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Indonesia News Digest No 28 - July 17-24, 2005
Jakarta Post - July 25, 2005
Jakarta -- Freedom from any form of exploitation topped
children's demands conveyed to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
during the National Children's Day celebration on Sunday.
The children, summing up their three-day congress, also asked the
government to set up a new ministry tasked with dealing with
children's issues and to take serious measures to enforce Law No.
23/2002 on child protection.
"Many Indonesian children are at risk of falling victim to
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor on the streets,
while the government has failed to address the problems," the
children said in a statement read by Andra Septian and Rustio
Riskandaru before the President and several Cabinet ministers
attending the celebration at Taman Mini Indonesia in East
Jakarta.
The government was also criticized for failing to protect
children in conflict-prone areas, such as Maluku and Aceh, where
many children witnessed or were victims of violence.
The recent malnutrition cases which resulted in the deaths of
dozens of children were further proof of the government's failure
to protect children, they said.
"We expect the government to provide healthy food for children
nationwide so they will not suffer from malnutrition, and provide
free medical care," the statement said.
Free education, which the government has conceded unlikely due to
the oil subsidy, was another demand the children voiced before
the President.
Poverty is blamed for the failure of one in every five Indonesian
children under 15 to obtain an education, according to a recent
survey conducted by the International Labor Organization.
The children also asked the government to change the juvenile
penitentiary into an institution that provides "assistance and
protection for children who are dealing with legal matters" and
grant special remission to juvenile inmates.
Responding to the demands, Susilo said the government and the
legislators had agreed to reallocate the fuel subsidy for
education and health care, although he acknowledged it would not
materialize in the near future.
During the commemoration, the President presented awards to Andi
Juanda, 15, a junior high school student from Padang, West
Sumatra, Asti Utami, 17, a senior high school student from
Palembang, South Sumatra, for their contribution to the promotion
of children's rights and Bela Diniyah Putri, 13, a junior high
school student from Lampung for her efforts to fight for
children's rights through music and sports.
Later in the day, the children joined thousands of others at
Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta to continue the celebration.
First Lady Kristiani Herawati stole the show in the televised
event when she read a story for the children. Kristiani asked the
children in her 15-minute story to express their thoughts and
feelings.
Kristiani also asked the children to support the government
campaign for energy conservation by reducing lighting at night
and avoiding watching TV and playing computer games.
Jakarta Post - July 25, 2005
Thousands of residents living in the vicinity of Bojong dump in
Bogor and students from Bogor universities gathered on Sunday in
a mass prayer to object to the trial operation of the dump slated
for next Wednesday.
"We will form human blockade to prevent the dump trucks from
entering the location," a resident of Bojong village, Naih, said.
The dump, which is designated to handle Jakarta's waste, is
located in the neighborhood, prompting fears that its operation
will adversely affect the environment and the residents' health.
Dump operator PT Wira Guna Sejahtera and Bogor authorities had
said that the dump will use incinerators and a ball press which
were relatively environmentally friendly compared to the landfill
system at Jakarta's Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi.
However, during the first trial last year, the machines did not
work as they are designed for non-organic waste.
"They have tried, but the machines just don't work. We won't let
them hold any more trials because the authorities will use that
opportunity to reopen the dump," Naih added.
The authorities had attempted to hold another trial twice late
last year, but rowdy protests by locals forced them to
discontinue the plan.
Several police officers were placed under detention for several
weeks because they dispersed protesters violently, while a number
of residents were jailed for several months for vandalism and
inciting unrest.
According to Bogor spokesman Ahmad Sjahuri, Jakarta will send
between 100 tons and 300 tons garbage to the dump for the trial
on Wednesday.
"We expect the residents to let us do this so we can learn
whether there is any adverse impact of the dump on them," he
said, adding that the police will be on guard at the site.
Aceh
West Papua
Human rights/law
Reconciliation & justice
Politics/political parties
Focus on Jakarta
Environment
Health & education
Islam/religion
Armed forces/defense
Opinion & analysis
News & issues
Children need more protection from the state
Thousands vow to stop of Bojong dump tryout
Most women don't consider themselves pretty
Jakarta Post - July 17, 2005
A. Junaidi, Jakarta -- A young woman sits and seems to be talking to herself," When I walked into a mall, I looked at the mirror, wow, how beautiful my hair is." It's the closing line of a television advertisement for Dove shampoo.
In another television advertisement for Dove soap, a product of multi-national company Unilever, a young woman touches her cheek and also comments on her beauty.
The trick employed by Unilver in advertising its products is showing women who feel good about themselves after using the product.
Probably, the strategy is based on the company's recent survey of more than 2,000 women across Asia which revealed that only 1 percent of women in Indonesia would call themselves beautiful.
The survey titled: The Real Truth About Asian Beauty: Asian Women's Attitudes Toward Self-Esteem, Body Image and Media Portrayal, also revealed that only 3 percent of Asian women consider themselves to be beautiful.
The company did not provide comparative figures for other regions such as Europe and the United States, but it says the survey shows that Asian women lack self esteem, particularly about their bodies.
The survey was carried out in 11 Asian countries, while in Indonesia, it was carried out in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Bandung and Semarang.
The survey does not divulge the reasons behind the lack of self esteem. Is it due to the influence of culture or images portrayed in the media? For a long time, many cultures considered a women's body taboo. It was considered dirty due to menstruation and thus should be cleaned, veiled and talked about secretly.
Slowly, the taboo is disappearing. Yet, the treatment of women's body as an object lingers. And the industry makes a lot of money every year from products aimed at beautifying the female form.
For years, the industry is blamed for introducing a single concept of beauty: white skin, straight hair and slim body. Advertisement of beauty products often show women that meet the category along with admiring male stars. As an impact, women of colors, curly hair and different shape body feel marginalized.
Unilever focuses on women in its Dove advertisement. Unlike many other adertisments, the Dove advertisement shows no male models who are captivated by the looks of the female stars. Still, it is trapped in the stereotypical perception of women's beauty.
Although Indonesian women lack self-esteem the survey indicates that Indonesian women are much happier than women in many countries in Asia. The survey shows that Indonesian women keep a balance between "inner beauty" and physical performance.
| Aceh |
Jakarta Post - July 22, 2005
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The government said on Thursday that not all members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) would receive amnesty, with those being jailed for criminal offenses remaining in jail.
State Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan Djalil said that only political prisoners would be released.
"Only prisoners who were charged with treason will receive the amnesty, while others charged for crimes will not enjoy such pardons," Sofyan told reporters following a meeting with other government officials to discuss "technical matters" on how to implement the points agreed by the government and GAM leaders during last week's peace talks in Helsinki.
"Currently, all related ministries and institutions will conduct further arrangements in regard with the amnesty -- that includes the time-line, the recipients, the conditions and the legal opinions -- and all of the arrangements must be in line with our legal system," added Sofyan, who was among the government negotiators at the Helsinki talks.
Among of the agreed points during the talks was that the government would grant an amnesty to GAM members in return for their dropping demands for independence.
The amnesty, which is expected to be given two weeks after the government and GAM leaders officially sign the peace deal on Aug. 15, will restore the political, economic and social rights of GAM members, who for the past three decades have been fighting for the separation of Aceh from the unitary state of Indonesia.
The Minister, however, did not disclose the number of GAM prisoners who would enjoy the amnesty.
According to the Indonesian military there are currently around 1,300 active GAM members and another 1,300 being detained in various prisons in Indonesia including hundreds in the maximum security prison on the island of Nusakambangan in Central Java.
Most GAM prisoners have been jailed on criminal offenses including possession of illegal firearms and collection of illegal taxes (locally called Pajak Nanggroe) from Acehnese to raise funds for their struggle, human rights activists have said. This means that only a few GAM prisoners would walk free from jail once the peace deal has been formally signed.
Many of the prisoners jailed in Aceh died during the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster. The tsunami also destroyed all documents about the prisoners.
Former secretary general of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Asmara Nababan has suggested both the government and GAM leadership change the terms of the amnesty to a "public pardon," meaning that all GAM members would receive amnesty including those being jailed for criminal offenses.
A member of GAM's negotiating team Mohammed Nur Djuli has also said that the amnesty should be granted to all Acehnese prisoners.
GAM launched its separatist struggle in 1976. The government and the rebels group agreed a truce in December 2002, but this quickly collapsed with both camps exchanging accusations of violations.
In mid-May 2003, the government declared martial law in Aceh and launched a major military offensive against the rebels. Renewed efforts to make peace were triggered by the tsunami disaster.
Jakarta Post - July 22, 2005
The government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) are scheduled to sign a peace deal on Aug. 15 in Helsinki, Finland. The Jakarta Post's Tony Hotland spoke with Imam Syuja, an Acehnese legislator from the National Mandate Party (PAN) about peace prospects in the war-torn province. The following are some of the highlights of their conversation:
Question: What is your opinion about the latest developments in the peace talks between the government and GAM?
Answer: The significant developments are gratifying, compared to previous rounds, and even to previous peace talks in the past. This is one of the most crucial moments in Aceh and for its people as the government and GAM have finally met at the same spot. They used to stand on two different poles, but they have moved closer to one mutual understanding.
Personally, this is a situation that would have come about by itself sooner or later. But with the massive earthquake and the subsequent tsunami, I think it was God's warning to both disputing sides that now's the time to resolve the conflict that has caused too much suffering, physically and mentally.
What are the compromises that the two sides made to finally come to the latest agreement?
They have shown a great deal of willingness to end this conflict with the money, thoughts and prayers that were all put together since January.
The parties have their own strengths and weaknesses on the negotiation table, but they managed to compromise with one another. After over 30 years of conflict, neither has been able to quell the other. The government has failed to stamp out the separatists, and GAM has never been close to actually getting independence. What happened was only the death of thousands of people, civilians and military personnel -- all for nothing during the years of military operations.
Then came along the monstrous disasters that claimed over 100,000 lives. The government and GAM saw the disaster as a true warning that all hostilities in the province have to be settled and put to an end for good -- and done peacefully. And it did prove to work because they started thinking clearer about the conflict afterwards. GAM dropped its independence demand, while the government agreed to facilitate the GAM's requests for wider and independent aspects of life, in economics particularly, in Aceh.
How do you see the debate on the establishment of local political parties in Aceh as a key request from GAM?
Indonesia actually recognized local parties decades ago, during our first election in 1955. Analysts have argued the benefits and the disadvantages of allowing such parties, but I believe the government will study it thoroughly before granting GAM's demand.
The government enacted Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy for Aceh. If the government wants to limit the creation of local parties only to Aceh, if it deems the idea to be a bit risky (on a nationwide basis), then this law is the answer. The autonomy law can be revised by amending articles about political parties.
GAM has compromised a lot during the process. The issue of Aceh has put the government in a difficult position, and the special autonomy law is the most feasible option. Of course, it needs to be ensured that these parties will not campaign for independence, and vow to uphold the unity of Indonesia.
Regarding fear of separatism, it was waves of injustice by the central government that accumulated into the birth of idealism of local people. The government took those first small cries for freedom for granted, until it grew into a full voice asking for independence. There should be no correlation between a local party and separatism.
Now that a preliminary peace deal has been signed, what are the next steps to reach a fully peaceful situation in Aceh?
It is crucial for them to keep each other's promises and implement all of the agreed items between the two without any exceptions.
There must be a continuity in implementing the peace agreement with concrete action plans. First, there is the security arrangement. It should be clear in the final agreement about how the processes of GAM disarming and the government withdrawing military troops, so that there are not multiple interpretations.
On this, the involvement of foreign observers are important as was the case during the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) (signed in December 2002, but dissolved in May 2003). They can monitor implementation and help to ensure that all the obligations on the part of the government and GAM are adhered to.
Second, there should be an emphasis on the involvement of former GAM members in normal society. For example, the government is trying to rebuild Aceh after the disasters. The issue will be how to involve former GAM members in that process.
They must be granted amnesty and rehabilitated. All of them, without any exceptions. That is what I meant by an impartial resolution. They, including those in prison, should be given every right of a normal citizen, including to be politically active, to get a job, to have a voice. The government must not do what Habibie's administration did, that is to grant them amnesty, but not grant them their basic rights as human beings.
On GAM's part, they need to convince the government that their willingness to join Indonesia is legitimate. They must make their independence struggle a part of history, so that neither the government or local people get suspicious about them every now and then. What is important is that GAM and the government need to have trust in each other.
Jakarta Post - July 21, 2005
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the Indonesian Military (TNI) to stop its offensive against Aceh rebels in a bid to facilitate the signing of peace deal scheduled for Aug. 15 in Jakarta.
The order came after a series of clashes in the province as the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist negotiators inked a draft peace agreement in Helsinki on Sunday.
At least five rebels, four TNI soldiers and two civilians have been killed since then, according to GAM. The TNI says there have only been two clashes, in which four separatists and one soldier died and two were wounded.
"The President has asked TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto not to launch any more offensives against the separatists for the sake of the peace deal," Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi said after a Cabinet meting on Wednesday.
Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan A. Djalil, one of the government's negotiators, said the President also asked the TNI leadership to disseminate points in the peace deal to soldiers in the field.
"The President made it very clear in the meeting that the TNI must take a defensive posture in case of attacks by GAM fighters. There is a possibility that they (soldiers) will remain in their barracks in the meantime," he said.
Negotiators from both camps on Sunday concluded their fifth round of talks with a draft deal that could end decades of armed conflict in the province. The peace deal stipulates, among others, the withdrawal of reinforcement troops from Aceh and the surrender of GAM weapons.
The government is also considering allowing GAM to form its own political party would be able to contest local elections in 2009.
Sofyan said with the completion of the draft, the government would soon meet with the House of Representatives to discuss the points agreed to in the draft, as most would probably require amendments to existing laws to take effect.
"As demanded by GAM, the government cannot disclose the details of the draft to the public yet, not until the MOU is signed, because they will need time to discuss the draft with their fighters in Aceh," he said.
Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto said there were several articles in the draft that would accommodate any dispute arising from the deal.
"In case there are certain people who disagree with points in the peace deal and eventually cause disputes, there are clauses in the draft that allows the government and GAM to settle them peacefully," he said.
Several legislators have opposed the deal, especially in relation to the government's decision to accommodate GAM's demand to establish a local political party in the province.
The House may present an obstacle in passing amendments to laws that would recognize the existence of locally based political parties.
Key points of peace deal
[Source: Indonesian negotiator Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin.]
Associated Press - July 20, 2005
Robin McDowell, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government said Wednesday it would start withdrawing troops from Aceh in September as part of a pact with rebels to end three decades of fighting that has killed 15,000 people.
The announcement followed claims by separatists and soldiers that gunbattles in the tsunami-ravaged province have claimed up to 10 lives in recent days. Each side blamed the other.
Lasting peace would ease the massive international relief effort in Aceh, still recovering from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 130,000 people dead and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
But several earlier accords have collapsed -- the most recent in 2003 -- and claims of fresh fighting raised new concerns.
Information Minister Sofyan Djalil insisted renewed violence would not affect the peace process. "The situation in Aceh will improve," he said after a Cabinet meeting in Jakarta. Both sides "want to see an end to combat in the field."
Government negotiators and representatives of the Free Aceh Movement agreed Sunday, after five days of talks in Finland, to sign an accord Aug. 15 to end one of Southeast Asia's longest- running wars.
As part of the peace deal, the rebels gave up their demands for independence in return for some form of political representation in Aceh.
A promised troop reduction in the province would begin in mid- September and be complete by Dec. 31, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin told reporters.
Earlier, officials said the number of security forces, now at 50,000, would be gradually cut to 23,000 under the watchful eye of European Union observers and monitors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"The memorandum of understanding also discusses amnesty for the rebels, the rehabilitation of economic, political and social rights for the former guerrillas, and the collection and destruction of their guns," Awaluddin said.
Even as the government spelled out its plans, Lt. Col. Ery Sudiko, a military spokesman in Aceh, accused the rebels of taking advantage of the peace initiative to step up their campaign.
"When soldiers abandoned their posts as part of efforts to create a conducive environment, the rebels moved in, frightening villagers... even killing innocent ones," he said, adding that among the dead was Muhammad Nur, a 42-year-old village chief shot in front of his wife.
Rebel spokesman Sofyan Dawood denied the claims. He said five guerrillas, three soldiers and two civilians were killed and called on Indonesian military commander Gen. Endriaretono Sutarto to rein in his troops.
Agence France Presse - July 19, 2005
The United States said that a peaceful settlement to the 30-year separatist conflict in Indonesia's Aceh province was within sight, following a deal reached between the government and rebels.
The Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) have formulated a draft peace accord for official signing next month, it was announced after negotiations in Finland this week.
"We understand that the two sides have initialed a draft accord. We are hopeful that a peaceful settlement to this longstanding conflict is within reach," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
He said that the United States "supports the territorial integrity" of Indonesia and added that "effective implementation of any written agreement will be key to achieving a lasting peace in Aceh."
Washington, which had previously complained of human rights abuses allegedly committed by Indonesian troops fighting rebels in Aceh, has told Jakarta that it was ready to help bring about permanent peace in the restive province.
Based on the Helsinki deal, the Indonesian government and GAM agreed that "no substantive changes" will be introduced to an eight-page long initialed memorandum before it is signed on August 15.
The agreement aims to bring a "peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution" to end a conflict that has raged in the province since 1976 and cost nearly 15,000 lives.
GAM gave up its demand for full independence and said it would disarm, while the government has announced it will withdraw its troops from the province once the rebels hand in their weapons.
A peace deal seemed unthinkable after Jakarta declared martial law and launched a major military offensive in Aceh two years ago.
But renewed efforts to make peace were prompted by a need for international aid to reach Aceh, which bore the brunt of last December's tsunami. More than 131,000 people in the province were killed.
Jakarta Post - July 19, 2005
Jakarta -- The reaction was mixed in the House of Representatives on Monday to the draft peace deal signed by the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with some legislators questioning GAM's main demand to establish a local political party in the province.
The House of Representatives will play a key role should the issue be agreed for deliberation as it will involve the revision of laws governing the existence of political parties in the country.
Government negotiators concluded on Sunday the fifth round of talks with GAM in Helsinki, Finland, producing a deal that could end decades of separatist fighting in the province. The substance of the deal has not yet been made public, and it is unclear what form political representation for GAM, one of the group's key demands, has been agreed to.
House Speaker and the deputy leader of the largest party in the house, Golkar, Agung Laksono, said any creation of a local party in Aceh should not be completely ruled out although the concept would contravene existing laws.
"If the government allows a local party, then we must revise the political party law. However, we've agreed to maintain the spirit of a united Indonesia to resolve the Aceh conflict," said Agung.
Law No. 31/2002 on political parties forbids the creation of local parties, stating that all parties must be headquartered in Jakarta and be represented in half of the country's 33 provinces.
Acehnese legislator Ahmad Farhan Hamid of the National Mandate Party (PAN) was optimistic about the deal. "GAM's demand could be facilitated through revising Law No. 18/2001 on special autonomy for Aceh. But it needs to be ensured that the party will campaign for nothing but a united Indonesia... no independence or separatist campaigns," he said.
Farhan said a local electoral concept was not new to Indonesia, citing Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, which mandates the creation of a local body of legislators for the province.
The law creates the Papuan People's Assembly, a supposedly parallel body to the provincial government, which independent Papuan candidates could run for office in. Under the law, native Papuans are also given priority in the candidate selection process for political parties that contest seats in other legislative positions.
More negative comments about the deal came from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), the second- and third-largest House blocs respectively, who generally oppose the majority Golkar-Democratic Party-led faction.
PDI-P secretary general Pramono Anung warned that allowing local parties in Indonesian politics would cause other regions to demand similar bodies, putting national unity in serious danger.
Separatists who want independence from the republic also exist in Papua and Maluku.
PKB legislator Effendi Choirie said the latest development in the talks had overstepped a previous agreement to resolve the conflict within the parameters of a united Indonesia and existing laws.
Effendi, who is also the deputy leader of the House Commission I for defense, said the government delegation would be summoned to the commission soon to detail the results of the latest talks.
GAM negotiating team member Mohammed Nur Djuli said legislators should not be worried about the issue of local political parties in Aceh, saying that most genuine democracies in many parts of the world recognized local parties.
He vowed local parties in Aceh would not campaign for independence: "It is against the Indonesian existing law and the peace deal," he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said the TNI would agree to pull out troops from Aceh if GAM would disarm.
"If they are committed to surrendering their weapons and are serious, there's nothing wrong about pulling out the troops, because the presence of the TNI in Aceh is only because of GAM," he said.
Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda said he had sent official invitations to his counterparts in ASEAN and to European Union foreign affairs head Javier Solana regarding the presence of EU and ASEAN observers in the province to monitor the implementation of the peace.
Hassan said the observers' main job would be to ensure GAM's disarmament and the withdrawal of TNI troops in Aceh ran smoothly.
Australian Financial Review - July 19, 2005
Andrew Burrell, Jakarta -- A landmark peace deal between the Indonesian government and Aceh separatists still faces big hurdles after Jakarta legislators vowed yesterday to block moves to allow the rebels to form local political parties.
The preliminary agreement, reached in Helsinki on Sunday, was hailed yesterday as the most positive development yet in attempts to end one of the world's longest-running wars.
The two sides agreed to sign a formal treaty on August 15 to end a conflict that has killed thousands of people over the past three decades and deterred foreign investment in the resource- rich province.
A lasting peace deal would also smooth the way for the $5 billion international reconstruction effort in Aceh, which was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in December.
But analysts said they doubted whether the agreement would translate into an on-the-ground ceasefire involving the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military (TNI).
"It's a long way from signing a piece of paper to actual enforcement on the ground," said Sidney Jones, the International Crisis Group's project director for South-East Asia.
An Indonesia specialist from the Australian National University, Edward Aspinall, said the Helsinki accord was far stronger than a previous peace deal signed in 2002, which fell apart just months later. "But there are still a lot of potential complications along the way over every item you can imagine," he said.
The most obvious sticking point in the treaty, which remains confidential, is an apparent concession by government negotiators to allow GAM to form an Aceh-based political party. Under Indonesian law, all political parties must have representation in at least half of the country's 32 provinces and have headquarters in Jakarta.
This has been aimed at preventing any form of self-rule in provinces such as Aceh and Papua, which have strong separatist movements.
Several nationalist legislators in Jakarta said yesterday they would not agree to changing the law to allow Aceh-based political parties to contest local elections. "Such a demand is not allowed and it definitely violates the constitution," Effendi Simbolon, a prominent parliamentarian, told The Australian Financial Review. "So why we should consider the demand? It is useless to discuss it."
In comments before the deal was announced, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also appeared to have rejected the idea. "I have repeatedly explained that the Indonesian political party system is a national system," he said.
However, his vice-president, Jusuf Kalla, said he supported the move. The peace deal contains provision for GAM's disarmament and the withdrawal of 50,000 TNI troops.
Washington Post - July 19, 2005
Ellen Nakashima, Jakarta -- A peace deal aimed at ending 30 years of military conflict between Acehnese separatist rebels and the government was almost derailed just before it was accepted on Sunday afternoon.
The rebel negotiators, realizing that an Indonesian troop withdrawal was not as substantial as they had expected, debated among themselves for the next 21/2 hours, according to a team adviser, Damien Kingsbury. "They either initialed it or the whole deal was off," said Kingsbury, an Australian academic.
Finally, taking a leap of faith, the Free Aceh Movement rebels decided to initial the agreement, to hugs and handshakes at the venue of their talks, a 250-year-old mansion in Helsinki provided by the Finnish government.
The accord is intended to end a conflict in which about 15,000 people have been killed, including civilians caught in the crossfire as the Indonesian military hunted down the rebels. Peace in Aceh, located on the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, would also facilitate international relief efforts in the region, still recovering from the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. More than 100,000 people were killed in Aceh, and hundreds of thousands more were left homeless.
Under the agreement, which awaits formal approval, Indonesian military personnel would be reduced over a four-month period from 35,000 to 13,000 and police officers from 15,000 to 9,800, and both soldiers and rebels would cease fighting under the auspices of a European Union monitoring team, officials said.
The problem, Kingsbury said, was that the number of remaining troops would be about double the amount expected for a regional military command.
Hamid Awaluddin, the head of the government negotiating team, would not discuss troop numbers but said he was "very confident" that the military would honor the agreement.
Both sides said the agreement could still founder if the government does not honor its commitment to create the conditions for local political parties, if the military or the rebels refuse to lay down arms, or if the national assembly rejects the deal.
"We cannot say that this is perfect, no," Nurdin Abdul Rahman, a member of the rebel team, said in a telephone interview from Stockholm, where leaders of the rebels, known by their Indonesian acronym GAM, live in exile. "But now we are dependent on the genuine sincerity of both sides."
Details of the agreement are not expected to be made public until the formal signing on Aug. 15 in Helsinki. But several team members and a government official discussed the process Monday, offering some provisions of the pact, describing how it almost fell apart and outlining the challenges they face.
The main sticking point was whether people in Aceh would have the right to form local political parties, the officials said. GAM negotiators said the issue was pivotal in their goal of achieving self-government in Aceh province, after they had made a key concession by dropping their demand for an independent state.
The government, on the other hand, did not want to grant concessions to the rebels in Aceh that went beyond the rights of political parties in other provinces. Indonesian law requires that political parties have representation in at least half the country's 32 provinces.
Kingsbury, a lecturer on international development at Deakin University, said the sides had agreed to a two-stage process that would allow people in Aceh to form local parties within 18 months of the deal signing. The process would require the national assembly to change current law, something that is far from assured.
In the end, it came down to a single word change, he said. The government agreed to modify "willing" to "will," an important semantic shift that signaled not just intent but a commitment to facilitating the creation of local political parties in Aceh, Kingsbury said.
It took four more hours of bargaining, but the government side eventually agreed, Kingsbury and Rahman said. "The principle was there, but the wording was difficult," Rahman said.
Past cease-fire agreements have broken down -- three times in the last few years -- so the rebels are wary about whether this agreement will hold, they said. On Friday, Rahman received word that a cousin who is a GAM member had been shot and killed by the military while visiting his ailing mother at her home that morning. He almost stayed away from the talks that day, but decided that would send the wrong signal. He said the government delegation expressed regret for the killing.
Indonesia's military chief, Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, said Monday in Jakarta that the military would abide by the agreement but that it would not leave Aceh "until GAM puts down its guns."
Reactions from the Acehnese people were mixed. "I am so happy and excited to hear" the news, said Azwar Abubakar, acting Aceh governor, reached by telephone while he was on a Muslim pilgrimage to Medina, Saudi Arabia. "This is what we have been waiting for for so long."
[Special correspondent Yayu Yuniar contributed to this report.]
Asia Times - July 19, 2005
Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's willingness to go the last mile on Aceh appears to have won the day in Helsinki, where government negotiators and separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels have finally reached a tentative peace accord to end 30 years of fighting. The president had made settlement of the northernmost province's conflict, which has claimed nearly 15,000 lives, one of his government's priorities.
Former US president Bill Clinton, the United Nations' envoy for tsunami relief, said in May that Acehnese had told him repeatedly that "we'll never really be able to build the future we want until the civil conflict is over". Last year's December 26 tsunami left more than 131,000 Acehnese dead.
Renewed efforts to reach a peaceful solution were prompted by the need for international aid to flow as foreign governments, non- government organizations and individuals all over the world pledged billions of dollars in tsunami relief.
The talks in Helsinki, which began last Tuesday, were the fifth held in the Finnish capital this year, and had been considered the last chance to bring an end to bloodshed in the province.
In reaching a deal there was a dramatic shift in stances on both sides. Deeply suspicious of each other after years of fighting, neither side had stated its political stance towards the other in earlier pre-tsunami talks. GAM gave up its demand for full independence and said it would disarm its 5,000 fighters, while the government announced it would withdraw its troops from the province once the rebels handed in their weapons.
A peace deal collapsed in May 2003 amid bitter recriminations after Jakarta arrested rebel negotiators and militias attacked foreign peace monitors, forcing them to abandon the province. This prompted the government to launch a major military offensive to crush the rebels.
Post tsunami considerations
The challenges surrounding the rebuilding of Aceh are monumental. The economy is destroyed, and huge numbers of survivors are jobless as well as homeless, living in tented camps. Five hundred towns and villages were affected by the killer waves and 116,880 homes were damaged or destroyed. Infrastructure was wiped out in many areas: nearly 1,000 government buildings, 665 schools and 1,525 kilometers of roads were destroyed. A US$5 billion reconstruction program is now underway, involving hundreds of foreigners.
GAM declared a unilateral ceasefire immediately after the tsunami struck. This was followed by a non-negotiated and informal ceasefire declared by both the Indonesian military (TNI) and GAM. The TNI, however, continued with a series of major operations against GAM, and brought in thousands of extra troops.
Rebel leaders were quick to capitalize on the presence of large numbers of foreigners in the province to sue for peace on their terms, which at the time included a non-negotiable demand for independence.
Historic shift
Hasan di Tiro, who founded GAM, had been particularly intransigent on the question of independence. Di Tiro, whom GAM considers to be the rightful head of state of Aceh, and Malik Mahmud, its prime minister and head of government, along with other members of the group's leadership, live in exile in Sweden.
Fearing that allowing Aceh to break away would encourage separatism elsewhere in the sprawling archipelago, Indonesia has insisted that any settlement must be based on a "special autonomy" law it passed for the province in 2001. This package has, however, never been properly implemented. The province's affairs continue to be directed from Jakarta.
Nonetheless, the GAM leadership agreed last week to drop their demands for independence, a stance which their political advisor, Australian academic Damien Kingsbury, who was part of the Acehnese delegation in Helsinki, described as "huge, a fundamental shift in position".
Calling on Jakarta to embrace basic democratic principles, Kingsbury said, "We're really at not just a critical juncture, but a historic juncture."
Political dimensions
The remaining stumbling block was then the issue of political representation. The draft accord now hinges on an 11th-hour agreement by Jakarta to allow GAM to form its own political party. Current electoral legislation does not allow for provincial parties -- a party must have representation in at least half of the country's 32 provinces, and have its main party offices in Jakarta.
The laws are designed to prevent provinces breaking away from the central government. East Timor, for example, a former Portuguese colony, gained full independence in May 2002 after more than two years of UN stewardship, which followed a quarter of a century of Indonesian occupation.
Negotiators said full details of the accord would not be released before the formal signing in Helsinki on August 15, two days before Indonesia's Independence Day. This allows time for the government to seek approval from parliament for changes in the law to accommodate the agreements.
Under the draft, the rebels will be allowed to run in local elections, but not in national elections. This will allow them a measure of self-governance. "Although we will not readily allow the establishment of local political parties, what is important is that they have political rights, that along with the other elements in Aceh they have opportunities to take part in the existing political process," the president said in Jakarta at the weekend.
Vice President Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, who leads the Golkar Party, the largest faction in parliament, will probably support a move to change the law. But nationalist and military factions, which remain deeply distrustful of the separatist rebels, will likely resist such changes.
If the government wins the day, former separatists will be able to stand in local and provincial elections next April, and Aceh- based parties will be set up, enabling GAM to enter politics.
An end to abuse?
Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented a catalogue of abuses -- torture, rape and summary executions -- most, though by no means all, committed by security forces. The majority of the victims of the fighting have been civilians.
Though the TNI has lost some of its powers since the downfall of autocrat Suharto in 1998, it continues to retain and exert much influence, especially in the regions. About 50,000 troops are currently deployed in Aceh.
GAM enjoyed a surge in popularity when the military engaged in acts of violence, but the rebels themselves have a long history of attacking non-military facilities or strategic economic targets, mostly in areas populated by non-Acehnese, particularly Javanese migrants, and forcing villagers to undergo indoctrination.
Opportunities for profiteering from drugs, prostitution, piracy, illegal logging, human trafficking, weapons sales and protection rackets were exploited to the full by elements of both sides.
Collecting extorted levies similar to those imposed by military personnel and local officials, such as security protection fees and property taxes, gave GAM the funds to buy weapons.
Hearts and minds
The government bureaucracy has been dominated by Javanese for decades. The sense of bitter economic injustice over what the Acehnese say is Jakarta's exploitation of the province's resources has been pivotal in securing support for GAM. More and more people turned to the separatists as an outlet for their dissatisfaction. Though they may have been less than enthusiastic about rule by GAM, the people of Aceh are deeply disheartened with Indonesia over its uninterrupted string of broken promises. The new deal, however, means that Aceh is likely to be offered a far greater share of revenues from its rich natural resources, including oil and gas.
The peace talks have been sharply criticized by some legislators, who claim that the Aceh issue is solely a domestic problem. They also criticize the fact that both sides have already agreed on European Union monitoring for any deal.
Though the government has also been slammed by many legislators for "internationalizing" the war by agreeing to the talks, a genuine peace, backed by a transparent rebuilding of a demilitarized province, would do more to win the hearts and minds of the Acehnese than the use of military might has achieved over three decades.
It could also provide a precedent for resolving another secessionist crisis in Papua, at the far eastern end of the vast archipelago.
[Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has worked in Indonesia for 19 years in journalism and editorial positions. He has been published by the BBC on East Timor and specializes in business/economic and political analysis in Indonesia.]
Antara - July 18, 2005
Jakarta -- Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has said the government would send military troops to Aceh if the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) broke its commitment to hand in their weapons as part of a peace accord agreed in Helsinki on Sunday.
We will see their commitment if the reality in the field is different, we will send back military troops to Aceh. It is that simple," he said.
He said that if GAM had good intentions to uphold the Helsinki accord, they would hand over their weapons although there were still million of troops in Aceh.
The government has said it will withdraw its troops from the province once the rebels hand in their weapons.
"There are several points that can't be negotiated, such as GAM's demand to hand over their weapons after the government withdraws military troops," he said.
The Indonesian government and GAM have reached a ground breaking agreement to end 30 years of fighting in Aceh province and a memorandum of understanding will be formally signed next month.
The agreement is to bring a "peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution" to end conflict in the province.
Both sides also agreed to establish an Aceh monitoring mission to check on progress, which they hope will be run by the European Union and a number of Asian countries.
Reuters - July 18, 2005
Achmad Sukarsono, Banda Aceh -- People in Aceh reacted cautiously on Monday to a deal aimed at ending 30 years of civil war in the Indonesian province devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami.
Unlike an agreement reached in late 2002 that had Acehnese crowding newspaper stalls for the details, the new deal failed to distract people from going about business as usual.
The huge black and white mosque that dominates the center of the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, had a routine schedule of prayers, not the special programs for peace of 2002.
That year's agreement fell apart in a few months with the government and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels blaming each other. Some feared the latest deal, negotiated in Finland, would follow that pattern.
"All this is only promises, just like the promises from previous negotiations," newspaper agent Joni Sukandar told Reuters in Banda Aceh, 1,700 km (about 1,000 miles) northwest of Jakarta on Sumatra's northern tip.
"We are not pro-GAM or pro-RI (Republic of Indonesia). We are only pro-peace. But whenever there is negotiation there is always a clash. They talk up there but they fight down here." The peace deal was the top story in Aceh's leading newspaper, but its editorial of the day was on bird flu.
The peace talks which began in January in Helsinki failed to stop sporadic battles in Aceh. In 30 years of fighting some 12,000 people, mostly civilians, have died. "I'm happy to hear the news of peace," said elementary school teacher Rusmini, 35. "But it's a normal thing. I've heard this before, so let's see how it goes," she said at her school in Peukan Bada on the outskirts of Banda Aceh.
Of the school's 300 students, only 60 survived the tsunami, which flattened the school buildings. Rusmini and her students held their Monday lessons in a tent.
The killer waves left about 170,000 dead or missing in Aceh. Many hope a peace deal will smooth the way for a $5 billion rebuilding program which relies heavily on foreign donors.
"With this peace agreement all of our rehabilitation efforts can be performed more smoothly," Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the Indonesian head of the reconstruction effort, told Reuters.
Early in the talks GAM dropped its demand for independence, and in the fifth session ending on Sunday the government moved to accommodate GAM's request for political participation in Aceh.
Details are still fuzzy on that and some other points ahead of a scheduled signing in Helsinki on Aug. 15. But Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has indicated that GAM could move to set up an Aceh-based national party within existing laws, and a purely local party for GAM could come later.
Trouble with parliament? The latter would require approval by parliament, where the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Kalla have a majority coalition, albeit a shaky one not prone to easily meeting every government request.
Masduki Baidlowi, a Muslim leader and a deputy in parliament of the Nation Awakening Party, a swing group, said in Jakarta: "What the Indonesian government and GAM have achieved in Helsinki is a big result. I am really optimistic that it will work," he told Reuters, adding that GAM should be allowed to organize politically so long as it did not push for the break-up of the Indonesian state.
Members of the leading opposition group, the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), wanted to see the deal's details, but were skeptical. "GAM always violates their promises... We have to be cautious, and very, very cautious," PDI-P member of parliament Permadi told Reuters in Jakarta.
Aside from the political issue, the Helsinki agreement carries provisions for disarming GAM, withdrawing Indonesian troops and monitoring a ceasefire.
General Endriartono Sutarto, commander of Indonesia's military, told reporters in Jakarta that "if GAM has committed on the handing over their weapons, then we have no reason again to have TNI (the Indonesian military) staying in Aceh." He said he had heard there was a three-month time frame for GAM to turn in weapons and the military to pull back, but added the precise mechanisms had yet to be discussed.
Arguments over disarmament and alleged failures to follow through were a key reason the 2002 agreement collapsed.
Until the new deal was signed TNI would "try to show GAM our goodwill (and) no longer do any offensive activities. Whether GAM will do the same, we'll just have to see," Sutarto said.
A statement from GAM's military on Monday reported two exchanges of fire on Sunday but no casualties.
Aceh, a resource-rich, devoutly Muslim province of 4 million people, has a long history of revolt against Jakarta and Dutch colonial rule. One issue in the GAM rebellion has been natural gas resources and how much revenue goes to the province.
(With additional reporting by Telly Nathalia, Adriana Nina Kusuma and Ade Rina in Jakarta)
Tempo Interactive - July 17, 2005
Sunariah, Jakarta - The TNI (armed forces) is ready to withdraw its troops from Aceh if it is part of an agreement reached in Helsinki between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
On Sunday July 17, the head of the TNI's public information office, Colonel Ahmad Yani Basuki, said that from the start the TNI has supported all policy decisions by the government. Including he said, withdrawing their troops from Aceh as one of GAM's conditions in the negotiations.
"If in the negotiations, [troop] withdrawals are part of the governments political decision, the TNI will follow it", said Basuki. While conceding that GAM is still causing security disturbances, Basuki added that the TNI cannot force the government to let them remain in Aceh if the government has decided otherwise.
Earlier, the Minister of Communication and Information, Sofyan Djalil, revealed that the government will withdrawal TNI troops from Aceh, provide security guarantees and amnesty to GAM members after the agreement is signed.
"If the [situation] is peaceful, the TNI has no problems withdrawing its troops except for the organic troops", Basuki added. According to Basuki, organic troops are still needed in Aceh in the same way as other parts for the country, which is part of the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Tempo Interactive - July 17, 2005
Dimas Adityo, Jakarta -- Within three months after a peace deal is agreed to between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the separatist group's arms will be surrendered and destroyed. In concert with this said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, non-organic TNI (armed forces) troops will be withdrawn from Aceh in stages.
The president revealed this after a volleyball match with Kostrad (Army Strategic Reserves Command) officers at the headquarters of the Kujang 17 Airborne Infantry Brigade in Cijantung, East Jakarta, on Sunday July 17. "In this way the process of disbanding GAM will occur", he said.
The president believes this is fair, if the disbanding of GAM up is accompanied with the withdrawal of non-organic TNI troops (troops from outside Aceh who are assigned to the Iskandar Muda territorial military command). The president however declined to say how many non-organic troops would be withdrawn. "The details will be worked out by the chief of the TNI", said Yudhoyono.
The informal negotiations in Helsinki between the Indonesian government and GAM will end on Sunday morning local time. On Saturday night, the president acknowledged that he had obtained a report saying that 97 per cent of the draft agreement has been agreed to. "Leaving 3 per cent which is related to opportunities for former GAM members to be active in politics", he said.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Agence France Presse - July 18, 2005
Helsinki -- The Indonesian government and Acehnese rebels have reached a groundbreaking agreement to end 30 years of fighting in Aceh province and a memorandum of understanding will be formally signed next month.
"There will be peace," Indonesian Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin told reporters at the end of a fifth round of negotiations between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
The agreement is to bring a "peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution" to end a conflict that has raged in the province since 1976 and cost nearly 15,000 lives.
Australia has welcomed the agreement between the Indonesian government and separatist rebels to end 30 years of fighting in Aceh province. "It's something we've wanted for a long period of time. There's been so much agony in Aceh," said Defence Minister Robert Hill. "The fact that the Indonesian government and GAM seem to have been able to reach agreement, I think, is very exciting for the people of Aceh and Indonesia as a whole." Both sides agreed that "no substantive changes" will be introduced to the eight-page long initialed memorandum before it is signed on August 15 in Finland.
"We may add a comma or correct a spelling mistake," peace talks mediator Martti Ahtisaari told reporters, refusing however to reveal any of the details of the accord.
He merely said that the agreement covered the governing of Aceh, including political participation, as well as the questions of human rights, amnesty and reintegration into society, security arrangements, and dispute settlement.
He also called for an immediate end to ongoing bloodshed in the province. "Of course all hostilities have to end with the signing of the memorandum of understanding on the 15th of August," he said.
Both sides also agreed to establish an Aceh monitoring mission to check on progress which they hope will be run by the European Union and a number of Asian countries. Ahtisaari said the EU had not formally replied to the invitation, but would dispatch experts to Indonesia by the end of this month to prepare a decision.
The ongoing round of talks, which began on Tuesday and which is the fifth held in the Finnish capital this year, had been considered a last chance to bring an end to the bloodshed soon. The talks resembled a rollercoaster-ride of alternately good and disastrous progress reports throughout the week and success was only ensured when the thorny issue of local political participation in Aceh had been resolved on Saturday.
GAM had demanded the right to create local political parties that are not controlled centrally from the capital, something that today is illegal in Indonesia.
GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah confirmed before the talks finished that Jakarta had said it would permit the creation of local political parties in the province for a trial period of one year, but Ahtisaari on Sunday declined to confirm whether this was indeed the plan. "The idea was that... there should be a chance for anybody to be able to participate in the political process," he said.
GAM gave up its demand for full independence and said it would disarm, while the government has announced it will withdraw its troops from the province once the rebels hand in their weapons. GAM indicated that it was not entirely comfortable with any role hardliners in the Indonesian military may play, but said it was willing to take the risk. "This agreement is a leap of faith for GAM (...) but this leap of faith is not without risks, and we now require the Indonesian government to exercise full authority over the Indonesian military (TNI) in order to allow this process to succeed," GAM said in a statement. "We feel that the peace process (...) will be successful," added rebel spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah.
Nur Djuli, a negotiator on the GAM side, said he saw no problem with the GAM leadership, which is for the most part exiled in Sweden, returning home.
"There will be no distinction any more between GAM and non-GAM people, so if they want to return they will return," he said.
Participants agreed that a peace deal had seemed unthinkable after Jakarta declared martial law and launched a major military offensive in Aceh two years ago.
But renewed efforts to make peace were prompted by a need for international aid to reach Aceh, which bore the brunt of last December's tsunami. More than 131,000 people in the province perished.
Agence France Presse - July 17, 2005
Indonesia's government and Aceh rebels have reached a peace deal to end a 29-year insurgency in the tsunami-devastated province, a top Indonesian official said Sunday.
A draft peace deal submitted by the rebel Free Aceh Movement was approved Saturday by the Indonesian president in Jakarta, said Communications Minister Sofyan Djalil, one of the lead negotiators at peace talks in Finland.
On Saturday, negotiators from both sides said they had reached a tentative agreement to end one of the world's longest-running wars.
The peace deal will ease the delivery of international reconstruction aid to the province of 4.1 million inhabitants which was severely damaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami that killed at least 130,000 people.
The draft accord, which hinged on allowing the separatist Free Aceh Movement to form its own political party, was sent to Jakarta for approval by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"The president has agreed to the draft submitted by GAM about political parties" Djalil said Sunday morning, referring to the Free Aceh Movement by its Indonesian acronym. "Finally we have reached common understanding about the issues we discussed last night."
The two sides are meeting Friday to initial the deal seen as the best chance yet of ending the three decades of fighting that has killed 15,000 people in Aceh, an oil and gas rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra Island. The peace accord will be signed in mid-August at a formal ceremony in the Finnish capital.
The agreement reportedly will allow the separatists to field individual candidates in local elections next April for town mayors. The government also has undertaken to change a law banning local political parties -- a key rebel demand -- within 18 months.
The draft agreement also provides for the withdrawal of most of the 50,000 Indonesian troops and paramilitary police deployed to the province, and the disarmament of the 5,000-strong guerrilla force. This will be overseen by about 250 European Union observers and at least 100 monitors from the association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"That's fantastic, it's encouraging to know that the administration in Jakarta has taken this process seriously and supports the work of its own negotiators and the agreement they have reached," said Damien Kingsbury, an Australian academic who is part of the Acehnese delegation in the Finnish capital.
In Jakarta, Yudhoyono said rebels will be given three months to disarm. He made the comments to reporters before the draft agreement was announced.
"If the conflict is declared over, then within about three months GAM will be expected to hand over its guns which would then be destroyed," Yudhoyono said.
Experts say that a peace formula for Aceh would help defuse separatist tensions that have threatened to tear Indonesia apart since the ouster of dictator Suharto in 1998 and East Timor's secession a year later. It would also provide a blueprint for resolving another secessionist crisis in Papua, at the other end of Indonesia's vast archipelago.
The accord will represent a political success for Yudhoyono, whose administration has been sharply criticized by nationalist lawmakers for "internationalizing" the war by agreeing to the talks held in Finland under the auspices of former President Martti Ahtisaari.
The peace process was restarted immediately after the Dec. 26 disaster, when both the Indonesian administration and the Acehnese government-in-exile in Sweden came under intense international pressure to end the long-running war. prior to that, the province had been a closed area of military operations. Thousands of foreign relief troops and relief workers were allowed in to help alleviate the humanitarian disaster.
The two sides have met five times since then in Helsinki. The current, final round of talks opened on Tuesday.
Agence France Presse - July 17, 2005
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rejected a key political demand by rebels in the restive province of Aceh, denting their claim that a peace deal to end the 30-year conflict was at hand.
Yudhoyono reiterated that the establishment of local political parties in Aceh, an issue which has proved a sticking point in the talks, would not be allowed. "I have repeatedly explained that the Indonesian political party system is a national system," he said.
One of the key demands of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which is seeking autonomy for the resource-rich region on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island, is the right to create local political parties that are not controlled by the central government, which is currently prohibited. Existing laws call for all political parties to be headquartered in Jakarta and have representation in half of the country's provinces.
The government had rejected the demand during ongoing peace talks in the Finnish capital Helsinki, but GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah told AFP Saturday that it had agreed to a trial period of one year. Indonesian officials in Helsinki however refused to comment on GAM's claim that a peace deal had been tentatively agreed.
Yudhoyono sought to reassure Acehenese that they should have no worries about their political future in a post-conflict era.
"Although we will not readily allow the establishment of local political parties, what is important is... that they have political rights, that along with the other elements in Aceh they have opportunities to take part in the existing political process," he said.
"There should not been any doubt among the GAM, I mean former GAM members, that they will have their political rights and opportunities in the future," Yudhoyono told journalists here. "For me it is very clear. Once the conflict is over it means there is no longer a separatist movement," he said.
"The government, together with the parliament will discuss an amnesty, and once an amnesty is given they will have the same political rights as other citizens."
The ongoing round of talks, the fifth held in Helsinki since January, has been considered decisive in determining whether the parties will sign a final peace accord and end a conflict that has raged Aceh since 1976, leaving nearly 15,000 people dead.
GAM has given up its demand for full independence and said at the talks, which began last Tuesday, that it would disarm, while the government has announced it will withdraw its troops from the province once the rebels hand in their weapons.
"Gradually, within about three months GAM weapons will be surrendered and then destroyed so that a demobilisation process, let us say a disbanding of GAM, takes place," Yudhoyono said.
He said that if the conflict is ended in Aceh, the government will have no need to maintain a large military presence in the province. "There will be a gradual pull-out as the demobilisation proceeds, as the weapon surrenders from the GAM take place, so it would be fair," he said.
When the parties convened for a first round of Helsinki talks in January it was the first time they had met since May 2003, when Jakarta declared martial law and launched a major military offensive in the province.
The renewed efforts to make peace were prompted by a need for international aid to reach Aceh, which bore the brunt of last December's tsunami. More than 131,000 people in the province perished.
The Helsinki talks were due to end later Sunday.
| West Papua |
Irish Times (Dublin) - July 19, 2005
Kitty Holland -- The human rights violations inflicted on the people of West Papua are the same as those suffered by the people of East Timor, an activist from the western Pacific island has said.
Rev Socratez Sofyan Yoman was visiting Ireland to meet supporters and Government officials. He said he wanted the Government to urge the EU to call on the Indonesian Government to enter genuine dialogue with the people of West Papua."
A former Dutch colony, just north of Australia, West Papua is about the size of France and has a population of about 4 million. An estimated 100,000 people have been killed there by the Indonesian military since it invaded the island in 1963. Amnesty International has raised concerns about rape, torture and extra-judicial killings by the military there.
There are also severe restrictions on freedom of assembly and the media. Journalists have not been allowed on to the island.
Rev Yoman, who recently addressed a public meeting in Dublin, said there was "genocide going on every day in my country. The military create disputes and killing to justify their continued presence on the island."
Under a special autonomy arrangement drawn up by Indonesia in 2002, the government said it would move to protect the human rights of the West Papuans and develop their society through investment in the education system and health service.
"This special autonomy is failing. It has only brought great misfortune," Rev Yoman said. Investment was not being made in the areas claimed by the Indonesian government, he added.
"We want to live in peace and justice and respect in our own country. We cannot do this while Indonesia denies us our human rights," he said.
ABC Radio - July 18, 2005
The United States Congress is to vote on a bill which could see the US Government ordered to monitor the human rights situation in the Indonesian province of West Papua. The House International Relations Committee has passed the State Department Authorisation Act for the next financial year.
It contains a requirement that US diplomats report on the implementation of Indonesia's special autonomy law for the mainly Melanesian province.
Presenter/Interviewer: Bruce Hill
Speaker: US Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin: American Samoa
Faleomavaega: Well I think for the first time we've gotten some sense of attention on the part of the Congress in giving some sense of recognition of the plight of the people of West Papua, and I think the provisions of this portion of the State Authorisation Bill gives notice to our State Department as well as to the administration that there's beginning to see now the attention of the Congress in understanding the history, the legacy and the plights, the sufferings of all that has happened to the colony of West Papua New Guinea since its inception when the Dutch first colonised this province and this colony, and then it became a colony of Indonesia, and as far as I'm concerned it continues to be a colony of Indonesia.
This autonomy law that the Indonesian government passed in 2001 is an absolute sham, it's a farce, and we are wanting to request it be the State Department make a full investigation of this area to try and find out if in fact the autonomy law really is being applied to the provisions of the laws, really being applied, and we have every reason to believe it's not.
Hill: This was passed by the International Relations Committee but it still hasn't passed the full House or the Senate, so it's not binding yet. What are the chances of it going through all those?
Faleomavaega: Well we're planning on having the bill come before the floor of the House sometime next week.
Hill: Couldn't this cause problems diplomatically between the United States and Indonesia?
Faleomavaega: We've gone through these cycles sometimes and I will say that I am not in agreement with the policy of my own government relative to West Papua New Guinea for obvious reasons. To say that in the name of terrorism that we're not going to give serious consideration, especially by the President's own mouth, it's an inaugural address and it is addressed before the Joint Session of the Congress in February, how serious he is about promoting it, enhancing democracy throughout the world, just as he's trying to demonstrate that to, in the Middle East, to the people of Iraq, a very commendable effort on his part, and this is what really amazes me, what I consider the height of hypocrisy on the part of the Australian government to recognise the territorial or internal matter within Indonesia and West Papua. It tells me that this is somewhat of a contradiction, a hypocrisy to say that here your own backyard neighbour where the atrocities and the killings continue, and Australia sends thousands of soldiers or whatever number they sent to Iraq to promote democracy there. It's saying we haven't even cleaned up our own backyard.
Hill: This bill has only been passed by a committee; it still hasn't been passed by the full Congress or the Senate yet. Often these things are seen as gestures and it doesn't really mean that the Executive branch of government really has to do anything. Isn't this basically still just a shot across Indonesia's bows? Isn't it just talk really at the moment?
Faleomavaega: Well how do you think the people of East Timor finally got what they wanted after 200-thousand some East Timorese were murdered and tortured by the Indonesian military? It took them about 30 years to achieve final independence, and some people have said to me well gee you're causing a lot of disturbance and havoc here, if you want to promote democracy and all this to the people of West Papua New Guinea. I'd rather die trying to live as a free person than to be subjected to slavery, to intimidation and to the kind of thing that now the Indonesian military continues to harass and to do all these kinds of evil acts against the people of West Papua. I just don't think that that's conscionable.
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - July 22, 2005
Jakarta -- The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to make public the report of a fact-finding team assigned to help the police in investigating the murder of top rights campaigner Munir.
Kontras also urged the President to quickly take follow-up action based on the results of the six-month investigation carried out by the government-sanctioned team, whose assignment ended on June 23.
"These two measures are crucial to explaining to the general public about what actually happened and why Munir was killed, and to boost the efforts to get to the bottom of the murder," the human rights watchdog said in a press statement on Thursday.
The demand came after the government decided at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday that it would not set up a special commission as suggested by rights activists to ensure that the case was thoroughly resolved.
Kontras expressed disappointment with the government's decision not to set up the special commission, which it was hoped would report directly to the President.
The National Police has set up a special team to investigate the Munir case and act on the fact-finding team's report. Former head of the fact-finding team, Brig. Gen. Marsudhi Hanafi, was also appointed to head the police team.
But Kontras said that it would be difficult to rely solely on the police to resolve the case, which it was believed involved powerful and influential people. "We believe that there is a lot of political obstacles to solving the Munir case, so it needs the direct support of the president," it said.
Kontras emphasized the need for the creation of a separate commission, whose main tasks would be to oversee the conduct of the investigation and to ensure that the legal process was properly complied with from the investigation stage through to the prosecution stage.
Kontras also said that based on Presidential Decree No. 111/2004 on the establishment of the fact-finding team, the President should have announced the team's findings.
However, the President only made copies of the report available to the military chief, police chief and State Intelligence Agency (BIN) director.
In the report, the team described the murder of Munir as a "conspiracy," involving former and serving senior officials of BIN and national flag carrier Garuda.
Munir, the co-founder of Kontras and Imparsial, and a strong critic of human rights violations by the military, died from poisoning onboard a Garuda plane during a flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam last September.
His body was examined by experts soon after his flight arrived at Schipol Airport, Amsterdam. The autopsy showing that his body contained 465 milligrams of arsenic.
So far, the police investigators have charged three suspects in the case. A Garuda pilot, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, has been identified as the prime suspect and will be charged with premeditated murder under Article 340 of the Criminal Code, as well as document forgery.
The two other suspects, Yeti Susmiyarti and Oedi Irianto, were flight attendants on the Garuda flight, but they have not been detained.
Jakarta Post - July 18, 2005
Jakarta -- Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, who has already been declared a suspect in the murder of top rights campaigner Munir, was expected to tell the court who the main actor was in the crime, his lawyer said.
"I expect Pollycarpus to disclose the whole truth (about the murder case) in the court," said lawyer Suhadi Somomoeljono on Saturday as quoted by detikcom news portal.
He said that Pollycarpus, a senior pilot/security officer for flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia, was surprised to learn that he would be charged with premeditated murder.
"Looking at the case formally, it looks like they are going for premeditated murder with Polly as the main suspect. But looking at the files and evidence... there is hope that the mastermind can be revealed in court. I hope the facts will come out during the hearing," Suhadi said.
Prosecutors are expected to soon submit the case to the court.
Munir was murdered on board a Garuda flight in September last year on his way from Jakarta to Amsterdam. According to an autopsy, the activist who had been a staunch critic of human rights violations by the military died of arsenic poisoning.
Pollycarpus has been charged with "facilitating" the murder by giving his business class seat to Munir, who was sitting in economy class. Pollycarpus, at the time, was officially off-duty on the flight.
The government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (a retired Army general) has been under a lot of pressure to resolve the murder case, which according a recent report prepared by a fact- finding team assigned to help the police in investigating the case implicates former and current officers of the National Intelligence Body (BIN).
Activists have urged Susilo to set up a special commission to monitor the work of the police and make sure that all the people implicated in the case will be put on trial.
The case is seen as a crucial test for Susilo's commitment in upholding the law in the country.
| Reconciliation & justice |
Jakarta Post - July 18, 2005
Rusman, Samarinda -- Nearly forty years after his arrest, Ismary Musran, 74, remains confounded by how his family's once tranquil life in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, was forever altered by bloody incidents that transpired 1,243 kilometers away on the night of Sept. 30, 1965.
Twenty days after the night of the murders of several Army generals in Jakarta, which was blamed on the now-banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), Ismary was on routine duty as the village nightwatchman.
At 3:00 a.m., a truckload of soldiers swooped into his village and violently threw Ismary, a PKI member and oil company labor union organizer, into the truck.
All the raucous commotion caused his wife, Soekarni, and their four young children to be jolted from their slumber.
Trying to comfort her 14-month old baby, Soekarni soon felt frightened after discovering that several soldiers had descended into her home.
Soekarni, who was 22 at the time, said that she never felt so helpless in her life, shocked by the sight of soldiers searching her home and her husband being taken away, while at the same time trying to comfort her children.
"The atmosphere was terrifying at the time. I was in total despair," said Soekarni, who is now 62.
The next day things got worse for Soekarni as officers came to arrest her because she was a member of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani) that was affiliated to the PKI.
She was eventually let go after nine days of intense interrogation. However, she still felt a sense of hopelessness as she had not heard any news of her husband.
Soekarni's fears turned were well-founded, with Ismary remaining in detention for twenty more years, being in a constant state of legal limbo and undergoing 13 separate trials.
Ismary said that upon his detention Army interrogators immediately tried to find a way to implicate him for an arson attack on a candle factory in Balikpapan, which he said occurred while he was in Surabaya, East Java.
He said he pleaded to his interrogators not to let his status as a member of the PKI influence their judgments, saying over and over again that he had nothing to do with the bloody incidents in Jakarta.
However, he said that the interrogators were determined to implicate him and ignored all of his protestations of innocence and dismissed any evidence that would clear him.
During interrogations, Ismary said, he was tortured, his back constantly beaten with a bar and his legs suffering blows from the heels of Army boots.
He was finally sentenced to 20 years in jail in 1985, after undergoing 13 trials in 20 years. A few months after his conviction, he was released from prison.
After being released, he was reunited with Soekarni and his four children. They relocated to their current home, which remains without electricity, in the remote village of Argosari in East Kalimantan.
The village -- Argosari means "place of exile" -- is referred to as the "PKI village" by local people because all of its initial settlers were former PKI detainees.
Soon after being reunited with his family, however, Ismary started to understand just how much life had changed since they were living together in Balikpapan.
Their home, located four kilometers from the nearest neighbors, was often vandalized, with mud being thrown at it and insulting graffiti sprayed on its walls. Their children were frequently taunted and harassed at school.
Soekarni, now a grandmother of 16 grandchildren, says that to this day she still harbors fears that an angry mob will attack their house and kill her and her family.
Despite all this, Ismary said that things had improved slightly since the downfall of Soeharto's New Order regime in 1998.
Nowadays, he said, he was able to hold weekly discussions with other ex-political detainees about their grievances and suffering in a forum called the Association of New Order Victims. "All of us share a life of exile and rejection, all because of false accusations that have never been proven," he said.
Jakarta Post - July 17, 2005
Rusman, Samarinda (East Kalimantan) -- Former soldier Oentoeng Soejanto, 65, never imagined that his love for acting would lead him to spend nearly half his life in a village designated for ex-prisoners accused of being members of the outlawed Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).
Oentoeng was among 175 people political detainees who upon their release in 1977, were told to relocate to a remote and isolated village deep in the forests of East Kalimantan. The village, which remains poor and isolated, is referred to by locals as the "PKI village".
However, residents of the village prefer to call it by its proper name: Argosari, which means "place of exile". Before settling in Argosari, Oentoeng, who suggested the village's name, spent 10 years in legal limbo, moving from one prison to another, without ever being formally convicted for any specific crime.
For nearly forty years now, he has continued to deny that he was ever involved with the PKI. Instead, he maintained that he was accused of being a PKI member because of his life-long involvement in ludruk, a traditional form of theater.
The PKI was accused of masterminding the failed bloody coup on Sept. 30, 1965, which was accompanied by the killing of several army generals. Former authoritarian president Soeharto rose to power after the failed coup, whose government sent thousands of PKI members and their relatives to prison without trial. Forty years after the incident, the current government is now facing strong public pressure to fully restore the civil and political rights of people accused of being linked to PKI.
Oentoeng said that at the time of the incident, referred to by historians as the September 30 Movement, he was a second corporal with the army stationed in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, far away from the 1965 alleged coup attempt, which took place in Jakarta.
He said that his only "mistake" was to have continued to take leading acting roles in ludruk even when he was in the army, which eventually led to his arrest in 1968, three years after the alleged coup attempt.
In the aftermath of the September 30 Movement, those involved in traditional arts, such as ludruk, were rounded-up because of their alleged connections with the pro-communist People's Cultural Institute (Lekra). Hundreds of thousands of Indonesian citizens were also detained because of their alleged connections with the PKI.
"Not one of the plays I acted in was about violence," said Oentoeng, who once in jail was forced into admitting that he was a PKI member. "I don't bear a grudge, but deep inside my heart I still feel a lasting pain," he said.
Oentoeng's pain is shared by Kasran, 81, another resident of Argosari, which is located in the district of Samboja.
The grandfather of 31 grandchildren, often gazes blankly into the woods from his simple dwelling, remembering with bitterness his two years in jail because he was accused of being a communist sympathizer.
The farmer was among the first migrants to Samboja, relocating from his birthplace in Cilacap, West Java, to seek a better life. "I was only a poor farmer, trying to have a better life, and then bad luck came," he said.
Following the events of 1965, he was put in jail because he was accused of being a member of the Indonesian Farmers' Front (BTI), an organization linked to the PKI. Once released, he was forced to relocate to Argosari.
He said that what capped his suffering was when his children were forced to quit school due to the constant taunting and harassment from their classmates. "My children were called 'PKI children' and 'children of a murderer'. When in fact I don't know anything about the murders of the generals," he said.
Most residents of Argosari, like Kasran, are poor self-sustaining farmers who live in houses made out of wood from trees they have felled themselves. Because of their poverty, residents are forced to share their harvest, cooking their food in a communal kitchen.
Mbah Gusti, 85, a village elder, said that although a lot Argosari residents lived in poor health and abject conditions, they were able to take it in their stride because of the hardship they have experienced.
"I am now accustomed to life's tortures. I suffered for years while in detention," he said. "The current pain is nothing compared to those times."
| Politics/political parties |
Jakarta Post - July 20 2005
Tony Hotland, Jakarta -- Political analysts are throwing their weight behind calls to create regional political parties in the country, arguing that such parties do not have to be synonymous with separatist movements, as some politicians fear.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) analyst Syamsuddin Harris said there was nothing to fear about local parties as long as they were constitutionally forbidden from campaigning for independence.
"As we are now holding direct regional elections, local parties should be allowed to contest them. It is the local people who know who and what is best for their regions," he said on Tuesday.
Several politicians have resisted the idea of setting up local political parties, a concept which surfaced following the recent peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
GAM has demanded it be allowed to establish its own political party in Aceh as part of a peace deal it is scheduled to sign with the Indonesian government on Aug. 15 in Helsinki.
The proposal, analysts said, was impossible under the current law, which states that only national parties that have representatives in at least half of the country's provinces are able to field candidates for regional elections.
"Having a local party has nothing to do with separatism. The fight for independence started long before the idea of local parties came up. It was injustice and abuses of power at the local level by (officials representing) the central government that sparked the independence struggle," Syamsuddin said.
With regional parties, people would be more fairly represented, he said. Many people had become disillusioned with the national parties, whose elected officials were corrupt and ineffective.
Regional autonomy did not make sense if there was not a corresponding devolution in power in the political scene, Syamsuddin said.
The idea of better representing the regions saw the creation of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) last year. However, the DPD had limited authority and could only make non-binding recommendations on a narrow range of issues.
Most large democratic countries, meanwhile, allowed local parties to exist and many had implemented federal systems.
J. Kristiadi from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said any decision to allow local parties was now in the hands of the House of Representatives.
"There's no proof (internationally) that having local parties results in secessions. In fact, in the long term, local parties could encourage the ruling national parties to compete in providing welfare to the people. Why would local people want independence if the ruling government could give them what they needed?" Kristiadi said.
"With regional elections, it is natural that certain parties will emerge as political forces at the local level. They will end up giving minorities in remote areas a voice and will work to protect their rights."
Inter Press Service - July 19, 2005
Andreas Harsono, Kupang -- Devastating though it was, the Asian Tsunami brought the proverbial winds of change to Indonesia by focusing international attention on the festering conflict in Aceh province and creating conditions for a political settlement that may yet instruct other ethnic groups.
Many would call the deal between the Indonesian government and the Free Acheh Movement (GAM), signed in Helsinki on Sunday a 'sell-out' but it is hard not to spot in it a model that could be replicated as Jakarta moves to deal with other regional movements in this far-flung archipelago.
Just about a week after the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami struck the coasts of Aceh the first round of talks began to take place in Helsinki under the auspices of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, government negotiators were surprised by GAM leaders saying they were ready to contest elections, rather than push for independence.
"It is only through the establishment of an open, democratic and plural process that we can guarantee a peaceful political future, facilitate post-tsunami reconstruction and enhance social and economic development in Aceh," said GAM spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah.
Suddenly, for the first time in 30 years there was an end in sight to one of Southeast Asia's bloodiest conflicts, that had already consumed 15,000 lives, and the possibility of removing the paranoia of Javanese political leaders and intellectuals that Indonesia was about to disintegrate.
The idea itself is not new. About three or four years ago academics and intellectuals began suggesting that the way forward to end the armed conflict lay in tapping on the interest shown by GAM to form a regional political party based in Aceh at the northern tip of Sumatra island.
Donald K. Emmerson, a political scientist at Stanford University is among those who have suggested that the Indonesian government consider changing its Java-centric political system to accommodate regionalism as an option. "It (allowing space for regional parties) has a tendency to moderate formerly radical positions. What if, in Algeria, the elections had been honoured? In Iran, the revolution is over. There is a movement toward the centre," said Emmerson.
Examples to support the view abound across Asia. It was refusal to honour the results of an election which would have seen Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the Dhaka-based Awami League party as prime minister of a united Pakistan that led to civil war and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
In Indonesia, the idea was not seen kindly by the Jakarta-based media, in spite of the press freedom gained from the overthrow of the authoritarian Suharto regime. Worse than that, well-known editors openly favoured an Aceh that is integral to the Unitarian State of the Republic of Indonesia (Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia or NKRI).
"We journalists should be red-and-white first and defend the NKRI," declared Derek Manangka, the news director of RCTI, Indonesia's largest private channel, while talking at a seminar on coverage of the war in Aceh. (The Indonesian flag is often referred to as red-and-white).
Suryopratomo, the chief editor of Kompas, the largest daily newspaper, said it was better that Indonesia's 'stubborn' territories remained within the republic even if human rights abuses and injustice takes place in Aceh, Papua and others. "Still it is better to be united in this age of global competition," he said.
The idea, however, trickled into Stockholm, where most GAM leaders live in exile. GAM is the Malay acronym of the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Acheh Merdeka). They claimed that Indonesia had become a vehicle for a "Javanese nation". Javanese form the ethnic majority in Indonesia and are based on the island of Java where the national capital is located.
When Hasan di Tiro, the head of GAM, declared an independent 'Acheh' in 1976 he started out by using a different spelling 'Acheh' rather than 'Aceh' as a mark of distinct identity. Later, many Achenese, however that is spelt, realised that their land was resource rich and that much of its income was being siphoned away to Java and Jakarta.
Before long the Indonesian army cracked down hard on the rebels. Since the 1980s, human rights groups have been accusing the Indonesian army of executions, disappearances, torture, rape and collective punishment of civilians.
But the tsunami changed all that with thousands of foreigners pouring into flooded Banda Aceh as well as Aceh province's urbanised areas like Meulaboh, Sigli and Lhokseumawe.
Murizal Hamzah, an Acehnese journalist of the 'Sinar Harapan' newspaper, described the tsunami as "a blessing in disguise," for it gave a chance for the Achenese cause to become internationalised.
As with the Tamil Eelam (Tamil Homeland) cause in Sri Lanka, the international community wanted reconstruction efforts to go hand in hand with the peace process.
Sunday's Helsinki pact could not have been an easy bargain for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Under Indonesian law, parties must be headquartered in Jakarta and have branches in more than half of Indonesia's 33 provinces. Yudhoyono was reluctant to change the law to accommodate GAM, fearing similar demands from other ethnic or religious groups. He offered instead to let GAM stand under the umbrella of existing political parties but nationalist legislators objected to even that as too big a concession. And they wanted the army to continue with repression.
Indonesian Information Minister Sofyan Djalil, although himself an Acehnese and a negotiator in Helsinki, rejected the GAM proposal for a "national Aceh party." Djalil argued that Indonesia never had a place for ethnic or regional political parties.
Djalil was wrong. In Indonesia's first election in 1955, ethnic- based parties were accepted and contestants included the Daya Party which represented the Dayak tribes people on Kalimantan island.
"Such restrictions mean that Indonesia's political parties are controlled from Jakarta," Bakhtiar Abdullah said. "We reject such centralised control which does not and cannot reflect the wishes of the people of Acheh."
"If the government of Indonesia really wants to preserve the unity of the state, it must meet the legitimate, democratic aspirations of its citizens," said Abdullah.
By the fifth round of talks in July, Abdullah's ideas had begun to take hold and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, persuaded his chief negotiator Hamid Awaluddin to push for an 18-month period during which preparations could be made for provincial elections and GAM agreed.
Liem Sioe Liong of the London-based 'Tapol' human rights group, which focuses its work on Indonesia, believes that a key factor in the settlement is the fact that the two politicians involved were ethnic Bugis and understood better the aspiration of groups outside Java Island.
Both Kalla and Awaluddin are Bugis from southern Sulawesi island at the eastern end of the archipelago. Yudhoyono, just like most Indonesian presidents, is Javanese. "Maybe those Bugis politicians also thought that they might set up their own Bugis political parties if the Achenese are allowed to have one," said Liem.
But it is still a long way from peace as the Helsinki deal is to demand rigorous socialisation and implementation measures.
Will the Java-based political parties support the deal? Will the Jakarta media put aside its bias? How will Yudhoyono overcome his stubborn army? Only time can provide the answers to these questions.
Jakarta Post - July 18, 2005
Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta -- Whatever transpires in the peace talks between the government and the separatist Aceh Free Movement (GAM) in Helsinki this weekend, Indonesia has to review its stance on whether or not to allow political parties in the regions. The exclusion of such parties from our electoral system undermines our claim to political pluralism.
The current laws on political parties and general elections state that political parties must be headquartered in Jakarta and that they have to have representations in at least half of all 33 provinces. In other words, political parties must be national- based. Region-based parties are not permitted to contest elections.
Government officials have rejected GAM's demand that regional parties be allowed in Aceh on the grounds that current laws simply don't permit them. They also argue that if an exception was to be made for Aceh, other regions would soon be demanding the same rights. Some have even argued that allowing regional political parties would be a sure recipe for the breakup of Indonesia as a unitary state.
There is probably only one argument in support of regional parties, but it is a very compelling one: Indonesia's political pluralism.
This pluralism is already reflected in the plethora of political parties flying different colors. You name it, Indonesia has it. Well, almost.
We have parties of all kinds of ideological lines, like parties professing various shades of nationalism, as well as parties based on religion (Islam, Christian, Hindu), race (Chinese parties) and class (labor parties).
Everything goes in Indonesian politics. And that's how it should be in any pluralist democracy.
Although at the end of the day, it was the major established parties that won the most seats in the elections, we should not prevent anyone from forming any association (which is constitutionally guaranteed), including forming political parties on whatever platform they choose. In 2004, there were more than 200 registered political parties; 24 contested the elections, and of these about 10 won representation in the House of Representatives. Being a nascent democracy, Indonesia must allow political pluralism to reflect the pluralistic society that it is. But we are not quite there yet.
The 1945 Constitution only bans political parties based on Communism or Marxism, but even this ban has become obsolete for all practical purposes given the declining popularity of this ideology worldwide. And although there is no specific ban against the establishment of region-based political parties, electoral laws effectively preclude them from the system.
While lifting the ban on Communism/Marxism is probably just a matter of time, there is a strong case for allowing the establishment of regional political parties right now. And it is not simply to accommodate the demands of GAM in Aceh, but also in the name of democracy in a politically pluralist Indonesia.
Indonesia renews its laws on political parties and general elections every five years to accommodate changing situations. The next time the House revises the law, ahead of the 2009 polls, allowing regional parties will have to be one of the priorities for change.
One would suspect however that the decision to preclude regional parties, whether in Aceh or in other provinces, is not based so much on fears of promoting divisions in the country, or even fears of leading to the breakup of Indonesia. Both are hyped for a more deep-seated fear: the loss of their own power.
All elections are by definition divisive. The presence of regional parties, assuming that they gain some popularity, would not be more threatening or divisive than parties campaigning on the platform of religion, ideology or race. India, an equally pluralist society, is dominated by regional parties that forge coalitions to form governments. Nobody in India talks about the disintegration of the country.
The preclusion of regional parties reflects more the obsession of the national-based parties, whose representatives draw up the laws on political parties and general elections, to retain as much control and power as possible in their hands. The last thing they want is to devolve their power to the provinces.
This is clearly reflected in the way they handpicked candidates to run for offices in the provinces, in the 2004 general elections as well as in this year's local elections for governors, mayors and regency chiefs.
Of all the political institutions in Indonesia, political parties are the least democratically run, with power still accumulated in the hands of a chairperson. This is an irony given that political parties are supposed to be an important part of any democratic political system.
The central government has already devolved much of its power by promoting decentralization and direct local elections. We have not seen a similar decentralization, however, among the major political parties. If anything, the trend is the other way.
The lack of democracy in the political parties is likely to be the main reason why their leaders have no confidence that they can compete with region-based political parties. Regional interests and aspirations are hardly represented by the major and established political parties. Not surprisingly, these parties, more so than the government, are the ones most opposed to the idea of allowing the establishment of regional political parties.
Allowing regional political parties to contest elections would have the benefit of forcing the Jakarta-based parties to start democratizing their own house, and to start representing the interests of the people, wherever they are. If they cannot do it, then they should concede defeat to the regional parties.
If our politicians cannot represent the people of Aceh and meet their aspirations, then we don't deserve Aceh. And neither does Aceh deserve our politicians.
[The writer is chief editor of The Jakarta Post.]
| Focus on Jakarta |
Jakarta Post - July 25, 2005
Jakarta -- While other teenagers of her age are either strolling around the city's malls or sitting quietly at home, 15-year-old Kartika (not her real name) spends her nights with guests at a cafe in the capital.
Kartika, a newcomer to the commercial sex industry, who comes from Karawang, West Java, more often than not ends up in hotel rooms with clients.
According to Hery, an activist from the non-governmental organization Bangun Mitra Sejati (BMS), who has been trying to get her to quit the business, Kartika believes "it is my body that I am selling, but not my soul."
"Although what drives (people like Kartika) into prostitution is inarguably money, this is not the root of the problem for child sex workers," Hery said. "Their families have the economic problems, not them. The children are vulnerable and have no other recourse for income," he said.
Activists define child sex workers as anyone under the age of 18 engaged in commercial sex, which Hery cites as among the worst forms of labor in the world. In Jakarta alone, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates more than 5,000 children are involved in prostitution.
The city has mapped six areas in which child prostitution occurs in a large numbers: Prumpung in North Jakarta, Grogol in West Jakarta, Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, Jatinegara and Ciracas in East Jakarta and Blok M in South Jakarta.
"In terms of child prostitution or any kind of child labor, it does not matter whether the number is small or large," Hery said. "We have to realize that these children should not be there."
Hery, who works with three other volunteers in BMS, estimates that more than 800 children between 12 and 18 are forced into prostitution in cafes, hotels and warung kopi (traditional coffee shops) in East Jakarta alone.
The children are either sold by their parents to cafe owners, or lured to Jakarta by third parties known as calo.
ILO research shows that almost 70 percent of the children found their way into prostitution with the "help" of their closest relatives or friends.
"Some are victims of child trafficking, but there are many who have their parents visiting them in the cafes regularly," he said. The children come from poor areas in West Java like Subang, Sukabumi, Indramayu and Karawang.
"They often have psycho-social problems that are much more difficult to overcome than the economic ones," he said.
Kartika showed symptoms of multiple personality. "She has positioned herself into two identities, the Kartika who sells her body and the Kartika who still prays regularly every day," said Hery.
Kartika, who looks no different than any ordinary country girl, works 24/7 and receives only 40 percent of the Rp 300,000 to Rp 600,000 booking fees that her boss takes in.
"They claim to earn some Rp 2 million a month, but in fact a lot of them are making less than that because their income is cut by the germo (pimp)," Hery said.
In a study conducted by ILO on 12 child prostitutes, more than 70 percent of them worked more than eight hours a day.
These children are highly prone to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, physical as well as mental abuse and often end up continuing to sell their bodies after they grow up.
BMS and Bandungwangi, another NGO helping child prostitutes in Prumpung, are two organizations in the capital trying to rehabilitate child prostitutes.
"We are trying to build up their self-awareness, sit down together to plan their future and later give them vocational training," BMS director Anni said. "This difficult project will be scaled up later." "We see a difference in their eyes as they slowly convince themselves to quit and seek other opportunities," Hery said.
Jakarta Post - July 22, 2005
Jakarta -- Dozens of street vendors from Kalideres, West Jakarta, demonstrated in front of the City Council on Jl. Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta on Thursday to protest their evictions by public order officers earlier in the morning.
Ade, a chicken vendor, said as many as 235 street vendors had been evicted. He said the vendors were evicted because certain parties were jealous of how well their businesses were doing.
Some 120 police officers were deployed to guard the City Council.
The city administration has intensified its evictions of street vendors who occupy pedestrian pathways and sidewalks throughout the city. Trading on sidewalks is prohibited under City Bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order.
Jakarta Post - July 17, 2005
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- Living in the capital is not easy with its uncontrolled development, pollution, traffic snarls and, more recently, flooded streets.
Jakartans, who want to bypass the protocol of Sutiyoso's administration in order to talk in person with Mr. Governor, can now directly voice their complaints or give their input to him thanks to interactive programs being held by a private radio and TV station.
Starting Monday, Trijaya radio will dedicate prime time every Monday from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. for Sutiyoso to listen to and talk to Jakartans about various issues on air.
In addition, Sutiyoso -- nicknamed Bang (older brother in Betawi) Yos -- will also host a morning talk show on TV 7, titled Ape Kate Bang Yos (Sutiyoso says) on Tuesdays between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.
"Unlike Sutiyoso's previous program with Lativi television station, in which the administration had to pay, both Trijaya and TV 7 provide the slots for free," Jakarta spokesman Catur Laswanto told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The administration terminated its arrangement last year with Lativi to air the Bang Yos Show.
Critics have called the program a waste of taxpayers' money, saying it only served the Governor's political interests. Catur said that Sutiyoso wanted such interactive programs to encourage input from the public over policies made by the administration.
"As the program will held during prime time, we are sure that many Jakartans will listen to it and take part in the discussions, even, while they are behind the wheel," he said, referring to the radio program.
He added that Sutiyoso was not satisfied with the existing mail box, PO BOX 0008, to which the residents could send complaints or reports, since he could not immediately react to the complaints or reports and ensure that "the residents are satisfied with his response".
Sutiyoso said last month that he was interested in direct communication and was eager to receive calls, particularly complaints or criticism from residents about corrupt officials.
"I am sure that I would be better able to encourage public input (through the program) rather than merely waiting for my subordinates' reports," he emphasized.
He said that direct communication would be more effective than the text messaging services offered by his junior in the Army, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"As long as the criticism is constructive and clear, I will follow it up. Otherwise, I will certainly ignore it," he asserted.
Meanwhile, program coordinator with Trijaya radio, Yudhi Damar, said that the first show would start on Monday, discussing the assets belonging to the city administration.
"This cooperation (with the administration) is for an indefinite period. We will evaluate the program every three months," he told the Post.
He asserted that only callers who show goodwill and provide a clear identity, would go on air with Sutiyoso.
"We don't tolerate rude and offensive statements or people who want to play around with the talk show," he said, adding that the station would keep a record of the callers.
| Environment |
Jakarta Post - July 22, 2005
Jakarta -- Shortly after its petition was rejected by the Constitutional Court, the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said on Thursday it planned to file a new one with additional evidence in a determined bid to challenge the water resources law.
The court rejected on Tuesday a request from Walhi and other non-governmental organizations for a judicial review of the controversial law. The plaintiffs argued that the legislation would turn water into a tradable commodity, sold for profit, thus jeopardizing the public's ability to afford tap water.
Walhi said the new evidence will include Government Regulation No. 16/2005 on drinking water systems, issued in March, which is seen as contrary to Law No. 7/2004 on Water Resources.
For the first time, the court opened the way for the petitioners to refile the same case if the government is deemed to have implemented the water law not in line with the court's interpretations of the law. The court's verdict is normally final and cannot be challenged.
In its 523-page verdict, the court deemed that the water law was geared toward protecting water companies and that "privatization" of the water sector was not implied.
"The court interpreted it to mean that the state must take charge of managing water resources, with only limited involvement by the private sector allowed, if the government fails to do so. But the law's Article 46 says a private company could fully participate in the whole process of the development of water provision system," said Walhi's campaigner P. Raja Siregar on Thursday.
This, he said, meant that the private companies could manage water resources in many areas that have not yet been tapped by the government, many of which remain due to the government's limited capacity.
The court also agrees with the law's Article 26 saying the management of drinking water should be carried out by state-owned firms, imposing only management service fees.
However, the law says in Article 60 that the components to determine the rate that customers pay also should include unspecified other costs and also profit.
The law also says that state-owned firms can involve cooperatives, private firms and/or the public if they are unable to fully carry out their role.
This is different from the court's interpretation -- that it is the public whose participation should be given priority.
Contradicting articles in the law were actually made as the basis for two of the nine judges of the court, who produced dissenting opinions.
"This means that the court was reluctant to reject our petition, particularly with the dissenting opinions and the possibility to refile our case," said Raja.
Despite being given another chance, Raja questioned the feasibility of refiling the same judicial review since, if the time should arrive, tense public debate on such an unprecedented policy might thwart the effort.
He also said the petitioners would send a letter to the court early next week to get a clearer explanation on whether the clauses oblige the government to issue ancillary regulations in accordance with the court's interpretation were legally binding.
The government is expected to issue around seven more ancillary regulations to implement the law, said Raja.
"Because in its ruling, these clauses are only written as considerations, but not as part of the final verdict. If they're not part of the verdict itself, thus not legally binding, then the chance to refile the case is only lip service," he argued.
| Health & education |
Jakarta Post - July 17, 2005
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- Though the government promised to provide free basic education for all school-age children across the country starting this year, most schools are still making new students pay an "entrance fee".
The director of Paramadina University's Center for Education, Reform Hutomo Danangjaya, said that according to his observations most, if not all, schools in the country were demanding what they called "contributions for building maintenance" or "voluntary fees" from the parents of new students. "In fact, public elementary schools and junior high schools are the most enthusiastic about asking for money from their new students. This shows that the program to provide free basic education is not working," he told The Jakarta Post.
Many parents have complained that they are required to pay between Rp 200,000 and millions of rupiah for building maintenance and voluntary fees when they enroll their children at state elementary schools and junior high schools.
Article 31 of the Constitution requires the state to provide education for all citizens. It also requires the state to provide at least 20 percent of its annual budget for education.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently vowed to ensure the nine-year compulsory education was free for all students.
For that purpose, the government increased its education budget to Rp 24.6 trillion, or 9.29 percent of the 2005 state budget, from Rp 18.4 trillion, or 6.5 percent of last year's total budget. The House of Representatives also approved Rp 6.27 trillion in additional funds to provide an education for children of low-income families.
The government has estimated that one year of school costs Rp 235,000 per elementary school student and Rp 324,500 for each junior high school student.
Under the nine-year free basic education program, the government will disburse funds to each state school based on the above estimate of the cost of education. And schools are required to accept all students without charging them fees. Private schools are free to choose whether to participate in the program. If they apply for state funds, they are not allowed to charge entrance fees.
Hutomo said state schools did not need any additional building maintenance funds because they already had well-maintained buildings.
"For years, the schools collected money from students for building maintenance. The government paid the teachers' salaries and the students bought the books and uniforms themselves. So what is the building maintenance fee for?" he asked.
Hutomo said state schools played a vital role in the national education system as they accounted for 85 percent of all schools in the country.
He proposed that the government audit public schools to find out whether they were using their state funds properly.
While agreeing with Hutomo, noted education expert Suparman said the government must conduct a study to see how much money schools really required to cover their operational costs before deciding how much funds to disburse to each school.
"We never know how much a school needs to cover its expenses. Several schools in Tangerang, for instance, require their students to pay Rp 50,000 per month, but we do not know whether they really need that much," he told the Post.
A recent survey of poor families by the International Labor Organization found that elementary school students had to pay an average of Rp 374,225 in total annual education fees. A junior high school student pays twice that amount.
Hutomo and Suparman called on the government to order all schools to return the money they had collected from students' parents this year.
Jakarta Post - July 17, 2005
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- The government has promised to provide free basic education starting this year. Yet, in reality, the public still have to pay money to enroll their children in state schools and must pay even more if they want them to get a decent education. This week's cover story takes a look at this issue.
The new school year has brought 37-year-old Ella real headaches. She has two children who will be attending elementary and junior high school.
"I have to pay at least Rp 1 million to get my children enrolled. How can I get such amounts of money, when I have to work hard just to get money to pay for food and our monthly rent?" she wondered.
Ella and her husband Bambang, 40, who have three children, make a living by selling vegetables and fish from a cart. Everyday, they hawk their goods around their neighborhood in the Tanjung Barat area of South Jakarta.
There are two elementary state schools near their residence: elementary school SD No. 3, which offers additional subjects such as computer and English, and SD No. 5 which offers no additional programs. Ella said that she wanted her son Umar, 6, to attend SD No. 5 rather than SD No. 3, because the former was cheaper.
She realized that her son would get a better education at SD No. 3, but she could not afford the Rp 40,000 per month in fees for the additional programs run by the school, in addition to costs for books and uniforms. At SD No. 5, parents do not need to pay such fees but they do have to spend a certain amount of money to buy books and uniforms from the school rather than from bookstores.
"Free? What's free? We don't have to pay for enrollment and monthly school fees but we have to buy books and uniforms. In the past, we only had to pay Rp 10,000 or Rp 20,000 in monthly tuition fees and nothing else. Now, we have to spend Rp 200,000 (to buy books and uniforms) at the start of the school year," she told The Jakarta Post.
Ella said she was worried that Umar would not be able to continue his study at a good state junior higher school in the future due to the poor quality of education he would get at SD No. 5.
She also considered delaying the enrollment of her first child Budi, 12, into junior high school until next year given the difficult financial condition of the family.
Although most state elementary schools in the Greater Jakarta area officially scrapped enrollment and monthly tuition fees last year, parents still have to pay various expenses in order to get their children educated. Costs include so-called "building maintenance fees", which range from Rp 100,000 to over Rp 5 million, depending on the popularity of the school, as well as uniforms, books, and monthly tuition fees for supplementary lessons. Meanwhile, state junior high schools in Greater Jakarta still require parents to pay enrollment fees and monthly tuition fees.
Parents have to pay millions of rupiah in enrollment fees if they want to get their children into better state schools that promise a better education. Some are even prepared, or sometimes forced, to pay two or five times higher to enroll their children in a private school.
For Jujuk, 35, who lives not far away from Ella's house, the new school year means she has to wash more of her neighbor's clothes in order to collect enough money to cover the costs to enroll her daughter Indah, 12, in a junior high school.
"She (Indah) and many of her friends at SD No. 05 failed to get into a state junior high school. So, we must register her with a private school. However, we need at least Rp 500,000 to get her enrolled into the cheapest private school," she told the Post.
With four children and an unemployed husband, Jujuk, who earns around Rp 400,000 a month, they were bewildered as to where they would get the money to enroll Indah in school.
"I want my children to get a good quality education so that they can be somebody someday, but from elementary school we could only get them education of poor quality. How can they get a good secondary school? I think only rich people can get into good schools. "I am afraid that my daughter will end up doing my job while my son will work on a construction site," she said.
According to a 2003 national survey, almost 9 percent of around 40 million school-age children (seven to 15 years old) dropped out of school. Around 70 percent of the dropouts said they quit school because their parents could not afford to pay their school fees. Ella and Jujuk are among such parents.
| Islam/religion |
Jakarta Post - July 25, 2005
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- Sharia police said on Sunday they had rounded up at least 36 unmarried women and men for dating in secluded, poorly-lit areas in Bireuen regency, Aceh province, where 15 men convicted of gambling were publicly caned last month.
The couples were accused of violating Article 11 and 14 of the local government regulation on sharia that has been implemented in Aceh since 2003. "All the violators were arrested on Saturday night because by 10 p.m., they were still going out together in quiet places," a sharia police officer said.
The 36 people, comprising 16 unmarried couples and four other single women suspected of being prostitutes, were caught at a number of locations across the districts of Kota Juang and Peusangan. However, all the detainees were later released after they made written statements vowing that they would not commit the same violations in the future.
The police said the raid on unmarried couples that were seen together beyond 10 p.m. was aimed at enforcing sharia in Bireuen.
In the first implementation of corporal punishment in Aceh, the Bireuen regental administration had 15 men convicted of gambling publicly caned on June 24.
The public canings were carried out in front of the Bireuen Grand Mosque and witnessed by some 3,000 rowdy spectators. The move also attracted wide attention from domestic and foreign media. A television station in Jakarta even broadcast it live.
So far, Aceh's Islamic law only regulates punishment for gamblers, those drinking alcoholic drinks, men failing to attend Friday prayers three consecutive times and men or women eating and selling food during the Ramadhan fasting month.
Muslim women who do not wear jilbab or the Muslim head scarf in the devoutly Muslim province are also subject to punishment under the law. However, regulations stipulating punishment for killers, corrupters and thieves have yet to be implemented.
Ironically, soldiers violating sharia are not affected by the law as the military has its own special law to deal with crimes committed by its members.
A law on corporal punishment was passed in Bireuen last March. Other regencies have not adopted this punishment.
Before the canings took place in Bireuen, Aceh regional governments had already enforced the Muslim dress code, mandatory prayers five times a day and the giving of alms.
The sharia system was implemented in Aceh in 2003, two years after the central government granted special autonomy to the province in order to curb an independence campaign that Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels have been fighting for since 1976.
Jakarta Post - July 23, 2005
Theresia Sufa, Bogor -- A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Friday that looking at the preliminary evidence, last week's attack on the Ahmadiyah complex in Parung, Bogor, was a rights violation.
M. Billah said on Friday that everybody had the right to practice the religion of their choosing and to pray in accordance with their convictions.
"We see that people were injured and buildings destroyed in this attack. We will investigate who was responsible for the attack and who was behind the violence," he said during a tour of the Ahmadiyah complex in Parung.
Last week's attack involved thousands of people from the group Indonesian Muslim Solidarity, who vandalized Ahmadiyah's compound and set on fire a women's dormitory.
Billah was accompanied on Friday by Lies Soegondo, the head of the subcommision on civil rights at the commission, and three staff members.
He said they were there to examine the condition of the Ahmadiyah complex after the attack.
"We came here to investigate after Ahmadiyah members reported that their rights had been violated. We will meet with all parties involved, including the police, public order officers and the victims," Billah said.
Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sutisna said police had questioned 10 people from Ahmadiyah as witnesses. "If none of the attackers have been identified it is because there were so many people involved in the siege. It was a mass of people, so it was difficult to control," he said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said the government would not be hasty to ban Ahmadiyah, but would first order a comprehensive study to determine whether the religion posed a danger for society.
"The 1945 Constitution allows people to choose their religion and belief. If a religion contains positive teachings, why should we ban it?" Kalla said after Friday prayers.
"But if it contains negative aspects, such as calling other religions harmful, then there is a reason to ban it. A religion should teach followers to tolerate and respect other religions and beliefs," he said.
Jakarta Post - July 18, 2005
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The government condemned on Saturday an attack by members of Indonesian Muslim Solidarity on the Jamaah Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) on Friday afternoon.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla promised to investigate the case, which is another worrying sign of rising religious radicalization in the world's largest Muslim country. "We will question both sides," Kalla said after a ceremony on Saturday morning.
Conveying his condemnation of the attack, the Vice President urged Indonesians not to resort to violence in dealing with differences of faith. "We condemn the act. Differences of faith should not be resolved through violence," Kalla said.
Minister of Religious Affairs M. Maftuh Basyuni also urged people "not to take the law into their own hands". However, he said he would study the teachings of JAI to determine if they were heretical, as claimed by a number of groups including the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), which issued an edict declaring the teachings of Ahmadiyah forbidden.
About 10,000 people attacked the compound of the JAI on Friday. This was the second attempt this month to force the congregation from the compound, known as the Mubarak campus, on Jl. Raya Parung in Bogor, West Java. Some 500 JAI members have left the area.
The attackers damaged several buildings and set others on fire. Police were able to lead the JAI members safely out of the complex. The campus looked quiet on Saturday morning, SCTV reported. Police only allowed JAI members back into the complex to collect their personal belonging.
Ahmadiyah was formed in Pakistan in the 19th century. Its followers believe that Ghulam Ahmad Khan, who founded the group, was a prophet who came after the Prophet Muhammad, whom mainstream Muslims believe was God's final messenger. Ahmadiyah is little known in Indonesia and there are only an estimated 200,000 followers in the country.
The People's Alliance for Freedom to Implement Religions also condemned the attack, calling it "an act against civilization". The alliance called on the government to ensure justice was done in the case.
Dawam Rahardjo, a member of the alliance, said the attack against the JAI was a violation of human rights and the country's Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of religion.
Acts of intimidation and aggression against religious groups or individuals by "other devotees" have been increasing in number over the past several years.
Experts have called on the government to act swiftly to protect the people's right to freely follow their religion. Some have suggested the government also acknowledge other religions and beliefs outside the existing five recognized by the state under the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar Abdalla said that MUI's edict against Ahmadiyah provided "legitimacy" for people to attack the congregation.
"The MUI should also be held responsible for the attack and reported to the courts," said Ulil, who in 2003 was condemned by a Muslim group, which issued a death sentence against him, for publishing an article criticizing the conservatism of some Muslim leaders. Ulil urged the MUI to revoke the edict.
The MUI has said it would not revoke the edict, which was issued in 1980, insisting that Ahmadiyah's teachings were against Islam, but also condemned Friday's attack on the Ahmadiyah compound.
| Armed forces/defense |
Tempo Interactive - July 24, 2005
Jakarta -- Indonesian Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono has acknowledged that the budget to maintain major equipment of the weapons system of the Indonesian Military (TNI) was still limited.
However, Sudarsono declined to comment on any connection between the maintenance budget and the the plane crashes in Aceh and Malang, East Java, on Thursday (21/07).
"Basically, we are still concerned with maintenance costs. However, I think we should not speculate whether or not the limited maintenance costs are related to these incidents," the Defense Minister told reporters in Jakarta on Friday (22/07).
According to Sudarsono, he and the TNI headquarters were still conducting a review into the maintenance of weapons system major equipment, including warships, fighter planes and other facilities related to the defense operational readiness.
The Defense Minister said that the budget to maintain the equipment was relatively small.
Basically, in every force, between 60 and 70 percent of the budget is allocated for personnel and the operational administration.
"So, every force only uses around 30 to 35 percent of its budget to develop and maintain its weapons system. From this, it can therefore be seen that the amount for maintenance is very low," said Sudarsono.
For the next step, the Defense Minister said that his ministry, together with the TNI and the Air Force headquarters would carry out an evaluation as soon as the TNI Commander had returned from Aceh and Air Force Chief of Staff from Malang. (Agus Supriyanto- Tempo News Room)
Associated Press - July 25, 2005
Chris Brummitt, Jakarta -- An international watchdog group claimed Monday that the local unit of an American gold-mining company appeared to have paid an Indonesian general accused of rights abuses almost US$250,000 to protect its mine.
A spokesman in Jakarta for PT Freeport Indonesia, a unit of New Orleans-based Freeport McMoRan Co., denied the accusation made by in a report by Global Witness, a London-based group that monitors natural resource use and human rights.
The spokesman, Siddharta Moersjid, said the company provided support for transport and logistics for Indonesian forces guarding its mine in remote Papua province, but denied paying officers directly.
A military spokesman also denied officers received money directly from Freeport.
In a report called "Paying for Protection," Global Witness said it appeared that PT Freeport Indonesia had paid large sums of money directly to individual military and police officers, not to the Indonesian government or military institutions.
"This should be a red flag in a country like Indonesia," said Diarmid O'Sullivan, a campaigner for the group. "The real troubling question is where did the money go?" O'Sullivan declined to reveal the source of the allegations, a practice he said was customary for Global Witness, which describes itself on its Web site as working to "highlight the link between the exploitation of natural resources and human rights abuses." But he said the organization "was completely confident" in them.
The report names former Papua military chief Gen. Mahidin Simbolon as apparently receiving US$247,705 ([euro]205,000) between 2001 and 2003 in payments for unspecified humanitarian projects, military celebrations and for "security services."
Rights groups have accused Simbolon of abuses when he was a commander in Indonesia's former province of East Timor in 1999, where soldiers and militiamen are alleged to have committed crimes against humanity that included at least 1,200 murders.
Indonesian troops in Papua have been accused of rights abuses in putting down a simmering separatist rebellion. In 2002, rogue soldiers were accused of involvement in ambush close to the mine that killed two American school teachers.
Freeport's practices in Papua have concerned some of its shareholders, who fear that the company may be liable at home if soldiers on the company's payroll are found guilty of human rights abuses.
Freeport-McMoran's Grasberg mine in Papua is one of the world's largest gold and copper mines. For the first six months of 2005, the company posted earnings of US$305.6 million ([euro]252 million).
Moersjid, the Freeport spokesman, said it was "not true" the company paid officers directly, including to Simbolon.
"We are providing support for logistics and transport and the like, but we are not paying them directly," he said.
An Indonesian military spokesman acknowledged that troops received money if "they were sick or things like that" but that no senior officers received funds directly.
Other foreign companies exploiting Indonesia's natural resources have also been accused of paying army units to protect them, including US energy giant ExxonMobil Corp, which taps natural gas fields in Aceh province.
"The military needs money, and companies need security for their plants," said Rusdi Marpaung, a nongovernmental group focusing on human rights in Aceh. "It is a kind of corrupt symbiosis."
| Opinion & analysis |
Jakarta Post - July 21, 2005
Haris Azhar, Jakarta -- The peace deal between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) deserves a positive response because its main agenda is to restore the lost peace in Aceh, a region that has undergone many phases of violence before it was hit by the killer tsunami.
It is only proper, then, that much hope is pinned on the formulation and the substance of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) draft, agreed in Helsinki on July 15. Although the content of the MoU will not be revealed to the public until Indonesia and GAM formally sign the agreement on Aug. 15, it is clear that it contains matters of principles and not a detailed plan. This means two prerequisites for a lasting peace become necessary.
The action on the ground -- the planned withdrawal of troops and the disarmament of GAM -- must be worked out in the next round of talks after the signing of the Aug. 15 agreement. These details must be formulated by a special team, which will include monitoring groups from the European Union and ASEAN.
And even before this, there must be action taken to ensure the security situation is safe enough for GAM and the government to begin drawing up and implementing the agreement.
Unfortunately, the situation in Aceh is still far from peaceful and political and military elements there and in Jakarta could easily stir up a deal-breaking conflict.
Since the lifting of Aceh's civil emergency status on May 19 and during the peace negotiations, Acehnese civilians have been the victims of violent acts and involved in armed clashes with the Indonesian Military (TNI), National Police and GAM. "GAM" is still too often used as a label to stigmatize innocent Acehnese civilians.
In Jakarta, meanwhile, many legislators do not agree to the government negotiating with GAM. However, there is growing public support for the government and GAM committing to bring about lasting peace in Aceh, which is increasing as the signing of the MoU draws nearer.
Rebuilding the public trust lost when the two parties violated a previous accord is certainly important. During president Megawati's administration, the CoHA or the Cessation of Hostilities agreement collapsed not long after it was signed in 2002. This time it is even more necessary to win the hearts and minds of the Acehnese in a non-violent manner in order to bring about lasting peace.
Prior to the signing of peace agreement, each party should cease all violence and must guarantee to protect civilians while reducing other non-violent military activities.
The government also needs to convince those against the planned agreement that it is the best way to end the prolonged suffering of the Acehnese people. The government must seek an agreement from legislators, those in the military and the National Police.
The evolving situation during the four weeks before the signing of the MoU will be useful in predicting whether the agreement will really bring about peace in Aceh.
It will also be a good time to practice implementing the new peace plan for the area. A learning period would make the Acehnese more relaxed after the Aug. 15 deal. Members of the TNI, National Police and GAM must all make use of this time.
When these groups and the Acehnese community are confident about the plan, these parties will better understand their roles as agents of peace and justice for Aceh.
It is the obligation of all parties that could create violence in Aceh, to ensure that these four weeks prior to the signing of the MoU are peaceful.
This obligation is effectively an extension of the job began by the peace negotiators during the past six months. Peace in Aceh is not a dream; it is a must.
[The writer is the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence head of studies and documentation.]
Jakarta Post - July 21, 2005
Carmel Budiardjo, London -- It has been asserted in your columns this week (Local Elections and Papuan Politics, July 11, 2005) that because the majority of West Papuans participated in general elections in 2004, they were therefore participating in an internal referendum. The writer also claims that they participated in an external referendum, known as Pepera (the so- called Act of Free Choice) which took place in 1969.
He did not dispute the fact that only one thousand Papuans participated in Pepera but alleged that because the result was endorsed by the United Nations, the Indonesian government was justified in "relying on the results of Pepera" for its claim that West Papua is a legitimate part of the Indonesian Republic.
In the first place, to liken general elections to a referendum shows the shallowness of this analysis. Elections are about choosing representatives of different political parties which in today's Indonesia consist of nearly fifty parties. Whereas a referendum is the occasion for the electorate to choose between two or more options, and opinions often cross party lines.
Whether or not people participate in elections relates not only to making choices about party programs but may also be generated by fear or anxiety that by not participating, they could face accusations of separatism or sedition.
Recent events in West Papua, such as the military operations underway in the Central Highlands district of Punjak Jaya, which forced thousands of villagers to take refuge in the forest, abandoning their homes and gardens, suggest that fear of the authorities still plays a role in people's decision about participating in political events.
Now that Indonesia has entered an important new political era in which democratic rights are recognized as one of the basic rights of the population, it is strange that someone who presumes to have the expertise to hold forth about political affairs fails to recognize that the Act of Free Choice conducted by the Indonesian authorities in the Soeharto era was anything but democratic.
At the time of the Act, the population of Papua was estimated as being a little over 800,000, yet no one disputes the fact that only one thousand persons (to be precise, 1,022), not even one per cent of the population, participated in that Act.
The Act was conducted following the New York Agreement of 1962 which was concluded as the result of intervention from Washington which feared that Indonesia, then under President Sukarno, was getting too close to the Soviet bloc. The agreement was concluded between Indonesia and The Netherlands, without Papuan participation or consultation.
As a result of Dutch insistence, it included a clause providing for an Act within six years that should be held in accordance with "international practice" This can surely only mean one thing, namely the principle of "one man, one vote".
The issue of West Papua was discussed in the House of Lords last December. On that occasion, the Bishop of Oxford asked the British government for its views about the Act of Free Choice which he had described as being an occasion when a thousand representatives "were coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia".
Replying for the government, Baroness Symons said: "He is right to say that there were 1,000 handpicked representatives and they were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia". One can hardly disregard the views of the British Government, stated in the country's highest political forum.
As we know here in the UK, the British government is closely following events in West Papua, not least because a major British company, BP, has decided to invest massively in the exploitation of West Papua's vast reserves of natural gas. While seeking to promote this investment, the government has not refrained from acknowledging that the way in which the territory was incorporated into the Indonesian Republic was seriously flawed.
West Papua has now been officially part of Indonesia for more than thirty years, or even longer if you include the six years following the Dutch withdrawal in 1963, yet the sense of grievance still runs deep.
When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a visit to West Papua last December, shortly after his inauguration and after saying that the resolution of the conflict in West Papua was "one of his top priorities", the leaders of all the churches there decided to boycott the visit. As far as we know, not even during the worst days of the Soeharto era did such a thing ever happen.
No one should make the mistake of disregarding the views of the churches in West Papua which have always played a prominent role and have always acted in the best interests of the largely Christian population.
There are many serious problems in West Papua, not least the confusion created by the government's decision first to establish Special Autonomy, and then to split the territory into three or perhaps even into five provinces. Allegations are being made that money intended for running the special autonomy administration is being used to cover the cost of ongoing military operations.
There is also concern that the continuing influx of migrants from other parts of Indonesia is turning the Papuans into a minority in their own homeland. In some of the major cities such as Jayapura, this is already true.
It may be true that events in West Papua are too infrequently reported in Indonesia's national media which perhaps accounts for a great deal of misunderstanding about conditions there. We can only hope that this will be speedily remedied.
In particular, commentators should play closer attention to the events in the 1960s which lie at the root of the grievances of the people of West Papua.
[The writer is the founder of TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign, set up in 1973.]
International Herald Tribune - July 19, 2005
Evelyn Rusli, Jakarta -- The peace accord between the Indonesian government and Aceh separatists that was agreed upon Sunday will be difficult to implement, given a 30-year relationship between the two sides that has been comprised of violence, mistrust and broken promises, analysts said Monday.
"All hostilities have to end with the signing," the former president of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, who has been the chief negotiator said Sunday. "Unfortunately, they're still going on."
In Indonesia, sporadic fighting continued around the massive reconstruction effort organized by the government and international aid groups to reshape the province after the tsunami on Dec. 26.
Though top government officials and separatists expressed optimism Monday that the peace deal would succeed, experts were not so optimistic.
They warned that the deep-rooted mistrust between security forces and rebels in Aceh would probably hinder the disarmament and demilitarization called for in the agreement. Nationalist fervor among lawmakers who fear that Aceh might still secede from Indonesia could make it difficult for the treaty to be passed by Parliament.
The agreement itself may be a breakthrough, but it will take a long time to put into action, said Sidney Jones, a regional director of the International Crisis Group and an expert on conflicts in Indonesia. "I think that they seemed to have pulled off the impossible, but the proof of the pudding is in the implementation," she said.
During the conflict, about 15,000 people, including many civilians, were killed. Their villages were razed and their palm oil plantations ruined. The even greater loss of life and property from the tsunami helped show both sides the futility of continued fighting.
The rebels, whose organization is known as the Free Aceh Movement, have suffered significant military defeats in the past 18 months. Their precarious position made them more willing to negotiate and to give up their long-held demand of independence.
But despite these new circumstances, the rebels remain suspicious of the Indonesian Army. It is unlikely that they will disarm if the Indonesian military does not show a sincere effort in pulling back from its overwhelming presence, several experts said. Some also questioned whether the 350 monitors from the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations would be up to the task of overseeing the disarmament.
"There is a possibility the rebels will never fully trust the military because they believe they are responsible for human rights violations," said Ratna Sarumpaet, a human rights advocate. "And the military has been conditioned to see the rebels as the enemy."
Aceh's long track record of broken peace deals also looms over this latest truce. Previous peace deals quickly disintegrated into violence.
There are difficulties not only on the ground, but also in the Indonesian Parliament. One sticking point in the accord's draft is a plan that would allow disarmed rebels to form a local political party.
Vice President Yusuf Kalla told reporters Sunday that "the government will try as hard as it can to create the political and legal situation in support of that."
"The issue right now is whether or not Indonesia's politicians will see this agreement as inconsistent with Indonesian law and whether they think it could lead to independence," said Wiryono Sastrohandoyo a chief negotiator for Indonesia during earlier peace talks.
Indonesian law only recognizes national political parties that are based in Jakarta and that have offices in at least half of the country's provinces.
The peace agreement could remove a threat to Indonesia's territorial integrity, but some government officials are concerned that concessions to the Aceh rebels could inspire other separatists groups to call for similar demands.
There is an independence movement in West Papua Province that some lawmakers find particularly threatening.
"There's a traumatic feeling that we could lose another province, such as the case of East Timor," Sastrohandoyo said. East Timor became independent in 1999 after a United Nations-run referendum ended in a bloody conflict in which the Indonesian Army singled out civilians.
Still, some analysts said there were many things working in the accord's favor and that chances of an enduring peace were much higher this time than in previous times.
The tsunami dramatically altered the province's social and political landscapes, said Yusuf Wanandi, the president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.
Though many Acehenese are in favor of independence or increased self-governance, post-tsunami help from the government and aid groups has changed many people's perspectives, he said.
"The government is starting to get through to the Acehenese people," Wanadi said. "For the first time, the people of Aceh felt that the government and Indonesian people were concerned about them and it convinced them that they are part of Indonesia."
South China Morning Post Editorial - July 19, 2005
The formula agreed between Indonesian and separatist rebel negotiators to end nearly 30 years of conflict in Aceh maintains the momentum for peace that has been building since December's tsunami devastated the province.
It is a fragile agreement that leaves challenges to be overcome on both sides.
Nonetheless, it is a triumph for common sense and good faith, in which the rebels dropped their demand for full independence in favour of achievable progress, and Jakarta has met them halfway -- promising to withdraw its troops.
Under the pressure of the international focus on the ongoing disaster relief effort, the negotiators in Helsinki have drawn up a blueprint built on trust, until now missing between the two sides.
In the months ahead this will test the political skills of Indonesia's president and the authority of exiled rebel leaders over their forces on the ground in Aceh.
Full details of the memorandum of agreement to be signed on August 15 have still to emerge, but enough is known to show that although both sides have focused on areas on which they are able to agree, some delicate negotiations lie ahead.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that under the deal the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) will hand in their weapons in return for an amnesty within three months of the signing, and that most of the 50,000 Indonesian troops in the region would then withdraw.
This is a significant concession from the GAM, unmatched by progressive equivalent withdrawals by a much larger opposing force. The credibility and powers of persuasion of the rebel leaders may be tested to the limit before it is fully honoured.
They will be relying on Dr Susilo to make progress with Jakarta's side of the bargain. The rebel delegation has revealed that the draft agreement allows them to form their own political party to contest local elections in Aceh.
This could be a key stumbling block because, as Dr Susilo's deputy Jusuf Kalla has pointed out, this will require a change in the law that provides only for national political parties represented in at least half the country's 33 provinces.
The change is likely to have the support of the largest bloc in parliament, Mr Kalla's Golkar, but Dr Susilo will have a harder time winning the support of nationalist and military factions.
Politically, Dr Susilo has a lot riding on the success of the accord. He is known for a mastery of consensus and he must call on every ounce of it to ensure that the peace deal is not derailed by military leaders more concerned with protecting corrupt vested interests in Aceh.
One positive that has emerged from the terrible tsunami is the triumph of the human spirit over unimaginable adversity. A truce and progress towards a lasting political settlement would be another. The people of Aceh deserve it.
Jakarta Post Editorial - July 19, 2005
"There will be peace." A bold statement indeed from Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin at the conclusion of the Aceh peace negotiations in Helsinki.
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah also expressed a degree of confidence that the peace process would be successful.
History will inevitably decide whether Hamid, Bakhtiar and other delegates in Helsinki will be remembered as heroic peacemakers or merely as pawns of "darker forces" in the perpetual politicking surrounding Aceh.
This is not the first time peace seems at hand. In the past repeated promises were made and broken. Pledges were declared and forgotten and decades of goodwill ended in more suffering and loss.
Just over 24 months ago, the government declared martial law in the province and began one of the biggest military offenses since the invasion of East Timor in 1976. Now under a new regime it is offering peace under a rather restricted political format.
Unlike in previous negotiations, there was an air of urgency and necessity to the five rounds of talks, which began earlier in the year. The Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed about 130,000 people in Aceh, prompted negotiators to bend and compromise further than each side had ever been willing to do before.
And so Sunday's announcement of a draft peace agreement set to be formally signed next month is very much a product of the fear of a second "tsunami" -- a wave of hunger, widespread poverty and impoverishment -- if aid and reconstruction is delayed by the continuing political conflict between GAM and Indonesian forces.
One way or another, GAM's willingness to drop its demands for independence, and the perseverance of the government in continuing the talks has been crafted by the giant tsunami waves.
Though the circumstances that prompted the agreement were tragic, the silver lining is that the accord is now on the verge of being signed.
Details about the agreement remain scant and will not be made public until the formal signing next month. But the overall outline envisages amnesty for rebels forces, disarmament of rebels and the withdrawal of soldiers from the province.
One of the most delicate issues during the negotiation that will continue to be a sensitive point of debate is the question of political participation and representation for GAM.
The government initially rejected GAM's demands for a local political party.
Fortunately with some diplomacy a compromise was reached. Just exactly what that compromise is has not been revealed because it is likely to be used as ammunition by the peace spoilers to undermine the settlement.
Peace in Aceh should not be scuttled based on a law that erroneously perpetuates the domination of Jakarta-based parties. Such laws can be changed and should not stand in the way of a peace which has been wanting for decades.
The first and last stretches of a journey are always the toughest. In the next month there will be enemies of the process, concerned with vested short-term political interests rather than the welfare of Acehnese or the peace of mind of Indonesians.
They will not immediately make themselves apparent, unless public sentiment turns in their favor. These are people who will misuse nationalist dogma and clothe themselves in rhetoric, glories and the lies in our history books.
It is these people that the Indonesian people, Acehnese and rebel forces should unite to fight. They are the real enemy, the foes of peace.
Patience and forgiveness should also be readied in abundant supply for the coming year. A period of adjustment is always necessary in any new arrangement.
There will no doubt be misunderstandings and disputes over the implementation of the peace agreement. We should not let the technicalities, however, jeopardize the bigger objective of peace.