Fuel price hikes

Fuel prices for industry increased

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2005

Jakarta -- State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has increased fuel prices for industry for October by up to 21.9 percent, higher than previously expected.

Premium gasoline made the biggest jump to Rp 6,290 per liter for October delivery from Rp 5,160 a liter applied in September, while diesel fuel rose 12.1 percent to Rp 6,000 per liter, Pertamina's fuel division head Achmad Faisal said on Wednesday.

"The new prices will probably be applied starting Saturday, as we need time to inform our customers (of the new price)," said Faisal. "The decree (officiating the price hike) was signed today (Wednesday)," he said.

Kerosene for industries rose to Rp 6,400 per liter from Rp 5,600 a liter charged last month. A liter of diesel oil for industries will cost Rp 5,780 as compared to Rp 5,150 in September while fuel oil prices rose 21 percent to Rp 3,810 per liter.

The international bunker prices for October are 58.4 US cents for a liter of diesel fuel, 56.3 cents for diesel oil and 37.10 cents for fuel oil.

With the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 55/2005 on the new domestic fuel prices, no subsidized-fuel quota is set aside for industries, except for small enterprises and fishermen, who will receive a monthly quota of eight kiloliters (kl) each.

The government raised retail fuel prices by an average of 126.6 percent on Oct. 1 to slash subsidies and save the state budget. Pertamina began applying market prices for oil, gas, mining and export-oriented industries, as well as entities that use more than 500 kl of fuel in July.

It included more industries, including fishery companies, those located in bonded zones, independent power producers and entities that use more than 24 kl of fuel, the following month.

Fuel to Indonesia's fire

Inter Press Service - October 3, 2005

Kafil Yamin, Jakarta -- Police used tear gas on about 100 rioting students during one protest over the government's decision to more than double the average cost of fuel.

That protest was just one of many over the weekend when thousands took to the streets. Some burned tires and threw rocks at police while others waved placards denouncing the government, which maintains the fuel increases are aimed at staving off an economic crisis brought on by mounting external debt.

"Another corrupt government, another fuel price hike," said a placard waved Saturday by a demonstrator on the capital's streets. That and similar placards were reflective of popular opinion that the price hikes were somehow linked to various irregularities on the part of the government, including the recent discovery that petroleum was being smuggled out of the country.

It was the third day of protests against the fuel increases as angry Indonesians anticipated the increases. The demonstrations failed to sway the government, which, after a three-hour cabinet meeting on Saturday, announced that gasoline would immediately rise to $1.71 a gallon. The average cost of domestic fuel went up by close to 125%. Worst hit was the price of kerosene, used mainly by the poor as cooking fuel and on which there was a rise of 185%.

The higher gas prices will in turn push up the price of everything from rice to fish and cigarettes on the archipelago with a population of 220 million people, half of whom live on less than $2 a day.

The government promised an interim subsidy of US$29 that is supposed to help 15 million households subsisting on incomes of less than $17 a month. (The government's penchant for subsidizing fuel was expected to cost $14 billion this year.)

Minister for Mines and Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro said there would be no further price hikes this year, adding there was a possibility of prices going down if international prices went down. "There should be no more price rise until the end of the year," the official Antara news agency quoted him as saying on Saturday.

But the government promises did not satisfy protestors in several Indonesian cities because the hikes were larger than expected. With petrol prices going up by 87% and diesel costs doubling, there were fears of a cascading effect on the prices of goods that are dependent on transport.

It was not just the demonstrators on the streets, but consumer activists and well-respected economists believe the country could have managed its petroleum resources better and more honestly without burdening ordinary people by lifting subsidies.

"Without strong commitment and real action in combating corruption, lifting subsidies is not going to improve the economic situation," said Indah Sukmaningsih, of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI).

Indonesia has consistently been rated by watchdog groups such as the German-based Transparency International as among the most corrupt nations in the world.

Fadhil Hasan, an economist at the Institute for Development Economics and Finance (INDEF), has similar views but he preferred to dwell on the question of better management in Indonesia, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"Increases in the price of oil have always been followed by rising prices of basic necessities. And now we are facing the holy month of Ramadan and Idul Fitr festivities when prices of basic items soar," he said.

Hasan said hiking oil prices was not the only way of reducing the 2005 budget deficit. Making strict efficiencies in state-spending from the highest to the lowest level of government administration would, he said, actually be more effective.

"And if [the government] aimed to prop up the falling rupiah, they are supposed to increase exportation and draw foreign investment," Hasan said.

YLKI and INDEF had separately demanded that the government postpone the new prices until early next year. Already in March, prices had been raised by an average of 29%. The anger of ordinary people has been growing not only because of the announced hikes and the reports of petroleum smuggling but also because of hoarding of fuel stocks by dealers out to make a fast buck.

People queuing up for kerosene were seen in greater Jakarta, Bandung, Makassar and Medan, with many returning home disappointed.

"Foul-minded businessmen made use of this situation because they can earn a huge profit. They buy at the present low price, then release to the market at the new price. Smart but immoral," said Baihaqi, a Bogor resident.

"Lifting subsidy on oil is unavoidable because we have a huge budget deficit [of about $46 billion]," Vice President Yusuf Kalla said.

Indonesia's obligation to repay its external debt, now recorded at $75 billion, adding to its $65 billion in domestic debt, has caused a massive budget deficit. More than half of the budget allocation is used for external debt servicing.

The scarcity of kerosene and diesel is at least partly caused by the huge scale of fuel smuggling out of the country, involving officials of Pertamina, the state oil corporation, and police officers. Police found that Pertamina workers in the Lawe-Lawe oil refinery in East Kalimantan had pumped crude oil to Singaporean tankers offshore. The crude oil was allegedly sold at $35 a barrel, while international prices were more than twice that figure.

Fuel prices are a sensitive issue in Indonesia. Former president Suharto faced an uprising which saw his ouster in 1998, after he raised fuel prices in the middle of a serious economic crisis. In 2002, former president Megawati Sukarnoputri was compelled to roll back a fuel price hike that she had ordered.

Strike leaves passengers stranded

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2005

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta -- Thousands of passengers were left stranded on Monday when bus drivers went on strike to demand that the government raise fares following the steep fuel price increases announced on Friday.

In Medan, student Fransiska Manik found it impossible to get to the University of North Sumatra despite waiting for a public minivan for two hours.

"I've been standing here for two hours but no public minivan has passed. I'm sweaty and really upset because I can't get to my campus. And I can't afford to take a pedicab, it's so much more expensive and I don't have the money," she told The Jakarta Post.

All bus drivers in the city went on strike on Monday, forcing many workers and students to skip work or school.

Left with no other choice, private employee Susan took a pedicab to work. "I had to take a pedicab even though it cost Rp 6,000, much more than Rp 1,400 I usually pay on a public minivan," said the resident of Padang Bulan.

Strike coordinator B. Situmeang said the strike would continue until the government set new fares to adjust to the higher fuel prices.

One public minivan driver, Asno Susanto, said the increase had cost him money. "I've lost money, since I need Rp 70,000 a day to buy fuel but don't earn that much since fares have remained the same," Asno said.

The head of Medan's Transportation Office, Aslan Harahap, said the administration would discuss increasing public transportation fares with representatives from the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), the Indonesian Consumers Foundation and other relevant organizations.

"My office is waiting for Organda's proposal on new fares. After that we'll meet to set them," Harahap said, adding that the meeting was expected to take place on Tuesday.

He said the new fares would reflect the Ministry of Transportation's policies, prices of spare parts and operational costs. "The increase could be around 40 percent at most," he said.

Protests also took place in Pekanbaru and Makassar, where dozens of drivers forced passengers out of their buses while they demanded that the city administrations set new fares.

In Palu, public transportation drivers charged passengers a higher fare -- Rp 2,500 instead of the previous Rp 1,500. They charged the higher fare after their proposed fare was rejected by Mayor Suardin Suebo, who set the new fare at Rp 2,000.

In Kupang, drivers of city and intercity buses went on strike, demanding the governor adjust fares in accordance with new fuel prices.

An intercity bus driver, Mathias Nubatonis, said his income had decreased 50 percent after the government announced the new fuel prices. "For a trip to Kefamenanu town some 280 kilometers away, we set a fare of Rp 20,000 per passengers. Before, we could earn Rp 200,000 but now it's only Rp 100,000 since we spend more money on fuel," Mathias said.

In Semarang, hundreds of bus drivers went on strike and parked their vehicles outside the Semarang mayor's office. The drivers demanded the city administration raise fares from the current Rp 1,500 per passenger to Rp 2,000.

Some 500 members of the National Workers Union also staged a noisy protest in the city on Monday, demanding the government raise their wages to at least Rp 1 million to help them deal with escalating prices following the fuel price increases.

"Fuel prices are so high, workers are becoming more wretched. The governor should issue a new regulation on workers' wages," said the secretary of the union's Central Java chapter, Nanang Setyono. The workers also urged state electricity company PLN not to raise electricity rates.

Nationwide fuel hike protests lose steam

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

Jakarta -- Hours prior to the announcement of the new fuel prices on Friday night, protests against the much-criticized policy amounted to little, with a massive rally pledged in the capital failing to materialize.

Demonstrations continued in many cities and towns across Indonesia, but were unable to draw the huge numbers of protesters as had been expected by many. In addition, the rallies were generally free of serious violence.

However in Jakarta, at least 100 students from the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) clashed with riot police officers near their campus on Jl. Diponegoro, with several injuries on both sides.

The police fired tear gas at the rock-throwing protesters, who blocked the main thoroughfare Jl. Diponegoro. The police officers also chased the students into their campus, hitting some with their batons.

The scuffle broke out at around 5:25 p.m. after the youths set fire to tires, vandalized a bus and started throwing rocks at the police. Several policemen and protesters were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

Outside Merdeka Palace, a similar protest involving around 1,000 people, meanwhile, ended peacefully after presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng met with 11 student representatives. During the meeting, held at around 4 p.m. inside the palace compound, the delegates told Andi to meet their colleagues outside the complex.

But the political analyst-turned-presidential spokesman refused, and instead put his signature on a petition against the fuel price increase that was presented by the students. The demonstrators later left the scene to disperse.

Earlier, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono repeated his appeal for protesters to refrain from chaos and violence during their rallies, which he agreed was a bitter pill for everyone in the nation to swallow.

In Makassar, hundreds of students blocked the streets outside their campus of Hasanuddin University and held Friday prayers there, causing massive traffic jams.

Many motorists had to turn off their cars and park on the congested streets for hours. Passengers of public transportation vehicles were forced to alight and walk to their destinations.

The protesters said the road block would not be lifted until midnight. "We will block the road while waiting for the announcement on the new fuel policy at midnight. If the government presses ahead with the increase, we will do more than this," a student warned during his oration.

A demonstration in Cirebon, West Java, got a boost from the city's mayor Subardi and all 30 members of the local legislative council.

In a joint statement during the protest by students, youths and non-governmental organization activists as well as street vendors and drivers, Subardi said the fuel hike plan was a policy that did not empathize with the people, most of whom live under the poverty line.

"This policy proves that the central government has no conscience and lacks a sense of urgency in relieving the suffering of the people," he added.

Cirebon council deputy speaker Edi Suripno said the council would remain at the forefront of the protests against the fuel price increase. "The government has hurt the people by unveiling such a policy that will only impose more burdens on them." In Semarang, a clash with police was averted during a separate demonstration at the local marketing office unit of state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, even though dozens of student protesters threw rotten tomatoes at the building.

The group also tried to enter the office, but failed as police blocked them from breaking through.

Earlier in the same day, some 200 protesters forced three members of the Central Java legislative council to join their march to the governor's office, while in Bali students hijacked a fuel truck.

Similarly, leaders of the Yogyakarta legislative council left for Jakarta on Friday to personally deliver their demand that the government cancel the increases.

"Our decision is consistent with the aspirations of the people," council speaker Djuwarto said, adding that the decision had been agreed upon on Thursday in a meeting of council leaders.

In the meantime, dozens of demonstrators failed in their attempt to force the East Kalimantan administration to declare a mass strike in protest against the fuel hike policy.

East Kalimantan Deputy Governor Yurnalis Ngayoh was quoted by Antara as saying in Samarinda his administration could not meet the protesters' demand, arguing that such a political decision required approval from the governor and local council.

The fuel price hike, which will take effect on Saturday, was the second increase this year after the March rise. On Tuesday night, the House of Representatives approved the slashing of fuel subsidies that have been devouring between one-fifth and one- third of Indonesia's annual budget.

Hundreds rally against massive fuel price hike

Agence France Presse - October 1, 2005

Jakarta -- Hundreds of people rallied in a third day of demonstrations across Indonesia to protest a government decision to more than double fuel prices to keep an economic crisis at bay.

The second increase of the year, which came into effect as of midnight Friday, was part of a government policy to cut fuel subsidies that were devouring one-fifth of Indonesia's annual budget.

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in more than 10 cities in the islands of Java, Lombok and Sulawesi, staging noisy protests calling for the government to revoke the economically- critical decision.

No large demonstrations were reported in the capital Jakarta but police said some 13,000 security forces would remain on alert for the next two days.

Three policemen were injured in a brief but intense clash between police and students outside a university campus in central Jakarta on Friday.

"Our alertness remains in place but only God knows what can happen. Jakarta is still under full alert status and we will maintain law and order," city police spokesman Yoga Untung told AFP.

In the tourist centre of Yogyakarta in Central Java, some 200 students picketed outside a local state fuel depot and demanded officials there sell kerosene at the old price of 700 rupiah (seven US cents).

The fuel, widely used by the poor for cooking, went up to 2,000 rupiah (19.4 cents), an increase of 185.7 percent.

Scores of students on the resort island of Lombok near Bali, aided by some 100 bus drivers who went on strike against the new fuel regulation, also urged Jakarta to lower the prices.

Dozens of students in Central Java's capital of Semarang set fire to effigies of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Yusuf Kalla despite a police presence.

On Friday, police in the capital fired tear-gas to disperse rock-throwing students protesting against the fuel-price rise which was only expected to be in the region of 50 percent.

Instead, Jakarta raised the cost of domestic fuel by an average of 125 percent. The price for premium petrol was raised 87.5 percent from 2,400 rupiah to 4,500 rupiah, while diesel oil rose 104 percent from 2,100 rupiah to 4,300 rupiah.

Yudhoyono on Friday appealed to protesters for calm and said violence would only hinder the country's already sluggish foreign investment.

Former dictator Suharto was toppled in 1998 after raising fuel prices amid a crippling economic crisis. The first rise this year also brought mass protests.

As global oil prices hover near record highs, Indonesia has been forced to slash the budget-busting fuel subsidies, which parliament this week capped at 89.2 trillion rupiah (8.7 billion dollars) for the year.

Indonesia has had to snap up dollars to buy more expensive fuel, putting the rupiah under pressure, to cope with its old policy of supporting increased subsidies to keep domestic fuel prices artificially low.

Police have deployed thousands of personnel to guard government buildings and fuel sites, but analysts say they do not expect the kind of uprising that helped bring down Suharto. In March, the government raised prices by an average of 29 percent.

To cushion the impact on the poor, the government said it would accompany the latest hike with a short-term subsidy of 300,000 rupiah to more than 15 million poor households.

Vice president Kalla and Chief Economic Minister Aburizal Bakrie personally monitored the disbursement of the government's direct cash subsidies to poor households in west Jakarta.

Gas prices spark protests in Indonesia

Associated Press - October 1, 2005

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta -- Indonesia more than doubled the average cost of fuel Saturday in a bid to stave off an economic crisis, sparking transport strikes and violent protests from people who have long enjoyed some of the cheapest gas prices in the world.

The larger than expected increases, announced after a Cabinet meeting Friday and implemented the following day, raise the price of gasoline by 87 percent to $1.71 per gallon, more than double the price of diesel fuel and triple the cost of kerosene.

The increases will push up the price of everything from rice to fish to cigarettes in the sprawling country of 220 million people, half of whom live on less than $2 a day.

Protesters burned tires and effigies of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, while others commandeered diesel trucks and blocked roads.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets nationwide in recent days and rowdy rallies were reported in at least 10 cities early Saturday, though the turnout was small given the size of the nation and its history for massive street protests.

Yudhoyono said Indonesia's cash-strapped government, which for years has subsidized fuel to let motorists fill up for less than 95 cents per gallon, could not afford to keep doing so amid spiraling global energy prices.

Some economists praised Yudhoyono's decision, saying it was a bold move that could prevent additional hikes in the future. Others questioned whether the country's poorest would be able to bear the additional burden.

"It's way too drastic," said Udin, 58, a security guard and the father of 3-year-old twin boys. "Prices are already too high. Now they're going to go through the roof." Hundreds of students burned tires in South Sulawesi province following an all night protest; demonstrators in Riau briefly commandeered a diesel truck.

Transport strikes in at least seven cities left thousands of people stranded.

"I realize that this is not a popular policy... but we have to do it to save the nation's budget and the future of the country," Yudhoyono said, calling on everyone to remain calm, saying "anarchy will only deter investment."

Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, is Southeast Asia's only member of OPEC, but it has to import oil because of decades of declining investment in exploration and extraction.

Most in Indonesia agree that the current level of fuel subsidies -- which have eaten up nearly a quarter of the budget this year -- are unsustainable.

"Economically speaking, the president has made the right decision," Kahlil Rowter, an analyst with Mandiri Securities was quoted as saying in the newspaper Kompas. "By raising the prices all at once, the government will be able to tackle many of its problems by the year's end, spurring economic recovery in 2006."

Fuel hikes are a sensitive issue in Indonesia, where a big increase in 1998 triggered rioting that helped topple former dictator Suharto. Protests also forced former President Megawati Sukarnoputri to scale back a fuel price increase in 2002.

This is the second time that Yudhoyono, who was elected last year on promises to fight poverty and revive the economy, has pushed up prices.

The government hopes to balance its budget by capping subsidies at $8.68 billion this year, while bolstering confidence in the stock market and the local currency, the rupiah, both of which have taken a hit recently amid the economic uncertainty.

Seeking to cushion the blow to the poor, the government has offered 15 million poor families a lump-sum compensation payment of $29. People started picking their money at local post offices early Saturday, many waiting in lines for more than an hour.

"Thank God," said Suryati, a housewife in Jakarta, after receiving her cash. "Of course it's not nearly enough, but it will help me feed my family."

Fuel prices leap 126.6 percent

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

Rendi A. Witular and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta -- The government rang in October with a very steep fuel price hike -- by an average of 126.6 percent -- amid a relatively minor clash, sporadic protests and long lines at gas stations.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie announced that the price of premium (subsidized) gasoline is now Rp 4,500 (44 US cents) per liter, from Rp 2,400; diesel fuel is now Rp 4,300 from Rp 2,100 and kerosene, mostly used for cooking in low-income households, nearly tripling to Rp 2,000, from Rp 700.

The increase was far higher than expected as government officials previously estimated that the prices would go by between 50 percent and 80 percent. Kerosene, which most directly affects the poor, was the highest increase.

Aburizal had to rush to the Ministry of Finance's auditorium to make the announcement, arriving shortly before midnight late on Friday after a prolonged Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace.

Apart from the fuel prices, the government also issued five incentive packages, which include discounts for certain products, trade reform regulations, public transportation reform, an increase in the minimum price of unhusked rice paid to farmers and a direct subsidy for the poor.

The unpopular decision came after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won approval from the House of Representatives, in a 273-to-83 vote, to drastically cut the fuel subsidy expenditure, thereby stopping the bleeding from this year's budget.

As Indonesia has become a net oil importer amid rising fuel consumption, declining oil production and soaring global oil prices recently hit US$70 a barrel, the fuel subsidies would have ballooned well over Rp 110 trillion to keep the fuel prices at their current levels.

"It is not an easy choice. I understand that this is a bitter pill but I have to do it to save the country's economy and the country's future," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said earlier on Friday while inaugurating a new Astra Honda Motor manufacturing plant in Bekasi.

Susilo has also won support from clerics, including the ever- popular Abdullah Gymnastiar, who called on the public to "support the government's policy because this is not just happening to Indonesia, but also other countries." Vice President Jusuf Kalla had previously defended the government's decision to increase fuel prices ahead of Ramadhan, saying the people "would consume less kerosene in the month as they only cook twice".

In his speech, Susilo ensured citizens that the government would mitigate the inflationary knock-on effects of the hike by giving money and other benefits directly to the poor.

The government earlier this week transferred Rp 1.7 trillion of an allocated Rp 4.65 trillion, to the Ministry of Social Services, which later transferred the funds to government- appointed PT Pos Indonesia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia branches.

Each of the estimated 15.6 million low-income households eligible assistance will get Rp 300,000 each quarter over the next year. Eligible recipients are those living on or below the poverty line with an individual monthly income of less than Rp 175,000.

Aburizal said when meeting with student representatives hours before announcing the hike that the government would review at the end of 2006 its direct, cash-transfer subsidy scheme for low-income families affected by the fuel price hike, hinting at the possibility of discontinuing the scheme in the future.

He said it would always be better for the government to provide "the hook to catch fish" in the form of jobs, rather than merely "the fish" in handouts. "But for the time being, we will provide the fish," he said.

This fuel price raise was the second this year, also the second for Susilo since he took over the presidency last October, after the March 1 increase by an average of 29 percent.

Also in March, the government made available Rp 17 trillion directed at easing the plight of the poor, and supposedly used that money to improve education, health services and rural infrastructure. With this new package of aid, the total bill for the year in extra benefits for the poor will reach Rp 30 trillion.

Elsewhere, Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu said the government would continue to ensure that staple foods throughout the country would remain available and remain at affordable prices. Prices of rice, sugar and cooking oil had already begun creeping up even before the actual increase.

Aceh

Women should be given significant roles in reconstruction

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2005

Aguswandi, Banda Aceh -- No matter which political camp or organization you belong to in Aceh, there is one similarity throughout: Women are not significantly involved anywhere. Women's potential and actual roles have been neglected across the board in the huge rebuilding efforts in post-tsunami and post-MOU Aceh. Neither the government institutions, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), BRR, nor anybody else is taking the issue of women's participation in social and political life seriously. Aceh is becoming an increasingly male-dominated culture.

This is also the case even within many civil society groups that are claiming to represent the interests of the people of Aceh. It is not true that the quality of male friends of mine, many of whom hold positions of significant responsibility in Acehnese institutions, are much more talented than many women in Aceh. The problem, however, is that women were never granted the opportunity in the first place to take such positions. Under- representation of women in Aceh will ensure that women are never able to access those opportunities. There is no such thing as serious equal opportunity here.

I don't really like to advocate for positive discrimination. Normally I would agree with the argument that the quality is far more important than quantity, that women should be involved due to their individual qualities and skills rather than simply as a member of a collective called "women". But seeing how the potential of women is being neglected in Aceh now, at this critical time, it is necessary to actively pursue the inclusion of women over men. Positive discrimination might be an option.

Take for example the many reconstruction institutions, such as the BRR which was established in post-tsunami Aceh. How many Acehnese women are involved with or occupy positions in these organizations? Very few. Does one really think that the men occupying the majority of office chairs are better equipped than women at making reconstruction plans for Aceh? No, definitely not. Or look at the process leading up to the signing of the MOU and the executing parties implementing the MOU. Women's input and roles within these processes or implementing bodies has been negligible. Even more disturbing are elements of the MOU that have the potential to strengthen and increase such male monopolization and domination. Neither provisions around the government of Aceh nor those around political participation have made any clear statements concerning women's involvement in the processes. I asked friends about whom they thought might be chosen for the post of Wali Nanggroe (the cultural leader of Aceh's government). Of all the names suggested, all were male. It was clearly inconceivable for them to think an Acehnese woman might occupy this position.

When it was suggested to them that women's right to compete for these positions should be encouraged and clearly stated, they were insulted and said that there was no need for such a provision on the grounds that Acehnese women, have already occupied significant historical roles as queens and military leaders. They seemed to think that as a society where women have historically held prominent and powerful public roles women will eventually once again hold these roles and that there is no need to actively insist on their involvement. They have begun to take the important role of women for granted.

But can the Acehnese afford to take this for granted now? Many cite women's primary or powerful roles within the family structure in Aceh. But such important roles in the family cannot necessarily be translated into the assumption that Acehnese women will be able or willing to take on this role in society. The most common solutions emerging from local groups in response to the question as to how to help Acehnese women be more included in post-tsunami and post-MOU reconstruction are to teach women skills such as handicrafts, sewing or pastries. It is unclear how people think that women will be able to return to the political sphere if they are suited, or merely equipped, to achieve such labor-intensive, low return employment.

What can be done? Many groups and agencies working in Aceh should insist on women's participation in the work they are doing or are funding. Funding agencies in Aceh for example should scrutinize any projects or proposal submitted to them by local groups and question as to how their projects have a positive impact on Acehnese woman, or how many woman are actually being involved. This is especially important in the case of religious groups who are usually less interested in involving women.

The stakes are actually very clear. Until we get Acehnese women more involved we will not be able to improve conditions in Aceh. Building the future for post-tsunami and post-MOU Aceh must also mean building the future of women. The continuation of many problems in Aceh right now is often due to the failure of the male-dominated politics in the province. It might just be the time to give Acehnese women a chance to be in the forefront.

[The writer is a human rights advocate.]

Agency renews vow to speed up Aceh recovery

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR) reiterated its promise on Tuesday to speed up reconstruction work in tsunami- affected areas.

The statement came during a biannual meeting of the agency with non-governmental agency grouping the Coordination Forum for Aceh and Nias (CFAN) to discuss the recovery process in the two disaster areas.

"The meeting concluded that BRR has made rapid progress, but we also agreed that the agency needed to (further) speed up its mission," BRR head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto told said after the meeting in Jakarta.

The BRR, which was set up in April, has completed the reconstruction of some 10,000 houses and was completing the building of 22,000 more homes, Kuntoro said.

"This is more than a half of the total number of houses constructed by (state developer) Perumnas across the country in one year," he said.

The BRR aims to have cleared tsunami debris in some 90 percent of fishing ponds and rice fields across Aceh by the end of 2005 in order to allow farmers to resume working.

World Bank country director Andrew Steer admitted that in the initial stages, the reconstruction process in Aceh and Nias was slow because Indonesia chose to set up a special agency to deal with the reconstruction process and to implement bottom-up, community-based policies.

"These two things have made the reconstruction process slow in the initial stages," Steer said. However, he said the BRR had actively sped up the process to make it more effective.

United Nations resident coordinator in Jakarta Bo Asplund said the BRR had done a good job.

Kuntoro said there had been no substantial problems faced by the agency during the reconstruction process.

The BRR earlier said that the slow progress was partly due to the delays caused by bureaucracy. Another problem was a lack of coordination among donors, ministries and other government agencies.

Earlier Acehnese students staged a protest, demanding the government dissolve the BRR since it had failed to fulfill tsunami victims' expectations, with many still living in makeshift tents and eating only instant noodles ahead of the fasting month of Ramadhan.

Over 500,000 people lost their homes due to the Dec. 26 tsunami, while some 130,000 others were killed. The disaster also destroyed much of Aceh's infrastructure, particularly in Banda Aceh, and Nias.

The BRR plans to build some 70,000 houses, and repair or rebuild roads, bridges, harbors, schools and public health posts there.

Acehnese students want BRR out

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2005

Banda Aceh -- Acehnese students staged a peaceful protest on Monday demanding that the government dissolve the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR) since it had failed to perform its mission.

The protest's coordinator, Mukhtar Efendi, said the agency failed to fulfill tsunami victims' expectations since many were still living in makeshift tents and eating only instant noodles while they are soon to observe the fasting month of Ramadhan and celebrate Idul Fitri.

On the other hand, he said, the agency has received Rp 4 trillion (US$400 million) out of the Rp 47 trillion pledged by donor countries fund to reconstruct Aceh and Nias.

"Four trillion rupiah is not a small sum of money, it's more than the Aceh provincial budget. Not to mention the funds coming from the state budget and debt moratorium," he said.

Instead, he claimed that BRR spent more on their own interests, such as spending Rp 371 billion to pay for their employees.

"BRR is irrational in managing its budget to deal with the tsunami victims in Aceh. A BRR employee is getting paid millions of rupiah every month while a tsunami victim is expected to subsist on only Rp 90,000 a month," Mukhtar said.

West Papua

Establishment of Papuan council runs into more problems

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

Netty Dharma Somba, Jakarta, Jayapura -- The ongoing formation of Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) has drawn strong opposition from Papuan tribal leaders and churchmen, who feel disappointed with what they say are the central government's confusing policies in the resource-rich province.

Karel Phil Erari, a tribal leader in Papua, said in a discussion on Friday that serious problems would surface if the provincial government went ahead with the undemocratic selection process for candidates to sit in the MRP, which has sparked strong protests from the Papua Presidium Council (PDP), churches and tribal leaders.

He said the provincial administration had apparently pushed for the officiating of the MRP on Oct. 15 so that it could be used as a rubber stamp to approve Governor Jaap Solossa's candidacy and possible reelection in the incoming gubernatorial election.

He explained that women's groups, the PDP and churches have refused to nominate their own candidates to sit on the MRP as the central government had not yet shown a firm commitment to rolling out special autonomy for the province. Rather, they said, the government's policies in the province were contradictory.

"Four years on, special autonomy has fattened up corrupt officials but done nothing for the people. The people have are also confused by the unclear status of the new West Irian Jaya province. Now, the MRP is being formed without any consultations or talks with the other stakeholders," Karel said.

"The (central) government should postpone the planned gubernatorial elections in Papua and West Irian Jaya until a legitimate MRP is established. The MRP is at the heart of the Special Autonomy Law, and it won't be able to work if there are no representatives from the PDP and churches," former Papua governor Barnabas Suebu said.

Indra J. Piliang, a political analyst with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Adriana Elisabeth, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), blamed lingering distrust between the central government and Papuans for the latest problems.

They said that Jakarta had intentionally introduced contradictory policies on Papua for fear that the full implementation of special autonomy would lead to the secession of the province from Indonesia.

According to Law No. 21/2001 on special autonomy for Papua, the 42-member MRP will have the power to approve candidates standing in gubernatorial elections and for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), as well as make recommendations and give its approval for cooperative projects between the Papua administration and third parties.

Meanwhile, hundreds of youths and students staged a rally in the provincial capital of Jayapura on Friday to protest against the way MRP candidates were being selected, which they said was undemocratic.

Plight of Papua people was brought to Oxford's attention

Oxford Mail (UK) - October 6, 2005

City Councillors took part in a protest on the steps of Oxford Town Hall to pledge their support for West Papuans fighting for freedom from Indonesian occupation.

The Oxford-based Free West Papua Campaign is calling for a referendum on the country's future.

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Richard Harries, Oxford East MP, Andrew Smith, Oxford West & Abingdon MP, Dr Evan Harris and Euro MEP Caroline Lucas are among the high-profile supporters of the campaign.

The demonstration was led by West Papuan tribal leader, Benny Wenda.

Oxford Times (UK) - October 7, 2005

The plight of the people of West Papua was brought to Oxford's attention when city councillors from three political parties united to stage an international human rights protest.

Councillors from the Greens, Labour and Liberal Democrats gathered on the steps of the Town Hall to call for international action to protect the people of the Indonesian occupied country.

They were joined by West Papua tribal leader Benny Wenda, who lives in Oxford.

The people of West Papua have suffered human rights abuses at the hands of the Indonesian army, which has occupied their country since Indonesia invaded it 40 years ago.

Church leaders to lobby US on human rights in Papua

Radio Australia - October 5, 2005

A delegation of Papuan church ministers is flying out to America this week to lobby the United States Congress to investigate Indonesia's legal claim over their province. The US House of Representatives has passed a bill questioning Papua's incorporation into Indonesia. The trip comes after a human rights court acquitted two senior police officers of gross human rights abuses -- abuses that included two students being tortured to death in police custody.

Presenter/Interviewer: Di Martin

Speakers: Reverend John Barr, Uniting Church National Assembly; Brother Budi Hernawan, Catholic Church, Jayapura

Martin: Abepura is a college town about 20 kilometres from Papua's capital Jayapura. It was there, five years ago, that a police raid took place that was so brutal, it stands out as a particularly egregious act in a province renowned for human rights abuses.

The raid was sparked after unidentified assailants attacked the Abepura police station, leaving an officer dead. The police retaliation was swift and bloody, focusing on nearby student dormitories. This is Brother Budi Hernawan from Jayapura's Catholic Church.

Hernawan: They arrested about 104 people, including women and children. They beat them, they detained them and they tortured them in police custody in Jayapura. Two students died in custody, due to the torture, and one young man shot dead two or three kilometres from the crime scene.

Martin: The incident was so serious, that Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission became involved and Brother Budi was one of a team asked to investigate, The team found that 25 police officers should be brought to trial for gross human rights abuses.

It took three years for Indonesia's Attorney General to bring the case to court, and in the end, his office decided only two of the 25 police would stand trial.

They were the first hearings of Indonesia's Permanent Human Rights Court and was considered a test case of what justice could be expected by victims of gross human rights abuses. During the trials, neither officer was required to step down from his job. The hearings went well beyond the maximum time limit allowed to try such cases.

Finally, the judges found the prosecution failed to prove the two officers ordered the attacks, and they were both were acquitted. The victim's claims for compensation was also dismissed. Brother Budi Hernawan says the result is a travesty of justice.

Hernawan: There's some strong political influence to the judges and prosecutors because we told by some of the judges that they were under strong pressure from somebody, they couldn't say [who]. I think this is bad precedent for whole justice system in Indonesia and the whole area of human rights.

Martin: Budi, how are the survivors of Abepura coping, in the wake of these acquittals.

Hernawan: Well, they were almost paralysed, they were very upset and shocked. It's very, very hard for them even to hear the sentence.

Martin: An Australian Uniting Church Minister, John Barr, arrived in Jayapura on the day of the acquittals and says the Papuans he spoke to were despondent.

Barr: I think it really touches base with a whole lot of other issues, which are we simply don't trust the processes any more, we don't trust legal processes in Indonesia, don't trust government any more because never, at any point, has anything happened that really affirms us or that deals with with the issues.

Martin: John Barr says Papuan leaders are increasingly looking overseas to have their grievances heard. He's assisting a delegation of Papuan church ministers to travel to America and lobby members of the US Congress to pass a Bill that has far reaching consequences for Papua.

Passed by the House of Representatives three months ago, the Bill calls on the State Department to re-examine the incorporation of Papua into Indonesia, to urge Jakarta to support and respect Papua's special autonomy status and to ensure perpetrators of human rights abuses are made accountable. Reverend Barr says the Indonesian government is working hard to overturn the Bill.

Barr: Jakarta has responded by sending a number of delegations to lobby Congressmen over this bill and never have Papuans been invited to be part of that delegation, so the Uniting Church has decided to give it some financial support towards a group of people from the church to present their views to the Congress and support passing of the Bill.

Martin: John Barr fears that if Jakarta continues to ignore Papuan issues and frustrations, and Indonesia's security forces continue to abuse their power, Papuans could be tragically provoked.

Barr: In fact, people were describing the situation to me as woktu mera, which means "red time" or time of preparation, and there's a sense of something going to happen. And I think that Jakarta needs to understand that, needs to start taking the Papuans seriously, otherwise consequences down the line could be horrific.

Martin: What do you mean, those consequences could be horrific?

Barr: Well, at this point, the Papuans have been able to maintain peace within community, despite lot of intimidation from the military. One asks for how long can Papuans maintain that line when constantly undermined by legal processes, by political processes? We are really encouraging them to maintain this peaceful line because if there's a violent reaction against Indonesia, my fear is that the Indonesian military would simply crush them.

Human rights/law

Supreme Court tells courts not to jail journalists

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- Chief Justice Bagir Manan has given a directive to judges across the country to fine, not imprison, any journalist found guilty in a criminal case related to a press dispute.

During a recent Supreme Court national working meeting, he said that punishment in press disputes "must not in anyway interfere with media activities". The meeting was attended by the Supreme Court leadership as well as top judges from across the country.

However, Bagir said criminal charges against media outfits were still applicable despite calls from some journalists for the courts to use the Press Law, instead of the Criminal Code, in hearing media disputes.

"Media that use their freedom wantonly must be considered a threat to the press and growing democracy in general. For us in Indonesia, criminal charges in media disputes are still necessary," he said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Bagir mentioned as an example a series of media reports involving his office that he considered unbalanced and inaccurate.

He also questioned suggestions from the media for courts to use the Press Law in hearing media disputes. "It is weird as courts only hear cases submitted by prosecutors, who draw up the indictments," Bagir said.

Indonesian courts have jailed a number of journalists in the past. The latest case occurred in May when two journalists from Lampung were jailed for nine months for libeling Alzier Dianis Thabranie, the leader of Golkar Party's Lampung chapter. The case surfaced last year as the Koridor weekly tabloid, which the two journalists work for, ran a story on vote-buying in Lampung during the first round of the presidential election last year.

The Jakarta High Court also upheld in April a decision by a lower court sentencing Bambang Harymurti, the chief editor of Tempo weekly newsmagazine, to one year in jail for libeling business tycoon Tommy Winata.

The verdicts, combined with the government's controversial draft of the Criminal Code that contains 49 articles deemed harmful to freedom of expression, have prompted several media observers to warn that the country's press freedom was under attack.

Court hit by new 'mafia' scandal

Jakarta Post - October 4, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The Supreme Court claimed on Monday that it was unaware of the involvement of court clerks in the "judicial mafia", despite reports over many years suggesting court employees from all levels were involved in graft.

"It has (now) opened our eyes. We've been focusing (on monitoring) judges, who have become the targets of criticism from the public and justice-seekers. But now, (we find) employees who have nothing to do with (the hearing of) cases may also be involved," deputy chief justice for judicial affairs Marianna Sutadi said in her office.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested five employees of the Supreme Court and a judge-turned-lawyer early on Friday morning over an alleged bribery case. KPK officials confiscated some $US400,000 and Rp 800 million worth of funds, which they believed were to be used as bribe money to win a case.

The arrested lawyer, Harini Wiyoso, is a member of legal counsel team of businessman Probosutedjo, the cousin of the country's former president Soeharto.

Marianna claimed the Supreme Court had implemented a tight surveillance system, which monitored around 1,000 employees. "Those who have been arrested are not (directly) involved in (court) cases," she said.

The five employees are the court's general affairs bureau head Malam Pagi Sinuhadji; two Indonesian Civil Servants Corps (KOPRI) employees Suhartoyo and Sudi Ahmad; Sriyadi, an employee with the court's civil affairs division; and Pono Waluyo, a worker at the court's travel division.

Sudi had previously been accused of issuing a false verdict several years ago, however the case was never brought to trial and the Supreme Court only took administrative sanctions against him.

Marianna said the Supreme Court supported the KPK's recent action and promised to provide it with assistance for its further investigations, including allowing the commission to question judges.

The Supreme Court leadership met later on Monday to discuss the case. The result of the meeting have not yet been disclosed.

Marianna said that the Supreme Court would dismiss the employees involved in the bribery case if they were proven guilty. "The law allows us to dismiss civil servants," she said.

Harini and the other Supreme Court employees were questioned by KPK investigators on Monday.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch issued in July 2002 a report titled "Unveiling the Court Mafia", detailing the sad fact that money and not justice was the currency in most courts throughout the country.

The report added that the chain of corruption in the judiciary did not stop before the Supreme Court -- the last resort for justice seekers.

"No matter how small the power of a court official is, it has the potential of becoming a commodity of corruption. The court mafia involves all actors... from the police, court administrators, lawyers, prosecutors, to judges and prison guards," the report said.

Freedom Guard to protect minority groups from terror

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- Indonesia's founding fathers declared that this country would embrace various cultures, ethnic groups, religions and beliefs, however such idealism is fast disappearing and freedom to enjoy this diversity has become endangered, with minority groups often suffering from violence and terror.

The government security forces, however, are often indifferent to attacks on minorities -- ostensibly because the officers fear inflaming the situation further.

In a move made so that all Indonesians can enjoy the same rights and privileges as full citizens of the nation, a group committed to non-violence declared the establishment of the Garda Kemerdekaan (Freedom Guard) here on Friday.

"We set up the organization with the main objective of rebuffing all violence, protecting people from any type of brutality and standing alongside any groups being abused or terrorized simply because of their differences," said guard leader and journalist Ahmad Taufik.

He said the guard's establishment was partly done to demonstrate the public concern over the increased number of attacks by Muslim extremists on minority groups and Islamic scholars -- largely because the extremists have decided that such people were heretical or deviant.

Muslim hard-liners recently vandalized and terrorized Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect that recognizes another prophet after Muhammad. Mainstream Muslims worldwide believe Muhammad was the final prophet.

The frequent attacks have forced Ahmadiyah members to flee their homes and villages. However, very little if any, action has been taken by the police or other law enforcement personnel against the attackers, which included militants from the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

A series of threats and intimidation tactics have also been directed at the Liberal Islam Network (JIl), which promotes liberalism and pluralism among Muslims and is open to dialog with followers of other faiths.

Frequent intimidation and evictions of Christians from their houses of worship by Muslim extremists, have also been a regular occurrence in recent months -- particularly in western Java.

"Garda Kemerdekaan members will act as reinforcements to protect places that have been targeted by hard-line groups," Taufik told The Jakarta Post.

To prevent it from being branded just another militia group, he said no Freedom Guard members would be equipped with any type of weapon while carrying out their peaceful mission.

Also joining the new group are individuals representing various religious organizations, including Nahdlatul Ulama -- the country's largest Muslim organization, the Bishops Council of Indonesia (KWI), the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) and the Hindu Community.

Activists and supporters of Ahmadiyah and JIL as well as members of many ethnic groups, such as Chinese-Indonesians and Madurese, were among those attending Friday's declaration.

Prodemocracy activists from several non-governmental organizations and journalists grouped in the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) also took part in the establishment of Garda Kemerdekaan.

Nong Darul Mahmada, a JIL activist who was among those who witnessed the declaration, called on all people to strive for their own freedom, while expressing their thoughts and beliefs.

"Each of us is different from one another and it is our own right to have freedom of expression in this diverse nation. None of us is allowed to abuse others," Nong asserted.

House ratifies covenants ahead of recess

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

Tony Hotland, Jakarta -- The elimination of all forms of restrictions on freedom of expression, threats to religious freedom, forced labor and discrimination in the workplace are new tasks for the government after the House of Representatives finally ratified on Friday two long-awaited United Nations covenants.

The ratification of the UN 1969 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights wrapped up the House's first one-year sitting period. The lawmakers will now go into a three-week recess.

Chairman of House Commission I on defense and foreign affairs Theo L. Sambuaga said ratifying the covenants would commit Indonesia to protecting the rights of its citizens to an international standard.

The covenants will also serve as an important main reference for national laws that have been or will be passed in the future, according to Theo, although some House members said that most of the covenants' articles were already recognized by the 1945 Constitution and other laws.

The House also approved one major additional clause to Article 1 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights regarding the right of self-determination.

"Self-determination does not apply to any parts of a united state, and there's no parts of the covenant that will go against the unitary state of Indonesia," Theo said.

It took the lawmakers less than three weeks to ratify the two covenants, a process that also involved consultation with human rights activists and experts in international law. A bill's deliberation normally lasts more than a month.

Some observers believe that the ratification was simply aimed to facilitate the request from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) following the Aug. 18 signing of a peace accord to end almost 30 years of separatist fighting in the province.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said the ratification would mean the international community could hold Indonesia accountable for the implementation of the two covenants.

"We're now responsible to the international community for any violations of the covenants. We're also obliged to write a biennial report on our implementation of the covenants," he said.

Human rights activists, however, called the ratification half- hearted.

Ifdhal Kasim, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), said the ratification had excluded two optional protocols, which were as important as other clauses in the covenant on civil and political rights.

The two excluded protocols were on the mechanism of victims of human rights violations to individually claim for rights restoration and the abolishment of capital punishment.

"The House was so worried about the self-determination clause, that they didn't focus on these two protocols, which are more relevant to our situation now," said Ifdhal.

The two international covenants were the latest of only 12 bills the lawmakers managed to endorse since they took office in October last year. The House had set a target of passing 55 bills, in line with the National Legislation Program for 2005.

What ratification of rights covenants implies

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

Implications of ratification of UN Conventions on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to states (selected). The state must:

1. Ensure that all individuals can enjoy the rights recognized in the Covenant, regardless of their race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status

2. Protect the right to life; in countries which have not abolished the death penalty, the death sentence may be imposed only for the most serious crimes.

3. Prohibit slavery, slave trade in all their forms, and forced or compulsory labor.

4. Ensure that everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.

5. Guarantee people's rights to liberty of movement and freedom to choose residence, freedom to leave and enter their country.

6. Ensure equality before the courts and tribunals.

7. Protect people's right to freedom of expression and ideas in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of their choice; the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions.

8. Recognize the right of men and women of marriageable age to marry and to found a family.

9. Recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts.

10. Recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and favorable conditions of work which ensure, fair and equal remuneration and opportunity of promotion to appropriate higher level, particularly for women.

Reconciliation & justice

Ex-prisoners ostracized by children

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2005

Rusman, Samarinda -- The sun has just risen on the horizon, and Rahmat, 65, was tilling the land to grow beans. The land, on part of which he grows vegetables, is not his, but has been lent to him by a church. He still looks strong for his age.

He was a soldier with his final rank being that of corporal first class. However, his life changed following the incident on Oct. 1, 1965, in Jakarta in which six army generals were murdered.

After what is described in Indonesia as the abortive coup attempt, he was accused of being a member of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI)'s Youth Wing (PR). For seven years, his accusers struggled to make the accusation stick, and for seven years he was questioned. Eventually, he says he was forced to admit his involvement in the organization.

He was accused of being a PKI member as he often performed in ludruk (a traditional east Java folk play whose actors are all men), even though he just played minor roles. He says he was never involved with the PKI. Five of his fellow soldiers from the same battalion were also detained. He was accused of being the leader as he held the highest rank among the group of accused soldiers.

"I played in the ludruk just for fun, and it had no connection with the PKI. I performed only small roles every now and then, only when I was needed," he said.

He was arrested in 1970 and released from detention in 1977, when the government immediately exiled him to the jungles of Argosari subdistrict, Samboja district, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan, some 80 kilometers south of Balikpapan, the largest city in East Kalimantan.

But freedom did not serve to erase the sorrow. "The thing that makes me sad after being released is that my children won't recognize me as their father. They are ashamed of having a father who is a murderer, even though I never did any such thing," he said.

"For us, life now is just spending our remaining days in uncertainty. Our lives and being ignored by our own children is heartbreaking. But we can only resign ourselves to our fate. The most important thing is our children's well-being," he said. Now, Slamet's children live happily in Balikpapan, not far from where he stays. He has seven grandchildren from his three children.

However, none of his three children ever visited him during his stay in the isolated village. Their first and last meeting since his arrest was in 1993. He said that he had forced himself to meet them as he longed fervently to see them.

Things turned out disappointingly. "I, their father, was looked down upon as a beggar. Since then, we have never met and I don't know how they are now," he said dejectedly.

A similar fate has befallen Saenah, 74, a housewife who was active in the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), an organization affiliated to the PKI. When she was released on parole, her husband, a civil servant, ignored her. "That was the saddest moment for me," she said.

During the time she was being questioned as a suspect, her six children never visited her as they were ashamed of their mother's status. "My third child visits me once in a blue moon, while I've never seen my other children since then," said Saenah.

Due to the situation, Saenah eventually opted not to live with them, but in Argosari village, a place of banishment for others accused of being involved in the organization, to spend her old age in solitude. "Many friends of the same fate live in this village. I prefer to stay here rather than the outside where people continue to ostracize people like us," she said.

Families of PKI members push campaign for justice

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- Families of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) supporters who were murdered or jailed in events following the aborted military coup on Sept. 30 1965, have demanded the government clarify its role in the bloody incident.

The call claim as relatives of former members of the PKI held a discussion on Saturday to attend a launching of a book -- A daughter of the Indonesian Communist Party, or PKI, enters Parliament -- by Ribka Tjiptaning Proletariyati, a legislator and a daughter of former PKI prisoner.

It tells of her struggle to win back her political rights, which were taken away from her by the New Order regime. Ribka's first book -- Aku Bangga Jadi Anak PKI (I'm proud to be a PKI daughter) -- was launched in October 2002.

The 1965 events were sparked by the shootings of six Army generals blamed on PKI members. The incident, which led to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of PKI members nationwide, helped bring Soeharto to power. During his New Order regime, Soeharto put thousands of people linked to the PKI behind bars without trial while their family members were denied civil, economic and political rights. Historians are still debating the role of PKI in the coup, with some accusing conflicting factions within the Army, or even the United States' CIA, as being responsible.

The launch was also attended by the children of the Army generals who died in the tragedy, including Lt. Gen. (ret) Agus Widjojo -- son of the late Maj. Gen. Sutoyo Siswomihardjo.

Unsurprisingly they were mostly unsympathetic to the activists demands, with Agus, a former chief of the now-defunct military's territorial affairs division, eventually saying that he thought a "natural process is the fairest way to determine who were right." "Each side, either the military or the former PKI prisoners, has their own version of the 1965 history. So let the public read more references and let them decide on what happened over that particular period of time," Agus said.

An elderly woman who was sentenced to four years in jail for joining Gerwani, a women organization's affiliated to the PKI disagreed. "I have six daughters and we are living in poverty. My eldest daughter is a smart one but she couldn't finish her studies because I don't have money, while the school refused to provide her with a scholarship because she was a daughter of a PKI activist.

"My case is only one of the millions unjust policies imposed by the New Order regime on us. Do we have to face discrimination for the rest of our lives?," she said.

Other panelists also questioned why the PKI, a top political party of the time, would have resorted to a coup to gain power.

If GAM is entitled to rehabilitation, why not PKI?

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

Ribka Tjiptaning Proletariyati is the writer of a book entitled Aku Bangga Jadi Anak PKI (I'm proud to be a daughter of the Indonesian Communist Party, or PKI). She is a politician of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and now heads the House of Representatives Commission IX on health and manpower.

Question: The Central Jakarta District Court has recently rejected the class action lawsuit filed by former political prisoners accused of being involved in the 1965 aborted coup. Would you like to comment on that?

Answer: From the very beginning, I predicted that we would lose the case. How can you win a court battle in a country whose legal system has not changed. We all know that the legal system is the product of the New Order regime. The lawsuit is a good example for this country's political education, and we just have to fight for it no matter what the outcome is.

Even until today, the 1965 tragedy has caused prolonged trauma for all of us -- the plaintiffs and the children and relatives of former PKI members -- as we still have to deal with rights abuses and discrimination. As for me, I am a physician but I couldn't even set up a clinic of my own simply because I am a daughter of a PKI member. The patients were also reluctant to come to me as they have branded PKI as evil.

But, who will testify for us that what we actually see in the 1965 tragedy is gross human rights abuses against us with a record that shows that no less than three million people, most of them PKI members, were killed? Our former president, Abdurrahman Wahid, once admitted the mass killing, and even apologized for it because members of his organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), may have been responsible for the victimization of no less than 800,000 PKI members.

Do you have any other plan to fight for your rights?

In conjunction with the commemoration of the Pancasila Sanctity Day on Oct. 1, we are going to make a petition to ask the government to rehabilitate our names. If members of the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) can enjoy rehabilitation, then why can't we? We have never asked for independence. We have never waged an armed rebellion against the government. All we want is the government to rehabilitate our families, our parents, our names.

Besides the rehabilitation, what will you ask for in the petition?

I want the state to provide a clarification of its own history. Don't blame the PKI as the only evil in the 1965 tragedy. How can we sit together and reconcile if we fail to clarify our darkest history? Following the downfall of the New Order regime, most of the history books which tell about the New Order's role in defeating communism were withdrawn. Television stations have also stopped showing the film which tells about the tragedy. Can't we see that we are in a doubt over our own history?

What is the ultimate goal of filing the petition?

I want the government to make a public confession declaring the PKI clean in the 1965 tragedy. The confession will be more than enough, and we are ready to forgive and forget the past and there will be no more place for hatred. No more revenge. That we all are equal as Indonesian citizens.

How valuable is it for your struggle?

The government must provide clarification not because of our own interests, but in the country's interests. And we must do it while many of the political prisoners are still alive. They -- men, women and children -- are witnesses of history. Many former members of PKI's affiliated organization Gerwani (the Indonesian Women Movement) are still alive and they can tell the truth as to whether they received orders to torture the seven Army generals in the Lubang Buaya area. Thousands of former members of other PKI-affiliated organizations, such as the farmers's association BTI or artists' association Lekra, are also still alive and they can testify to tell the truth of the history. They deserve rehabilitation while they are still alive.

The government has come up with the idea of setting up a commission of truth and reconciliation (KKR) for victims of the 1965 tragedy. Could you comment on that?

I initially supported the idea, but later on I disagreed as I learned that the KKR legislation has no single article which referred to the suspects. The legislation merely talks about the victims; that we will receive amnesty, that we will receive compensation, that we agree to offer our forgiveness. How come?

Do we have a strong legal basis or valid data or evidence which shows that PKI was proven guilty in the 1965 aborted coup?

What about (then president and former New Order ruler) Soeharto's role in the tragedy? How was the United States' intelligence agency CIA involved in the tragedy? Why did the tragedy happen?

As of today, Communism is considered to be a threat to the state. Your comment?

I don't understand why Communism remains the nation's top threat. Isn't it true that the New Order regime and the military as its backbone have always claimed to have defeated Communism right to its roots? I have heard that ever since I was a child. The campaign, however, sounds ironic as on the other hand, I saw that the New Order regime made Communism, as well as PKI, greater and greater by repeatedly accusing the two of being behind any anti- government movements. The authorities used to say that PKI was behind the labor movement as they staged rallies against the government's unjust policies. If the regime and the military had crushed PKI, then why is Communism still a top issue? So, who is behind rampant corruption which implicates the state officials and causes bankruptcy to this state?

War on terror

Indonesia's terror dilemma

Asia Times - October 7, 2005

Bill Guerin, Jakarta -- The al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) organization once again has its footprints all over a series of suicide bomb blasts on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

This time bombers claimed 22 lives, while injuring more than 100 in weekend blasts. Yet Jakarta has still not designated JI as a terrorist group or outlawed it. This means it is not illegal for the network to raise funds, spread propaganda and recruit new members.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said when he took office a year ago that he would need "proof" before JI could be outlawed. In fairness, Yudhoyono has been left to carry the can for the failure of the previous Megawati Soekarnoputri administration to properly address core issues that affected the well-being and security of Indonesians. Acutely aware of the danger to her presidency of being seen as a Western pawn by the Muslim majority, Megawati consistently backed off the necessary crackdown on radical groups. Meanwhile, the carnage has continued.

"It is an underground movement. We can only ban an established organization," presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng told CNN and other reporters after Saturday's blasts, adding that the government would continue to fight terrorism "under whatever name".

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose country lost 88 citizens among the more than 200 killed in the 2002 Bali bombings, believes terrorist groups are actively working to undermine Yudhoyono's government because he represents a "threat to Islamic extremism".

"There's nothing the terrorists want more than to destabilize Indonesia and what Indonesia represents as a moderate Islamic country and bulwark against the perverted, obscene version of Islam which is represented by these terrorist attacks," Howard said.

Still, he downplayed Jakarta's stance on JI, saying outlawing the group would make little practical difference. "I do not believe that outlawing Jemaah Islamiyah is going to make an enormous practical difference," Howard told radio listeners. "It is not the be all and end all of tackling terrorism in Indonesia."

The latest JI connection

The media have reported that Indonesian police are searching for five men from the Javanese province of Banten with links to Imam Samudra, who has been sentenced to death for his role in the 2002 Bali bombings. Police say the five suspects, who have served time for possessing explosives, disappeared after Saturday's blasts.

Samudra has been linked with a shadowy figure called Hambali -- reputed to be the leader of the militant Islamic JI and a regional al-Qaeda leader. Hambali, whose given name is Riduan Isamuddin, is called by some the "the Osama bin Laden of Southeast Asia". American officials in the past have said he is a close associate of September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Hambali was arrested in February 2004 by Thai authorities in the central town of Ayutthaya, and later handed over to the US Central Intelligence Agency.

No one so far has claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks that blew apart two seafood cafes in Bali's Jimbaran beach resort and a three-story noodle and steakhouse in downtown Kuta, the island's bustling tourist center. Investigators are still putting together evidence and asking for anyone who recognizes grisly photographs of three suicide bombers to come forward.

The JI dilemma

In the early 1970s, Muslim youths hostile to the religious repression of Suharto's New Order regime started supporting local Muslim groups, and the diverse bands of believers became collectively known as the Jemaah Islamiyah, which literally means "Islamic community". These small groups agreed to live by Islamic law and were blamed for arson attacks on churches, nightclubs and cinemas.

JI's ambition now is to create a single, fundamentalist Islamic state of more than 400 million, which would embrace Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.

Intelligence officials claim a deepening rift between the hardliners in JI who favor continued large-scale terrorist attacks and those who want more emphasis on education and recruitment. The suggestion is that mainstream ideological leaders are concerned that more Indonesians -- most of them Muslims -- are being slaughtered than Westerners, impacting badly on any support and sympathy for the group.

Thirty-three JI operatives have been convicted over the 2002 Bali bombings, with three sentenced to death. JI has also been accused of responsibility for the August 2003 bombing at Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel that killed 12 people, and the September 2004 blast at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta that killed 11 people.

Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia project director of the International Crisis Group (ICG), said that even if JI closed up shop tomorrow, the terrorism problem would not go away. All it takes is a few operatives and a little cash for a determined team to carry out an attack, particularly when suicide bombers are involved, Jones said.

Only days before last weekend's blasts the ICG rashly concluded that following Indonesian police and intelligence operations, JI no longer "poses a serious threat in Indonesia or elsewhere".

Former Australian foreign minister, Gareth Evans, who heads the ICG, said lamely that a "mad rush" to get his speech out to journalists meant he overstated the view that the terrorist group no longer posed a serious threat.

Current Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who says he has nothing but praise for Indonesia's commitment to the counter- terrorist task, believes banning JI would make little difference to terrorist operations anyway, though he acknowledged it was an important symbolic gesture for Jakarta to "make perfectly clear its profound disapproval of the activities of that organization".

Some 220 suspects have been jailed for terrorist activities since the 2002 Bali bombings, but only about half of these are JI members, with others coming from diverse jihadi groups.

Crackdown ahead, but how hard?

Former chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), A M Hendropriyono, has urged the president to come up with a new bill to give teeth to the intelligence bodies. Hendropriyono still laments the failure of Megawati and the legislature to pass a law that would have allowed BIN to detain suspects for limited periods.

He said intelligence operatives needed the ability to "discretely take aside" members of radical organizations in an attempt to entice them into providing information from inside terrorist cells. Receiving intelligence in this manner, BIN could better anticipate terrorist acts before they took place, before a crime had been committed.

One can almost hear a chorus of Hallelujah's coming from the White House, but Yudhoyono is unlikely to go as far as Malaysia and Singapore -- or the United States -- by detaining alleged militants and terrorists indefinitely without charge.

While Yudhoyono is certain to launch a further crackdown on Islamic radicals, the social dissent prompted by the recent drastic increase in fuel prices means an increased risk of alienating the poor and providing potential new terrorist recruits. The price of kerosene, which is used mainly by the poor for cooking, has increased by more than 185%, while petrol has risen 87.5% and diesel has more than doubled in price.

With a ready stock of young, disillusioned Muslims and a diversity of radical Islamic groups waiting in the shadows, future suicide bombers may not need to act as part of a regional, coordinated strategy of JI.

Meanwhile, some fear that a backlash from Muslim groups and political parties could threaten the tenure of the government.

Still, critics point to a failure by Indonesia to explain the nature of the terrorism threat to the public, yet perhaps even more compelling is the need to bring moderates into the fold, and persuade them to reach out across the archipelago and preach moderation and toleration.

Recent forcible closures of many Christian houses of worship in Bandung and neighboring districts in West Java by Muslim hardliners from the Anti-Apostasy Movement Alliance suggest that religion is as big a factor as ever in political considerations.

Police have so far refused to take any action against the activists, who include the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) that claimed responsibility for the closures. FPI is better known for smashing nightclubs and discotheques and any other places it judges to be dens of iniquity.

Clash of cultures

Most radical leaders cite immorality as the root of every single socio-economic problem imaginable. Social injustice, poverty, unemployment, inflation, high taxes, poor harvests and the generalized social chaos are all blamed on loose sexual mores -- the consumption of alcohol, hedonism, inappropriate dress and the failure to work hard and pray five times a day.

For example, Samudra said the Kuta nightspots Paddy's Bar and the nearby Sari Club were targeted in 2002 because their loose-living patrons disgusted him. The radicals' solution is the imposition of Islamic Sharia law with its harsh punishments.

Weak link?

While Jakarta has won praise for scores of arrests and convictions since the first Bali bombings in 2002, Washington and Canberra say some key players got off lightly. The fact that key individuals involved in planning and executing several bombings are still at large prompts concerns by some that Indonesia is somehow a weak link in the "war against terror".

Through the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation in Semarang, both the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian police have trained several thousand police, intelligence personnel, and others in fighting terrorism. The 300-strong, Federal Bureau of Investigation-trained police taskforce 88 is also boosted by a substantial contingent from the Australian Federal Police.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty says Indonesia is as able as any nation to track down the killers, while pointing out that it is not the only country in the world that has not managed to stop terrorism altogether. "Even with all the might and sophistication of the United Kingdom they still have had terrorist attacks in London," he said.

The other effects of terrorism

Bali's tourism industry had been going from strength to strength after a large number of local hotels were renovated or upgraded after the earlier tragedy. Luxury accommodation was available to the masses with the rupiah at record lows to the American dollar. The island accounts for more than 80% of the Indonesia's tourism income, thousands of jobs will go after the latest blasts.

Anti-migrant sentiment has been simmering for years, yet after the 2002 carnage, the predicted inter-religious, anti-migrant violence simply did not happen. This time around the local economic situation is profoundly worse, given the two rounds of massive fuel price hikes.

With the second terrorist attack on Indonesian soil directed at a predominantly Hindu province, community leaders in Bali may be hard-pressed to prevent the pecalang, Balinese civilian security groups, venting their anger on non-Balinese, particularly the thousands of Javanese, most of them Muslim, who earn a living there.

Intolerance to people of other faiths in the world's largest Muslim-populated nation is becoming much more pronounced, yet the vast majority of Indonesians have little sympathy for the killers in their midst.

Meanwhile, authorities need to sort out the latest bombing before they can tackle the root causes of terrorism in Indonesia. But maybe this time, the president will get the proof he needs to come down hard on JI.

[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.]

Government urged to reform BIN in wake of terror attacks

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- A human rights watchdog has called on the government to reform the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) following the failure to prevent a series of bombings over the past several years.

Rachland Nashidik, the executive director of Imparsial, said the agency was the only state institution that had not been reformed following the end of the New Order in 1998.

"It is difficult to understand that the only change within the agency during the reform era has been to its official name, and that was based on a presidential decree rather than a law," he said at his office on Thursday.

BIN was known as the State Intelligence Coordinating Board (Bakin) under former president Soeharto, who used the agency to help prop up his administration during his 32-year rule.

According to data from Imparsial, there have been 149 bombings and other terrorist attacks that have claimed 298 lives and injured 572 others between 1998 and 2005, as the country made the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy.

Rachland said the recent bombings in Bali should serve as a warning to the government to began a comprehensive reform of the intelligence agency, rather than simply giving it more power to arrest and hold people, as suggested by a new bill on intelligence.

One of the articles in the bill gives BIN the power to detain people without trial for at least seven days.

"BIN cannot be given this kind of power or be involved in law enforcement because it is not part of the state's criminal justice system. BIN is a nonjudicial intelligence agency whose main function is to detect threats against national security," Rachland said.

He added that the government must support reforms within the National Police as a judicial institution that is authorized to make arrests.

People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid previously suggested the government reform the intelligence agency, saying that BIN's intelligence failures had allowed terrorists to attack inside the country, as happened with Saturday's Bali bombings, which killed 22 people including the three suicide bombers.

Rachland said the government should audit BIN before instituting any reforms. "An audit must be done so the government can get an idea of what needs to be done based on BIN's weaknesses," he said.

Imparsial supports the passage of a law on intelligence, but wants any such law to balance between national security and civil liberties, Rachland said.

BIN, the main intelligence body in the country, has been plagued by controversy in recent years. This includes the arrest of a top BIN official as part of a counterfeiting ring, and the murder of rights activist Munir last year, with allegations that BIN may have played a role in the murder.

TNI ordered to help in terror fight

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2005

Tiarma Siboro and Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called upon the Indonesian Military (TNI) to be active in the fight against terrorism after the latest attack on Bali, which the TNI chief interpreted as meaning restoring the military's territorial function.

Speaking at the 60th anniversary of the TNI on Wednesday, Susilo said that Military Law No. 34/2004 allows the military to launch operations not only in the battle field, but also to overcome terrorism.

Interpreting the President's order, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said that he would take some necessary measures to crack down terror acts in the country by reactivating the military's territorial function, which in the past had been strongly criticized for massive involvement of the military in politics and alleged human rights abuses.

"The government has given us (the TNI) a clear order to participate in the war against terrorism. First, we will raise the public awareness about the condition of people's neighborhoods. Second, we will also activate the territorial command up to the village level, and third, of course, we will share intelligence information with other institutions, especially the police," Endriartono said on the sidelines of the anniversary ceremony, held at the Halim Perdanakusuma airbase, East Jakarta.

The President said in his speech that terrorism was a crime against humanity as "it kills people no matter who they are or what they are." Susilo also said that terror acts here had repeatedly tarnished the image of the country in the international community.

"Therefore, I ask the TNI to take part effectively in curbing, preventing and acting against terrorism," the retired army general said.

The blasts on Saturday killed 22 people and injured 130 others. In 2002, bomb attacks also rocked the island killing 202 people and injuring 300 more.

Handling terrorism in the country has so far been the domain of the National Police, who have been mandated to deal with internal security affairs following the reform movement in the late 1990s.

The TNI has been left with the task of tackling threats coming from other countries, although it is also allowed to assist the police to deal with domestic security threats.

Endriartono hoped that other law enforcement institutions would not be angered by the TNI's intention to reactive its territorial function in the fight against terrorism.

"I hope the office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs can coordinate things so that TNI's role will not overlap with that of other forces," the four-star Army general said.

But the plan to reactivate TNI's territorial function drew criticism from Ikrar Nusabhakti, a researcher at the National Institute of Science (LIPI), who expressed concern that the move could pave the way for soldiers to once again enter the country's political arena, or give legitimacy to commit political and human rights abuses as allegedly occurred during the previous New Order authoritarian regime.

"During the New Order regime, the military -- read: the Army -- maintained these (territorial) roles mostly for political purposes, and their mindset is yet to change as of today," Ikrar said.

Another military observer, Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that the move would be effective in fighting terrorism as long as there is better coordination between the TNI and police.

He, however, said that the request for the TNI to be active in the fight against terrorism was more about strengthening the fight not about the incompetency of the police.

Extremists targeted in Bali raids

Melbourne Age - October 5, 2005

Mark Forbes, Denpasar -- Police have launched raids on Jemaah Islamiah strongholds across Indonesia in a widening hunt for members of the suicide cell that launched last weekend's bomb attacks in Bali.

Police have also spoken to a man who claims to know at least one of the suicide bombers who targeted cafes on the tourist island, killing 22 people, including four Australians, and injuring more than 100.

But claims that bombing suspects were already detained were rejected yesterday by senior police, who said the 39 people interviewed so far were being treated as witnesses.

Accounts of survivors and material found at blast sites suggest the bombers manually detonated explosives that were loaded with ball bearings, according to sources close to the investigation.

Police spokesman Brigadier-General Sunarko said forensic experts had found nine-volt batteries, wires and ball bearings with traces of explosives at all three sites.

"Sweeping" raids had been conducted in several areas, including a Denpasar suburb from which the organisers of the blasts were believed to have fled.

The raids occurred as locals in Bali were alarmed by a series of anonymous SMS messages warning of a bombing in the tourist precinct of Seminyak, near Kuta. The unsubstantiated messages prompted the Australian Government to issue a new travel warning.

Another message seemed designed to provoke religious conflict, calling on Balinese people to attack Muslims.

The alleged spiritual head of the Jemaah Islamiah network, Abu Bakar Bashir, denounced the latest Bali bombings from his prison cell in Jakarta.

However, Hidayat Nurwahid, chairman of Indonesia's Parliament and leader of the major Muslim political force, the Prosperous Peace and Justice Party, blamed the bombings on rivalry within the tourism industry.

He called for a halt to speculation that the bombings were the work of "a certain group from a certain religion". "I have valid information that these acts may be related to inter-state competition in the tourism industry," he said.

Indonesian anti-terrorist squads are believed to have launched raids across Java in attempts to capture the pair suspected of masterminding the attacks, Jemaah Islamiah bomb makers Noordin Mohamad Top and Azahari Husin.

Police say Azahari may have transported explosives used in the attacks to the East Java town of Mojokerto in July. They are searching for a JI sympathiser believed to have sheltered him. Investigators have also descended on other hardline strongholds in Sumatra and Sulawesi.

One of the imprisoned ringleaders of the 2002 Bali bombings, Ali Imron, said he believed the bombers were recruited by Azahari and that the nine-volt batteries were "characteristic" of Azahari- made devices.

Some of the 39 witnesses identified by police told of seeing two men with strong East Java accents acting strangely outside the Nyoman Caf, one of two seafood cafes on Jimbaran beach struck by the bombers.

National Police spokesman Aryanto Budi Hardjo told The Age that police had received information from a man who claimed to have met one of the three bombers. He refused to provide further details and said the man's identity needed to be protected. But the detention of a Javanese man apprehended leaving Bali after the blasts was not related to the attacks, General Sunarko said.

Another two men reported arrested on suspicion of involvement were not considered suspects and may have been pickpockets, according to Bali police chief Mangku Pastika.

General Sunarko said police had not established how the bombs were triggered, but a source close to the investigation said it was "highly unlikely" that the bombs were detonated by mobile phone calls.

Meanwhile, Indonesia has reacted coolly to Australian calls for it to outlaw Jemaah Islamiah. Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said it was "not that simple" to legislate terrorists out of existence.

He said Indonesia deserved credit for having taken "concrete action" against terrorists. "The act of not banning the organisation is not undermining Indonesia's ability to go after these individuals," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard confirmed he would again ask Indonesia to outlaw the group, but warned it may not make it safer for Australians in Bali. Mr Howard has also written a message of condolence to the people of Newcastle after the deaths of three people from the city -- Jennifer Williamson and married couple Colin and Fiona Zwolinski -- in the latest Bali attacks.

[With reporting from AAP]

Bali's Hindus, Muslims celebrate holy days as police vow action

Agence France Presse - October 5, 2005

Denpasar -- Bali's Hindus celebrated one of their holiest days and its Muslims began the fasting month of Ramadan as police vowed to "work around the clock" to solve the weekend bombings.

But despite the festive air as Hindus in traditional dress flocked to temples for Galungan, which marks the victory of good over evil, a pall was cast over what should have been a joyful day for both religions on the Indonesian resort island.

"We have to welcome Ramadan with a happy heart but I am sad," Lukman Hakim, 24, said before midday prayers at Al-Mujahadin mosque in the Kuta tourist strip, the scene of one of Saturday night's three coordinated suicide blasts.

National police deputy spokesman Sunarko Danu Ardanto said that although no arrests had been made yet, investigators were doing everything they could to identify the three bombers and the masterminds behind the attack.

"Our detectives are working around the clock and the dynamics of every division involved are moving very well," he told reporters.

"We're exhausting all efforts so that we can quickly solve this case." Police have said that two people have been taken into detention and are under interrogation as part of the investigation, but that so far there was no indication they were involved.

As the investigation widened, police on Indonesia's main island of Java said Wednesday they were looking for five men suspected of terrorist links who had previously been under surveillance.

"We learned after the Bali bombings that they have not been seen in their areas. Our job is to investigate whether they have links with the Bali bombings," said the police chief in western Banten province, Badrodin Haiti.

A Jakarta-based police spokesman, Senior Commissioner Bambang Kuncoro, told reporters that so far 75 witnesses had been questioned, but there was no indication any were involved in the attack. There was anger in Australia, meanwhile, over the possibility of a cut in the jail sentence imposed on the alleged spiritual leader of the group blamed for 2002's nightclub attacks in Bali.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will travel to Indonesia to lobby the government to ban the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) following the latest Bali attacks, Prime Minister John Howard said.

"The real issue is the determination of the Indonesian police and security authorities and government to crack down on the terrorist organisations, their activities rather than their structures," he said.

Like other bombings in Indonesia, no group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attacks, but the finger of blame has been pointed at two fugitive Malaysian bombmakers who are linked to JI.

The legacy of the bombings three years ago in which 202 people perished, including 88 Australians, was also weighing on the people of Bali this week, with calls for three culprits given the death penalty to be executed now.

"Our lives have almost been destroyed by these barbaric people. But these militants seem to have a good life in jail," said Warti, who was just 23 years old when she was widowed by the original attacks.

"I hope the death sentences on Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas are carried out soon. Why are they allowed to breathe while we are suffering?" President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday called on Indonesians to unite and work together to overcome the unending series of threats and problems faced by the nation this year.

"This last year, our country has experienced and faced various tests, problems and often, challenges which are not light," he said referring to the December tsunami, deadly bird flu and the weakening rupiah.

Despite the bloody suicide bombings which targeted packed restaurants, killing 19 people, Bali's majority Hindu population carried on with the rites of Galungan.

The streets were full of men and women in bright sarongs, making their way to the island's many temples or roadside shrines, where tall piles of fruit and flowers were being arranged.

Yoga, a 32-year-old woman in a traditional brocade blouse and sarong, arrived at a Denpasar temple with one large basket balanced on her head and another in her hands.

"I am really frightened. Already my business is suffering," said Yoga, who runs a small souvenir stall with her husband. "I just pray that Balinese can and will live in peace and that Bali will be safe again," she said. "Instead of being a happy day, the blasts have made this day resemble a day of mourning."

Jemaah Islamiah rebuilding in Indonesia

Radio Australia - October 4, 2005

An Australian counter-terrorism expert says that Jemaah Islamiah has the capacity to continue its pattern of bomb attacks in Indonesia for years to come. And the group is rebuilding so it'll be a greater threat to Indonesia in the future. The director of Terrorism Studies at Canberra's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Clive Williams, told Graeme Dobell that JI is following a pattern of mounting an attack every 12 months.

Williams: They need to maintain a tempo to show that they're still around to get recruits and to make themselves known, but there's no advantage in doing attacks more often than that because it simply means that it's easier for the security forces to round them up. So from a security point of vivew and tempo and so on once a year's probably sufficient from their point of view.

Dobell: After Bali in 2002 the targets moved to Jakarta, the Mariott, the Australian embassy, why now back to Bali?

Williams: Probably because the tourist industry in Bali has recovered to a large extent, people generally speaking who go there on holidays think that it's now a safer environment and if you want to have a go at the Indonesian government the easiest way to do that is to have a go at tourists. And 85 per cent of tourists who go to Indonesia go to Bali and most of them don't go anywhere else in Indonesia, so clearly if you want to have a go at western tourists Bali's the place to do it.

Dobell: A sign also that JI was responding to the fact that in its attacks on the Mariott and on the Australian embassy, most of the victims who were injured or died were Indonesians?

Williams: That's right, mainly Muslims is what they were concerned about because there was a backlash effect and some people have said that this led to Azahari leading a breakaway group because there were elements within JI who wanted to work within the political process in Indonesia. But one of the advantages obviously of doing an attack in Bali is that the Balinese being mainly Hindu the likelihood of killing Muslims is reduced.

Dobell: What does this attack then tell us about Jemaah Islamiah's continuing capacity and its ability to mount further attacks in the future?

Williams: It shows us that it can still conduct a variety of operations, it can still do the vehicle bombs, the sort of thing it did against the Mariott and of course against the Australian embassy, but it also has another weapon in its armoury, which is the suicide bombers with the small IEDs with ball bearings. And that's going to be an ongoing problem. At the same time JI has developed a training facility in Mindanao and it's working quite closely nowadays with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf group, and there are apparently joint training teams that have been established between the MILF and JI, and these training teams provide field training. And so I think that what we're actually looking at is a period when JI is actually less capable than it was, but also less capable than it will be in the future. And I think that the Indonesian government has an ongoing problem with JI and will probably need to consider that it's going to become an increasing threat in the years ahead.

Dobell: A more capable JI in the future which has more capacity, what would that mean for Indonesia?

Williams: It will probably make it more difficult to attract western investors in Indonesia, it will certainly make it difficult to rebuild the tourism industry, particularly in Bali, and I think it's going to create more social tensions within Indonesia as well. So I think it'll be a difficult problem for Indonesia to deal with and remains to be seen whether Indonesia has got the capacity to deal with an organisation like JI or whether it will be able to build strength in particular regional areas.

Dobell: Is this a conflict where the Indonesian government really doesn't have any negotiating options, is it possible to negotiate with an extremist group that essentially wants the overthrow of the Indonesian government and the establishment of an Islamic caliphate across Southeast Asia?

Williams: It may be possible to have something of a half-way house where you have a stricter religious regime but not going as far as having a fundamentalist state. That may well then buy off many of the people that would otherwise support JI because their support is being watered down in other words. So that's a possibility but it would not probably be a good thing obviously from an Australian point of view to see a more radical or more religious Indonesia, because there will perhaps be a tendency then to focus on external interests in Indonesia. Up till now there haven't been any attacks on expats in other parts of Indonesia and one of the dangers of course is that you could develop an Iraq type situation where westerners are being kidnapped and that sort of thing, and of course that's a situation that Australia certainly would want to avoid.

Dobell: So is this a tempo of attacks that you see continuing for some time?

Williams: They can continue the tempo of attacks at the present level probably indefinitely, next year if they continue this cycle and of course from an intelligence point of view it's always a bit dangerous to say that people are going to continue to maintain a cycle, because then they'll do something that you don't expect or mount a sort of attack that you don't expect. But nonetheless I think they've got certainly the capacity to maintain an annual rate of attack mounting a major attack every year, certainly they can do that.

Malaysian bomb makers hunted

Radio Australia - October 4, 2005

As the hunt continues for those responsible for the weekend attacks, security officials say there is no doubt the bombings point to the handiwork of two men. Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top are the alleged masterminds behind the terror group Jemaah Islamiah and police say their fingerprints are all over this latest attack. Linda Lopresti reports.

Lopresti: Every time there's a major bombing in Southeast Asia, investigators whisper the names of two Malaysian men -- Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohammed Top. They are believed to be the masterminds behind some of Indonesia's worst attacks -- including Bali in 2002 and last year's Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta. And now again, they are the top suspects in the weekend's deadly Bali blasts. Both men are believed to be key figures in the militant Islamic group Jemahh Islamiah. This is Abdullah Razak Baginda -- one of Malaysia's top security analysts.

Baginda: I would describe them as highly motivated individuals who have a high sense of duty, a skewed sense of duty, but essentially they're very intelligent, they're very cunning and obviously they're very, very dedicated to the cause.

Lopresti: Dr Azahari is known as the Demolition man -- that's because he's considered the top explosives expert for JI. The be-spectacled doctor is a British-trained geophysics professor, who went to seconday school in the South Australian capital Adelaide, he was also a lecturer at Malaysia's University of Technology when in 2001- he dropped out of sight.

Baginda: I would divide his life into several phases, the first being when he was an ordinary person, an academic who went to do higher degrees in the UK, and then I think at some point, probably in the late 90s he must have been drawn into an influence by I would imagine some scholars, that would be enough to convince him that he should dedicate the rest of his life to a cause.

Lopresti: Noordin Top is known as the bag man, the money man and JI's alleged top recruiter.

Security experts believe that Azahari and Noordin fled to Indonesia after the September 11 attacks, to avoid Malaysia's crackdown on Islamic militants. Sidney Jones, the pre-eminent expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia, says it's likely the two men bonded way before 9-11.

Jones: These are people who both came into the radical movement fairly late in life, Noordin became a part of Hambali's circle in Johore Malaysia directly after he graduated from university, and eventually took over as head of the religious school that became JI's headquarters in Malaysia, he took over from Muklas, one of the Bali bombers. It's probably at the school, at Lukmanul Hakiem pesantren where they bonded into a team.

Lopresti: In the past few years, Indonesian police have arrested scores of JI's most militant members and Sidney Jones says the arrests have severely weakened the group. But she says it's believed a breakaway faction remains committed to terrorist acts against the West.

Jones: We think that the two of them now are part of either a hardline faction of JI or something that's merging into another group entirely. We don't know how many people are involved in this militant wing, we don't know who is necessarily the leader, although they're grouped around these two. But there may be other people involved as well.

Lopresti: Azahari Husin and Noordin Top are currently being hunted across South East Asia by American trained anti-terrorist squads. Yet they continue to evade capture. Malaysian security analayst Abdullah Razak Baginda says while the two men have become the masters of escape, there is no doubt they are being protected by sympathisers.

Baginda: You wouldn't be able to escape the full brunt of the law on many boundaries if you don't have the support, and I would imagine even the support of some members of authority, so people who are sympathetic to their cause will do whatever it takes in order to protect them.

Jones: I think they're going to get caught and I think again the possibility that if indeed they were involved in this last bombing in Bali and if the bombers themselves are quickly identified and I think that's going to happen, it may mean that finally these two are going to be tracked down and caught and prosecuted. That's what we all devoutly hope, but I think it's actually a real possibility.

Bali bombings will help slow growth: Minister

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2005

Jakarta -- The economy -- already facing inflationary pressures from soaring oil prices -- may be further hurt by the latest bombings in Bali, according to a minister, who predicts they could cut 0.3 percent off national growth.

State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati was quoted by AFP as saying on Sunday the bombings would hurt national growth, after the government more than doubled fuel prices over the weekend.

"I think the fourth quarter will be double-hit, because, first, we are increasing quite significantly the fuel price, which may increase inflation and to some extent reduce the potential growth we are expecting," she said at the sidelines of the World Islamic Economic Forum in Kuala Lumpur.

"With this Bali bomb, it will be reduced even more. If we are lucky, we can still maintain 5.7 or 5.9 (percent) by the end of 2005." The government is forecasting a 6 percent GDP growth for the year, but Sri Mulyani had already predicted a slowdown to 5.8 percent amid rising oil prices and interest rates.

In an effort to keep inflation in check and break the rupiah's recent slide as surging oil prices eroded fiscal sustainability, the central bank has raised its key interest rates to 10 percent, pushing up commercial loan rates which in turn could hurt businesses.

Bali, with its white-sand beaches and rich cultural heritage, is Indonesia's main tourist spot, and Saturday's bombings may put the island's tourism sector back into a slump it once suffered after similar bombings occurred in 2002.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data shows tourism contributes to some 6 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) and employs up to 8 percent of the total workforce.

The government expects to reap in US$6 billion from 6 million foreign tourist arrivals this year, up from $4.8 billion it managed to generate from 4.5 million overseas visitors last year.

While Sri Mulyani said the year's last quarter would be a "very hard one", she expected quick action by the government to deal with the bombings' aftermath would mean "normal growth in 2006." She however said the bombings would likely undermine the government's efforts to attract investors, and set back the recovery of Bali's beleaguered tourist industry.

Standard Chartered economist Fauzi Ichsan said the tragedy would dent Indonesia's aim to sustain 15 percent investment growth this year. "Investors are sure to question again the government's capabilities to provide security and legal certainty," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Tourism, Fauzi added, would also take a severe hit from the bombings, although its relatively small GDP contribution would mean a relatively slight impact on national growth.

Fauzi said the London-based bank had been considering slightly revising upwards its 5.5 percent GDP growth prediction for Indonesia, but would likely hold off for now, following the bombings and the fuel price hike. Economist Kahlil Rowter of Mandiri Sekuritas, meanwhile, said the impact from the fuel price hike on the economy would still overshadow the bombs.

"Tourism's contribution to the economy is still small compared to (the influence of) consumption and investment. Even if the bombings affect investments, it would likely be to those in Bali, but not in other areas in the country," he said.

"The fuel price hike, meanwhile, has a larger potential to push up inflation, resulting in people cutting back their consumption." Bank Mandiri currently estimates Indonesia's GDP will grow by 5.3 and 5.5 percent this year, but is now likely to revise it down to 5 percent.

Islam's leaders condemns Bali blasts

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2005

Jakarta -- Stringent condemnations poured in on Sunday over the latest blasts that killed at least 26 people on the resort island of Bali, with Muslim leaders appealing to authorities to avoid hastily linking the attacks with Islam. Nahdlatul Ulama (NO) and Muhammadiyah, the nation's two biggest Muslim organization, said Saturday's powerful bombs were savage, uncivilized and inhuman.

"In fact, the explosions hurt people having no relation with the interests or targets of terrorists," NU leader Hasyim Muzadi said. The victims of the blasts were mostly Indonesians.

NU deputy leader Masdar Farid Mas'udi expressed the NU's deepest condolences to families and relatives of the victims and prayed that they exercised "restraint" in facing the tragedy.

"The attack was a vicious, inhuman and cowardly act," he said, urging law enforcers not to hesitate in punishing the bombers severely. "If the perpetrators are Muslims, their sentences must be multiplied because they have tarnished the sacredness of their religion and cornered its followers worldwide," Masdar said.

Muhammadiyah leader Din Syamsuddin said the blasts, which ripped apart three restaurants packed with Saturday night diners, had nothing to do with religion. "The attacks were carried out by irreverent and inhuman people. I believe it was an attempt to discredit the government and create instability," he said.

Din, who is also the Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) deputy chairman, called on the public to avoid being "provoked or trapped into confrontation".

Former Muhammadiyah leader Ahmad Syafii Maarif said that if the bombers were Muslims, they should stop claiming to be Muslims because they had damaged the image of the religion. "That was not an act of religious people because any religion prohibits such a savage act," he said.

Syafii expressed regret that the alleged masterminds of previous terrorist attacks in the country and key leaders of Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), fugitive Malaysians Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, had not been caught. "If the ones responsible for these attacks are Dr Azahari and Noordin, why do they remain at large?" he asked.

Antiterror authorities said on Sunday that the fresh attacks on Bali were carried out by suicide bombers, citing similarities with the previous bombings on the paradise island three years ago.

However, Hasyim Muzadi said the latest attacks apparently differed from the 2002 explosions, in which 202 people were killed.

"The blasts were not as spectacular as the previous ones, the targets of which were clear. But now, the national and international context seems to be different. In my opinion, the latest incident appears more political," Hasyim said but would not elaborate.

He urged police to investigate the bombings thoroughly and objectively, and to refrain from reaching a hasty conclusion that the same bombers from Jamaah Islamiyah were the culprits.

A similar condemnation was voiced by People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid, who branded the bombers as "atheists" who wanted to divide followers of different faiths in Indonesia.

"We reject the accusation that Muslims are the bombers. That's not true. Islam does not allow violence that claims many lives," he was quoted by Antara as saying at a gathering of Muslims in Jakarta.

House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono visited the bomb sites in Bali on Sunday, deploring the attack and mourning the deaths of the victims. He promised to summon the relevant security forces soon to brief lawmakers on the progress of the investigation into the latest blasts.

Bali bombs cure amnesia

Asia Times - October 3, 2005

Gary LaMoshi, Denpasar -- In anticipation of my annual October 12 Bali bombing anniversary column, I talked to Gede Wijaya, head of the Bali Government Tourism Office a couple of weeks ago. July international arrivals to the island had set an all-time high and the August figures pushed the total for the year above a million, on pace for a new record. "We don't think about that bomb anymore," Wijaya said. "All of us have forgotten it."

The proverb says those who forget history are destined to repeat it.

When I heard the initial report on Saturday night, a phone call from a neighbor, I thought it had to be a mistake, an exaggeration. Everyone assumed that the 2002 tragedy in which 202 people died in terrorist bombings had immunized Bali from future attacks, and signs of collective amnesia abounded.

But there was no mistake. The death toll from Saturday's night's three bombings in two popular tourist resorts was set on Sunday at 32, with more than 100 injured. More fatalities are expected.

At least half of the island's 4 million rely on tourism for their living. Recovery from single-digit occupancy and double-digit unemployment noticeably kicked in at the Christmas-New Year holiday 2003, 14 months after the explosions at a pair of Kuta nightspots. By the start of this year's European holiday high season, Bali's previous prosperity tinged with arrogance had reemerged.

A government minister from a neighboring country visiting the island for a regional conference got the "my way or the highway" treatment from a five-star hotel general manager, who assured the minister's aide that plenty of other people were ready to book the US$500 a night suite without looking for special favors.

Buy signs flow

International developers such as Novotel, Swiss-BelHotel and Royal joined the parade of Indonesians and expatriates building villas. One real estate shark had an e-mail out to his prospect list within 18 hours of the blasts, reminding them of the stock market adage that the time to buy is "when there's blood in the streets".

Reminiscent of the woman in Woody Allen's Manhattan who whines, "I finally had an orgasm and my doctor said it was the wrong kind," some in Bali tourism complained about having the wrong guests amid soaring arrivals and hotel occupancy rates. Tourists from Asia and Australia, who dominated post-bomb arrivals, don't spend as much or stay as long as those from Europe and America who have been slower to return to Bali. Given initial expectations that it would take a decade or more for tourists to return, these gripes go beyond seeing the glass half empty rather than half full. They're more like a thirsty man in the desert getting a water hose and complaining that it's not spouting Evian.

For all that changed in Bali since the 2002 bombing and the dark days that followed, not enough has changed in Indonesia to ensure Saturday's bombs will be the last ones.

New Order, old tricks

The New Order loyalists who gave rise to the wave of religious violence that began in 1999 during Abdurrahman Wahid's presidency still lurk in and around the corridors of power. The brazen murder of human rights activist Munir during a flight to Amsterdam a year ago billboarded their lingering clout. But the almost comic insistence of prosecutors to ignore evidence and testimony of a conspiracy involving intelligence agency officials indicates that these darksiders have little to fear from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's regime.

Like the first Bali bombings, the October 1 blasts illustrate how hard it is to put passions back in the bottle once they're unleashed. At the moment, there's a lot of passion in the air. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins this week, along with the Balinese celebrations of Galungan and Kuningan. In recent months, hardline Muslims have denounced tolerance and pluralism, threatening Christian congregations and even attacking Islamic sects they don't condone, daring authorities to stop them.

Despite claims that the overwhelming majority of Indonesian Muslims are tolerant moderates, the government keeps kowtowing to extremists and showing a cowardly lack of interest in enforcing the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

(Memo to Western governments: the Marriott Jakarta, Australian Embassy and now the Bali II bombings have all taken place with your public enemy number one, radical preacher Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, in jail.)

Fueling passions

It's not just religious passions bubbling at the moment. Indonesia's government raised prices for fuel on October 1. Since 1998, fuel price hikes have triggered massive demonstrations (see Mega price hikes fuel Indonesia's discontent, January 15, 2003), and some media last week all but scolded the public's measured response this time.

Although the government announced that the hikes -- to lessen the budget burden of subsidies as oil prices rise -- were coming two weeks ago, it wasn't until minutes before midnight on September 30 that it revealed the new prices. Premium gasoline rose 87.5% to about US$0.45 a liter, or about $1.70 a gallon. Kerosene, the main cooking fuel for the urban poor, rose 185.7%.

The message here is one that's come through loud and clear and repeatedly in the seven-plus years since the fall of Suharto: politicians don't care about the people, especially the poor and the powerless. Public service in nominally democratic Indonesia doesn't carry an obligation to help society but an invitation to help yourself. As long as people continue to see evidence of that so graphically, through rampant, blatant corruption as well as arrogant public policy, they'll brush aside concepts of fair play and defy the law when it suits their ends, based on the example set by the powerful.

These Bali bombs weren't as big or as devastating as the 2002 blasts. You can see that as progress, or you can see it as evidence that it doesn't take a massive operation or complex logistics to plan and execute an attack that can have a devastating impact on people and business.

Until Indonesia changes, it's likely that it will remain a target for terrorists, something the Balinese and their fellow citizens should never forget.

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

NGOs question of BIN and police in wake of bombing

Kompas Cyber Media - October 3, 2005

Heru Margianto -- A number of non-government organisations (NGO) have questioned the performance of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the Indonesian police following the bombing in Bali and are calling for a policy audit of the two institutions.

This call was conveyed in a joint statement by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Indonesian Center for Democracy and Human Rights (Demos), the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), the Kalyana Mitra crisis centre, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI). The statement was read jointly by Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid, Rachland Nashidik from Imparsial and HRWG coordinator Rafendi Djamin in Jakarta on Monday October 3.

Hamid said that the Bali Bomb II incident is ironic because the Indonesian government is already part of the global war against terrorism. The government has also obtained assistance from a number of countries in order to strengthen its security institutions, in particular the national police and intelligence. Hamid added that following the first bombing in Bali in 2002, the government had also enacted laws to provide extra authority to prevent terrorist attacks.

He said that the Bali Bomb II is even more tragic and ironic because the president himself had previously warned of the possibility of a terrorist acts occurring in September and October. A similar warning was also issued by the US and Australian embassies through a travel warning, including a warning against traveling to Bali.

"We doubt whether this warning was given much attention by the national police and intelligence [agencies]. The failure of the intelligence agencies and the national police is a reflection on the low level of attention and their capacity for early detection and the prevention of terrorist acts", said Hamid.

Nashidik added what is needed at the moment is an audit of the effectiveness of policies to handle terrorism including the performance of the institutions which have been especially formed within the national police and BIN to handle terrorism.

The NGOs are also calling for audit of the distribution of explosives in Indonesia, including those produced by the state- owned arms manufacturer PT Pindad. The reason being that the powerful explosions that have occurred in Indonesia have been confirmed to have used the explosive TNI.

"We raised this issue after the bombings on Christmas Eve 2000, but so far the government's response has been unclear, an audit of explosives is important to ensure that there is no leakage in the process of importation, manufacture, use and distribution of explosives in Indonesia", he said.

Separately, LBH Jakarta has questioned BIN's performance and called on the government to carryout an internal reform of the agency.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Bali bombings may recur

Inter Press Service - October 3, 2005

Fabio Scarpello, Bali -- With experts fairly certain that Saturday's bombings were a repeat of the October 2002 attacks on this tourist resort by the Jemaah Islamiyah, the big question is when will the group, said to have links with the international al-Qaeda network, strike next.

"There are really no doubts that the Jemaah Islamiyah (or Islamic Community) is behind the attacks," Ken Conboy, security expert and author, told IPS, adding that the trouble with Bali was that it was impossible to protect against such attacks.

Three bombs exploded in two popular tourist resorts in Bali on Saturday evening, just days before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Hindu Galungan festival. The death toll was set on Sunday at 32, with over 100 injured but doctors said more fatalities are expected.

The first two bombs detonated at about 7.40 pm local time and ripped apart the Nyoman Cafe and the Menega, along Jimbaran, a popular beach resort some 18 km south of Kuta, Bali's main holiday destination.

The third bomb exploded 20 minutes later in the Raja steakhouse, a busy, middle budget restaurant situated in Kuta Square, the explosion devastating the entire the ground floor and much of the first floor. Glass and pieces of tables were still strewn about the street on Sunday and the absence of any crater outside suggested that the bomb was planted inside.

Police said nine more bombs were found and defused in other parts of the resort.

One Australian is confirmed among the 32 dead. Forty nine Indonesians, 17 Australians, six Koreans, three Japanese and two Americans are counted among the injured treated at Denpasar's Sanglah Hospital, where doctors are struggling to identify the bodies.

Kuta was painted red with blood when 202 people, who were partying at the Sari Club died, as two bombs exploded on Oct. 12, 2002.

Officials said at a press conference on Sunday that there was little doubt that suicide bombers were behind the blasts and screened video footage, obtained from a family, that showed someone with a large backpack entering a caf in Kuta before the explosion.

The Jemaah Islamiyah, which wants to create a pan-Islamic state in Southeast Asia and is deemed responsible for a series of deadly attacks that have rocked Indonesia, almost every year since 2000, is widely believed responsible.

Jakarta has received the brunt of the attacks. The Marriott Hotel, on Aug. 5, 2003, and the Australian Embassy, on Sep. 9, 2004, were both targeted by car bombs. The blasts killed 12 and 11 people respectively and maimed many more.

Conboy, who is soon to release a book on South-east Asia's terrorism, said that Saturday's "modus operandi" was similar to the bombings carried out against 11 churches across the country on Dec. 25, 2000.

"It looks like they have gone for small, easy targets to get maximum casualties, rather than a big, symbolic one as they have done in the past two years," he said.

However, as the Balinese pick up the pieces and clean the shredded glass off the floor, the attention moves to how to prevent such attacks from happening again.

"To prevent these sort of attacks is almost impossible. You can do a screening at the entrance of places like the Hard Rock Caf, but you cannot do much in small establishments like the ones that have just been targeted. In this case you either shut them down or you have to live with the risk," Conboy said Small restaurants are at the core of Bali's tourism industry, which is the backbone of the island's economy. Tourism had just begun to pick up after a drastic drop following the 2002 bombing.

In the wake of the latest attacks, Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has predicted a sharp drop in number of tourists arriving over the next few months, but hoped that the island will bounce back once more.

Jimmy, who sells temporary tattoos at Kuta beach, demands the government do more against the terror threat.

"They keep attacking -- why is the government not doing anything?" he asked angrily. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked people to be vigilant and vowed to find the culprits. "We will hunt them down and bring them to justice," he said, soon after the news of the bombing reached the capital.

Only a month ago, Yudhoyono had warned of possible attacks, showing the near helplessness of the government in preventing what they knew was coming. "I received information at the time that terrorists were planning an action in Jakarta and that explosives were ready," he said Saturday, referring to his earlier warnings based on information gleaned by international and Indonesian intelligence agencies.

So far, though, Indonesia's fight against terrorism has had mixed results.

Indonesia is considered both a target and a breeding ground for terrorists. Jemaah Islamiyah, which means "Islamic community" in Arabic, is not deemed an illegal group in the archipelago where 85 percent of the 220 million people are Muslim. The organisation is believed to have a fair-sized following in the Islamic schools in Java.

The government has been active in pursuing terrorists and can pride itself in having caught, charged, brought to trial and condemned or even awarded the death sentence to some of the last bombings' suspected operatives. Yet, Jakarta has been unable to nail the big fish.

Abu Bakar Bashir, considered the spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah, is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence for having instigated the Bali bombings. His short sentence is considered a failure of the Indonesian prosecutors who could not bring sufficient evidence to court on two occasions.

Still at large are Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top, two Malaysian extremists, believed to be the organisation's main bomb makers and the brains behind all the major latest blasts.

The Malaysians have been named prime suspects in Saturday's bombings by top intelligence official Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai. The two are also believed to have been behind the 2002 nightclub incident.

Conboy emphasised that the arrest of the two fugitives were imperative. "It has been a long time. The government must find and arrest these two people. There is really no alternative," he said.

Indonesia suspects al-Qaida behind Bali bomb attacks

Associated Press - October 2, 2005

Irwan Firdaus, Bali -- Indonesia said Sunday it suspected two al-Qaida fugitives of masterminding the suicide bombings of crowded restaurants in tourist resorts on the Indonesian island of Bali which killed at least 26 people and injured more than 100.

Maj. Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian anti-terror official, identified the two suspected masterminds as Malaysians alleged to be key members of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group. They are also accused of orchestrating the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, as well as two other attacks in the Indonesian capital in 2003 and 2004. The nightclub bombings, which also struck venues crowded with tourists on a Saturday night, killed 202 people, most of them foreigners.

In the latest attacks, three suicide bombers wearing explosive vests set off near-simultaneous explosions that devastated three restaurants crowded with diners on Saturday night.

"The modus operandi of Saturday's attacks is the same as the earlier ones," said Mbai, who identified the two suspected masterminds as Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top.

He said the two were not believed to be among the three suicide attackers. The assailants' remains were found at the bombing scenes but they have not yet been identified, he said.

"I have seen them. All that is left is their head and feet," he told The Associated Press. "By the evidence we can conclude the bombers were carrying the explosives around their waists." It was not immediately clear whether the three suicide bombers were included in the death toll which climbed to 26 on Sunday, according to Sanglah Hospital spokesman Putu Putra Wisada.

Long lines formed at checkout counters at Bali's international airport with a steady stream of taxis dropping off passengers.

"We were up all night trying to change our ticket," said Veli- Matti Enqvist, 51, who had been scheduled to leave Bali with his wife on Wednesday. The couple was walking on the beach when they heard the blasts. "We finally found something... we're going."

After the 2002 bombings, there was an immediate and massive evacuation of foreign visitors which devastated the island's tourist industry.

The latest bombings struck two seafood cafes in the Jimbaran beach resort and a three-story noodle and steakhouse in downtown Kuta. Kuta is the bustling tourist center of Bali where the two nightclubs were bombed three years ago.

The latest attacks came a month after Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned of possible terrorist attacks. On Saturday, he blamed terrorists and warned that more attacks were possible. "We will hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice," he said.

Western and Indonesian intelligence agencies have warned repeatedly that Jemaah Islamiyah was plotting more attacks in the world's most populous Muslim country. Last month, Yudhoyono said he was especially worried the extremist network was about to strike.

"I received information at the time that terrorists were planning an action in Jakarta and that explosives were ready," he said Saturday.

Dozens of people, most of them Indonesian, waited in tears outside the morgue in Sanglah Hospital, near the island's capital Denpasar, for news of friends and relatives missing since the attacks.

One Australian and a Japanese citizen were among those killed, along with 12 Indonesians. Hospital officials were trying to identify the other victims. Two Americans were among the 101 injured along with 49 Indonesians, 17 Australians, six Koreans, four Japanese, officials said.

The White House condemned the "attack aimed at innocent people taking their evening meal." "We also express our solidarity with the government of Indonesia and convey our readiness to assist in any way," spokeswoman Erin Healy said.

The bombers struck at about 8 p.m. as thousands of diners flocked to restaurants in tourist areas on the bustling, mostly Hindu island, which was just starting to recover from the 2002 blasts.

The head waiter at the Menega Cafe said the bomb went off at his beachside restaurant between the tables of two large dinner parties, who were sitting in the sand. Most of the 120 diners at the restaurant were Indonesian, he said.

"Everyone started screaming "Allah, Allah, help!" said Wayan Subagia, 23, who escaped with injuries to his leg. "One woman rushed to pick up her child but the little girl was already dead." Minutes later he heard another blast at the Nyoman seafood restaurant, about 50 yards away.

At almost the same time about 18 miles away in Kuta, a bomb exploded at the three-story Raja restaurant in a bustling outdoor shopping center. The area includes a KFC fast-food restaurant, clothing stores and a tourist information center. Smoke poured from the badly damaged building.

The bomb apparently went off on the restaurant's second floor, and an Associated Press reporter saw at least three bodies and five wounded people there.

Before the 2002 bombings, Bali enjoyed a reputation for peace and tranquility, an exception in a country wracked for years by ethnic and separatist violence. Courts on Bali have convicted dozens of militants for the blasts, and three suspects were sentenced to death.

Since the 2002 attacks, Jemaah Islamiyah has been tied to at least two other bombings in Indonesia, both in Jakarta. Those blasts, one outside the Australian Embassy in 2004 and the other at the J.W. Marriott hotel in 2003, killed at least 23.

The group's alleged spiritual leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, who has been jailed for conspiracy in the 2002 attacks, through a spokesman denied any personal connection to the weekend explosions. There was no statement from the group, which wants to establish an Islamic state across Southeast Asia.

Bashir is known for strong anti-Western and anti-Semitic views but has always maintained his innocence. Fauzan Al Anshari, his spokesman, said the cleric had no involvement in Saturday's explosions. "No Muslim would carry out those bombings," he said.

Bombs rock Bali ahead of anniversary

Agence France Presse - October 2, 2005

Bombs exploded in three packed tourist restaurants on the Indonesian island of Bali killing at least 32 people and injuring over 100, just days before the third anniversary of the nightclub attacks there.

Police said two explosions ripped through beach-side seafood restaurants 100 metres (yards) apart in the fishing village of Jimbaran during the evening meal. Minutes later witnesses said at least one blast tore through the Raja restaurant 30 kilometres (18 miles) away in the shopping district of Kuta, the scene of the 2002 bombings which left 202 people dead, mostly foreign tourists.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately condemned the latest outrage and vowed to hunt down the perpetrators. "These are clearly terrorist attacks because the targets were random and public places," he said.

The October 12, 2002 attacks were blamed on the Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah and both analysts and governments were quick to blame the pan-Asian Islamic extremist group for the latest bombings.

A French diplomat who visited two hospitals in Bali on Saturday said at least 32 people had been confirmed dead and 101 had been injured in the blasts, which came during the peak tourist season.

At the scene of the Kuta bomb, bodies lay covered by bloodied blankets as police moved among crowds of onlookers using flashlights to pick their way through the gutted interior of the bomb-damaged restaurant.

British tourist Daniel Martin told the BBC he was standing in a building next to the restaurant in Kuta when a "tremendous" explosion erupted. "It was just sheer chaos with no one really taking control," Martin said, adding that "there were no police or anyone else around for a good while.

It was everyone pitching in to help the wounded. "There were people lying in the street with serious wounds, blood pouring into the street... I was afraid to go into the actual restaurant for fear of what I might see in there."

An eyewitness who arrived at the scene in Jimbaran minutes after the explosion said he saw at least eight bodies, including four foreigners. "There are also lots of body parts," Bagas Saputra said.

Television images from Sanglah hospital in the Bali capital Denpasar showed several foreign tourists, wearing nothing but shorts, being treated for injuries.

Australia, which lost 88 citizens in the 2002 attacks, confirmed at least one national had been killed and three others injured.

"You can assume it's an attack by an organisation like Jemaah Islamiyah, just speaking from experience, but of course at this stage no one has claimed responsibility," said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.

Indonesian reports listed at least one Japanese national killed and five Koreans injured. A British foreign minister, Lord Treisman, told Britain's Sky News that US, Australian, Japanese and Korean tourists were among the injured.

Rohan Gunaratna, head of terrorism research at Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, told AFP the Indonesian government should now formally ban the JI as a criminal or terrorist group.

"The only group that has the intention and capability to mount a coordinated and simultaneous attack against a Western target in Indonesia is Jemaah Islamiyah," he said.

President Yudhoyono had called in late August for tighter security in the world's most populous Muslim nation during September and October, saying these appeared to be favoured months for terrorist acts.

He said the possibility of more attacks remained real since two of the key bombers accused of being behind the 2002 Bali attacks, Malaysians Azahari Husin and Noordin Mohammad Top, remained on the loose.

Both are believed to have played key roles in the Bali bombings, the August 2003 bomb blast at the Marriott hotel in Jakarta and the suicide van bomb blast in front of the Australian embassy in September 2004.

All the attacks are blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah which has been accused of having close links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and aims to set up an Islamic state across a vast swathe of Southeast Asia.

Three militants have been sentenced to death for their part in the Bali bombings and two others are serving life sentences for the attacks.

Timeline: Indonesian terror attacks

Associated Press - October 1, 2005

Chronology of major terrorist attacks in Indonesia dating back to 2000.

October 1 2005: Bombs explode at three crowded restaurants on the tourist island of Bali, killing at least 25 and wounding more than 100 others. Officials blame unnamed terrorists for the blasts.

September 9 2004: A suicide car bomb explodes outside the Australian Embassy in the capital, Jakarta, killing 11 and wounding 100 others. Six alleged members of the regional al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group have been convicted in the attack.

August 5 2003: A car bomb in front of the JW Marriott Hotel in central Jakarta, kills 12 people and wounds 150. Fifteen alleged Jemaah Islamiyah operatives convicted over the blast.

December 5 2002: Bomb explodes outside a McDonald's restaurant on Sulawesi Island, killing three people and injuring 11. Jemaah Islamiyah-linked militants blamed for the blast.

October 12 2002: Just before midnight, two near simultaneous bombs explode in a nightclub district on Bali, killing 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. Thirty-three alleged Jemaah Islamiyah operatives have been convicted so far. Three have been sentenced to death.

December 25 2000: Bombs explode at 11 churches across the country on Christmas Eve, killing 19 people and injuring around 100. The attacks have been blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah.

September 13 2000: A car bomb explodes inside the garage of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building, killing 10 people and injuring 16. Perpetrators of the attack unknown.

August 1 2000: Bomb kills two people and seriously injures the Philippine ambassador to Indonesia. Police said the attack was mounted to avenge an assault that ousted the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation from their camp on the Philippine southern island of Mindanao in 1999.

Government/civil service

SBY still popular despite a year of tough decisions

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2005

Hera Diani, Jakarta -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono remains a popular president, with 63 percent of Indonesians satisfied with his performance in running the country, a new survey shows.

Similarly, 58 percent of the people were satisfied with Vice President Jusuf Kalla's performance, the survey released on Thursday by the Indonesian Research Institute (LSI) says.

The survey was completed in late September, before people were affected by the fuel price hikes and before the latest Bali bombs last weekend.

There was, however, a marked decline in Susilo's approval rating in the latest survey -- from 80 percent for Susilo and 77 percent for Kalla in their post-election honeymoon period in the same survey last November.

Most people said they were still satisfied with the performance of the Susilo-Kalla administration in handling political and legal affairs, as well as security and social welfare issues.

Most of the 1,137 people from 33 provinces interviewed in the survey said the administration had done a good job in combating crime (76.8 percent), eradicating corruption (65.1 percent), settling problems with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) (75.9 percent), health programs (70 percent) and education (74.7) percent.

The majority of people, however, were not happy with the government's performance in the economy, with only 24 percent of population saying that the national economic situation was better today than it was last year.

Almost half of the population, or 47 percent, believed the economy had worsened in the past year. Negative sentiment was at the highest for the past two years. In October 2003, only 41 percent of those surveyed said they believed the economy had worsened.

Just over half of the population said the government had done a bad job in controlling rupiah's value, with 66.1 percent condemning the way it handled the fuel prices in reaction to the international fuel price hike.

The majority of the people also strongly criticized the government's efforts to guarantee fuel supplies and reduce unemployment and poverty rates.

With all the economic problems, only 42 percent of the respondents thought the economy would be better off in the year to come, with 24 percent saying the situation would not change and 15 percent thinking it would get worse.

Political analyst J.B. Kristiadi, from the Centre of Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that considering the mountain of challenges faced by the Susilo-Kalla administration from the beginning, the people should be more realistic in judging its performance.

"A lot of tragedies occurred, such as the tsunami disaster and the recent Bali bombings. On the other hand, there are problems inherited from the previous administrations, including an ineffective political system and challenges from legislators," he told a discussion on the survey on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Institute for the Development of the Economy and Finance director (INDEF) Iman Sugema said the nation's economic indicators had worsened during the past year, with declining growth rates of exports, imports and investment, while the numbers of poor and unemployed people had increased.

"The team of economic ministers have been really weak at handling the economic problems. We're now in the middle of a crisis," Iman said.

Elections still unfair: Observers

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2005

Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta -- Rather than "ladies and gentlemen", a provincial candidate for the House of Representatives once addressed an audience "Bapak dua dan ibu dua (father two and mother two)." The candidate, an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver who was reading a prepared speech, should have said "Bapak-bapak dan ibu-ibu" instead of saying "dua" for the figure "2" after each of the words "Bapak" and "ibu" -- under the old spelling system.

"The candidate was a very talented leader," says Novi Nasution, a legislator of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P), "unfortunately he had a limited education." This story came out in a discussion at book launch for Nomination and Selection Process of Indonesian Legislative Candidates edited by Syamsuddin Haris at the Hotel Ibis in West Jakarta on Friday. The book scrutinized local elections in 15 cities in six provinces East Java, Banten, West Sumatra, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and North Sumatra.

Novi urged political parties to set up a short education programs before the 2009 elections for candidates like the "ojek" driver, whom she described as "very brave".

Two other speakers, Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and Hadar N. Gumay of Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), agreed that a limited education should not be an obstacle to people becoming legislators.

With university graduates making up only 3 percent of a population of 230 million people, Indonesia ranks among the lowest-educated nations in Southeast Asia.

Currently candidates who wish to stand for legislative elections must have a minimum high school diploma qualification, leading to the disqualification of many candidates after it was found they had faked school or university-level diplomas.

Despite the ruling, however, low education levels are also blamed for the poor performance of members in the House.

The discussion concluded that other hindrances to democracy in the 2004 legislative elections included money politics, parochial voting, thuggery and an "invasion" of businesspeople entering politics to protect their vested interests.

The speakers also drew attention to what they said were "miss- matches" in the electoral system. They agreed that the concept of "open elections" where independents could stand, were more representative than the current system, which only allows candidates representing a set list of recognized parties to contest positions. "This is something that we need to work out for the 2009 election," Novi said.

Syamsuddin said among his book's significant findings were that the major party, Golkar, tended to prioritize "old faces" in candidate selections as opposed to other parties, which often looked for new blood. "Almost 90 percent of the legislator candidates were current members of political parties," he said.

Hadar said legislators' nominations and selection processes also left a lot of space for improvement. "In some cases, nominations were decided by only a few people," he said, "the whole process was still political party-heavy. Alas, we know a democracy deficit is still plaguing our political parties." The discussion was organized by LIPI, book publisher Gramedia and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy.

Councillors push for gender equality

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2005

Jakarta -- Women politicians in regional legislative councils across the country have urged the government and the House of Representatives to revise Law No. 12/2003 on elections which they say half-heartedly supports gender equality in politics.

In a statement which followed their national meeting recently, the women politicians said the law should stipulate that the 30 percent quota of seats in legislative councils is mandatory.

Article 65 of the law recommends that every political party have a representation of women of at least 30 percent in its selection of legislative candidates.

The women also demanded a separate law on regional elections, citing flaws in the administration of the direct elections for regents and governors recently.

The statement, signed by 35 women councillors, has been sent to House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono.

Focus on Jakarta

Jakarta thugs return with a vengeance on city streets

Jakarta Post - October 6, 2005

Jakarta -- After disappearing for a while, Jakarta thugs are back on the city's streets, extorting money from motorists right under the noses of city public order officials.

City police, in close cooperation with the city administration and military personnel, launched massive campaigns against thugs last July after people complained to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about their presence in the capital.

The operations, which saw dozens of thugs arrested, managed to remove them from the streets, but public transportation drivers said on Wednesday that the hoodlums had returned to public markets, streets, public transportation vehicles and terminals, demanding money from motorists and bus passengers.

"They have returned and are demanding money from us (public transportation drivers). They were only hiding for the past month," said the driver of a public minivan plying the route between Tanah Abang and Kebayoran Lama on Wednesday.

"From the beginning, I have been unconvinced that police were really serious in cracking down on thugs," said the 45-year-old driver, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Thugs in Tanah Abang and surrounding areas have long been notorious. Motorists are often forced to pay money when passing through Jl. Kebon Jati, Jl. Farchruddin and other streets near the Tanah Abang Market.

On Wednesday, a thug was seen demanding money from a goods delivery driver who had already given him Rp 1,000 (10 cents US) for passing through Jl. Kebon Jati in Central Jakarta. Immediately after paying this, another thug showed up and demanded his share, for which the driver paid another Rp 1,000.

Meanwhile, a thug roughly returned Rp 200 to a passenger of public bus that passed by Jl. Kebon Jati. He demanded that the passenger give him Rp 500 instead. Fearing that the thugs might scratch their cars, most motorists passing by these roads chose to give money to the hoodlums.

Similar scenes were taking place in Jl. K.S. Tubun, the Senen bus terminal and public market, Jl. Salemba near the University of Indonesia campus, and the Kampung Melayu bus terminal in East Jakarta.

Thugs are also operating in public buses, asking for money from passengers. Although they were ostensibly not forcing passengers, most commuters felt compelled to give them money as some of the thugs were introducing themselves as former convicted criminals.

"We prefer to ask for money in this way rather than committing crimes. Giving us Rp 500 or Rp 1,000 will not make you poor," said a thug when asking for money from passengers riding a bus plying the Tanah Abang-Kampung Melayu route.

Most thugs disappeared in the days after police launched intensive raids against them in July. Many were arrested, but many others remained at large.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said earlier that all regional police chiefs were involved in the operation aimed at ensuring public security. The crackdown, he said, was taking place on the streets, on public transportation vehicles and in other public places.

Thuggery has been common in major cities like Jakarta. The thugs, who are usually grouped based on ethnicity, have even divided the capital into areas of operation.

Car free campaign gets cold reception

Jakarta Post - October 3, 2005

Jakarta -- Held the day after the government raised fuel prices by an average of 126 percent, the antipollution Car Free Day campaign failed to attract much attention on Sunday.

Although city transportation officials closed down the fast lane along Jl. Thamrin from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., very few people took advantage of this rare opportunity to stroll or cycle along the street.

The annual campaign organized by the city administration and several environmental organizations is aimed at reducing air pollution by encouraging the public to minimize the use of private vehicles.

However, there were more cars passing along the lanes that remained open on Jl. Thamrin than there were people participating in the campaign.

"We had fewer participants than last year. But this was only meant to introduce similar programs that we plan for the future," said Jakarta's environmental management board representative, Dermawan Sembiring.

He said that by February 2006, the administration hoped to introduce a similar monthly program involving more of Jakarta's main streets.

Despite the lack of excitement generated by the campaign, several people from the Batavia Cyclist Community participated in the event, pedaling their antique bicycles along Jl. Thamrin. There was also a soccer competition held in front of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, as well as a coloring contest and live performances by a number of bands.

"They should offer more exciting events next time to get more people to the venue," said one visitor, Nuning. "A campaign like this needs more appealing packaging."

Armed forces/defense

Politicians slam plan for TNI

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2005

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military's (TNI) plan to reactivate its territorial command drew strong criticism from the country's top politicians on Thursday as they claimed the move would pave the way for the military's involvement in politics.

"Reviving the territorial command is the wrong medicine for the disease we are dealing with. The move is only a tool to revive militarism. We should oppose that kind of intention as early as possible," said former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid on Thursday in a press conference held at headquarters of the country's largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in Jakarta.

TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Wednesday that he would take the necessary measures to crack down on terrorist attacks in the country by reactivating the military's territorial command. He announced the plan after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking at the 60th anniversary of the TNI, urged the military to take an active role in the fight against terrorism following the recent bomb blasts in Bali, which killed 22 people.

The territorial function covers the regional level, handled by the Regional Military Command (Kodam) to the village level, handled by non-commissioned officers assigned to villages and subdistricts.

Gus Dur said he doubted that the move would be an effective means to stop terrorists from taking action in the country.

"Who can guarantee that reviving it will make the country any safer? I don't think so. What is certain is that it will bring the country back to an authoritarian state," he said, adding that the military should only focus on defense issues and let internal security issues be handled by the police.

Speaking along the same lines, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Hidayat Nur Wahid said the move was inappropriate because the military should only support the National Police and National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in fighting terrorism, not take over the job.

"The function of the police and BIN should first be maximized. Therefore, I question the purpose of reviving the territorial command. If the military wants to support the National Police, then support its intelligence system," he said.

He feared that the plan would create conflict between the military and police officers as well as BIN's intelligence officers in the field.

"I'm afraid there could be a conflict over who has the authority to take important decisions. As we have seen, conflicts often happen between police and military officers because of the blurred division of authority," he said.

A political observer from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, J. Kristiadi, said that the move was a violation of Law No. 34/2004 on the military, which stipulates that the TNI territorial function shall be eliminated within five years after the law is issued.

"Reviving the territorial command is against the law," he said, adding that the military should only be involved in security matters if the police ask for their help.

Meanwhile, former deputy chief of staff of the Army Lt. Gen. Kiki Syahnakrie said that the only short term solution to fighting terrorism was by reviving the territorial command of the TNI. He cited that one of the successes of the territorial command's function was the immediate solving of the Borobudur temple bombing case in 1985.

"Why was it safer during the New Order government? Because at that time, the territorial function was stronger and was supported by the anti-subversion law, which was revoked at the beginning of the reform era," he told Antara.

Time to take over all military businesses

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2005

Lisa Misol, New York -- Now that the Indonesian military might be independently selling off its shares in private companies, the government has no time to waste in setting ground rules to eliminate military businesses. A year after a landmark law mandated that the TNI end its involvement in business, regulations have not yet been issued. The policy vacuum creates the opportunity for mischief.

The government must not squander this opportunity. Grappling with military financing is essential to bolster democratic governance, improve accountability, help professionalize the military and prevent abuses of power that threaten human rights. Civil society can and should help shape the agenda and monitor progress. But government authorities need to jumpstart reform.

The Ministry of Defense chairs an inter-ministerial group charged with planning how the government will withdraw the military from business within five years, as required under a provision of the Law No. 34/2004, known as the TNI law. The group's recommendations are expected to result in implementing regulations, in the form of a presidential decree, by November.

The authorities deferred action until the TNI completed an inventory of military-owned businesses, handed in on Oct. 3. They should not wait any longer. Already the army reportedly sold shares in one company, held via a foundation, and allocated the 121 billion rupiah proceeds without notifying the authorities responsible for overseeing the transfer of military businesses.

A Sept. 29 report in The Jakarta Post suggested that other deals have been concluded or are in the works. "Changes of ownership are not a problem," defense minister Juwono Sudarsono told a House of Representatives commission, "as long as the procedures are in line with the law." But procedures have not yet been spelled out. Without clear rules governing the process and independent oversight, the result could be a fire sale of what should be considered state assets.

The government must move quickly to assert control. It should immediately place all known military businesses under scrutiny, initiate an independent auditing process, require advance approval for sales, reviews bids carefully, and demand that all proceeds be fully accounted for in the state treasury. An independent body should oversee this process.

As a further deterrent, authorities should make clear that unscrupulous behavior, such as diverting profits from sales, will not be tolerated and will be subject to serious penalty. The rules should apply equally to everyone involved in the business restructuring -- whether they are military or civilian, officials or private citizens.

Government plans to eliminate military businesses should be guided by four essential principles.

First, the government must acknowledge the full scope of the problem. Estimates vary, but it appears that the Indonesian military's official budget covers only about half of its actual spending. The rest comes from off-budget funds derived from military-owned enterprises, informal alliances with private entrepreneurs, involvement in the criminal economy, and corrupt fund-raising practices.

The TNI law passed a year ago requires the military to cease all business involvementnot simply give up its formally established businesses. The full reach mandated under the law is critical because the issue is not money alone. Military self-financing has far-reaching corrosive effects. Inherent conflicts of interest pit TNI profit-seeking against its security function. This distorts the role of the military, leads to corruption and abuses of power, and fundamentally undermines the rule of law. In short, guns and money make an unholy alliance.

So far the inter-ministerial working group has focused exclusively on businesses in which the military has a documented ownership share, ignoring the informal and illegal arrangements that also need to be eliminated. Moreover, the lead ministry -- though headed by Sudarsono, a longtime critic of military business -- recently declared that the government was only interested in the most lucrative military holdings: The 10 or so companies worth 15-20 billion rupiah each. This falls far short of what the law demands.

To begin to address the full scope of the problem, the government should ensure that regulations to implement the TNI law specify that "military businesses" include the full range of the military's economic activity and clearly declare these to be illegal. And it should widen the focus of its planning accordingly.

Second, it must stand firm in the face of likely resistance. Past efforts to halt the military's business activity failed in part because the military establishment resisted reform and was able to gain the upper hand. This time, the TNI leadership has pledged to cooperate. Earlier this year the chief of the TNI, Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, even volunteered to speed up the handover process, from five years to two.

Yet subsequent pronouncements have undercut promises of cooperation. The TNI leadership has said it will gladly give up those businesses that are money-losers or whose revenues accrue only to private partners. But it argues that it needs to keep other businesses for the welfare of the troops. That rationale has been discredited by mounting evidence that these money-making ventures benefit senior military officials much more than enlisted personnel.

Third, the government should commit to full transparency. Top officials acknowledge that they do not have a grasp of the extent, nature or value of all the military's economic interests. The government should make public the inventory of military businesses and associated financial data along with the results of prior reviews. Moreover, the authorities should publicly investigate and catalog all businesses in which the military has an economic stake, irrespective of their legal status and ownership structure. These measures would be a good start toward greater openness.

Finally, the government needs to focus on accountability from the outset. To rein in military commercialism, it must take firm measures against those who commit economic crimes and associated human rights abuses. It can begin by establishing and enforcing strict penalties against those who flout the ban on military economic activity. It also should ensure financial accountability.

Many military businesses that were formerly cash cows no longer show profits. Forensic audits are needed to expose the reasons, which include corruption, mismanagement, and misuse of state assets. More broadly, ending off-budget practices will require measures to assess actual needs and improve budget oversight and accountability.

Effective reform of military financing will necessarily be a complex process that will unfold over years. Like all difficult endeavors, the long path ahead begins with a few first steps. Standing still is not an acceptable option.

[The writer, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in New York, is completing a study on the human rights impact of military economic activity in Indonesia.]

Official military residences turned into factory outlets?

Detik.com - October 5, 2005

Ahmad Yunus, Bandung -- It is indeed appropriate for Bandung to be called a sea of factory outlets. But, did you know that some of the buildings that have magically become factory outlets are actually official military residences? That is what has happened in the city of blossoms.

In addition to this, many official residences have become places for other business such as shops, showrooms and boarding residences. As many as 82 official military residences have been transformed into places of business by officers and civilians from the Siliwangi Regional Military Command III (Kodam).

"We have appealed [to them] again so that they aren't turned into places of business. The regulations already exist. They are pretending they don't know. I am very sad", said Kodam commander Major General Sriyanto during a break in the commemoration of the TNI's (Indonesian military) 60th anniversary at Gasibu Square on Jalan Diponegoro in Bandung on Wednesday October 5.

Sriyanto said that at the moment sanctions have been prepared to be used against officers and civilians who are proven to have violated the regulations on official residences including the possibility of withdrawing or failing extending permission to live in the official residence.

"At present the funds to fix this don't exist. Yeah, [so] now we are going to reexamine the permits which we issue each year", he said while smiling.

Official military residences that have become places of business have spread from Bandung as far as the West Java city of Cimahi. (asy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Kontras condemns plan to reactivate territorial commands

Detik.com - October 5, 2005

Anton Aliabbas, Jakarta -- The plan to reactivate the TNI's (Indonesian military) territorial commands has been greeted by condemnation. The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, believes it is irrelevant to reactivate the territorial commands to prevent terrorism because the TNI already has enough regional intelligence networks.

"In terms of the legislation of course it allows the TNI to assist in preventing and averting terrorists. But if the mistake is with the problem of coordination, it means it's BIN's [National Intelligence Agency] mistake, not the TNI", said Hamid at a press conference at the Kontras' offices on Jalan Borobudur in Meteng, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday October 5.

Hamid explained that the TNI's intelligence network could already be found at every Regional Military Command (Kodam) in Indonesia and they have already been integrated into the community. In addition to this, the Anti-Terrorism Law already provides extra powers and capabilities to the TNI to prevent criminal acts of terrorism.

It is because of this that Hamid believes that steps to reactivate the territorial commands are only to improve the TNI's public image. "They want to create an image that the TNI is still needed by society", said Hamid.

The TNI's plan to reactivate the territorial commands is in response to a request by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that the TNI be involved in the war against terrorism and the planned reactivation of the commands down to the lowest level is only in the context of dealing with terrorism. (gtp)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Minority believe military should keep powers

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2005

Hera Diani, Jakarta -- Challenges still loom for a democratic state in Indonesia where civilians reign supreme, with a significant minority of people still believing military posts are vital for public order and security.

The survey, released on Tuesday by the Indonesian Research Institute (LSI), shows that a clear majority of Indonesians believe territorial military commands should be abolished.

Out of 1,137 people from 33 provinces interviewed in the survey on civilian supremacy and national defense, 55 percent to 58 percent of them disapproved of the territorial military commands at district, regional and provincial levels.

However, a significant minority of 24 percent to 28 percent of those surveyed still thought the military commands should be kept in the regions.

The survey, which was conducted in September, also revealed that just over half of the interviewers agreed that the decision to proclaim a state of emergency or declare war should be made by the government and legislators. Fewer, only 30 percent of the respondents, wanted to give the military that authority.

The survey revealed, unsurprisingly, that 82.2 percent of those interviewed agreed that the military's main role was to defend the state from external threats.

However, support for the military in politics seems to be dropping, with only 24 percent of people surveyed of the view that the country should be led by former military officer, a drop from 34 percent last year.

The majority approved of the TNI's decision to quit politics, although some 26 percent of them could accept the military's continued involvement in politics.

A large majority, around 68 percent of people, agreed that active military members should not occupy legislative posts, nor become the president, while between 51 percent and 60 percent suggested that only the government and the House of Representatives should decide the defense budget.

Fears that the military would ignore the role of civilian leaders were also high, with less than 50 percent of people believing that a civilian defense minister would have the authority to control and command military generals.

Most people, however, support reducing the military's powers and agree that the state should be solely responsible for financing the military and should increase the salaries of its members. They thought the military should be banned from engagement in businesses.

LSI executive director Saiful Mujani said the findings showed that while democratic impulses were the majority, a significant minority still believed in the importance of the military in politics and business.

Military observer Salim Said said the continued support for the military could have something to do with the unpopularity of the police and House members.

"The people lack trust in the police. They also do not appreciate the performance of House members. The civilian political system's failure also encourages the military's involvement in politics," he told a discussion about the survey.

Meanwhile, legislator Effendy Choiry from Commission I on security, defense and foreign affairs said he believed many in the military had no intention of letting civilians take away their special political and economic powers.

"Don't heap the blame on legislators or the failure of civilians. We all are still learning, so give us a chance. The military has reigned supreme for years," he said.

Business & investment

Foreign direct investment on upward trend: BKPM

Jakarta Post - October 7, 2005

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) is maintaining its upward trend, data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) shows, ahead of a possible slowdown due to rising fuel prices and interest rates, and jitters resulting from the Bali bombings.

BKPM announced on Thursday that actual investment realization -- from both domestic and overseas sources -- in the first nine months of the year had increased two-fold from the same period last year, reaching a total of Rp 84.5 trillion (some US$8.45 billion).

FDI realization for the January to September period alone, BKPM chairman Muhammad Lutfi said, had more than doubled to $7.64 billion, from $2.94 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.

New FDI being realized in the transportation, warehousing and communications sectors led the advance with 44 projects valued at $2.19 billion, ahead of 32 projects worth $1.09 billion in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, and 26 projects worth $891 million in the construction sector.

The bulk of FDI realization came from Singapore (84 projects worth $2.09 billion), the U.K. (58 worth $1.22 billion), and Japan (111 worth $983 million).

Domestic investment, meanwhile, which grew by nearly 21 percent to Rp 11.97 trillion until the year's third quarter, were mostly in the food processing industry (with 28 projects worth Rp 2.7 trillion), followed by the agriculture and plantation sector (10 projects worth Rp 1.58 trillion), and the textile industry (18 projects worth Rp 1.5 trillion).

In total, domestic and foreign investment realization had provided jobs for 197,643 workers, according to the data.

Other parts of the BKPM report show that total investment approvals also increased by nearly 23 percent to a value of Rp 139.5 trillion in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, with FDI approvals alone rising some 28 percent to Rp 101.29 trillion, representing around 72% of total investment approvals.

The government is targeting Rp 179 trillion worth of investment approvals for 2005, with at least Rp 50.1 trillion being actually realized within the same year.

Indonesia is struggling to lure back foreign investment -- which reached a peak of $39.66 billion in 1995, but then collapsed to $13.64 billion following the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis -- with the government vowing to curb corruption and bureaucratic red-tape, guarantee legal certainty and improve the country's infrastructure.

On concerns that a recent concoction of rising fuel prices, inflation, higher interest rates, and the latest Bali bombings may hamper further investment growth, Lutfi remained upbeat that the year's target would be achieved.

"It will, of course, increase the risk and cost of investment, but investors still see Indonesia's large market as the main attraction," he said.

Poor infrastructure a threat to economy

Radio Australia - October 5, 2005

Terrorism will damage the Balinese tourist industry, but there are deeper structural problems which threaten the broader Indonesian economy.

Five thousand airline passengers have returned to Australia from the Indonesian holiday island of Bali since the weekend suicide bombings which killed 22 of various nationalities. The tourist industry on which Bali depends could take years to recover.

But what of the effect on the wider economy and investment? Growth rates could slow next year in Indonesia, but issues other than terrorism are more likely to be the cause, as Karon Snowdon explains.

Snowdon: It might seem like dry economics but its widely considered that Indonesia needs to achieve at least 6 per cent annual economic growth to provide the necessities for its population -- beginning with jobs.

Showing the best growth in eight years, GDP expanded by 5 per cent last year. Before Saturday's suicide attacks, forecasters thought six per cent plus was possible for the next five years.

Roger Donnelly is the Chief Economist for the Australian Government's Export Finance and Insurance Corporation.

Donnelly: Yes it is a setback. I suspect it's not a setback that's going to precipitate a crisis, but it is something we need to watch closely.

Snowdon: Bali supplies almost all tourism related national income, but it contributes only a small fraction of overall GDP.

The government is focussed on improving the investment climate and boosting infrastructure development as key planks to its poverty reduction plans.

Recent initiatives have helped, including an anti-corruption drive, the peace deal in Aceh and the possibility of something similar for Papua.

The increase in fuel prices on the weekend has been welcomed by markets as a sign of improving budget management by cutting massive spending on subsidies.

On average fuel prices climbed by an unexpectedly high 126 per cent, a coincidence of timing that Roger Donnelly says has helped contain protests against the price hikes.

Donnelly: The coincidence of the bombings with this decision of the government I think has muted the impact in financial markets. On the one hand, they're seeing a setback to the economic and the investment outlook, but on the otherside, they're seeing something that actually improves the outlook and I think that is one factor that has muted the impact. In otherwords, there are other important things going on here and it does need to be kept in perspective, I believe the suicide bombings.

Snowdon: The decision to raise fuel prices has the potential to give investor confidence a boost, even though it risks higher inflation.

However, President Yudhoyono's much hyped infrastructure agenda is lagging -- only a few of the 90 projects valued at 22 billion dollars unveiled at a summit in January have been put to tender.

Half of the one billion dollars Australia pledged after the December tsunami in Aceh is targeted for infrastructure.

Changes to investment laws are yet to happen, and another summit is planned for November.

Eric de Haas, the President of the Australia-Indonesia Business Council says business people are not about to leave Indonesia because of the Bali bombings, but foreign investors won't come until the weak and at times corrupt legal system is reformed.

De Haas: The legal system has always been a bit of an impediment to investment, to doing business in Indonesia. We've seen some signs recently though I think the government is getting much more serious about making improvements to the legal system. But that's going to take some time to flow through, throughout the whole judicial system, that's going to take several years. There's a hell of a lot that needs to be done up there, power generation, transmission, distribution, the roads, the hospitals etc.

Snowdon: Do you think you should be taking special measures in relation to some of these projects and perhaps making special arrangements that give investors certainty for say one off projects, just move some things along?

De Haas: It was suggested several months ago that they have some sort of test projects to test the water so to speak. The government has said no, we'd rather go ahead with the projects, rather than just do a couple of test runs and delay everything else until we get the results. So you can understand that I guess. But it would be nice to have some runs on the board, definitely.

Opinion & analysis

In Indonesia, the struggle within Islam

Christian Science Monitor - October 5, 2005

Tom McCawley, Jakarta -- Here in the world's largest Muslim country a war of ideas within Islam is playing out on an unlikely stage: a bohemian arts community in a crowded Jakarta side street. The patrons of the Utan Kayu Theater, including some of Indonesia's leading novelists and writers, normally gather to discuss such topics as avant-garde art or prewar Russian cinema.

But in recent weeks, a fierce debate over how Muslims should be allowed to worship, marry, and even think has caught the theater in its crossfire. Hard-line Muslim groups have been threatening to evict the Liberal Islam Network, a small group of intellectuals known as JIL, from their offices in the theater complex by the beginning of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan -- Wednesday.

The struggle, observers say, is not only over how to interpret Islam's 1,400-year-old holy book, the Koran, but what role it will play in Indonesia's future. The tensions are driving a rising confrontation between liberals and an alliance of conservative and radical groups.

JIL's crime, according to the white-robed vigilante group the Islamic Defenders Front, is spreading liberal ideas about Islam. "The intellectual fight has turned physical," says Nong Darol Mahmada, a female JIL member, telling of death threats by telephone. "The hard-line conservatives are getting more powerful." The Islamic Defenders, famous for attacking cafes with samurai swords, have also tried to recruit nearby poor residents to help evict JIL and its supporters, including a radio station and media think tank. JIL is preparing lawyers, and plans to seek protection from the courts.

The threats from the Islamic Defenders follow a series of fatwas, or religious edicts, from Indonesia's powerful Islamic scholar's council, the MUI. On July 29, the council issued fatwas condemning "liberalism, secularism, and pluralism." The 11 fatwas, read to a meeting of 400 Islamic scholars from across the country, also condemn inter-faith prayers and marriages between religions.

Growing power of conservative Islam

JIL activists say that fatwas mark the growing power of ultra- conservative Islam, a movement that unites both elected politicians and street vigilantes. Supporters of the fatwas say they are following their duty to protect Islam from the threat of globalization and Western ideas.

"The liberals think everything is open to interpretation," said Ma'ruf Amin, head of the MUI's fatwa commission, "and that clashes with Islamic teachings." Syafi'i Ma'arif, former chairman of Indonesia's second largest Muslim organization, the 30-million strong Muhammadiyah, warned reporters that: "the fatwas will embolden hard-line, power-hungry groups."

Since July 29 an alliance of Muslim vigilante groups, the Anti- Apostasy Movement, has stepped up a campaign to get rid of informal prayer groups and churches, causing a total of 23 to close within a year. Mobs have also attacked the houses and mosques of the 200-member Ahmadiyah, a Muslim sect, declared by the fatwas to be "deviant," because they recognize their founder to be Islam's last prophet instead of Muhammad. In an interview, the MUI's Mr. Ma'ruf tut-tuts over the closures, condemning violence, but noting that "the churches didn't have permits."

Since its arrival from the Middle East in the 11th century, Islam has nestled alongside older Hindu, Buddhist, and animist practices. Only a tiny, violent fringe openly supports terrorist attacks such as last weekend's suicide attack in Bali that left at least 26 dead and 100 hundred injured.

Most of Indonesia's 193 million Muslims -- 88 percent of the population -- practice a moderate form of Islam. Muslim Indonesians often give their children Hindu names, and religious minorities such as Christians are protected under the constitution.

JIL's founders say the group was formed in 2001 to protect this spirit of tolerance through its activism, radio broadcasts, and newspaper articles. "We just want to be able to discuss religion in the same way you can discuss art or politics," says JIL coordinator Hamid Basyaib.

JIL's mission statement says the group believes in ijtihad, or the application of reason to interpreting Islamic texts. The use of ijtihad, Mr. Hamid says, has led its members away from a literal interpretation of the Koran and toward support for the separation of mosque and state.

The group has also offended conservatives by arguing that truth is relative and that other religious faiths are equal to Islam. Even worse, say hardliners, is JIL's support for the "freedom of belief," including the right not to be religious.

Mr. Hamid also rejects criticism that liberal Islam is an American import, claiming the group draws on an ancient tradition of Islamic scholarship stretching to thinkers in the 14th century.

JIL part of wider liberal network

Mr. Ma'ruf says that JIL is just part of a much wider network that includes several major state universities. He also warns liberalism has gained ground in the world's two largest Muslim organizations, the 40-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the 30-million strong Muhammadiyah. "Some things, some passages, [in the Koran], are beyond question," he says from NU's headquarters. "It is heretical to question the literal word of God," he says.

But JIL activist Abdul Moqsith Ghazali claims the NU and the Muhammadiyah are showing signs of shifting in a conservative direction, pointing to the influx of students who graduated from Middle Eastern universities in the 1980s.

Senior members of both organizations supported the July 28 fatwas. "There's a rising tide of Islamic conservatism [in Indonesia]" says Greg Barton, an associate professor at Australia's Deakin University and scholar of Indonesian Islam.

"These people have been working for over a decade and only now are beginning to see the fruits of their labors," says Mr. Barton.

Back at the Utan Kayu Theater, Ms. Nong breathes a sigh of relief, after promises from nearby community leaders to support JIL. The group, along with the radio station, is safe for the time being. "We've won in this neighborhood," she says. "But the war of ideas will continue."

Indonesia badly needs to enact intelligence law

Jakarta Post - October 5, 2005

A.M. Hendropriyono, Jakarta -- The weekend's repeat terrorist attack on Bali comes at the worst possible moment for the resort island. Not only did the blasts claim human lives, but they will no doubt translate into a devastating reverse for Bali's tourism industry -- which had only recently clawed its way back to normalcy following the October 2002 bombing.

For me, this latest bout of terrorism offered an unwelcome sense of deja vu. As the chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) in 2002, I all too vividly recall the briefings on body counts from the first Bali bombings, which escalated by the hour. Sadly, most pundits believe that the same terrorists -- led by Noordin M. Top and Azhari bin Husin -- masterminded both campaigns, as well as all of the annual attacks in between.

Now, as then, government critics have been quick to point out the shortcomings of the country's intelligence bodies. They question, understandably, why the authorities have not been able to capture the country's top fugitives despite a manhunt of more than three years. And many critically compare the abilities of today's intelligence officers with the reputed efficiencies of the intelligence units during the New Order.

This comparison, I believe, is unfair. For one thing, the pre- 1998 intelligence leaders and those of today are largely the same people. I, for example, was a director in the Armed Forces Intelligence Agency (then known by the acronym BIA) during the New Order, then became chief of BIN during the reform era. My successor and the current chief of BIN, Sjamsir Siregar, was a former BIA chief during the heyday of the Soeharto regime.

Why, then, did we seemingly have more success prior to 1998? An analogy is useful. The intelligence agencies, then and now are like an automobile. We might have the same car, but its performance can be radically different depending on the driver and the roads driven. The driver, in this case, would be the President, while the route driven is dictated by the legislature.

As the end user of intelligence, the President needs to clearly set out the goals and expectations for his or her intelligence agency. Just as important, the legislature has to pass an intelligence law that clearly lays out what is permissible conduct. I implored the government of Megawati Soekarnoputri and the legislature to pass such a law. I argued that it was necessary to protect both the citizenry at large and the members of the intelligence service.

But most of all, I wanted an intelligence law in order to enable BIN to detain suspects for limited periods. Such detentions would not be for judicial reasons -- the police already have that authority -- but rather for operational reasons. Example: Intelligence officers sometimes need the ability to discretely take aside members of radical organizations in an attempt to entice them into providing information from inside terrorist cells. Receiving intelligence in this manner, BIN could better anticipate terrorist acts before they took place, before a crime had been committed. Limitations to prevent abuses could and should be contained in the letter of the law.

Unfortunately, the passage of such a law did not come about during the Megawati presidency. I would hope that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) shows greater backbone in this regard.

For several reasons, SBY can ill afford to wait. First, Indonesia's terrorists seem to be having success in replenishing their ranks, in part by sending trainees to the southern Philippines.

Second, there are hints that Indonesian militants are now seeking out jihad in the sectarian violence in southern Thailand. If true, there is the chance that the Indonesian government could repeat the same mistake it made in the late eighties, when it turned a blind eye to literally hundreds of militants that trained in Pakistan for the anti-Soviet jihad. Those Pakistani- trained extremists, of course, went on to populate the upper echelons of Jamaah Islamiyah.

And while I am not positing a link with the Bali bombings, there is general social dissent over the recent and massive fuel price hike. Besides some clumsy attempts at socializing their decision -- such as the rather amateurish mass SMS that went out over the weekend -- the government has not done enough to explain its reasoning for the increases. This is all the more urgent given recent hints, probably well founded, which suggest certain political interest groups are trying to exacerbate this discontent for their own personal agendas.

What can the SBY administration do about all this? First, as a priority he needs to give teeth to his intelligence organizations in the form of an intelligence bill.

Second, on the eve of this year's Ramadhan fasting month, he needs to more firmly condemn these latest terrorist attacks for the aberration of Islam that they are. It is a sad fact that the top terrorist fugitives in this country have been able to stay ahead of the law because they are afforded sanctuary from a network of active sympathizers, especially on Java. The government needs to win over these sympathizers, or at least gain their neutrality. They need to do this through a grass-roots nationwide education campaign that holds up the religious tolerance for which Indonesia was once famous.

Third, the government needs to redouble efforts to work with foreign nations to rid the region of religious radicalism. Such cooperation, in turn, can dovetail with enhanced bilateral and multilateral efforts overcoming other transnational problems, such as the spread of avian influenza and haze from forest fires, to name a few.

All of these steps are a matter of urgency. The country can ill afford to wait around for the next annual terrorist strike. But more than that, except for our own 230 million citizens, we are now in a time when the 1997 regional economic contagion is a fading memory for most of ASEAN. Indeed, when Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong outlined a pragmatic four-fold vision for ASEAN's future at a recent leader's summit -- the centerpiece of which was an admonishment for members to look beyond national interests for the regional good -- Indonesia, sadly, looks like it alone could carry its crisis into a second decade.

[The writer is former minister of transmigration and manpower, and former head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).]

PKI killings leave many questions unanswered

Jakarta Post - October 1, 2005

ID Nugroho, Blitar -- How many people were killed in the violence after the aborted Sept. 30, 1965, coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party? The actual number of those massacred is unclear, despite a series of investigations into the incidents, both domestic and foreign. The United States Central Intelligence Agency puts the number at around 250,000 dead, some activists say up to three million perished, while Encyclopedia Britannica speculates the number could be as small as 80,000, or as large as a million.

That big question has never been answered and probably never will be, said Budi Rahardjo, the chairman of the Murder Victims Inquiry Foundation (YKKP) researching the murders. Budi's father disappeared after the coup and is believed to have been killed.

Poor census information and the often covert nature of the violence made it difficult for researchers to put a figure on the tragedy, he said. However, it is certain that the killings were among the worst in East Java, especially Bakung, Blitar, one of the PKI strongholds in the country.

"Almost every day, bodies were seen floating on the Brantas and Bengawan Solo Rivers passing through East Java." "(Recently) when a group of public work agency employees were about to build a new road, they found human bones in earth they had just dug, which were believed to be the remains of PKI members. The bones of about dozens of people were also found in a cave in a hilly area in Larejo here on August 18, 2002," said Budi whose father disappeared after the coup.

A resident near the cave confirmed that a group of people whose their hands tied were escorted in the direction of the cave direction after the aborted coup. They were never seen again. "The killing sprees happened several times," said the resident, who asked for anonymity.

Budi believed the massacre was carried out by an anti-PKI group, whose methodology was later used by other groups in other conflicts.

"The most popular case was the murders in the Piket Nol area in Lumajang, East Java when many PKI members and sympathizers were thrown off a 30-meter tall bridge. All those people died instantly as they fell into dry river bed full of scattered rocks," said Budi.

However, Sgt. Major. (ret) Roeslan, a former Army combat intelligence agent assigned to crush a possible PKI rebellion in Blitar Selatan, rejected stories of a massacre.

He said many PKI members surrendered to the Indonesian military while those arrested were brought to trial. "There were hardly any wrong arrests as the PKI was well-organized and they had complete data on PKI members," Roeslan said.

Covert support of violence will return to haunt us

The Guardian - October 6, 2005

Mark Curtis -- As bloodshed mounts each day in Iraq, what prospect is there that British ministers will be held accountable for the illegal invasion and occupation that triggered this carnage? If past precedents are anything to go by, not much. But the likelihood is that, as in London earlier this summer, it will be we who pay the price for that failure to hold our leaders to account.

This week is the 40th anniversary of one of the postwar world's worst bloodbaths, which took place in Indonesia. Yet British ministers and officials in the then Labour government have never been held accountable for the covert role they played, along with the US, in supporting this slaughter -- and the 30-year dictatorship of General Suharto it brought to power. The long- term blowback from that support was felt only last weekend in the bomb attacks on the Indonesian island of Bali, carried out by militant Islamist groups nurtured for years by Suharto and the Indonesian military.

In early October 1965, a group of army officers in Indonesia led by Suharto took advantage of political instability to launch a terror campaign against the powerful Indonesian Communist party (PKI). Much of the killing was carried out by Islamist-led mobs promoted by the military to counter communist and democratic forces. Within a few months, nearly a million people lay dead, while Suharto removed President Ahmed Sukarno and emerged as ruler of a brutal regime that lasted until 1998.

"I have never concealed from you my belief that a little shooting in Indonesia would be an essential preliminary to effective change," Sir Andrew Gilchrist, the British ambassador in Jakarta, informed the Foreign Office on October 5 1965. The declassified files show that Britain wanted the Indonesian army to act and encouraged it to do so.

British policy was "to encourage the emergence of a general's regime", one intelligence official explained. Another noted that "it seems pretty clear that the generals are going to need all the help they can get and accept without being tagged as hopelessly pro-western, if they are going to be able to gain ascendancy over the communists". Therefore, "we can hardly go wrong by tacitly backing the generals".

The Wilson government described the campaign as a "reign of terror", while information landed on its desks about hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Yet propaganda operations were authorised from the MI6 base in Singapore, which planted fabricated stories about arms shipments from China in the international media. The purpose, one intelligence officer wrote, was to "blacken the PKI in the eyes of the army and the people of Indonesia".

"The impact has been considerable," one official noted. Denis Healey, defence secretary at the time, makes no mention of this British role in his 660-page memoirs.

At the time, Britain had thousands of troops in Borneo, bolstering Malaya against Indonesian claims to the territory. British officials passed covert messages to the Indonesian generals saying that they would not attack them in Borneo and "distract" them from their "necessary task" at home. It was the need to end the "confrontation" with Indonesia that motivated planners to support the slaughter and change of regime.

But the foreign secretary Michael Stewart wrote that it was also the "great potential opportunities to British exporters" that were on offer from a new regime, so Britain should "try to secure a slice of the cake".

The year 1965 also marked an escalation in Vietnam -- the US launched the Rolling Thunder campaign, the bombing of North Vietnam became routine policy and the number of US combat troops was doubled. But which British ministers have been held to account for their role in supporting one of the most devastating assaults on a civilian population in history? Myth has it that the Wilson government was a critic of US policy, but the declassified files reveal it secretly supported every stage of the US escalation.

When the US attacked North Vietnam, Stewart informed his embassy in Washington of the "military necessity of the action" and told Wilson that "I was particularly anxious not to say anything in public that might appear critical of the US government". Britain's ambassador in Saigon welcomed the bombing as "a logical and inherently justifiable retort to North Vietnamese aggression" and said it provided a "tonic effect" in the south of the country. As about 100 daily sorties were flown by 500 aircraft carrying 3,000 to 5,000 bomb loads, British officials were well aware that 80% of the victims were civilians, the files show. Yet no opposition was expressed.

British ministers were complicit in the deaths of millions of people in Vietnam and Indonesia 40 years ago, as they are now with perhaps more than 100,000 in Iraq. In Iraq and Indonesia, these policies have rebounded on us, in the form of anti-western terrorism. Until secretive and unaccountable policy-making is democratised, disastrous foreign policies will continue to be conducted in our name, and our leaders will continue to get away with murder.

[Mark Curtis is the author of Unpeople: Britain's Secret Human Rights Abuses]

Disarming politics

New Internationalist - October, 2005

Aguswandi -- Since 1975, the people of Aceh in the eastern province of Indonesia have claimed freedom from the Indonesian Republic. The resulting civil war has lasted 30 years and claimed over 20,000 lives. In an historic agreement signed on 15 August 2005, the leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian Government have finally agreed to a compromise: Aceh will have autonomy but not independence from Indonesia.

The peace deal relies on a political reconstruction of the territory. And just as the reconstruction following the tsunami disaster brought hope, so too does this. The difference is that while the tsunami reconstruction followed a natural disaster this one has been very much human-made.

It can be traced back to the days of the Suharto military dictatorship when the Indonesian state was overly centralistic, oppressive and disregarded local voices, especially those outside Java. It was then cemented by excessively unjust policies of successive government towards Aceh. The heavy-handed way in which Jakarta dealt with the conflict, with endless brutal military operations, resulted in the further alienation of the Acehnese and radicalisation of the movement as the children of victims and the unemployed joined GAM's armed struggle. Before the tsunami, the conflict had become extremely bloody and militaristic, with an estimated five people dying each day.

The peace process has now started to address the political sources of the conflict. It will require significant political change in Indonesia's governing structure. GAM's demand for self-rule challenges forms of autonomy established by the capital, Jakarta. The crucial gain for Aceh ( a gain which is in marked contrast to the 'autonomy' offered by the Indonesian Government to West Papuans) is that they can establish local political parties. This will mean changing the present electoral system in Indonesia.

Then there is the most difficult change of all. If Aceh's political structure is to be fixed, Indonesia's must be fixed as well. In order to build peace in Aceh, Jakarta must control the Indonesian army, which is so used to intervening in political affairs of state. The old dark forces of the past: the nationalist politicians, the religious conservative groups and elites who want to maintain the old way of running Indonesian nation are still quite strong. As well as being a problem for Aceh, they also continue to oppose radical reforms of the State, which are essential if Aceh's problems and other social problems within Indonesia are to be solved.

For Aceh the signing of the peace agreement may not be the end to the decades of destruction. It is, however, the beginning of the end. The present Indonesia Government has an opportunity. President Yudhoyono and Vice-President Yusuf Kalla have legitimation from the people. They also have the support of the international community, which presently has high expectations that peace can be achieved in Aceh and the post-tsunami reconstruction can be completed. That support will need to be continued if Aceh is to achieve its peace.

[Aguswandi is an Acehnese human rights advocate with TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign based in London.]

Slashing the fuel subsidy

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 3, 2005

Barring any major disturbances to Indonesia's social and political stability, the market should react positively to the government's bold move last week to raise domestic fuel prices by an average of 125 percent, which in turn will lead to improved confidence in the country's economic outlook.

While bold this policy will be painful for the majority of Indonesians, as the cost of living will rise steeply and inefficient businesses that depend on subsidized fuel might have to close down, leaving more people out of work.

The fuel price increases can be expected to initially trigger disproportionately steep hikes in the prices of basic foods such as rice, fish and vegetables and in transportation fares, lifting inflation to as high as 11 percent this year, above the earlier projection of 9 percent.

The prices of goods and services will rise, especially with Ramadhan days away, the Idul Fitri holiday next month and Christmas in December.

However, if the government manages to maintain adequate supplies and ensure the smooth distribution of goods, the rate of general price increases should be proportional to the role of fuel in the respective production costs of the goods. Any panic can be expected to recede after a few weeks, with the market returning to a new equilibrium after absorbing the impact of the higher fuel prices.

The pain of the new fuel policy can be contained if the government fully implements its package of fiscal incentives and reform measures introduced on Saturday.

But it is simply a relief now to know that by cutting the massive fuel subsidy, the government will be able to channel more funds directly to the poorest segment of society through direct cash payments and increased spending on basic health services, education and rural infrastructure.

The short-term pain of this policy is better than allowing the wasteful fuel subsidy to lead the economy into a new crisis that could be much more devastating than the economic fiasco of 1998, because of an unsustainable fiscal deficit that would increase the sovereign risks of the government.

Higher sovereign risks would damage market confidence in the Rp 650 trillion (US$65 billion) worth of bonds the government has thus far issued, including over Rp 400 trillion to recapitalize banks, and depress the prices of the Rp 56.3 trillion worth of new bonds the government plans to float this year to plug the budget hole and shore up the rupiah exchange rate.

Many observers believe the fuel price increases announced last week are too steep to be absorbed given the current economic conditions.

However, the government has a good reason to raise the prices of regular gasoline and automotive diesel oil to as high as 80 percent of market prices. This will discourage export smuggling by narrowing the differences between domestic and market prices, and will make it easier gradually to increase fuel prices fully to market prices by January 2007.

The market will reward the government's boldness with a virtuous circle, because the smaller fuel subsidy will enable the government to improve overall economic efficiency through larger investments in infrastructure, public services and utilities.

The protests, the criticism by analysts and the outright opposition by many students to the new fuel price policy were expected. This is what democracy is all about.

The public debates should serve to educate the public about the economics of commercial energy, to help people realize that sooner or later they will have to pay for fuel based on its economic costs or suffer supply disruptions.

Protracted, raucous street demonstrations will only divert the attention and resources of the government from the much more urgent tasks of managing the distribution of funds to the poor and maintaining the smooth distribution of essential commodities to control the inflationary impact.

If the opponents of the new fuel policy care about the interests of the people they should help oversee the distribution of the funds for the poor, and should see to it that the government fully implements its Oct. 1 package of deregulation and reform measures to help people and businesses weather the difficult months ahead.