoing. "Our focus right now is humanitarian aid. We're here to protect the people, not hurt them," armed forces spokesman Ahmad Yani Basuki said on Sunday in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. The only reason for the high death toll, he said, is that "we'll fire back when we're fired on." He said any civilians killed were GAM agents.

But many villagers in the skirmish areas sided with the rebels' version of events, and the army's credibility has been tarnished by a history of corruption, brutality and plunder.

Representatives of several international relief groups said they hadn't encountered major problems with either side, but were concerned the violence could jeopardize relief efforts.

The tsunami killed at least 100,000 people and left 130,000 missing along the western coast of Aceh. It forced the government to open the province to foreign relief workers and journalists for the first time since May 2003, when the army launched a failed blitz to crush the separatists.

But hearing the rebels' side of the story remains difficult. Aceh is crawling with Indonesian troops and the military has ordered foreign aid workers and journalists to report all their movements, ostensibly to protect them from the rebel.

It took several aborted attempts and a grueling, 3 1/2-hour, nighttime trek through the jungle last week to reach Muharram and his men, who received their visitors with smiles. The route cut through swaths of tsunami-devastated coast, past rotting, bug- infested corpses, over mounds of debris, through stinking puddles and into thorny brush. The final leg was so steep and slippery that ascending required a crawl through the mud. Kalashnikov- wielding guides led the way, one of them a skinny young man wearing a tight black T-shirt emblazoned with the word "peace."

With many couriers and traditional supply routes wiped out by the tsunami, the rebels were clearly hurting. Some even lacked boots. They also were under emotional siege -- all lost relatives or friends and some risked death to sneak into shelters and villages to visit loved ones or bring food and medicine to survivors.

Nevertheless, the GAM insisted they haven't lost their will to battle for secession from Indonesia -- a struggle that has claimed 11,000 lives since 1976."If there is no peaceful solution, we'll continue to fight," vowed Muharram, his cell phone in one hand and his Kalashnikov in the other. He spoke as the Indonesian government and GAM's overseas representatives opened preliminary peace talks in Finland. There may be a second round.

Muharram, who commands about 1,000 fighters, said the rebels welcome US troops, who are delivering relief to remote areas. But he gently rapped the US government, along with Britain and Australia, for not pressuring Indonesia more forcefully toward negotiations. "Why does the United States remain silent about our misery?" he asked.

The rebels want to turn Aceh into a democratic monarchy "similar to Britain," Muharram said. A former sultanate, Aceh has been ruled by outsiders since the Dutch colonized it in the 1870s. Since Indonesia's independence in 1950, the national government has exploited the province's abundant gas and oil reserves, while the army has murdered, raped and tortured at will, according to international observers including Human Rights Watch.

Flipping through a notebook, Muharram read a list of what he described as the latest army assaults on GAM and civilians in violation of the temporary cease-fire. They included killings, maiming, kidnappings and razing of homes.

The army has confirmed it killed seven men in early January in the village of Lhamlhom, just south of Banda Aceh. It said they were GAM; the rebels insist the men were civilians. Asked about the incident on a recent day, several villagers signaled they couldn't talk, pointing nervously to troops patrolling nearby. "It's too dangerous," one man whispered.

Civilians were more forthcoming in a camp for tsunami survivors in the township of Lamreh, a 45-minute drive east of Banda Aceh, where soldiers shot dead a 17-year-old student nearly two weeks ago.

The student, Dodi, had gone up the mountain with his girlfriend, who saw the troops shoot him without provocation when he accidentally came upon a rebel eating lunch, say friends and relatives. "He survived the tsunami but not the army," said Dodi's father, Husni Aswin, his face twisted in disbelief. Dodi had wanted to join the military, his father and friends said.

The day Dodi was killed, a group of soldiers also marched into a shelter for tsunami survivors in nearby Ujung Lanchang, lined up the 30 camp residents and began shouting, "Where are the GAM?" according to people who had been rounded up.

When the tsunami survivors replied that they didn't know, they said, the troops separated the women and made them strip to their underwear, an act of deep humiliation in Islamic society, whether ordered by Muslims or non-Muslims. The soldiers also made the men strip to their underwear and lie on the ground, where they beat them and fired guns near their heads, some of the men said.

They said the troops took three men for questioning at a nearby military base, and only two returned.

International human rights groups say GAM has committed its own share of kidnappings and extortion, though at a far lower level. Muharram said the group is no longer involved in such activities.

Indonesia experts say grinding poverty and a lack of services for the 4 million people in this oil-rich province contribute to GAM's widespread support.

Even in Banda Aceh, with its concentration of government and military posts, young men furtively show off rebel paraphernalia. "The army would slit my throat if it saw this," one youth said as he proudly flashed a cell phone screen showing a GAM flag.

As they hung clothes from ropes stretched across a clearing and placed crimson chili peppers to dry in the scorching sun that followed the tropical rains, rebels in the mountain hide-out described the farming and fishing villages they had left behind as filled with hopelessness and terror even before the tsunami.

"The army has murdered and raped. It shot my father's cousin in front of his eyes. I want to take revenge," said Jaka, a baby- faced 20-year-old who was shot four times in the stomach and torso in last week's ambush.

Since then, Jaka has been weak and dizzy. Blood was seeping through the patches on his wounds. But he still has his AK-56 assault rifle. "I'll keep fighting," Jaka vowed. "Until I've shed my last drop of blood."

Indonesian army to send 6,000 personnel to Aceh

Tempo Interactive - February 4, 2005

Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) Army headquarters (HQ) is to deploy 40 company units, amounting to around 6,000 personnel, in Aceh in order to carry out the program of "TNI Building Villages."

Their assignment there is to open areas that are difficult to reach," said Army chief of staff General Ryamizard Ryacudu

According to Ryacudu, Army personnel will work for a period of 32 days, mainly in opening up transportation routes and distributing assistance to areas that are still isolated due to the earthquake and tsunami wave disasters that hit Aceh.

These troops are likely to be deployed on February 8. Ryacudu added that Army personnel would also be deployed in April for the same program.

These personnel shall concentrate on helping as regards construction of physical and transportation facilities. Construction of housing shall be in the next program.

"Following the distribution of aid, we will build houses for victims of the disasters. The Sepuluh November Institute of Technology in Surabaya, East Java, and the Brawijaya Military Command V will work together in the construction of 1,000 houses," stated Ryacudu.

The Army will receive support from Indonesian Marine detachment units. "The marines are highly skilled in operating heavy equipments that are used to build bridges and roads," stated Ryacudu. (Agus Supriyanto-Tempo News Room)

Rights group urges Finnish mediator to be impartial

Associated Press - February 4, 2005

Jakarta -- A prominent human rights group in Aceh on Friday criticized Finnish mediator Martti Ahtisaari for allegedly backing the Indonesian government's side and its proposal to resolve the decades-long independence struggle.

"Martti Ahtisaari's statement which said that the next meeting will be based on the special autonomy proposal is tendentious and this could hamper further dialogue," said a statement released by the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), a coalition ofnon-governmental groups advocating a UN-supervised plebiscite on self-determination for the oil-rich province.

Negotiation in Finland between the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) ended inconclusively last month, but the two sides pledged to meet again soon to seek a peace deal.

The talks, the first since the collapse of a five-month truce in May 2003, were held under the auspices of the Crisis Management Initiative, an independent non-governmental organization founded by Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland.

The current peace process is seen as the best chance to end the 29-year old conflict on the northern tip of Sumatra island. Both sides have been under intense international pressure to endthe bloodshed since the region was devastated by the December 26 tsunami.

Government says emergency over, begins reconstruction

Jakarta Post - February 3, 2005

Urip Hudiono and Fadli, Banda Aceh -- With the emergency relief stage in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam officially declared to have ended, the government will now commence with rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the tsunami-stricken province, which includes the establishment of relocation barracks for refugees.

"We will continue providing any emergency relief efforts that are still needed, but we can say that the [emergency relief] stage is now behind us," Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Alwi Shihab, told reporters on Wednesday.

He said the government will continue emergency relief efforts by providing 20 medium-sized boats capable of carrying 50 to 75 tones of goods and supplies to areas in the province still isolated by the December 26 catastrophe.

"The boats will sail from Banda Aceh along the province's western coast to the city of Meulaboh," he said. "They are provided to replace foreign helicopters that had previously been used to reach the areas." Alwi said the government has also requested foreign countries to replace all military personnel in their medical staff and air crew with civilians.

But Alwi denied the request would be an implementation of a deadline for foreign military to leave the country, saying that it would just be in accordance with the government's timeline for the reconstruction process in Aceh.

"We still welcome any foreign military who would like to help us out, and express our fullest gratitude to them," he said. "However, the government would like to see that we can stand on our own feet and resolve all the matters in Aceh by ourselves." On the relocation process, Alwi said a number of relocation barracks would be built throughout affected areas in the province.

The barracks -- built for displaced persons to temporarily stay before being resettled into rebuilt areas -- will be provided with better sanitation and water facilities.

"We will build 374 relocation barracks, or half of the total, by February 15," he said. "We expect to complete the rest by the end of this month." Banta Gading, a displaced person at the TVRI complex in Mata Ie, Banda Aceh where some 4,406 people are sheltering, said he did not want to move into the barracks and wanted to return to his own house.

"I want to get back to my own house soon, but it's badly damaged and impossible to live in. It would be better if the government just assisted us with building materials like cement, bricks and wood so we can rebuild our houses," the 52-year-old told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Another displaced person, 42-year-old Hasbullah, warmly greeted the plan to build the barracks since many refugees no longer have places to live. "Until now, no one has asked us about the barracks. If the barracks are ready, we'll move in because we have nothing left. If there's a place to live in, then it will be better," he said.

Responding to the possibility that some displaced persons would refuse to move in to the barracks, Alwi assured them the government would try its best to fulfill their needs and wishes, as long as they are in line with the prepared reconstruction blueprint.

"Refugees, for instance, will not be allowed to relocate and then resettle in areas within 300 to 400 meters of the shoreline to ensure their own safety from similar disasters in the future." Alwi added the government would start registering all displaced persons and cataloging their skills in order to help find them temporary jobs during the reconstruction period.

"We are planning to provide women with sewing machines and fishermen with appropriate equipment, so the refugees can start rebuilding their lives immediately," he said.

Vice-president hopeful talks can end conflict in Aceh

Agence France Presse - February 3, 2005

Indonesia's vice president said he believed the current talks with Aceh separatist leaders will bring an end to decades of armed conflict in Indonesia's tsunami-hit province, a report said.

Yusuf Kalla, in an interview published by the Bisnis Indonesia newspaper, said he believed more meetings were needed with the exiled leaders of the separatist Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, but peace would eventually be reached.

"At present, the GAM has already vented their emotion, so, I am optimistic that this matter can be settled," Kalla said in the interview.

Indonesian officials met with rebel leaders and had their first talks for 20 months in Finland last week, in the hope of establishing a truce to protect a huge humanitarian effort to help survivors of the December 26 disaster.

Both sides have said a degree of understanding was reached in the discussions near Helsinki, but a clearer framework was needed for progress towards future dialogue.

Kalla, who has also been involved in peace efforts to resolve communal violence between Muslims and Christians in other parts of Indonesia, said that in his experience, more dialogue was needed with the rebels.

"I estimate that the talks with the GAM can take place two or three more times," he said.

Kalla said that although every negotiation involved "give and take", there were two aspects that remained unchangeable at the base of the peace talks. "These are that there will be no unconditional surrender and they [the rebels] will not gain independence," Kalla said.

He reiterated that the government will keep its offer of a general amnesty, but added that those guilty of "criminal offences" will still have to face justice. "That there will be an amnesty is certain... but not if they are linked to criminal [acts.]"

The Free Aceh Movement began its campaign in 1976. It accused Jakarta of plundering resources in the province. More than 12,000 people have died in the struggle.

Indonesia targets foreign doctors

Asia Times - February 3, 2005

Andreas Harsono, Banda Aceh -- The Indonesian Red Crescent -- claiming there is an oversupply of "do-gooders" who "do not speak the language" -- has said it wants all foreign doctors helping the Indian Ocean tsunami survivors in Aceh to leave and hand over their emergency medical functions to local doctors instead.

Gunawan, the spokesman for the Indonesian Red Crescent, said in a press briefing on Monday, "It is better if the international community helps us with medicines rather than sending human resources here." Although there is now a surplus of foreign doctors, more medicines are needed as ailments such as malaria and dengue begin to break out.

Gunawan said the large number of foreign doctors was "counter- productive" as "there are language and cultural barriers with regard to the presence of foreign doctors" that prevent them from making a worthwhile contribution to medical relief work.

But Acehnese such as Ismet Nur, the co-coordinator of a grassroots relief service in Ulle Kareng -- a crowded neighborhood in Banda Aceh -- sees it another way. "We have cases where Indonesian doctors are perceived to be not as professional as their international colleagues," he told Inter Press Service.

Gunawan said the Indonesian Red Crescent arrived in Aceh on December 27 -- a day after killer waves lashed the province killing at least 220,000 -- and set up two field hospitals in Lambaro and Pidie districts, as well as a mobile medical facility.

The Red Crescent spokesman said there are more than enough local medical staff on the ground. "Altogether more than 390 [local] volunteers are involved in our work," said Gunawan.

At the present moment, the local relief agency also works with volunteers from Germany, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Belgium and the United States.

There are at least 100 aid organizations -- plus UN agencies -- operating in Aceh. Aid agencies have provided emergency food, water and shelter to about 330,000 people, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The agency says the next step is to construct temporary settlements for 150,000 families.

Because the tsunami destroyed hospitals and medical clinics, killing doctors and nurses, access to quality health care has been severely restricted. Drinking water is still in short supply and this keeps the risk of some sort of epidemic high.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials are worried about an outbreak of measles as well as the risk of malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports that measles still kill more children than any other disease that is preventable by vaccine.

Measles can lead to brain damage, deafness, blindness and mental disorders. To help prevent an outbreak of measles, WHO has set up a program to vaccinate as many children as possible -- up to 65,000.

Currently, refugees in Aceh seem to be suffering from diarrhea, respiratory problems and skin infections. While these diseases are not considered life threatening, they can lead to more serious illnesses. Sanitation is still lacking, and that alone can pose health risks.

To make matters worse, last week Australian doctors reported treating a case of Mucormycosis, a deadly fungus that attacks the brain, lungs, skin, kidneys and sinuses.

It is still not clear how many doctors, anesthetists, surgeons, dentists and nurses work in Aceh now. Bernt Apeland of the International Committee of the Red Cross said Aceh used to have 700 doctors and nurses. They mostly "disappeared" during the tsunami, he told IPS.

Commenting on the Indonesian Red Crescent's statements, Apeland said: "I do agree that in the long run the health service should be ran by Indonesians. But it is an emergency situation here.

"We were asked by the Indonesian authorities to set up a field hospital. We always have 10 doctors -- five Indonesians working side-by-side with five internationals," he added.

Relief worker Ismet wants the foreign doctors to stay. He says he is skeptical of the local medical services -- and he has every reason to be.

His son, Mahdi Anzala, a 23-year-old college student, had a bad cut in his foot as a result of injuries sustained when he tried to flee the killer waves. The festering sore, because it was untreated, later developed into a tumor. Ismet first took his son to an Indonesian clinic to seek medical help.

"They asked me to register first, then to show documents from my district officials -- you know, typical Indonesian bureaucracy. Later a doctor checked Mahdi and said he should be transferred to a bigger hospital," Ismet told IPS.

It is a common practice among Indonesian doctors to ask their Acehnese patients to produce their red-and-white identity cards. Red and white are the colors of Indonesia's national flag. The cards were specifically designed for the Acehnese after the Indonesian government declared martial law in Aceh in May 2003, in its fight against separatist rebels.

Before the December 26 tsunami struck, Aceh was almost entirely closed to any international presence due to military operations there against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which has been fighting for independence since 1976. More than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since then.

Ismet said he had to thank a foreign doctor -- who happened to visit the relief camp where he is currently seeking shelter -- for saving his son's leg.

"This Brazilian doctor saw Mahdi's wound and decided on the spot to perform surgery on a bench, using local anesthesia, to remove the tumor," he said. "No questions asked, he just [did] what he thought was best. "When the tumor was out, it was the size of my thumb," added Ismet. Ismet said his son started walking after the Brazilian doctor came back to the camp again to remove the bandages.

Murizal Hamzah, an Acehnese journalist who works for the Jakarta-based Sinar Harapan daily, also considered the Indonesian Red Crescent's request "a bit odd".

"I have traveled and visited many hospitals throughout Aceh. Indeed, the foreign doctors are more popular than local ones because the bureaucracy of the Indonesian medical services is really notorious," he said. (Inter Press Service)

Experts suggest government share power with GAM

Jakarta Post - February 3, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The government should offer a power-sharing arrangement to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in governing oil and gas-rich Aceh as part of an effort to end the decades-long conflict in the province, a number of experts have said.

Head of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University's Center for Security and Peace Studies, Syamsu Panggabean, said that such a conflict resolution model had been adopted to settle protracted conflicts in other countries, such as between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front, and between the British government and Northern Ireland separatists. "Clearly, there will have to be power sharing," Panggabean told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said that the government and GAM leaders should hold a series of talks to devise a mechanism by which power sharing could be implemented. "Settling the conflict in Aceh is possible. What both sides must do is to be serious in the negotiations, meaning they must listen and consider each other's demands instead of forcing the other side to accept their proposals," he said.

Recent talks between the government and GAM's exiled leaders in Helsinki ended inconclusively, although a number of officials from both sides said they intended to meet again in the "near future", possibly this month, to discuss ways of ending the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands people. The latest peace negotiations have been facilitated by the Finnish Crisis Management Initiative (CMI).

But Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS has insisted that any future talks with GAM must be based on the concept that Aceh remains part of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia, albeit with special autonomy.

Smita Notosusanto, who heads the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), agreed with Panggabean, suggesting that the government allow GAM members to stand in local elections.

"Both sides have their reasons for continuing the conflict in Aceh, which is rich in natural resources. But, basically it's about power. Why doesn't the government allow GAM members to participate in elections?" she asked. Elections would serve as a good tool for both sides to prove their respective commitments to ending the conflict, Smita said.

By participating in elections, GAM could prove its claim that it is supported by most Acehnese, while at the same time Aceh would be maintained as part of Indonesia. On the other hand, the government would be able to prove to the Acehnese that they will be allowed to fully enjoy the special autonomy they have been granted.

"I personally think that GAM members would not hesitate to stand for election as regents. If they refused, they would only confirm their position as criminals. Only elections would be capable of confirming their claims to public support," Smita said.

Unlike local elections in other provinces and regencies in the country, the Aceh Special Autonomy Law (No. 18/2001) allows independent candidates to stand in regental or gubernatorial elections. The Aceh legislative council has also issued local regulations on the issue, Smita said.

GAM has been fighting for independence since 1976. Both the government and GAM had earlier produced a series of agreements to stop the conflict in Aceh on a temporary basis, but they failed to bring about a binding peace.

The most recent truce between the government and GAM was the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which was signed in 2002. It collapsed in 2003, and martial law was quickly imposed in the province. This has since been toned down to a state of civil emergency.

Fears grow over Aceh barracks for victims

Sydney Morning Herald - February 2, 2005

Mark Forbes, Banda Aceh -- There are growing concerns that the Indonesian Government's plans to hastily relocate about 60,000 tsunami victims into 36 supervised barracks could spark outbreaks of disease.

More than 426,000 tsunami survivors are living in temporary refugee camps across Aceh, but the Government wants most of them closed and many of the residents resettled in barracks-style huts within two weeks, with the remainder sent home or transferred to other accommodation.

On the outskirts of Banda Aceh, the Herald found wooden barracks being constructed over open drains with water pooling underneath. Each building will house up to 100 people. The supervisor of construction at the Lambaro camp said he was obliged to build the barracks over a drain due to a lack of land.

"We tried our best to build the barracks as well as possible, but to stop the water under the house would cause a flood," the supervisor, Sumantri, said. "We would not normally build houses in these conditions but this is the land we have." A relief organiser conceded the cramped conditions could lead to outbreaks of dengue fever and malaria.

In the existing ramshackle refugee camps, many of the displaced are torn between a desire to return and rebuild their lives and the fear a tsunami could strike again. Along the west coast, many villages have been simply washed away, along with their accompanying infrastructure.

Sitting in Banda Aceh's largest refugee camp, Syamadiah rejects the plan to move her to central barracks and wants her coastal village of Stui rebuilt. "That's where we live, it's where I earn my living," she said.

Syamadiah wants to rebuild the ice stand that provided her with a basic income. But her neighbour, Nurhayati, does not want to return; she wants a new beginning.

"I see the trauma and I see where my house used to be," she says, sobbing. "It makes me sad to remember my lost daughter." Ashida, who escaped from the tsunami with only the clothes on her back, would also prefer to move to a relocation camp. "The land where my house was is under the sea; I cannot live under the sea," she said. "Many people are afraid to go back to the beach, we are afraid the tsunami will happen again."

The government co-ordinator of the relocation program, Ibu Henny, said refugees would be placed in the barracks only voluntarily. Some requests to have camps built near former coastal villages had been rejected for safety reasons, she said. "We will listen to the wishes of the people. In Calang 300 fishermen are not willing to be moved to the mountains, so we will build a barracks near the beach."

A United Nations relief co-ordinator, Joel Boutroue, said a larger number of community facilities could be preferable, providing basic services and allowing people to decide if they wanted to move into them.

Aid agencies are believed to have reservations about the barracks, with concerns growing about the wishes of the population being ignored and fears over the role of the Indonesian military in the camps. Until the tsunami struck, Aceh was in effect under military rule due to a long-running conflict with separatists.

With 300,000 dead: 'We must have a cease fire'

Green Left Weekly - February 2, 2005

Max Lane -- "The death toll in Aceh from the tsunami is closer to 300,000 people", Thamrin Ananda, chairperson of the Aceh People's Democratic Struggle Front (FPDRA), told Green Left Weekly by phone from Jakarta on January 27.

The FPDRA has been active in organising students, farmers and women struggling for democratic rights and for a self- determination referendum. Its leaders have been in and out of prison and its newspaper was closed down during Jakarta's declared state of military emergency in Aceh.

"The official count now is 230,000 dead, but we think this is an underestimation. More than half, perhaps even two thirds, of the population of our capital, Banda Aceh, has gone", he emphasised, "and that was a city of 270,000 and in other parts of west Aceh, 90% of the people have been lost." The Indonesian government talks of 400,000 displaced people, but Ananda thinks it is almost twice that, with the bulk fleeing to stay with friends and relatives in "unaffected" areas. "75% of Aceh's infrastructure has been destroyed, remembering that much of the area's infrastructure has been concentrated in Banda Aceh, and other areas that the tsunami hit, such as Pidie", Ananda said.

Acehnese society has been deeply altered by the tsunami's violence, he explained. "All the social and political organisations of the Acehnese have been devastated. They have lost most of their leaders, much of the membership, all their offices and possessions. Even the geography has changed. Much of the old Banda Aceh is permanently under water now and since the capital is not functioning as it used to, either administratively or commercially, the geopolitics of the region is changing." With a possible 300,000 dead, at least 700,000 displaced, tens of thousands of the displaced people traumatised, and much of the other 2 million Acehnese bearing the burden of taking in the displaced people, the survival of Aceh at its previous socio- economic level -- which was already severely underdeveloped -- is under threat. "Everything is disrupted. Many of the things needed for production are not available or too expensive now, the whole of the people are suffering a drop in their levels of living. Survival and recovery from trauma are the immediate, pressing activities of the people. This is affecting political life too." But according to Ananda, recovery cannot be separated from politics even in the current horrific devastation. "We are very worried that there will be no ceasefire between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM)", said Ananda. "This will be a disaster for the Acehnese people." "Recovery is hard enough as it is, let alone if there is no halting of the war and the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) continue to be so powerful here. It is enough that the people are traumatised by the disaster and afraid for their survival. Let alone having to be in fear of the TNI as well".

Over the phone, Ananda quickly recounted examples of TNI harassment of Indonesian relief-effort volunteers in Aceh, and even them detaining survivors who had raised criticisms of the aid distribution. One of the volunteers from the National Student League for Democracy (LMND) working for SEGERA (Solidarity with the Acehnese Peoples Movement) was beaten, he said.

"In fact, in recent days the TNI has gone on the offensive. There have been many attempts at provocation in Banda Aceh -- harassment of Acehnese and seizure of property ... They want to provoke GAM into a serious counterattack so as to sabotage the negotiations between GAM and the government that are scheduled to begin on January 28 in Finland", he explained.

"While the GAM leadership in Aceh lost some personnel to the tsunami, most were safe. They were in the mountains. They have survived. They are even active now in Banda Aceh. The TNI had many losses being located on the coast, where their illegal logging and other commercial interests are based." Ananda clearly thinks that the TNI does not want the negotiations to succeed.

He explained that he had just come from appearing on a TV talk show in Jakarta and that there is wide public support in Indonesia for the call for both sides to hold back from raising any political demands at the negotiations.

"We do not want GAM to raise the issue of independence and we do not want the Indonesian government to raise the issue of special autonomy or acceptance of the unitary state of Indonesia. We want them to agree to an indefinite ceasefire based on everybody working together to ensure proper reconstruction of Aceh." President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has decreed the establishment of a Special Aceh Authority (BOK) to be established to oversee the reconstruction. Its membership is to be appointed by the government in Jakarta. FPDRA issued a statement on January 24 outlining its call. This also included the demand that "all elements of the political spectrum be considered important parties within the negotiations or the dialogue. These must include all civilian elements outside of both the government and the GAM comprising academics, Moslem clerics, political activists, students, and other Acehnese public figures.

"The involvement of civilian representatives in the negotiation is very important, considering that the conflict in Aceh does not only involve GAM and the Indonesian government; and that in every phase of the conflict, civilians have been treated as combatants by the belligerents." Ananda emphasised: "If we can have a real dialogue and cooperation between all these elements, GAM and the government in Jakarta, this provides a better basis than just a BOK made up of Jakarta appointees. We need the society to be a part of the whole process, not kept out of the picture." The Indonesian government negotiation team left for Helsinki on January 27. It is lead by three ministers: for home affairs, for defence and for human rights. But statements by the Indonesian president are worrying. "Any attempt by the Indonesian government to raise the political issues will abort the talks", said Ananda. "According to the GAM statements we have seen, they are prepared to support a ceasefire without raising the political issues." The FPDRA, says Ananda, thinks that a ceasefire and a joint approach to reconstruction could also operate as a period of confidence building. "There has already been a good response by Acehnese to the large numbers of non-Acehnese from Indonesia helping as volunteers. They are certainly appreciated much more than the TNI, of course. GAM has also assured all volunteers, including Indonesians, of their protection and so far no Indonesians have been harassed by GAM. This is a good development." The key will be the attitude of the political elite in Jakarta and the TNI in Aceh. In the past, the various fractions of the political elite have been too afraid to confront the military, lest it line up with their opponents. While the TNI lost much of its role as an instrument of repression (outside Aceh and West Papua) after the fall of Suharto, it has remained an important player in business, government administration and elite wheeling and dealing.

The elite-controlled parliament virtually ceded Aceh to the TNI as a fiefdom by approving President Megawati Sukarnoputri's May 2003 decree setting up a state of military emergency. Even though this was downgraded in 2004 to a state of civil emergency, the TNI has remained the real power, ruling over Aceh as if it was ruling over the hostile population of an occupied foreign country. Any kind of ceasefire and dialogue and collective response to reconstruction, especially one that allowed for a legitimate role for GAM and other opposition groups, would fundamentally undermine the TNI's rule.

"The role of international solidarity in campaigning for this kind of ceasefire agreement may be crucial", said Ananda, "as will be pressure from Indonesian society". Other Indonesian and Acehnese groups have put forward the same position as the FPDRA. On January 27, the program director of the human rights group, Imparsial, Otto Iskandar, also called on the two sides not to raise their political demands. Rafendi Djamin, from the Human Rights Working Group, representing almost all Indonesian human rights organisations echoed this call.

A similar sentiment has been echoed by some religious leaders in Aceh. Tengku Baihaqi Yahya, secretary-general of the Aceh association of the Dayah Muslim scholars, was quoted in the Jakarta Post on January 27: "The warring parties must sit together and be willing to backtrack, rather than stubbornly maintaining their different stances, because such an attitude cannot result in anything positive and will only prolong the misery of the Acehnese."

Acehese demand more inclusive talks

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Nani Afrida and Apriadi Gunawan, Banda Aceh/Medan -- Prominent Aceh figures and scholars appeared lukewarm on Tuesday about the recent peace talks between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Helsinki, saying that the talks were "elitist".

They suggested that the two sides should include other constituencies in Aceh in the next peace talks scheduled to be held in the near future as no Indonesian or GAM leaders were capable of representing the Acehnese people. "They held talks for around three years and they resulted in nothing but violence. They have to change the strategy. They must involve other elements so as to elicit more views about the solution to the conflict," said scholar Syaifudin Bantasyam.

Acehnese academics have long being saying that inclusive talks were necessary to increase the credibility and legitimacy of the peace talks, thus making them better able to bring about a permanent peace in the province.

Peace negotiations between the Indonesia government and GAM leaders in Sweden began in 2001 but failed to produce peace as both sides refused to budge from their predetermined positions. The failure of the negotiations led to violence in May 2003 when the Indonesian government launched a major offensive against GAM.

After more than a year and a half of conflict, the tsunami disaster of December 26 last year provided a window of opportunity for both sides to resume talks, but the two days of discussions last week in Helsinki failed to produce a breakthrough, except for a promise that both sides would meet again in the near future for another round of negotiations.

In a separate development, the chairman of the Medan-based Aceh Sepakat organization, Fauzi Usman, said that the tsunami disaster, which killed about 130,000 Acehnese, should have prompted the two sides to come to their senses.

Aceh Legal Aid Institute coordinator Rufriadi added that what mattered now was how to encourage the two sides to give up their entrenched positions and instead focus more on promoting the prosperity of Aceh.

"They need to highlight the humanitarian issues going on right here and now. Aceh needs a cease-fire, a humanitarian pause. Afterwards, they can start talking about resolving the conflict from the political point of view," he said.

Although the Acehnese had little to say in public about the failed talks, Rufriadi said he believed that most Acehnese must have been hoping the negotiations would be fruitful. "I believe they do care, but perhaps they don't expect a lot this time around after the previous series of failed negotiations," he said.

Abbas, a civil servant in the resource-rich province, merely said, "Let them negotiate, we don't care. Right now what we care about is how to survive and get over the trauma of losing our loved ones," he said.

First direct elections in Aceh regions postponed

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- While other regions across the country are gearing up to hold the first direct regional elections in June, five regencies in Aceh will have to postpone the event following the tsunami disaster.

Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf said on Monday that regional elections in five regencies of Aceh including Calang, Meulaboh and the mayoralty of Banda Aceh will be postponed indefinitely.

The three areas were severely affected by the December 26 tsunami.

"Public facilities have been badly damaged, and officials are not ready and residents are still suffering," he told reporters after a breakfast meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Merdeka Palace.

Ma'ruf could not say when residents in the five regencies could exercise their right to elect their respective leaders directly.

"We don't know yet because these regencies are still under emergency rule," he said. Ma'ruf said that the President would issue a presidential decree on the postponement.

Various regions across the country are set to hold regional elections in June to directly elect more than 200 regional leaders including regents, mayors and governors whose terms will end soon.

The government has ruled that other regencies in Aceh, which survived the earthquake and ensuing tsunami, must conduct the regional election as scheduled, including voting for a new governor.

Aceh's current governor, Abdullah Puteh, was suspended by the President after he was charged with corruption last year.

For Papua, Ma'ruf said that the government would conduct the election in line "with existing legislation", referring to a government regulation on the establishment of the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) and Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy in Papua. "We'll push for the establishment of the MRP first [before conducting the election]," he said.

Separately, the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced that it would issue national guidelines for KPU branches (KPUDs) in a bid to standardize the regional election process across the country, Antara reported.

KPU Chairman Nazaruddin said that the technical guidance, such as budgeting and ballot logistic preparations, was mandatory for KPUDs as it would be the first experience for all of them in conducting regional elections.

"Currently, different KPUDs have different guidelines for regional elections. They must be standardized nationally," he told reporters after a meeting with the House of Representatives's Commission III on legal and human rights.

More medicine needed, not foreign doctors: Aid official

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Jakarta -- Tsunami-stricken areas in Indonesia were in need of more medical supplies rather than additional medical workers due to the declining number of patients and the already excessive number of medical workers, a senior aid official said on Monday.

Gunawan, deputy head of the Indonesian Red Cross, said that the number of medical workers in Aceh and North Sumatra had surpassed needs and that no additional medical workers, especially from foreign countries, were needed.

"Therefore, we can reduce the number of medical workers especially as the number of patients visiting field hospitals and health posts is falling anyway. It will be more useful if aid comes more in the form of medical equipment and medicine instead," he told reporters.

The Aceh health agency estimates that there are more than 10,000 local and international medical workers currently working in the province, which was pulverized last month by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that claimed more than 200,000 lives.

Approximately 400,000 others are now living in makeshift tents, leaving them highly vulnerable to communicable diseases. "Besides, the types of diseases that we are facing at the moment are more common illnesses rather than those specifically related to the tsunami," Gunawan argued.

Furthermore, he added, differences in language and culture constrained foreign doctors and nurses, making their assistance in the massive relief effort less than optimal.

World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman Bob Dietz told AFP that he did "not necessarily agree" with Gunawan's assessment. Dietz said "we are struggling to keep up with the generosity of the rest of the world" in terms of providing medical supplies, equipment and personnel to the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra.

WHO deputy director-general Jack Chow said last week that while Aceh seemed to have escaped post-tsunami epidemics, "there's still a critical need for primary health care, water, doctors and nurses".

He argued that the heavy wet season in the country meant that diseases like malaria and dengue become more prevalent. "We have to remain vigilant. I think we are fortunate that we haven't had this spike of communicable illnesses. We can't let our foot off the accelerator."

Chow said the relief effort was now "somewhere between" the emergency phase and the rebuilding phase, and that the health authorities needed to install the "building blocks of clean water and sanitation" to safeguard displaced people.

Dark future tipped for government-GAM talks

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- Plans to hold further peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) look likely to stalemate as both parties cannot agree on the final goal of the dialog.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo A.S. said on Monday that at the recent informal meeting in Finland, the government sought a "comprehensive and permanent solution" to the separatist conflict in tsunami-ravaged Aceh.

The GAM delegates meanwhile brought the concept of "a temporarily settlement merely aimed at ending the hostilities through a cease-fire", he said.

"With regard to stopping the conflict, we want a comprehensive and permanent solution ... not just talk about a cease-fire", Widodo said after a breakfast meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

"If there should be a further dialog, we want a clear agenda and substance to serve as the basis for discussions. Otherwise, we're not sure whether we would like to sit down again for talks," said Widodo, a retired four-star Navy admiral who was among the three ministers representing the government in the two-day talks with GAM leaders in Helsinki.

The top-level delegations from the government and GAM ended their dialog on Saturday with no concrete agreement on how to end war in Aceh, but vowed to meet again soon to seek a peaceful solution.

The two sides refused to disclose when the next meeting would take place, but it will reportedly be held in Helsinki on February 21.

Separately, chief negotiator Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin insisted that the special autonomy offer for the resource-rich province was as far as the government would go to end the separatist conflict.

During the Helsinki dialog, Hamid said, the government delegation provided the GAM leaders with a copy of Law No. 18/2002 on Special Autonomy for Aceh and supporting documents. "In principle, they [the GAM leaders] said they are willing to learn about the concept in detail," he said.

From Sweden, GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah said that during the recent meeting, his side would only bring "practical and realistic issues to the discussion", particularly how to ensure that tsunami survivors could get relief aid quickly. "How can we stop a three decades-long conflict in only one or two days?," he said.

Bakhtiar lamented Indonesia's efforts to limit the talks to only discussing special autonomy for Aceh, which meant that "the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is the final concept".

Meanwhile, the facilitator of the talks, the Finland-based Crisis Management Initiative, said it was preparing the guidelines for the next meeting.

Bakhtiar said GAM's willingness to attend the next set of talks depended on the proposed guidelines. He said the rebel group would insist on demanding an independence referendum for Aceh instead of accepting the special autonomy status.

"But it must be the aspirations of the majority of people in Aceh," he said. "The idea of a referendum was not taken to the negotiation table [in the last talks] ... But we must discuss this in the next step," Backtiar told The Jakarta Post from Sweden. He said it would be easy to hold a referendum in Aceh with the help of international monitoring groups.

The rebels began fighting for independence in 1976, accusing the central government of plundering the province's resources. More than 12,000 people have died in the conflict.

Indonesia rules out referendum in Aceh peace talks

Associated Press - February 1, 2005

Jakarta -- Indonesia on Tuesday rejected an offer by Acehnese rebels to put their independence claims on hold in return for an eventual referendum on the issue, but mediators were optimistic that coming peace talks could be fruitful.

The two sides held talks over the weekend in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to consider a formal cease-fire in Aceh province and to reopen a peace process that was brutally broken in 2003 by the Indonesian military.

Although the Helsinki meeting ended inconclusively, both sides said negotiations will resume in February, and mediators said Jakarta's offer of limited self-government for the province would likely be the key issue at the talks.

Acehnese rebels on Monday offered to put their secession demands on hold if the tsunami-hit province is allowed to hold an independence referendum within five to 10 years -- a proposal the government rejected Tuesday.

"The Indonesian government has never entertained the idea of a referendum for the province of Aceh," Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said.

But mediators were optimistic about the next round in Finland. "Obviously, the fact that they're meeting again after nearly two years is a very good sign," said Anthony Zinni, a retired US general who mediated in peace talks between the two sides in 2002.

"They're still feeling each other out, and the key issue remains the autonomy that Indonesia is offering," said Zinni, who also served as US President George W. Bush's envoy to the Middle East. "We'll see how that plays out, but I'm very encouraged by the fact that they're talking again."

An earlier round of negotiations resulted in a five-month cease- fire -- the first in the 29-year war -- which collapsed in May 2003 when the Indonesian military launched an offensive against the Free Aceh Movement.

In the aftermath of the tsunami that struck Aceh in December, both sides have been under intense international pressure to resume talks and conclude a formal cease-fire.

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, who convened last weekend's meeting, said he expected the coming talks -- tentatively scheduled for February 21 -- to be difficult.

Representatives of the Free Aceh Movement want the Indonesian side to clarify the proposal to grant the province of 4.1 million people wide-ranging autonomy. In exchange for self-government, Jakarta expects the rebels to give up their independence struggle.

Dropping that goal would be crucial for integrating the rebels into politics. Most observers believe the Free Aceh Movement would overwhelmingly win any free vote in the region, but Indonesian law bans parties that advocate secession.

Separatists in the past have insisted on an internationally supervised referendum on self-determination -- a demand unacceptable to Jakarta, where memories are still fresh of a 1999 plebiscite in East Timor which resulted in a massive vote for independence.

"It's unfortunate that the tsunami disaster had to be the catalyst for renewed contacts, but it is very promising that the new round of talks are being facilitated by Ahtisaari, who has a long experience as a diplomat and international mediator," said Budimir Loncar, a former Yugoslav foreign minister who co-chaired the 2002 talks with Zinni.

Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, who served as Indonesia's principal mediator in those talks, said the government must accept that the "military option" has done more damage than good.

"I know that some people want the problem to be solved by military force," he said. "But you must realize that the killings have only created hatred among the Acehnese, which is poisoning the whole atmosphere."

Tens of thousands of people have died in fighting that broke out in 1976. At least 15,000 have perished in the last decade. The Aceh war began when Dutch colonialists invaded the previously independent sultanate in 1870.

Aceh peace talks could fail without tactics change

Reuters - January 31, 2005

Jerry Norton and Jim Loney, Jakarta -- Talks to end a decades- long conflict in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province could be on a fast track to nowhere unless there are changes in positions and negotiating approaches, analysts said on Monday.

Senior Indonesian and separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) officials had said after weekend meetings in Helsinki -- the first such talks between the sides in nearly two years -- they agreed to work towards a lasting peace to help rebuild Aceh, which took the brunt of the December 26 tsunami.

GAM leader Malik Mahmud, in self-exile in Sweden, spoke of "differences that need to be ironed out" but said the two delegations had formed "a close relationship."

Little else that was concrete emerged from the negotiations, however, and political analysts agree that as there appear to be no changes in the two sides' positions on issues of autonomy and independence, how they can break a deadlock is not clear.

"I'm pessimistic in the long term because there are some non- negotiable issues. GAM insists on independence. The government insists Aceh will never be allowed to secede. It's hard to get around that and see how you are going to have a dignified solution," said Ken Conboy, country manager at Risk Management Advisory in Jakarta.

The tsunami disaster left more than 230,000 of Aceh's four million people missing or dead, and devastated major sections of its infrastructure.

The tragedy helped bring about the Helsinki talks with both sides are under pressure from the international community, which is pouring aid into the province, to try to reconcile the differences behind a simmering civil war.

More than 12,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the war and the prospect it will continue raises questions about the safety of aid workers and the incentives for investors and donors to provide the billions needed for reconstruction in the gas-rich province at Indonesia's extreme northwest corner.

The Helsinki meeting would not necessarily do any harm, said Wimar Witoelar, a commentator and former presidential adviser, "but I fail to see how some people living in Stockholm and some government officials without real power in Indonesia can meet in a place like Helsinki and produce anything significant." "I think the further you leave Aceh for a conference table in Scandinavia, the less probable a solution will come out."

Although the fighters in Aceh pay lip service to their officials halfway around the world, experts say in practice some factions consider the Swedish leadership out of touch with realities on the ground and tend to go their own way.

Similar comments on the importance of negotiating in Aceh itself came from Indonesian parliament member Suripto, a leader of the Prosperous Justice Party, a conservative Muslim party that is a rising political force.

"GAM has many factions and none of them are dominant, especially those that are based abroad. If they achieve an agreement, it would not be implemented by the groups in Aceh." "We should talk with GAM members who are in the field, those who carry weapons, not the elites who like to talk on TV or radio," said Suripto.

GAM issued a declaration of independence for Aceh at the end of 1976. As military efforts to crush the rebellion intensified in the late 1970s, top GAM leaders left for Sweden, where they hoped both to find refuge and generate international support.

Suripto said he thought both sides had common goals after the tsunami, but it was not clear what the government would be willing to offer the rebels politically.

A preliminary peace deal reached in 2002 fell apart partly over the issue of autonomy. The government view was that autonomy could not give way to full independence. GAM officials see autonomy as an interim step toward just that.

Proposals for a referendum on independence, meanwhile, run aground on the government's bottom line, since to accept holding such a referendum, even years into the future, would be to accept in principle that an independent Aceh is at least a possibility.

The autonomy Jakarta has offered Aceh is not visibly different from its past positions, which included major concessions toward self-rule, Islamic law, and a bigger piece of the economic pie from the province's resources -- but not independence.

A government offer of amnesty for GAM rebels appears to amount to saying if they yield their weapons they will not be imprisoned, leaving their political demands hanging.

[With additional reporting by Tomi Soetjipto in Banda Aceh and Sinta Satriana in Jakarta.]

Army officer detained for assaulting activist

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2005

Jakarta -- The Aceh military authorities have detained an army officer for questioning after he allegedly assaulted an anticorruption activist accused of stealing relief aid from the air force base in Banda Aceh.

"As soon as we [the TNI] were informed that one of our officers had assaulted the activist, we ordered the provost to arrest him and put him into Aceh Military Police detention.

"The investigation against him will proceed," Col. Yani Basuki, spokesman for the Indonesian Military (TNI)'s Aceh disaster management task force, told The Jakarta Post by phone on Friday. But he quickly added that Captain Suaib had yet to be named a suspect.

The move by the TNI came after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed his regrets on Thursday over the attack on Farid Faqih, the director of Government Watch (GOWA), a non-governmental organization that had previously vociferously criticized the government's poor coordination of relief aid in Aceh.

According to Yani, Suaib had been assigned to monitor the movement of all military supplies and relief aid arriving in Banda Aceh.

Farid is alleged to have been caught red-handed taking away various relief items, such as medical equipment, medicines, cigarettes, and kitchen utensils, donated by the wives of military officers stationed at the Banda Aceh air force base. Before handing the activist over to the local police, the army captain allegedly assaulted Farid, who sustained a black eye, bruising and swelling to his face.

Farid denied the charge of theft, saying that he was moving the goods to a warehouse outside Banda Aceh to prevent them from being soaked by the rain. He also said that he was assaulted by more than one soldier.

But in an interview aired by Metro TV, the commander of the TNI's Aceh disaster management task force, Maj. Gen. Bambang Darmono, said that Suaib was the "sole perpetrator." Meanwhile, United Nations officers in Aceh said Farid was a partner in the world body's relief operation in the province.

Bo Asplund, the United Nations representative in Indonesia, was quoted by AP on Friday as saying that he believed that Farid had been wrongly accused and would be released soon.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who also chairs the National Disaster Management and Refugee Coordination Board (Bakornas PBP), said that the assault on Farid was the result of a misunderstanding and had nothing to do with poor coordination on the ground.

"So much aid has been flooding into to Aceh. It would be very easy to take it just like that. They are supposed to get permits. This is not about coordination. In fact, if there was no coordination, Aceh would be even more messed up. But it's not," he said.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday that Farid would be transferred to police headquarters in Jakarta for further questioning on the grounds that the law enforcement institutions in devastated Aceh had yet to return to normal.

Acehnese rebels will wait for referendum

Melbourne Age - January 31, 2005

Acehnese rebels have said they are willing to put their demand for secession on hold if Indonesia accepts a "face-saving" formula that would allow the tsunami-hit province to hold an independence referendum within five to 10 years.

The two sides held talks over the weekend in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to consider a possible ceasefire and to reopen a peace process that was brutally broken in May 2003 by the Indonesian military. Although the meeting ended inconclusively, both sides have said negotiations will resume in February.

Teungku Adam, a rebel commander in Aceh who said he had been in touch with rebel negotiators in Scandinavia, said the Indonesian side wanted them to accept an autonomy package before agreeing to a formal ceasefire.

Adam said that when talks resume on February 21, the Indonesian delegation will present the details of the autonomy package for the province of 4.1 million people on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

"We will give them a face-saving deal -- both sides will have to agree on a referendum within five or 10 years, and that will give the Indonesians an opportunity to win hearts and minds if they can do," Adam told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Although Free Aceh Movement separatists have in the past said they wanted a referendum on self-determination for Aceh, they never set a time frame for the plebiscite until now.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the fighting that broke out in 1976. At least 15,000 have perished in the past decade.

Government, GAM agree on more talks

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Jakarta -- Negotiators from the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) wound up two days of talks in Helsinki on Saturday without a concrete result on how to end the decades- long war in Aceh, but pledged to meet again soon to seek a peace deal.

However, just hours before the leaders decided to agree on another round of negotiations, the Indonesian Military (TNI) killed four GAM rebels in a skirmish in an Aceh village, a move that could potentially threaten any new peace talks.

Government officials and exiled leaders of GAM, meeting for the first time in nearly two years, said their Finnish mediator Crisis Management Initiative would convene another meeting "in the near future" to discuss what an Indonesian minister called "a comprehensive peace settlement".

The delegations emerged from talks focusing on the humanitarian crisis in Aceh, where approximately 230,000 people were killed in the December 26 tidal wave, saying the next round of talks would deal with their major political differences.

"We have an in-principle agreement to meet again in the near future to discuss a comprehensive peace settlement under the umbrella of self-autonomy," State Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan Djalil was quoted by Reuters.

From Helsinki, GAM political official Mohammed Nur Djuli refused to describe the meeting as deadlocked, only saying that "both parties have agreed to meet in another meeting some time next month."

"There were some differences [of views] between the two delegations. Of course, it was just an informal meeting aimed at exploring common ground before we move forward to firmer talks," Mohammed told The Jakarta Post by phone from Helsinki on Sunday.

Mohammed acknowledged that the two sides had come up with their own concepts of dialog during the meeting. The GAM delegation insisted on a formal implementation of a cease-fire to facilitate humanitarian relief operation in Aceh. "Any kind of political talks can be held in another meeting," he said.

He said that the Indonesian government delegation had made several offers to end the conflict in Aceh, including amnesty for GAM members, the actual implementation of the special autonomy law for Aceh and also an economic compensation package.

"For sure, it would be improper for us to drop the offers. So we responded by saying that we would study the offers first. But, again, it was not an agreement," said Mohammed, who now resides in Malaysia and was also active during the previous peace talks in Tokyo, which collapsed in 2003, and prompted the government to impose martial law in Aceh, allowing the TNI to launch its largest offensive ever against the GAM rebels. He said that the CMI would arrange the second meeting, likely to take place again in Helsinki on February 21.

Political analyst Salim Said said that although no formal agreement was reached, the fact that GAM was willing to pursue more talks in the future was, in itself, a breakthrough.

"Past negotiations between the Indonesian government and GAM simply fizzled out without reaching any agreement, however informal. What the Helsinki talks have achieved is a success," he told The Post.

He said that with this new development, the TNI should restrain itself from pressing GAM further against the wall. "Continuing offensives against GAM must be put to a halt so that they will not have an excuse to renege on their pledge in the future. Such an offensive is also unnecessary, as GAM is currently under tremendous pressure from the international community to not hamper the relief efforts," he said.

Prominent Acehnese academic Hasballah M. Saad said: "This is positive progress and must be appreciated by both sides."

Lawyer demands activist's release over alleged aid theft

Associated Press - January 29, 2005

Banda Aceh -- A lawyer Saturday demanded the release of an anti- corruption activist who was allegedly beaten while in detention after being accused of stealing aid in the tsunami-hit Aceh province.

The beating of Farid Faqih, whose swollen and bruised face has appeared in newspaper photographs and television footage, has refocused attention on widespread concerns about police and army highhandedness in Indonesia.

"We demand that the police release him. We reject the police accusation that Farid had stolen aid donation," his lawyer, Daniel Panjaitan, told The Associated Press.

He said Faqih is in obvious pain after the beating and there is no reason to keep him in custody as he cannot flee Banda Aceh. "He can stay outside the police station," said Panjaitan.

Indonesia's military said Friday it was questioning an army captain for allegedly beating Faqih, who was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of stealing two truckloads of food, medicine and computers. He was later handed over to the police.

However, Faqih, who heads the Government Watch group and had been working for the UN World Food Program, said he was assaulted by several soldiers, not just one.

By law, a suspect can be kept in custody a maximum of 24 hours. But if the police determine that they have substantial evidence of the alleged crime, the suspect can be held without charge for 20 days.

Indonesian soldiers have a history of abusing suspects in their custody, human rights groups say. They also accuse the military of not doing enough to punish those who break the law.

WFP spokeswoman Heather Hill said Faqih was working for the agency under a short-term contract to help build a tent city for UN agencies in Aceh when he was detained. Bo Asplund, the United Nations representative in Indonesia, said Friday he believed that Faqih had been wrongly accused and would be released soon.

More than 50,000 soldiers and police are stationed in Aceh, where they are fighting insurgents belonging to the Free Aceh Movement.

Deep mistrust breeds chaotic relief efforts

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2005

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- Deep mistrust among local non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and foreign aid agencies of the government-sanctioned National Relief Committee is to blame for the chaotic nature of the relief operation on the west coast of Aceh, a prominent activist says.

National coordinator for the Jakarta-based Humanitarian Emergency Commission, Teten Masduki, said on Friday that a lack of coordination in the delivery of aid -- which had resulted in the chaos -- was the result of the fact that most local NGOs and foreign aid agencies were reluctant to seek assistance from government agencies.

"The NGOs and foreign aid agencies do not have any confidence that their aid will reach the tsunami victims if they hand it to government aid workers for delivery," Teten told reporters on the sidelines of a discussion held by Radio 68H here.

Teten, who is also a prominent anticorruption campaigner, said that the government team lacked the resources to carry out a full-fledged humanitarian operation.

A report by a 34-member inter-agency team, including representatives of the Indonesian government, the US military and UN agencies, said that the relief effort on the west coast of Aceh was chaotic.

The report cited "the continued absence of a systematic response to the multiple needs of the population" and said the provision of health services lacked coordination and that information was fragmented.

Teten added that the absence of proper accounting as regards how much aid had been distributed and how many survivors had registered as recipients, as well as overambitious work plans, had also contributed to the mess.

"We were once told that a team from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Relief Committee had sent aid to the same area twice even though it was already stuffed with aid. It is such a waste," he said.

Teten said that while some chaos could be expected for up to three months, there seemed to be no improvements taking place in the relief operation as reflected in the day-to-day activities of government-assigned aid workers.

Local NGOs and foreign aid agencies in the field have been reluctant to work with government-sanctioned teams out of concern that the aid would not reach the tsunami victims in time or would be used by the security authorities as a means of tightening their grip on the Acehnese.

Before the tsunami washed away a large part of coastal Aceh, its population had been stuck in the middle of a decades-long armed conflict between the TNI and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group.

Commenting on the revelation by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab that malfeasance had occurred in the management of public donations, Teten said that this had resulted from the absence of standardized monitoring procedures for the disbursement of funds.

Separately, Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS) analyst Indra J. Piliang said that it was high time for accountancy firms, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and provincial audit agencies (BPKP) to start scrutinizing how the funds donated by the public had been spent as part of the government-sponsored relief operation.

"This would be of great benefit to the putting in place of safeguards so that future malfeasance can be avoided," he told The Jakarta Post.

Aid to the military could annihilate the Acehnese

Green Left Weekly - January 29, 2005

Shirley Shackleton -- I have studied the TNI (the Indonesian military) for 30 years and what is happening in Aceh has striking similarities to what happened in East Timor. The TNI terrorised the East Timorese for a quarter of a century and they have done the same to Acehnese citizens for 31 years.

The TNI tried to crush independence movements in both countries. When Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975, Western aid goods were seized by the TNI and sold to the Timorese. Those who could not afford to buy the purloined goods starved. In the first year, 60,000 civilians, mostly women and children, died.

After the declaration of martial law in Aceh in May 2003, journalists were allowed briefly into villages where they found scores of young men shot dead. When this was reported around the world, Indonesia quickly imposed a ban on journalists visiting villages.

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has now done a back-flip on his demand that foreign military forces were to leave Aceh by March 26, but this sorry episode is emblematic of the Indonesian government's eagerness to rid themselves of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

On tour of Indonesia and other affected regions, the president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, admitted that the disaster was so big it could take three months even to work out a reconstruction plan. Yet he now says he is going to recommend that the US resume its military trade with Indonesia. He should be recommending that money be spent on giving Indonesian soldiers a living wage instead of selling them more weapons of destruction. The TNI soldiers are scandalously underpaid and are expected to find ways of making money even if it means thuggery and extortion.

The problem is not with individual soldiers; the entire military structure is corrupt. An editorial in the January 8 Age explained: "There is no guarantee the aid money will find its way to those in need particularly in countries where corruption is a problem (which is a consideration in Indonesia.)" If the Timor experience is any indication, our money will be used to fund the war against Aceh. Mark Davis's SBS documentary, Blood Money, showed how the money trail went from the World Bank to the TNI in East Timor via foreign minister Ali Alatas's office in Jakarta. Receipts and account books were in the ruins of the TNI office in Dili. That was the aid money that provided guns, drugs and machetes to kill Timorese.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and US President George Bush should be demanding a referendum on independence for Aceh; but both are more interested in point scoring. On January 13, Bush explained: "There's a lot of talk about how some in the world don't appreciate America. Well, I can assure you that those who have been helped by our military appreciate America." Similarly, Howard said on January 15 that the aid package, some of which is likely to go to the military, was "to shore up our relationship with Indonesia and to bring our governments closer together".

In the Canberra Times on January 14, Dr Damien Kingsbury, from Deakin University, said that GAM had made tentative overtures to Indonesia's new government to resume the peace process last year, but that the military had no interest in pursuing it and had ensured no progress had been made. "The government seems to want to find a settlement", he said, "the TNI does not".

I fear the TNI will "rehabilitate" the Acehnese in the same way they forcibly removed 250, 000 people from East Timor while the world watched. Many were never seen again.

[A longtime solidarity activist with East Timor, Shirley Shackleton's husband Greg was one of five journalists killed in East Timor during Indonesia's 1975 invasion.]

Labour issues

Alleged corruption at Hotel Indonesia revealed

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- Some two hundred former employees of Hotel Indonesia filed a report against the hotel's former board of directors on Tuesday, alleging that they had corrupted workers' pension and insurance funds.

Hotel Indonesia Workers Association (SPHI) chairman Windu Wahyudi said at the Attorney General's Office that they had solid evidence to prove that the board of directors had misused a total of Rp 3.8 billion (US$422,000) in pension funds the state had allocated for the workers.

"We have evidence and witnesses to prove that they embezzled our pension, insurance, and allowance funds. We are ready to testify against them in court," Windu said after submitting their complaint to the Attorney General's Office.

The former board of directors of Hotel Indonesia before it was sold to a company under the giant cigarette maker Djarum Group were A.M. Suseto, Imam Subiantono and Maman Suparman. They were not available for comment on Tuesday.

Windu alleged that on April 27, the management asked the hotel's pension funds foundation to transfer around Rp 3.2 billion to an account at one of Bank Mandiri's branch offices in Central Jakarta, which the foundation did on April 29.

"The management never distributed the money to us; we can testify that none of us have received any money. Instead, they cut our severance money to pay our pensions," Windu said.

The association's lawyer Hermawanto said that they accused the management of corruption because the funds belonged to the state as Hotel Indonesia was a state-owned company. "We are reporting them for corruption, because they took state money," he said.

Windu also alleged that the management had subsequently taken Rp 640 million of their pension funds using the same tactic. "We haven't counted the money misused in the insurance funds yet because it involves all of the 1,215 workers. We must calculate it first but I am sure it will be billions of rupiah," Windu said.

The government sold Hotel Indonesia to PT Cipta Karya Bumi Indah, a subsidiary of the Djarum Group, in May last year and all employees were laid off.

After a long dispute, most employees agreed on a settlement package. Only 46 employees have not accepted the package to date. Attorney General's Office spokesman RJ Soehandojo said his office would quickly process the report as it concerned people from the low-income bracket.

"After this, I will report the case directly to the attorney general. From the report, I can made a tentative conclusion that there are indications of corruption here," he said.

Illegal workers' amnesty ends in Malaysia

Inter Press Service - February 1, 2005

Baradan Kuppusamy, Kuala Lumpur -- Despite the devastation inflicted on South and Southeast Asia by the December 26 tsunami, the disaster has been unable to make compassion-fatigued Malaysia balk at its latest order: the deportation of all undocumented workers back to their tsunami-hit countries.

The deadline for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to voluntarily leave Malaysia or face arrest and punishment expired on Monday. The government now says that armed raiding parties will begin rounding up illegal foreign workers and their employers after a three-month amnesty and send them back to their home countries, regardless of whether these migrants end up in emergency relief camps surviving on rations handed out by charities.

Malaysian human-rights groups are criticizing Kuala Lumpur for implementing a policy that will add to the burdens already faced by countries devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Others have questioned such a lack of compassion at a time when Malaysia itself is coming to grips with the devastation caused by the killer waves that lashed its own coast, killing nearly 70 people.

Most of the illegal immigrants have come from neighboring Indonesia, which has twice persuaded Malaysia to extend the expulsion deadline. But although Indonesia's resources are still stretched coping with the tsunami devastation in Aceh province, Malaysia has signaled that it will wait no longer.

For tea stall helper Abdul Rauf Chinanaina -- a 19-year-old Tamil Muslim from the tsunami-devastated coastal settlement of Nagapattinam in southern India's Tamil Nadu state -- the clock is mercilessly ticking away. An undocumented migrant worker, Rauf must return home to a devastated village. Otherwise, he becomes a hunted man if he stays.

"The waves killed my father, two sisters and many relatives, but I dare not return to help or pray for them because the debt collector and his gang are all alive and would demand repayment of the loan I got from the thugs," Rauf said while serving customers at a roadside tea stall in the Ampang suburb, north of the Malaysian capital.

The Malaysian government is making final preparations -- readying the police, immigration and a 500,000-member civil-defense force called RELA (People's Volunteer Corps) -- for a nationwide crackdown on undocumented workers starting on Tuesday.

Some RELA members will be armed when raiding illegal settlements and squatter communities where undocumented workers live. Local people are also being urged to help by passing on information to the authorities.

"This time we will be relentless," said Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. "We have extended the amnesty twice and this time there is absolutely no excuse for them to remain."

If caught, Rauf will face five years in jail, whipping and deportation for overstaying his visitor's visa and working without valid permits. His particulars, including his photograph and thumb prints, would be taken to ensure he never returns.

"I took a Rp57,000 [US$1,300] loan to pay agents who brought me here and gave me this job," he told Inter Press Service. That was seven months ago, and it will be many more months -- if not years -- before Rauf can save enough money from his meager wages of RM12 ($3) a day to repay the loan and the 20% interest.

More than 8,800 people have been confirmed dead in Tamil Nadu since the December 26 tsunami struck, spawned by an undersea earthquake in Indonesia's northern Sumatra. More than 220,000 people, in a dozen Indian Ocean-rim countries, perished when killer waves lashed the coastlines of South and Southeast Asia.

In Tamil Nadu, thousands more are still missing. At least 140,000 Indians, mostly from fishing families, are in relief centers.

"The tsunami has wiped out any little chances of unemployment in Nagapattinam, and many of my relatives want to come here," said Rauf. "I told them about the crackdown but they still want to come.

"We Tamil Muslims are proud...we want to earn our livelihood," he said. "We don't want to be in refugee camps, surviving on donated food."

The majority of Malaysia's estimated 2 million undocumented workers are from Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India -- the three countries worst hit by the tsunami. Others are from Nepal, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.

Malaysia itself was not spared by the killer waves. Scores of people in fishing communities were swept from beaches near the northern island of Penang, and at least 68 people have been confirmed dead.

"We have made so many compromises before. Therefore, any 'illegal' who is arrested after the amnesty would be subjected to stern action," said Deputy Prime Minister Najib. "We are not closing the doors on all foreign workers. They can return as legal workers but with proper documents," he added.

The amnesty was due to end October 29 last year but was extended first on the government's own decision and later because of an appeal from newly elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The start of the crackdown was delayed by another month following the December 26 tsunami, after appeals by Malaysian human-rights groups.

"Deporting migrant workers to unstable, disaster-stricken areas would contribute to the humanitarian crisis rather than alleviate its effects," said Malaysia's premier human-rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia, or SUARAM. "It also places unnecessary pressure on the governments of the tsunami-hit countries, who are struggling with the enormity of such a tragedy."

Rights organizations also oppose the "haste" of the crackdown and the use of RELA, the People's Volunteer Corp, which they say is a poorly trained, "notorious trigger-happy para-military group".

In addition to the carrying out the crackdown, RELA volunteers will get cash rewards for each immigrant arrested, a move condemned by US-based Human Rights Watch as bounty hunting.

"It is a dangerous precedent to arm RELA members to go after undocumented workers," said Irene Fernandez, director of TENAGANITA, a human-rights non-governmental organization that champions the rights of undocumented workers. "This move will lead to abuse of power and create a form of vigilantism that brings about racism and violence," Fernandez told Inter Press Service.

"There is absolutely no reason to use firearms on unarmed, ordinary migrant workers," she added. "Their only fault is that they do not hold proper documents. Undocumented workers are not criminals." Over the past few days foreign missions here were busy issuing exit passes to their nationals to leave before the deadline on Monday. Ferry tickets to Indonesia have been snapped up, and airlines flying from Malaysia to India, Sri Lanka and Nepal are fully booked.

"I am leaving for Sri Lanka next week," said undocumented restaurant worker Arjuna Gunatilake, 28. "But I will return when my money runs out."

'War on terror'

Indonesia rejects adopting ISA to fight terrorism

Radio Australia - February 3, 2005

Indonesia has rejected a suggestion by Singapore's mentor minister Lee Kuan Yew, that it considers an instrument such as the island's Internal Security Act, to fight terrorism. The controversial ISA, which is also present in neighbouring Malaysia, allows for the indefinite detention without trial or charge, of suspects. Mr Lee said Indonesian authorities were frustrated by not having tough security laws. In reply, Jakarta says it has in place anti-terror legislation and its police and intelligence agencies have successfully prevented several terror plots.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sen Lam

Speakers: Marty Natalegawa Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman

Natalegawa: Each country has its own way in addressing threats such as terror, it's really a comprehensive effort to overcome terror, which cannot simply be done through oppressive means, but also through, above all, through democratic means. We, because of our recent past there is a natural disgust among the voting politic in Indonesia with anything to do with the over enhancement of the role of the security forces, of the authorities so to speak. So we will proceed as we have in terms of having anti-terrorism laws to overcome the threat of terrorism, but we will be extremely cautious in not wanting to take away individual civil liberties, even against the threat of terror. The terrorism law that we have now is quite advanced in contrast to what we had before, but even this particular terrorism law only came about after tighter public scrutiny to make sure that the government, the authorities are kept honest in trying to pursue the perpetrators of those who intend to commit acts of terror.

Lam: So what do you make of Singapore's elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew's statement that Jakarta seems to wait for a bomb to go off, investigate, catch the perpetrators until the next time it happens again. In other words failing to prevent terror plots?

Natalegawa: Well, prevention is actually where the main challenge is now, correct that we can distinguish between acting after the event and prevention. But by its very nature prevention or actions we have taken that have succeeded in preventing terrorism is often not appreciated, because by definition it hasn't taken place. It is perhaps those who may not be privy to the kind of effective steps Indonesian government have taken that actually prevented acts of terror may come to that incomplete conclusion, as if we only act when something happens. We have effectively prevented acts of terrorism even before it happened because of the work of our intelligence institutions and also our police. So it's a bit unkind and not quite descriptive to say that we have not managed to foil actual terrorist attacks.

Lam: Do you think it's unhelpful for the Singapore's mentor minister to be making a statement at this time regarding the ISA and regarding Indonesia's method and ways of trying to fight terrorism?

Natalegawa: I mean we value and we respect the views of our neighbours, and including of course the senior minister Lee Kuan Yew. The last thing we would do is that fighting what is obviously a common vice, a common enemy, that we should be divided in terms of approach. So we would just like to simply highlight where we have common approaches rather than where we may have distinct approaches.

Lam: So is it accurate to say then that Indonesia and Indonesian society at present has no place for an instrument such as the Internal Security Act?

Natalegawa: At this time yes, we are as I said before, given where we are coming from in terms of this hard-won and much cherished democracy that we are enjoying, we would be extremely careful to make sure that even under the guise of fighting terrorism that we do not take away people's civil liberties. Not only have we acted after bomb or terrorism acts taking place, but we have actually managed to foil terrorist attempts. Those types may not be known publicly because by definition if you prevent certain acts from happening no one will perhaps ever know that such an attack was to have happened, in any case.

Militants jailed for assembling bombs

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Theresia Sufa, Bogor -- The Cibinong District Court sentenced on Tuesday four members of the Oman Rahman religious community to jail term ranging between three years and five years for assembling and storing bombs at a house in Cimanggis, Depok municipality.

Presiding judge Marsudin Nainggolan gave Agus Kusdiyanto five years in jail, while Muhamad Ferdiansyah Putra Musahid and Hadi Swandono got four years each.

"The defendants have been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of conspiring to assemble the bombs that exploded in the house where they were being stored on March 21, 2004," the judge told the court. The sentence was more lenient than the eight years' jail term sought earlier by the prosecution.

In a separate trial, presiding judge Edison Muhamad handed down a sentence of three years to Samin alias Apip Saan, who the court found guilty of finding a location for the staging of combat and bomb-making training for the members of the religious community.

"A compounding factor is that the defendant has brought Islam into disrepute by combining religious and criminal activities." The same court postponed on Monday the handing down of its verdict in the trial of Omar, a Muslim preacher.

His lawyer said the defendant knew nothing about the training materials, which he said had been prepared by Harun, who is still at large.

Bashir says extremists were wrong to attack Indonesia

Agence France Presse - February 1, 2005 Firebrand Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir told his terrorism trial that religious extremists were wrong to stage attacks in Indonesia because the world's largest Muslim-populated country was not at war with anyone.

Bashir said if Muslims wanted to wage jihad or holy war against the United States, they should go to countries like Afghanistan.

The 66-year-old hardline preacher is on trial for inciting followers to stage the Bali bombings and a deadly attack on the Jakarta Marriott hotel. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

"I don't agree with the Marriott bombers. Maybe their intention was to defend Islam but their method was wrong," Bashir told the court. "If they want to fight America they should go to Afghanistan. Jihad by taking up arms should only be carried out in conflict areas," he said.

Bashir again denied he was the chief of Jemaah Islamiyah, an extremist group said to have links to Al-Qaeda and blamed for the Bali and Marriott bombings as well as a string of other attacks in Indonesia in recent years.

He said he once wrote an article about suicide attacks but it was only for academic purposes.

Bashir accused the United States of waging an ideological war against Islam by spreading twisted interpretations of the religion. "That is why I'm against America and I call on the government to sever diplomatic relations with America. The move will be much more powerful than bombings," he said.

Bashir has maintained that his incarceration was demanded by the United States because he was critical of Washington's policies in the Islamic world.

One of Bashir's lawyers, Mohammad Assegaff, said prosecutors had failed in their attempt to link Bashir to Bali and the Marriot bombing because none of convicted bombers presented as witnesses linked the cleric to the attacks.

Bashir, who was cleared in 2003 of leading Jemaah Islamiyah, was released in April last year shortly after Indonesia's parliamentary polls. He was immediately rearrested by police, who said they had new evidence of terror links.

Prosecutors in their indictment said Bashir, as Jemaah Islamiyah chief, visited a rebel training camp in April 2000 and relayed a "ruling from Osama bin Laden which permitted attacks and killings of Americans and their allies." He has denied making such a visit.

The Bali bombings killed 202 people and the Jakarta Marriott hotel strike in August 2003 left 12 dead. Jemaah Islamiyah has also been blamed for a suicide attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta last September which killed 11.

Priority bills includes pacts on antiterrorism

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- The House of Representatives (DPR) said on Monday it planned to deliberate 55 bills this year, including three bills on the ratification of an international convention to suppress terrorism and transnational crimes.

However, the ability of the lawmakers to meet their legislation targets, observers say, much depends on the availability of budget funds and the capabilities of their expert advisors. The three conventions up for ratification are the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, and the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Although the legislative program has been discussed during the past three months, several legislators still protested the exclusion of some bills from the list.

Soekartono Hadiwarsito of the Democratic Party suggested that the legislators should also include bills on oil and gas and electricity on this year's priority list.

"The two bills should be prioritized because they are important," he said at a plenary meeting presided over by House deputy speaker Zaenal Ma'arif.

Fellow legislator Suryama M. Sastra of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) also questioned the exclusion of the bill on state intelligence agencies from the list.

He suggested the intelligence bill should be deliberated simultaneously with the bills on freedom of information and state secrecy, which have been given priority.

Suryama said a simultaneous deliberation of the three bills would reduce possible conflicting articles in the three related laws.

Zaenal reminded the House that legislators or the government could still propose other bills for urgency.

In his speech, chairman of the House's Legislation Body (Baleg) Muhammad AS Hikam said that the House's approval of the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) would be a reference for the legislators in the law-making process.

The 55 bills set to be deliberated in 2005 were part of 284 bills to be tabled for deliberation during the 2005-2009 period, Hikam said.

Some of these bill, however, could be merged into one to avoid unnecessary duplication and faster deliberation, he said, citing specifically the bills on the presidency, the presidential advisory board, and on the Cabinet.

House bills are prioritized if they are left over from the 1999- 2004 period, function as supplementary regulations, relate to other existing laws or are linked to the ratification of international conventions.

Separately, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights legal representative Abdulgani Abdullah said the revision of the Criminal Code would be among the 55 prioritized bills.

"The Criminal Code consists of more than 700 articles, therefore deliberations about its revision should be started as soon as possible. They could take three years to finish," he said.

Legislators are also set to deliberate bills on immigration, citizenship, the religious courts, and the protection of witnesses.

Politics/political parties

Susilo expresses concern over Democratic Party bickering

Antara - February 4, 2005

Jakarta -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed concern on Friday over internal bickering in the Democratic Party, one of the parties that supported him for the presidency.

"The President has showed his concern several times over the existence of signs of a split," presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said at the Presidential Palace.

The President, he said, hope the feuding can be resolved in the spirit of unity and democracy.

Asked whether Susilo would step in to help resolve the conflict, Andi said the President just wanted the any problems to be ended democratically.

Democratic Party deputy secretary Sutan Batugana said earlier the party was dealing with the kind of ordinary internal conflicts that happen to all political parties.

The friction concerns differences over where the next party congress should be held, with the camp led by party chairman Subur Budhisantoso favoring Bali, while the camp led by deputy chairman Vence Rumangkang is backing Jakarta.

Megawati could lose PDI-P top job in Bali

Jakarta Post - February 4, 2005

M. Taufiqurrahman and Kornelius Purba, Jakarta -- Clarly worried that she could face the same fate as former Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) leader Megawati Soekarnoputri warned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government not to try to oust her from her post at the party's congress next month.

Both Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla -- who replaced Akbar at Golkar's congress in Bali in December -- responded by saying the government had no interest in interfering in PDI-P's congress. However, Megawati still has every reason to worry about the future of her leadership of the nationalist-leaning party.

In Bali last December, just one day after participants of the Golkar congress gave a standing ovation to Akbar for his success in leading Golkar to the position of the country's most powerful political party -- after the PDI-P held the position for five years -- Akbar lost his leadership post to Kalla.

Akbar is a very skillful politician and Kalla is far from being able to match Akbar in this capacity. There are allegations that Kalla, a business tycoon from Makassar, South Sulawesi, was only able to oust Akbar because of his money.

By unseating Akbar, Kalla and the government hoped they would face no significant hurdles in exercising effective governance. Before this, the government only controlled a minority in the House of Representatives.

Although Golkar under Akbar never positioned itself as an opposition to the government, its alliance with the PDI-P, which was forged to support the reelection bid of Megawati in the September runoff presidential election, meant it was likely be a thorn in the government's side. Taken together, PDI-P and Golkar make up the largest political grouping in the House, which has the power to hinder government policies.

Now that Akbar has been relegated to the dustbin of history, Megawati fears the same thing will befall her, especially after senior members of her party -- whose links to the government, if any, remain to be seen -- began aggravating for her removal from the PDI-P leadership post.

It is true that Golkar is different from PDI-P, although both are nationalist-oriented parties. Different from Golkar, which was founded by former president Soeharto, Megawati's party is ideologically inspired by the country's first president, Sukarno, Megawati's father.

PDI-P depends very much on Megawati and she leads the party with an iron fist. In the 1999 general election, three years after Soeharto's fall, her party won the largest number of seats in the House. Her refusal to form a coalition with other parties cost her dearly in the 1999 presidential election. She was only able to land the vice presidential seat, with Abdurrahman Wahid winning the presidency. She replaced Abdurrahman in 2001 following a prolonged conflict between Abdurrahman and the House.

But Megawati is different from Akbar. The Golkar congress participants applauded Akbar for his success in bringing the party close to the "glory" it enjoyed under Soeharto. In the legislative election in April last year, Megawati's party lost considerable ground from its showing in 1999, and in the presidential election Susilo easily defeated her.

Megawati must take the majority of the blame for these setbacks because people were upset with her performance as president.

Businessman-cum-politician Arifin Panigoro spearheaded a movement to reform PDI-P into a modern political party and free it from Megawati's grip.

The presence of Arifin -- an oil baron -- in the movement should serve as a warning to Megawati that she will face a strong contender with "unlimited" resources in the drive to unseat her.

Also joining the movement are top party officials such as Roy B.B. Janis, former state minister for state enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, former minister of national development planning Kwik Kian Gie and party dissident Sophan Sophiaan.

Party members have repeatedly said Megawati's arrogance and aloofness are the party's Achilles heel, and the only thing Megawati brings to the PDI-P is her status as Sukarno's daughter.

However, the Sukarno trump card is unlikely to work this time around.

The movement has in its corner Megawati's younger brother Guruh Soekarnoputri who, albeit reluctantly, has announced his intention to join the March race for leadership of the PDI-P.

Megawati now has few resources at her disposal. She no longer holds public office, the way Akbar did prior to his defeat. Until October last month Akbar was the House speaker.

Her "financier", Laksamana, may have joined her opponents. On the party's central board, she is surrounded by just a handful of faithful officials, like secretary-general Soetjipto and deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung Wibowo and Heri Akhmadi, whose grassroots appeal is questionable.

Megawati will undoubtedly embark on a make-or-break attempt to defend her leadership, but given the tremendous challenges she is facing her days at the PDI-P helm may well be numbered.

Golkar machine gears up for regional elections

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- After winning the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives in the 2004 legislative election, the Golkar Party is preparing its mammoth political machine to grab the lion's share of top regional administration posts.

Golkar leader Jusuf Kalla said on Saturday that the party headquarters had decided to set up a "national team" to support the campaigns for each of its candidates around the country to win their respective gubernatorial, regental or mayoral elections.

"The reputation of the party on a national basis cannot guarantee victory for each of our candidates. There is no connection whatsoever. A good reputation combined with good achievements for each candidate plays the most significant role in a direct election," said Kalla, who is also the country's Vice President.

Kalla discussed the party's strategy in his opening remarks during a consultation meeting between the party's central board (DPP) and regional boards (DPD) from across the country.

More than 160 regional administration leaders including governors, regents and mayors will soon end their terms. Regional direct elections are scheduled for June. It will be the first time in the nation's history that the people have been able to choose their local leaders.

Kalla said the national team would provide assistance on specific legislation, regulations and procedures involving regional campaigns, as well as helping to create a positive public image for the candidates.

The national team is set to appoint a consultancy firm to arrange simple-but-essential guidance for regional campaign teams, he added.

The same team will also assist the regional campaign teams to raise and manage campaign funds effectively as Golkar's central board would not completely finance each of the campaigns.

Kalla did not say how much money each candidate would have to provide for financing campaign activities, but he estimated that it would be equal to between Rp 1,000 and Rp 2,000 per voter. A regency may have some 500,000 voters, while several provinces have tens of millions of voters. "We spent Rp 1,000 per voter for the presidential election. It's not much, compared to that of other candidates. We spent the money efficiently and effectively," said Kalla, a successful businessman-turned- politician.

Golkar, which was the political vehicle of former authoritarian president Soeharto, is determined to secure as many top regional positions as possible because "it is the party's right to have a role in the state apparatus in a bid to develop the nation", Kalla said.

Recalling his own experience during the 2004 presidential election, he explained to participants how he and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the election in a landslide, even though they were only supported by minor parties, because they focused on image-building efforts.

Kalla was the running mate of Susilo, whose small Democratic Party supported them. But he later won the Golkar leadership post at the party's congress in December.

He explained that his reputation could not be developed instantly; a positive public image had to be built over time with a well-organized campaign.

"That's the key thing about our new election system," Kalla asserted.

He added that before the election campaign he had rarely, if ever, wore a long-sleeved shirt with a checkered pattern, but that all changed after consultations with image professionals.

"If you wear a short-sleeved, plain shirt in media photos and on TV, you will be perceived as a hard worker and a sincere person. But, if you wear a shirt with checkered-pattern, people will consider you an easy-going person," he said.

Government/civil service

Susilo courts media as popularity wanes

Jakarta Post - February 5, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- After declaring that his declining popularity did not really matter to him, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono invited two chief editors to his office for talks on two separate occasions on Thursday evening and Friday morning.

Later on Friday, surrounded by television cameras but off-limits to reporters, the President conversed with Vice President Jusuf Kalla in a gazebo in the garden outside the presidential office.

No official statement followed the unusual meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place inside Susilo's office. Kalla was headed for his boss' office when he was informed about the change of venue.

Only last week, while opening the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) executive meeting at the State Palace, the President gave a cold response to criticism of his performance after 100 days in office.

Critics, supported by surveys, said that Susilo's popularity was waning, apparently due to his failure to live up to the public's expectations for reform.

The President held talks on Thursday evening with Margiono, the chief editor of Rakyat Merdeka daily. The substance of the discussion was not revealed.

Jakob Oetama and Suryopratomo, the founder and chief editor of Kompas newspaper respectively, had their turn to meet Susilo on Friday. Kompas is the country's leading newspaper and has expanded its media industry to radio and television.

Suryopratomo said after the meeting that the President had underlined his appreciation of the national press, which he recognized as the fourth pillar of democracy.

"It is now how the press carries out its duties as a critic and correction medium. He said that he is not allergic [to criticism] as long as the critics can provide facts and tap input from many sides," he said after the talk.

Suryopratomo initially said he and Jakob had just reported to the President about the daily's 40th anniversary celebration in June, which will be marked by a concert.

They also informed the President about the Kompas Gramedia Group's plan to launch an Indonesian version of National Geographic magazine in April. Suryopratomo said he had not invited the President to the events during the meeting.

He revealed that Susilo had invited him to the meeting after they met during a talk show last week. The President expressed interest in the media group's plan to publish the National Geographic magazine, Surypopratomo added.

Last month, Susilo assigned a team led by State Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan Djalil to visit the offices of the two newspapers to convey his displeasure at the publication of several articles in the papers on post-tsunami relief work that the President deemed opinionated.

Sofyan's office was recently upgraded to a portfolio ministry, which enables it to allocate media frequencies. He dismissed fears that the new ministry would emulate the information ministry during the New Order, which banned a number of publications, including Kompas.

The government lost its right to revoke media licenses after the downfall of the New Order regime in 1998.

Government continues to get criticized over performance

Jakarta Post - February 4, 2005

Jakarta -- The first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration have passed. But criticism of his government continues unabated, with most considering that he had so far failed to improve the country's investment and business climate.

"The government has put the direction of its economic policy into its 100-day program and National Medium-term Development Plan [RPJMN]. But can the program and the plan accomplish the vision and mission of the President and Vice President and solve the people's economic problems?" asked Aviliani of Tim Indonesia Bangkit (Indonesia Awakens Team) in a discussion on Wednesday.

She said that government programs and policy during the first 100 days did not demonstrate any of the changes promised by the state leaders during their election campaign.

Another speaker at the discussion, Fadhil Hasan, said the 100-day program was only a compilation of routine programs proposed by ministries and other government institutions.

In its report, the team said that during the first 100 days the government should have established a stronger base for an improvement in tax collection, a reduction in debt burdens, and a contraction in spending, as mentioned in the President's vision statement.

Some critics also highlighted the government's failure to settle a number of high-profile disputes with foreign investors such as Mexican cement giant Cemex SA's case against state-owned PT Semen Gresik, the Karaha Bodas Company (KBC) case, and a row between state firm Pertamina and ExxonMobil over the Cepu gas and oil field.

Fixing these matters would automatically improve the nation's investment climate.

Another team member, Binny Buchori, told the discussion that the government was also weak in establishing strategies in development planning.

"The development plan, for example, does not mention any plan on the privatization of state enterprises, but it presumes a revenue worth of between 0.1 and 0.2 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from privatization," she said.

The RPJMN also indicated that the government, in financing development projects, would not try to pan more revenue from domestic sources other than taxation, such as profits from state enterprises, but it prioritized revenue from foreign loans, she said.

She said the government had projected revenue of about 0.7 to 1.2 percent of GDP from foreign loans.

Efficiency in state enterprises could actually help increase non-tax domestic revenue, she added.

I don't care about popularity, Yudhoyono says

Agence France Presse - February 3, 2005

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he was unperturbed by criticism of his early performance, indicating he was prepared to take unpopular measures to fix the sluggish economy.

"I don't care about my popularity. What matters is I will not stop working for the welfare of the people," he said in a speech opening a meeting of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.

Yudhoyono, who assumed office last October following a landslide election victory, said some criticism of him was unfair but this would not distract him. "I'm taking a positive point of view while continuing to make improvements," he said.

Yudhoyono has won praise for his handling of the December 26 tsunami disaster by organising a donors' summit in Jakarta and responding to calls for talks from separatist rebels in the badly-hit province of Aceh.

But he has been criticized for his perceived failure to make good on early promises of reforms and pledges to send corrupt officials to jail. The public is also unhappy with his government's decision to reduce costly fuel subsidies, which entails raising prices for some fuel products.

In a poll marking his first 100 days in office, 47 percent of 1,787 people questioned nationally last week said they were satisfied with his economic achievements, compared to 63 percent one month after his inauguration.

The poll by the Kompas newspaper was one of the first indications that the polish which helped Yudhoyono trounce his aloof and lacklustre predecessor Megawati Sukarnoputri was beginning to fade.

Yudhoyono has publicly apologised for failing to keep his promises, but defended his progress on tackling corruption in Indonesia -- named by watchdog Transparency International as one of the world's most graft-prone countries.

He said efforts to deal with the aftermath of the tsunami, which killed some 237,000 Indonesians, had thrown his programme off track.

SBY lucky that people don't keep list

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- Gobble ... gobble ... gobble ... is the onomatopoeic phrase often used in cartoon stories whenever characters eat their food in a hurry. It is also the sound a turkey makes.

The word, for some reason, often came to mind when watching President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or his Cabinet trying to explain their failures to deliver on election promises they had made.

State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani initially said the Cabinet would complete 66 programs in the 100-day period. Three months later she said not all of these programs had materialized because the government had to be prudent when it made policies (gobble ... gobble ... gobble...).

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said after the ministers' inauguration that Cabinet members would submit their wealth reports to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) within a fortnight. Two months passed. Andi said: "We were too ambitious at that time" (gobble...gobble...gobble...).

The President said he supported the immediate establishment of an independent team to probe the alleged poisoning of human rights activist Munir. A month went before Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said it would only be established if it was "needed" (gobble ... gobble ... gobble...).

As a four-star general who served as a coordinating minister of security affairs in two cabinets, Susilo should have known better what promises he could fulfill and what he couldn't.

His experience serving as minister should have taught him the basic lessons of big government -- that it is not easy to sway the bureaucracy; and there are always good excuses for subordinates not to fully carry out directives, not least personal political interests.

The time of big promises (the election campaign period) is over. It's time for "Dr Yudhoyono", as spokesman Andi likes to refer him, to translate pledges into actions.

One "novel" idea could be just to actually initiate something successfully without boasting about it beforehand.

Lucky for Susilo, most Indonesians do not keep a checklist of promises made. But maybe winning the presidency is all about wide smiles, big hugs, and kissing children -- all captured on TV, of course.

A program aired by CNN noted one important angle in President George W. Bush's success in retaining office, compared to his father. In his re-election campaign, the senior Bush had said he would not raise taxes, the same promise he made during his first term and did not keep. Bush's opponent, Bill Clinton, during the 1992 debates attacked on that point and won the presidency.

That is a moral that Susilo must carefully consider -- stop making promises that he cannot keep, because if you do not say it then people will not ask.

Hopes dashed for Yudhoyono's first 100 days

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar -- History will judge the cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami that devastated Aceh last month as the defining event of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first 100 days as Indonesia's president. That verdict reflects not just the enormous proportions of this tragedy that likely killed more than 200,000 Indonesians and uprooted millions; it underscores the inability of Indonesia's first directly elected president to exploit his popular mandate to turn the political tide.

To paraphrase US President George W Bush after his re-election, Yudhoyono accumulated political capital with his landslide win at the polls, but he has shown little inclination to spend it. Rather than earning interest, that capital dwindles as Yudhoyono fails to face down foes his victory supposedly vanquished.

At first Yudhoyono pledged to attack a number of Indonesia's most pressing problems in his first 100 days, including corruption, terrorism, and the hangover from the 1997 economic tsunami: slow growth, unemployment and low foreign investment. That pledge was quickly scaled back to having ministers formulate plans to address those problems. The December 26 catastrophe overwhelmed those plans and most other initiatives.

Business as usual

Since the tsunami, the government has rightly focused on relief and reconstruction in Aceh province. That focus excuses the president from delivering on promises for his first three months in office. But even before the tragedy, Yudhoyono's government didn't produce the promised "shock treatment" for the economy or other signature proposals, taking a business-as-usual approach.

Despite the symbolic importance of his democratic election, Yudhoyono and his vice president, businessman Jusuf Kalla, weren't destined to bring revolutionary change. Both were ranking ministers in the cabinet of president Megawati Sukarnoputri, and Yudhoyono also served in the cabinet of another former president, Abdurrahman Wahid. The retired general's rise to the top circle of the military came under disgraced former president Suharto's authoritarian New Order.

Yudhoyono's cabinet choices in October reflected his new team's establishment pedigree and the customary political balancing -- even though Yudhoyono came to power in opposition to the major parties and largely free of political debts -- rather than a clean break with the past. Notably, he didn't reach outside the system to distinguished academics or reformers that would signal, and perhaps produce, significant change.

Yudhoyono has tried to change the presidential tone, from the regal detachment of his predecessor Megawati to a more engaged style. The tsunami struck while Yudhoyono was spending Christmas with victims of an earlier earthquake in Papua. He has visited Aceh repeatedly since its devastation. He has frequently pledged to crack down on corruption, vowing he'll personally lead the fight against the leading scourge of Indonesia's economy and democracy. At a summit on infrastructure development last week offering US$22.5 billion in projects to private investors, Yudhoyono promised representatives of 500 companies from around the globe "a new partnership" with the government to ensure adequate returns, fair administration and legal certainty.

Words, not deeds

But the president's deeds haven't begun to live up to his words. After his assurances on infrastructure projects last week, this week Yudhoyono himself reportedly vetoed a proposed settlement of the government's long-running dispute with Mexican cement multinational Cemex, one of the few foreign investors brave enough to take a chance on Indonesia in 1998. The new government had prioritized settling the four-year dispute over Cemex's option to buy a controlling stake in Semen Gresik during its first 100 days, one of the few goals it is aimed to meet. Opposition to the settlement comes from entrenched Semen Gresik management and their local political backers who hope to keep milking the state-owned company. Instead of facing down these decidedly minor-league foes, Yudhoyono chose to let the dispute fester, leaving Indonesia vulnerable to a potential $500 million judgment and sending a far more costly signal to foreign capital.

On corruption, there's been one high-profile arrest, ironically of the governor of Aceh, and some rumblings about new investigations. But there has been no plan for meaningful progress to change the culture of corruption. In addition to stricter law enforcement, fighting corruption in Indonesia requires legislation to criminalize common practices that would be considered conflicts of interest in other countries, such as officials and their families doing business with the government. It also requires overhauling the judicial system, where prosecutors and judges too often respond to the highest bidder.

There have been public relations slip-ups, too. Yudhoyono first promised then backed away from an independent investigation of the murder of human-rights activist Munir Said Thalib, a campaigner against military and police abuses who died on a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam on national carrier Garuda in September. The massive amount of arsenic in Munir's stomach indicated he was poisoned on board. The murder is a chilling reminder of the New Order and its lingering power. As a compromise, an independent body is overseeing the police investigation that's in its fourth month with no apparent progress.

The toll in Aceh

Declaring a March 26 deadline for foreign troops on humanitarian missions to leave Aceh became an international PR fiasco, painting Indonesians as a bunch of xenophobic ingrates, even after the deadline was softened to a target. If Yudhoyono wanted to suggest that overseas forces leave by that date, he could have couched it as a test for the Indonesian army, Tentara Nasional Indonesia or TNI, to be ready to assume the foreigners' duties. That would have been better international diplomacy, but more risky at home.

TNI pride is still smarting from its lackluster initial response to the disaster, which may have reflected large-scale, undisclosed losses among its forces. Openly challenging Indonesia's armed forces to replace foreign troops within three months might have offended TNI, already wounded by the influx of foreigners it had previously barred from Aceh while waging a sometimes dirty war against separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) forces in the province.

The military has tried to reclaim face by claiming that GAM poses a threat to aid workers and journalists to justify travel restrictions as well as continuing military operations against the rebels, even though GAM declared a unilateral ceasefire. Yudhoyono, a leading actor in the last serious Aceh peace initiative in 2003, has backed new peace talks with GAM to clarify the ceasefire and perhaps discuss a wider settlement. If talks scheduled for this weekend in Helsinki, Finland, succeed and Yudhoyono can bring the military on board, that could be a major success for the president. Similarly, if relief and reconstruction of Aceh are seen as free of corruption, as well as political and military meddling, that will show things have changed.

No fear of Yudhoyono

Unfortunately, there's no evidence that Yudhoyono has the clout to impose his will on key government institutions. Maybe that's a result of his election without major political party backing. Maybe it's a product of reformasi diminishing the powers of the presidency. Or maybe it's a function of Yudhoyono's renowned caution. Despite her public aloofness, former president Megawati was a bare-knuckled political infighter with a troop of feared hatchet men. Whatever the case, it's clear that no one is afraid of Yudhoyono.

Insiders say that ministers regularly announce policies without presidential approval, confident Yudhoyono won't dare contradict them. (The Aceh withdrawal deadline may have been an example.) Even before Yudhoyono took office, defeated political parties announced an opposition coalition seeking to block his legislative initiatives. That coalition dissolved in December when Vice President Kalla unseated Akbar Tanjung as chairman of Golkar, the largest party in the legislature and the former ruling vehicle of Suharto's New Order that still harbors many of its acolytes.

Even this apparent triumph for Yudhoyono may wind up as a defeat. Kalla's victory brought political capital to him, but not necessarily to the administration. It's yet to be seen how Kalla will use his power over legislators and the party, because the tsunami hit barely a week after his Golkar win. But the vice president's staff has been slapped twice this month for overstepping its bounds and issuing orders to the government on presidential matters. Yudhoyono publicly criticized the Aceh relief effort under Kalla's command. Rivalries within the cabinet are nothing new for Indonesia, even at the highest levels -- Megawati was a hostile vice president under Wahid, whom she eventually replaced. Voters may have hoped for something different and better from Yudhoyono's administration, but it's unlikely that they'll get it.

Yudhoyono brings to mind John Goodman or Gene Hackman, competent players capable of outstanding performances. But these fine actors are miscast as leading men. The good news for Yudhoyono is that after 100 days, he has more than 1,800 left to repaint this picture.

[Gary LaMoshi has worked as a broadcast producer and print journalist in the US and Asia. Longtime editor of investor rights advocate eRaider.com, he's also a contributor to Slate and Salon.com.]

Yudhoyono apologises for failing pledges

Associated Press - January 29, 2005

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, struggling to cope with the tsunami disaster as he completes 100 days in office, has apologised to Indonesians for failing to fulfil a range of pledges including an end to corruption.

"Frankly speaking, working hard day and night for 35 days in dealing with Aceh has caused some delays," Yudhoyono said in an interview with editors of leading Indonesian media organisations. The interview was broadcast on Metro television channel.

He said the December 26 tsunami in Aceh province has left him with only two-thirds of his time for the rest of the nation. However, the government has managed to settle some problems he inherited, including the safe return of illegal Indonesian workers from Malaysia.

He said the government has resolved 24 of 70 major corruption cases involving government officials, and given the go-ahead for questioning 31 provincial governors and mayors over corruption allegations.

Indonesia is acknowledged to be one of the most corrupt nations in the world, a legacy of the power stranglehold created by former dictator Suharto and his family. Its unsavoury reputation has raised concerns about transparency in distributing the massive amounts of foreign aid money pouring into the country to help the tsunami victims.

The government has pledged to issue a monthly accounting of aid money to satisfy the international community that none of it is siphoned off by corrupt officials.

Yudhoyono, 55, a former general whose squeaky-clean image helped bring him victory in Indonesia's first direct presidential election in September, took office for a five-year term on October 20.

He promised to "take steps" within 100 days on several fronts, including fighting corruption, making economic gains, alleviating poverty, reducing unemployment and ending separatist conflicts in Aceh and Papua provinces. Government negotiators and Aceh rebel leaders began peace talks in Finland on Friday amid pledges by Yudhoyono to grant the guerrillas wider autonomy.

But in the interview he acknowledged that achieving all these goals would not be as easy as "turning upside down the palm of the hand".

Indonesia's economy was devastated by the 1997-1999 Asian financial crisis. Its current growth rate is slower than its neighbours' and is not quick enough to reduce the country's high unemployment rate, officially nine per cent.

The World Bank expects 4.9 per cent economic growth for 2004 and 5.4 per cent growth in 2005.

"I apologise if the people had high expectations, but the government has limitations in achieving them," Yudhoyono said.

He promised to take into account all criticism and asked for the people's support. "We will further improve our hard work in the future. Give the government room and time to continue its tasks."

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

Experts testify against Puteh in corruption case

Jakarta Post - February 4, 2005

Jakarta -- Experts testified at the graft trial of suspended Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh on Thursday and stated that the defendant violated administrative procedures in the purchase of a Russian- made chopper and that the aircraft was indeed a used product.

One witness, Sutrisno, a helicopter specialist from state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia, told the Anti- Corruption Court that the chopper was not a new aircraft as had been claimed by the Puteh camp to justify its high price tag.

"I inspected the aircraft in July 2004 and found that the left engine already had 1,518 flight hours and the right one 1,547 flight hours," he said.

"About 500 hours were used after the plane arrived in Indonesia, but the remaining 1,000 hours, which is roughly equal to two years, were already recorded before the chopper had been handed over to the Aceh administration." Sutrisno explained that a new engine does not mean it has to have zero flight hours, but usually would be less than 25 flight hours.

Apart from that, it was not clear whether the helicopter was indeed bullet-proof as was also claimed. The chopper did not have any documents stating that it had bullet-proofing, the expert said.

Another expert, Adriansyah, the director of expenses and regional finance at the Ministry of Finance, told the court that the Aceh administration misused the Rp 9.1 billion that it paid for the helicopter.

"The Rp 9.1 billion provided by 13 regencies and cities in Aceh was not supposed to be used to buy the helicopter. It was part of "special treatment funds" from the central government for regencies and cities in provinces to deal with natural disasters, refugees and riots," he said.

The money should have also been allotted for routine expenditures, such as the payment of official salaries, added Adriansyah.

Puteh, being tried on charges of marking up the price of the MI-2 helicopter, had said the chopper cost some Rp 12.6 billion, including the Rp 9.1 billion from the 13 regental and municipal administration in Aceh.

Another expert, Handoyo Sudrajat of the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP), said the procedures in purchasing the helicopter contravened the financial administrative regulations.

"According to the regulations, all revenues and expenditures have to go to the provincial cashier. So, the use of a personal account is against the procedures," Handoyo told the judges.

Puteh had reportedly used his personal account to keep Rp 7.75 billion before paying PT Putra Pobiagan Mandiri (PPM), the broker in the helicopter purchase.

However, the suspended governor apparently returned Rp 3.6 billion of the Rp 7.75 billion to the provincial cashier after the Corruption Eradication Commission started the probe into his case.

Handoyo also said that based on the Aceh cashier's records, Puteh had caused Rp 13.7 billion in losses to the state over the purchase of the chopper, but since he had returned the Rp 3.6 billion, the losses decreased to Rp 10.1 billion.

Puteh's lawyers rejected the statements by Adriansyah and Handoyo, saying the two experts had no knowledge of the subjects they had testified about.

"Obviously Adriansyah is not an expert. He kept looking at his files when the judges asked for his opinion, while Handoyo was not the person who audited the province's balance sheet," said O.C. Kaligis, the chief lawyer for Puteh.

Witness says Puteh returned money

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Jakarta -- Aceh administration secretary Tantawi Ishak testified at the graft trial of Abdullah Puteh on Tuesday that the suspended governor had not returned all of the Rp 7.75 billion (US$861,111) transferred to his account.

Earlier on Monday, Aceh's treasurer Zainudin told the same trial that he had transferred in 2002 the money into Puteh's personal account for the purchase of a Russian-made helicopter.

"The governor returned Rp 1.3 billion on July 24, 2003 and another Rp 2.3 billion, plus Rp 15 million in interest, on July 6, a year later, to the province's treasury," Tantawi told the AntiCorruption Court in Central Jakarta.

He said the Rp 3.6 billion was money that had not been released by Puteh to PT Putra Pobiagan Mandiri (PT PPM), the broker of the MI-2 helicopter, as the company had failed to fulfill its commitment to train the pilots of the choppers, the secretary added.

Prosecutors said the money had been returned after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) began its probe into Puteh on charges of marking up the price of the helicopter.

When asked by the judges whether the governor was allowed to use his personal account for official business, Tantawi said that, as the highest authority in the province, the governor was allowed to do so. "I am not aware of any regulation that prohibits the use of a personal account for such a purpose," the witness said.

After the hearing, Tantawi told The Jakarta Post that Puteh opened Account No. 01.01.038.492 at Bank Bukopin after being elected in 2000 as Aceh governor. "So, the account was opened under Abdullah Puteh's name as the governor but it was not a personal account," Tantawi said.

Another witness, Adi Bramantya, from Bank Bukopin admitted that Puteh's account was opened as a personal account, not an official one.

Commenting on this issue, a professor specializing in administrative law, Ryaas Rasyid, said the use of a personal account for official business violated regulations on financial administration.

"Everybody has the right to have a personal account, but it cannot be used for official business. Purchasing a helicopter is official business, therefore the use of a personal account is not permitted under the law," he said.

Ryaas said that even though Puteh had returned the money, he had still breached the law and should be held accountable. "I heard that he returned the money after he was investigated by the KPK. That won't annul the fact that he violated administrative regulations," the expert said.

Treasurer admits putting money in Puteh's account

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Jakarta -- Aceh's treasurer testified at the graft trial of Abdullah Puteh on Monday that he had transferred some Rp 7.75 billion (US$855,555) into the suspended governor's personal account to buy a Russian-made helicopter in 2002.

Speaking at the Anti-Corruption Court, Zainudin said the money was transferred in two stages -- Rp 4 billion in 2001 and the remaining Rp 3.75 billion a year later.

The money was later sent to PT Putra Pobiagan Mandiri (PPM), the provider of the MI-2 helicopter worth some Rp 12.6 billion, the witness said.

"The money was transferred from the Aceh provincial administration's account to the governor's Bank Bukopin account, to pay PT PPM for the chopper," Zainudin said.

The remaining Rp 4 billion used to buy the helicopter was collected from Aceh's regional administrations.

Puteh is charged with marking up the price of the helicopter his administration bought in 2002, which the Corruption Eradication Commission alleges led to Rp 10 billion in losses to the state.

The governor, who was made non-active last year after legal processes started against him, had returned some of the Rp 2.6 billion of the Rp 12.6 billion to the administration, prosecutors said.

Zainudin said the 2001 provincial budget had not allocated any money to the purchase that had been approved by the Aceh legislative council and all the 13 mayors and regents in the province.

The witness said he had made the first transfer, although he had no knowledge of whether it was based on any contract between the Aceh administration and PT PPM.

"I didn't know whether any contract had been made before, but the first transfer I made without a disposition letter. Then the second transfer was made under the letter issued by the chief of the provincial bureau of finance," he said.

During earlier court hearings, witnesses had said the Aceh administration and PT PPM agreed in 2002 to draw up a contract to procure the helicopter.

However, Zainudin defended the transfers as "legal", claiming that the use of such a personal account was allowed under the law because the governor had authority over all flows of public money under his jurisdiction.

The treasurer argued the decision to buy the helicopter was the right one as it was used to help restore security in the province, where separatist rebels had been fighting for independence since 1976.

"The conditions (in Aceh) were messy. The whole system had broken down: The judges and prosecutors had all run away because of security reasons. The helicopter was badly needed at the time," Zainudin said.

His testimony was met with stirring applause from the gallery, which was packed with Puteh supporters.

Puteh's lawyers asked Zainudin to confirm if he had witnessed any corruption in the payments to PT PPM. He answered in the negative.

Chief prosecutor Khaidir Ramli said the treasurer's testimony directly implicated Puteh in graft, saying it was proof Puteh had abused the system for his own gain by ordering the transfers to his personal bank account.

Monday's trial also heard another witness, T.M. Lizam, head of the provincial bureau of finance, whose testimony concurred with Zainudin's.

Media/press freedom

Journalists protest legislators

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2005

Jakarta -- Dozens of journalists protested on Friday against a House of Representatives Commission, which summoned three editors after its members were questioned by journalists about a possible graft story.

The House of Representatives' Commission III for legal affairs on Friday summoned the editors of two daily newspapers and two radio stations.

The journalists demanded that the Commission III for legal affairs apologize and promise not to make similar summonses in the future.

The editors were summoned after lawmaker Djoko Eddie Soetjipto said he had been interviewed by reporters from the four media about an alleged bribery case involving Commission III members.

The editors of the Batavia daily, Elshinta radio, and Trijaya radio attended the summonses on Thursday, but the editor of the Suara Pembaruan newspaper did not show up.

The three editors said they had never published any reports about any alleged bribery that took place during a recent auction of illegally smuggled sugar.

Regional/communal conflicts

Fresh clash erupts in Ambon

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Ambon, Maluku -- A communal clash between two gangs of warring youths reignited in Central Maluku late on Saturday, leaving five buildings damaged and one totally destroyed.

The youths from the Hitu Lama and Hitu Messing subdistricts have been feuding for months. It was not known what had sparked the dispute.

Police officers sent to the area detained four people believed to be the provocateurs of clash, Ambon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Leonidas Braksan said.

Police and local government officials have met with local leaders in both subdistricts to try and defuse the tension.

Local & community issues

Students protest extravagance

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2005

Pekanbaru -- Hundreds of students from different universities took to the streets on Thursday to protest at what they claimed were extravagant allowances and payments for Pekanbaru city administration executives and city councillors.

In their statement, the students, who were grouped under the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front, pointed to the Rp 75 million (US$8330) paid for a mayoral medical examination, Rp 175 million for official mayoral visits to the subdistricts, and the Rp 85 million annual housing allowance paid to council deputy speakers.

The protesters were received by Pekanbaru council speaker, Teguh Pribadi Arsyad, deputy speaker Ayat Cahyadi and a number of councillors.

Human rights/law

House to reopen two rights cases

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta -- Responding to public pressure for justice, the House of Representatives said on Monday it would reopen the Trisakti and Semanggi cases, which allegedly involved high-ranking military officers. Agustin Teras Narang, chairman of House Commission III for law, legislation and human rights, said the commission would soon reopen the cases.

"We have been ordered to reopen the cases and to make another recommendation," Teras said at a hearing with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) here on Monday.

Four students were shot dead in May 1998 during an antigovernment demonstration at Trisakti University. Massive riots in a number of cities in the country ensued, during which Chinese-Indonesians became the targets of violence. The riots triggered the reform movement that led to president Soeharto stepping down.

The following year, shots were fired into a crowd of student demonstrators in the Semanggi area, a main thoroughfare in Central Jakarta, killing 26 people, mostly students.

The House set up an investigation team in 2000 to probe the incidents, but no indications of gross human right violations were found -- a conclusion that enraged the public.

The alleged perpetrators cited the team's findings in refusing to appear before Komnas HAM for questioning.

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) also refused to set up human rights trial for alleged perpetrators of the Trisakti and Semanggi cases and the May riots.

Komnas HAM chairman Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara demanded on Monday that the House revoke its initial "flawed" conclusion.

He expressed hope that the Attorney General's Office would investigate the cases soon after the House revoked its recommendation.

Responding to the criticism, Panda Nababan who chaired the House's investigation team, conceded on Monday that his team had relied on the mass media for information on the incidents.

"We never visited the locations. We only carried out monitoring. I think we were half-hearted [in our efforts]," Panda said.

Panda revealed that only two of the nine House factions -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) -- concluded that there was gross human rights violation in those incidents. Panda is from the PDI-P faction.

The other factions claimed that there was no gross human rights violations, he added.

Mahfud M.D. and Akil Mochtar from the PKB and the Golkar Party respectively said that the conclusion reached by the House in 1999 should not be used as a definitive reference.

"The Attorney General's Office must investigate the fatal incidents thoroughly, with or without the recommendation of the House," Akil said.

Rights abuses remain widespread: Imparsial

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Hera Diani, Jakarta -- A report released on Monday by a human rights watchdog said that human rights abuses perpetrated by the state continued to be widespread over the past year, with the government still placing heavy emphasis on security while denying people their civil rights.

Rights group Imparsial said that the governments of both Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessor Megawati Soekarnoputri had adopted policies and issued regulations that threatened civil liberties.

The two administrations also inflicted violence on civilians in the name of advancing government policy, it added.

Citing examples, Impartial highlighted such cases as the imposition of a state of emergency in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, the carrying out of death sentences, the increasing power of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), violence against human rights defenders, and military and police brutality.

The group recorded that the extended emergency in Aceh, which started in May 2003, had resulted in 428 incidences of violence against civilians, including murder (92 cases), torture (222 cases), unlawful arrest (55 cases) and disappearances (59 cases).

As for the death penalty, which was handed down mostly in drug cases last year, Imparsial said that it was a betrayal of citizens' constitutional rights.

"The death penalty is merely a political tool as the government wants to look firm and strict by imposing it. But it's totally against human rights," Imparsial director Rachland Nashiddik told a year-end media conference in Jakarta.

The watchdog also criticized the increasing involvement of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in the legal field, which it said was to blame for the increase in the incidence of repression against civilians, especially in remote regions.

Such cases included BIN's ban on two overseas nationals working with the World Bank from attending a seminar held in East Kotawaringin, Central Kalimantan, to discuss efforts to improve the mechanisms for settling land and other disputes at the village level, Impartial said.

Closely related to this, it said, was the Indonesian Military Law (TNI) enacted in 2004, which maintained intact the military's territorial command structure -- something that has raised public concern.

Another major case featured in the report was last year's murder of Munir, a co-founder of Impartial and former director of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Imparsial said that aside from the Munir case, at least 165 local human rights activists had fallen victim to various abuses, such as murder, detention, assault/torture, sexual harassment, threats and intimidation.

Such cases occurred not only in conflict areas but right across the country, it added.

"If the state treats human rights defenders with disdain, the question of protecting human beings becomes a very worrying one. If such cases can happen to high profile activists, what can happen to ordinary civilians?" asked Imparsial activist Pungky Indarti.

The group also highlighted many cases of violence inflicted by police on protesters in the report.

Imparsial called 2004 the year of police brutality, citing as examples violence inflicted on demonstrators protesting against the Supreme Court and residents in Bogor, West Java, protesting against the opening of the Bojong waste treatment plant.

However, Rachland said it was too early to judge Susilo's administration based on these cases.

"But since he came up with the 100-day program, it's fair to say that he's no different from his predecessor. He should have been able to institute a balance between the public's right to security and the public's right to liberty," he said.

Instead, the state had positioned security above all else in order to maintain its power and stranglehold over the people, Rachland declared.

Focus on Jakarta

Don't hold breath for clean air in the big smoke

Jakarta Post - February 3, 2005

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- The City Council is set to endorse the draft bylaw on air pollution on Friday, but clean air is still long way off in Jakarta, long listed as one of the world's most polluted cities.

Councillor Muhayar Rustamudin, chairman of the City Council's bylaw drafting committee, said on Wednesday that the bylaw would only come into effect next year.

Muhayar said that the delay was necessary as the city administration needed time to familiarize the public with the new bylaw and draft ancillary regulations.

"There are many things the administration has to do after the approval of the bylaw. Therefore, we will give them a year to prepare everything," said Muhayar, who is also deputy chairman of the council's development affairs commission.

Muhayar stressed that the deliberation of the draft bylaw had finished and the council's staffers were currently duplicating copies of the bylaw to be distributed to members and the relevant officials on Friday.

The bylaw stipulates, among other things, that all vehicles must undergo regular emission tests, and bans smoking in enclosed public places. Violations of its provisions carry a maximum term of imprisonment of six months and/or a fine of Rp 50 million (US$5,500).

Environmentalists have welcomed the move to regulate vehicular and industrial emissions so as to reduce air pollution in the capital -- which is considered the third most polluted city in the world after Bangkok and Mexico City.

Governor Sutiyoso stressed on Wednesday that his administration would need time to issue the necessary ancillary regulations.

"If they are not issued, the bylaw will be useless as it will be unenforcible. So, we will need time to prepare everything," he said.

Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) chairman Kosasih Wirahadikusumah said the preparations would include the designation of more authorized garages to issue emission certificates for private vehicles.

Currently, there are only 48 garages authorized by the administration to carry out emission tests and issue certificates. They have long been unable to serve the some 4.5 million vehicles in the city.

According to the bylaw, the governor is also authorized to declare an emergency if air pollution reaches levels that are dangerous for human health. However, no criteria are given for the declaring of such an emergency.

A decree issued by the state ministry for the environment on air pollution standard index classifies the condition of the air we breath based on five categories -- good, medium, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and dangerous.

The decree, however, does not state the content of substances -- molecular particulate (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) -- for each category.

Sutiyoso said he needed to consult with the experts, particularly in the fields of environmental health, before issuing a decree setting out an air pollution standard index.

Jakarta quietly hikes water rates

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Jakarta -- The city administration has secretly increased tapwater rates by between 4 and 16 percent, depending on the level of water consumption and customer classification.

Jakarta water regulatory board chairman Achmad Lanti said at City Hall on Tuesday that the increase took effect on January 20 and was one of the automatic water rate hikes that would take place every six months for the next five years.

"We have decided to raise water rates this year and we will continue increasing them every six months for the next five years," Lanti said.

He did not explain why the water hike was only announced on Tuesday, more than 10 days after it took effect.

Up until January 20, poor consumers paid Rp 500 per cubic meter, while well-off consumers paid Rp 9,100 per cubic meter. Under the new regime, however, the poor will pay Rp 550, an increase of 10 percent, while the rich will pay Rp 9,750, or an increase of 7 percent.

Lanti, accompanied by an assistant to the City Secretary for Development Affairs, Hari Sandjojo, and the technical director of PAM Jaya, Kris Tutuko, said the money earned from the hike would be used mostly to pay PT PAM Jaya's outstanding debts of Rp 938 billion to its foreign partners -- PT PAM Lyonaisse Jaya and PT Thames PAM Jaya.

Palyja, a subsidiary of France's ONDEO (formerly Lyonaisse des Eaux) serves customers in western part Jakarta, while TPJ, a subsidiary of Britain's Thames Water International, supplies tapwater to customers in eastern part Jakarta. "Hopefully, with a slight increase every six months, we will be able to repay all our debts to the two foreign partners within five years in 10 installments," he said.

In addition to its debts to the foreign partners, PAM Jaya also owes about Rp 1.7 trillion to the central government.

The automatic tariff increase scheme was approved by the City Council on July 23, 2004.

According to Lanti, the regulatory board, whose duties include proposing tariff increases, mediating in any disputes that might arise between PAM Jaya and its foreign partners, was also playing a role in the negotiations for a new water charge.

The water charge is the sum of money PAM Jaya must pay to the tapwater operators for treating and supplying water.

"Both PAM Jaya and Palyja have reached a consensus to accept a new charge of Rp 4,450 per cubic meter. Unfortunately, TPJ has refused to accept the proposed new charge of Rp 3,671 per cubic meter and has appealed to an international expert to help mediate the dispute," he said.

Palyja and TPJ plan to connect 5,500 and 4,251 new customers respectively this year.

A senior executive with Palyja, Bernard Lafronge, said that his company planned to invest Rp 551 billion this year, including investment in a 148-kilometer long pipeline in North and West Jakarta.

Environment

No slowing down in illegal trade of endangered animals

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya -- The trade of protected animals is still flourishing in the country, despite warnings from environmentalists that certain species could become extinct due to the activity.

Chairman of ProFauna Indonesia Rosek Nursahid said on Monday that the illegal trade of endangered animals, as well as illegal logging, were posing serious threats to the environment and urged the government to take immediate action.

He said that 95 percent of endangered animals traded on the illegal market were captured in the wild.

Also, all primates offered on the market had not been bred but captured in their natural habitat, he said.

"We predict that in the next 10 years, many more endangered animals will be made extinct," he said.

For instance, he said, some 100,000 cockatoos are captured in Papua every year, including kakatua raja (Probosciger atterimus) and yellow-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita).

He asserted that military officers were often involved in the transportation of the birds.

In Maluku, he said, 15,000 birds -- including white cockatoos (Cacatua alba) and the rare kakatua seram (Cacatua molucensis) from Seram Island -- were captured in the wild every year. The birds were then shipped to illegal bird traders in Jakarta or smuggled to Singapore.

ProFauna also reported that around 1,000 orangutans are captured in Kalimantan annually, before being shipped to Java or smuggled overseas.

On Java, 2,500 black or gray long-tailed monkey lutung jawa (Trachypithecus auratus) are killed for their meat every year, the organization said.

Rozek said the government had not paid enough attention to the issue, urging President Susilo to show the same commitment to the protection of wild animals as he had shown to combating illegal logging.

"Their protection has been neglected ... They're not only losing their habitat due to illegal logging but, in many cases, wild animals are also hunted for their meat," he said.

East Java's mangrove forests in critical condition

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya -- Most coastal areas in East Java, similar to tsunami-hit coastal regions in Aceh and North Sumatra, are susceptible to disasters like tsunami, warns an official.

Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries' Director General of Coastal Areas and Small Islands Widi Agoes Pratikto said the condition was mainly due to the damage of mangrove forests along the coast.

However, he failed to provide details on the extent of the damage of East Java's mangrove forests, only saying that nationwide, the degree of destruction had reached 60 percent.

"That's why people in East Java should pray that it (a tsunami) won't happen for a second time here, after Aceh," said Widi.

Mangroves serve as a place for small fish to live and breed in safety from predators. The structure of a forest is simple as it consists of a line of mangrove trees interspersed with a few other tree species. The kinds of trees generally found are bakau (Rhizobhara sp) and api-api (Avicennia sp). Mangroves grow on swampy shores that have calm waters.

Widi said the Ministry of Forestry had allocated Rp 860 billion (US$95.5 million) for mangrove reforestation across the country. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries will allocate Rp 72 billion for fishermen in Aceh to replant mangroves.

He said the ministry would also conduct a public awareness campaign to educate fishermen in coastal areas on the reasons they should not chop down mangroves. The drive will be conducted by relevant agencies, such as the forestry, fisheries and maritime agencies in every province.

The head of the East Java Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Office's Marine Resource Exploration department, Misran, said that 11,125.29 hectares out of the total area of 159,322.18 hectares of mangrove forests in East Java were in critical condition.

The figure is predicted to gradually rise due to a lack of public awareness to prevent the illegal felling of mangrove forest.

The worst case is in Sidoarjo, where 10,295.80 out of 26,592.3 hectares have been damaged.

Another 580 hectares of mangrove forest along the Probolinggo coast have been destroyed in various projects, with 300 hectares allegedly lost to the Paiton power plant project, 280 hectares to extensive expansion of shrimp farms and development of residential areas in coastal areas.

In Probolinggo, mangroves stretch for 56 kilometers through seven districts of Tongas, Sumberasih, Dringu, Gending, Pajarakan, Krakasan and Paiton.

Mangrove forests can be found in 47 villages, one of the most severely effected being in Sumberasih district, where 35 hectares of forest have shrunk to just eight hectares in the last two to three years.

Misran blamed the construction of houses, both private and government, for the damaged mangrove forests in East Java.

In East Java alone, around 57,000 hectares of mangrove forests have vanished since 2001.

"To overcome the problem, the maritime affairs and fisheries office along with the East Java Forestry Office have replanted mangroves in a number of areas along the coast," said Misran.

Developers summoned over environmental mess

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang -- The Tangerang regency council is summoning two developers to answer allegations their coastal reclamation projects have irrevocably damaged the environment and destroyed the life of a fishing community.

Commission for developmental affairs councilor Bahrum said on Saturday that PT Koperasi Pasir Putih and PT Parung Harapan had been summoned to a hearing with the commission on Tuesday.

"We will ask for clarification whether the two developers have made evaluations about the environmental impact of their reclamation projects or not," Bahrun said.

He said the council had found evidence in November that the projects had destroyed mangroves, coral reefs and marine life during the past three years and had prompted fishermen in the Dadap village, Kosambi, to leave their profession and become scavengers.

Fellow councillor Al Mansur said the two companies had to abide by existing environmental regulations when reclaiming the area.

"We hope the two companies abide by the rules of the game in reclaiming the beach and they must cope with the negative impact that the project has caused," he said without elaborating.

The two developers started to reclaim the coastline in 2001.

PT Koperasi Pasir Putih plans to build a five-hectare recreational and tourist resort, while PT Parung Harapan will build a luxurious housing estate and warehouse complex on another five hectares of land.

Health & education

Change of hospital status sees protests

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Jakarta -- The Jakarta administration's decision to change three city hospitals into corporate entities in a bid to boost their professionalism, has received a negative reaction from several hospital staff and local residents.

Fearing that the policy would reduce health services for the poor, dozens of local residents and activists protested on Tuesday at Pasar Rebo Hospital, East Jakarta, one of the hospitals cited in the policy decision, which took effect on January 1.

"We are afraid that hospital fees will increase," said Pius Toa, 57, a Pasar Rebo resident. "Any corporation by definition is profit-oriented."

The City Health Agency head, Abdul Chalik Masulili, defended the city's decision to incorporate the three city-run hospitals: the Pasar Rebo Hospital and the Haj Hospital in East Jakarta and the Cengkareng Hospital in West Jakarta.

"There is no way that this will increase costs for the poor," said Abdul Chalik. "Whatever the legal form of a hospital, its main mission is still a social one." Out of the 250 hospital beds at Pasar Rebo, 50 percent are designated as third class facilities, which are covered by the city under its health care scheme for the poor.

Abdul Chalik said that the change in status was necessary as previously, when they were government units, the hospitals were hampered by bureaucracy and staff management issues.

"The change is purely meant to increase the flexibility of management," explained Chalik. "So that they can better manage the hospital's assets, finances and staff." Siti, who has worked as a nurse for more than 10 years, said that many of the hospital workers joined the protest out of concern that the hospital would deny access to the poor to health services.

"When it was a government unit, I used to be able to go home at 2 p.m., now I have to stay here to at least 4 p.m." The city still legally controls all the hospitals, owning 99 percent of the shares of Pasar Rebo and Cengkareng Hospitals and 51 percent of the Haj Hospital.

The administration will also incorporate the three remaining city-run hospitals: Tarakan Hospital in West Jakarta, Koja Hospital in North Jakarta and Budi Asih Hospital in East Jakarta.

Armed forces/defense

Defense ministry prepares draft to amend TNI laws

Jakarta Post - February 4, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The Ministry of Defense is drafting a review of Defense Law No. 3/2002 and Indonesian Military (TNI) Law No. 34/2004 aimed at eliminating the intervention of the House of Representatives in the appointment of TNI commander.

Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said on Thursday that the amendment would also affect several articles in laws that enable the President to exercise his/her powers as TNI supreme commander.

"The planned amendment is expected to eliminate the pivotal role played by lawmakers in the appointment of TNI chief, so that the president no longer has to seek approval in the process," Juwono told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Lu Shu Min, who handed over aid amounting to US$300,000 for tsunami survivors in Aceh province.

Under the draft amendment, lawmakers can only present their opinion to the President in the matter of the appointment of TNI commander, but the President is not bound to follow their opinion, Juwono said.

The planned amendment will also put the TNI chief under the defense minister, a radical change from the current status of the TNI commander who answers to the president.

The amendment plan comes on the heels of a debate between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and lawmakers over the replacement of TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, which many thought had opened up opportunities for both sides to gain from the change of guard in the armed forces.

Based on the current defense law, the House has the right to scrutinize candidates for TNI chief who have been proposed by the president. The President can only appoint a TNI chief with the House's endorsement.

The Constitution states that the appointment of TNI and National Police chiefs is the President's prerogative.

Lawmakers are also granted the same right in the appointment of National Police chief in accordance with Law No. 2/2002 on National Police.

"Through the amendment, we'll try to avoid what's termed as legislative control over the president's prerogative," Juwono stated.

The ministry is also discussing the mechanisms and timeframe for the repositioning of the TNI chief.

"Let experts and TNI headquarters sit together with us (the ministry) to share views over this issue," Juwono said in response to an idea to put the TNI under the ministry's supervision and the National Police under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Military analyst T. Hari Prihantono from the ministry's think- tank Pro Patria supported Juwono's plan.

"The amendment to the defense law is required considering the circumstances when the Law was being drawn up," he said, citing the post-New Order euphoria among politicians, who at that time were eager to seize political control over the military and national police from the president.

Hari said the race for control over the TNI and police force had accelerated the fall of former President Abdurrahman Wahid ("Gus Dur") in 2001, who was impeached by the People's Consultative Assembly after he replaced National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro with his deputy Lt. Gen. Chairuddin Ismail.

"Based on the amended 1945 Constitution, the appointment of TNI and National Police chiefs is the President's prerogative," Hari told The Jakarta Post.

TNI chief to change this month: Top aide

Jakarta Post - February 1, 2005

Jakarta -- After a rigorous debate between the President and lawmakers over the replacement of the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief, a Presidential aide disclosed on Monday that a reshuffle of the military's top leadership would take place in February.

"Yes, his replacement will take place in February," Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi told reporters after a ceremony at the State Palace on Monday. He said that the President was finalizing talks on the issue with TNI headquarters.

Sudi refused to confirm whether Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu would be named as the new TNI Commander, replacing Endriartono Sutarto, saying that the President had yet to decide.

A source close to the Palace, however, said that the President delivered a letter proposing Ryamizard as the next TNI chief about two weeks ago. It has also been reported that the President plans to replace National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.

The rumor mill has it that Insp. Gen. Sutanto, a former East Java police chief, will get the top police job.

An Army source said that TNI headquarters would call for a hearing to decide on the replacement of the Army chief first, before the appointment of the new TNI chief.

Ryamizard's deputy Lt. Gen. Djoko Santoso has reportedly been earmarked for the Army top post.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been under pressure from the House to immediately replace Endriartono, who actually tendered his resignation last year. Some lawmakers have even insisted that Susilo appoint Ryamizard.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono said on Monday that he had not received any letter from the President regarding the replacement of the TNI chief.

"Not yet. Had I received the letter, I would have reported it during the plenary meeting," Agung told The Jakarta Post by phone. A staff member, Fauzi Saidi, added that usually such a letter from the President was brought directly to the House leader by courier. "As far as I know, the House speaker has not received any letter," he said.

The chairman of the House's Commission I on political, security and foreign affairs, Theo L. Sambuaga, also denied that the letter had been sent to the House, saying that "as of today, the House leaders have yet to ask us to arrange a hearing with the candidates for the TNI commander's post." Based on the Defense Law (No. 3/2003), the House has the right to summon any candidate nominated for the TNI top post.

Human rights group criticizes latest TNI reshuffle

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The appointment of Army Special Forces (Kopassus) commander Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan as the new commander of the high profile Siliwangi Military Command overseeing West Java drew strong criticism from a human rights group and expert.

Coordinator of the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Usman Hamid said policy makers at Indonesian Military (TNI) headquarters are supposed to take into consideration the track record of their senior officers with regard to human rights when they are being promoted.

Meanwhile, analyst Ikrar Nusa Bakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said that promoting a controversial figure like Sriyanto reflected the prevailing narrow thinking of the TNI on human rights values and the failure of the TNI's much touted internal reform measures.

The two were commenting on a major reshuffle in the TNI that was announced over the weekend, affecting 42 high-ranking officers. The appointment of Sriyanto to the Siliwangi Military Command has raised many eyebrows due to his alleged involvement in human rights violations in the past.

Sriyanto was chief of operations at the North Jakarta Military Command when the Tanjung Priok incident occurred in 1988, when troops open fire on demonstrators, killing 24 people and injuring 54 others, according to official figures.

Last year, Sriyanto stood trial before the ad hoc human rights tribunal, but the panel of judges acquitted him of all charges in November. The Attorney General's Office plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, meaning that the legal process is still ongoing.

Another controversial figure being promoted is Col. Chairawan, a senior Koppasus officer. Although his name was not included in the list of 42 officers announced on Saturday, Army spokesman Hotmangaradja Pandjaitan confirmed on Sunday rumors that Chairawan would be appointed as the new commander of the Lilawangsa Military Resort overseeing northern Aceh trough to eastern Aceh.

"Nasution will be replaced by Chairawan," Hotma told The Post. Chairawan, who will replace Col. Azmyn Yusri Nasution, has been grounded for years following the kidnappings of pro-democracy activists in late 1990s.

The TNI in 2003 launched a massive offensive against Free Aceh Movement insurgents, who has been fighting for sovereignty for the oil and gas-rich Aceh province for decades. There have been concerns that continuing violence involving GAM and the TNI could disrupt distribution of relief aid in the tsunami-hit province. Usman said that although President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono could not interfere in the reshuffle process affecting two-star generals and other officers below that rank, "he should not turn a blind eye, unless he also cares little about human rights issues." He expressed the fear that the promotion of the two controversial senior officers to strategic posts was a further sign of their impunity even at a time when rights groups were still pressing for legal cases against the two for past rights violations.

TNI chief launches major reshuffle

Jakarta Post - January 30, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) announced on Saturday its first major reshuffle in a year, affecting 42 high-ranking officers, including Commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, who has been named as Siliwangi Military Commander overseeing West Java and Banten provinces.

TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto signed the decree on the reshuffle on January 27, according to a TNI press statement.

Outgoing Siliwangi Military Commander Maj. Gen. Iwan Sulanjana has been appointed as operational assistant to the Army chief. The appointment of Sriyanto to such a strategic post may raise some eyebrows, particularly among human rights activists as he was allegedly involved in the 1998 Tanjung Priok bloodshed. At that time he was chief of operations at North Jakarta Military Command.

However, the panel of justices at the human rights court ruled in November last year that Sriyanto was not guilty in the incident, which according to official data killed 24 people and injured 54 others. The Attorney General's Office, however, has planned to submit an appeal to the Supreme Court.

The latest reshuffle also affected Teuku Umar Military Resort Commander (overseeing central Aceh, including the provincial capital, Banda Aceh) Col. Geerhan Lantara and Lilawangsa Military Resort Commander (overseeing northern Aceh through to eastern Aceh) Col. Azmyn Yusri Nasution.

The two have been assigned as new chiefs of staff of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad)'s first and second divisions, respectively.

The statement did not name the successors of the two Aceh commanders, but sources say that Kopassus officer Col. Chairawan -- who has been grounded for years following the kidnapping case against prodemocracy activists in the late 1990s -- may be appointed to Lilawangsa Military Command. TNI spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin refused to confirm.

The reshuffle comes as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is under pressure from lawmakers to replace Endriartono.

Police/law enforcement

Police station wrecked in attack

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2005

Semarang -- Tayu police station in Pati regency, Central Java was attacked and wrecked by a crowd of about one hundred people late on Thursday following the death of two motorcyclists who were being pursued by the police.

The police were pursuing three motorcyclists when a truck coming from the opposite direction hit them. Two of the victims died on the spot while the other one was badly injured and taken to the Mardi Rahayu Hospital in Kudus.

Upset residents traveled en masse to the police station to find the officers involved. When they could not find them, they attacked and wrecked the station.

"The problem has been cleared up. We've ordered our officers to visit the victims' houses. The situation is now OK," said Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen Chaerul Rasjid.

International relations

Howard declares rift with Indonesia over

Australian Associated Press - February 2, 2005

Prime Minister John Howard has declared tension between Indonesia and Australia a thing of the past after he toured tsunami-struck Aceh, saying he was stunned by the scale of the devastation.

Mr Howard hugged Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda and Alwi Shihab, the welfare minister coordinating Indonesia's relief effort, as he stepped off an RAAF Hercules amid heavy security at Banda Aceh airport. And the warm welcome did not stop there.

Mr Howard fielded a personal call from new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Dr Wirayuda's mobile phone as he surveyed the worst-hit areas around Banda Aceh's so-called "bridge of death" on its main canal. Only five weeks ago the waterway was clogged with bodies as streams of refugees arrived on boats from ruined islands off Sumatra's coast.

Mr Howard told Yudhoyono he was delighted to see the speedy progress being made in Aceh's clean-up, partly with the backing of a $1 billion aid package put together by Canberra.

"Nothing I have seen on television captured the extent of the devastation. That is my first impression," he said. "The whole response to the tsunami has been a reminder of the common humanity that we all share ... when you have tragedy you forget differences. You forget differences of race, or religion, of ethnicity, of nationality, the uniform you wear. The only aim you have in a sense is to deliver comfort and assistance."

Wearing his customary Akubra hat, Mr Howard briefly flew in an Australian navy helicopter over the parts of Aceh's shattered death coast, where the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami swallowed entire villages and killed more than 237,000 people.

He also toured the main city hospital where Australian and German doctors have reopened wards and field hospitals to care for survivors. Making a stop in an infectious disease ward, Mr Howard was given a florescent orange cap by Australian civilian doctors. He also met a woman and her two-day-old newborn child, who he said represented a brighter future for Aceh.

The close relationship between Australia's military and Indonesian troops in Jakarta's "hour of need" proved both countries had turned the corner from the strains of East Timor in 1999, he said.

"Out of this dreadful tragedy the people and governments of Australia and Indonesia have worked together harmoniously, purposefully and in a compassionate way to bring relief. And, we look to the future," Mr Howard said.

Not even an Australian soldier who attempted to bar Shihab from the hospital, failing to recognise him and roughly yanking his arm as he entered, could chill the diplomatic bonhomie.

"This is an historic moment for us here to build better relations with Australia and forget the past," Shihab said. "Let us start with a new intimacy."

Mr Howard was accompanied by Dr Wirayuda and received a red carpet welcome at the Aceh governor's mansion before touring the city in his 10-car motorcade and meeting army engineers who have produced clean water for survivors.

He told Shihab he was impressed authorities had managed to stave off a disease outbreak of typhoid and cholera, paying tribute to the Indonesian military for the clean up effort. He declined to say when Australia's 1,000 troops in Aceh would head home, despite pressure from Indonesia for foreign military to leave as soon as possible -- a position Mr Howard said was common sense.

"They will go when their task is completed," he said. "We are here when we are needed." Indonesia has promised to protect foreign aid from corruption.

Mr Howard said he was confident the government's $1 billion pledge would be used effectively.

"Yes, it will be well spent because President Yudhoyono and I have agreed that nothing can be dispersed without our joint approval," he told the Australian Nine Network.

"Much has been questioned of Australia writing a cheque and not knowing where it is going. But Bambang Yudhoyono and myself ... will make certain. This is a partnership. We are determined and will ensure that every dollar is well spent and that is my obligation to the Australian taxpayer."

Military ties

US urged to restore military cooperation

Jakarta Post - February 4, 2005

Yenni Djahidin, Washington D.C. -- A soon-to-be published study recommends that the United States remove its restrictions on the Indonesian military (TNI). The study, to be released in March, says that both countries would benefit from a restoration in military to military cooperation.

"The United States needs a strong security partner in Southeast Asia," says Eduardo Lachica, one of the four authors of the report and a former correspondent of The Asian Wall Street Journal.

The plan to issue the study follows reports that aides to the new US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice are recommending that she report to Congress that Indonesia is cooperating with US authorities in the investigation of the killings of two American teachers in Papua, in a bid to have restrictions on the TNI eased.

Lachica said that Indonesia is the best choice for the Americans because of its strategic location and also because it is the largest Muslim country in the world.

"Indonesia could be a major argument for democracy in the Muslim world," Lachica said. He also said that the US was not crusading against Islam, but wants to help "moderate Muslims".

He adds that the Indonesian armed forces could not be blamed entirely for its poor human rights reputation. He said the country's civilian government should take some of the blame because it has under-funded the TNI.

"We want the TNI to stop making money by itself. We want it to be fully funded [by the Indonesian government]," he said. Lachica said the TNI needs a budget of about US$ 3 billion a year, but presently receives only around $1 billion a year. He added that Indonesian officials have said it will take at least five years for the government to provide sufficient funds to cover the military budget.

Lachica said the cost of security is critical because without security, the government can't function very well. "Security is a public good and public goods always come with a cost," he added.

Lachica also said that by punishing the TNI, the US Congress was recognizing the sovereignty of the TNI (as an entity separate from the Indonesian state). "[The US] should deal with the Indonesian government because we believe in the supremacy of the civilian government of Indonesia," he said.

The study recommends that the US restore the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program with Indonesia. IMET allowed Indonesian officers to attend military courses in the United States.

The program was stopped following the 1991 killings of protesters in Dili, East Timor. Military aid was further severed in 1999 following the destruction and killings in East Timor, blamed on the TNI, before and after a plebiscite that led to the territory's independence.

He said that IMET had become a symbol of the TNI's pariah status and now the military wants to get its status back. Lachica claims that the more TNI officers are exposed to American military training and culture, the more they would accept the idea of civilian supremacy of the armed forces.

"The one thing that American officials didn't say is that they want to get to know TNI members personally," Lachica said. "It's for selfish, practical reasons," he said. Citing the recent tsunami disaster relief effort in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, he said the US military blended in very well with the Thai military because they conduct regular exercises.

"In Aceh, there was confusion for the first few days between the Indonesian and the US military personnel because they don't know each other and never hold exercises together," Lachica said.

Another reason for restoring IMET, he said, is that other countries, such as China and Japan, want to forge ties with the TNI.

The study, entitled Enhancing the US-Indonesian security relationship: An opportunity not to be missed, also recommends that the US help Indonesia with counter terrorism efforts, maritime security and peacekeeping missions.

Sponsoring the study is the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO), a non-government organization that promotes better understanding between the US and Indonesia. Its members include former foreign service officers from both countries and big corporations such as Freeport McMoran, Exxon-Mobil, and Coca Cola. Co-authors of the study are John B. Haseman, Bronson Percival and William M. Wise.

US seeks military ties with Indonesia

Associated Press - February 3, 2005

Chris Brummitt -- Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, Indonesia The United States wants to boost military ties with the Indonesian military on the back of the two countries' close cooperation in helping victims of the December 26 tsunami, America's ambassador to Indonesia said Thursday.

The United States cut off ties with the Indonesian military in 1999 because of human rights concerns. The Bush administration, however, is keen to see the restrictions lifted, partly because of fears that al-Qaida may launch attacks from Indonesia, which has seen a string of deadly bombings in recent years.

The US military was the first foreign army to arrive in Indonesia to join the tsunami relief efforts. Its helicopters have ferried tons of food and water to the survivors.

Ambassador B. Lynn Pascoe praised the two militaries' cooperation. "We look forward to having much better relations with the military in the weeks and months to come, and we will certainly be working on that with them," he told reporters. Pascoe declined to say whether he would recommend that the US Congress lift the ban.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, meanwhile, was departing from Indonesia's tsunami-battered Sumatra island in the single biggest withdrawal of the American military aid effort since the December 26 disaster. The aircraft carrier, with 5,300 sailors and Marines aboard, "is moving out of Indonesian waters," said US Navy spokesman Cmdr. Mark McDonald. The ship is expected to head for Singapore.

In a visit to Indonesia last month, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said closer contact with the US military would strengthen the Indonesian military's commitment to human rights and allow it to better respond to natural disasters.

Wolfowitz, a former US ambassador to Indonesia, is a key proponent of improved ties between the two countries. Critics say he is turning a blind eye to massive human rights abuses by the Indonesian military.

Congress has so far blocked moves to reopen ties, which were severed in 1999 when Indonesian soldiers and militia proxies took part in bloody rampage that killed hundreds of people in East Timor following its vote for independence.

US lawmakers maintain that the military has not improved its human rights record since then. Suspected military involvement in the murder of two American teachers at a US-owned gold mine in the remote province of Papua in 2002 has also complicated moves to restore links.

Indonesia has long called for the ban to be lifted so it can buy new US military equipment and take part in American training programs.

Indonesian military chief Gen. Endriatono Sutarto, who also attended Thursday's ceremony, said he hoped the tsunami cooperation would "pave the way for a wider range of cooperation between the two armed forces."

Alwi Shihab, the government minister in charge of the tsunami relief effort, said he expected more "fruitful" ties with both the Bush administration and Congress in the coming months.

US has shipped spare parts to Indonesia

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

New York/Jakarta -- The US has provided tsunami-hit Indonesia with spare parts for five of its 24 US-made C-130 cargo planes without lifting its long-standing ban on weapons sales to its military, the Dow Jones Newswires reported on Tuesday quoting an US official as saying.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters in New York on Monday (Tuesday in Jakarta) that the spare parts were sent to Indonesia under existing provisions of the law that allowed for certain kinds of sales to the country.

Indonesia has pressed the US to lift the ban on weapon sales to its military, and said a lack of spare parts left 17 of its C-130 cargo planes grounded when the December 26 earthquake and tsunami hit Sumatra island, preventing it from reaching many remote areas cut off when roads and bridges were destroyed. Without the US ban, the planes may have been fit to fly, its government said.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said during a visit to Indonesia's disaster zone in early January that the US government would begin allowing spare parts for C-130s into Indonesia.

Supporters of the ban say Indonesia is lying about its C-130s parts to get concessions out of the US. They say Indonesia has been allowed to buy the C-130 spare parts under US law since 2002 and before that bought them on the black market.

"We told the Indonesians we would sell them these parts four years ago, but they chose to buy them elsewhere," the Associated Press quoted Sen. Patrick Leahy, the senior Democrat on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, as saying earlier this month.

"Yet they have continued to falsely blame our law for denying them this equipment. It is a myth, used to push for a relaxation of our human rights conditions, so they can use these aircraft for combat purposes," said Leahy of Vermont.

But Indonesia's Ministry of Defense's director general of defense strategy Maj. Gen. (ret) Sudrajat said Indonesia had not been allowed to purchase C-130 spare parts directly from the US eventually the ban was partially lifted in 2002.

Jakarta was forced to procure the spare parts from third countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Europe, Sudrajat said.

All the purchases, however, had to be with the consent of US authorities, he added. "This forced us to shop for double prices, while there was no guarantee that other countries wanted to merchandise their US spare parts," Sudrajat told The Jakarta Post last month.

The ban was first imposed in 1991 when Indonesian troops gunned down unarmed protesters in East Timor, killing more than 250 people. Eight years later, the ban was tightened after Indonesian troops and their proxy militias killed 1,500 East Timorese when the half island territory voted for independence in a UN- sponsored independence referendum.

President George W. Bush's administration has campaigned hard for lifting the ban, but Congress has resisted, in part because Indonesia has failed to jail any military leaders allegedly responsible for the 1999 Timor violence.

US to revisit Jakarta army aid

Wall Street Journal - January 31, 2005

Murray Hiebert in Washington and Timothy Mapes in Jakarta -- The administration of US President George W. Bush is expected to begin pressing Congress to permit the resumption of American training for Indonesian armed-forces officers in a step to repair military ties disrupted more than a decade ago over human-rights abuses by Jakarta's army.

Administration officials say aides to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have recommended she notify Congress that Indonesia has fulfilled a crucial requirement clearing the way for the resumption of military relations: that Jakarta is cooperating with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in the investigation of the murder of two American school teachers in the Indonesian province of Papua in 2002. "Things are in motion to do this quickly," a US State Department official said.

Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who visited Indonesia in mid-January to see American efforts to help tsunami victims, said the US ought to "reconsider a bit" restrictions on military training and arms sales in response to recent efforts by the Indonesian armed forces to reform. Mr. Wolfowitz, ambassador to Jakarta in the late 1980s, noted it had been easier for US forces to coordinate tsunami relief with Thailand than Indonesia because of Washington's longstanding military ties with Bangkok.

The US cut military aid to Jakarta after Indonesian troops killed 57 demonstrators in East Timor in 1991, when the territory was part of Indonesia. Restrictions were stiffened as Washington pressed Jakarta to hold its military commanders responsible for a spree of violence in East Timor in 1999 after the territory voted for independence in a United Nations-supervised referendum.

In the US foreign aid bill passed late last year, Congress made any resumption of US military training for Indonesian officers dependent on certification from the secretary of state that Indonesia was helping the FBI investigate the killing of the American teachers in Papua. A preliminary Indonesian police report in 2003 concluded there was a "strong possibility" the attack was mounted by elements of the Indonesian military. At the time, US State Department officials echoed those findings. The military has denied the allegation.

Indonesia initially refused to cooperate with the FBI probe, but more recently Jakarta has allowed investigators to visit the ambush site and question local military officials. Last June, the US Department of Justice announced that an indictment on murder and attempted murder charges had been brought against Anthonius Wamang, who it alleged is a leader of the separatist Free Papua Movement. But officials of that group deny that Mr. Wamang is a part of it and insist their group had no involvement in the killings.

The FBI hasn't been invited back to Indonesia since then, although negotiations are under way to send another team. Seven months after the US indictment, Mr. Wamang remains free in Indonesia, where he has given an interview to a local human- rights group called Elsham -- later broadcast on Australian television -- in which he acknowledged taking part in the attack on the teachers. He also said he had a longstanding relationship with military commanders in Papua and claimed that bullets used in the murders came from the Indonesian military.

Patsy Spier, the widow of one of the teachers killed and who herself was wounded in the attack, has pressed US officials and Congress to maintain the ban on training -- under the program called International Military and Education Training, or IMET -- until Indonesia arrests Mr. Wamang. Ms. Spier credits Indonesia's recent cooperation to the US ban and she wants it maintained until the investigation is complete. "It wasn't until the IMET ban was used as an incentive that cooperation with US investigators began to take place," Ms. Spier said.

The amount of aid that would be made available for training Indonesian officers through the program is a relatively small $600,000 for the US fiscal year ending September 30. This is only a fraction of such aid available for military personnel from Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and the Philippines.

Some counterterrorism training for Indonesian forces was resumed after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and Washington has frequently said it wants to make Indonesia's military a closer ally in the global war on terrorism.

But key members of Congress have repeatedly shot down such efforts at reconciliation because of their concerns that the Indonesian military hasn't improved its human-rights record.

A senior Western official in Jakarta familiar with the discussions on resuming IMET aid acknowledged the obstacles it faces in Congress, but noted that Indonesia's elections last year produced a new government under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that seems much more committed to reform than prior administrations. "There's now a strong sense that we need to look again at the whole relationship," he said.

Last week, Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the restrictions were "punishing" the country and said he plans to go to Washington in March to try to get the US policy changed.

Ms. Rice is already lobbying Congress to resume IMET assistance. "IMET for Indonesia is in the US interest," she said in a written response to a question from Senator Joseph Biden at her confirmation hearing. "The aim of IMET is to strengthen the professionalism of military officers, especially with respect to the norms of democratic civil-military relations such as transparency, civilian supremacy, public accountability and respect for human rights."

Bush administration officials have argued that banning military training makes it difficult for a new generation of Indonesian officers to obtain the skills needed to develop a more professional army. Mr. Yudhoyono himself is a former general who studied on several occasions at US military colleges.

Business & investment

Fuel prices to go up soon, BI set for rates increase

Jakarta Post - February 4, 2005

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- The government will raise fuel prices by up to 30 percent in the first quarter of this year in a bid to lower the fuel subsidy.

To limit the inflationary impact, Bank Indonesia has indicated it will raise interest rates or absorb the circulation of base money.

"The first quarter of this year is the best time for us to increase fuel prices .... We are still considering if a 30 percent hike is suitable at the moment," State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati said at the State Palace on Thursday.

"The sooner the better for the state budget. The government has been burdened by the costly fuel subsidy, which has soared due to the jump in global oil prices," she said.

With the government maintaining fuel prices throughout 2004, it was forced to set aside some Rp 10 trillion (US$1.1 billion) a month from the state budget for the subsidy, the largest fuel subsidy ever in the country's history.

The government allocated a whopping Rp 59.2 trillion for the fuel subsidy last year because of rising global oil prices, against an initial projection of Rp 14.5 trillion. In comparison, Rp 71.9 trillion was allocated for development spending last year.

The fuel subsidy has been set at about Rp 19 trillion for 2005, but with global oil prices showing little sign of declining that figure is expected to rise unless the government begins to lift the fuel subsidy.

In the past, however, any attempt by the government to raise fuel prices in order to cut the subsidy sparked public protests.

Another concern is that a fuel price hike will drive up the inflation rate, which will lead to decreased purchasing power and eventually affect consumer spending.

Higher consumer spending is a prerequisite for the robust domestic consumption that since the economic crisis in 1997 has been the engine driving economic growth.

"The government's plan to raise fuel prices has caused producers to hedge production costs and selling prices, thus accelerating the inflation rate," said Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah.

In a bid to ease inflationary pressure, Burhanuddin has indicated it will raise its benchmark interest rate (SBI) to reach this year's inflation target. The government has targeted inflation at between 6.5 percent and 7 percent.

"The January inflation level is worrying. The central bank will adopt a tight monetary policy to control the inflation level, with raising interest rates to be our priority," he said.

The Central Statistics Agency announced on Wednesday the inflation rate for January tipped 1.43 percent, the highest monthly level in four years, mostly due to a rise in the prices of basic foods, housing and utilities.

According to Burhanuddin, the price rises were primarily driven by anticipation of the government's plan to raise fuel prices and due to a number of natural disasters in the country that had increased the demands for food.

"In this year's first semester, the central bank will adopt a combination of base money facilities with interest rate hikes to ease inflation. In the second semester, we will only use the interest rate facilities," he said.

Signs by the central bank that it will raise interest rates could prompt banks to adjust upward their lending rates and make loans more expensive for the private sector.

Indonesia books record high exports in 2004

Jakarta Post - February 2, 2005

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta -- Indonesia's exports last year reached an historic high of US$69.71 billion, or up 11.49 percent from the year before, boosted by strong sales of non oil and gas commodities including palm oil, electronics, clothing, coal and tin.

In its latest monthly report, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said on Tuesday that non oil and gas commodities last year expanded by almost 11 percent from 2003, valued at record high of $54.13 billion, and making up about 78 percent of national exports. The figure far exceeded the government's $50.73 billion target.

"Last year's exports of non oil and gas commodities reached the highest level in Indonesian history. Strong global demand in crude palm oil must have played a role in that," BPS' export statistic subdirectorate head Dantes Simbolon told The Jakarta Post.

Dantes went on to say that robust global demand came mostly from China and India, two of the world's fastest growing economies.

In the report, palm oil is grouped in the category of animal and vegetable fats and oils, which last year grew by 25.48 percent to $4.24 million. Animal and vegetable fats and oils category was the second largest contributor to non oil and gas exports, after electrical machinery and tools, which includes electronic goods.

After Malaysia, Indonesia is the world's second largest palm oil exporter, which is used to make cooking oil, soap and detergent. The two countries together contribute a combined 88 percent of this year's global palm oil exports.

Sector-wise, exports from manufacturing and mining expanded by 12.02 percent and 9.18 percent respectively, while agriculture experienced negative growth of 6.48 percent.

Japan, the United States, Singapore and China collectively accounted for 42.52 percent of Indonesia's total non oil and gas exports last year.

As for oil and gas exports, the country recorded a 14.18 percent increase from last year to $15.59 billion. Imports jumped by almost 40 percent this year to $46.18 billion, with oil and gas imports surging by 52.36 percent to $11.63 billion, while non oil and gas imports soared by 35.74 percent to $34.55 billion.

"Imports have now exceeded the level of 1997 of some $43 million," Dantes said. With oil prices running sky-high in the global market, the increase in oil and gas imports comes as little surprise.

Meanwhile, a rapid increase in non oil and gas imports indicates a rising trend in demand by local industry for capital goods. The Ministry of Trade says that the business climate has been improving with businessmen having the confidence to purchase machinery and other capital goods, as well as raw materials, to expand their production capacity here.

Tuesday's report showed that last year's imports of raw and supporting materials and capital goods jumped by 40.37 percent and 41.29 percent respectively from the same period in 2003.

Indonesia's natural gas reserves increase

Jakarta Post - January 31, 2005

Natural gas reserves in Indonesia have risen by 7.45 trillion standard cubic feet (TCF), thanks to new reserves found in either new sites or existing fields, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has revealed.

The ministry's director of natural gas, Novian M. Thaib, said on Saturday the new findings were discovered during exploration processes in a number of fields across the country.

"With the new findings, gas reserves in the country stand at 188,34 TSCF," Novian told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

However, he fell short of providing details as to which fields have additional reserves, saying the data is still being drawn up by the ministry. Separately, the oil and gas upstream regulatory agency (BP Migas) deputy director Zanial Achmad said that among the revised reserves is the Masela field in Maluku province, currently operated by Japanese company Inpex Corporation.

"It is not a new gas field, but we have found substantial additional reserves other than that which we certified," he said.

In the certification process, it was calculated that the field contained some 6.7 TCF of reserves. However, the amount increased to 10 TCF based on a recent observation.

Although its reserves are still largely untapped due to limited supporting infrastructure, Indonesia is known to have one of the most extensive gas reserves in the world.

And the new findings should confirm that status. The new findings exclude the one in the Jeruk field, where Australia-based oil and gas company Santos reportedly found a new huge reserve.

BP Migas deputy director Kardaya Warnika said earlier that Santos is currently verifying the findings to determine the exact number of oil and gas reserves in the field. The three largest natural gas fields in the country are Arun in Aceh, Bontang in East Kalimantan and Tangguh in Papua.

Rating upgraded to strengthen rupiah: BI

Jakarta Post - January 29, 2005

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta -- Global acknowledgement of the country's macroeconomic stability, as evident in the recent upgrading of Indonesia's debt rating, would boost positive sentiment in the rupiah, possibly to below the Rp 9,000 level, according to the central bank.

The upgrade would also benefit the government's plan to issue up to US$1.5 billion in sovereign bonds during the first quarter of this year, the banks said.

"It will certainly create a positive effect on our economy, be it be on our issuance of global bonds, or on the rupiah exchange rate," BI deputy governor Aslim Tadjudin said on Friday.

Confident in the government's clear policies in improving the country's economy, global rating agency Fitch Ratings upgraded on Thursday Indonesia's long-term foreign and local currency ratings to BB- from B+, and affirmed its short-term rating at B, both with positive outlooks. The rating remains two-levels from the investment grade of BBB-.

Standard and Poor's, meanwhile, had also recently raised Indonesia's creditworthiness rating. It upgraded Indonesia's long-term foreign currency to B+ from a B and the local currency rating to BB from B+.

Reflecting the positive sentiment on Friday, the local unit traded higher at Rp 9,145 against the dollar, after closing flat at Rp 9,146 the previous day. The Jakarta Stock Exchange's Composite Index, meanwhile, closed at 1,046.48 points, having risen by 1 percent the day before on news of the Fitch upgrade.

Aslim said, however, the government still needed to work hard if it wanted to see a further rise in the credit ratings and further positive effects on the economy.

"The government's commitment to improving the economy is strong and it has targeted an average 6 percent economic growth over the next five years," he said.

"But it will still depend on how we proceed on those targets -- the faster we can deliver, the more positive sentiment we can gain." Aslim added that the rupiah was actually still undervalued, providing more leeway for further gains.

"Foreign currency analysts even predict that the rupiah could gain, to up to Rp 8,500 per dollar," he said.

"Such a level is also still positive for both importers and exporters." Meanwhile, finance ministry's fiscal analysis agency head, Anggito Abimanyu, said what was more important from the new ratings was their medium-term effects.

"It would mean an immediate lowering of our credit risks, resulting in lower interest rates and easier terms and conditions in obtaining credit," he said.

State Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati, meanwhile, said she expected global rating agency Moody's, which would issue its rating assessment on the country later on this quarter, would be fair in reviewing their new debt-rating for Indonesia.

Sri Mulyani was hopeful the agency would also paint a positive outlook for Indonesia's credit rating in relation to the debt moratorium granted by creditor nations grouped under the Paris Club to Indonesia.

"Of course, they have their independence in determining their rating, but we hope that the debt moratorium from the Paris Club would not downgrade our rating," she said, asserting that Indonesia had not "requested" the moratorium, but was offered it", in light of the tsunami disaster in Aceh.

At present, Moody rates Indonesia's ceiling for foreign currency debt at B2, while its ceiling for foreign-currency bank deposits is rated B3 -- both considered stable.

Opinion & analysis

'Spinning' care

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 3, 2005

It all sounds very good, but what does it all mean? The government's recent announcement that it would "allocate" savings from the discontinuation of the fuel subsidy to provide free basic education and health care for the country's poor sounds wonderfully appealing.

Too appealing in fact. After overcoming the initial excitement, the message increasingly resonates more like a rhetorical campaign slogan than a concrete policy.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, chairperson of the National Development Planning Agency, announced that at least Rp 20 trillion, money reallocated from fuel subsidies, would be used to fund welfare programs like free schools under the nine-year mandatory education drive and health care for Indonesia's poorest. The government, she added was also looking at other initiatives to channel the money into, such as the provision of cheap rice.

The government has also identified some 32 million disadvantaged people who are eligible to receive such assistance.

Any initiative, intent or even remark aimed at improving the welfare of millions should be welcomed. But a discerning eye should be directed at whether it was divulged with the objective of truly addressing the pressing problems of the poor, or as window dressing to appease a potentially disgruntled public.

Free education and health care was one of the most common campaign slogans both in the legislative and presidential election. In fact, it was even a standard campaign blurb in the elections of 1999.

Basic education and decent health care should be a right, not a privilege provided by the ruling government of the day. The right to basic education is clearly stipulated in Article 31 of the 1945 Constitution, while the responsibility to provide adequate health care is stated in Article 34.

Furthermore, much of what was announced was really a repetition of programs and initiatives that were in place even during the Soeharto era.

With varying degrees of success, the nine-year education program was in existence long before President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono even entered government. During Indonesia's economic heyday education was officially free, even though unofficial fees were routinely collected by the schools.

Since the 1970s thousands of elementary schools -- commonly referred to as SD Inpres -- were built using special funds accorded from the presidential office.

Similarly, small community health centers were setup to provide health care in villages and remote areas. To this day, even major referral hospitals like Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta charge very little for patients treated in their third-class wing.

A letter from the local subdistrict chief certifying that one is poor often helps to alleviate further basic health care costs in state hospitals.

That certainly does not mean that Indonesians get the optimum available care, but at least there are provisions, albeit less than sufficient, which may help to ease certain burdens.

Hence the government's recent announcement should be seen as nothing more than augmentation, at best, and continuation, at worst, of programs already in place. While it is encouraging, it is not something to boast about yet.

Apart from a larger allocation of funds, the best that can be hoped for is that the system is made more effective and the bureaucracy that complicates things for the uninformed poor is made more efficient.

Cynics may question the timing of the announcement, pointing to the fact that the government will inevitably revoke subsidies and raise fuel prices in the near future. Subsidy reductions are a politically sensitive issue and have produced the most significant street rallies in recent years. In fact president Soeharto resigned in 1998 in the wake of mass rioting in Jakarta triggered by subsidy reductions.

The present administration has always maintained that fuel subsidies are unsustainable and that only a small portion of the public, usually the affluent, enjoy the benefits of such a subsidy. Through various advertisements in the mass media, the government has launched a campaign to sway public opinion on the necessity of reducing the burden of subsidies.

It would be a pity if the declared intent to provide free education and health care was designed more to cushion possible anger at rising fuel prices.

The art of "spinning" is common practice in politics. But what our elected officials should realize is that with or without the "spin", there can be no better investment in their political careers than ensuring the welfare of voters.

System of accountability

Those who regularly follow the summaries of the Supreme Audit Agency's reports on the state budget accounts would find nothing surprising in the latest findings related to the government's 2003 budget accounts. After all, the government's budget accounts for the previous four fiscal years had all been classified with a disclaimer, meaning that the accounts were so deficient and questionable that the auditors could not give any opinion on the financial statements.

Like the previous four years, the agency reported to the House of Representatives last week thousands of instances of irregularities, deviations and breaches of budgetary rules and public finance management procedures related to the 2003 budget accounts.

The auditors, for example, found that the government did not account for Rp 27.2 trillion (US$3.02 billion) of funds in 16 different escrow accounts under the supervision of the finance ministry. In another part of the report, the agency questioned the status of almost Rp 38 trillion that the government did not account for in its 2003 financial statements. No wonder the agency also returned the 2003 budget accounts with a disclaimer.

But then what is the meaning of the audit agency's report if it cannot force the government to improve its financial accountability? This has long been a contentious issue. The agency's audit report simply demonstrates the relaxed stance on the part of the government as regards malfeasance, showing how the government's tolerance of breaches of rules or deviations from regulations seems to have steadily been stretched.

Obviously, part of the problem is the lack of enforcement power and the lack of clarity in the mandate, scope and role of the Supreme Audit Agency. Nor are there systematic follow-up procedures to ensure implementation of the agency's findings.

However, a deeper reading of the agency's report and the government's clarifications to the agency suggests that many of the auditors' findings of irregularities or breaches of budgetary rules or procedures derive from different interpretations of the rules on public finance management, accountability and transparency. Both the government and the Supreme Audit Agency seem to use different languages in reading state financial accounts.

These problems were supposed to have been resolved with the enactment of three laws regarding state financial accountability, state finances and the state treasury.

The three pieces of legislation are related to and reinforce each other with regards to the enforcement of stronger rules on budget allocation, accounting systems, cash and debt management, procurements and internal controls.

The problem though is that the three laws have yet to be fully implemented as they are relatively new. The laws on the state treasury and state financial accountability were enacted only last year and the legislation on state finances in mid-2003.

The laws have yet to be supplemented with many regulations on technical details such as accounting standards, the systems of internal control, the format of financial accountability, the treatment and classification of revenue and spending, etc.

The new treasury law, for example, puts the Ministry of Finance fully in charge of managing the state budget and clearly stipulates the principle of a single consolidated fund. It enforces the role of the finance minister as the chief financial officer of the state.

This will create a stronger treasury directorate general to conduct a comprehensive overhaul of the government's payment and receipt systems, consolidate government cash resources currently held in thousands of bank accounts and enhance the internal control framework. But as finance minister Jusuf Anwar explained in his clarifications to the auditors' report, a special regulation on the government's accounting standards and system has yet to be issued. The government's internal control system and structure has yet to be realigned according to the state treasury law, and the finance ministry has not been reorganized to conform with its new role under the new laws.

But the job does not end there. Regulations and directives have to be understood by officials in charge of handling state finances and assets in central and local governments, and at state companies. This process requires a lot of training.

It is therefore imperative for the government to speed up the implementation of the three laws to minimize differences of opinion and improve accountability, lest the Supreme Audit Agency continue to classify the budget accounts with a disclaimer.

Hoping for peace

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 1, 2005

Desperate positivism. That could be a way of describing the reactions toward the recently concluded talks in Helsinki between Aceh separatist leaders (GAM) and Indonesian government representatives.

The two-day meeting provided little substance in terms of progress on ending the ongoing hostilities. Calling the talks positive may be clutching at straws.

Many in this country, not least our respected legislators, have viewed the talks with snide skepticism. There are certainly many question marks hanging over the talks, especially the nature in which they came about, as it was initially patterned closer to a "corporate takeover" than a diplomatic negotiation. In fact, many of Indonesia's senior diplomats who took part in previous talks were left in the dark over developments in the latest talks.

But after two years of war and impasse, and on the heels of one of the worst natural disasters in history, the decision to continue talks at some point in the near future is a positive development.

At the very least, the two sides, by all accounts, did not leave the table in anger. In diplomacy, this could be what is described as "agreeing to disagree". There have been continued reports of clashes on the ground between government soldiers and rebels, however trading words among top representatives is better than exchanging gun fire. The talks show that there is goodwill among the two sides to seek a more amiable solution to the fighting, which generations of Acehnese have had to suffer through.

It is our hope that those involved in the armed clashes will finally recognize that there is a greater enemy currently threatening the lives of Acehnese. That enemy is hunger, illness and suffering brought about by the tsunami.

But even with our contentment over this initial round of talks, it is imperative that government officials hastily prepare a follow-up concept, which can be brought to the table.

One Indonesian minister was quoted as saying that "future meetings would seek a comprehensive peace settlement". This encouraging remark, we hope, can be interpreted as a desire to widen the talks to include the most relevant stakeholders in the Aceh issue. There is little point in imposing a peace that the Acehnese themselves have little dividend in.

Increasing the number of people involved comes with risks. Foremost is the danger that negotiations could descend into a cacophony of ideas and subplots rather than a simple dialog focused on stopping the gun fire. But, if managed properly, the general involvement of a wider spectrum of local leaders will also serve as peer pressure for both GAM and the government to hash out a mutually acceptable agreement.

Who better to shape the future of Aceh than the Acehnese? Another proposal that could be considered, would be to find a role for the armed rebels in the reconstruction of Aceh. Given the scale of the devastation and massive rebuilding program, surely there is a role for these native Acehnese.

It is our hope that the next series of talks will further examine the common ground along with ways and means by which the two parties can alleviate the pain caused by the tsunami.

If either side resumes talks in the near future without bringing forth an open mind and qualified proposals for which to work on, then these talks will only have been window dressing to appease critics of the violence in Aceh.

To major political players in Indonesia, we ask that the sluggishness of the talks be given the benefit of the doubt. Do not cloud the remote chance for peace with superfluous issues of nationalistic chauvinism.

In particular, rebel forces and soldiers in Aceh should consciously make every effort to refrain from shooting each other. Peace now needs to be the top priority, and it needs everybody's full support.

Black and blue

Jakarta Post Editorial - January 29, 2005

Outrageous is one word to describe a beating Indonesian soldiers meted out to anticorruption activist Farid Faqih in Banda Aceh, an outspoken critic of the military, who now faces charges of stealing donated goods from the Iskandar Muda Airport.

Another might be insolence, yet another sheer stupidity. A preliminary investigation into the coordinator of Government Watch should have immediately revealed his true intentions when taking two truckloads of aid from the airbase, to be sent, he said, to a warehouse and out of the rain.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rightly slammed Wednesday's beating, which directly contradicted what he has said about the importance of law enforcement; that people, including soldiers, should not take the law into their own hands.

These "people" included elements of security forces, which we rely on so much these days to help with the emergency relief work in the tsunami-hit provinces and the reconstruction that follows.

Their work has led to much praise, a luxury for the Indonesian Military (TNI), which has yet to shed its image of a national asset that views itself as so important that it has often seemed beyond the law.

So far we have reports of investigations into the activist beginning almost instantly after Farid was beaten and declared a suspect. We have yet to hear about any investigations into the soldiers.

The actions of the soldiers who had waited for two days to distribute the aid was "unavoidable", the air base commander was quoted as saying. Stealing aid from refugees who have lost everything may indeed be an unpardoned crime but the "unavoidable" beating only reflected the one language understood most by our supposedly reformed soldiers: Violence. To them, the language of the law is still likely an alien tongue.

Such old habits of the past are the last thing needed in this time of distress for hundreds of thousands of survivors, while we have not even solved adequate coordination in the distribution of aid to different areas.

"Chaotic" was the blunt verdict of the United Nations report issued Thursday about how aid was being distributed on the west coast of Aceh. The UN report by an inter-agency team including the Indonesian government, the US military and UN agencies, cited "the continued absence of a systematic response to the multiple needs of the population". Lack of coordination of health services and fragmented information were also cited.

Thankfully, among the good news, the report also said that food was reaching "most large population groups".

Coordination is just one worry. Monitoring of the aid including all that donated cash is another. Already the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab is baffled about the balance sheet of public donations drawn up by his own office. The balance sheet, he told lawmakers on Thursday, "shows that a large amount of money was paid out to help organize the recent Infrastructure Summit. I am baffled as to what this summit had to do with the tsunami." Although not often voiced amid the global empathy following the December 26 disaster, the international spotlight is now on whether Indonesia can overcome its track record of corruption in managing the distribution of at least US$3 billion in aid.

It means one question: With so much lost, can Indonesians turn over a new leaf, at least for the sake of those who survived? Can we not steal their money? Can we not revert to old tricks and engage in "marking up" needs, as Farid reportedly accused officials of? And can we investigate and prosecute alleged thieves and not beat them up before any trial? The early signs are that many among us cannot give up our very old habits -- as is evident from the pictures of Farid Faqih's bloated face.

Book/film reviews

Repression and resistance in Aceh

Green Left Weekly - February 2, 2005

[Indonesia's Secret War in Aceh. By John Martinkus, Random House. 340 pages, $32.95 (pb).]

Review by Jon Lamb -- The social and political impact of the tsunami tragedy in Aceh is becoming clearer as the process of aid delivery and reconstruction slowly gathers momentum. Reports from Acehnese and Indonesian human-rights, pro-democracy and aid organisations indicate that the Indonesian military (TNI) is living up to its reputation as a thoroughly corrupt and oppressive apparatus.

The disaster follows decades of intense military repression, during which tens of thousands were killed, disappeared or unjustly imprisoned. The TNI has devoted at least half of its 40,000 troops presently based in Aceh to armed military operations, ostensibly against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

The announcement by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in November that the state of civil emergency in Aceh would be extended by six months came as no surprise to many. In November and December the number of TNI attacks increased considerably as it sought to crush the network of GAM guerrilla bases in remote and isolated parts of Aceh.

These new military operations were intended as a return to the situation of all-out war initiated in 2003, sealing Aceh off from the outside world -- all foreign journalists, aid organisations and observers of any kind were banned.

John Martinkus's latest book, Indonesia's Secret War in Aceh, traces the immediate events that led to this military siege and the Acehnese people's resistance to it. Martinkus has an easy-to-read style, relaying his personal experiences of travelling throughout Aceh to present an intimate portrayal of the daily plight faced by the Acehnese people.

The current restrictions on foreign aid workers and journalists travelling in Aceh are part of a deliberate attempt by the TNI to prevent outsiders from witnessing what the Acehnese people are being forced to endure.

Martinkus describes what happens to those who seek to investigate and reveal the truth about what is happening in Aceh, such as the brave local human-rights lawyers and solidarity activists, regularly detained, tortured or assassinated by the TNI. He also documents what has happened to foreigners attempting to do similar work, like the independent journalist and activist Billy Nessen and nurse Joy Lee Sadler (both from the United States) or Australian-based academic Lesley McCulloch.

Indonesia's Secret War in Aceh also provides a concise background to the history of the struggle for independence, as well as documenting the transformation of the pro-independence movement in the last decade, particularly in the period since the fall of Suharto. A broader movement has grown beyond the armed struggle (and beyond the call for the creation of an Islamic state). A central demand of the movement is for a referendum on Aceh's status.

Martinkus criticises the foreign policies of the US, Australia and other Western powers towards Aceh and their steps towards closer military ties with Indonesia. The TNI terror machine continues to conduct gross human-rights abuses throughout Indonesia, coordinated by many of the same TNI officers who attempted to completely destroy East Timor after its 1999 independence referendum.

In West Papua, human-rights groups are preparing for the next round of attacks on pro-independence activists by militia gangs trained and armed by TNI units such as the infamous Kopassus regiment. Two men currently in detention face the death penalty merely for raising the Morning Star independence flag on December 1 in Jayapura.

Indonesia's Secret War in Aceh is a compelling read and a useful source for understanding what is happening in Aceh today and the role of the TNI in Indonesian politics.