| Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia | |
Indonesia News Digest 42 - November 1-8, 2005
Sydney Morning Herald - November 8, 2005
Mark Forbes, Jakarta -- Indonesia has denied it refused to cut
the sentence of the Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir because of
Australian pressure. It had reduced the convictions of many
others involved in the Bali bombings, it said. The Justice
Minister, Hamid Awaluddin, made the claims amid pressure for a
parliamentary inquiry into external interference in the decision.
Australia lobbied against cutting the term of the alleged
spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, saying it would outrage
Australians. It is the first time Indonesia has said that other
terrorists, including 27 prisoners convicted on charges relating
to the 2002 Bali bombings, would receive remissions to mark the
end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
"There has been a misperception, as if the absence of a remission
for Bashir is linked to pressure from the United States or
Australia in relation to a number of bomb blasts in Indonesia,"
Mr Awaluddin told the newspaper Kompas.
"If that is the judgement of people, it is clearly wrong, because
many prisoners in cases of bomb explosions such as the Bali and
Makassar bombings were granted remissions." Bashir was given a
30-month sentence for authorising the Bali bombings, in which 202
died.
Mr Alawuddin did not say why Bashir's cut was rejected, when a
week earlier he said all prisoners were entitled to the
reduction. The "technical" decision was based on the
recommendation of his prison head. "In the case of Bashir, the
head of the jail possibly deemed he was not co-operative and able
to work well with the wardens," he said.
Last week Mr Alawuddin's spokesman, Taswem Tarip, said Bashir was
a simple, religious old man. "He behaves well; he never says bad
things," he said. r Tarip refused to discuss the comments or
answer questions about the remissions yesterday.
Bashir and his supporters condemned the "regime in Australia" for
interfering in Indonesian affairs after the decision was
announced late last week. The deputy chairman of Indonesia's
parliament, A. M. Fatwa, has also protested against the ruling.
"Bashir had his jail term reduced by five months in relation to
Indonesian independence day two months ago," he said. "Why not
now?" Mr Fatwa said it was impossible the prison head did not
propose a special remission for Bashir since the cleric had
behaved and carried out "positive activities".
It was hard not to conclude the decision was due to US and
Australian pressure, he said. He said he would ask the
parliament's commission on legal affairs to investigate if
Indonesia's independence was compromised.
Jakarta Post - November 6, 2005
Duncan Graham, Contributor/Surabaya -- To stay healthy and to be
responsible, Indonesian youth should have access to condoms and
other contraceptives in places where they feel relaxed about
obtaining them, says a report on sexual health based on local
research.
Although young Indonesians are hungry for information on sex,
many parents, teachers and religious leaders believe education
should suppress youth sexuality.
The report, Youth, Sexuality and Sex Education Messages in
Indonesia: Issues of Desire and Control, by East Java academic
Dede Oetomo and Dutch social studies lecturer Brigitte Holzner,
was published in the May 2004 issue of British journal
Reproductive Health Matters.
"If sexuality is a form of knowledge-seeking that creates
identity and connectivity, then sexuality is not something
dangerous that should be suppressed," the authors said.
"Young people can have a healthy, informed and responsible sexual
life. By providing information and the means to sexual health, we
actually reduce the risk of young people inflicting harm on
themselves," they stressed.
"Non-prohibition does not mean 'you must have sex'; on the
contrary it means having information and the acceptance of
desire, dialogue, negotiation and pleasure. This is the meaning
of empowering young people in relation to sexuality.
"(However) the dominant prohibitive discourse in Java denies and
denounces youth sexuality as abnormal, unhealthy, illegal or
criminal, reinforced through intimidation about the dangers of
sex."
Research for the report included open discussions with young
people in Surabaya and analyzing the contents of youth magazines
and publications on sexual health.
The authors observed that young Indonesians were fortunate to be
living in a country with one of the freest presses in Asia, where
the opportunities to discuss sexuality were growing.
A highlight of this press freedom was the hostile public reaction
to a new draft Criminal Code that sought to prohibit adultery,
cohabitation, oral sex and homosexuality under the age of 18.
Outraged citizens demanded that the government keep out of their
bedrooms, a response Dede and Holzner described as "refreshingly
strong".
Celebrity, music and fashion magazines also invite readers to
write about their lives and ask questions about relationships.
The researchers found that replies to such questions did not
carry "preachy remarks" from "nanny-like parent figures" or treat
young people as incapable of taking care of themselves.
The images of young people found in the magazines also did not
show them as frightened of sexuality and needing protection;
instead they were depicted as experimenting with pleasure with
caution and responsibility.
Most participants in the group discussions had already engaged in
some form of sexual activity. Only a few thought they should
maintain their virginity until marriage; none had read government
publications about sexuality. "Our sample did not seem to be
impressed by proscriptions by State and religious sources," the
authors said. "They relied on their own will and found the
information they needed. They were not activists for sexual
rights, but young citizens living a right that officially is
denied to them."
Dede, a special reader in the social sciences postgraduate
program at the University of Surabaya, is also prominent in the
Indonesian gay rights movement. He told The Jakarta Post that
many young people were damaged by the lack of reproductive health
services and accurate information about sex.
The damage included unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions,
sexually transmitted diseases like HIV /AIDS, depression and
suicide.
"For example, girls become pregnant while still at school because
they don't have access to contraceptives," he said. "These are
only provided to 'married couples'. In most cases, the girl is
expelled and her future ruined." He concluded: "Young people must
be able to be active citizens in their society, have pleasure and
confidence in relationships and all aspects of sexuality."
Aceh
West Papua
Military ties
Labour issues
Land/rural issues
War on terror
Regional/communal conflicts
Local & community issues
Focus on Jakarta
Islam/religion
Business & investment
Opinion & analysis
News & issues
Jakarta denies caving in to Australia
Report urges openness on youth and sexual health
Ba'asyir to serve full jail term, Tommy time cut
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2005
Jakarta -- In an abrupt about-face, the government has decided not to grant convicted terrorist and Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir a sentence remission given to inmates in observance of Idul Fitri holiday.
There was no explanation from government officials about why Ba'asyir was excluded from the list of 39,348 inmates who had their prison terms reduced. These inmates included convicted murderer Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto.
Cipinang Penitentiary, where Ba'asyir is serving his 30-month jail term after being convicted in April of conspiring to plan the 2002 October Bali bombings was unusually declared off-limits to the media during the Idul Fitri holiday on Thursday and Friday. The bombings killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The announcement, signed by chief warden Dedi Sutardi, was pasted on the penitentiary's front door.
One of Ba'asyir's close aides, Fauzan Al Anshori, confirmed the cleric's exclusion from the roster of those awarded remissions. "He did not receive a special remission," Fauzan told Antara on Friday after visiting the cleric at his cell.
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin said last week Ba'asyir might have his jail term cut for the second time following four and a-half months of remissions given to him in August, thanks to his good conduct in jail. The minister also said Ba'asyir was entitled to the Idul Fitri remission since the regulations on remissions were still under revision.
Quoting an unnamed source, Antara said the chief warden had proposed a 30-day remission for Ba'asyir.
But an official quoted Hamid as saying that people convicted of acts of terrorism would be exempted from the remission, unless "there is a special consultation with wardens." Other convicts who could only receive remissions through "a special consultation" with the minister are those jailed for money laundering, illegal logging and drugs trafficking.
Australia called for Indonesia to grant no more remissions to Ba'asyir, following the Bali blasts on Oct. 1, which killed 23 people, including two Australians.
Unlike Ba'asyir, other convicted terrorists, Datuak Rajo Ameh aka H. Muchtar Tanjung and Sudigdoyo bin Maryoto alias Sudik, have their jail terms reduced, along with 1,577 inmates currently incarcerated across Riau province.
Rajo Ameh was sentenced to three years in prison, while Sudigdoyo to six years after the local district court found them guilty for assisting two fugitive Malaysian bomb-makers, Moh. Noordin Top and Azahari bin Husin.
Three other convicted terrorists, Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Ghufron are not eligible for remissions because they had been given death sentences. Those three were recently moved from Bali to Nusakambangan maximum security prison in Central Java. They will not be executed until their families make a decision about whether to seek the President's clemency.
Meanwhile, Tommy had his term reduced a further one and a-half months. Tommy is serving a 10-year prison term also in Nusakambangan. Since his conviction in 2002, Tommy has been granted remissions on six occasions, with the total cuts to his jail term amounting to more than 20 months.
Detik.com - November 2, 2005
Veronika Kusuma Wijayanti, Jakarta -- Civil servants and journalists posted at the national police headquarters have been forced to enter via the back of the building. The reason being that the entrance that is usually used for police, staff or journalists entering on foot has been damaged.
Police headquarters actually has a number of entrances. There is a special entrance for national police vehicles. There is an entrance for other police vehicles. There is an entrance for police headquarters staff. And one entrance - located in the back section of the police headquarters complex - is provided for the general public.
Usually, journalists enter the building through the door provided for police headquarters staff. Specifically for staff members, they can enter after placing their card against a red coloured sensor unit. If the sensor okays them the door will then open. Staff then casually go to their offices.
Journalists of course, do not have a staff card that is sensor friendly. They usually ask the officer on guard to open the door with the card held by the officer. Journalists like to enter via this door because it is close to the Criminal Investigation Bureau Building that is reporter friendly.
But on Wednesday November 2, their favorite door was chained and padlocked and they were forced to enter via the back door after walking around to the rear of the police headquarters building.
Why was the door padlocked? The answer, the sensor is broken. "The cable has been gnawed on by rats", said the officer on guard. The rats were a "memento" from the Anti-Corruption Alliance (ATK) who demonstrated at police headquarters last Monday.
ATK is a group of 10 students who brought 15 rats in a white cage, attached to which were the names of scores of high-ranking national police headquarters officers who are suspected of corruption. They are Saleh Saaf, Firman Gani, Budi G, Edi Garnadi, Dedy SK, Iwan Panji, Cuk Sugiarto, Makbul Padmanegara, Adang Dorojatun, Suyitno Landung, Heru S and Matheus Salempang.
Now, during the action, the "corrupt" rats were tossed into the building. Squeak, squeak, squeak... the rodents ran in inside. The impact is only now being felt: they ate the sensor's cable. "We didn't get around to removing the rats. The thing was they had already ran into holes", a police headquarters officer told Detik.com.
Out of all the doors fitted with sensors, only this one fell victim to the mischievous rats. It is still unknown when the door will be operating normally again. (nrl)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Green Left Weekly - November 2, 2005
Max Lane -- It has been almost a month since the Indonesian government increased the retail price of petrol by 126% and of kerosene by 300%. The increases are a part of the Jakarta government's commitments made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1997 and 2004. In addition, public transport fares and food prices have increased, eating into people's meagre incomes in a country where most live on around US$1 a day or less.
The IMF policy has been enthusiastically supported by many of the Australian-trained economists, mostly from the Indonesia Project at the Australian National University, who advise Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government.
Not surprisingly, these policies have brought even more hardship to most Indonesians. Most people use small kerosene stoves for cooking and boiling drinking water. Following the price hikes, reports have surfaced in the press of people scrounging for wood to replace kerosene.
These policies are turning millions of Indonesians into beggars. To supposedly help people deal with what President Yudhoyono has called "short-term pain" -- he uses the English phrase -- the government announced a scheme to compensate poor people with a Rp300,000 (A$42) cash handout. In local jargon, this cash will go to gakin to help them with their jadip. Gakin is short for keluarga miskin or "poor families". Jadip is an abbreviation invented after the Aceh tsunami, short for jatah hidup (ration to live). The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) is supposed to help the government determine who should get compensation, using a monthly income of around Rp100,000 (A$15) as the cut-off point. The minimum wage in Indonesia is around Rp750,000 (A$105) depending on the region.
The head of the BPS, Choril Maksum, told a parliamentary committee on October 24 that the BPS has authorised the issuing of 7 million cards identifying people as gakin. However, newspapers report that another 3 million families have registered for the compensation payment. Maksum told the committee that his staff were afraid to go home at night because they are being threatened and their houses are being stoned. He said the BPS would contact the additional 3 million who were trying to "coerce" the BPS into classifying them as poor.
People who "qualify" as gakin receive a voucher from the local "neighbourhood head". They then take it to the post office or another distribution point to cash it in. The houses of neighbourhood heads have become the sites for demonstrations and occupations by angry poor people who are unable to receive a payment.
Every day the Indonesian press reports these protests. The poor are often armed with machetes or scythes as they demand vouchers. There are many reports of neighbourhood or village heads being beaten. Some offices have been attacked and wrecked. In many cases, neighbourhood heads have decided to resign or they have simply run away. In other cases, groups of neighbourhood heads have gone to the police to ask for protection. In Sulawesi, even the blind have been demonstrating in response to being denied the compensation payment. On October 26, the Jakarta newspaper Kompas reported the first death of a neighbourhood head, stabbed by a poor person who would not accept the head's explanation that he did not decide who was to get the money. On the same day, another died of a heart attack after poor people surrounded his house.
There are also reports of poor people, especially the elderly, dying. After receiving their voucher, people must take it to a cash distribution point. Large numbers of people queue for a long time in the tropical sun. On October 18, Kompas reported the death of Kasipah, an 80-year-old man. He was queuing in the village of Karangsari in East Java. He collapsed and died on the way to hospital. In the town of Dempet in Central Java, Kompas reported the death of Wadiman, a 70-year-old man. He had been squeezed among a crowded queue waiting for his compensation and died of suffocation.
Similar tragedies have been reported in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Detailed news articles are appearing in Jakarta and provincial newspapers. There are pages and pages of reports detailing the suffering of the people and their desperation to receive the miserly government handout.
The callousness of the government was underlined by a cavalier statement by vice-president Jusuf Kalla, who is also a wealthy businessperson and the chair of the Indonesian parliament's largest party, Golkar. He is reported to have said: "What are all the complaints about queues, we queue for cinema tickets don't we?"
The inadequacy of Rp300,000 handouts to deal with the impact of the IMF-imposed price rises is doing huge damage to social solidarity, generating tensions between those who receive the payment and those who don't. Newspaper reports describe how in the same queue, there are women dressed in rags with the minimal documentation to prove their status, as well as young men with all their documents photocopied and kept neatly in a nice briefcase. In villages, there are disputes as to who is the poorer among neighbours.
This exposes the bankruptcy of the so-called economists and their statistics on minimum wages, average wages and poverty levels. Anybody with a minimum of direct contact with working people in Indonesia's towns and villages knows that every working person supports five, 10 or even more family members who are not working. There are tens of millions of people who have no direct income, or who eke out a living of less than Rp300,000 a month.
The fuel price rise's impact on the general economic climate is not helping the situation. The Indonesian Textile Association stated on October 25 that it expected 500,000 workers -- 300,000 in factories and 200,000 home workers -- to lose their jobs. The association is calling for tax relief as a means of staving off the dismissals. A report in the daily Rakyat Merdeka quoted the minister of labour saying that he expected 1 million workers in the timber, textile, footwear and electronics industries to lose their jobs as a result of the price increases.
Meanwhile, another controversy rages in the press over the decision of the parliament this month to increase MPs' salaries by 30%, to Rp30 million per month on top of their allowances for hotel accommodation, transport and the money they receive from lobbyists.
Sun-Herald - November 6, 2005
Neil McMahon -- The drug prosecution of Australian model Michelle Leslie has been rocked by allegations that she was with the son of a senior Indonesian minister when she was caught in Bali and that police have covered up the truth of her arrest to protect him.
The Sun-Herald understands the minister is the powerful Indonesian Economics Minister, Aburizal Bakrie, a wealthy businessman and one of the country's most influential politicians.
The link between Leslie and the highest levels of the Indonesian Government was exposed in Bali newspapers yesterday. The revelation will increase the stress on Leslie, 24, who has been locked up in Bali for almost three months.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has embarked on a tough anti-drugs, anti-corruption campaign and his minister's link to the Leslie case could be politically damaging.
The Den Post reveals that when Leslie was arrested she was in a Toyota Kijang car bearing the logo of a luxury Bali resort, and with the son of a senior government official with a financial interest in that resort.
Another paper, the Bali Radar, reports on Leslie's friendship with the son of a minister with "a large asset in Bali", and says the son organised Leslie's accommodation in Bali.
Neither paper names the minister or the resort, but the Den Post says it is a resort in Tabanan area that drew large public protests when it was built.
The Sun-Herald has established that the Bali Nirwana Resort in Tabanan was built in the early 1990s by P.T. Bakrie & Brothers, a company owned by Mr Bakrie. It attracted controversy when it was built because of its closeness to a Hindu shrine.
The Den Post cites an unnamed source as saying the son of the minister and two other men in the car with Leslie are "the protected children". The other two are identified as the son of a businessman, and the son of a man with "strong influence in the law and justice system". It is unclear which of Mr Bakrie's two sons was with Leslie.
Leslie's spokesman in Bali, Sean Mulcahy, told The Sun-Herald he would not comment on the reports.
The stunning development comes just days after Leslie faced Denpasar District Court for the second time in her trial for possession of two ecstasy tablets. The one-time underwear model was arrested on August 21 outside a dance party at Bali's GWK Park. Police allege they found two ecstasy tablets wrapped in tissue in her Gucci bag.
But the details of her arrest, and who was with her at the time, have been clouded in confusion. And the mystery deepened on Tuesday when the two officers who arrested her gave vague and contradictory testimony, including claiming they could not recall who was with Leslie in the car.
One policeman, Bogiek Sugiyarto, explained his poor memory by telling the court: "We searched a lot of beautiful girls that night." They also contradicted an original police statement that alleged Leslie had told police the pills were hers. Leslie has since claimed the pills were given to her by a friend, Mia, who was with her in the car. At the trial on Tuesday, police revealed that Mia was on a list of wanted drug suspects before the dance party search. She has since disappeared.
Mr Sugiyarto did say Leslie's expression changed when he asked her to hand over the bag. "She looked confused and pale, looking left and right," he said. Leslie next faces court on Friday.
| Aceh |
The Australian - November 7, 2005
Sian Powell, Mon Ikeun -- It is damp, crowded and hot -- a tatty canvas tent surrounded by mud and puddles and home to four adult Acehnese sisters and two children. More than 10 months after the devastating Boxing Day tsunami killed her husband and her first child, 30-year-old Agustini and her sisters still live under canvas in the crowded tent village of Mon Ikeun, west of the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.
Agustini was pregnant when the giant waves flattened her house. Her four-month-old son has never known his father, nor a house with a roof. The tragedy swamped Agustini's entire family. Her mother drowned, and her elder sister Lindawati lost her husband and her child.
Lindawati and Agustini stuck together, with their younger sisters Mulyanti and Nurlisa. In the days after the disaster, the women fled first to a school for shelter, then to a mosque, then to relatives and finally they were given a tent.
Lindawati's only surviving child, eight-year-old daughter Sukma Armuna, has adjusted to tent life, but the adults still find it difficult. "This is the living room, the bedroom, this is everything," says Lindawati, gesturing to the canvas shelter, which stretches over a single mattress and a double-bed sized platform, where the four women and the children sleep. "It's very crowded," her sisters chorus.
Despite the magnitude of their loss, and the struggle of their daily existence, the women remain undaunted. They have planted chillies and marigolds along the side of the tent, and they hope one day to be given a small house by the Indonesian Government or an aid organisation. When that may happen is the burning question.
Somewhere between 67,000 and 75,000 Acehnese still live in tents across the province, ranging in quality from bearable to execrable. Now the rains have begun and the critics' once-muted questions have got louder and louder.
Although the tsunami was a natural disaster of immense dimensions, is it acceptable that after 10 months only about 2000 permanent houses have been built?
As well as those in tents, a further 100,000 Acehnese have been housed in barracks that are often in a deplorable condition. Thousands more have given up waiting and built their own shacks, and a silent majority of about 250,000 are staying with relatives, friends or neighbours. The scale of the problem is immense, and the solutions extremely slow to get moving.
A health crisis is looming. Aceh escaped a major disease outbreak in the frantic weeks after the tsunami, but the health of the dispossessed has been run down by long months of hardship and squalor. Tents are often awash with dirty water. Primitive sanitation and an underlying level of malnourishment have magnified the problems.
UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said on a recent visit to Aceh that the housing efforts had to be accelerated. "People of course are frustrated here because it's gone too slow, and I understand," he told reporters. "It has gone too slow."
The director of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, has been equally forthright, saying if there were still displaced people living in tents then "BRR is too slow".
The UN recovery co-ordinator for Aceh and Nias, Eric Morris, says more than 500,000 people lost their houses in Aceh, and another 90,000 in Nias, when a massive earthquake struck the North Sumatran island in March.
With disasters of such size, few useful comparisons can be made regarding the rate of progress. "The magnitude of the situation in Aceh is in a category of its own," he says.
Yet all agreed that something had to be done about the tent and shack-dwellers of Aceh, and Morris has overseen a plan to provide rapid temporary housing, perhaps more than 20,000 small "instant houses", funded by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The plan is to rehouse all the tent-dwellers by March next year, replacing the shabby canvas with 20sq m "shelters", with raised floors and steel roofs. "That's the plan," Morris says, adding that action was essential to avert worse problems.
The plan is also to rehouse some of the many Acehnese now living in below-par barracks. Many of the barracks are "god-awful", Morris says, with substandard sanitation and water supplies. Support is needed, too, for the families who have had displaced people living with them since early January. "I've got to believe that 10 months afterwards there's got to be all sorts of strains there," he says.
The Mon Ikeun sisters stayed with relatives for a short while after the tsunami, but they soon found it wasn't a tenable situation. "They didn't have enough for themselves," Lindawati says.
These days, the sisters get by. Just. "I make donuts and sell them," Lindawati says. "It's enough to buy vegetables, but not meat or fish."
A younger sister, Mulyanti, earns a little money working for a local Aceh aid organisation, and the sisters' elderly father, who lives in the next-door tent, makes some cash working as a casual field labourer.
In Mon Ikeun, a crowded settlement of 112 tents and more than 400 men, women and children, the sisters deal with the same problems of unemployment and poverty as their neighbours. "Who knows? If I had some capital, I could do something," Lindawati says. "I can sew and embroider but I don't have a machine."
Eddy Purwanto, the BRR deputy for housing and infrastructure, says no one can say how many houses should have been built in Aceh by now. "What's the benchmark?" he says. "We're now picking up. Maybe it will be 5000 (houses) a month."
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2005
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- Many still living in tents, the Acehnese celebrated their first Idul Fitri almost a year after the tsunami devastated Aceh and parts of North Sumatra.
The time was also a time for many to quietly remember the loved ones, relatives and friends not present at festivities this year.
"Please come in," Asiah, 25, greeted her guests in her tent for displaced persons in Gano village, Lambaro Skep district, Banda Aceh regency.
Guests took their seats inside and out and were served with traditional cakes, including tinphan, an Acehnese dish made out of rice flour and wrapped in banana leaf.
Asiah had prepared the cake -- a must-eat for the celebration -- a day before Idul Fitri. "It doesn't seem right to celebrate Idul Fitri without tinphan," she said.
The guests were also treated with syrup and dates, donated from Malaysia, which were distributed several days before Idul Fitri.
"We plan to visit mass graves to pray for our relatives who were killed in the tsunami," Asiah said.
The calamity left more than 126,000 people dead and over 90,000 missing. Around 100,000 of the 500,000 people made homeless are still living in tents around the province as they wait for houses to be constructed for them.
Abdurrahman and his wife, Nusari, both live in a tent in Payung, Baitussalam, in Aceh Besar regency. They ate chicken to celebrate the day.
"Back then, our children were still around, but now, since it's just the two of us, we only had one chicken, which will be enough for a couple of days," Abdurrahman said. The most important thing was they could perform the Idul Fitri morning prayers at the Baet Mosque, some 500 meters from their makeshift tent and then visit their neighbors to ask for forgiveness, he said.
"We're not going anywhere since, most of our relatives died in the tsunami," Nursari said. "This year's Idul Fitri is very different compared to last year," she whispered, "It's so sad celebrating Idul Fitri without a complete family."
Abdurrahman and Nursari also intended to visit mass graves and to pray for their relatives. The one good thing to come of the tsunami, the peace deal signed between the government and the Free Aceh Movement in Helsinki in August, improved the mood in Pidie regency, with residents reviving the once-prohibited practice of firing bamboo canons to celebrate Idul Fitri.
Loud bangs filled the air as children and adults joined in the game.
"It's been a long time since we've heard the bangs of the canons," a resident, Ali, 60, told the Post on Friday. "Since the sound made was similar to a gunshot, it was prohibited by the military." The bamboo-canon is about 1.5 to 2.5 meters long and is filled with a kerosene-gasoline mix. A fire built at the lower end heats the liquid until it explodes.
"Now that it's safe, we think it's fine to play with bamboo canons again," said Muktar, a Pidie resident. "The canon is harmless but fun, only the sound is loud."
Reuters - November 3, 2005
Bill Tarrant, Lampuuk -- In a little shack they built on a rubble-strewn field where the tsunami travelled the farthest inland, a group of teenaged boys orphaned in the disaster have made themselves a family.
They have been cooking and caring for each other, playing football and singing sad songs at night since the Dec. 26 tsunami wiped out much of the fishing village of Lampuuk in the Indonesian province of Aceh.
"We are our own family now," said Nasrullah, 18, one of five boys between the ages of 15 and 20 who share the shack, no bigger than a walk-in closet.
The boys are among 67,500 tsunami survivors still living in improvised camps more than 10 months after a 9.15 earthquake and the tsunami it spawned left more than 170,000 dead or missing in northern Sumatra.
Another 75,000 are living in Indonesian government-built barracks and nearly 300,000 are staying with friends and relatives -- sometimes shifting in and out of barracks and camps when their welcome with a host family wears out.
United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said sheltering the survivors was moving too slowly.
Aid organisations had "quite a lot of money" to use, he said during a visit to Aceh last month. More than $12 billion has been raised in public and private donations across the world, making the tsunami the most funded disaster in history.
"It's clear that we must move much quicker now to put people away from the tents and into permanent houses."
Homeless million With permanent homes for many likely to be years away, the UN Recovery Coordinator in Aceh has ordered 15,000- 20,000 prefabricated shelters with a minimum durability of four years.
Home rebuilding has been slow all around the tsunami region, where more than a million people remain displaced.
Confusion about land titles, debates about location and home designs, unclear policies, soaring land prices -- and the unwillingness of many agencies to coordinate -- have delayed work, the United Nations said in a recent report about Aceh.
The few homes that have been completed have often been built by religious-based aid groups.
The Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation has started building 3,700 permanent houses in Aceh at an estimated cost of $27 million.
A charismatic Hindu group, "the Mother of Immortal Birth" has finished the first tsunami housing project in India -- 89 homes in the fishing village of Pudu Kuppam in Tamil Nadu.
The St. Louis-based Christian evangelical group Service International was among the first to build permanent homes in Sri Lanka.
Thailand has acted the fastest. Only, 2,900 people remain in temporary shelters, less than half the number in May.
The religious groups, deploying their own volunteers and bringing in building materials, have been quicker because they tend to do small projects and bypass bureaucracy.
Non-performing NGOs
The delays by aid agencies in delivering on their promises to build homes have angered Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of Indonesia's reconstruction agency.
"People say we're slow. Well, in the whole of Indonesia there are 16,500 new houses built a year. We're building 22,000 in Aceh. But compared with the hundreds of thousands that are needed, yes, it's a challenge," he said in an interview.
"NGO's that don't perform will be sanctioned. They'll be asked to leave," Mangkusubroto added.
In Lampuuk, the tsunami travelled some 7 km (4 miles) before it smacked into steep hillsides that still show wave marks 10 metres (yards) high. Four out of five people died in the village which had a population of 6,500. The sole building left standing was a two-storey mosque, visible for miles.
The only other permanent structure is a $10,500 model home for tsunami survivors built by the Turkish Relief Agency that would not look out of place in a well-off Istanbul neighbourhood.
But no other homes like it are under construction in the village. And while it stands just across a field of rubble from the boys' shack, there's little chance they will find similar shelter.
"Sometimes we talk about our families, the ones we lost," said 15-year-old Joel Akbar. "It's a relief to share with the others because I don't have friends to talk about it at school."
The Guardian (UK) - November 3, 2005
John Aglionby, Nusa -- The community notice board in Nusa is conspicuously underemployed. There are no updates on reconstruction programmes and the only bulletin on livelihood is a dog-eared one from June. The only recent notice advertises monthly distribution of rice, cooking oil, noodles and sardines to those who lost their homes in December's tsunami. Nearby, on the wall of a barrack -- as temporary accommodation has been dubbed -- are five designs from which the refugees must choose their replacement homes.
But there are no details about when building might start on the 162 planned homes, let alone when Care International, the charity coordinating reconstruction, expects people to move in.
This paucity of progress is typical of the situation across the devastated Indonesian province of Aceh, where 132,000 people died in the Boxing Day tragedy and almost 500,000 are homeless. Reconstruction and recovery programmes have not stopped but there is an overriding atmosphere that the honeymoon, when aid agencies met almost all needs pretty rapidly, has ended.
For most people the future is at best uncertain and more usually bleak.
"I reckon about 10% [of the men] are in skilled work in town and others might have one or two days' work a week, if they're lucky," said Mohammed Yassin, who runs a village shop. "We're still alive because we're still getting rice. If we weren't getting rice there would be a very serious problem."
Exacerbating matters is the government's failure to pay the refugees their 90,000 rupiah (#5) monthly fish allowance. "We've only received three of the eight installments," said village chief Zainun Saad. "We've been promised the next before Eid al- Fitr [the festival at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan], but nothing is certain."
There are some success stories. Nelly Nurila, whose bakery was wiped out in the tsunami, has just taken delivery of 21m rupiahs' worth of bread-making equipment from Bogasari, one of Indonesia's biggest flour mills.
Operating in the three remaining rooms of her otherwise destroyed house, Ms Nelly and her nine staff make 600 loaves a day. "We're making about one million rupiah a day in sales but I haven't calculated yet how much of that is profit," she said. "I'm just so glad to be working again."
The sewing cooperative, set up for 33 women by Mercy Corps, is also thriving, thanks to the tradition of buying new clothes to celebrate Eid al-fitr. "We're flat out at the moment," said cooperative leader Muliana Nazruddin. "But I'm sure it will slow down after Eid al-fitr."
Some farmers are starting to earn money from the chilli shrubs they planted a few months ago, but crops like cassava will not be ready to harvest for months. Most are suffering added stress because they missed the rice-planting season due to a damaged floodgate not having been repaired.
The scene at the floodgate, a mile from the village, is a snapshot of reconstruction across the province. The five rusty, twisted panels that once controlled the water flow stand forlornly at varying angles as people fish from the concrete supports and wade through the neighbouring flooded paddyfields hunting for crabs. Nobody from the public works ministry has come to assess the damage, and nobody in the ministry's Aceh office knew anything about it when contacted by the Guardian.
In stark contrast, less than 10 metres away, four men were putting the final touches to a new 4km-long pipe that will deliver fresh water to Nusa. "This is an international project," said Mohammad, one of the workers. "I think the Swiss, Italians and Germans paid for it."
Such government inertia extends to the district administrations. The World Bank recently surveyed 10 of the 12 districts affected by the tsunami and found all but two cut their 2005 capital expenditure budgets and raised spending on items such as wages, buildings and staff cars. Aceh Besar, the district in which Nusa lies, implemented the steepest cut, from 12% to 3% of total expenditure.
Both Care and Mercy Corps have looked at the gate and estimated it would be relatively easy to mend but have also realised that a quick fix would not necessarily solve the problem. "Repairing the infrastructure is the easy part," said Peter Stevenson, the head of Mercy Corps's Aceh office. "Assessing whether anything is still suitable considering the changing tidal flows [following the tsunami] and other geographical changes is another matter."
This end of the honeymoon atmosphere is partly due to many agencies postponing projects, such as housing, until they have completed the spatial plans for the village demanded by the government's Aceh reconstruction agency (BRR).
Nusa's housing construction is thus likely to be delayed for weeks.
When the Guardian visited the village in August a Care project manager said he thought it would start in September. Johan Kieft, an assistant country director, now says the plots should be staked out by the end of November. "The fact that we've put up pictures shows we're moving forward," he said.
Planning for how to handle the expected scrutiny around the first anniversary is diverting attention from most programmes. Nowhere is this more visible than at the BRR headquarters, where a noticeboard counts down the number of days until December 26. "It is to remind us we still have a lot to do before the anniversary," an official said.
Wall Street Journal - November 2, 2005
Peter Fritsch, Banda Aceh -- The tsunami story of fisherman Zamzami is sadly familiar: A black wave taller than the coastal coconut trees swallowed his home, his wife and five of his six children, none ever to be seen again.
Less familiar is what the 47-year-old says is beginning to go right in his life. Government bureaucrats not only let him move back to the coast but asked his advice on where to build a new dike to best protect the handful of survivors scraping out a living in his village.
"They asked us what we know and what we wanted," says Zamzami, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name. "It's taken time to do the talking, but now we think they are doing the job right."
As Indonesia's massive reconstruction effort here begins to hit its stride, the nation is trying to build something more enduring amid the ruins of the tsunami-ravaged northern tip of Sumatra: a model for good, clean government that listens to its people.
That sounds simple, but it's not what most foresaw for the war- torn region after 60-foot waves killed at least 130,000 and left homeless many multiples more last December. Predictions then were dire. Disease would kill thousands more; the military would seize the opportunity to crush the region's separatist rebels once and for all; and politicians in Jakarta would contrive ways to siphon off some of the billions of dollars in foreign aid and impose unworkable solutions from afar.
The story of Aceh is turning out to be something quite different. It's still early in the rebuilding process and signs of devastation are everywhere, with thousands of people still living in tents. But relief efforts have stabilized the region's health. Peace between the rebel Free Aceh Movement and the government is holding and stands its best chance in nearly three decades of bloody confrontation. The corruption synonymous with business as usual here has yet to appear.
The fact that this is happening in one of the most conservative Muslim regions in the world's most populous Islamic nation is encouraging to those who feared the tsunami would deepen the appeal of radical Islam among the dispossessed. Indonesia has suffered numerous terrorist attacks since 9/11, most recently the Oct. 1 suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali, which killed 23.
"One of the positives coming out of this tragedy is that this government is doing things right," says William M. Frej, director for the US Agency for International Development in Jakarta. "There is a strong focus on transparency and accountability."
For that, most give credit to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesia's first directly elected leader. The former general, who had earlier led efforts to get the military out of politics, took office just weeks before the Dec. 26 catastrophe. He swept to victory on a platform of honest and open government.
After the initial shock of the tragedy sank in, Mr. Yudhoyono correctly identified his biggest long-term problem: how to spend nearly $6 billion in pledged aid, a tantalizing blank check in a country notorious for corruption.
To squander the goodwill of the international community now would be to negate his mandate and invite negative comparisons with the cronyism of former dictator Suharto.
Casting around for ideas, Mr. Yudhoyono did something unusual for an Indonesian politician. He went outside the cozy club of Jakarta's political class, consulting Southeast Asia's elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew. The fastidious founder of modern Singapore stressed the importance of a professional reconstruction effort. He also suggested Mr. Yudhoyono consider working with management consultants to design the right framework, mentioning the name of McKinsey & Co., according to several people familiar with the matter.
In early February, Mr. Yudhoyono sat down with McKinsey consultant Adam Schwarz, an American based in Singapore. The president knew Mr. Schwarz from his previous work as a journalist in Jakarta when he had written about Mr. Yudhoyono's reform efforts as a general.
That initial contact evolved into an intense and unpublicized behind-the-scenes collaboration. A dozen McKinsey consultants, working without pay, have crafted a reconstruction and recovery plan stressing competitive bidding and community involvement. People familiar with the project value the amount of consulting donated by McKinsey thus far at around $5 million.
Key to the effort was the creation in April of the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias, or BRR as it is known by its Indonesian name, a cabinet-level ministry reporting directly to the president. The BRR oversees the distribution of government reconstruction funds and helps coordinate the projects of donors like the World Bank.
The BRR, as drawn up by McKinsey and others, is free of many of the bureaucratic back alleys where corruption thrives here. By law, its accounts are open to public scrutiny. Its employees must sign anticorruption contracts and aren't subject to the meager civil-service pay scale -- a fact resented by peers in other ministries.
Even its offices are different. Unlike the typical cavernous Indonesian ministry full of idlers smoking clove cigarettes, the agency's Aceh headquarters is in a converted middle-class home. Buzzing with activity -- and relentless tropical flies -- it has the feel of a transplanted Silicon Valley startup.
Twenty-something McKinsey consultants tap on laptops set up in the foyer as locals come and go to daily prayers. Lunch is self- serve, spooned out from crocks set out on a table in the middle of the office. Seating is informal; most grab a spot of empty floor.
The informality belies the agency's power. Crucially, the law establishing the BRR enables the bulk of funds to go from donor nations and nongovernment organizations straight to contractors through a competitive bidding and tender process. That keeps cash off the government budget and away from ministries in Jakarta, where they could be bogged down in bureaucratic tussles or, worse, simply disappear.
The BRR's direct control of the roughly $850 million in aid that does pass through government accounts ensured there would be plenty of powerful politicians angling to head the agency.
Instead, Mr. Yudhoyono chose 58-year-old Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, a Stanford-educated engineer and former minister of mines known for his activism on anticorruption matters. The semi-retired Mr. Kuntoro was not an obvious choice. He eschews the Javanese ceremony and politesse that infuses politics here.
Old-line politicians opposed Mr. Kuntoro for the same reason representatives of McKinsey and donor nations wanted him: impatience and a reputation for incorruptibility. Mr. Kuntoro offers a typically blunt response when asked how he responds to ministers unhappy to lose control of reconstruction projects and the distribution of aid dollars. "I tell them that's your problem," Mr. Kuntoro says. "You don't like it, tough."
Such talk implies Mr. Yudhoyono's strong backing. That has made it difficult for often venal bureaucrats and lawmakers to twist the agency's arm. But it hasn't stopped them from trying.
In early June, a group of legislators tasked with approving the BRR's budget invited a group of senior agency officials to a midnight meeting at room 2080 of Jakarta's Sahid Jaya hotel, according to people at the BRR. Some BRR officials worried that they would be pressured to divert contracts to friends of the legislators. Invited to the impromptu meeting, Mr. Kuntoro says he waited outside the hotel "because I can't always control my temper."
As it turned out, people familiar with the matter say, the lawmakers wanted the BRR to support a contract for a tsunami early-warning system they claimed was being pushed by Kusmayanto Kadiman, Minister for Research and Technology.
Before long, Mr. Kuntoro says he got a cellphone text message from a deputy relaying the legislators' request. "I called [Mr. Kusmayanto] and threatened to make [the legislators' claims] public," said Mr. Kuntoro.
He said Mr. Kusmayanto pledged his cooperation and the matter ended there. Mr. Kusmayanto declined to comment on the incident and referred questions to Idwan Suhardi, assistant to the Deputy Minister for Research and Technology. Mr.
Suhardi said: "The state ministry for research and technology has never given any recommendation or favor to any particular company or institution, domestic or foreign, related to the development of tsunami early warning system."
Whatever the case, the incident helped serve notice on those who would seek favors from the BRR that the agency wasn't playing by the old rules. "Look, we Indonesians are famous for corruption," says Mr. Kuntoro. "We have to get this right."
Getting it right has also meant going slow -- often subjecting the government to criticism as reconstruction projects wait to get off the ground. It has taken time to create transparent procedures and competitive bids for contracts; more time to hire auditors to look over the BRR's shoulder; and yet more time to do the thankless work of sorting out things like land titles across such a vast area in which many land owners are dead.
"Could [the reconstruction] have been done any faster and been done well? No," says Michael Whiting, head of the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre in Aceh and a veteran of relief operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. He says the BRR is effectively helping the more than 120 international aid organizations working in the region cut through bureaucratic red tape, adding: "They actually have taken the time to get a good plan, which is more than I can say for other places I've worked."
That doesn't mean the BRR has acted as swiftly as it could have, a point Mr. Kuntoro is quick to concede. Jan Egeland, the UN's top emergency relief coordinator, recently cited the failure to build permanent housing in Aceh. Some 67,500 people in Aceh still live in tent camps.
To walk the coastal plain of the provincial capital Banda Aceh today is a surreal experience. Need is everywhere and activity seemingly nowhere. Roads are ruts strewn with giant tree trunks. There are families in tents and flimsy wooden structures for whom days are consumed just fetching water.
Cranes, backhoes and dump trucks are conspicuous by their absence. The devastation, stretching far beyond where the eye can see, suggests the conundrum of just where to begin.
Then there is paperwork. Eddy Purwanto, a BRR deputy director, says it has taken seven weeks for the BRR to award a government contract that might have taken just a week in another ministry. That, he says, is simply because bids are no longer being rigged.
Time lost to competitive bidding is, however, proving to be money saved. In the case of one $35 million contract for irrigation and flood-control systems in Aceh, even the highest bid came in at only 80% of the government's own estimate for the project's actual cost.
In Banda Aceh, the push to curtail corruption is turning off local bureaucrats, causing further delays. To address that, the BRR boosted salaries for local government officials overseeing reconstruction projects by over 20 times normal scale to as much as $2,000 per month.
Still, the BRR is having a hard time finding project managers. It turns out local officials can make even more money when bribes are involved.
"It's taken two months to find some project managers," says Sudirman Said, another deputy director at the BRR. "Usually, finding a bureaucrat to oversee a contract is a piece of cake."
The biggest cultural shock to the system has been the BRR's willingness to give local residents a say in what comes next -- a component of the reconstruction blueprint pushed by McKinsey. Local wishes have long been subordinate to Indonesia's post- colonial obsession with holding a farflung archipelago together as a nation. Juaini, 50 years old, lost all five of her children to the tsunami. She says she has been surprised to see the likes of Mr. Kuntoro himself inspecting new homes built to the specifications of her neighbors in the village of Deah Baro on the outskirts of Banda Aceh. "He's not like the other [government] officials saying they listen to you but then forget," she says. "People like me can talk to him easily, openly."
The theme of local self-determination also characterizes Aceh's new peace agreement -- a key strut of the rebuilding process. The government has agreed to let the province elect its own leaders and will even let the rebels contest elections as a political party, something that sticks in the craw of Jakarta hardliners.
The army, a powerful presence in Aceh frequently criticized for human-rights abuses, likewise remains distrustful of the rebels and those who would work with them. Its generals bristle when Mr. Kuntoro says he'll happily rebuild rebel areas and welcome them on his reconstruction team. "The army sends intelligence guys [to spy on BRR's office], but I don't care," he says. "We have nothing to hide."
The BRR's reconstruction efforts will go smoother if the peace holds. Many are confident it will, despite false starts in the past. "We are really sure both sides are committed," says Jaakko Okansen, a military adviser to the Aceh Monitoring Mission, an unarmed group from the European Union and five Southeast Asian nations that is overseeing the region's disarmament. "Not a single time has either side broken its word." Like the peace process, the reconstruction effort will last for years and is certain to have its share of disappointments. But as the rebuilding contracts begin to flow in earnest, those on the ground see a lot that is encouraging.
"We're satisfied with the work so far," says Zainul Arifin, a descendant of the former king of Aceh. "At least we have a roadmap for where we are going."
Aftermath in Aceh
Source: Indonesian Government
Jakarta Post - November 2, 2005
Banda Aceh -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) hailed on Tuesday the return of a top leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Bakhtiar Abdullah, to his homeland.
His homecoming is proof of GAM's seriousness in implementing a peace agreement to end nearly three decades of separatist fighting, Aceh's Iskandar Muda military commander Maj. Gen. Supiadin said. "That's good. It signifies that GAM is more serious. He (Bakhtiar) took part in peace negotiations with us," he said.
Supiadin hoped Bakhtiar would further disseminate information on the implementation of the peace deal, signed on Aug. 15 in Finland by the government and GAM, to all GAM members following several recent incidents of violence in Aceh. "His return will serve to prevent different interpretations among GAM members on the peace deal," Supiadin. He appealed to other exiled GAM leaders, including Hasan Tiro and Malik Mahmud, to also return to Aceh.
Bakhtiar arrived in Banda Aceh on Monday after 25 years of self- exile overseas.
Radio Australia - November 1, 2005
For the first time in 25 years, an exiled leader of Aceh's separatist rebel movement has returned to the Indonesian province in a sentimental homecoming. Bachtiar Abdullah has lived in Sweden since 1980. His return to Aceh comes just three months after GAM signed a peace pact with Jakarta to end almost 30-years of insurgency.
Presenter/Interviewer: Linda LoPresti
Speakers: Bachtiar Abdullah, spokesman for the Acehnese rebel group, GAM
Abdullah: I just feel great and I just can't believe my eyes that I'm in the chair right now. Words is just is not enough to explain. It's just that the feeling is indescribable. It's between a dream and reality you know.
Lopresti: It's been such a long time. How have things changed since you left?
Abdullah: There's not very much change unfortunately, but what I'm very, very, very, very disappointed is that after the tsunami for the last year or so, nothing much has been done. For example, we have just been visiting a mass grave and I was so shocked to see that there's no sign, no remembrance of those who have died in the tsunami. And apart from that, well we've seen some houses being built by IOM, but there still is a common site, that you see people staying in tents, in camps like that you know.
Lopresti: On a happier note, Mr Abdullah, what about the peace pact which you signed with Jakarta last August? Have you seen some positive outcome on that front?
Abdullah: Oh yes, indeed. In fact it is the chief minister has been made in the last process, the second phase of the decommissioning process was far more than expected in a sense that people never expected that things have been going on so smoothly. Both parties have been committed to the peace process.
Lopresti: And both sides are observing the deal, are observing the peace pact?
Abdullah: Yes, yes we are, yeah exactly that's what I've seen and I know travelling along the streets, which I see no checkpoints or things like that as was before and people are trying to live, to come back to a normal life.
Lopresti: Mr. Abdullah, do you see yourself returning to Aceh to live?
Abdullah: Yeah, I will always want to come back, but first I would try to do the best I can first.
Lopresti: But there's no doubt that your return would certainly play an important role in the future of Aceh?
Abdullah: Yes, we are back here to try to help our fellow friends who are doing excellently in this process, that's the reason why we are back to see how things are and hopefully to be able to contribute our assistance to the team that is here already.
I'm still a foreign citizen, so I still have to sort out first the things aside before deciding for good to stay or not.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- Observed by a crowd of hundreds, six convicted gamblers were caned on Monday in front of the Baitul Musyahadah Mosque here.
The public canings were the second such event in Banda Aceh and the seventh in the province, all of which were carried out as punishment for gambling. The first public canings took place in Bireuen regency in June this year.
"The prisoners violated article 5 Qanun (bylaw) No. 13/2003 on maisir (gambling). Each will receive eight to 10 strokes of the cane," prosecutor Saprianto said before the punishment was executed by officials wearing black veils to conceal their identities.
The two men who allegedly organized the gambling were given 10 strokes and the others were given eight.
Seven people, including a 15-year-old Mahyuddin bin Yunus, were apprehended by Banda Aceh Police on the third day of the fasting month of Ramadhan, while gambling in the Jl. Diponegoro area. Evidence used to convict them included a pack of poker cards and Rp 149,000 (US$14.9) in cash.
As a minor, Mahyuddin was not caned but, based on Law No. 3/1997 on child prosecution, he was handed over to his parents in front of the spectators.
The sharia system was implemented in Aceh in 2003, two years after the central government granted special autonomy to the province in order to curb separatist demands.
Before the canings took place, Aceh regional governments had already enforced Muslim dress codes, mandatory prayers five times a day and the giving of alms.
Since then, the province has introduced three Qanun or bylaws on the implementation of the Islamic law, which prohibit maisir, khalwat (sexual relations outside of marriage) and khamar (alcoholic drinks). Of the three bylaws, the one on gambling has been most frequently violated.
"The essence of the punishment is to make the violators embarrassed. They will not repeat the same offense and it will teach others not to gamble," said Banda Aceh Mayor Mawardi Nurdin. He said no violators of khalwat or khamar had been found so far. Under the law, a khalwat offender would be stoned to death while a khamar offender would also be caned in public.
The Acehnese have been pushing the authorities to punish embezzlers under sharia. According to head of the Islamic Law Office, Aliasa' Abubakar, corruption is no different to stealing, which under sharia, is punishable by cutting off a thief's hand. "But a bylaw (to deal with corruption) has not yet been made," Aliasa' said without elaboration.
Residents, however, are demanding the bylaw be passed, saying the prevailing laws only touch ordinary people. "Gambling and drinking alcohol are what regular people do. How about corrupt government (officials)?" asked Khaidir, a Banda Aceh resident who watched the public caning.
The public canings in Aceh have caused controversy at home, with human right activists saying the presence of an audience was an unnecessary humiliation as, although other countries like Singapore and Malaysia also used caning as a punishment, it was not done in public.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta -- Ten months after the devastating tsunami that claimed more than 210,000 human lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of others last December, the public living in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is still in trouble.
More than 500,000 survivors are still living camps and temporary barracks in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh, Aceh Besar, Aceh Jaya and West Aceh. The four regions were worst hit by the 8.9 Richter-scale tremor and tsunami tidal waves.
A part of refugees have apparently gone unrest since many foreign aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations have begun pulling out from the province while the rehabilitation and reconstruction work moves too slowly.
So far only 15 percent of refugees have occupied their simple home built by state-owned construction companies.
Many survivors who lost their couple and children have set their dependence on emergency relief from local authorities and foreign and international aid agencies. But they have frequently complained on the soaring prices of basic commodities which was triggered by the recent fuel price hike.
They receive Rp 3,000 (35 Cents) each per day from local authorities and rice aid from the World Food Program.
A part of school-age children have no longer classes since many children centers built near refuge camps have disappeared.
Most refugees who used to go fishing won't resume their daily activities since they could not afford new fishing boats or vessels. But many fishermen have made other job under the sponsorship of UNDP and their school-age children moved to other schools with the help of Unicef.
"The problem in Aceh is still far from over and survivors, especially internally-displaced children, need a special attention because they are facing a dark future," 18-year-old Seong Hur, a volunteer worker of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) said here recently.
Seong who sits at 12nd grade of the Jakarta International School, said tsunami survivors needed not an emergency aid but a long- term one to help them recover from their trauma and grievance triggered by the disastrous tragedy.
Working as a volunteer worker of Koica, Seong has helped the Korean aid agency channel and distribute humanitarian aids to survivors in the four worst-devastated regions.
"Besides collecting used clothes, books and toys from the Korean community in Jakarta, I have also used my monthly pocket money to buy books, pens, pencils and toys to be sent to children centers in Lampu U, Lhoong, Lhok Nga, Meuraxa and Kutaraja in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar.
"Compared to billions of dollars donated by the international community to Aceh, this is not valuable but such a routine aid will help school-age children in the long run," he said.
Seong was surprised by the less attention of Indonesian people to the slow rehabilitation and reconstruction work which was below their nose.
Authorities have paid attention to the implementation of the Hensinki peace agreement between Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement more than 500,000 survivors and children who are facing a dark future while most people outside Aceh are thinking the tragedy has been over.
"Of course, victims of suicide bombings in Bali and of the flash flood in Southeast Aceh, but the reconstruction work should go faster to allow tsunami survivors to live a normal life," he said.
He said he was fearing that the shift of the international community's attention to South Asia following last week's strong earthquake that killed more than 30,000 in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, would make the condition in Aceh worse.
Seong's several Aceh visits has inspired him to study architecture in the United States next year and, after completing his study, he would live in Indonesia to develop the Aceh traditional construction architecture.
"Nine years ago, I was reluctant to live with my parents in Jakarta. But after going around the archipelago, I have been impressed by the country's diverse culture and its tribal housings which are totally different with the modern architecture in my homecountry," he said.
With the billions of dollars donated by the international community to Aceh, the government could build hundreds of thousands of earthquake-resistant, Aceh-style traditional houses for the tsunami survivors.
"The Aceh traditional houses need no nails and cements. It is very simple because we need only wood, bamboo, string for spinning a top and palm fiber for roof but constructions are safe and flexible in resisting tremors," said Seong.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency for Aceh and Nias (BRR) has lashed out at the Ministry of Finance for lacking a sense of crisis in delaying without clear reason several critical enabling regulations that would allow reconstruction work to proceed.
Deputy of the agency's communication division, Sudirman Said, disclosed that the regulations were still at the ministry even though they were pivotal to speeding up the agency's work in the region devastated by a tsunami in December last year.
"There are four regulations on reconstruction that are still with the ministry for reasons that are unclear," Sudirman said in Banda Aceh on Sunday.
The four regulations, he said, had already been approved by the National Development Planning Board and the State Secretary's Office.
They are drafts of Presidential Regulations intended to amend Presidential Decree No. 80/2003 on guidelines for product/service provision, as well as for salaries for agency workers and officials, free registration processing for land affected by the tsunami, and on unit pricing to determine tariffs.
He said one of the regulations -- the one providing free registration processing for land affected by the tsunami -- has been at the ministry for three months.
"Because the regulations are still with the ministry, this has caused many problems. For instance, 101 reconstruction working units are not being paid and they've been working for six months," Sudirman said.
The agency's workers are feeling the impact of the ministry's slow response. "We're just giving down-payments," Sudirman said.
The agency, he said, had repeatedly sent letters to the finance ministry questioning the fate of the regulations, but had received no response.
"We understand that the ministry of finance's job is to control; but if the control puts a stop to (reconstruction and rehabilitation) then it's not right," Sudirman said.
He hoped the ministry would show a sense of crisis considering that the people of Aceh desperately wanted to get back on track after being devastated by the tsunami.
The agency, which was set up seven months ago and is tasked with overseeing reconstruction work and managing the billions of dollars in foreign aid, was under pressure to speed up reconstruction work in Aceh and Nias.
The agency's chairman, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, recently vowed to speed up reconstruction, particularly the building of permanent houses for people left homeless by the tsunami, which killed over 220,00 people and left around half a million people homeless.
So far, the agency had constructed around 6,300 houses, including 870 in Banda Aceh. By December, the agency hoped to have completed the construction of some 30,000 houses.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Nani Afrida, Banda Aceh -- In another positive sign for the peace process in Aceh, a top leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) arrived in his homeland on Monday after 25 years in exile overseas after a peace deal succeeded in ending nearly three decades of conflict in the province.
Bakhtiar Abdullah, the leading spokesman for the GAM leadership in Sweden, landed in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on a commercial plane accompanied by GAM activist Munawar Zain.
Bakhtiar, who was also a key negotiator in the peace deal signed on Aug. 15 in Finland by the GAM and the Indonesian government, said he would stay in Aceh for the next two months to monitor the situation on the ground.
"I am here to see how far we have gone. I want to help friends in the field who have been implementing the memorandum of understanding," he told a press conference upon his arrival, referring to the peace agreement.
Asked to comment on the peace process, Bakhtiar said "it has run smoothly, including the weapons decommissioning... It's beyond our expectations".
GAM has surrendered hundreds of weapons to international peace monitors as part of the peace accord, while the government has pulled thousands of troops out of Aceh.
Bakhtiar said that he was at a loss for words after arriving in Aceh. "I don't know how to describe my feelings upon returning to my homeland Aceh. I am moved," said Bakhtiar who is still a Swedish citizen.
He is the first official of the exiled GAM leadership in Sweden to return home. It remains unclear whether or when the group's other top leaders -- Hasan Tiro, Malik Mahmud, and Zaini Abdullah would follow suit. Bakhtiar's return is seen as another sign that the peace process is on track.
"The peace process is generally going pretty well, and both sides seem to be sticking by the agreement," Damien Kingsbury, an Australian academic who serves as an adviser to GAM, told AP on Monday.
"It may even have passed the point of no return." Speaking from Melbourne, he dismissed doubts about Bakhtiar's safety in Aceh.
"It's a necessary step because if he didn't go it would be destabilizing and would show a lack of confidence in the peace process," said Kingsbury, who is banned from visiting Aceh.
Bakhtiar has been touted as a strong GAM candidate to contest a gubernatorial election in Aceh next year. Asked if he would run in the election, he laughed and said: "Later. Later".
The possible nomination of Bakhtiar was denied by his colleagues. "He (Bakhtiar) is still a Swedish citizen, so it's impossible for him to become a governor. Moreover, GAM has yet to decide whether to contest the election or not," a local GAM leader said.
The peace agreement allows GAM to reinvent itself as a local political party to participate in local elections in Aceh.
The accord, which is being supervised by a mission consisting of 250 monitors from the European Union and Southeast Asian countries, also calls for the gradual reintegration of the separatists -- previously banned under Indonesia's draconian internal security laws -- into political life.
Their candidates will be allowed to take part in gubernatorial, municipal and regental elections scheduled for next year, and in the next general elections in 2009.
Although the disengagement process has proceeded relatively smoothly, the level of mistrust remains high.
| West Papua |
Radio New Zealand - November 7, 2005
Papuans are reportedly forming their own assembly to counter the Papuan People's Council, or MRP, established by the Indonesian government to represent the province.
The 42-member MRP was set up last month despite strong public opposition to the election process.
Tom Beanal, the chairman of the Papuan Customary Council which represents more than 270 tribes of the province, says the election was undemocratic.
He says the government failed to provide Papuans with the opportunity to elect their own representatives, with the members being appointed by local officials.
And the secretary of the Papuan Presidium Council, Willy Mandowen, says that Papuan voters do not consider the MRP to be representative of them.
"The people are now in the process of forming their own MRP which truly represents the cultural, tribal groups in West Papua -- not this 42 which is marginalising the genuine participation of West Papuans in the process of decision-making."
[Willy Mandowen of the Papuan Presidium Council.]
SPM News - October 31, 2005
Yogyakarta -- Today, Monday 31/10 One hundred Papuan Students who called themselves the Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP) Jogjakarta took part in a long march [in central Java] to protest against the inauguration of MRP members in Papua by the Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
The demonstration began at 10.15 am (Western Indonesian Time) at the roundabout of UGM (University of Gajah Mada). They walked from Jalan Cik Ditiro, Gramedia, Jl. Mangkubumi, Jl. Malioboro and ended their long march in the junction next to Kantor Pos Besar Jogjakarta (Jogjakarta Main Post Office). During the long march the demonstrators gave talks continuously at various strategic places.
Just like at previous protests, elements of Pro Indonesian Democracy movement such as LMND (Liga Mahasiswa Nasional untuk Demokrasi "National Students League for Democracy") and PRD (Partai Rakyat Demokratik "Democratic People Party") joined in.
These groups were also involved in the demo and gave their supports for the rejection of the election and the inauguration of the members of MRP in Papua today. One of the representatives from LMND said that SBY-KALLA (President Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla) seem to have forced the Papuans to accept their intention; that is to accept West Papua being forced into the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia. He also stated that "We the National Students League for Democracy, fully and permanently support the Papuan people struggle for self- determination (Merdeka/Independence).
In addition, a representative from PRD (Democratic People Party) stated "The MRP is part of the Special Autonomy which has been rejected and returned (to Jakarta) by Papuan People on the 12th of August 2005. At the moment there is confusion in Jakarta and therefore the MRP is like political "candies" being given to the Papuans. Thus, the Papuans must reject it and we stated that we support the rejection of the MRP because we understand that MRP is a new form of recent colonization which will destroy the future of the Papuans."
A representative from the Women group stated that "We Papuan Women clearly reject today's inauguration of MRP by the Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. We gave births to Papuan sons and daughters; however, the number of Papuans from day to day decreases. Where are they? Therefore, Papua must be independent in order to increase the population of the Papuans."
A representative from AMP (Alliance of Papuan Students) stated that Papuan People must be consistent with the rejection of the Special Autonomy (which has been done in August). The (government of) the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia has performed a public form of lying to the Papuans.
Thus, the Papuans must be aware and carefully read the political development. This is crucial for the people in order not to fall from one type of suffering into another type of suffering. According to the AMP representative, Special Autonomy has been returned; Why is MRP forced (to be implemented)?; What is going on? The attitude of the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP) is clearly rejecting all the policies of the unitary state of Indonesia in West Papua; this includes MRP and Special Autonomy.
(The main reason is) because West Papua wants to be independent and has a full sovereignty over its own land".
Blasius Wayne led the demo and along the street the students were shouting and singing while carrying a 1.5 X 3m banner which contained all the demands about the rejection of MRP and Special Autonomy and other political tricks by the Indonesian government in West Papua.
At 12:45 (Western Indonesian Time), the coordinator of the demo read a statement and all protesters were directed to a Papuan student dormitory "Kamasan I" in Jalan Kusumanegara Jogjakarta where they had a closing prayer (to end today's demo).
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- The newly elected members of the Papuan People's Council (MRP) took office on Monday in a ceremony that was notable for the heavy police presence.
About 600 officers were at the governor's office to guard the ceremony, which was protested by about 100 people from the Front for West Papua Struggle, who said the election of the council members was illegitimate because religious institutions in the province had been shut out of the process.
The 42 members of the MRP were elected by selected tribal groups, religious groups and women's groups.
During the protest, the group demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono revoke the results of the election. There was no violence during the protest, which broke up after about an hour. Police prevented protesters from meeting with Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf, who inaugurated the MRP members on behalf of the President.
A leader of the protesters, Selpius Bobii, said the government had one month to respond to the group's complaints. "If our demand is not unheeded, we will take to the streets and call on all Papuans to go on strike on November 28," Bobii said.
Ma'ruf said the new council would ensure the human rights and customary rights of all Papuans, as well as protecting democracy, pluralism, equality and the supremacy of the law in Papua.
The minister also said the members of the council had been democratically elected and had been approved by all relevant groups.
The MRP members, who will serve for five years, are equally divided into three working groups representing tribes, religious groups and women's groups.
According to Government Regulation No. 54/2004, which was signed last December, the council represents indigenous Papuan culture and wields special powers covering the protection of traditional rights, the empowerment of women and the promotion of religious harmony. The council has the power to approve gubernatorial candidates when the candidates are native Papuans, provide recommendations and approve any form of cooperation between the Papuan administration and other parties, and give opinions on and endorse the establishment of new administrative regions.
Papua Governor JP Solossa will officially end his term on Nov. 23, but the lengthy process of electing and installing the MRP members has delayed the election for his successor.
The council oversees Papua province only, which has been separated from West Irian Jaya province. The Law on Special Autonomy for Papua, which mandated the establishment of the MRP, refers to Papua as the province before the split early last year.
Ma'ruf said the council was expected to help Papua reduce the development gap with other provinces, improve the welfare of residents and create opportunities for residents to develop under the unitary state of Indonesia.
Papua is rich in natural resources but has lagged behind other regions in terms of development.
Also attending the inauguration ceremony on Monday were Solossa, West Irian Jaya interim governor Timbul Pujianto, Trikora Military Command head Maj. Gen. George Toisutta, Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Dody Sumantyawan and members of the Papua and West Irian Jaya legislative councils.
| Military ties |
New Zealand Radio - November 8, 2005
Indonesia has criticised the United States for stalling efforts to restore full military ties between the two countries because of unresolved murders in its province of Papua.
A US House committee says Indonesia has not done enough to bring the killers of two American school teachers and one Indonesian in 2002 to justice. It wants a new investigation into the matter before it authorises foreign military finance and exports of lethal military equipment to Indonesia
The Indonesian defence minister, Juwono Sudarsono, says there is no legal basis to the move. Mr Sudarsono says an earlier FBI investigation in conjunction with the Indonesian Military concluded Papuan separatist rebels were to blame.
That team implicated rebel leader Antonius Wamang in the attack. Mr Wamang is still at large. Activists believe he was working for the military.
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2005
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government will have to look for alternative arms suppliers with the US appearing likely to extend its military embargo against the country, according to a senior minister.
"We have many strategic alternatives... for developing our military strength. We will not be depending solely on the US," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto said following a Cabinet meeting on Monday.
He was commenting on reports that US lawmakers recently renewed their campaign to convince the administration to extend a 13-year military embargo imposed on Indonesia. The US lawmakers claim the Indonesian government has not done enough to bring to justice the perpetrators of a 2002 ambush in Papua that killed two American citizens and one Indonesian citizen. The lawmakers have also required that the US State Department must first certify that Indonesia is being cooperative in the global fight against terrorism before full military ties can be resumed.
"We need to face this reality by preparing other alternatives," Widodo said.
Indonesia's military equipment has been steadily deteriorating as a result of the arms embargo by the US, which was imposed following the gross human rights violations in the former province of East Timor.
But a dispute earlier this year between Indonesia and Malaysia over territory and resources made some quarters see the urgency of modernizing the country's military equipment.
Government officials and Indonesian Military (TNI) officers have done some "window-shopping" in several countries, including China, India, South Korea and a number of eastern Europe countries. Indonesia has also purchased jet fighters and helicopters from Russia.
The TNI is unlikely to purchase new arms for another two years because of the government's current financial difficulties, but it could start expanding its equipment purchases in 2007 if the country's economy continues to strengthen.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, needs a strong military force not only to address threats at home, such as separatist movements, but also as a deterrent against neighboring countries, most of which have updated their military capacity.
Widodo, however, said military cooperation with the US had already been revived in certain areas, pointing out the US assistance for training TNI personnel and the resumption of spare parts supplies for Hercules aircraft.
"As an example, the US recently disbursed some US$1 million worth of assistance for a joint training program between the navies of the two countries," Widodo said.
Widodo added that the failure to revive full military ties with the US was not due to the government's weak diplomatic efforts, as suggested by some critics.
"The extension of the embargo is not due to any failure on the part of our diplomacy. The US must have its own considerations (for maintaining the embargo)."
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2005
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government has criticized United States lawmakers for stalling efforts to restore full military ties between the two countries, calling the move a groundless ploy.
"I see there is no legal basis to accuse Indonesia of not doing anything to meet all requirements for the restoration of military cooperation," Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono said on Sunday.
He was commenting on restrictions maintained by the US Senate and House of Representatives on foreign military finance, and on exports of lethal military equipment to Indonesia. The move comes as US President George W. Bush seeks approval from the US Congress for US$20.9 billion in foreign aid that includes military funding for several countries in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia, including Indonesia.
The US lawmakers said Indonesia had not done enough to bring to justice perpetrators of an ambush in Timika, Papua, in 2002, which killed two American teachers and an Indonesian citizen working for US-owned mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.
"At the initiative of TNI chief (Gen. Endriartono Sutarto), we provided FBI access to the investigation and they concluded later that the TNI was clean," Juwono said.
The US implicated a rebel leader Antonius Wamang in the attack. Free Papuan Movement (OPM) has waged a low-level armed struggle for independence against the central government.
"As of today, the police, with the assistance of the military, continue to hunt down the suspect, who can easily traverse the border between Papua province and neighboring Papua New Guinea," Juwono said.
Indonesia has been desperately seeking alternative arms suppliers after Washington imposed a military embargo on Jakarta in 1999, due to atrocities in East Timor that were linked to the TNI.
The TNI, however, has been the world's largest beneficiary of millions of dollars' worth of unrestricted counter-terrorism training under the Pentagon's Regional Defense Counterterrorism Fellowship Program. In 2004, Indonesia participated in Extended IMET programs worth $599,000. In 2005 alone, Indonesia was expected to participate in more than 132 events under the US Pacific Command Theater Security Cooperation Program.
The US lawmakers are also requiring that the US State Department certify that Indonesia is cooperating in the war on terror in order to receive the aid disbursement.
Juwono assured that Indonesia was committed to the crackdown on terrorist networks and had never taken advantage of the issue for political, religious or ideological interests.
"We have always supported the fight against terrorism by our own initiative. Of course, any arrest of terrorist suspects should be made based on our legal system," Juwono told The Jakarta Post.
He said Indonesia had received assistance from foreign countries to fight terrorism, including electronic interception and financial detection devices for Bank Indonesia, the Ministry of Finance and the Customs and Excise office.
Rights activist Ifdhal Kasim from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) said the problems with the Papua incident did not lie in the incapability of the country's law enforcers, but "political interests that require the case to remain undisclosed."
"If a certain institution is believed to have been involved in the incident, then we must admit it and bring the perpetrators to justice. The government must realize that upholding the law is a key instrument to start military reform," Ifdhal told the Post.
He said that Juwono had to speed up military reform because "the problems of reviving military ties with the US will stand still unless we can show some real progress."
The ups-and-downs of military ties between Indonesia and the US
1993 - Washington imposes partial military embargo against Indonesia, following the St. Cruz massacre in East Timor.
1999 - The US imposes a full embargo against Indonesia, banning the export of military equipment to Jakarta and training of its military
2003 - In the wake of the global war on terror, the US revives in stages military ties with Indonesia by reopening training and courses for Indonesian officers.
2004 - Washington eases the embargo after the Dec. 26 tsunami. The Policy allows Indonesia to purchase non-lethal military equipment
Associated Press - November 5, 2005
Jakarta -- A human rights group focusing on Indonesia praised the US Congress for keeping a ban on sales of military equipment to Indonesia, whose armed forces have been accused of widespread abuses.
"The Indonesian military is still a long way off from constituting a professional institution respectful of human rights and fully accountable to civilian authority. We are very pleased that Congress recognizes this," the New York-based East Timor and Indonesia Action Network said in a statement received Saturday.
Tuesday, a conference between the Senate and the House of Representatives agreed to maintin restrictions on foreign military finance and exports of lethal military equipment to Indonesia, until Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice certifies the Indonesian armed forces have met certain conditions.
These include prosecution and punishment of Indonesian personnel "who have been credibly alleged to have committed gross violations of human rights" in Indonesia and East Timor, and the implementation of reforms "to improve civilian control of the military."
The conferees further required Rice to submit a detailed report on efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the ambush and murder of two US schoolteachers and the wounding of eight others in West Papua in 2002.
Congress later passed legislation making the reestablishment of contacts contingent on Jakarta's cooperation in bringing to justice those responsible for the killings.
The armed forces of the two nations cooperated closely in the 1970s and 80s, during the dictatorship of former President Suharto. But the Clinton administration imposed a partial ban in 1991 to protest a massacre of East Timorese civilians by Suharto's troops, and cut ties completely in 1999 after the army devastated the province following a UN-organized independence referendum.
Limited ties -- focused mainly on a small officer-training program -- were reestablished under President George W. Bush. But proposals to resume full cooperation, which were strongly backed by former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, have repeatedly been stymied by congressional insistence on holding the military accountable for past misdeeds.
Tuesday's conference made an exception for the Indonesian navy, which is not blamed for abuses. It was granted $1 million in foreign military finance.
| Labour issues |
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2005
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung -- Despite workers' demand for a 100- percent salary raise following the skyrocketing prices of basic necessities due to the fuel price hikes, the West Java administration did not bow to the demand, raising workers' minimum wage by less than 10 percent.
West Java provincial administration spokesman, Yanto Subiyanto, said on Monday that a decree for the 2006 minimum wage was signed by Governor Danny Setiawan on Oct. 28 after receiving the recommendation from the West Java Wage Council. It will be effective on Jan. 1, 2006.
In the decree, it cites the new minimum wage in the province at Rp 447,654 (US$44,76) per month, or a 9.6 percent raise from the previous wage of Rp 408,260 in 2005. The increase is below the inflation rate between January and October this year (15.65 percent).
"The decision on the new minimum wage is quite consistent with the recommendation from the West Java Wage Council, comprising representatives from the associations of employers, experts, labor unions and the government (manpower office)," Yanto said on Monday.
He said that unlike the 2005 minimum wage, which was based on survey of 43 basic necessities, the 2006 wage was based on a survey toward 46 basic necessities to ensure decent living in the province's municipalities and regencies. The new minimum wage, he added, also considered economic growth and worker productivity.
The new wage, which was far below the workers' expectations, was immediately questioned by labor activists. "When was the survey held? Before or after the fuel price increases? How come the amount is so low," asked Nyoman Ngidep, chairman of National Workers Union in West Java.
Based on the union's survey of living costs after the fuel price increases, workers -- who live outside Bandung city where prices are relatively cheaper compared to those in the provincial capital -- have to spend up to Rp 642,000, including for meals, transportation and basic necessities.
Nyoman predicted the "inhumane" new minimum wage would prompt a heated response from eight million workers at the nearly 20,000 companies in the province, upon their return from the Idul Fitri holiday.
Moreover, he said, the new wage would be used as a reference for the province's municipal and regency administrations to set minimum wages in their respective areas.
He also questioned the independence of the council and alleged that they put businesspeoples' interests higher than workers, with a hope that low wages would lure more investors to the province.
Last week, the Jakarta administration also announced the new minimum wage (Rp 819,100 for 2006, an increase of 15 percent from the current Rp 711,843). The increase, however, is much lower than the Rp 1,203,015 demanded by labor unions.
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2005
Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta -- The city administration has raised the minimum wage for workers here from the current Rp 711,843 (about US$71) to Rp 819,100, effective next year, but the extra Rp 107,257 will hardly make a difference to worker and single mother of two adults, Asmawati.
"What with the increase of fuel prices followed by transportation fares and other goods, it's nothing more than an adjustment, hardly an increase," she told The Jakarta Post at her home in Sungai Bambu subdistrict, Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Monday.
The 45-year-old may have a point. The city administration may have granted a 15-percent increase of Jakarta's minimum wage for next year, but prices have also increased by an average of 8.7 percent since September.
According to recent data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the cost of transportation, communication, and monetary services had increased by a whopping 28.57 percent in October compared to the previous month.
This was followed by housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel by 7.4 percent; food commodities prices in October increased by 7.24 percent; ready-made food, beverages, cigarettes and tobacco increased by 3.21 percent; clothing by 1.84 percent; education, recreation and sports by 1.4 percent; and health care by 0.95 percent.
Sitting on the tiled floor of her unfurnished living room, Asmawati said it was fortunate that she did not have to rent the house that she and her two children live in.
"For my other friends, that extra Rp 100,000 would only go to the landlord who has increased their rent since the fuel price hike," she said, explaining that the simple house was given to her by her parents.
Even after five years working in the same garment manufacturing firm in Cakung, East Jakarta, Asmawati still receives the minimum wage of Rp 711,843 a month.
And for seven hours a day, five and a half days a week, the company she works for pays just Rp 4,000 an hour for overtime, Rp 30,000 for payment of unused sick leave and a transportation allowance of Rp 1,000 a day.
"But since the cost of transportation is actually much higher now, I have to pay the difference from my basic salary," Asmawati said, explaining that to travel to and from work on privately run transportation now cost Rp 6,000 from Rp 4,000 before the fuel price increases, while public transportation would cost her Rp 10,000.
Besides spending a large chunk of her monthly salary on transportation, Asmawati also spends most of her hard-earned money on food.
Her two adult children help with the household costs from their jobs, particularly in paying for electricity and tap water. "My own salary isn't even enough to buy clothes let alone pay for utilities," she said.
Since the company does not provide health insurance, workers like Asmawati must pay for the health care of their families themselves.
Asmawati used to supplement her income by teaching aerobics to private groups, but stopped since becoming active in her company's labor union in 2002.
"I saw it as a challenge, to help improve the lives of fellow workers, particularly because I know for myself how they suffer," the advocate at both her company's labor union and the National Labor Front for Labor Struggle (FNPBI), said.
Asmawati began by fighting for the right for overtime payment, followed by changing the company's policy on fresh water use.
But somehow an increased transportation allowance and health insurance for workers have proved to be loftier goals. "It's still a long and hard fight," she sighed.
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2005
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta -- Despite pro-labor legislation, workers had to bow down to employers' pressure in determining the hike in the 2006 monthly minimum wages in the wake of economic difficulties and the alarmingly high level of unemployment.
The Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) has recommended a maximum increase of 17.9 percent in the provincial minimum wage (UMR) to match the national inflation rate. Provincial administrations are still negotiating the increase with employers and labor unions that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2006.
Labor unions said on Friday they could not press employers and the government to comply with Law No. 13/2004 on labor which requires the employers to raise the monthly minimum wage to cover the minimum physical needs in the 2006 fiscal year, mainly because most companies have been facing difficulties as a result of the two fuel price hikes this year.
The law stipulates that as of 2006, the minimum wage shall be increased to cover the minimum physical needs. The current minimum wage is 94 percent of that.
"We will see no real hike in the 2006 minimum wages in the provinces because the upcoming hike will only reflect the rise in inflation," chairperson of the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (FNBI) Dita Indah Sari, told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.
Chairman of the All-Indonesia Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI) Rekson Silaban said the organization, which claims to represent three million workers nationwide, could understand the economic difficulties most employers had been facing because of the rising prices of raw materials.
"The situation may be more difficult as many labor intensive companies are expected to stop operations or lay off a number of their workers while the number of people unemployed has already reached 43 million. What is most important is, however, that employers should hold dialogs with their workers to avoid labor unrest," he said.
Chairman of KSPSI Jacob Nuwa Wea called on governors and employers to be prudent in setting the provincial minimum wages to enable low-income workers to survive the current economic hardships.
"The soaring prices have hit the low-income workers' purchasing power the hardest. Even if the minimum wages are doubled, it would still be insufficient to enable them to live a decent life," he said.
Nuwa Wea, also a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that by raising the fuel prices twice, the current government had set a time bomb that would explode some time in the future.
Apindo Secretary-General Djimanto said many employers were unable to raise the minimum wages as high as the inflation rate for numerous reasons.
"Even worse, more and more labor-intensive companies on Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan have stopped operations or laid off some of their workers because of economic difficulties." He predicted the 15 percent increase set for the minimum wage in Jakarta would be the highest, and most small- and medium-scale companies would fail to comply with it because the hike was deemed unreasonable.
In many provinces Apindo members have proposed a hike of between 3 percent and 5 percent only to avoid mass layoffs.
The labor unions and Apindo shared the view that a new remuneration system deliberated in a negotiation between employers and workers should replace the current system, which they say is no longer relevant.
Under the current system, the provincial governments set the minimum wages, which is effective only for single workers who have worked in the formal sector for less than one year. The majority of workers are employed in the informal sector.
"Workers and employers are partners in the production process and, thereby, it is better if the wage level is set through bipartite negotiations," Djimanto said.
The way the minimum wage is determined has often cause conflicts and many small companies have failed to comply with it.
Jakarta Post - November 2, 2005
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- As an Idul Fitri 'gift' for low-paid workers in Jakarta, the Jakarta administration has increased the minimum wage to Rp 819,100 (about US$81) for 2006, an increase of 15 percent from the current Rp 711,843.
The increase, however, is much lower than the Rp 1,203,015 demanded by labor unions. The 15 percent increase granted by the administration is below the inflation rate between January and October this year of 15.65 percent.
"Please bear in mind that the minimum wage is the lowest that can be paid by businesses in the city. Hopefully, larger and stronger companies will pay slightly higher than the minimum wage," Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso told reporters at City Hall.
The minimum wage is only applied for workers whose working experience is less than one year.
Sutiyoso said that the new minimum wage was in line with the recommendation lodged by the tripartite Jakarta Wage Council comprising representatives from the associations of employers, labor unions and the Jakarta Manpower Agency.
Jakarta Manpower Agency head Ali Zubeir called on any ailing businesses that may find it difficult to pay the new minimum wage to immediately request a dispensation from the agency. "We have set a deadline for such companies to file their dispensation requests 10 days at the latest before the full implementation of the minimum wage," Ali said.
The new minimum wage will become effective on Jan. 1, 2006. According to Ali, companies requesting dispensation that employ more than 1,000 workers must agree to be audited by independent auditors. The companies must also shoulder the expense of the audit. "In addition, the request must be made in consultation with labor unions in the respective companies," he added.
The agency said there were about 3.5 million workers in 25,000 companies across the capital.
Secretary general of Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aperindo) Handaka Santosa said he could accept the increase in the minimum wage.
"We can understand that the increase is due to ballooning living costs of workers. The most important thing is how both parties, employers as well as workers, can work together to weather rising operational and production costs in order that businesses survive the crisis," Handaka told The Jakarta Post.
He also urged the administration to eradicate illegal fees imposed on companies.
Some employers said that the recent fuel price hikes have increased production costs at some enterprises, especially manufacturing industries in the city, by up to 15 percent.
The government has increased the price of premium fuel for industry by 21.8 percent to Rp 6,290 per liter. Diesel fuel rose by 12.14 percent from Rp 5,300 to Rp 6,000, while kerosene went up by 14.28 percent from Rp 5,600 to Rp 6,400.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Association for Workers (Aspek) Gibson Nababan acknowledged that the wage increase was below what they had demanded.
"It's the best we could do. But, we also urge the administration to help mediate between labor unions and employers in negotiations for the new provincial minimum wage for certain sectors, or UMS," Gibson said.
Labor unions have long demanded that the administration set higher minimum wages for specific sectors deemed to be healthy, like hotels, automotive industries and metal industries.
| Land/rural issues |
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2005
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Sumedang -- Darya still tends to his sheep and crops on his land located along the edge of a slope which is supposed to become part of dam in the Jatigede area of Sumedang regency, West Java.
The 70-year-old man has never considered moving from the place, despite with the government's plan to start constructing the Jatigede dam next year. Moreover, the old farmer does not even know how much the government intends to pay him for his one- hectare farm.
The government did acquire half of his land, then owned by Darya's father, in 1970. "At that time, the government had acquired half of the land owned by my father at Rp 400 (four US cents) per square meter in 1970," he said.
Under the plan, the reservoir that will be created by the dam is expected to hold nearly 1 billion cubic meters of water.
The manager of the project, Jaja Somantri Widjaja acknowledged that there were still 3,900 families such as Darya who have yet to be compensated, especially in the areas near the lower parts of the prospective reservoir.
Although more than 1,000 families have received compensation for their land and moved to other places, some have actually moved back on to the land that the government already paid them for, due to the unsure realization of the project.
"The process of land acquisition is delicate, because many of them have refused to sell their land. But we have a new paradigm; compensating them according to the current price of land in the area," said Jaja.
Land acquisition has long been a problem since the initiation of the project during former president Soekarno's era in 1963. The government was prompted to construct the reservoir due to water shortages faced by thousands of farmers within the rice-growing areas of the north coast of the province during the drought. Particularly in places like Indramayu, Cirebon, Majalengka and Sumedang regencies.
Based on available statistics, rice plantation areas would increase from 90 million hectares to 130 million hectares if the project is completed.
Moreover, the available water from the reservoir can add to the number of planting seasons, from one or two times a year, to three times annually. The state electricity company PLN also has plans to install a turbine in the dam, which can generate around 175 megawatts of power.
The project's activities once again made the news a few months ago when hundreds of construction workers finished building a block of houses for project officials and the site office in Jatigede village. However, the problem of land acquisition still remains.
The government, through the Ministry of Public Works, has decided to earmark Rp 120 billion in 2006 to start the initial stage of the project by constructing an 800-meter long aqueduct that will be 10 meters wide.
However, residents grouped in the Jatigede Awareness Forum (FPJ) have still refused to sell their land.
FPJ leader, Taryana, estimated that less than 10 percent of local residents living in the areas that would subsequently be submerged in water could afford to relocate from the area because of the meager amount of compensation. He added that it would not enable them to buy land in other areas.
"Previously, a tumbak (14 square meters) of land was only worth Rp 100,000. Now with the price of land reaching an average of Rp 600,000 per tumbak, the government should compensate residents at a margin based on the current price," said Taryana.
Moreover, Sumedang farmers argue that the reservoir would not be of much benefit to them because its water would flow to other areas.
Meanwhile, Sumedang Regent Don Murdono said the government could not compensate them for the land, which had already been sold by residents years ago, since it had been officially bought by the government.
"Let's look to the future. The project will also benefit Sumedang residents. Besides serving as a clean water source for the local tap water company, it can also be developed into a recreational area," said Don.
Separately, the Indonesian Historical Society (MSI) stated there were 25 historical sites threatened by the reservoir, including the Leuwi, Nangewer, Pasir Limus, Nangkod and Muhara historical sites located in five districts.
Head of the West Java chapter of MSI, Nina Lubis, said the sites had strong historical value for the Sundanese people since they were the origins of the kingdoms in West Java previously, such as the Tembang Agung kingdom; the derivation of the Sumedang Larang kingdom in the 9th century.
"To lose those sites would mean another missing link to the Sundanese history," Nina said.
The Sundanese Environmental Resources Promotion Observation Council (DPKLTS) estimates the project will displace 41,000 people, submerge around 1,200 hectares of forest, and Rp 1 trillion worth of rice and tobacco fields on 3,100 hectares.
"More importantly, thousands of plant and animal species will become extinct," claimed Sobirin of DPKLTS.
Instead of going on with the construction, he argued that the government should revitalize the role of the rivers in the Cimanuk area, which have been a source of water for rice fields in West Java's north coast area for many decades.
"Unfavorable conditions in the upstream areas, due to the lack of catchment areas, means that 75 percent of the water flows directly into the sea. Why don't we restore the upstream areas to prevent floods during rainy season and drought in the dry season," said Sobirin.
However, regardless of the protestations, the government seems undeterred."Like it or not, the government is determined to finish this project. Only time will tell," said Jaja.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Hyginus Hardoyo, Jakarta -- At the start of his presidential term a year ago, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised to put the agricultural sector on top of his government policy agenda with the aim of increasing rural household incomes from both farm and off-farm activities.
As part of the realization of his promise, Susilo officially launched in June a revitalization plan for the country's agricultural development together with two other sectors -- fisheries and forestry -- with the hope of enabling the country to achieve an economic growth target of 6.6 percent annually over the next five years and to help reduce unemployment and poverty.
In addition to improving the rural development program as the main source of the livelihood of the people, the revitalization plan was needed on the grounds that the country's three sectors had been lagging behind as compared with other Asian countries.
The government then issued blueprints, which arrange the provision of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to encourage businesses in the three sectors and outline policies to improve the incomes and productivity of farmers.
At the center of the plan were prioritized measures on several commodities over the short- and medium-terms, especially rice, corn, soybeans, sugar and meat, aiming for eventual self- sufficiency in these areas.
In order to give assurance on the government's seriousness about the plan, the President even announced at the launching ceremony of the revitalization program the provision of several incentives worth some Rp 10 billion (about US$1 million) for farmers.
It was a bit ironic, though, that at a time when hopes were pinned on the success of the program, the government tried to backtrack on its own pledge by announcing it would import 250,000 tons of rice amid good harvests and slightly favorable prices on the domestic market.
Even though the import plan was also annulled (perhaps only a delay) soon after strong protests from various circles, including the rectors of domestic universities, such an inconsistency really hurt the feelings of the farmers, who account for the bulk of the country's population.
At a time when farmers were experiencing respite after a series of bad news, ranging from long droughts to falling subsidies, scarcity of fertilizer, pest outbreaks to harvest failures, the intention to import rice by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) aimed at increasing the rice stocks for the poor was feared to further hurt the farmers' feeling.
Both the farmers and officials of the Ministry of Agriculture have incessantly assured that the country achieved a rice production surplus this year, so that rice importation was not necessary, but Bulog said otherwise. It was also important to note that it was only in June that the government decided to extend its ban on the importation of rice until the end of the year. It is not clear here who cheats whom.
The most confusing thing is that Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono -- who is responsible for and well aware of the rice condition in the country -- gave his assurance on many occasions that stocks of the staple food were adequate, so that there was no need for importation, but the government turned a deaf ear and easily gave the green light to the rice importation plan.
Indonesia's production of unhusked rice is projected to reach 53 million tons this year, so that there will be an estimated production surplus of 1.62 million tons of husked rice, according to data at the Ministry of Agriculture.
The indecisiveness in the import case has sparked allegations that the government lacks accurate and reliable planning and an information system with regard to rural development programs.
Are the planning system, prediction, information and stock management carried out by the government at present really in such a poor state? Why did the government so readily change its stance on the condition of rice production and stocks within such a short period of time? How can we talk about food security if there is no synchronization among government institutions in the planning and management of food stocks? Each institution has its own data, which can easily be used by certain parties for their own private interests.
Unfortunately, Bulog, which frequently insists on the importance of rice imports, reportedly will easily push aside requests for the institution to buy rice directly from farmers by making various excuses like the warehouses are already full, the quality or rice products do not meet the requirements, or the prices are already higher than the ceiling set by the government.
Even more bizarre is the inability of the Ministry of Agriculture to argue in front of other institutions, like the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Finance and even Bulog. In many instances with regard to agricultural policies, ranging from the provision of subsidies, application of value-added taxes to import tariffs, the Ministry of Agriculture is in the position of the loser. The latest instance was when the Minister of Agriculture bowed to pressure and said that he understood the government's decision to import rice even though, according to him, stocks on the domestic market were adequate.
The government is good at conceptualizing, but is in poor form when it comes to implementation. All the concepts are still at the discourse level as at the grass-roots level there is a perception about the absence of unity and a "single say" among Cabinet members on the rural development programs.
Such problems continuously accompany the agricultural development world in the country. It is not a strange thing as well that since the establishment of this country up to the present, problems of food and rice have been widely discussed and broadly covered by the mass media.
But in line with the age of the nation, the fate of the farmers has never become a real issue in their own country.
[The writer is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.]
| War on terror |
Agence France Presse - November 8, 2005
Jakarta -- Indonesia's military chief General Endriartono Sutarto has officially ordered the revival of a much-criticised community-based intelligence system to be used to fight terrorism, a report said.
Known by its local acronym Koter, the system was scrapped after the fall of dictator Suharto but a plan to revive it was hastily drawn up after October 1 triple suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali, which killed 20.
Under the system, thousands of non-commissioned officers known as Babinsa act as the government's eyes and ears at village level, looking for suspicious activity.
"I recently issued circulars to all regional military commands, asking them to reinstate Babinsa," Endriartono was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post. "They don't have the authority to make arrests, but to tap information from people," he said.
He did not say when their work would begin. The military says about 37,000 non-commissioned military officers are ready to take part in the Koter system across Indonesia, including about 1,000 in the capital Jakarta alone.
Activists have already warned that the return to the system, used during the iron-fisted three-decade rule of Suharto to quash all forms of dissent, threatens to harm democracy and lead to human rights abuses.
Endriartono reportedly brushed off such fears. "The military is involved in the war on terror to back up the police with necessary information, so that we can prevent any acts of terrorism as early as possible," he was quoted as saying.
"We have to make use of our resources to support the police. Terrorism is a big problem for all of us." Anti-terrorism activities have traditionally been the territory of the nation's police force and intelligence services, while the military has been limited to assisting police when required.
The government argues that reintroducing the Koter system would strengthen the information gathering work of police and the national intelligence agency.
In another move allowing the military greater involvement in counter-terrorism, anti-terrororism desks have reportedly been set up at regional army commands to liaise with police on the issue.
Local media reported at the weekend that the desks were established on November 1. They have the power to detain people suspected of terrorist activities but must then immediately hand them to police.
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2005
Jakarta -- The Indonesian Military (TNI) is reactivating its intelligence unit that used to work within the community to help the police fight terrorism.
TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Monday the military unit, comprising non-commissioned officers known as Babinsa, would gather all information required to help prevent acts of terrorism.
"I recently issued circulars to all regional military commands, asking them to reinstate Babinsa. They don't have the authority to make arrests, but to tap information from people," Endriartono said after a Cabinet meeting on security.
During the authoritarian rule of Soeharto, Babinsa carried out surveillance work for the government and helped maintain security and order in the grass roots.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked the military to actively take part in the war on terror during the TNI's anniversary on Oct. 5. The request came soon after Bali fell prey to terror attacks for the second time in three years.
Human rights activists quickly warned of the possible return of the military to non-defense areas, which they said would derail the ongoing military reform. Endriartono shrugged off suspicions that the involvement in the fight against terrorism would pave the way for the military power it used to enjoy.
"The military is involved in the war on terror to back up the police with necessary information, so that we can prevent any acts of terrorism as early as possible," Endriartono said.
Each soldier, he said, was now expected to support the fight against terrorism. "We have to make use of our resources to support the police. Terrorism is a big problem for all of us," he added.
Apart from Babinsa, each of the 11 regional military commands will set up a special team, the job of which is to compile data on terrorism that will be passed on to the police.
There are 1,710 Babinsa members under the Jakarta Military Command overseeing Greater Jakarta, according to its chief Maj. Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo. The non-commissioned officers have been instructed to cooperate with neighborhood and community units and encourage community security and night patrols.
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2005
Rendi A. Witular and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta -- The police will intensify security measures at home, including by closely monitoring foreign citizens entering the country, as a precaution to prevent new terrorist attacks following the escape of international terrorist Omar al-Farouq from a US detention facility.
"Of course we'll be vigilant. It means that we'll take measures to prevent negative incidents from occurring in Indonesia. Hopefully, he (al-Farouq) will not reenter this country," National Police chief Gen. Sutanto announced on Monday.
"Basically, we'll boost security measures, including (by monitoring) foreigners entering the country," he added.
Sutanto said that the police would also continue to monitor the activities of al-Farouq's family and friends here.
"We have questioned his (Indonesian) wife, but she claims she doesn't know anything." Al-farouq, one of the leaders of the al- Qaeda terror network, and three other inmates escaped from a US maximum security military prison in Afghanistan in July, but it was only fully revealed to the media recently.
A lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, Al-farouq was captured by Indonesian authorities in 2002 in Bogor, West Java, and handed over to US authorities. Prior to his capture, Al-farouq married an Indonesian woman, 27-year-old Mira Agustina.
The escape of al-Farouq has raised concerns that he might take retaliatory measures by launching new attacks on Indonesia. There has been warnings from other countries that terrorists might make new strikes in the country before year-end.
Elsewhere, Sutanto said that the Indonesian government had used diplomatic channels to seek an official explanation from the US about al-Farouq's escape.
"A diplomatic approach has been taken to obtain clear information about the case. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still waiting for the official notification," he said.
The government has been facing strong criticism for failing to quickly seek an explanation from the US government about the escape in order to ascertain necessary measures to prevent new terror attacks in the country.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Jakarta declined to comment on why Washington had failed to inform Indonesia on the escape of al- Farouq.
"I have no comment. The (US) attorney general spoke in an interview with CNN last week," said Max Kwak, press attache of the US Embassy on Monday, adding that he suggested The Jakarta Post get a copy of the interview.
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales described the apparent breakdown in communication as a "serious problem" and told CNN that it would be investigated.
Agence France Presse - November 6, 2005
Jakarta -- The Indonesian army has set up anti-terror desks in its nationwide regional commands to liaise with police on counter-terrorism, a report said Sunday.
The move shifts the military towards closer involvement in operations to combat terrorism, which has so far been overseen largely by police alone.
The anti-terror desks became operational in all regional army commands on November 1, the Indo Pos newspaper said, citing an unnamed senior officer at army headquarters. Indonesia has 12 regional commands covering several provinces each.
The daily also quoted East Java army spokesman Bambang Sulistyono as confirming that the East Java command had already formed an anti-terror desk.
"All information obtained will be coordinated with the national police," Sulistyono said, adding that the desk may detain people suspected of links to terrorist activities but would immediately hand them to police.
Each anti-terror desk is to be headed by the command's head of staff affairs, with its inspector general as a deputy, Indo Pos said.
The spokesman of the Indonesian armed forces Ahmad Yani Basuki declined comment, saying that the matter fell under the authority of the army. The army spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
Indonesia has seen a series of bloody attacks in recent years, mostly blamed on the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network. Analysts have said that some of the latest attacks may have been organised by a JI splinter group.
The latest attack blew up three popular eateries on the resort island of Bali on October 1, killing 20 and three suicide bombers. The identity of the bombers remained unknown.
Bali had already been the target of bombing attacks in October 2002 that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Two other bombing attacks rocked the capital, Jakarta in 2003 and 2004.
Australia on Friday updated its official travel advisory on Indonesia, warning that extremists may be planning attacks in the country within the next two months.
| Regional/communal conflicts |
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2005
Jakarta -- One battalion of troops is being sent to help the police maintain law and order in the Central Sulawesi town of Poso following a series of incidents that it is feared could reignite sectarian conflict in the area.
The reinforcement troops arrived in Poso shortly after a homemade bomb was found in front of the home of a local community figure on Thursday as Muslims celebrated the first day of the Idul Fitri holiday.
Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Kohirin Suganda said the battalion was attached to the Makassar-based Wirabuana Military Command, which is responsible for military affairs in Sulawesi. Another battalion has been stationed in Poso ever since the government launched an operation code-named Sintuwu Marosos to restore law and order code in the area in 2002.
"We (the TNI) are intensifying our security efforts in Poso to prevent the town from becoming the scene of further disturbances. The locally recruited troops from the Wirabuana Military Command have been joined by about one thousand reinforcement troops," Kohirin told Antara on Saturday.
He dismissed reports that TNI headquarters would deploy more troops from outside Sulawesi, saying the number of troops in the areas was now enough.
According to official figures, as of October there were at least 3,500 military and police personnel deployed in Poso, which intelligence authorities have identified as a "terrorist hotbed".
Over 1,000 people were killed in a bloody sectarian conflict between Muslims and Christians in Poso between 2000 and 2001. Peace, which was officially declared in December 2001, has been put to the test again following the beheading of three Christian high school girls on Oct. 29. No one has been arrested or named a suspect in connection with the triple murder.
Tension increased on Thursday after a low explosive bomb was discovered in front of the house of Gustaf Tajongga, the head of Lambogia subdistrict. The police bomb squad safely defused the bomb. Sporadic attacks have been occurring since a formal peace agreement was inked in late 2001. Religious leaders and politicians have blamed poor law enforcement for the endless cycle of violence in the area.
People in Poso were not showing fear, however, despite the latest incidents. In Bega and Tagolu subdistricts, Christians visited their Muslim neighbors to greet them for the Idul Fitri holiday.
"There is nothing to worry about in Poso. People are going about their work and social activities without fear, even at night," Deputy Regent Abdul Muthalib Rimi said.
He expressed regret that the media had portrayed the security situation in the area as being volatile. "The assessment of outsiders is not objective and has created new problems for the people and government of Poso," Rimi said.
Despite the series of violent incidents over the past six months, government and social activities had not been disrupted, he added.
"The incidents were sporadic. Although they may hurt us, they cannot rent us asunder thanks to the leading roles played by local government officials and figures who have actively calmed the people down," said Rimi.
The people of Poso had never overreacted to the incidents, but had consistently encouraged the subjecting of the perpetrators to the full rigors of the law.
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2005
Ruslan Sangadji, Poso -- A bomb blast jolted Ambon early on Thursday as Muslims prepared to celebrate Idul Fitri, and later in the afternoon, some hundreds of kilometers away, residents in Poso found a homemade bomb in what apparently was renewed efforts by terrorists to reignite sectarian conflict in the two religiously divided areas.
AFP reported that the blast in Ambon occurred at around 3.30 a.m. on a sidewalk and caused no casualties.
"It is estimated that it was a homemade bomb and the sound of the blast was quite strong," Second Inspector Ined Elwarin of Ambon Police said. He declined to give further details. Five people near the blast scene were questioned by police.
Meanwhile, the bomb found in Poso was safely defused by a bomb squad from the Central Sulawesi Police. The small device was first found by local sub-district neighborhood chief Gustaf Tajongga, who saw a suspicious package in front of his house at about 6 p.m., and immediately reported it to the police. It took about an hour for the bomb squad to defuse the bomb.
Tension, which were high in the morning, later dissipated as Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri.
Poso Police chief M. Sholeh said the people who planted the bomb in front of the house clearly wanted to terrorize Muslim residents during the Idul Fitri celebration.
He said that he believed the terrorists initially planned to blow up the bomb in the morning when Muslims gathered for Idul Fitri prayers, but tight security in the area made it difficult for them to carry out their mission.
Meanwhile, thousands of Poso's Muslims gathered on Thursday at the Sintuwu Moso field in front of the regency office building to hear an Idul Fitri sermon.
Police and soldiers were also seen guarding several strategic areas in the city.
Security forces had earlier warned of possible attacks to coincide with the Idul Fitri holiday, following a small bomb that exploded aboard a packed bus just south of Poso on Oct. 27, which seriously injured several passengers.
Tensions increased in Poso following the beheading murders of three Christian schoolgirls last Saturday, with about 1,000 police and soldiers sent to the area amid fears of further violence.
Meanwhile, Central Sulawesi Police chief Sr. Comsr. Oegroseno said police now had descriptions of the schoolgirls' murderers. He declined to provide more details Poso was last hit by serious Muslim-Christian violence in 2000 and 2001, when more than 1,000 people died. Despite a government-sponsored truce at the end of 2001, intermittent violence has continued in the area.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Ruslan Sangadji, Palu -- Lying helplessly in hospital, the stab wound on her face covered with antiseptics and gauze, the girl cries out in pain.
Noviana Malewa, 15, was one of four high school girls attacked by unidentified assailants on Saturday morning in Poso Sulawesi. The three other girls, who were also Noviana's cousins, were beheaded.
Noviana, a student of a Christian school in Poso escaped the ambush. She has not been told about the beheadings.
"I only told her that her three cousins had been admitted to Tentena Hospital," Noviana's mother Nur Malewa told The Jakarta Post on Monday at the Central Sulawesi Police hospital, Bhayangkara. A moment later, she broke down in tears. "What did my daughter do to deserve this?" Nur said.
She recalled how the four girls -- Noviana, Theresia Morangke, 15, Alfita Poliwo, 17, and Yarni Sambue, 15 -- had traveled to and from school together. The fathers of the three dead girls described them as spirited, active and popular young women who had done well at school.
Theresia's father Hendrius Morangke said his daughter had been obedient and pious, rarely missing church. "I will never forget -- she always made me coffee, every single morning. Now that she's gone, I can only cry," he said.
Markus Sambue said it was agony to know that he could never again hear the angelic voice of his girl, Yarni, who had been a member of the church choir. "I really loved her voice. Lord in Heaven, please accept her by your side," he said.
The mourning parents said they were not seeking to avenge the killings. Nor were they suspicious of any one group, meaning Muslims in particular. "We're certain the perpetrators wanted to bring violence to Poso. We will never again be provoked," Nur said.
She said she only hoped her daughter would get better and the assailants would be brought to justice. "We are not asking for much. The police shouldn't be idle -- they have to arrest the perpetrators, we have suffered enough."
Minister Renaldy Damanik, who heads the synod of the Central Sulawesi Christian Church, said the assailants were not Muslims from Poso, where some 2,000 people were killed in a bloody sectarian war a few years ago. He said the killers had been acting on the instructions of a certain group who wanted to refuel hatred between Muslims and Christians.
Noted local Muslim cleric Adnan Arsal voiced the same concern, saying the police should not be quick to blame Muslim communities.
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Rais D. Adam said that police had questioned six witnesses, including Noviana, a mother and her 10-year-old child. Rais, however, added that the results of the investigation could not yet be made public.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Jakarta/Palu -- With the police still in the dark over the identities of the killers of three Christian schoolgirls in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Saturday, the security authorities came in for harsh criticism on Monday for failing to secure the small town of about 6,000 residents.
Critics questioned the authorities' failure to stop a series of attacks in Poso despite the deployment of more than 3,500 police and soldiers as part of a security operation in the area.
The Sintuwu Maroso security operation has been extended seven times since 2002 as sporadic violence has continued in Poso despite the signing of a peace deal a year earlier by local Muslim and Christian leaders.
"It is ironic. Poso is smaller than a subdistrict in Jakarta, but the huge number of police and military personnel have been unable to capture any of the attackers," said Rendy Lamadjido, a member of the House of Representatives' special committee on Poso. "That shows the security forces are not serious about dealing with Poso," added the legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Similar criticism was voiced by House Speaker Agung Laksono, who blamed the police and intelligence agencies for a series of attacks in Poso, including Saturday's beheadings of the three schoolgirls. This latest tragedy raises serious questions about how the security authorities are carrying out their duties, he said.
"We have heard about the poor performance of our security forces, and this latest incident in Poso, which took place during Ramadhan, has provided further proof," Agung said.
Otto Syamsuddin Ishak of rights watchdog Imparsial accused the security authorities, including intelligence agents, of neglecting the persistent violence in Poso. The government must launch counterintelligence operations to prevent further attacks there, he said. "And a close examination of intelligence officers is required to determine whether or not they have carried out their duties properly."
National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Usman Hamid called for an investigation into the circulation of explosives and weapons in Poso since the deployment of police and soldiers to the area in 2002.
According to data from Imparsial and Kontras, there were at least 19 shooting incidents in Poso in 2002. There were 10 incidents in 2003, seven in 2004 and four so far this year. The rights groups also recorded at least 11 murders in Poso between 2002 and 2005, and 33 bombings in the town over the same period. In the majority of these incidents no suspects have ever been arrested.
Rendy said his House special committee had recommended that the government take stern action against state officials implicated in the continued violence in Poso. The committee also asked the government to do more to prevent violence, and to outline mechanisms to boost coordination between the police and military in Poso. However, these recommendations have been ignored, Rendy said.
Two days after the murders of the three schoolgirls, police said they had questioned at least six witnesses but still had no leads on the murderers. The six witnesses included a survivor of the attack, Noviana Malewa, and a local woman and her 10-year-old child who were near the scene of the murders.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boediharjo called the beheadings a "well-planned crime", but could not say if the attackers had "military-style training". National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara said the killers must have come from outside Poso.
| Local & community issues |
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2005
Ruslan Sangadji, Palu -- The deadly clash between the police and followers of sect leader Madi almost two weeks ago, and the ensuing hunt for him, have caused hundreds of people to seek refuge in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu.
The people came down from Salena village in the Gawalise hills, where Madi had spread his teachings, and the neighboring villages of Lekatu. Most are women and children, who have been separated from their husbands and fathers following the clash, which left three police officers and a Madi follower dead.
The villagers have been staying in the offices of the Palu Public Housing Agency under police guard.
The hill, locally known as Kamalisi, is located less than 11 kilometers away from Palu. But because Salena lies at the base of the hilly area of Gawalise, the village is a bit isolated. It lacks public services, including health and education facilities.
There are around 20 small timber houses in the village.
Due to the isolation, the local administration has tried to move the Salena people to a resettlement area.
Edmon Leonard, a member of the Salena advocacy team, said the people had been asked to abandon their village, sometimes by use of force.
He said the residents, mostly farmers, had not only been facing intimidation, but their access to natural resources had been denied. Some of them have indeed moved to Palu to work as becak (pedicab) drivers or to sell honey, orchids or song birds.
"It is sad that many villages in Kamalisi are still isolated although the place is located not far from Palu," said Edmon, whose group is providing legal aid for Salena people who have been named suspects by the police following the clash last month.
Madi followers and police officers clashed on Oct. 25 after the 27-year-old sect leader refused to go to the police station for questioning over his religious teachings, which the police said had disturbed the community.
The local office of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) has declared Madi's teachings heresy.
Director of the Free Land Foundation (YTM) in Palu Arianto Sangadji said no institution had the right to say Madi's teachings were contrary to Islamic beliefs.
Madi remains at large, although police claim to have shot him in the leg. One platoon of Central Sulawesi Police officers has been deployed to hunt down Madi, while another platoon has been assigned to guard the isolated village.
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2005
Jambi -- Tensions were still high in a village in Merangin, Jambi, on Saturday four days after angry residents smashed up the local head office on Tuesday, alleging they were being cheated of their fuel compensation money.
The police presence was high in Rantaujering village in Lembahmasurai in anticipation of a further attack on the compound.
"We are still trying to solve the problem amicably," Lembahmasurai district head Hasan Bassi said on Saturday, adding that most of the residents were related to each other.
However, the vandals would be required to fix the damage or they would be taken to court, he said.
The attack erupted when angry residents complained they had not received the cash aid, which is being distributed to poor families by the government to ease the impact of the fuel price increases. Villagers allege many of the relatives of the village head, Jerjani, had received the full Rp 300,000 (US$30) assistance for three months.
Jerjani later decided to cut the cash aid down to Rp 100,000 a family, deducting Rp 20,000 for transportation costs and paying Rp 80,000 to others who he said were not otherwise eligible for the cash aid.
The decision upset the residents who went to the village office to meet Jerjani. He was not there and they smashed up the building.
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2005
I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar -- The Karangasem Police in Bali named on Friday 21 people as suspects in Wednesday's attack and burning of the Rendang Police station that left four people injured, including a police officer.
Suspects in the attack, which was triggered by a police raid against a tajen (illegal cockfight) held at a temple in the area, are now being detained at Karangasem Police headquarters in Amlapura, some 70 kilometers east of Denpasar.
The numbers of suspects is expected to increase because the police are still questioning 15 other individuals.
"Whether we will name them -- or some of them -- as suspects will be determined upon the completion of the interrogation, probably tonight," Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. AS Reniban said on Friday evening.
On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of police officers raided a tajen contest at Dalem temple in Menanga village, some 40 kilometers east of Denpasar. In the raid, the officers arrested four suspected organizers of the cockfight. The suspects were later transferred to Amlapura.
A few hours later, a wooden drum sounded, a traditional signal warning the villagers of an "emergency", and hundreds of people flocked to the streets. The mob was directed by several known gamblers to lay siege to the police station, demanding the release of their detained colleagues.
The Karangasem Police deployed two truckloads of riot police to reinforce the 15 officers at the station. But the reinforcement was stalled by a roadblock of burning tires and the hurling of stones by an angry mob on the road to the village.
The reinforcement officers repeatedly fired shots into the air to disperse the mob. Three villagers were injured in the shootings, apparently by ricocheted bullets. They were identified as Ketut Rawuh, 40, Made Artawan, 18, and I Ngurah Arnawa, 40. All of them were taken to a nearby hospital.
By that time, another mob of around 500 people had stormed into the station going after the outnumbered officers before burning half the building to the ground.
When the reinforcement officers finally arrived, the building was still on fire. The mob had also burned two police motorbikes and two Madsen sub-machine guns.
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika cut short his inspection tour across Bali to visit the station. "I will stay in this precinct until the individuals responsible for the attack are arrested, "I have to spend the night here to give moral support to my officers and to show those gamblers that I am serious -- that I will not let such an attack go unpunished."
Dozens of plainclothes detectives and 200 of the Mobile Brigade's troopers descended into the darkness that engulfed the village, searching for suspects. By 1 a.m., 10 suspects had been apprehended. Based on their statements, the police concluded that the attack was not a spontaneous one.
"Each of them had been tasked with a specific job prior to the attack. One suspect was responsible for buying kerosene, another for buying firewood and there was even a suspect who confessed to having been tasked with buying and distributing food among the protesters," said Pastika.
One of the injured villagers, I Ketut Rawuh, was discharged from hospital on Friday afternoon only to be escorted to the police station and named as a suspect. "We have him on video repeatedly hurling stones at the officers before a ricocheted bullet struck his right arm," AS Reniban said.
| Focus on Jakarta |
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2005
P.J. Leo -- As many Jakarta residents come to terms with the increasing prices of basic necessities following the Oct. 1 fuel price hikes, the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) has persisted with its protests of the government's policy. Since Thursday, the first day of Idul Fitri partying, dozens of UPC members, claiming to be victims of the fuel policy, have been staging silent protests outside the presidential palace in Central Jakarta.
The protests are meant to remind both the government and the public of how the poor were most affected by the acute inflation.
With their bodies chained together in the protest on Saturday, the police had a hard time dispersing them. Officers were forced to break the locks, one by one.
"The police detained 24 protesters on Saturday. Our members are now being represented by lawyers from the Legal Aid Institute for Women (LBH Apik), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) as well as the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta)," UPC activist Ari Ujianto told The Jakarta Post.
Four of them were forced to take a urine test as the police suspected that they had been under the influence of drugs, he said.
He also claimed that the Central Jakarta Police had tortured 30 of the protesters that were detained after Friday's protests. Those 30 were released on Saturday afternoon.
"We have sent a complaint letter to the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) over the bad conduct by the police," Ari asserted.
The rights commission and the police have an agreement that protesters who hold peaceful demonstrations must not be treated badly.
Despite the alleged mistreatment, UPC will continue with the more protests in the next few days.
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2005
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta -- Beaming, Yudhi, in his 30s, a scavenger from Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, emerged from Governor Sutiyoso's official residence on Thursday holding a white envelope with a Rp 50,000 (some US$5) banknote inside it.
"It's really a surprise. I thought I would only get a free meal this year. What a happy Idul Fitri," said Yudhi, who was clad in a worn-out T-shirt and shorts. Another visitor to the Governor's "open house" to celebrate Idul Fitri with residents, Erik, 26, of Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, could not believe that he and his three family members had each received an envelope.
Stepping out of the Governor's residence on Jl. Taman Suropati, Central Jakarta, he was eager to get more lebaran gifts. "Do you know any other officials who are holding Idul Fitri open houses today? Tell us, please. We want to go there. Hopefully, they will give us more angpau," he said, referring to the tradition of giving money in envelopes.
Security guards spotted some people who had already received their envelopes attempting to line up again. But not all came just for the money and a free meal. Some poor residents came to the event just to meet the governor.
"We live in Cikini in Central Jakarta. We just want to meet Pak Governor in person. I read in the newspapers that Pak Sutiyoso was holding an open house today. That's why we came here, to enjoy a silaturahmi with him," said Rudi, alluding to the tradition of paying visits to neighbors.
More than 300 poor residents from across the city visited Sutiyoso's official residence on Thursday. "I am happy that they are willing to come to see me. I want them to feel that I am also close to them. It's touching the way they shook my hand. It's rather different from the way other distinguished guests greet me," Sutiyoso told reporters during the gathering.
He said that some residents had also passed on letters to him. "I will read them later. Maybe those letters contain complaints or messages of support for my administration... I promise to hold gatherings like this more often with the poor in the near future," he said.
The governor's household staff had prepared meals for about 1,600 guests. However, Sutiyoso's aides seemed unprepared for the poor, who mixed with other guests, including businesspeople, party leaders, religious figures, actors, diplomats and officials. "We didn't think there would be so many poor people coming," acknowledged Joko, one of Sutiyoso's aides.
Last year, only about 20 'representatives' of the poor, drafted in by the administration, visited Sutiyoso's home for the open- house event. Sutiyoso, who is serving his second term, has gained notoriety for his tough policies against the poor, such as riverbank squatters and street hawkers.
Also present at the gathering were former minister of foreign affairs Ali Alatas, president of Indian Bajaj Auto Limited for South East Asia, Klaus Biskup, jazz musician Ireng Maulana, well-known singer Melky Guslow, actor Anwar Fuadi and businessman Erick Tohir.
After the one-day open house, Sutiyoso departed for his hometown of Semarang, Central Java, on Friday to celebrate Idul Fitri with friends and relatives there.
| Islam/religion |
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2005
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- While many Jakarta residents were looking for places to eat out on the first day of Idul Fitri on Thursday, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) forced restaurants and cafes in Kemang, South Jakarta, to close.
Izzi Pizza outlet in the area, for instance, had to close at 2 p.m. after a member of FPI called them up requesting that the outlet close immediately.
"A member of the FPI came to the outlet. After that, his colleagues claimed a higher-ranking member within the organization called us warning that if we don't close our outlet, a group of members would come," operational manager Deni complained to The Jakarta Post.
Worried that the organization would ransack the outlet, he said, the management decided to close, even though it had only opened at noon. Around the same time, other restaurants and cafes also closed.
As the outlet did not sell liquor during Ramadhan or on Thursday, he wondered why the FPI insisted that the outlet close. "I don't understand why we have to close our outlet during the Idul Fitri holiday. There is no regulations requiring us to do so. All of our employees are Muslims and the holiday is a time for them to get more tips than usual," he said.
As there are dozens of restaurants and cafes in the area, Deni said, hundreds of employees would lose their income during Idul Fitri.
One of cafe owners in Kemang, who asked not to be identified, also complained that they had to close the cafe after receiving a letter from FPI requiring all restaurants and cafes in Kemang to close during Idul Fitri.
"We don't want to take any risks so we closed our cafe. However, since many cafes and restaurant here belong to foreigners, I am worried that FPI's move will scare them off. How many people will lose their jobs then?" the cafe owner told the Post.
He called on the authorities to clarify whether they could operate during Idul Fitri or not to avoid a similar incident in the future.
Meanwhile, FPI's operational chief Ekajaya said that several groups in Kemang, including restaurant and cafe owners and the local administration had agreed that all cafes and restaurants would be closed during Idul Fitri.
"We must respect Idul Fitri. If any restaurants open on those days then they have violated the agreement. Beside, we have a regulation prohibiting a cafe or restaurant staying open on Idul Fitri," he told the Post while not specifying what regulation he was referring to.
According to Bylaw No. 10/2004 on tourism, nightclubs, saunas, discotheques, massage parlors, amusement centers and bars must be closed during Ramadhan. No bylaw or gubernatorial decree, however, prohibits family restaurants or cafes from staying open during Ramadhan and Idul Fitri.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2005
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- Tension between Muslims and Christians at Jati Mulya housing complex in Bekasi, West Java, has come to a peaceful end, at least for the time being, with the latter agreeing to conduct their Sunday services at the nearby Social Affairs Agency office.
Bekasi Regental Secretary Herry Koesaeri said on Monday that the agreement was reached at a meeting between leaders of Muslims and Christians on Sunday, witnessed by Jakarta Police chief Ins. Gen. Firman Gani, House of Representatives member Effendi Simbolon and a representative of the Bekasi administration.
"We hope that the agreement will resolve differences among residents in the Jati Mulya housing complex," Ferry told The Jakarta Post.
Some 500 Christians from the HKBP Church scuffled with 200 Muslims at the housing complex on Sunday morning after they held a 30-minute service on the street leading to their place of worship, which has been blocked by Muslims since September. There was no violence as police quickly separated the two groups.
According to Ferry, Christians would now conduct their religious services at the Social Affairs Agency office on Jl. Joyo Martono, about a kilometer away from the closed church on Jl. Melati Raya Ujung, for the next two months, while local authorities and religious leaders find a place for the Christians to build a church.
The Christians also agreed not to conduct religious activities in a church on Jl. Melati Raya Ujung, while local Muslims agreed not to destroy the church that has been used as place of worship since 1993.
Protestant Minister Maruli Tobing said on Monday that Christians in Jati Mulya would abide by the agreement in order to avoid bloody conflict among adherents of the two religions.
"I see there are good intentions from the Bekasi regental administration in allowing us to conduct religious services in a building owned by the Social Affairs Agency," he told the Post.
He expressed the hope that the administration and religious leaders would soon find a place for Christians there to build a church.
Ferry said the Bekasi regental administration had in 1993 rejected a request by Christians to officially recognize the house on Jl. Melati Raya Ujung as a place of worship, on the grounds that local residents rejected its presence in the area.
A joint ministerial decree issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Religious Affairs in 1969 requires adherents of any religious domination to secure permission from surrounding residents if they want to build a place of worship, be it a mosque, a church or a Buddhist temple.
With Christians being in the minority in a country of 220 million people, the decree has made it difficult for Christians to build churches. This has caused Christians to use houses, shop-houses and even hotels for their religious activities.
Recently, however, certain Muslim hard-liners have taken the law into their own hands, closing down churches in West Java, East Java and Greater Jakarta on the grounds that they do not have building permits. Police have taken no action against the vigilantes.
Christians, supported by a number of public figures including former president Abdurrahman Wahid, have called on the government to revise the decree as the ruling was unfair towards adherents of minority religions.
| Business & investment |
Jakarta Post - November 2, 2005
Jakarta -- The average 126.6 percent fuel price hike last month has pushed inflation to a six-year high of 17.89 percent for the year to October, with unemployment also rising. Surging inflation has also prompted the central bank to increase its key interest rate sharply to 12.25 percent.
Observers believe the worsening economic situation will put more pressure on the government's already beleaguered economic team prior to a possible Cabinet reshuffle.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Tuesday that the country's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 8.7 percent in October from September, or up 17.89 percent from October last year. Inflation during the 10 months has accumulated to 15.65 percent. The figures are higher than Bank Indonesia's (BI) estimate of 5 percent inflation for October and surpassed its full-year forecast of 14 percent.
"This month's inflation was particularly due to the rise in transportation and fuel costs," BPS chief Choril Maksum said. "The rise in gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel prices contributed to 3.47 percent of October's inflation, while transportation costs were 2.08 percent and the rest were the usual inflationary pressures ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday."
The BPS also reported that open unemployment in the country had increased by 1.3 million people from August last year to October, reaching 10.84 percent of the country's 106.8 million workforce. The rise was likely caused by significant lay-offs in labor- intensive industries hurt by the fuel price hikes.
In light of rising inflation, BI on Tuesday raised its benchmark BI Rate by 125 basis points to 12.25 percent, continuing its recent rate hikes within the year to contain inflation and a slumping rupiah. The rate hike caused the Jakarta Stock Exchange Index to close lower 0.12 percent to 1,064.953, while the rupiah gained 0.3 percent to Rp 10,090 against the greenback.
Upon hearing the BPS report, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was shocked, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said. "President Susilo is very concerned with the inflation issue. The President and the economic ministers will take immediate measures to ease the inflation," Andi said.
Andi said Susilo had instructed Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie and economic ministers to seek a clear- cut policy to contain the problem and to explain it to the public.
Aburizal, however, played down the situation, saying he was upbeat that October's inflation level would be a one-off event and would ease within the year's remaining two months. He did, however, admit that full-year inflation could reach 17 percent.
The government's critics were quick to find fault with the economic team over the report.
"Inflation has gone way past the real increases in fuel prices," said Rizal Ramli, who briefly served as chief economics minister under president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
"Prices were going up before and after the announcement of the fuel price hikes. This is another example of the Cabinet economic team's incompetence and this adds to the burdens of the people and the business world," he said.
Rizal had been considered for a top post in the Cabinet last year before Aburizal, a former business associate of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, was given the job at the last minute.
Economist Dradjad Wibowo said high inflation could push the economy into another recession, blaming the government's decision to increase domestic fuel prices during a time when inflation was already under pressure, and while the rupiah remained weak.
"The real sector will surely contract further (because of the inflation), while unemployment could reach 11 percent," he said. "This is proof that arguments justifying the fuel price hike have turned out to be wrong and that the economic team has lost its credibility, if it ever had any."
Jakarta Post - November 2, 2005
Jakarta -- The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Tuesday that the country's exports showed continuous growth during the first nine months of the year, driven by higher demand for non-oil products.
Supported by stronger global demand for electronic and mechanical goods, January-to-September total exports stood at US$62.31 billion, a 21.15 percent increase over the same period last year.
Non-oil and gas exports during the January-September period, which account for almost 78 percent of Indonesia's total income from international trade, rose 21.04 percent to $48.35 billion as compared to last year's figure.
Sales of oil and gas, meanwhile, rose 21.56 percent in the same period to $13.9 billion. However, during September alone, exports of these commodities dropped by 4.58 percent as compared to August's figure of $1.79 billion.
During the first nine months of the year, exports of electronic goods rose to $5.2 billion from $4.8 billion, while sales of mechanical goods rose to $3.1 billion from $2.7 billion in 2004.
Indonesia's exports hit a record high last year, reaching $69.71 billion, up 11.49 percent from 2003. This was mainly attributable to strong sales of non-oil and gas commodities and goods, including palm oil, electronic goods, clothing, coal and tin.
However, the Ministry of Trade's research and development agency warned that this year, as statistical calculation had shifted to the on-line method, the increase should be lower, at around 13 percent to 14 percent.
Trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu had said previously that Indonesia would focus the development of its exports on electronics, as well as footwear, textiles and textile products.
Combined, the three industries contributed $16.33 billion to the country's exports last year. As of June, exports from the three sectors stood at $7.16 billion.
Currently, a special team from the trade ministry is formulating incentives for the development of the three sectors.
The mineral fuels sector, which includes coal, also showed impressive growth from $1.95 billion in 2004 to $3.12 billion this year.
Global demand for coal has increased as countries around the world seek alternative energy sources, partly due to soaring oil prices.
The country's trade balance recorded a surplus of $18.56 billion for the first nine months of the year, with imports coming in at $43.75 billion.
Imports in September dropped to $4.89 billion, 9.3 percent lower than the $5.4 billion recorded in June.
| Opinion & analysis |
Paras Indonesia - November 7, 2005
Enrico Aditjondro -- As it turns out, Jose Ramos-Horta has not forgotten about West Papua. But somehow, as some close to him have noticed, he has failed to recall some of the things he stood up for.
Years ago, before he was a Nobel Peace Price Laureate, he promised a group of West Papua supporters that he would also fight for the rights of the Papuans along with his struggle for East Timor's independence. In 1999, he achieved the later (and of course more prioritized) part, then the promise to the Papuans was shelved.
Last month though, now a Timor Leste's Foreign Minister, Ramos- Horta was interviewed by the New Zealand media Scoop on the struggle for Papua's independence as he was attending the 36th Pacific Island Forum.
While Ramos-Horta said the Papuans and the Timorese were struggling in a common cause of self-determination, the background of each situation was generally different from another. He said Timor was luckier in the term that it was not recognized by the United Nations from the beginning.
Another lucky aspect, according to Papuan observers, was that no multinational company was established in Timor, while Papua was greatly influenced by the mighty mining company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.
But John Saltford of London wrote to Scoop that West Papua (or West New Guinea as he refers it) -- quite separately from Indonesia -- was listed by the UN as a non-self governing territory until the Dutch left.
Therefore, he says, "there are important differences between West Papua's situation and that of East Timor during its time under Indonesian occupation -- but, despite Horta's comments, their historical status as non-self governing territories is not one of them".
So, is there no hope for a peaceful and independent West Papua? Ramos-Horta, like usual, was diplomatic. He defended Indonesia, saying that it is a much different country from what it was five years ago.
"You have a more open society in Indonesia," he told Scoop. He said the country has become a more dynamic, pluralistic political system that allows for dissent to be heard. Furthermore, he praised the Indonesian President: "I can tell you I know President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He is a very sensitive man and he will be sympathetic".
"I believe that the new, the government in Indonesia is very sensitive to the pressures from some regions like Aceh to grant even greater autonomy.
And West Papua has a greater chance to negotiate a status similar to Aceh today, whereby the West Papuans would be masters in their own province, obtaining a greater share of their resources for the benefit of the people living there, as against in the past when the wealth of West Papua was squandered by elements in the central government in Java."
But like Aceh, Ramos-Horta's main tip to Papua is to drop the independence demand and seek instead greater autonomy.
"The perception, so far, in the region and around the world, is that West Papuans are demanding independence, and as long as there is a group that is the most active one that purports for the West Papuans and demands independence, you will find a lot of resistance among the international community because for this reason: If West Papuans are entitled to independence because of their current grievances, then why not the Tamil in Sri Lanka? Why not the people in Southern Thailand and in Mindanao? No government wants to open a can of worms."
Did he think that way when he was lobbying governments to support his tiny nation's independence?
An unnamed commentator says: "I find it quite amazing that someone so well acquainted with Indonesian brutality can turn his back on a neighbor.
He spent most of his life, "seeking independence" and "appealing to the international community for help". But now he says other occupied peoples should not kick up a stink. They should accept some pathetic pretence of autonomy. Mr. Ramos Horta clearly does not believe in the concept of self-determination".
All in all, Ramos-Horta offered three recommendations for West Papuan groups:
A counter of these suggestions came from a seasoned human rights activist Carmel Budiarjo. The Tapol founder says the West Papua groups (churches and activists) have already for years lobbying the Indonesian government but "have come up against a wall of silence".
She suggests that a person with the stature of Ramos-Horta could have been more help in chatting up with the Jakarta government "urging them to enter into talks with West Papuan representatives on the future status of the territory". She also says that he could have made the Pacific Islands Forum as a place to raise the plea -- but it was left uneventful.
And because of that, West Papua was not listed in that list under the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1541 of 15 December, 1960.
Jose Ramos Horta is mistaken on this point. Resolution 1541, also known as the Declaration on Granting Independence to Colonial Countries and People, did not mention any countries by name. However, "Netherlands New Guinea" remained on the UN list of non-self-governing territories until 1963, with the UN accepting regular reports by the administering power under Article 73(e) of the Charter. The reports for 1959, 1960 and 1961 are available on papuaweb.org.
The General Assembly debated the question of West New Guinea (West Irian) under the terms of Resolution 1541 in its fall 1961 session, on the agenda item "the situation with regard to implementation of the Declaration on Granting Independence to Colonial Countries and People."
A resolution supporting self-determination received 53 votes in favour and 41 opposed, thus failing to meet the two-thirds majority needed to pass resolutions. The point, however, is that Papua did appear on the UN list of colonies at this time.
[DW/Dept. of History, University of Western Ontario.]
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2005
Aboeprijadi Santoso, Langsa, Aceh -- A new chapter has begun for the region along the southeastern coast of Aceh, a district with a tumultuous past, which has long been the bastion of pro- government militias. Similar conditions occurred in the ethnically more diverse highland of Central Aceh. But what made eastern Aceh unique is, unlike Central Aceh, it had been an important stronghold of GAM (Aceh Free Movement) rebels as well.
Now, with a considerable number of Indonesian Army and police units being withdrawn in accordance with the Helsinki peace accord, the militias -- much to the relief of local human rights workers -- are losing their protective umbrella. Still, it isn't clear whether they will no longer pose a threat to peace.
Real peace has finally arrived even if local worries remain. Serious incidents, as in Peudawa, have still occurred. Reports said, soldiers, including members of the joint military intelligence unit (SGI), now often sit together with former GAM rebels in cafes and marines no longer extort fishermen, indicating a new atmosphere in the town. SGI, a typical Army institution in conflict areas, has renamed its "office" in Langsa, where they used to train informants, "Pos Kodim" (military checkpoint). Faces of the SGI agents are known to all as are the black-clothed militias, but the latter are now conspicuous by their absence, "They used to exhibit a show of force in the town, now they are silent," say locals.
GAM too has changed. As its fighters return home, it has reportedly instructed its members to halt the collection of pajak nanggroe (state tax) on behalf of the GAM, an extortion that continued until late August. The second phase of the decommissioning of GAM weapons and the redeployment of the non- local army units last week means that this region, arguably one of Aceh's most strategic areas, has been demilitarized -- save the illegally armed militias.
Militias, of course, have become an embarrassment, a dirty word worldwide since they went on a killing spree in East Timor in 1999. But that's not the reason why the authorities adamantly deny their existence. The militias are viewed as a spontaneous initiative that would help defend the country and preserve national security in the best tradition of Indonesia's people's army during the independence struggle -- as if, sixty years on, we are still fighting against the Japanese and the Dutch. However, it serves to justify and support military campaign. Hence, like in the 1940s, they are called "front" and "laskar" (people's unit).
In reality, though, they are armed civilian units, which grew out of state-linked militant organizations such as the Pemuda Pancasila (Pancasila Youth). Like in East Timor, they are organized by area and basically function as proxies. Unlike in East Timor, they consist of close circuits, and are often organized along ethnic lines. They are very secretive, and fanatical in terms of their "patriotism".
A group of journalists, including this writer, who visited Takengon, Central Aceh in 2003, noted the militias' strong links, like in Eastern Aceh, with local civil and military authorities. Acting as the Army's front line in the search and persecution of rebels, they become part and parcel of counterinsurgency operations in areas around the urban centers -- like in the Philippines and Latin America in the 1980s.
In Aceh, however, they had been particularly active during every military campaign since the Red Net Operation began in 1989. Unlike a regular army, they cannot be expected to make distinctions between combatants and non-combatant civilians and are not subject to any formal convention. A considerable number of civilians have consequently been the victims of militia actions.
According to the International Crisis Group and Kontras, there are at present about 17 to 18 militia groups in Aceh, mostly founded in 2003, totaling, they claim, thousands of members.
What exactly the two biggest militia units in Eastern Aceh -- the Front of Red-White Defenders (FPMP) and Go Parang (Hold the Cleaver) -- are doing now is unclear. Typical of militias' secrecy, their organizations are hard to access. But one experienced local human rights activist, Jusuf Puteh, better known as Ne' Suh, is quite sure that they are now caught by fear.
"They no longer have any activity, no more loud actions. I'm sure they are afraid. After all, they did bad things in the past. They used to persecute people and bring them to the military. They were even worse than the Army. So, they are afraid of retribution, but also of the AMM (the European Union-Asean led Aceh Monitoring Mission) who are now in charge," explained Jusuf.
Yet, given their past atrocities, many remain worried about what the militias plan. Few dare to enter the militia controlled area of Rantau Peurelak and Paya Bili, where past massacres are said to have taken place as late as July, when the Helsinki deal was only waiting to be signed, they brutally killed one of their own fellows they suspected of treason. The militias have thus failed to keep pace with peace. The kind of loyalty the Army insisted on has apparently not resulted in respect for the Helsinki pact the two parties on the ground have generally shown. Most likely, the militias would be left in limbo, if those who should share responsibility for what they did, either leave Aceh or simply ignore them.
Observers like Jusuf Puteh believe, once peace is institutionalized and ex-GAM members settled, there will be no more space for the militias. But there are fears that the local elections (Pilkada) next April might open new chances for the militias to disrupt the peace as they did in Langsa and Takengon in 2003.
If what happened to the forgotten former East Timorese militias, who were offered a lot of counterfeit money but subsequently neglected in West Timor, is any indication, a similar prospect might await the Acehnese militias. That could be a bad omen.
Since the Helsinki deal doesn't allow the existence of any civilian armed group, the AMM should prevent any militia action and solve the problem before they leave Aceh in March 2006. It's a litmus test for the local civilian and military authorities' commitment to the deal, to dissolve them.
[The writer is journalist with Radio Netherlands.]
Jakarta Post Editorial - November 7, 2005
The 42 members of the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) were installed on Oct. 31, 2005, in Jayapura, capital of the easternmost province of Papua. But whether the assembly will be able to play the role it is supposed to play is another question. The controversy surrounding the formation of the assembly in recent weeks is reason enough to have reservations about the performance of the assembly.
The controversy over the selection of MRP members is indicative of poor communication between the government and the Papuan people. It is an old problem, but people could be forgiven for harboring some hopes of a change in the government's attitude toward its easternmost constituents now that peace is dawning in Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam, another province with a long history of separatism. Any change, however, remains elusive. Opponents to the formation of the assembly have asked for the postponement of the confirmation of its members in office on the grounds that they are not the people's choices. The opposition comes from virtually across the whole of society, including the influential Papua Presidium Council, and church and tribal leaders.
The controversy over the assembly should have never arisen in the first place. In fact, the establishment of the MRP should have been an occasion for joy as it is part of the most liberal effort ever by the government to reduce separatist sentiment in the resource-rich province. The MRP, mandated by the Papua Special Autonomy Law No. 21, which was signed by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2001, was the brainchild of her predecessor, the reform-minded president Abdurrahman Wahid. The legislation was intended to give more power and greater revenue to the Papuan provincial government.
The enactment of the legislation led many to believe that a middle way had finally been found to resolve the decades-old separatist conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people. But after the legislation was enacted, things ground to a halt, ostensibly because the government had yet to issue the necessary ancillary regulations to give effect to the legislation. All of which proves, once again, that a good concept will not necessarily translate itself into good results without the political will to see it through.
Local leaders say they were not consulted about the MRP formation process and that the seeming haste involved was intended to rubber stamp the reelection of Governor Jaap E. Solossa, a functionary of the Golkar party, in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
Golkar, led by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, is the dominant party in the House of Representatives. According to the Papua Special Autonomy Law, the MRP will have the power to approve the candidates standing in gubernatorial elections and for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), as well as make recommendations and give its special approval to collaborative projects between the Papua administration and third parties.
Actually, poor communication is only the tip of the iceberg. The government needs to decide how it wants to define its relationship with the Papuans. Does it see itself as a colonial master, like many Papuans allege, or does it want to define the relationship as one of trust and an encounter between equals? Nothing will actually change until the right definition is found.
There are other no less serious issues that have to be resolved. What does it mean when the government uses the term "Papua"? Is it referring to the original province as defined in the Special Autonomy Law, or does Papua comprise the eastern part of the original Papua and Western Irian Jaya, as postulated by the Constitutional Court last year? To Papuans, these are all contradictory signals that only reinforce their believe that Jakarta is not serious about autonomy for their land.
If sincerity is absent from the government's policies, resentment will persist. The Papuans, like the Acehnese, have deep resentment against Jakarta, which they hold responsible for the prolonged violence and human rights abuses. All they want is sincerity on the part of the government.
We certainly don't want another tsunami, like that in Aceh, to force the government to improve its attitude toward the Papuans. The Papuans do not deserve more uncertainties. They have had enough of them.
The government needs to reflect on the case of East Timor and learn that the strategy of buying time in order to maintain absolute control in Papua is no longer appropriate, unless it wants to lose another province. There is no reason why the government cannot do the same in Papua as it has done in Aceh. Listen to what the Papuans say and treat them with respect and sincerity!