News & issues

Pill-popping public 'victims of unregulated market'

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2006

Hera Diani, Jakarta – If you are a health consumer in Indonesia some of these situations may be familiar to you.

• You go to a doctor instead of self-medicating for your cold and fever and end up with three different types of medicines, plus vitamins, which cost you a cool Rp 400,000 (US$43.50).
• You are stuck in an emergency room of a hospital with a bad case of food poisoning, when you get another reason to vomit – the price of your bill for the medicines is Rp 700,000. Then the doctor gives you a shot and you feel fine, but annoyed.
• You take your toddlers to the pediatrician almost every month, forking out good money for many packets of medicines to treat the same reoccurring cold and flu symptoms. Your pocket hurts and you worry about the effect the many pills are having on your children's development.
• Unable to afford your medical bills, you pay half – and get only half – of the prescribed drugs. Or you risk all and go to the Pramuka black market in East Jakarta for cheaper medicine.

Health is wealth, as the saying goes, which in this country could translate to mean "getting sick can rob you blind".

Experts say doctors here often overprescribe drugs to unwary patients, who are also paying too much for medicines – a situation they say is caused by a lack of regulations and monitoring.

University of Indonesia medical school professor and pharmacologist Dr. Iwan Darmansjah said an absence of regulations governing the retail prices of prescription drugs here had caused some doctors and companies to inflate prices to ridiculous, rip- off levels.

"The amoxycillin antibiotic, which in other countries only costs between Rp 400 and Rp 500 (about 4 US cents) a tablet, is being sold here by several companies for as much as Rp 2,800 a pill. That's deceiving, unfair business," Iwan said.

Health Ministry rational drug use department director Husniah Rubiana Th-Akib said manufacturers were also taking advantage of the erroneous public perception that generic drugs were less effective than their patented counterparts.

Husniah said all drugs were categorized as either generic or patented. Patented drugs were generally the latest generation of a drug, and were usually more expensive. But generic drugs – often made specifically for low-income consumers – should be no less effective and prices should be considerably cheaper in most cases, she said.

Patented drugs have only a 2 to 3 percent market share but make up 15 percent of national drug revenue. "What manufacturers do, however, is take a generic drug, make it more appealing with packaging and everything, and then slap a 'brand' and a high price on it. We can call this type of drug a 'branded' generic drug," Husniah said. "For amoxycillin, for example, there are over 100 brands on the market, with (wildly) fluctuating prices, while the content (in the tablets) is the same."

Often cheaper generic drugs are sold at the same price as patented drugs – or worse, were packaged as such, she said. Marius Widjajarta of the Indonesian Health Consumer Empowerment Foundation said drug prices should not fluctuate much. "(Prices) tend to decline because newer, more sophisticated drugs enter the market."

However, international Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group director Parulian Simanjuntak said drug prices here were based on the simple market mechanisms of supply and demand.

Because health insurance is not common in Indonesia, about 80 percent of drugs are being bought by individuals or companies, Parulian said. Large insurers, as big buyers of drugs, could help set market limits on prices, he said.

With a total market value of about $2 billion a year, many companies here are involved in drug manufacturing – 34 multinational companies and another 170 local ones, according to data from the group.

In such a competitive market, companies often pay doctors commissions to prescribe drugs, meaning patients often get medicines they do not need.

Indonesian Doctors Association chairman Farid Anfasa Moeloek said the government should subsidize drugs for low-income groups, who were supposed to get free medical treatment. Farid said the unregulated system, not doctors, was to blame for the high prices.

Husniah, meanwhile, said the Health Ministry planned to regulate the packaging of drugs to ensure consumers could easily tell the difference between generic and patented medicines. Branding on generic packaging would be 20 percent smaller and retail prices and ingredients would also be listed, she said.

"It's important for consumers to know what is in the tablets they buy," she said. If they had a choice between three chemically identical drugs, they could then choose the cheapest one, she said.

Manufacturers are opposed to the new labeling rules, which they say are against trade laws and will only increase their costs. Parulian said international manufacturers already labeled their drugs clearly and included tablet ingredients.

"The plan would change the layout of the whole packaging. Besides, (the idea) goes against the regulation for Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights on brands." "We need brands, we invest in them. By including a drug's generic name, it will weaken our brands. We are going to protest this plan," Parulian said.

Vendors protest public order officers

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2006

Padang, West Sumatra – More than 200 sidewalk vendors staged a protest at Padang City Hall on Monday, demanding that the city's public order personnel stop abusing them during raids.

The vendors, calling themselves the Sidewalk Vendors Coalition, along with a number of activists from the Padang Legal Aid Institute (Forkas), the Social Study Forum (Forkas) and the West Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Environmental Forum, attempted to meet with Mayor Fauzi Bahar or other city officials, but to no avail.

Andi Desmon from Forkas, which represents the vendors, condemned the abusive behavior and discrimination on the part of the city public order agency against vendors, and demanded that the mayor immediately put a stop to evictions before a definite alternative location had been found for the vendors.

"We also urge the city council to revise Bylaw No. 11/2005 on public order, and review policies related to public rights that have the potential to promote thuggery among city personnel," said Andi.

Residents block access to airport

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2006

Tangerang – Hundreds of protesters blocked the rear entrance to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Monday, causing traffic congestion from Tangerang to the airport.

The protesters were upset over what they claimed was the assault of five residents of Selapajang subdistrict by airport security guards.

Protester leader H. Limir said the security guards, who are employed by airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II on a contract basis, detained the five men as they were collecting recyclable trash at the airport Feb. 2.

"The security officers beat them up... they are not thieves. We want PT Angkasa Pura to take action against the guards." PT Angkasa Pura spokesman Endang Sumarsa said it would reevaluate its cooperation with PT Adonara Bakti Bangsa, the company that provides security guards to the airport under a one-year contract.

The head of airport administration, Untung Rahayu, said the protest made it difficult for some passengers to reach the airport. "Luckily, the protest did not cause any flight delays," he said.

Young hail Pram on 81st birthday

Jakarta Post - February 12, 2006

A. Junaidi – The 81st birthday of internationally acclaimed writer and multiple Nobel Prize nominee Pramoedya Ananta Toer was celebrated with zest and spirit on Feb. 6.

Taking place at Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center, the celebration was organized by a variety of groups – such as art student, street singer, punk musician as well as gay and lesbian groups – under a single theme: Pram, Books and the Younger Generation.

That evening, Pram, as he is affectionately called, received many birthday wishes, including from local artist and activist Rieke Diah Pitaloka who also read her poems for the maestro.

A local punk band, Marjinal, performed original songs that were inspired by the author's works, and hailed Pram as Datuk Punk – the grandfather of punk.

Accompanied by poet Taufik Rahzen, Pram walked onstage and thanked the younger generation for organizing his birthday celebration.

"I could not pay for my 81st birthday celebration. Thank you," said Pram, who was incarcerated during the 1960s as a political prisoner on Buru island without trial for years, for his alleged association with Lekra, the cultural wing of the Indonesian Communist Party.

Pram, who has lost his hearing in one ear because of abusive treatment, revealed that he had requested Rp 1.5 billion for filming rights to his books. Production is expected to begin soon. The announcement triggered criticism from women's activist Yeni Rossa Damayanti, who called the author a capitalist for selling his work.

However, many guests defended Pram, saying that the amount was small was compared to what other authors received for filming rights to their works. "It's your right to criticize. The public can criticize me. But it's my right to make the (final) decision," Pram replied.

An exhibition of Pram's bookcovers in several languages, such as Chinese, Dutch, English, Russian and Spanish was also held to commemorate his birthday.

Kalla questions use of truth commission

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2006

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe and resolve past human rights abuses here is unnecessary, Vice President Jusuf Kalla says.

In a statement Friday, which is likely to provoke a strong reaction from rights activists, Kalla said he could not think of any human rights cases that needed to be resolved through reconciliation.

The 2004 law on the establishment of commission requires it to investigate past human rights violations between 1945 and 2000. One of the commission's main objectives is to reexamine past conflicts and reconcile victims of abuse with the perpetrators.

Kalla said establishing the commission would cast Indonesia internationally as a country with similar problems to South Africa, one of the first countries to set up a such a body following the end of the apartheid regime there.

"In South Africa, there were starkly opposing opinions – like black and white – among different groups. I don't feel that such a situation has occurred in Indonesia," he said.

Kalla said the bloodletting following the aborted Gestapu coup in 1965, in which tens of thousands of Indonesians were murdered, was now 40 years old. "If it's the Gestapu case, it's been 40 years, and I wonder if there are things that still needed to be reconciled. I don't know who (to seek the truth from)," he said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's most recent internal conflict, between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and Free Aceh Movement (GAM), had already been settled. "If it's about GAM, we've already settled it and reconciled," Kalla said, referring to the August peace deal signed between GAM and government in Helsinki.

The government was supposed to establish the commission by an April 2005 deadline – the month the selection team to pick commission members was set up. The team then screened 42 candidates and submitted them to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in August.

More than five months later, Yudhoyono has yet to establish the commission because of what his aides say is his "tight schedule". Critics have slammed the government for dragging its feet on the issue, and suggested the President is giving into political pressure.

Yudhoyono is a retired general from the Army – one of the institutions at the center of many alleged human rights abuses during the authoritarian Soeharto era. Kalla, meanwhile, leads Soeharto's old Golkar Party, which is still the home of many former New Order loyalists.

Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) director Ifdhal Kasim said Kalla's statement showed the government lacked the political will to resolve past human rights cases. It was also a clear sign that the government misunderstood the essence of the commission, which was primarily aimed at establishing the truth of rights abuses, he said.

The House of Representatives should summon the President and asked him why the government had broken the law by not establishing the commission by the deadline, Ifdhal said.

SBY greeted by demos, rain

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2006

Several groups of demonstrators vied Thursday with people lining the streets in Bandung, West Java, to get the attention of visiting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Arriving at the historic Merdeka Building to attend the National Press Day commemorations, the President joked he was happy to be welcomed by rain and demonstrations. Rain indicated prosperity and demonstrations were a good sign of a working democracy, Yudhoyono said.

Student groups that braved the wet weather to protest, demonstrated about a range of issues, including a plan to increase electricity charges and the plight of families living under high-voltage power lines.

A group of former employees of state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia demanded the government intervene in their protracted labor dispute. About 1,000 former employees are contesting their dismissal.

Demonstrators competed for the best spots to get the attention of the President. In the struggle to get closer to Jl. Asia-Afrika, where the Merdeka building is located, five protesters were arrested by police.

"We arrested them because they had staged had protest without notifying us. Also, they violated public order by hampering the movement of the President and his entourage," Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas said.

A demonstration coordinator, M Sidharta, protested the five's arrest and said: "We staged a peaceful demonstration, but were confronted with harsh measures." Police later released the five after questioning them for five hours. JP/Yuli Tri Suwarni and Riyadi Suparno

Balinese opposes draft law on pornography

Detik.com - February 10, 2006

Gede Suardana, Bali – The controversy over the draft law (RUU) on pornography is growing stronger. Bali has explicitly declared that it rejects the draft law because it will damage Bali's economy if tourists can no longer sunbathe on the beaches of Kuta.

"Don't study this RUU any more and end discussions on it because it will create clashes. Such as in Bali, what about later on the beach if [you] aren't allowed to wear a bikini. Clearly this will destroy the Balinese people's economy", said a representative from the Indonesian Hindu Youth Association (Peradah), Bagus Artajaya when speaking to Detik.com on Friday February 10.

The head of Balinese Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI) I Putu Gede Indriawan Karna likewise said that it is precisely these kind of drafts laws that will create the possibility of national disintegration. "After reading it several times, the RUU appears to be an effort to include Islamic law into the RUU. This could create national disintegration", he added.

Kasih Luh Anggraeni from the women's non-government organisation Forum Perempuan Mitra meanwhile also declared their objections to the draft law because it will exploit women. "We are totally opposed to the RUU being ratified because it is precisely women that will be the victims of exploitation. The limits (in the draft law) are in accordance with men's [views] exclusively, if it can this RUU [should be] rejected outright", she said.

Conversely, the Balinese chapters of the Muhammadiyah Student Association (IMM) and the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) support the draft law. "We support this RUU but several things must be review in order that it is not interpreted falsely", said IMM spokesperson Sugromalizi.

A member from the House of Representative, the Reverend Max Demetouw, believes the draft law is actually aiming to rehabilitate the nation's next generation of youth, particularly in Jakarta. "Personally I don't agree with this RUU. This is because of looking at the diversity of cultures especially in eastern Indonesia", he said.

No matter what is said, the draft law continues to reap controversy. The government must be astute and sensitive in making a decision least it be trapped in issues of definition such as the meaning of "commonplace". (wiq)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Erotic tabloids out of view, x-rated VCDs under wraps

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2006

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Despite the police crackdown on what they term "porn", prospective buyers of erotica, be it cheesecake magazines and tabloids or hard-core VCDs, can still find what they are looking for if they know where to look.

A few knowing questions to sellers in bustling Senen market in Central Jakarta will yield a selection of raunchy magazines or tabloids. For Senen, long known as the place for hunters of old books and magazines, also is notorious for its stash of imported porn publications. Sellers keep them safely out of view, often tucked among piles of secondhand books and magazines.

A magazine vendor said sales of erotic publications dropped drastically in recent days, after police launched their crackdown beginning Friday. He suspected police had deployed plainclothes personnel to monitor the area, with buyers now afraid of being caught.

"We can't sell tabloids and magazines openly although we have a lot of stock. We hope it's only a temporary condition," he told The Jakarta Post. Vendors also said they had to be on guard when sizing up people who asked about erotic magazines.

As of Monday, Jakarta Police had seized 105 books, 37,000 tabloids and 350 magazines categorized as soft-core porn from newsstands in five municipalities in Jakarta, as well as neighboring Depok and Tangerang municipalities.

Confiscated items were put on display at a press conference at city police headquarters on Monday, along with 1,874 pirated DVDs and 500 VCDs with pornographic content.

Fifteen alleged manufacturers of pirated VCDs and DVDs were arrested and 105 people allegedly engaged in distribution and trade of adult materials were questioned.

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani vowed Monday to continue the crackdown against adult materials throughout the city.

On Tuesday in West Jakarta's Glodok, pornographic VCDs and DVDs were still available at a corner kiosk on a floor of the nine- story electronic trade center, although their sale was not as open as before the raids. Traders have long displayed x-rated VCDs and DVDs outside the center, calling out to passersby to take a look.

Young and old gathered around the disc sellers Tuesday, scanning the titles and asking for some to be played on a 12-inch TV.

Seller "Martin" said he had been warned of the raids. "Somebody will come and tell us if the police are on the way. We simply hide our stuff and stop selling temporarily. Friends in the police told us in advance not to sell porn materials for several days because there would be many raids. But we can't wait as we need to earn money to live."

The threat of having their materials confiscated proved an effective deterrent for many magazine vendors, who pulled locally produced cheesecake magazines Lipstick, Exotica and Expose from their shelves. Even local men's magazine Matra and the Indonesian version of For Him Magazine disappeared from many newsstands. "We can't sell such magazines anymore because we're afraid of getting busted. In recent days, police have often conducted raids against us," Mona, an owner of small newspaper shop in Slipi, West Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

She believed it would be back to business as usual once the initial enthusiasm in the campaign against smut, like previous ones against thugs and drugs, dies down. "It will soon be over and we can start selling all kinds magazines and tabloids as usual," she said confidently.

Aceh

BIN report on GAM must be factual

Tempo Interactive - February 14, 2006

ST Pramono, Jakarta – An Acehnese member from the Joint Forum of the National and Regional House of Representatives, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, says that the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) report on the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) must be accompanied by evidence."If it is not factual, it's difficult to believe", said Baldan at the national parliament in Jakarta on Tuesday February 14.

The issue of independent candidates was assessed by BIN as a means for GAM to seek strategic positions in Aceh. Baldan says this assessment is excessive. "Independent candidates are not only explicitly for former GAM members but other people as well", said the politician from the Golkar Party. According to Baldan his faction will continue to struggle for the inclusion of independent candidates in the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh.

In a document received by Tempo, BIN said it believes that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and GAM is only a transitional step in achieving Acehnese independence. BIN also believes that GAM's demand for local political parties and independent candidates is to win strategic positions in Aceh that will then struggle for independence for the Gateway to Mecca (Aceh).

Baldan said that the MoU basically represents a position of joint trust between the government and GAM. According to Baldan the MoU's aim is to end efforts at separatism in Aceh and that if there are parties that act inconsistently with the agreement then it is tantamount to impairing the MoU. "Such inconsistent positions can be conveyed to the Aceh Monitoring Mission", he said.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Syariah police arrest five women for dress code violation

Aceh Kita - February 13, 2006

Saiful Bahri, Banda Aceh – Wilayatul Hisbah officers (Syariah/Islamic law police) detained five women that were considered to have violated Islamic law on the afternoon of Monday February 12.

The three women were escorted to the Lhokseumawe Syariah Islam Offices after being arrested on a street leading to the Rancung port in Batuphat at 5.30pm. "They were netted by one of our routine patrols, because they were not wearing Muslim clothing", said the commander of the Wilayatul Hisbah Regiment, Said Zulkarnain.

The five women were between the ages of 16 and 23. "These arrests represent a warning to them to be more careful in [their] attitudes about clothing in the future", Said added.

The five were given a warning and instructions on correct and proper Muslim dress before being returned to their parents. "After they signed a written agreement with us, they were immediately returned to their families though the village head in order to obtain follow up guidance", Zulkarnain told Aceh Kita.

Zulkarnain appealed to all Acehnese citizens to wear Muslim clothing. "So that our intent and resolve to apply Islamic law can be fully realised". [dzie]

[Slightly abridged translated by James Balowski.]

Government promises to heed Aceh demands

Jakarta Post - February 13, 2006

Jakarta – The government has promised to heed Acehnese leaders' demand for a greater say in a future law that will be used to guide how Aceh will be governed.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin said Saturday during his visit to Aceh that the government and the House of Representatives would review crucial issues the Acehnese proposed in their version of the bill that the government had taken out.

"The bill has been deliberated in the House and the missing crucial issues (that the Acehnese questioned) will be reconsidered," he said in Aceh Besar.

The exclusion of crucial issues from the bill has provoked angry reactions from Acehnese leaders. They have been aggressively campaigning to have their voices heard by organizing seminars and street demonstrations in Jakarta.

The Acehnese Legislative Council and GAM had drafted their own concepts for the bill to be incorporated with the one drafted by the central government.

Acehnese figures have charged that the bill accommodates only the interests of the central government but has left out principle issues that are of great concern to the Acehnese and that are against the Helsinki peace accord both sides have agreed upon.

Among clauses the Acehnese Legislative Council drafted that are "missing" from the bill are those on independent candidacy for local elections and the management of natural resources.

Apart from the issue of independent candidates – to ensure the political participation of the Acehnese in the upcoming gubernatorial election – the Acehnese figures also questioned the proposed clause which would endorse the establishment, annulment or the merging of new regions and municipalities, districts, hamlets and subdistricts in the province.

The defense issue has also attracted criticism from the Acehnese leaders, who were part of the now-defunct Acehnese legislative team, as they questioned why the final draft failed to restrict military activities in Aceh.

"The MOU has said that the military should deal with external defense, but the final draft has given a greater role to the military, allowing it to intervene in domestic disturbances and internal security threats," an Acehnese scholar, Mawardi Ismail has said.

Mawardi is a former member of the Acehnese legislative team that drafted the initial text of the Aceh bill.

Responding to the criticism toward the military's role in Aceh, Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Indriartono Sutarto has said that he would stick to national legislation, including the Defense Law and the Military Law, which has given the mandate to the TNI to deal with "insurgency situations".

"Don't assume that the Acehnese people's dream of having their aspirations accommodated in the future law have been dashed simply because the bill submitted to the House has left out their proposals," Hamid said as quoted by Antara.

But Hamid defended the exclusion of independence candidacy from the final bill, saying that the Helsinki peace accord made no mention of such an issue. "None of the clauses in the agreement made any mention of independent candidates," he said emotionally. "We all have positive thoughts about the future law."

Draft Aceh law could endanger unity of the nation

Kompas - February 11, 2006

Jakarta, Antara – Former Army chief of staff, retired General Tyasno Sudarto, says that the Draft Law on a Government for Aceh or RUU-PA will endanger the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) because it has a number of clauses that lead in the direction of federalism.

"The RUU on Acehnese government, if it is passed by the DPR [House of Representatives], will endanger the sovereignty of NKRI. The DPR must be careful in mulling over this RUU", he told Antara in Jakarta on Tuesday February 7.

Sudarto said there are a number of clauses or articles in the draft law that are directed towards federalism that could endanger the sovereignty of NKRI such as the use of the term "Acehnese administration". "Why doesn't it just use the term Acehnese 'regional government' as is the case for other regions in Indonesia", he asked.

In addition to this, he added that the desire to establish local political parties, the division of authority between the central government and Aceh and the issue of defending and upholding human rights, are as if the authority of the central government is being "lost" to the government of Aceh.

With regard to the RUU-PA and the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Sudarto said that the MoU signed in Helsinki has less legal power compared to the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, that is 1945 Constitution (UUD 1945).

"So, please choose, MoU, the breakup of NKRI, or choose the UUD 1945 as the basis for the Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. What is clear, is that we must defend the sovereignty of NKRI", he said.

"We don't need to be afraid of international criticism because the Aceh question is not an international issue, rather it is just a domestic question for the Republic of Indonesia that must be resolved internally by the government and the Acehnese public themselves. Who is it that is internationalising the Aceh question", he asked.

A similar view was expressed by political observer Eddy Swasono who said that implementing the RUU-PA would lead in the direction of exclusive-ism and end up in the reemergence of the separatist movement in Bumi Rencong [Land of Daggers, Aceh].

Although he opposes the MoU and GAM, the leadership board member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle stated that the party would continue discussions on the draft law with other fractions in the DPR. (BUR)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Aceh bill 'needs overhaul'

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2006

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Activists grouped in the Aceh Network for Democracy have demanded an rewrite of the Aceh governance bill, which they say accommodates Jakarta's interests more than those of the Acehnese.

The bill, which will be debated in the House of Representatives this month and is expected to be passed into law by the end of March, will be a likely combination of three legal drafts prepared by the Aceh legislative team, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian government.

During a seminar with House legislators at the Hotel Ibis to discuss the bill, the activists said their version of the draft had been ignored by the government's team.

Contentious issues highlighted in the seminar were political representation, including the possibility of allowing independent candidates to contest local elections, and matters surrounding power sharing between the central government and the Aceh administration.

"Many articles we proposed have been bent to serve the central government's interests," Aceh legislative team member and Syiah Kuala University lecturer Iskandar Gani said.

The Aceh governing bill is likely to be the next hurdle in the peace deal process, after the government and GAM signed a memorandum of understanding GAM in Helsinki last August.

The MOU gives Indonesia until the end of March to pass the bill before Aceh holds its first direct elections.

Iskandar said the draft proposed by the Aceh legislative team described Aceh as a self-governing territory within the unitary state of the Republic of Indonesia.

The activists said they strongly opposed clauses in the bill that could allow the central government to split Aceh into separate provinces. They said the clauses went against the explicit wording of the Helsinki accord, which guaranteed Aceh's territorial integrity. Syiah Kuala school of law dean Scholar Mawardi Ismail charged that the bill "undermines the Aceh administration's authority." "The draft law allows Jakarta to dominate Aceh politics," he said.

National Mandate Party legislator Farhan Hamid, who is Acehnese, said that judging from the complexity of the issue, the House would need longer time to finalize the bill.

"I have counted no less than 500 crucial issues that need to be discussed, and it would be impossible to complete these deliberations within one and a-half months," Farhan said.

Indonesia to miss deadline on tsunami reconstruction

Reuters - February 8, 2006

Jakarta – Indonesia will miss a deadline to move tens of thousands of people made homeless by the 2004 tsunami into temporary houses because of problems obtaining timber, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who heads the government's Aceh reconstruction agency, said up to 67,000 people living in tents would have to wait until June, two months behind a self-imposed deadline to provide temporary homes.

"We have to change our plan to move people out of tents to the end of June," Mangkusubroto told a news conference to update reconstruction efforts in Aceh province, the region hit hardest by the Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004.

"We don't want to use timber coming from Aceh and we prefer to use timber from outside Indonesia. The only available sources of timber are from Africa, the rest... will endanger protected forests," Mangkusubroto said without elaborating.

It was unclear where timber used so far had come from. Some foreign aid groups that built some of the first wooden homes for survivors in Aceh were later told by conservation groups they had been sold illegal timber. Illegal logging is rampant in Indonesia, the groups say.

On December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.15 earthquake – the biggest in four decades – triggered a tsunami that left up to 232,000 people dead or missing in a dozen Indian Ocean nations, including nearly 170,000 in Aceh alone. Half a million people were left homeless in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island.

In a recent report, the Aceh reconstruction agency said 67,500 people were still in tents, many of which were becoming mouldy. The agency aimed to build 120,000 permanent houses, with up to 78,000 completed this year, Mangkusubroto said. Around 30,000 permanent houses have been built throughout Aceh and other nearby tsunami-hit areas of Indonesia so far.

Despite missing the deadline, Mangkusubroto defended the pace of the reconstruction, saying it was moving at "high speed." The rebuilding of homes was the top priority, he said. "If you compare with the overall needs, of course it's only a quarter of it," he said, referring to the number of permanent homes needed.

West Papua

Government wants more of Freeport revenue

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2006

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – PT Freeport Indonesia should increase the revenue it shares with the government from its Papua mines amid lucrative prices of copper and gold, Vice President Jusuf Kalla says.

Kalla said an interdepartmental team would review the revenue portion received by the government and administrations in Papua from the local unit of US giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

"With rising gold and copper prices, Indonesia should get double or triple the current revenue sharing," said Kalla at a weekly media conference Friday. He added the team would also investigate allegations that the company polluted the local environment at its Grasberg mine.

Kalla, a businessman-turned-politician, said the bigger slice of revenue would help develop Papua, the country's most isolated and poorest province, with more than 70 percent of the revenue earmarked for local administrations.

"We just don't want to see special autonomy being implemented (in the province), but the revenue share for the province is small compared to the results obtained by Freeport," he said. Kalla stopped short of saying that the government wanted to change the existing mining contract of Freeport.

New Orleans-based Freeport McMoRan controls an 81.28 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia, with 9.36 percent owned by the government and another 9.36 percent held by locally registered investment firm PT Indocopper, which is controlled by Freeport McMoRan.

With a stake of some 9.36 percent, the government takes in between US$25 million and $30 million in royalty proceeds annually from Freeport, according to Finance Ministry figures.

The government is only entitled to 20 percent of the proceeds, with the remaining 16 percent going to the provincial administration Papua and 64 percent to the administration of the Timika regency, where the Freeport mining site is located. Aside from royalties, Freeport also pays corporate income tax to the central government, which amounted to $168 million in 2004, according to the ministry.

The Papua administration plans to acquire the stake owned by Indocopper. However, the administration is facing difficulties in raising funds to finance the acquisition, valued at about $700 million.

Calling the current allocations unfair, Papua has long sought a revised split of the profits earned by Freeport from operations at Grasberg, the world's largest gold and second largest copper producer.

Aside from the royalty issue, the Papua administration has also urged the government and Freeport to show greater commitment to the development of the country's easternmost province.

Freeport recently came into the spotlight following an allegations it paid millions of dollars in fees to the Indonesian Military (TNI) for protecting the company's site in Papua.

The Office of the State Minister for the Environment has also accused Freeport of polluting the local environment. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Tuesday the government would review Freeport's mining contract if the company was proven to have polluted the environment from an interdeparmental team's investigation.

Sutarto: No increase in security disturbances in Papua

Media Indonesia - February 11, 2006

Ratna Nuraini, Jakarta – TNI (Indonesian military) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has revealed that there has been no increase in security disturbances in Papua. This is based on a study conducted by the TNI.

Sutarto conveyed this on Friday February 10 at the TNI national headquarters in Cilangkap. "In fact the TNI views the developments in terms of security disturbances as insignificant. Rather, the disturbances are political disturbances from a group of people that want to separate themselves [from Indonesia]", he said.

According to Sutarto, it is because of this that the TNI will not be increasing its security forces in the province. He conveyed this in relation to questions about the request by 43 Papuan to seek asylum in Australia.

"There are no grounds for them to request asylum. Several of them have in fact been detained in relation to raising the Melanesia Brother [sic] flag. So [claims of] being pursued doesn't make sense", he said.

In relation to Australia's attitude towards the asylum seekers, Sutarto admitted to also having raised questions over the matter. In Sutarto's view Australia's handling of the cases of asylum seekers from Afghanistan is different from West Papua.

"Why is there a difference in the handling of Afghanistan cases and this one. Whereas in both [cases] I don't thing there is anything that could be a reason to say that they need to obtain amnesty and legal treatment", he said.

Although TNI forces in Papua will not be augmented, Sutarto said that the TNI would continue to deploy its personnel to provide security at vital installations. This follows the government's decision to order the TNI to assist in providing security to vital installations.

"There was a request from Freeport to the police to provide security. The Indonesian police then felt they needed the TNI at Freeport. So there was an order from the Minister for Security, Political and Legal Affairs for the TNI to assist the Indonesian police in the framework of providing security for Freeport. That was the legal umbrella", he said. (Nur/OL-06)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

The hellish truth behind Papua's paradise

The Independent (UK) - February 8, 2006

Paul Kingsnorth – "Tomorrow," said Galile, "I will take you to the Bird of Paradise. We know where they live. You will hear them, and maybe see them too. They are very beautiful."

My Papuan friend and I were sitting in a thatched hut in a tiny village high in the rainforests of West Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea. I was, I was proudly told, the first white person ever to come here. As firelight flickered on the walls, Galile was telling me about the wildlife that inhabited the rainforests. It was what he thought I wanted to hear, but it wasn't what he really wanted to tell me.

"You see," he said, staring into the fire, "we are happy that you come here to see our forests. But we want to know why the world does not see the other things that happen to us. Why do you not see the killings of our people? Why do you not see how the soldiers destroy our culture? I tell you now – West Papua is being destroyed. And I want to ask you: why will no one listen?"

I had no answer for Galile then, and I have none now. West Papua rarely makes the news. When it does, the stories are of the kind which made headlines yesterday: the discovery of new species of Birds of Paradise or tree kangaroo; the "Stone-Age paradise" of tribal New Guinea. Perhaps we like to feel that such an untouched, Lost World exists, outside of time, peaceful and "primitive". The reality is very different.

West Papua is certainly one of the most remarkable places on Earth. Swathed in tropical rainforest which is second in size only to that of the Amazon, it is home to around 250 tribes, who have inhabited the country for an estimated 40,000 years and speak, between them, 300 separate languages. Most continue to live in small villages, harvesting sweet potatoes, growing sago and raising pigs as their ancestors did before them.

But paradise stops there, for West Papua is an occupied land, whose people have no freedom to choose their own government and little control over their land and resources. It is a country in which calling openly for freedom is punishable by torture, or even death. It is a country which is closed to foreign journalists and human rights workers, and which is flooded with thousands of soldiers, ready to strike at the least sign of dissent. Look at West Papua through the travel books, and it looks like paradise. Look a little closer, and it can start to seem like hell.

Until the mid-20th century, this remote land was part of the Dutch East Indies. In 1949 the Dutch gave up most of their empire to the new nation-state of Indonesia. They argued, however, that West Papua was part of Melanesia, not Asia, and that it should remain separate. In 1961, they granted it independence.

Months later, Indonesia invaded. The UN was forced to intervene, but it was swiftly made clear to its diplomats what the outcome should be. It was the height of the Cold War, and the West was keen to appease Indonesia, which was being wooed by the USSR and China. As one British diplomat put it at the time, "I cannot imagine the US, Japanese, Dutch, or Australian governments putting at risk their economic and political relations with Indonesia on a matter of principle involving a relatively small number of very primitive peoples."

The US, the Netherlands and Indonesia agreed that the UN would stage a face-saving referendum in which the Papuans would be asked to choose between independence and Indonesia. In 1969, seven years after Indonesia invaded the country, the UN stood by as Indonesia rigged the vote.

Declaring that the Papuans were too "primitive" to cope with democracy, they produced 1,026 "representative" Papuan leaders, threatened them with death if they gave the wrong answer, and then asked them to vote. The outcome was never in doubt.

Indonesia then embarked on a campaign to wipe out Papuan culture. Those who resisted were murdered, tortured or "disappeared" with a horrific ferocity. At least 100,000 Papuans have been killed by the Indonesians since occupation; according to some human rights workers, the figure could be as high as 800,000.

West Papua's rich natural resources – gold, copper, timber, oil, gas – were sold off to foreign or Indonesian corporations, many of them linked to the army or the government. Millions of hectares of tribal land were confiscated, and objectors swiftly dealt with. Soldiers murdered, raped, tortured and brutalised the people of West Papua with impunity. They still do.

Eighteen months ago, a group of us in the UK set up the Free West Papua Campaign to raise awareness of the situation. Every day, we are contacted by people in West Papua, who risk their lives to talk to us. In the last few months alone we have been sent photos of villages burned by the army, and refugees starving in the jungle. We have heard of dissenters being slashed with razors by soldiers, or having petrol poured on them and set alight. We have heard of men jailed for a decade simply for raising the West Papuan flag in public.

What the people of West Papua desperately want, as Galile told me in that highland village, is the world's attention. They need our media, our governments and our NGOs to see what is being done to them – and to do something about it. The world needs to see, and to stop, the genocide that hides behind those images of paradise.

West Papuan asylum seekers call for help

Green Left Weekly - February 8, 2006

Sarah Stephen – Greens Senator Kerry Nettle received a warm welcome when she finally managed to get to Christmas Island on January 28-30 to visit the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers and a family of West Timorese being held there. NSW Greens immigration spokesperson Max Phillips, who accompanied Nettle, told Green Left Weekly that it seemed like half the town had turned out to greet them.

"When we arrived at the community housing, there were a couple of West Papuans on the verandah of the house occupied by the West Timorese family, but no sign of Global Solutions Ltd (GSL) guards." Phillips wondered whether this hands-off approach was because politicians from the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories were also visiting the island.

Nettle and Phillips were taken to meet Herman Wainggai, the main spokesperson for the group, and the other West Papuans living in community detention. (The single men are being held in detention, while family groups are allowed to live more freely in community detention.) Phillips said the West Papuans were "very excited" to see photos of solidarity rallies in Sydney and Melbourne calling for the government to grant them asylum in the days following their boat's arrival. "Before that, they had no idea that Australians knew about them and supported their struggle", Phillips said. They were "ecstatic", Phillips said, to see a photo of their boat with its banner from one of the newspapers. The banner had been strung from the boat in the hope that their asylum message would reach the Australian people.

Nettle and Phillips discovered that the West Papuans had been travelling for six weeks, not five days as initially reported. They began their voyage on the mid-north coast of West Papua, where Herman Wainggai's father had helped make the dugout canoe. They navigated the coastline of West Papua, stopping along the way for food and fuel. At one point, they drifted off course towards Ambon, which they were fearful of reaching because of the numbers of Indonesian troops stationed there. They also had to contend with big seas and high winds.

One of the young men told Phillips of their fear when they were hauled into a Hercules plane after reaching Australia. They thought they were being returned to Indonesia, but they were taken to Christmas Island. "They thought it must be just off the coast of Australia. We showed them a map, and they were horrified it was so close to Java", Phillips said.

According to Nettle, "The West Papuans hope that Australia will help their country as we helped East Timor. I hope that Australia gives them protection and speaks out against the gradual genocide of the West Papuan people at the hands of the Indonesian military."

Video footage of Wainggai arguing the case for protection was shown at a 120-strong public meeting in Fremantle on January 31 where Nettle spoke along with Ned Byrne from the Australia West Papua Association, refugee campaigner Kaye Bernard and Project SafeCom's Jack Smit. Videotaped messages from that meeting will be sent to Wainggai and the asylum seekers on Christmas Island.

On February 2, Byrne visited Yunus and Anika Wainggai, the father and daughter being held in Fremantle hospital. Both have been declared free of active tuberculosis, though Yunus has a non- contagious form of the disease.

Byrne told Green Left Weekly that Yunus, who was responsible for keeping the dugout's motor going, told him it lasted until their final leg from Merauke to the Torres Strait. They then drifted around for five days, collecting fresh water and dribbling it into the children's mouths. They also ran out of food, having expected the journey to take just 15 hours.

Byrne has been active in promoting the independence cause of West Papua since 1999. His brother-in-law, Jacob Rumbiak, now based in Melbourne, is one of the leaders of the West Papuan independence movement and a co-founder, along with Dr Thomas Wainggai, of the non-violent resistance in 1987.

Byrne is concerned that despite the Indonesian military repression in West Papua, the Australian government wants to sign a new security treaty with Jakarta. In 1995, then Labor prime minister Paul Keating negotiated a secret security pact with the dictator General Suharto. It was junked when the Howard government was forced to intervene to stop the carnage in East Timor in 1999.

From all reports, the new treaty is far more wide-ranging and is more explicit about the importance of non-interference in the internal affairs of Indonesia compared to the last one.

"They made the journey right on time", Byrne said, referring to the heightened public interest in and awareness about the struggle of the West Papuan people for their independence. Byrne is optimistic that this may force Howard to postpone signing the treaty with Jakarta.

Project SafeCom's Jack Smit is less optimistic. Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono phoned Howard on January 27 asking for the return of the asylum seekers, and guaranteeing they would not be harmed. "It remains to be seen whether Howard will, behind the scenes, manipulate the outcomes of the visa processing under pressure from Yudhoyono", Smit told GLW.

Australian businesses have an interest in West Papua remaining open for exploitation. Soon after the asylum seekers' arrival, the Cairns Chamber of Commerce demanded the government adopt a "hardline approach". This is hardly surprising, as Cairns businesses are some of the biggest beneficiaries of the Freeport mine at Grasberg in West Papua – the largest gold and third- largest copper mine in the world. Cairns operates as Freeport's supply base, with direct flights to Timika. Cairns is also where many miners take their rest and recreation. West Papuan independence would mean the loss of $50-70 million a year for local Cairns companies. For Indonesia, it means a whole lot more: the Freeport mine is Jakarta's biggest corporate taxpayer, contributing an annual $192 million in taxes.

Free West Papua, free the refugees!

Green Left Weekly - February 8, 2006

Peter Short, Perth – "The voice of West Papua must be heard, it has been silenced for 45 years", West Papua solidarity activist Ned Byrne told a crowd of 140 people who packed into Fremantle's Kulcha venue on January 31.

Organised by Project SafeCom and the Australian Greens, the "Free West Papua, Free the Refugees" public meeting was also addressed by Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, Jack Smit from Project SafeCom and Christmas Island refugee advocate Kaye Bernard.

Nettle was barely off the plane, having visited Christmas Island to meet with the West Papuan refugees. "This long, costly journey hides the ugly face of mandatory detention", she told the meeting. News of the many Australian protests and meetings of support gave the refugees great heart, Nettle said.

Bernard spoke of her struggles to assist the Vietnamese refugees imprisoned on Christmas Island in 2003. Bernard cited an example of the cruelty such detention entails: A pregnant Vietnamese refugee was repeatedly flown to the mainland for obstetric treatment. "She travelled about 20,000 kilometres – some kind of bizarre record for longest distance flown during a pregnancy." Smit said that human rights were being sacrificed to economic and political goals, highlighting the links between the Australian and Indonesian governments, and the business deals between the owners of West Papua's Freeport mine, the Indonesian military and some Australian companies.

Retired Dutch Air Force officer Kees Faas described his involvement in military activities in West Papua in 1961, and how his unit received last-minute orders from the Dutch colonial authorities not to repel invading Indonesian aircraft.

Byrne, a teacher and activist in the Australia West Papua Association, said that earlier in the day he had managed to speak by telephone with West Papuan activist Pastor Rom. Unable to escape themselves, Rom and his wife sent all their children on the boat to Australia.

Byrne said: "I asked: Why did you send your only 3 children on such a perilous sea journey? Rom answered: 'To save them from genocide – without the West Papuan people there can be no free West Papua'." According to Byrne, Rom described the situation in West Papua as "critical and dangerous, on the edge of war". Rom said there was a massive military buildup occurring, with tanks patrolling cities and towns. He claimed that the Indonesian army is establishing jungle encampments.

Byrne also said that Java-based right-wing militias were recruiting West Papuan youth – the same tactic as used by the Indonesian military in East Timor. "The West Papuan people have a vision for the future of West Papua", Byrne said. "The Indonesian regime has no vision for their future – only annihilation."

Human rights/law

Report tell of judges' plot to 'kill' Judicial Commission

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2006

Jakarta – The conflict between Supreme Court justices and Judicial Commission officials has taken a new twist with a report the judges are plotting to destroy the commission.

Local media published Monday the alleged minutes of a secret meeting between a group of justices and attorneys in a North Jakarta hotel Feb. 2. Antara news agency reported that at least two justices confirmed the meeting did take place but refused to reveal the substance of the talks.

Relations between the two institutions soured last month when the commission floated the idea of reassessing the performance of 49 Supreme Court justices as part of efforts to clean up corruption in the court. Judges in the court have long been perceived as "untouchable" despite issuing many questionable verdicts.

The rift deepened when the commission later made public the names of 13 justices it called "problematic". Angered by the report, one judge, Artidjo Alkotsar, filed a defamation complaint against the commission with police.

Set up nine months ago, the commission is charged with supervising and scrutinizing court officials as part of efforts to clean up the country's notoriously graft-ridden judicial system.

In a document leaked to Antara, one of the eight justices attending the meeting Harifin A Tumpa reportedly said: "To solve this problem, we have to 'root them out'." Then justice Djoko Sarwoko, who is the Supreme Court spokesman, added, "... we'll have to liquidate the Judicial Commission."

Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation head Munarman said if the report was true, the plot was an "unconstitutional, evil conspiracy." "They also meant to involve police in the conspiracy. Isn't that perverting (the function of) police?" Munarman said. The reports only fueled public perceptions the judiciary was controlled by a corrupt mafia, he said.

Munarman called on the President, the House of Representatives and the Constitutional Court to intervene in the conflict between the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission.

Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan said Monday the media should not exaggerate news about the justices' meeting.

Government, House agree to amend anti-terror law

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2006

Jakarta – The government and lawmakers have agreed on a plan to revise the 2003 Law on Terror before ratifying two international conventions aimed at strengthening national efforts to root out terrorism.

National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs counterterror chief Ansyaad Mbai told legislators the current law on terrorism was still far from adequate and needed amendments.

They spoke at a hearing Wednesday night with the House of Representatives Commission I on foreign affairs and defense. National Intelligence Agency (BIN) head Syamsir Siregar also addressed the group.

During the meeting, lawmakers responded positively to the government's call for revisions to the law. They also agreed with moves to ratify two United Nations conventions on terrorism and terror financing.

"We are aware of terrorist threats and it is a global issue. Therefore, ratifying these conventions is very important to us," senior Golkar legislator Slamet Effendi Yusuf told the hearing.

Sutanto said he was concerned about the weaknesses of Indonesia's antiterror law. "We have been left behind by other countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, which have just revised their antiterror laws," he said.

Sutanto said Indonesia's terror law tended to focus on apprehending suspects rather than protecting the public from attacks.

"In other countries, civilians are not allowed to be involved in any forms of military training because that is the military's privilege. In Indonesia, especially in conflict areas, there are groups who regularly hold military-style training sessions," Ansyaad said.

He compared the courts' handling of terrorism cases here to what took place in France. "They (France) have a centralized trial system specifically concerned with terrorism." To ensure impartiality, all terror trials were held in Paris with judges and prosecutors specialized in handling terror cases. In Indonesia, the trials were often held in the regions where the bomb attacks took place, Ansyaad said.

He said a centralized system would also hand down more consistent verdicts to terrorists.

Sutanto said it was urgent for Indonesia to ratify the two UN conventions. Terrorism was an international problem and signing the conventions would allow police here to cooperate better with their counterparts overseas, especially in the pursuit of terror financiers.

Police data showed that in February 2002, Malaysian terror fugitive Noordin M. Top received US$86,000 in funds from Al- Qaeda, Sutanto said. Noordin is believed to be the mastermind of the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, which killed a total of 225 people.

"And in May 2003, Noordin also received US$130,000 from Palestinians to carry out attacks in Indonesia." A man recently detained for allegedly transferring terrorist funds, Abdullah Sonata, had handled money meant for bomb attacks in the Philippines, he said.

Sutanto assured lawmakers that ratifying the conventions would not lead to unwanted foreign intervention into Indonesian affairs as some had suspected.

Poor recruitment system 'encourages' human trafficking

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Pematang Siantar, Jakarta – When the recruiter passed through the small village in North Sumatra promising young women good-paying jobs in Malaysia, "Salma" seized what she thought was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve the future she always dreamed of, for herself and her family.

She never imagined this "dream opportunity" would turn into a nightmare that will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Salma is receiving psychotherapy at a special clinic in the North Sumatra town of Pematang Siantar, where she has been cared for since her return from Tanjungpinang in Riau Islands province about nine weeks ago. She is suffering deep depression after being raped during her week-long ordeal.

The 19-year-old high school graduate, along with dozens of other women from the village, were taken to Riau Islands, from where they were told they would continue on to Malaysia and the promised jobs.

However, these supposedly good jobs turned out to be as hostesses in nightspots in Johor Bahru. When the women learned what the recruiters had in mind for them, they made their own way back to the village of Silau Malaha in Simalungun regency.

The head of the village, Hakim Manik, said recently recruiters arrived in the area almost daily looking for people, mostly young women, eager to find work overseas. Unfortunately, many of the promises of these recruiters turn out to be false, and the people who leave their homes with them often find themselves in frightening and dangerous situations.

J. Purba, who heads the manpower and transmigration office in Simalungun, said many residents were eager to secure work on Batam island or in Malaysia, because of the relatively high pay.

Many villagers, holding only their identity cards, are taken to Riau Islands, where they are reportedly given false documents to enter Malaysia or Singapore illegally.

"It is difficult for workers employed in karaoke bars or other entertainment centers to escape because they are usually closely watched while they are at work and in their dormitories," said a woman, Halimah, who recently returned from Selangor, Malaysia, where she worked at a karaoke bar for two years.

A bill on human trafficking is now being discussed at the House of Representatives in Jakarta, and activists and labor exporters say new regulations are desperately needed to repair a labor recruitment system they say is "poor" and contributes to human trafficking.

Wahyu Susilo, coordinator of Migrant Care, which deals with migrant workers, said last week in Jakarta the trafficking of women and children had reached alarming levels because of ineffective security and law enforcement systems.

He said police could rescue thousands of child laborers and prostitutes if they cracked down on entertainment centers in Jakarta, Tanjungpinang and Batam.

"Luck was on the side of police when they nabbed 12 undocumented women during a raid at Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung on Wednesday. Groups of women from Java and West Nusa Tenggara are trafficked to Riau almost every week under the noses of the security authorities," Wahyu said.

He called for the current law on labor recruitment to be revised to fight human trafficking.

Salma "Vivi" Savitri, coordinator of Women's Solidarity for Human Rights, accused labor brokers of exploiting poverty by recruiting job seekers from the least-developed rural areas for employment as "slaves" by rich families or as prostitutes overseas.

"Police have to work harder at home and enhance cooperation with their counterparts abroad to fight human trafficking," she said.

Husein Alaydrus, chairman of the Indonesian Labor Exporters Association, said that even with tough laws, the labor export system, from recruitment to placement overseas, did not protect workers.

"Brokers go about freely in rural areas recruiting job seekers and supplying them to whoever offers the highest price. This makes it difficult for authorities to monitor their employers," he said, saying that many brokers provided tourist visas for job seekers to go to Malaysia and Singapore.

The 2004 Labor Export and Protection Law carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years and a fine of Rp 5 billion for anyone who supplies workers without documents or is involved in human trafficking. But human trafficking continues unchecked.

According to Husein, the government should establish a more thorough recruitment system, with workers given special passports. Labor brokers should be banned and recruitment should be done directly by labor exporters, in cooperation with local manpower and transmigration offices, he said. "Human trafficking is really another side of labor exports," he said.

Political parties waver on controversial bylaws

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Jakarta – Although most of the nation's political parties declare their opposition to the enforcement of sharia, inconsistencies in what is said and done seem to rule in regions where Islamic law has been adopted into bylaws.

Regencies and mayoralties such as Padang, West Sumatra, Cianjur, West Java, and Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, have issued regulations that support the implementation of sharia despite it contravening the 2004 Regional Autonomy Law.

The factional head of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in the House of Representatives, Abdillah Toha, told The Jakarta Post Wednesday that PAN does not support bylaws that enforce strict Islamic law, such as obliging all women to wear headscarves and to cover their bodies according to Islamic principles. He asserted that PAN supports pluralism in the country.

However, as the biggest vote-getter in Padang in the 2005 polls, its representatives there did not raise any objection to the mayor's decision to "recommend" – tantamount to an instruction – that female students wear headscarves.

Although the mayor has said it was not a requirement of non- Muslims, in practice those of minority faiths have given in to pressure to conform. Abdillah said that he had not heard about the situation in Padang but would look into it.

Although he said the party objected to strict Islamic rules in regulations, it approved of those promoting "Islamic moral values", such as prohibitions on drinking alcohol and gambling. "Islamic values are universal," he said.

Both the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) said they disapproved of religion-based regulations but, once again, their representatives failed to stop their implementation in the regions.

PDI-P secretary-general Pramono Anung said the enforcement of sharia would be a gigantic step back from what the nation's founding fathers agreed upon in the Constitution.

Islamic rules were necessary but not for implementation by the state, he added. "Sharia law should be adhered to by Muslims' individually," he said.

The party believes that local administrations do not have the authority to issue religion-based regulations, and Pramono feared their implementation would be divisive. He also feared a backlash, with regions where Muslims were not the majority enforcing regulations based on the predominant faith.

"Bali, North Sulawesi, Papua and Maluku would be curious about proposing religion-based bylaws," he said of the areas, with a majority Hindu population in Bali and mostly Christian populations in the other areas.

The head of general affairs of PKB, A.S. Hikam, said the country adhered to national laws and the Constitution, not sharia. "Since the beginning of the nation, sharia has not been implemented by state enforcement, because our nation is very pluralistic," Hikam said.

The United Development Party (PPP) was ambivalent in its stance, with faction head Endin A.J Soefihara saying the party could not say it was completely opposed to the issuance of the bylaws. He said the bylaws might be considered discriminatory, but it all depended on the lawmaking process.

He also noted that since PPP was not the majority in regional areas, the party tried to support the general aspirations of the people there.

Only the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has been consistent in its position of considering the bylaws to be positive. Head of the PKS faction at the House of Representatives Mahfudz Shidiq said that religious identity was within the authority of the central government, but religion, as a set of norms, was not.

According to him, there are many spheres in which religious norms were permitted. "Education, the economy and social sector are areas which are in the hands of the local administrations," he said.

Labour issues

Layoffs almost tripled in 2005

Jakarta Post - February 13, 2006

Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – The stark reality of the bandied- about terms "high-cost economy" or "increased operating costs" may come down to the resulting worker layoffs.

Last year, they translated to about 350,000 workers losing their jobs, almost triple the 138,000 workers laid off in 2004. With the threat of a power rate hike this year, more workers may find themselves scrimping to get by in the near future.

"Companies were forced to streamline their factories for efficiency (in 2005), since fuel prices increased while, on the other hand, the promised incentives have not been realized," Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) secretary-general Djimanto said last week.

Almost half of the number of layoffs came in wood-processing industries, followed by the textile and garment sector, he added.

Wood and textile weaving industries had already lost about 500,000 and 300,000 jobs respectively in the past two successive years, shrinking the number of jobs in the nation's manufacturing sector from 11.50 million in 2003 to 10.7 million in 2005.

Businesses in the hardest-hit forestry-based subsector, which terminated employment for about 170,000 workers last year, have long complained about increasing transportation cost and rampant illegal levies.

Transportation costs and the high-cost economy from the illegal fees contributed to 20 percent and 30 percent respectively of the industries' total operating costs, he said.

There was also a limited supply of timber after the government cut the logging quota from natural forests from 5.7 million cubic meters in 2004 to 5.4 million cubic meters in 2005.

With the fight against illegal logging intensifying, some government officials, including many without authorization, have started carrying out unnecessary checks and raids on the supply of timber, making it even more difficult for firms to secure raw materials, said Indonesian Sawmill and Wood Working Association chairwoman Soewarni.

She explained that about half of the country's 115 wood-based industries had collapsed, victim of the high-cost economy as well as the prevalence of aging machinery amid increased competition with more efficient China and Malaysia.

The country saw its wood products exports fall from US$3.28 billion in 2003 to $3.17 billion in 2004. Last year, exports of the goods, accounting for about 6 percent of Indonesia's total non-oil and gas exports, dropped again, reaching $2.8 billion.

Problems are also hampering textile and garment companies. At the end of last year, the Indonesian Textile Association (API) reported that 70 companies had stopped operating, leaving about 70,000 textile and garment workers jobless.

The industry, which employs a total of 1.2 million workers, is one of the largest contributors to the country's non-oil and gas exports.

With no signs of an economic upturn yet, the outlook for the businesses does not look as good despite government forecasts of better times ahead. A planned hike in electricity rates, if realized, would add to their woes.

"The upcoming electricity rate hike would leave businesspeople no other option but to lay off more workers," API secretary-general Ernovian G. Ismy warned.

The government is currently reviewing a proposal by state power firm PT PLN to increase rates, although it has said the effects would be "minimized". Djimanto predicted an increase in rates would put about 700,000 jobs at risk this year.

Factory workers, businesses at odds in East Java

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – Bending to pressure, the governor of East Java recently revised the monthly minimum wage, but the move failed to please either workers or businesspeople in the province.

With both sides unhappy, it is almost inevitable that more protests will be held in a province that has seen a number of violent labor actions in recent months.

The latest incident occurred in mid-January and involved thousands of workers from the province's main cities of Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Pasuruan, Malang, Gresik and Mojokerto. Clashes between security personnel and demonstrators left at least 11 people injured.

The owner of a footwear manufacturing company in Sidoarjo, Alianto Wibowo, saw the clash on television and was moved to attend a meeting of the Sidoarjo chapter of the Indonesian Employers Association to discuss the matter.

In December, the governor set the minimum monthly wage at Rp 632,775 (about US$64) for the 12 regencies and mayoralties in East Java. The minimum wage for the provincial capital Surabaya was set at Rp 655,500.

Workers denounced the minimum wage, which they said was not enough to meet their daily needs following the fuel price increases last October. They demanded a minimum wage of Rp 845,000. On Jan. 26, the governor raised the minimum wage to Rp 651,333, and Rp 685,500 for Surabaya.

Businesses in the province, already struggling since the fuel price increases, have watched with concern the protests calling for higher wages. Alianto has already implemented a number of efficiency measures at his company to help offset October's fuel price rises, including slashing company expenditures and the size of his workforce.

In 2004, the company employed 36 workers, but that number is now down to seven. With this skeleton staff, the company is able to produce 500 pairs of shoes a day, a far cry from its peak production of 1,500 pairs.

"Dismissing workers is the hardest choice to have to make, but what else could I do since production costs have increased drastically. Which is not to mention the number of buyers who have canceled orders," said Alianto.

The government's decision to raise fuel prices had a heavy impact on at least 15 of the 40 companies in the Ngoro Industrial Persada complex in Sidoarjo, and within days of the increase many of the companies were already considering shifting their base of operations to other countries.

Of the 40 shoe manufacturers in Sidoarjo in 1998, only 22 remain, employing some 15,000 workers. Now Alianto and other businesspeople are dealing with demands from workers for higher wages.

And while the businesspeople consider any monthly wage above Rp 655,000 as overly burdensome, the workers say they will continue their protests until they receive a living wage. "We will continue the protests against the government until the workers' demands are met," promised Jamaluddin, secretary-general of the Surabaya Workers Forum.

Tourism workers plan strike

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2006

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The prospect of a strike by tourist industry workers could not come at a worse time for the country, an Indonesian Tourism Council official says.

"This is not the right time. Bali's occupancy rates are less than 30 percent," deputy chairwoman of the tourism council Meity Robot said Tuesday.

The workers are demanding the city administration set a higher minimum monthly wage for the tourist sector. Tourism workers are paid about Rp 819,000 a month, lower than the minimum wage set for other sectors of Rp 884,000.

"We want fair treatment," Zulkifli Ali Hamid, chairman of the Jakarta chapter of the Independent Workers Association, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said the workers had entered into negotiations with city officials and employers. "(But) Our latest meeting with the Jakarta administration on Feb. 3 ended in a stalemate," Zulkifli said.

The meeting, attended by representatives of the Jakarta Wage Council, employers, labor unions and the Jakarta Manpower Agency, was chaired by the city's assistant for development affairs, Rohana Manggala.

Zulkifli said the prolonged work stoppage would come during the peak season. He said rallies would be staged across the city, including at the Aryaduta, Grand Hyatt, Nikko and Four Seasons hotels, Taman Anggrek Apartments and Plaza Indonesia.

Zulkifli said the workers association had 21,123 members staffing hotels, restaurants, mall and apartments, whose efforts contributed to 22.51 percent of the city's revenue in 2004.

Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association chairwoman Yanti Sukamdani said the tourism industry was yet to recover from the 2002 Bali bombings. "The industry will face another downturn if its workers continue to demand higher pay," she told the Post.

She said the fuel price increases last year pushed hoteliers' operational costs up by 40 percent. "We can't increase hotel rates as occupancy rates are still very low. That's why we can't increase workers' pay," she said.

Government/civil service

Business interests hold sway over local budgets

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2006

Ibrahim Zuhdhy Fahmy Badoh, Jakarta – Every year, from November to December, the budgeting process in local governments enters its final stages. Intensive negotiations take place in drafting the next year's budget between local executives and legislative councils. Both sides try to get the best possible outcome, supposedly in the interests of the people they represent.

Although their official position is to represent the interests of the people, local legislators, however, often act more in their political party's interests. Meanwhile, corrupt bureaucrats are always ready to accommodate the political parties' interests for their own benefit.

We know that the process of planning and budgeting is strongly influenced by business interests since the processes of local government involve very large expenditures, in areas like education, health, infrastructure and other basic services sectors.

Many businessmen are ready to bribe local officials and legislators in order to win project contracts. Corruption at this level is large scale, with the money being distributed to officials, political parties, or persons who could make trouble if they do not receive a portion of the embezzled money.

Then the project budget is marked up. The percentage of mark up is often up to 200 percent, and tragically the projects have no real benefit for local people.

The budget corruption then continues to the next step. At the level of discussion between the executive and local council, business interests try to influence the council budget committee, mostly through bribery or by promising commissions.

Bad budgetary processes are crucial issues in the discourse concerning decentralization and local governance in Indonesia. The ongoing process shows the power of oligarchy influencing the local development process. Oligarchy prevents people from participating in the budgetary process, and denies people the right to information. As the result, people suffer from bad public services and low quality public facilities.

The interests of party elites penetrate deeply and influence the policies of their representatives in the legislative council. Local legislators are forced to give benefits to cronies who gave money to the party during the last elections.

Such collaboration creates a political-business oligarchy. The power rotates only among a small number of elites. In the larger context, this collaboration is used to get economic concessions and to pay for political and legal protection.

Prior to the revision of the Law on Regional Government, people were enthusiastic. They had hoped that with the revision to the law that the budget planning process would allow greater public participation. But in fact, the process continues to be monopolized by local government officials and politicians.

The process of budget planning is very important. People must be allowed to be involved and informed so they can argue and protest whenever they find misallocation of resources or indications of corruption. Nowadays, local people often ask about the relationship between the people's forum (forum warga) and the local budget. Every year, local government facilitates the forum, but it is rare that its recommendations are accommodated in the budget.

Bad governance in local budgeting is worrying. The recent situation indicates that the level of systemic budgetary corruption is growing. The accumulated money is often used to buy political protection and to influence the judiciary.

The central government must pay attention to this situation by undertaking annual evaluations. The impact of local budgets on quality of services must be measured. On the other hand, the regulations on budgets must also must be revised.

There's no more effective way to monitor local government than direct monitoring by the community. Creating available space for people to participate in the budgeting process would be the best way to minimize budget corruption.

[The writer is coordinator of the political corruption department, Indonesia Corruption Watch.]

SBY orders action to halt intimidation of legislators

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has come to the defense of opposition legislators after the police monitored parties probing the government's policy on rice imports.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said Yudhoyono "very much regretted" the police monitoring of legislators conducting an independent probe of the imports, and ordered legal action to ensure it was stopped. "The President has high regard for the rights of legislators and the House of Representatives," Mallarangeng said.

The dispute between the House and the police broke out Tuesday when a letter from Jakarta Police director of security intelligence Sr. Comr. Handoko ordering the operation was leaked to the public.

The police had deployed intelligence officers to question Tamsil Linrung from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) at the House.

Tamsil heads the investigation team consisting of the government's political opponents from PKS and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Last month, the House of Representatives voted against an opposition resolution to investigate the government's plan to import 110,000 tons of medium-grade rice from Vietnam, prompting PDI-P and PKS to begin their own probe.

"Upon reading media reports this morning, the President ordered the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Widodo Adi Sucipto) to check and take all necessary measures, including punishing those who erred," Mallarangeng said.

The Jakarta Police moved quickly on the order from the President. Five police intelligence officers who had begun the investigation were questioned.

Spokesman for the Jakarta Police Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said the questioning focused on their investigation and on how the document was leaked.

Widodo also called a top level meeting with officials under his coordination, including National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, sparking a blame game among officials over who gave the order for the monitoring.

Sutanto denied Jakarta Police chief Ins. Gen. Firman Gani's claim the intelligence operation was carried out at the order of the National Police chief.

He maintained the order to monitor legislators' activities came from the Jakarta Police Headquarters. He said he believed the police officers were assigned to safeguard the politicians, not to spy on them.

"The Jakarta Police Headquarters are concerned that the latest political development in the House could cause security problems and they had the initiative to collect the necessary information," he told journalists. "Such jobs as investigating the rice import are risky and therefore we have to... protect them," Sutanto added.

The outraged House leadership filed a complaint Wednesday with the National Police. "They must explain to us about this unacceptable policy," deputy chairman Zaenal Maarif from the Reform Star Party said.

Tjahjo Kumolo, who chairs the PDI-P faction, said that his faction also filed a protest with Sutanto about the issue. "It's just as though we are living under the New Order administration, which used intelligence officers to spy on politicians with different point of views from the government," he said, referring to the Soeharto regime.

House hits out at police probe into lawmakers

Jakarta Post - February 8, 2006

Abdul Khalik and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – A police decision to investigate members of two political parties opposed to the government's policy of importing rice from Vietnam was slammed by lawmakers Tuesday.

Calling the move anti-democratic and an attempt to criminalize the political process, House of Representatives leaders warned police that they had overstepped their authority.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said there were two reasons why his office had launched a probe into legislators from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

"Firstly, someone has filed a report to us that a criminal act was committed... so we have to follow up this report. Secondly, we have received direct orders from National Police Headquarters (to probe the case)," he said.

Firman refused to elaborate on the police investigation, saying the National Police would provide more information. If police were investigating the legislators then there was evidence of a criminal act, he said.

Last Friday, the Jakarta Police security intelligence directorate sent two officers – Brig. Saenal and Brig. Yuliono – to the House to question Tamsil Linrung of the PKS. Tamsil leads a PDI- P/PKS team set up to investigate the rice import plan. The officers did not meet Tamsil because he was attending a meeting on the subject at the nearby Mulia Hotel.

Saenal and Yuliono along with three other officers – Comr. Effendi Sirait, Brig. Edi Prebuan and First Brig. Ekhan Windiarto – were assigned to investigate the case in a letter signed by Jakarta Police director of security intelligence Sr. Comr. Handoko on Jan. 30.

The letter, copies of which were released to the media, stated that the investigation was launched in order for "police to anticipate a public security and order situation".

It ordered the five intelligence officers to "collect data and information" on the plan by the PDI-P and PKS to further probe the government's rice import policy, following the two parties' defeat in a recent House vote on the issue.

Last month, the House voted against an opposition resolution to investigate the government's plan to import 110,000 tons of rice from Vietnam.

Legislator Alvin Lie of the National Mandate Party tabled the Handoko's letter at a House plenary meeting Tuesday. He said the police's plan violated the principles of democracy. "The political process in the House is in accordance with the Constitution and laws," he told the session.

House disciplinary committee head Slamet Effendi Yusuf said there was no justification for police to investigate legislators who were just doing their jobs. "What is this (investigation) for? They have committed no crime whatsoever. Legislators are free to exercise their rights, which are guaranteed under the Constitution. The police must stay away from this," the senior Golkar Party politician said.

The PKS demanded the Jakarta Police explain the purpose of the investigation. "It constitutes contempt of parliament. We obviously oppose it. It's a systematic effort to intimidate the House and destroy the democratic process," Commission III for legal affairs deputy chairman Almuzammil Yusuf said.

The government plans to import the rice to protect national supplies and keep prices under control. The State Logistics Agency, which controls the nation's rice stocks, has been the subject of a series of graft scandals over recent years, involving top-ranking politicians.

Media/press freedom

Supreme Court rules in favor of 'Tempo'

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2006

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The Indonesian media received a welcome gift for National Press Day on Thursday, when the Supreme Court cleared Tempo weekly chief editor Bambang Harymurti of defaming businessman Tomy Winata.

A panel of three justices, led by Chief Justice Bagir Manan, heard Bambang's judicial review using the Press Law, not the Criminal Law used by the lower courts in originally finding Bambang guilty of defamation.

"The panel of justices heard the review filed by Bambang Harymurti and acquitted him on all charges," announced Justice Djoko Sarwono, the Supreme Court spokesman and a member of the panel of justices.

The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the lower courts, which had found Bambang guilty and sentenced him to a year in prison for libeling Tomy. The case stemmed from a story that Tempo ran in March 2003 under the headline Ada Tomy di Tenabang? (Is Tomy in Tanah Abang?).

In the story, it was suggested that Tomy won the right to renovate the Tanah Abang textile market, one of the largest in Indonesia with over 5,000 stalls, before a fire devastated the market, raising questions about whether the businessman had a hand in the blaze.

Djoko said the justices unanimously agreed to hear the judicial review under the Press Law instead of the Criminal Code, which allows for the jailing of journalists for defamation.

"We want to ensure journalists have protection," he said, adding the caveat that such protection was only afforded journalists who worked according to journalistic ethics.

Bambang welcomed the decision, saying, "This is not my victory, but a victory for all Indonesian journalists." He added that Tempo would make sure journalists and the legal authorities across the country heard about the decision, and the precedent it set for future defamation cases involving journalists.

Lawyer Darwin Aritonang, who represents Tempo, said the case was a milestone because of the Supreme Court's decision to use the Press Law to hear a defamation case involving the media. "This is truly a victory for all journalists in the country," he said.

However, Djoko said the decision did not establish jurisprudence for other defamation cases involving journalists. "We chose to improvise because journalists would not be protected if we used the Criminal Code," he said.

To serve as jurisprudence, the Supreme Court's decision must be used by the courts to decide other defamation cases involving the media, Darwin explained.

"Journalists here still have more work to do, which is to convince justices and judges to apply this decision to other cases," he said, adding that the Supreme Court is currently hearing a judicial review involving Tempo reporters Ahmad Taufik and T. Iskandar in a separate case.

Tomy launched a series of criminal defamation cases against Tempo magazine, Koran Tempo daily and Tempo senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad after the Tanah Abang story ran in March 2003. Several of the defamation cases are pending.

Journalists debate 'Playboy', Prophet cartoons

Jakarta Post - February 10, 2006

Riyadi Suparno, Bandung – The planned launch of Playboy Indonesia and the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad by European newspapers are two issues that could affect press freedoms in Indonesia, journalists say.

Speaking to commemorate National Press Day here Thursday, Association of Indonesian Journalists chairman Tarman Azam was emphatic about his opposition to media that published pornography and images that insulted religions. "We are against Playboy, we are against the caricatures!" he shouted.

The cartoons and Playboy have caused a public outcry in Indonesia, especially among Muslims. The issues were seized upon by the journalists and politicians speaking at the commemoration ceremony, with some questioning whether the 2004 Press Law needed to be changed.

Communications and Information Minister Sofyan A Djalil noted that the government was studying the Press Law to see whether it was still relevant to Indonesia. If need be, the government would amend it, he said without elaborating.

However, another senior journalist, Sabam Siagian, questioned the motive behind any revisions. The former ambassador to Australia said the media should fight any acts that curtailed its freedom and led to increased government control.

If the government blamed press freedom for media excesses and curtailed it, this would be a serious mistake, Press Council chairman Ichlasul Amal said.

Amal said a lack of professionalism and training among journalists led to the worst excesses in Indonesia – issues that had little to do with increased freedoms.

Reporters and members of the public were often still not aware that extra responsibilities came with new freedoms, he said.

A 2004 study by the council covering 28 newspapers in Java, found that only 30 percent of the people running newspapers met the council's minimum set of professional standards. Media skill-sets outside Java were likely to be even worse, Amal said.

President Susilo Yudhoyono assured the meeting that the government had no intention of curbing press freedom. "Anyone can run publications here without any license. The government cannot and will not close any media," Yudhoyono said to the applause of journalists at the Merdeka Palace.

The government would let the public, the Press Council and the legal system regulate the media – all legitimate ways in which media was controlled in a free society, he said.

However, Yudhoyono reminded journalists that press freedom was not absolute in any country. The media had to work within defamation laws so as not to libel people, he said. Susilo said high standards of professionalism meant acting ethically and respecting others – all qualities that were vital to a healthy media.

Environment

Government may prosecute Freeport if pollution allegations true

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2006

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The government may take legal action against PT Freeport Indonesia, a local unit of US giant Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc., if the gold and copper miner is found to have polluted the environment near its mining concession in Papua.

State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said Monday the ministry was conducting a follow-up investigation after preliminary evidence of toxic pollution was detected near the mining site.

"If Freeport refuses or fails to comply (with the existing environmental regulations), we will prosecute them," said Rachmat on the sidelines of the swearing-in ceremony of new military chief Air Marshal Djoko Suyanto at the State Palace.

However, the high-ranking Golkar Party of the 1980s said resorting to prosecution would only be made after the government gave Freeport the right to answer any accusations or comply with the regulations if it was at fault.

Environmental officials earlier disclosed evidence that Freeport allegedly disposed mining waste in the Otomina River, located near its Grasberg mining site, endangering biodiversity and public health in surrounding areas. The ministry is now carrying out another investigation to obtain more substantial evidence.

Freeport Indonesia spokesman Siddharta Moersjid said the company would cooperate with the ministry to resolve the problem. "We will work cooperatively with the environment ministry to address any concerns they may have, as we have always done in the past. We share the same goal, which is to continually improve environmental management," he said Monday.

Rachmat has a record of challenging corporate polluters, including PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, a local unit of another US gold miner Newmont Mining Corp., by filling a US$133.6 million civil suit. The South Jakarta District Court rejected the suit in November, with the two sides working on an amicable settlement.

On Friday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla demanded Freeport increase the revenue it shares with the government from the Papua mines amid higher prices of copper and gold. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro earlier threatened to review the company's contract if there was evidence of violations of environmental regulations.

The government is planning to set up an interdepartmental team with a task to review the revenue portion received by the government and administrations in Papua from the company, as well as investigate the pollution allegation.

Freeport also faced negative publicity after a December report in the New York Times that the company had made payments of nearly US$20 million to the Indonesian military and police officers to protect its mining site.

Papua court rejects logging case

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2006

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – In a high-profile illegal logging trial, the Jayapura District Court on Monday returned the case against Papua Forestry Office head Marthen Kayoi to the prosecution, advising that the charges against the official are "premature".

Presiding judge Lodewyk Tiwery told prosecutors to first focus on bringing cases against Papua's governor, the late JP Solossa, and Papua's former forestry head, Hugo Rajaar, who Marthen replaced, before charging Marthen.

Marthen was declared a criminal suspect following a high-profile report on the smuggling of 300,000 cubic meters of timber per month from Indonesia – mostly Papua province – to China.

When this long-running trial opened last April, prosecutors requested a six-year jail sentence for Marthen, who they accused of violating articles 50 and 78 of the 1999 Forestry Law and Article 55 of the Criminal Code.

Judge Lodewyk acknowledged Marthen had issued permits to harvest logs on tribal grounds, which is considered a violation of the 1999 law.

However, he said the permits were issued based on a circular issued by the Papua governor on Aug. 22, 2002, which provided guidelines for tribal communities to harvest forest products. The circular was in accordance with articles 37 and 76 of the 1999 Forestry Law, which regulates the use and management of forests by tribal communities.

When asked why the court originally accepted the prosecution's charges against Marthen, Lodewyk, who has been chief of the Jayapura District Court for two months, said the decision was made by the original panel of judges hearing the case, which had since been replaced. He gave prosecutors a week to decide on the future of the case.

The prosecution, led by Dadang Wibawa, said the court's decision only focused on the permits but ignored the fact that the suspect also issued permits allowing heavy equipment to be used to move the logs.

"We'll think the decision over, but the prosecution stands by their decision not to stop the legal process," Dadang said.

The defendant's lawyer, Budi Setyanto, said the court's decision made sense because his client was only continuing the policy of the previous forestry office head. "Two other officials, the (late) governor and the former forestry office head, should be prosecuted before our client," he said.

Marthen, who refused to make a statement after the trial, was named a suspect following the publication of a high-profile report, titled The Last Frontier, which found more than US$1 billion in illegal timber had been smuggled out of the country.

The report, which was released last February by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency and Indonesian environmental group Telapak, found Papua was the main illegal logging hub in the country.

Following the report's release – which alleged that illegal logging operations were backed by high-ranking Indonesian Military officers working with government officials and law enforcers – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered an "integrated crackdown" on all parties suspected of involvement in illegal logging.

Illegal logging threatens Batutegi hydropower plant

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2006

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Illegal logging and land clearance around Bukit Barisan Selatan and Way Kambas national parks have destroyed the water catchment area for the Batutegi hydropower plant in Lampung, an official said Friday.

Head of the Lampung forestry office, Arinal Junaidi, said rampant deforestation had led to the depletion of the water debit in the nearby reservoir. Only 9,200 hectares, or 21.6 percent, of the 42,200-hectare catchment area around the reservoir remains forested.

"A huge fund of Rp 240.3 billion (US$25.3 million) is needed to restore 32,200 hectares of the catchment area, without which the power crisis in Lampung will get worse, and hundreds of thousands of farmers in Lampung will face water shortages," Arinal said.

Apart from being a catchment area for the Batutegi reservoir, the area is the source for major rivers in Lampung, including the Sekampung and Sangharus rivers, which provide irrigation water for thousands of farmers in Tanggamus, Central Lampung, Metro and East Lampung regencies.

In addition to illegal logging, the condition of the reservoir, with a capacity of 690 million cubic meters at an elevation of 274 meters, has deteriorated due to sedimentation that has reached 9.1 million tons per year, from the normal amount of 1.7 tons, thus reducing its lifespan.

"Economically, the decrease in the lifespan of the reservoir will bring a reduction in electricity generating capacity, losses to the agricultural sector due to a decline in rice production, and water shortages," said Arinal.

The Batutegi reservoir is located about two kilometers from the upstream area where the Way Sangharus and Way Sekampung rivers meet in Way Harong village, about 100 kilometers west of the provincial capital Bandarlampung.

The reservoir, which was built at a cost of Rp 1.3 trillion in 1994, and inaugurated by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2003, was intended to irrigate 108,663 hectares of rice fields in Way Sekampung.

The 3,005-hectare reservoir also feeds the nearby power station with a capacity of 28 megawatts. It also supplies drinking water to Bandarlampung, Metro and Branti, with a capacity of 2,250 liters per second.

"Due to its crucial role, it is time to rescue the forest, initiate integrated farming methods and socio-economic development in the area, which is estimated to cost Rp 240 billion," said Arinal.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 10 years, and would include reforesting 31,000 hectares of the forest, constructing 15 control dams, carrying out land conservation projects, and developing 7,000 hectares for mixed crop cultivation and fish and livestock husbandry in four priority locations.

The extent of damage done to the catchment area around Batutegi reservoir has caused farmers in major rice producing areas in Lampung to face acute water shortages.

A rice farmer in Metro Kibang, East Lampung, Sarjiono, 45, described the difficulty in growing rice twice a year. "The water flowed endlessly when the reservoir started operating... but it is even hard to plant rice once a year now, let alone twice a year, due to water shortages," said Sarjiono.

An agricultural expert at Lampung University, Muhajir Utomo, said the multipurpose Batutegi reservoir was expected to drain gradually through 2020.

According to Muhajir, this conclusion was based on the outcome of a study conducted by a team of European research scientists working on the factors of water debit and the condition of the river basin area of the Sekampung River that feeds the reservoir.

Illegal logging rolls on

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Some 20 ships loaded with illegally cut logs and sawn timber are docked outside Tanjung Balai Karimun Customs Office in Riau Islands province.

The ships were detained by the customs office while attempting to smuggle their illegal cargo into Malaysia and Singapore, the head of the office, Bambang Prasodjo, told The Jakarta Post.

Eight of the ships were detained in January, carrying over 613,000 cubic meters of illegally cut timber worth an estimated Rp 3.5 billion (US$376,344). Last year, the office detained about 30 ships.

Bambang claimed Monday there were no signs that the smuggling of illegal logs in the province's waters was slowing down.

"It is still difficult to break up the networks smuggling illegally cut logs into Singapore and Malaysia. Complicating the situation is the fact that the under the Customs Law, the smugglers are considered to be the ones carrying (the illegal goods), in this case, the captain and crew. (Arresting) the owners of the ships is outside our authority," he said.

He said smugglers carried the logs at night, even during rough weather, believing there would be fewer police patrols.

In Riau Islands, five areas are believed to be the main suppliers of illegal logs to neighboring countries. They are Tembilahan, Selat Panjang, Dumai, Tiga Island and Dabo Singkep.

Sand mining blamed for Cirebon floods

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Cirebon – Environmentalists blame illegal sand mining for recent floods that damaged thousands of hectares of paddy fields and houses in the West Java towns of Cirebon and Indramayu.

"Rivers can no longer accommodate rainwater, inundating paddy field and residential areas," Yoyon Suharyono of the Foundation for Workers and the Environment said Tuesday.

He pinned the blame on illegal sand mining in three districts covering an area of around 600 hectares. "Almost all the mining sites are located in fertile catchment areas," Yoyon said.

Forest destruction to result in bigger floods

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Greenomics, a local non-governmental organization supporting good forestry governance, has warned the government that the devastating floods affecting many parts of Java are likely to continue in the future.

Should the government fail to act against those responsible for environmental degradation and deforestation, even more destructive inundations are likely to result in losses of up to Rp 136.2 trillion (about US$14.33 billion) arising out of damage to forests, fisheries and agricultural resources, towns and villages, public infrastructure and the business sector.

Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi said Tuesday, "Continual degradation and deforestation affecting the island's forests will result in the disappearance of all existing forests and result in losses of Rp 136.2 trillion by 2008."

According to figures from the Forestry Ministry, more than 330,000 hectares have been degraded and over 102,000 hectares have been deforested in both protected and conservation forests on Java island from 2002 to 2004. "This has caused the country losses amounting to Rp 8.37 trillion since 2002," Elfian added.

Greenomics forecasts that by the end of 2006, only 364,000 hectares of forest will be left in Java, and all will have disappeared by the end of 2008. In fact, the remaining forests could disappear even more quickly if action is not taken soon.

Boen M. Purnama, the secretary-general of the Forestry Ministry, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, "It's a good warning to the government and it could well come to pass." To avert the looming disaster, Purnama said the ministry would intensify its programs for illegal logging eradication, forest revitalization, conservation and rehabilitation, and forest zone stabilization.

Through spatial planning predictions, the utilization of satellite imagery, field studies and comprehensive analyses, Greenomics identified 123 potential danger areas along watersheds in West, Central and East Java – the provinces that are predicted to see most of the flooding in the future.

Greenomics said illegal logging and the conversion of forest land into plantations were the main contributors to the loss of forest quality and diversity.

Purnama admitted the government was still finding it difficult to halt illegal logging, saying his ministry had no power over the law enforcement and legal institutions.

Despite a 2005 presidential instruction on the eradication of illegal logging, the practice still continues. Greenomics said the regulation was not being enforced, despite the involvement of at least 18 government institutions. "The government is not serious about eradicating illegal logging," Elfian claimed.

He said the presidential instruction urgently needed to be replaced by an emergency government regulation (which could subsequently be converted into a law by the House), to ensure that those involved in illegal logging were brought to justice.

In response, Purnama said, "The ministry has drafted a bill on illegal logging to strengthen the government's hand against the illegal loggers." Purnama hopes the draft can be brought before the House of Representatives in March and be ratified soon after.

Islam/religion

Muslims say cartoons part of 'war on Islam'

Agence France Presse - February 11, 2006

Jakarta – About 500 Muslim protestors rallied in the Indonesian capital to denounce caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammed, calling the cartoons part of a "war on Islam".

Members of Hizbut Tahrir (Party of Liberation) Indonesia massed in Jakarta's central traffic circle, waving signs that read "Stop propaganda against Islam" and "The cartoons are proof of Western enmity against Islam."

The Muslim group's spokesman Mohammad Ismail Yusanto said the publication of the caricatures, which first appeared in a Danish newspaper and subsequently in other mainly European newspapers, was part of a "war on Islam."

"This is not just an insult against out prophet. Before this, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has called for opposition to Islam," he told AFP, referring to passages from the queen's official biography published last year.

Muslims regard the cartoons as offensive, as Islamic tradition prohibits any images of the prophet. The caricatures have sparked a wave of protests across the Muslim world that have so far left 13 people dead worldwide.

"Denmark is a small country. They won't have the guts to insult Islam without backing from bigger countries like the United States," said another speaker at the rally, Tengku Iskandar.

"Enemies of Islam won't stay quiet until Islam is destroyed," Iskandar charged, to shouts of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) from the crowd. "Their method is provocation. When we are provoked, they say that's the nature of Muslims – troublemakers."

Hizbut Tahrir is an Islamic group that campaigns for the reestablishment of Islamic rule through peaceful means. It has branches in European countries.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in an opinion piece published in the International Herald Tribune on Saturday, said "the cartoon crisis serves as a reminder that all hell may break loose in a world of intolerance and ignorance."

"The international community must not come out of the cartoon crisis broken and divided. We need to build more bridges between religions, civilizations and culture," he wrote.

"The best way for Muslims to fight intolerance and ignorance toward Islam is by tirelessly reaching out to non-Muslims and projecting Islam as a peaceful religion," he said.

Denmark has temporarily closed its missions in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, and has warned its nationals to leave the country amid protests staged over the past week.

Security concerns over the safety of Danish nationals prompted the cancellation of a friendly badminton match between Indonesia and Denmark as part of preparations for the Thomas Cup championship.

Muslim leader says radicals get too much slack

Reuters - February 9, 2006

Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Police and media in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, are too lax in their treatment of radical Islamic groups and their violence, a leading moderate Islamic cleric said on Thursday.

But Din Syamsuddin, who leads the 30-million strong Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Islamic group, said he would not confront those radicals due to fears it could be too divisive.

Radical Islamic groups constitute a tiny fraction of Indonesia's more than 200 million Muslims but have a loud voice and strong visibility. In recent years they have been behind many boisterous protests and often violent attacks against those they perceive have offended Islam. Their targets range from licenced bars in the capital and unlicensed Christian churches across the country to property of Islamic sects and Western missions.

This week the Indonesian versions of protests against Danish cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad included vandalism of the Danish embassy and Danish and US consulate property.

Syamsuddin said the unruly actions of radical groups often are tolerated by authorities and win more media play than they deserve.

"Those radical groups are not massive organizations. But they have a voice because... the media, domestic and international, do not want to expose the voice of moderate Islam," he told a group of foreign journalists and diplomats in a panel discussion.

"Why those radical groups can engage in violence but no extra effort from the police? That's my question," said Syamsuddin, elaborating cases in which police stood by while militants damaged targets.

Syamsuddin accused the radical groups of getting financial backing from elements in Indonesia's political establishment but conceded he himself was reluctant to antagonize them.

"We have our own way... to handle the problem because we don't want to have an internal conflict" among Muslims, he said. Indonesia's mainstream Islam is mostly moderate, and the government is secular, but there is a growing desire among Muslims to show their identity.

Religious harmony is being tested through the growing presence of the radicals, which some believe is a by-product of the 1998 downfall of President Suharto's despotic regime. It had put a tight leash on religious extremism and overt links between the state and Islam.

Franz Magnis-Suseno, a German-born Catholic priest and an authoritative figure in interfaith relations, said Christians in Indonesia feel increasingly uneasy, especially after Muslim radicals forcefully shut down some churches which had no permits in recent months.

"Will traditional tolerance in this century maintain its condition or will tendencies of intolerance increase? It is still open-ended," said Magnis-Suseno, who was also on the panel.

Armed forces/defense

Deputy named new Air Force chief of staff

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2006

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Vice Marshall Herman Prayitno has been appointed as the new Air Force chief of staff, replacing his boss Marshal Djoko Suyanto, who will soon head the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Speaking at the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, retiring TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto announced Friday that Herman, who is Suyanto's deputy, would take over from his former boss on Wednesday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had issued decrees to officially install Suyanto and Herman in their new posts, Endriartono said. Yudhoyono was scheduled to swear in Suyanto on Monday at the presidential office, he said.

Endriartono declined to talk about his plans after retiring from the military. "I have served as TNI chief for three years, seven months and seven days. I just want to relax for a while," he said, brushing aside speculation the President might appoint him to lead the planned National Security Council.

Suyanto, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso and Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Slamet Subiyanto also attended the announcement.

The appointment of Herman marks a major reshuffle affecting 81 high-ranking military officers, including 15 officers currently serving at the TNI headquarters.

One of these changes sees Brig. Gen. Suhartono Suratman, a former Wiradharma military commander in the country's former province of East Timor, becoming the Army chief of staff's assistant for security affairs.

Suhartono was one of three Army generals implicated in alleged human rights abuses that took place in the province in 1999 after the East Timorese voted for independence. All were acquitted of any wrongdoing by a human rights court. The reshuffle affected 10 Air Force officers, 16 Navy officers and 16 Army officers.

During the event, Endriartono spoke about the military's likely role in a post-peace deal Aceh. "We will stick to the national legislation, including the Defense Law and the Military Law. If cases of insurgency take place (again in Aceh), we will play our role as mandated by the national legislation," he said without elaborating.

The military's future security role in Aceh is still a source of controversy. The peal deal signed last August by the government and the Free Aceh Movement explicitly states that the TNI only play a role in the external defense of the province.

The government's draft law on Aceh, however, has given a greater role to the TNI, allowing it to intervene in domestic disturbances and internal security threats.

Foreign companies to get guidelines on TNI protection

Associated Press - February 8, 2006

Jakarta – Foreign companies will soon receive guidelines on seeking military protection for their operations in Indonesia, the defense minister said Monday.

All payments to the military should be voluntary and made through a civilian agency, not directly to soldiers or police, Juwono Sudarsono said, citing regulations that could be complete "as early as next week."

His comments follow claims that direct payments by US mining company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. to officers commanding units guarding its massive gold mine in Papua province may have been illegal.

The New Orleans-based company has denied violating Indonesian or US laws, saying it has been transparent about providing support to soldiers in the town of Timika.

Sudarsono said the practice of paying for protection from the armed forces was not limited to Indonesia, but should be regulated and clearly defined. "All across the world... in-kind payments are made in various kinds of arrangement, some legal, some illegal," he said. "It's a matter of scope and degree."

The use of military units to provide protection for foreign enterprises was instituted by former dictator Suharto, himself a five-star general, as a way of extorting additional funds for the military brass who formed his principal power base. But since Suharto's ouster in 1998, the police force – previously been part of the armed forces – has been made independent and is now tasked with ensuring domestic security.

The practice of paying Indonesia's corrupt and often brutal military came under renewed scrutiny after a 2002 attack on a convoy of teachers working at Freeport's massive mine in Papua killed two US citizens. Local and foreign rights groups accused soldiers of taking part in the attack, allegedly to extort more security payments money from Freeport.

Business & investment

Early IMF debt repayment 'good for Indonesia'

Jakarta Post - February 14, 2006

Jakarta – The government will go ahead with its plans to repay Indonesia's debts to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ahead of schedule, the finance minister said, citing a preliminary study from the central bank that showed the country was financially capable of doing so and the benefits that would result.

"Bank Indonesia (BI) has concluded that from the administrative point of view – comparing our obligations to pay the loan interest and provide enough funds to repay the loans while maintaining the security of our foreign exchange reserves – early repayment would be more beneficial to us," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said during a hearing Monday with the House of Representatives' finance commission.

Indonesia's outstanding debts to the IMF currently amount to $7.8 billion. The debts, which are managed by BI, take the form of standby loans to support Indonesia's forex reserves.

Between 1997 and 2003, the IMF provided some $25 billion in loans to Indonesia to help rescue ailing banks and restructure the country's debts in exchange for the implementation of a number of tough economic reform programs, including the privatization of state firms and the cutting of government subsidy spending on fuels and other commodities.

Public criticism was harsh, however, with many commentators questioning the benefits of the reforms, while the standby nature of the outstanding debts was slammed for placing unnecessary pressure on the budget.

Mulyani, a former IMF director, said that the government's main reason for wanting to speed up the repayments was rising borrowing costs.

"The interest rate has risen to 4.58 percent from 4.31 percent since last year's third quarter in line with the recent hike in US Treasury bill yields. This is also plus a margin of 1.08 percent," she said.

Mulyani also said that Brazil and Argentina had recently repaid in full their debts to the IMF, raising concerns that Indonesia, which after Turkey was now the Fund's second largest debtor, and virtually its largest income contributor, which could be considered unfair given Indonesia's status as a developing country.

Mulyani further said that the government was confident about its financial capacity to fulfill the plan, saying that foreign direct investment was expected to rise in the coming years, adding increased revenues to the state coffers.

She declined, however, to elaborate on the repayment details or time frame pending further consultation with BI.

Soaring imports threat: metal producers

Jakarta Post - February 11, 2006

Jakarta – When it comes to the problems faced by Indonesian industry, the same words crop up again and again: smuggling and soaring imports.

Metal products manufacturers say the impact has been particularly severe in their industry, claiming that last year alone they lost 20 percent of their domestic market share.

"Imports, both legal and illegal, have resulted in a decrease in our sales from 420,000 tons in 2004 to less than 300,000 tons last year," Indonesian Galvanized Iron Sheet Manufacturers Association chairman Rudy Syamsuddin said after a Friday breakfast meeting with Industry Minister Fahmi Idris.

The Indonesian market requires up to 500,000 tons of galvanized iron sheet annually.

Rudy said the drop in local sales was the result of transshipment of Indian products through Port Klang, Malaysia, and smuggling through Medan, North Sumatra. Transshipment is a process whereby imported products are reexported, partly or wholly, to other countries.

By transshipping the metal products through Malaysia, they are subject to import duty of only 5 percent as required under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. Imports of the same products from non-ASEAN countries are subject to 15 percent import duty.

"With such a low import duty, these products are 20 percent cheaper than local ones," Rudy said, adding that under-invoicing was also a problem, leading to even more undercutting of Indonesian products.

The association says that local manufacturers are now selling their products at below production cost in order to stay afloat. Rudy urged the government to impose an additional surcharge on top of the import duty to help the local industry survive, and to be stricter about verifying the true origin of imports.

Association member Thomas H. Wibowo said the spread between the import duties on raw materials and those on manufactured goods was too narrow to protect local industry. The import duties imposed on raw materials for galvanized iron range from 7.5 to 12.5 percent, while imports of used iron sheet are charged at 15 percent.

Industry Minister Fahmi Idris said his officials would collaborate with relevant institutions to tackle surging imports and smuggling, and push for an increase in import duties.

Indonesia's metal products industry has been in the doldrums for the last couple of years, although exports of such products increased to US$634.1 million last year compared to $604.6 million in 2004.

In addition to transshipped Indian products, the domestic market has been flooded by Chinese made products, leading to fewer orders for local metal product manufacturers.

Power price hikes a 'threat' to industry

Jakarta Post - February 9, 2006

Leony Aurora and Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – The question of agreements on power prices between the business sector and state electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) is irrelevant as the law provides that it is the government that determines tariffs.

Committee for National Economic Recovery (KPEN) chairman Sofjan Wanandi, responding to Industry Minister Fahmi Idris' suggestion that rates were negotiable, said Wednesday that the idea was not feasible for the present as the legislation would need to be amended first.

"The legislation doesn't allow it. The government is the one that determines power prices," said Sofjan during a joint media conference with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), which reiterated its objections to any power price increases.

In 2004, the Constitutional Court annulled the 2002 Electricity Law, which envisaged the gradual liberalization of the sector, based on the argument that electricity supply was an essential service and should therefore remain under state control. The government has yet to draft a replacement for the annulled law, with the result that the earlier 1985 Electricity Law has been reinstated. This provides that power rates are for the government to determine.

Earlier, Fahmi had said that the government might regulate household power rates as it was households that would be most affected by the hikes. "For industry, the prices would be negotiable," said Fahmi. "The government could set a floor or a ceiling price as a reference," he added.

Speaking after a meeting with the representatives of some 100 trade and industry associations, Kadin chairman MS Hidayat said the business community could not cope with a hike this year.

Industry already shoulders a heavier burden during peak hours of 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., when PLN doubles its tariffs and imposes a penalty for additional usage above a quota of half average consumption, he said.

According to Kadin, given this formula, industrial users now pay 8.66 US cents on average per kiloWatthour (kWh), higher than in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, where power for industry costs 6.2 US cents per kWh, and Vietnam where it only costs 5.2 US cents per kWh.

Sanny Iskandar of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) said PLN was already charging higher rates to industry, as admitted in a circular issued by PLN's West Java and Banten distribution area.

The circular, dated Jan. 17, specifies guidelines for a business-to-business approach to major consumers, including setting the price at Rp 1,380 (15 US cents) per kWh, more than triple the current rate of Rp 439 per kWh for customers with a power capacity of more than 23 kiloVolt Ampere (kVA).

Muljo Adji, the general manager of PLN's Java-Bali transmission center, said that this rate was in fact only chargeable in return for higher quality and greater dependability of service. "The rate applies only to customers that want to participate in the program," said Muljo.

Figures from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry reveal that industry accounts for 38.7 percent of PLN's revenue, and that a power price hike of 50 percent would cause their operating costs to increase by 2.36 percent on average.

Opinion & analysis

No playmates for Indonesian playboys

Asia Times - February 9, 2006

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Playboy magazine, which was due to make its debut in Indonesia next month, is at the center of a growing anti-pornography debate in Indonesia.

Parliament is debating a draft bill outlawing pornography and pornographic actions, and it could become law by mid-year. Meanwhile, anti-porn demonstrations have been held in Jakarta, with Playboy the target of much of the opposition.

The magazine was founded in the United States in 1953 but has expanded operations to some 20 countries, including Brazil, Russia and Serbia. Despite opposition, Playboy is planning to publish soon in India, though the trademark nudes are expected to be replaced by clothed Indian models.

Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population, with the vast majority of its 228 million residents adhering to the faith. And now Muslim organizations are calling for a "more serious and systemic" movement to fight pornography and indecent acts, arguing that such behavior has been proved to damage the morality of the nation.

"It's okay for Western countries but not here, where most of the people are Muslim," said Fauzan al-Anshari, a top official at the Indonesian Mujahiddin Council (MMI), which is headed up by jailed militant cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.

Meanwhile, the normally moderate Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, has taken the initiative to kick-start its own anti-pornography movement. "The publication will become a turning point in the morality movement," executive chairman Hasyim Muzadi said during the organization's annual congress last March.

Playboy "has no place in our social norms", he said. Asked about the presence and wide availability of several local semi- pornographic publications available in Indonesia, Muzadi said the whole point to Playboy is that it is seen as a global trademark of pornography.

"Pornography can ruin the nation's character, as well as encourage free sex and a hedonistic way of life, which is unproductive to the nation's future," he said.

Ma'ruf Amin, head of the Indonesian Ulama Council (Majelis Ulama Indonesia, or MUI), which functions as the National Islamic Law Deliberation Board, said the government should act to prohibit publication of Playboy as it would only "raise social opposition and lead to anarchy among those who objected". The MUI has already issued a fatwa condemning pornographic media in general.

Perhaps the most ominous threat is from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which campaigns for Islamic law and regularly mobilizes gangs of protesters against perceived violators of Islamic rules at home or abroad. Its leader Habib Rizieq warned, "If they publish, we will go after them."

Vice President Yusuf Kalla was the latest to enter the fray, saying: "From the government's point of view, we disagree with Playboy's publication. Playboy's entrance to Indonesia is made possible because our laws do not regulate such a matter."

The government objects to an Indonesian Playboy because the US version of the magazine sells pornographic images, and that constitutes a violation of the ethics and norms of the Indonesian people, the vice president said, adding, "This is not America."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has urged Indonesians not to imitate blindly foreign cultures that contravene their faith and tradition.

"There is no need to copy the lifestyles of foreign countries that are not in line with the spirit and the personality of our nation," Yudhoyono said in a keynote national address last year marking Indonesian Family Day.

But media observer Veven Wardhana has a different spin on the situation: "Actually, Indonesians are hypocrites. They will secretly buy it, but they will not dare to state their approval – they will even speak as if they reject it."

If the bill passes, a National Anti-Pornography Agency will be set up with authority to fine or arrest those considered to be acting "indecently" or violating the country's "moral code". The legislation is also expected to include heavy jail sentences for those branded "pornographers".

Currently, there are no legal obstacles to Playboy's publication. However, the first edition will now be delayed until "both partners are satisfied the product addresses the sensitivities of the marketplace", said David Walker, Playboy international vice president and editorial director.

Even before the new legislation is on the books, police have been busy. Over three days police in the capital and surrounding urban areas confiscated mountains of erotic tabloids, along with pornographic video discs. At least 100 people were taken in for questioning.

Not all things to all men

The magazine may publish without the trademark nude pictures, but then there are questions about who will buy it. Ironically, Indonesian model Tiara Lestari, dubbed Southeast Asia's Naomi Campbell, posed nude as Playboy's cover girl for the Spanish edition in August.

Awianto Nugroho, a promotions officer at PT Velvet Silver Media, which is to publish the magazine, maintains the magazine will steer clear of contents unacceptable to prevailing Indonesian norms. The monthly, he said, would not only focus on women, but try to educate readers.

There will be pictures but they will not contain nudity, PT Velvet publishing director Ponti Carolus Pandean said. "We are not a porn magazine and we will not be featuring too many pictures." Other pledges include a promise to respect local values and to limit distribution to avoid sale to minors.

"One thing for sure, we do not want to go to jail after investing so much money," Ponti said after sounding out members of Indonesia's Press Council.

But the Press Council is not supportive. "This could disturb the fabric of society," council deputy chairman R H Siregar said. Press Council chairman Ichlasul Amal was more pragmatic. The increasing popularity of entertainment magazines in Indonesia has attracted the interest of businessmen who may not necessarily be interested in national education and morality, he said. "Capitalism plays the key role."

Nugroho, who was well aware of the likely sensitivities in his country before his company shelled out thousands of dollars for the franchise fee, will have to compete with the likes of the local franchise of British men's magazine FHM as well as Maxim, Sexy, Marta and Popular.

Mountains of free publicity from the non-stop controversy should ensure big sales initially. But, as Kalla points out, if the local version differs from the US Playboy by replacing photos of naked women with articles on lifestyle, political and economic issues, buyers will "feel cheated".

Been there, done this, seen that

If the anti-pornography bill is passed, prison sentences await those who act indecently or in a "sexually arousing" manner. Even kissing will be banned in public. Other sins will include going around scantily dressed, and even dangdut artist Inul Daratista's gyrations will be suspect. Dangdut, a genre of Indonesia pop music, has addicted the working classes and the poor. Inul offended sensitivities in Indonesia when in 2002, shoehorned into tight-fitting body suits and bumping and grinding, she aroused the passions of thousands of admirers, mostly young males.

Inul told Time in a recent interview: "They [MUI] should realize that Indonesia is not a Muslim country, it's a democratic country. Why should they care about me when there are pornographic VCDs [video compact discs] and prostitutes in the street? They choose me because I am an easy target."

But they do care. Yudhoyono even warned last year, "Living together out of wedlock is still viewed as a disgraceful deed that goes against the norms of religions and laws."

But Ande Armando, commissioner of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), while concerned that "this new [medium] will plunge our nation further into a moral crisis because it will make women's private parts easily displayed to the public, including to under-age children", still believes a ban would be a somewhat unfair.

"If Playboy is being banned in Indonesia, the logic will be the other male magazines like FHM, also Popular and Matra and other domestic male magazines, should also be banned," he said.

The new legislation is expected to determine what publications will and will not be allowed in the country. The knee-jerk reactions will eventually subside, and on balance there is every likelihood the magazine will eventually be launched in a watered-down version, with its distribution strictly controlled to guard against sales to minors.

[Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has been in Indonesia for 20 years, mostly in journalism and editorial positions.]

Impractical idealist

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 11, 2006

There is no doubt that almost nobody in Indonesia openly agrees with pornography. However, it is doubtful that the current antipornography drive, starting with busts of roadside magazine vendors and their seductive tabloids, will eliminate what the police define as pornography.

Pornography-related issues have hit the headlines along with reports on the planned publication of a local version of world- renowned men's magazine Playboy.

The House of Representatives has been deliberating a new law on pornography, despite the fact that existing articles on pornography in the Criminal Code have yet to be properly enforced or implemented.

Pros and cons have colored the recent discourse on the issue, with the debate at times descending to the level of absurdity. A tug-of-war is taking place in the House over the new law on pornography. Some agree, some oppose and some are skeptical.

Experts, artists and many others have been summoned by the House to provide their insights on what constitutes pornography. the result, however, has been more absurdity. The "king" of dangdut, Rhoma Irama, used his 15 minutes on the House floor to criticize fellow dangdut singer Inul Daratista, for what he described as here overly erotic dance moves.

While our national lawmakers have not yet reached a consensus on a locally accepted definition of pornography, the police have listed at least 15 tabloids, newspapers and magazines as "racy publications", which they claim could erode the morality of the nation. Thus eliminating "pornography", according to the chairman of the House special committee drafting the pornography bill, is an exercise in character-building.

But all the newspaper sellers are concerned with is how to make ends meet. So why have they become the first targets of the police raids? Law enforcement institutions may say the magazine sellers are on the front line in the battle against porn.

There are newspapers that often run photos of female models in erotic, seductive poses in their Sunday editions. Some TV stations also have special adult programming with much sexual innuendo. But they remain untouched because, frankly, arresting magazine sellers is much simpler and less problematic than arresting the editors, publishers and producers behind the TV programs and publications.

There have been several cases of local films being heavily censored after being deemed obscene by the Film Censorship Institute, only to have the uncut films circulate widely on the Internet.

According to the draft bill on pornography, anyone broadcasting or printing footage, songs, poems, recordings or written materials that exploit sexual-related activities is subject a two-year jail term.

Whatever the reasons behind the recent pornography eradication efforts, many people enjoy reading racy publications. For married couples, adult tabloids or magazines may be necessary tools for maintaining their sexual life.

While people may feel obliged to pay lip service to the merits of the antipornography drive, there are no doubt some who are asking which is more dangerous to the morality of the nation: pornography or gratuitous violence.

Acts of violence take place almost daily across the archipelago. People can snap in an instant over trivial matters, becoming angry enough to kill or burn down a building. Violence often is the first choice for settling problems instead of dialog.

So, before things go further, more study is needed so we can move forward in a more realistic, practical and appropriate manner. In this way we can avoid becoming impractical idealists like Don Quixote.

Graft vs. honest mistakes

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 10, 2006

Thousands of officials and politicians across the country, including 200 executives of state companies, are currently embroiled in corruption investigations, as the government escalates its fight against graft to promote good governance.

Even retired officials cannot necessarily relax and enjoy their pensions if they have "skeletons in the closet", as amply demonstrated by the case of Syafruddin Tumenggung, former chief of the now defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, which between February 1998 and February 2004 was the most powerful economic institution in the country with US$75 billion worth of state assets under its management.

Prosecutors have named Syafruddin a suspect in a corruption case surrounding the 2003 sale of assets belonging to sugar company PT Rajawali in Gorontalo province, in the northern part of Sulawesi, which allegedly caused Rp 500 billion ($51 million) in losses to the state.

Certainly, not all of the officials under investigation will eventually be declared suspects. Nor will all of them end up in courts. Nevertheless, the escalated crackdown on corruption has been developing into an increasingly powerful deterrent against malfeasance in the public sector.

However, the concerted, massive anticorruption campaign is not without some negative side effects, as State Minister for State Enterprises Sugiharto acknowledged at a meeting in Medan last Saturday. Sugiharto conceded the corruption investigations had affected the performance of several of the 158 state companies because executives were now hesitant about making decisions, fearing they could be taken to court for mistakes; even mistakes arising from corporate actions done in full accordance with standard operating procedures.

Risks are only the certainty in the business world, especially amid the rapidly changing global economy. If directors are taken to court for mistakes, they will never take any initiative or make creative decisions. We should therefore differentiate between honest mistakes and corruption.

That is why the government has protected all IBRA officials with immunity against damages or lawsuits that may arise in the future in relation to the execution of their duties – with the exception being criminal cases that may subsequently be discovered through investigative or forensic audits.

Without such protection, nobody within IBRA would have been willing to make any decisions regarding the assets under its management because the quality of the distressed assets – mostly in the form of bad loans – was quite low and the economic environment between 1998 and 2000 was unstable and inherent with great risks.

All other state officials also are supposed to be protected against lawsuits as long as they perform their jobs properly and in full accordance with standard operating procedures. Nobody within the government would dare to make any decisions or show any initiative if officials were not indemnified against damages or litigation arising from unintentional policy mistakes or wrong judgments.

We fully support the antigraft drive, but really hope that only after strong legal evidence of corruption is found will officials be put under investigation. Otherwise the overzealous corruption fight could overshoot its real target, debilitating decision- making mechanisms at state companies and agencies and eventually damaging the credibility of the campaign itself.

The case against Syafruddin is especially complex. Even though IBRA sold the sugar company's assets for only Rp 84 billion, or a mere 14 percent of the book value of Rp 600 billion, this asset disposal cannot automatically be declared corruption despite the estimated Rp 500 billion in losses to the state.

As long as the sale was conducted according to the standard operating procedures set by the agency's oversight body – the then Ministerial Financial Sector Policy Committee – neither Syafruddin nor IBRA can be charged with wrongdoing.

After all, during its five-year operational mandate, IBRA was only able to recover an average of less than 25 percent of the book value of distressed assets taken over from closed banks.

However, if the case against Syafruddin is truly airtight, it could eventually open a Pandora's box with regard to the disposal of the billions of dollars worth of assets taken over by IBRA from nationalized and closed banks during the height of the economic crisis in 1998.

Reality check for freedom

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 9, 2006

The uproar over the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has yet to blow over. Violent protests continue, while even more editors decide to reprint the pictures, and as the list of casualties rises.

But however ugly this affair has become, it cannot change the tenet of the press; a public, free forum for an exchange of information, ideas and expression – that the decision to print or not to print should remain with the media, and the media alone.

This is not a belief that everyone shares, especially in the light of the ongoing furor. But the belief that there should be no censorship of the press must be the consensus of the Indonesian media and its public, particularly as we are reminded over and over again that civil liberties, such as freedom of speech and the press, are not to be taken for granted.

Today is officially National Press Day, an opportune time to take stock of our freedoms. A glance at the list of bills that our legislators are preparing suggests that they don't want the public to have all that much freedom. Take, for instance, the bills on pornography and state secrecy.

There is also the bill on freedom of access to information, which seems to have stalled, and the controversial new regulations on broadcasting. These regulations impact upon foreign, private and community broadcasters, and are seen as a potential entry point for government intervention in press freedom. They are thus a clear reminder for the public to be vigilant of the government's penchant to control what their citizens can hear, view or listen to.

The government claims to be a "facilitator" for the media, while its authority in affairs such as content of media programs, as mentioned in the regulations, raises questions about how far the facilitator will keep its distance from the electronic media and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission.

Broadcast associations said last week that they accepted the regulations, despite protests from other media organizations and the Commission. They said that while the regulations may not be perfect, at least they would be able to operate under clear legal guidelines.

Apart from the new regulations, the press still faces daily challenges. In a rally to highlight national press day, journalists in Bandung on Tuesday "apologized" in public for, among other things, bowing to business and government pressure, and "for our stupidity in accepting bribes."

Such pressure and gross lack of professionalism – the wide acceptance of bribes being just one example – contributes to the support which the government and politicians can gain in their attempts to curb media freedom. This is made much easier by the absence of a consensus on the need for liberties, such as press freedom and freedom of expression.

Whether our need for a "Big Brother" is based in culture or not, it remains a legacy of living for three decades under the Soeharto regime, despite all the euphoria over reformasi. The need for independent thought and expression, the media being among the public channels for such independence, must be campaigned for constantly.

And a less than professional press, which is still a feature of much of our media, is a major enemy of itself, for it obstructs freedom and the ability of the public to access the information that shapes their lives.

The looming conflict over West Papua

Melbourne Age - February 8, 2006

Hugh White – In Jakarta, they fear that one of their worst nightmares may be coming to life. For years, Indonesians who know Australia have worried about what happens if the simmering independence movement in West Papua starts to catch the attention and sympathy of the wider Australian community. They fear a repetition of East Timor.

This is the lens through which Indonesia is watching Australia's response to the 43 Papuan asylum seekers now being processed on Christmas Island. A grant of asylum by Australia would mean that Canberra accepts their claims of murderous persecution. And once living in Australia, these people would be free to mount a campaign to promote independence for Papua.

Indonesia's worst fears will have been confirmed by the way politicians from opposite sides of Australian politics have expressed support for the asylum seekers since they have arrived. If this process continues, and public pressure starts to grow in Australia, what would be the chances that any Government in Canberra would stick with the oft-repeated formula about supporting Indonesia's territorial integrity? After East Timor, few in Jakarta are in any doubt. They worry that Australia would dump the bilateral relationship, and become an active, and potentially very effective, advocate on the world stage for Papuan independence.

The Indonesians have a point. It would be tough for any Government in Canberra to put concerns for the bilateral relationship with Jakarta ahead of growing public support for Papuan independence. That would look like going back to the bad old days that both sides of Australian politics have now repudiated, when the foreign policy elites ignored public sentiment and appeased Jakarta over East Timor.

This is why Indonesia's President called John Howard to talk about the issue. This is why the Indonesian ambassador in Canberra, and his Foreign Minister in Jakarta, have both warned that the relationship could be damaged by an Australian decision to grant asylum. And this is why Canberra is treading so carefully.

To understand just how sensitive the issue is in Jakarta, we need to take account of how they see both the Papuan issue, and Australia's role in it.

Unlike East Timor, Papua was part of the old Dutch East Indies. That makes it central to Indonesia's image of itself as a nation, because the nation is defined by its succession to the former Dutch colonial holdings. Indonesia's success in wrestling Papua from the Dutch, who initially withheld it from the new nation, is one of Indonesia's proudest achievements.

Dealing with the independence movement in Papua is one of Indonesia's major challenges. In last year's state of the nation address, President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono listed it as agenda item one in his program, along with the peace agreement in Aceh. He has been prepared to promote a quite far-reaching special autonomy package for Papua.

But others in Indonesia are less accommodating, and there is significant evidence that elements of the Indonesian military are repeating some of the repressive tactics that have done so much damage elsewhere. Even with good intentions it is hard for Jakarta to send consistent messages to the people of Papua about their future.

However, all sides in Jakarta agree on one thing: they utterly reject independence. And they bitterly resent what they see as outside interference in the issue. As Indonesia's impressive Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono said over the weekend: "We feel that Indonesia's unity and cohesion would be threatened by foreign intrusion and concern."

And of all foreigners, it is Australia's intrusion that Indonesians fear the most. Since we led the international response in East Timor in 1999, there has been a bizarre but tenacious belief among many Indonesians – even those who know and like Australians – that we have a plan to snatch Papua from Indonesia, just as we did East Timor. Many seem to believe that Australia is deliberately fanning the independence movement.

Some even think we are planning a military operation like Interfet to take over Papua when the time is ripe. These ideas are, of course, completely wrong, but when one explains to Indonesians that Australia has no interest in an independent Papua, they say: "Yes, but that is what you said about East Timor once, too."

Our Government, to be fair, is scrupulous in affirming that Australia does not support Papuan independence. But they also help to fuel the paranoia in Jakarta: more than one minister has described Australia as having "liberated" East Timor, whereas in fact – as the East Timorese Truth and Reconciliation Commission has recently reminded us – for most of 1999 Australia still hoped that East Timor would remain part of Indonesia.

We can hardly complain if some Indonesians misunderstand what we were doing in 1999, if we misrepresent it ourselves.

[Hugh White is a visiting fellow at the Lowy Institute and professor of strategic studies at ANU.]

Cartoon controversy

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 8, 2006

What the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten did in September was absurd. It failed to exercise self-restraint or consider what is fit to print. Publishing 12 cartoons degrading the Prophet Muhammad was certain to enrage Muslims, most of whom believe any visual depiction of the Prophet is forbidden.

The controversy stems from a cartoon competition organized by the Danish paper specifically designed to gauge how well Muslims in Europe respond to criticism. Judging from the fiery reaction, they are likely to conclude European Muslims are not European enough because they are easily inflamed.

Indonesia had its own experience with sectarian-tinged reporting during the conflict between Christians and Muslims that flamed up in the late 1990s on the eastern island of Ambon. Both sides had their own newspapers, which fanned the hatred daily. This accomplished nothing other than increasing the number of people killed in the conflict, with the number of victims eventually running into the thousands.

Although these were only small regional papers, it was still the worst practice of press freedom. The conflict ended only after the two sides grew too tired to fight. The lesson learned: press freedom used to fan hatred only drives people to kill each other.

Emotions continue to run high over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons and there is fear the controversy will grow even more out of hand than it already has, especially after more newspapers in Europe republished the cartoons, either as an expression of support for the Danish paper or to illustrate articles about the controversy.

Demonstrators attacked the Danish and Norwegian embassies in several Muslim countries over the weekend. Protesters damaged the Swedish Embassy in Syria. Iran has recalled its ambassador to Denmark in protest, and has formed a committee to review trade ties with countries where newspapers have published the cartoons.

Whereas the Indonesian experience in Ambon was local, the cartoon controversy has become global. The violence in Ambon, and similar conflagrations elsewhere in the country, was preceded by decades of economic mismanagement that bred social ills, including corruption, the breaking up of social cohesion and an unhealthy gap between rich and poor. The seeds of the religious conflict in Ambon, and also in Poso, were sown by years of tension between Muslims and Christians.

That tension stemmed from various factors, including questionable government policies, a Constitution that officially recognizes only six religions and the long-held pretense that relations between different faiths are always harmonious.

Examining the wider context behind the cartoon controversy could shed some light on the issue. Waves of Muslim immigrants have changed the complexion of Europe. In recent years the war on terror has loomed in the background. The United States has invaded Afghanistan and Iraq. France recently experienced unprecedented riots across the country by largely marginalized immigrants. European newspapers certainly have the legal right to publish the cartoons, and Muslims have the right to become angry, including Muslims in Indonesia.

By exercising freedom of the press, the newspapers violated the civil rights of Muslims. In the eyes of Muslims, it was a deliberate provocation against Islam. This is a case where civil rights clash with legal rights; the civil right to live without being offended and the legal right of press freedom.

In the end, this cartoon contest was an ill-conceived test. The Danish paper should have realized it was dealing with a sensitive issue that was a wrong fit for assessing the tolerance of European Muslims, and the publication of the cartoons should have been rejected on moral grounds.

But now is the time to calm emotions. This is not a case of "either with us or against us". There is a middle ground where agreement can be achieved.

Resentment stemming from nonreligious issues like injustice, government repression and power struggles among the elite can manifest itself as a religious conflict. In the Indonesian experience, clashes between people of different faiths is often only the tip of the iceberg. After all, "religious conflict" is a term loaded with contradictions. No religion preaches conflict.

Book/film reviews

Tale of Aceh after the storm

Jakarta Post - February 12, 2006

[Meutia Sudah Henti Bertanya (Meutia Has Stopped Asking). Written by T.I. Thamrin Foreword by Otto Syamsuddin Ishak. 155 pp. Published by Imparsial & AWG (Aceh Working Group), 2005.]

Donny Anggoro, Jakarta – There was a time when you talked about literature in Indonesia and got to Aceh, you would usually come to the conclusion that Aceh, although it had its own poets, did not have writers of prose.

Indonesian literary buffs were then familiar with senior Acehnese poet, LK Ara, who is still writing poems even today or perhaps, with Fikar W. Eda, of the younger generation of Aceh's poets. However, this no longer held true after a short story collection titled Perempuan Pala (Pala Women) by Azhari, a short story writer and also a student at Syah Kuala University in Aceh's capital of Banda Aceh, was published by AKY Press in 2004.

Today, the literary scene of Aceh has welcomed the emergence of another Acehnese writer, T.I. Thamrin (born in Langsa, East Aceh on Aug. 12, 1936), whose maiden short story collection, Meutia Sudah Henti Bertanya, has just seen the light of day.

There are 17 short stories in this collection, written between the 1970s and 2005. Meutia is a highly touching short story. It is the story of a five-year old girl who finds it difficult to accept the fact that she has lost her father for good. Meutia's father was jailed because he was found to be carrying something left to him by a secessionist Free Aceh Movement member. He died in prison.

Meutia's mother has remarried but Meutia cannot accept her stepfather, whom she addresses as "Uncle" although he has done his best to take good care of Meutia and her mother. At the end of the story, Meutia, who was caught in heavy rain, is found sick in front of her father's grave.

This story successfully stirs the reader's feelings although the political turmoil in Aceh serves as only the setting. The story subtly conveys the bitterness of a family who has lost one of its members because of the turmoil brought about by the Free Aceh Movement.

While Azhari is noted for his narrative style (like in his stories Ikan dari Langit (Fish from the Sky), Pengunjung (Visitor) and Di Dua Mata (In Both Eyes), Thamrin satisfies his readers with the realism of his narrative style and varied themes so that the stories in this collection are not defined by the turmoil in Aceh as their setting, a theme generally expected by readers from outside Aceh.

Take, for example, his story titled Parut Luka (Scar of a Wound, p. 61) about two convicts, Oom Andy and Lexy. Lexy tells a fellow inmate his past as a child whose father died after being tortured by Dutch colonial soldiers. Following the death of his father, his mother was forced to surrender her body to Dance, a Dutch soldier. Then Dance seduced Nella, Lexy's younger sister. One day while Dance was seducing Nella, Lexy saw the opportunity to shoot Dance. Unfortunately, the bullet inadvertently hit his own mother. Lexy was incarcerated and was tortured in such a way that his sexual organs no longer function.

In another short story, Agam (p. 25), the short story writer talks about an Acehnese child born to a Javanese transmigrant mother in Aceh. The story tells us about the hardship Agam experienced living in Jakarta. After the death of his father, his mother worked at Klender market and saved enough money to rent an illegal hut by the side of a railway line. Despite his extreme poverty, Agam was so determined to go to school that he ended up selling hashish. Luckily, he met Abucek, a vegetable supplier noted for his readiness to help other people. Thanks to Abucek, Agam later abandoned his job selling hashish.

This particular short story is interesting in that it demonstrates the spirit of struggle of marginalized people who wish to lead a good life despite the temptation of the more lucrative, illegal means. Unfortunately, the story ends abruptly so that the dramatic event in the story comes to the reader only in a flash, for example when Abucek hints to Agam that when an Acehnese looks a little rich, people will say that he must be selling hashish. This scene is interesting as many in our community, particularly urban people, still have this belief about the Acehnese. That's why this story is considered one of his best, aside from Meutia Sudah Henti Bertanya and Parut Luka.

It is obvious that Thamrin, who usually writes stories for newspapers and therefore has to come to terms with limited space, has yet to free himself from this limitation as is evident from the fact that most of his stories contain only flashes of events and therefore do not quite impress the reader. As a result, despite the variety of themes in his stories – not all of the stories in this collection are about Aceh; Bidadari Pesek Flat- Nosed Angel, for example, is about a flat-nosed girl's inferiority complex – Thamrin's stories generally do not leave an indelible impression on the reader.

If you read his stories you cannot but conclude that Thamrin, who has a journalistic background, has consciously opted for the path of realism in writing his stories and usually features the struggle of marginalized people. Unfortunately, at the same time you cannot but get the impression that he is almost simply transferring his journalistic observation of events into short stories.

In fact, there are quite a lot of excellent prose writers in Indonesia's contemporary literature. Pramoedya Ananta Toer's works are rich in historical values and deserve to be categorized as historical fiction. Another writer, Martin Aleida also has a journalistic background like Thamrin is able to charm his readers with his impressive narration.

Regardless of its shortcomings, Meutia, as a collection of short stories, has successfully featured an amazing historical wealth. While Azhari can charm his readers with the combination of his tale-telling instinct and the setting of Aceh in political turmoil, Thamrin is skilled in telling stories imbued with an internal spirit of turmoil, the result of not only an external observation but also an experience of a depressed mind like in the story titled Lukamu Abadi, Za (Your Wound is Eternal, Za). Mirza, who is only a child, has the courage to fight barbarous soldiers. Without carrying any weapons, Za jumps at a barbarous commander who is going to rape his mother.

It may be too much to expect a new experiment of sorts from the writers of Thamrin's generation or from authors from the same school of writing as Thamrin and hope that they will produce more closely-knitted stories. However the publication of Thamrin's short story collection is really encouraging as it shows that Aceh, which is generally known as a conflict-prone region, has in fact enriched Indonesia's literary arena. The varied themes of the stories have made the writer all the richer creatively although the book has been published more out of solidarity for Aceh in an effort to lift the region out of a political abyss and put it back on its feet after the devastation wrought by the tsunami. As the varied themes that are found in Thamrin's short story collection are reminiscent of Odah (Shalahuddin Press, 1986) a collection of stories by Mohammad Diponegoro, we may as well hope that this book will not be his first or his last.

The writer, born under the name of Teuku Iskandar Ali bin Sabil and usually called Iskandar, is indeed not a novice in the Indonesian literary scene. In the early 1970s his stories were published in Kompas and Sinar Harapan. As he was busy as a reporter (he used to be a reporter for Tempo and Matra), he wrote his stories under a pen name. That's why although he won first prize in Gonjong II a short story writing contest in 2000, his name is virtually unknown.

Even when Kompas daily published Dua Kelamin bagi Midin: Cerpen Kompas Pilihan 1970 – 1980 (Two Sexes for Midin: Selected Short Stories published in Kompas from 1970 to 1980), published by Kompas in 2003 with Seno Gumira Ajidarma as the editor and foreword writer, in which his short story Hidung Pesek Seorang Bidadari (Flat Nose of an Angel) is also included, (also in Meutia under the title Bidadari Pesek) there is no information about who the writer of this story really is.

While poet D. Zamawi Imron writes Mendesah Dalam Nafasku (Aceh is sighing in my breath) in his 1999 poem, after reading Thamrin's short story collection we may echo similarly, Aceh mendesah dalam prosa (Aceh is sighing in prose) thanks to the writer's acute response to social problems. Thamrin proves that there are still many obscure things in our literature so that many good writers as well as good literary works have escaped the attention of literary critics and the mass media as they are usually charmed by writers' biographical aspects instead of concentrating on analyzing their work and pointing out the textual satisfaction to be derived from these works.

[Donny Anggoro is a free-lance editor for a Jakarta publishing house.]