APSN Indonesia News Digest 36 - September 24-30, 2006

The Indonesian Vice-President, Yusuf Kalla, who is visiting the US, said he could not understand the reluctance to allow officials to interview Hambali, who is thought to be a leading figure in the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist group.

"I don't understand why the US is being difficult in granting us access to Hambali," Mr Kalla, who met his US counterpart, Dick Cheney, and the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during his visit, was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

The US President, George Bush, revealed that Hambali had been shifted to Guantanamo Bay earlier this month, prompting Jakarta to say it would again seek consular access to him.

Indonesia has repeatedly sought to question the militant, accused of being al-Qaeda's main Asian representative, since he was handed to US authorities after his capture in Thailand in 2003.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Jakarta said the request was being dealt with like any other from a foreign government.

Mr Bush revealed earlier this month that 14 senior al-Qaeda members captured after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US had been sent to Guantanamo after being subjected to special interrogations at secret CIA prisons.

Prabowo denies planning 1998 coup against Habibie

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo Subianto denied Thursday that he berated then president B.J. Habibie as he was about to be removed from his position, or that he planned a coup to overthrow the government.

In his memoirs of his time in office Detik-detik yang Menentukan (Crucial Seconds) launched last week, Habibie quoted Prabowo as telling him: "What kind of president are you? You're naive."

Habibie, who said Prabowo spoke to him in English, recounted a heated exchange between the two when he was about to replace Prabowo with Lt. Gen. (ret.) Johnny Lumintang in May 1998. He wrote that he turned down Prabowo's requests to be allowed to stay in command for three more months, and then three days, including when the officer used the name of his father, renowned economist Soemitro Djojohadikusumo and his father-in-law Soeharto.

"I have never uttered such embarrassing words towards Habibie," said the usually media-shy Prabowo, who has granted several print and TV interviews to counter the allegations. I'm very respectful of Habibie and he is a national figure. In fact, I obeyed the president's order to show I was a true soldier."

The energetic-looking 54-year-old said he was not considering suing Habibie, but would probably publish his own version of events. "In the meantime, I am still requesting time to meet Habibie for clarification and to end the controversy in a familial way."

Asked about the accusation that he was trying to launch a coup, Prabowo called the report groundless. "It was impossible for me to do that because all Kostrad personnel were put under full control of the former chief of the Jakarta Military, Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsuddin," he said, asking journalists to seek clarification from Sjafrie, now secretary-general of the Defense Ministry.

Habibie told local media Wednesday he defended his decision to take over the Konstrad leadership from Prabowo after he received information from then commander of the Indonesian Military Gen. (ret.) Wiranto that thousands of armed soldiers from Kostrad and the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) were gathered at the National Monument (Monas) park and were ready to besiege the adjacent State Palace.

He added that the contents of the book were only a small part of the story, and the rest would be published in another book to serve as an important lesson for the next generation.

But Prabowo urged the public to understand the situation at the time. He argued the military reinforcements was at the order of the Indonesian Military commander following the rampage of rioting in Jakarta and other big cities in mid-May 1998.

"The people should bear in mind that certain foreign countries and international financial institutions played an important role in the economic crisis that hit Indonesia from 1997 and led to Soeharto's resignation," he said.

He added that he and other military officers were committed to safeguarding a smooth transition under Habibie's leadership into a true democracy. Prabowo was honorably discharged from military service at the recommendation of a Military Honor Council in September 1998 for his role in the abduction and torture of prodemocracy activists. He maintained that he "misread the orders" of his superiors.

Study shows transportation board still toothless

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Two-years after the establishment of the much-hyped Jakarta Transportation Board (DTK), there has been no breakthrough achieved to resolve the city's disorganized transportation system, a study shows.

The study conducted by the Coalition of Jakarta Residents for Transportation (Kawat) revealed that the board had not gathered suggestions from the public before making recommendations to Sutiyoso's administration.

"The board has not used its power to rectify the long-standing transportation problems in Jakarta," Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, the coordinator of the survey told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar on DTK performance Tuesday.

He said that during the two-year period, the board submitted only six recommendations to the administration, of which most were related to the increase in public transportation fares following the fuel price hikes.

The board, set up in 2004, has 15 members, comprising experts, transportation operators, urban activists and commuters. The board is mandated to gather and analyze suggestions from the public regarding the management of the city's transportation and make recommendations based on those inputs.

The board, which will end its first term at the end of this year, is also authorized to give advice to the administration.

Data from the study shows that the board submitted proposals on the increase in taxi fares, public buses and busway fares. The board, which once opposed the monorail project, endorsed the plan after the administration insisted on going ahead with the project.

The last and most controversial recommendation was the planned inner city turnpikes linking Bekasi-Kalimalang-Kampung Melayu; Ulujami-Tanah Abang; Kampung Melayu-Tomang; Pasar Minggu- Casablanca; Kemayoran-Kampung Melayu and Sunter-Pulo Gebang. The 85 kilometers of road will cost Rp 23 trillion (about US$2.5 billion).

Environmentalists, who at first hailed the presence of the Jakarta Transportation Board, criticized the board's approval of the turnpikes saying it violated its long struggle to promote mass transportation. The green activists argued that the new city turnpikes would worsen traffic congestion and air pollution as would encourage more people to drive.

In a meeting held by members of the Regional Representative Council from Jakarta on the planned turnpikes last week, activists bombarded the board with questions over its recommendations.

DTK chairman Sutanto Soehodho, who was a speaker at the meeting, said that the administration could not prevent people from driving to Jakarta and there should be a solution to the expected traffic snarls.

Sutanto, who is deputy rector for academic affairs of the University of Indonesia, said new roads were needed as traffic congestion on several main roads in Jakarta had been worsening.

The administration estimates that the number of private cars on city roads will grow by 10 percent yearly, while roads will be built at a rate of 1 percent. In 2004 there were more than 2.5 million private cars in the city and 3.8 million motorcycles, compared to 255,000 public transportation vehicles.

Jakarta Residents Forum chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan, who attended the seminar, said that the board had failed to fulfill its mission to ensure Jakartans had access to cheaper, nonpolluting public transportation.

"The board seems powerless to stop the administration in the controversial transportation sector such as the planned six inner-city turnpikes and monorail," he said. Azas said that the board's members should avoid involvement in the city's projects to maintain independence in making recommendations.

Another speaker at the seminar, Tulus Abadi of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation, said that Jakarta residents had not benefited from the presence of the transportation board.

"Jakartans have to allocate 30 percent of their income for transportation. It is one of the key tasks of the board to reduce public spending on transportation," Tulus, who was involved in selecting board members, said.

Support grows for TNI to vote in 2009

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2006

Jakarta – Politicians from different political parties are supporting a move to allow Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel to exercise their voting rights in the 2009 legislative and presidential elections.

Taufik Kiemas, the chief patron of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said there should be no reason to fear soldiers voting in the next elections.

The PDI-P was not worried that soldiers would be partial when voting because they had a high sense of patriotism, he said. Soldiers' historical right to vote should be restored, the husband of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri argued.

"We will work very hard so that they can recover their political rights," Taufik was quoted as saying Saturday by Antara newswire. "Which political party is not 'using' the military and police? Everyone is vying for (their support)."

Golkar Party politician Theo L. Sambuaga, who chairs House Commission I on defense and foreign affairs, said soldiers should be entitled to vote like other citizens. "The right to vote is not a practical political activity. Besides, the understanding of democracy has now increased among the people, including soldiers."

The chairman of the United Democratic Nationhood Party (PPDK), Ryaas Rasyid, said without the vote soldiers were relegated to second-class citizens. "They have small salaries, but their right to vote is denied," he said in Bandarlampung.

Ryaas said solders had their rights guaranteed under the Constitution. "They have to be allowed to channel their aspirations. Otherwise, some of them will disrupt (political) parties, which is more dangerous."

He said soldiers had lost their voting rights because high- ranking military officers were worried that lower ranking soldiers would be ordered to vote for political parties by their superiors.

However, former armed forces chief Gen. (ret.) Wiranto said the time was not yet right for soldiers to vote in 2009. Soldiers would be confused about which party to vote for and could end up obeying their superiors' commands, he said.

"It's because soldiers must obey their leaders. (Voting) would become a psychological barrier for them," he told a seminar Friday. He said the government should study the military and its internal politics before recommending soldiers regain their rights.

The last time the military was allowed to vote was during the 1955 general elections. From 1971 to 2004, members were banned from voting in elections but were represented in the House.

27 new parties register, including the New Order Party

Detik.com - September 25, 2006

Ramdhan Muhaimin, Jakarta – Although the 2009 general elections are still three years away, 27 seven new political parties have already registered with the department of Justice and Human Rights. The new parties range from the New Order Party to the Satria Piningit Party.

The 27 new political parties are the Generation Party (Partai Generasi), the Indonesia Young Awakening Party (Partai Indonesia Muda Bangkit), the Indonesian Advance Party (Partai Indonesia Maju), the Indonesian Archipelago Party (Partai Nusantara Indonesia), the Islamic Party of Unity (Partai Islam Persatuan), the Labour Solidarity Party (Partai Solidaritas Buruh), the Labour Party (Partai Buruh), the My Republic Party (Partai Republikku), the Indonesia Murba Party (Partai Murba Indonesia), the Marhaen Masses Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI Massa Marhaen) and the Marhaen Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI Marhaen).

Following these are the National Party of Concern for the People (Partai Peduli Rakyat Nasional), the National Solidarity Party (Partai Solidaritas Nasional), the Defence of the State Party (Partai Bela Negara), the Christian Democrat Party (Partai Kristen Demokrat), the New Order Party (Partai Orde Baru), the Sartria Piningit Party (Partai Sartria Piningit), the Party of Democratic Reform (Partai Demokrasi Pembaruan), the Crescent Star Party (Partai Bintang Bulan), the Indonesia Women's Christian Party (Partai Kristiani Indonesia), the National Party (Partai Nasional), the Peace and Prosperity Party (Partai Damai Sejahtera), the Indonesian Democracy Party (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia), the Peace and Prosperity Party of Reform (Partai Pembaharuan Damai Sejahtera), the Independent Peoples Party (Partai Rakyat Merdeka), the Democrat Prosperity Party (Partai Demokrat Sejahtera) and the Peoples Liberty Party (Partai Kemerdekaan Rakyat).

"These [parties] have only registered. Later there will still be a verification [process] that will determine which parties pass", said Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaludin at a working meeting with the House of Representatives Commission III at the parliament building in Senayan, South Jakarta, on Monday September 25.

Awaludin reiterated that the Department of Justice and Human Rights will only carry out the administrative registration of the new political parties. "Later there will be verification while waiting for the [revised] law on political parties", he said in an outburst of emotion. (aan/sss)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Aceh

Split may derail ex-rebels' chances in Aceh elections

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Former rebels may lose upcoming direct elections in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam because they have split into two rival groups, analysts say.

Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, said the split was due mostly to differences over which former leader of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should be the group's gubernatorial candidate.

One faction centered around prominent GAM members exiled in Sweden and the other around leaders living in Aceh.

"GAM now is split into the old-guard diaspora led by Human Hamid, and the local resistance group with M. Nazar and Irwandi as their leaders. In addition to the lack of necessary preparations, these conditions make it difficult for GAM to consolidate," she told a discussion Thursday.

Jones said their rivalry was "getting really, really down and dirty now", with both sides trading insults and accusations.

Several GAM leaders have nominated themselves to contest the elections, Jones said, and are expected to win support from their strongholds in East Aceh, Pidie, Central Aceh and Nagan Raya.

She added that the Indonesia Military, which is allegedly backing the nomination of former Iskandar Muda military commander Maj. Gen. (ret.) Djali Yusuf, would have little sway over the gubernatorial election as the Acehnese people were still deeply suspicious of the military.

Jones added that the local elections would be dominated by major political parties, especially the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the National Mandate Party and the United Development Party.

She said the 2009 general elections offered former rebels a good chance to win seats in the provincial and regional legislatures, which would give them more political clout to run in the 2014 elections.

Paul Rowland, resident representative of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), warned of possible violence during and after the elections.

"Like the past elections in other regions, clashes could flare up at all phases of the local elections," he said in the same discussion. He said violence could break out if the defeated candidates did not accept their losses.

Problems have already begun in the early phase of the gubernatorial election, as independent female candidate Mediati Hafni Hanum was declared to have failed a Koran reading test. She has disputed the test results. The test is a requirement for candidates running in the gubernatorial election.

Rowland said problems could also arise if the Independent Election Commission (KIP) produced inaccurate data in registering voters or verifying candidates. Clashes with security forces were also a danger, he said. "Possible intimidation of voters and candidates by security authorities and personnel could potentially trigger conflicts."

Elections won't threaten Aceh peace - analysts

Reuters - September 28, 2006

Jakarta – Peace in Indonesia's once-restive Aceh province should hold even if former separatist rebels running in December's local elections fail to win any posts, analysts said on Thursday.

Acehnese are due to vote in the region's first direct elections for governor and other local offices on December 11, more than a year after Jakarta signed a peace deal with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to end decades of bloodshed.

The accord paves the way for limited self-rule in Aceh, which was devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Sidney Jones, Southeast Asia director for the International Crisis Group, said GAM was not focusing on the December polls because it had set its sights on parliamentary elections in 2009 which it would contest as a political party.

GAM seeks to win control of the provincial parliament in 2009 and use that power as a vehicle to push a political agenda, she said.

"I think there will be irritation, disappointment, frustration, resentment and all the above if they come out with nothing, but because of the higher goal of 2009 it may not have a particularly destabilising effect more generally," she told a news conference.

The latest public opinion survey shows former Aceh acting governor Azwar Abu Bakar, backed by two national Islamic parties, is the favourite gubernatorial candidate.

Paul Rowland, head of the Indonesia operation of US-based think-tank National Democratic Institute, said Aceh voters would support a candidate who offers programmes addressing practical issues such as jobs and post-tsunami reconstruction. "I don't think we'll find a particularly radicalised electorate," he said.

The military may try to prevent GAM candidates from winning by throwing its support to other candidates but is unlikely to resort to intimidation or violence, Jones said.

Former Aceh military chief Djali Yusuf is among those running for governor but has a slim chance of winning given the army's poor human rights record in the province, Jones said.

Indonesia's parliament passed a landmark law in July giving Aceh wide-ranging autonomy. The Aceh peace accord, signed in Helsinki last August, marked the end of a separatist insurgency in which more than 15,000 people, mostly civilians, had died since 1979.

The pact was the result of months of talks spurred by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that left around 170,000 Acehnese dead or missing.

The Helsinki agreement followed GAM's decision to drop its demand for an independent Aceh state. Jakarta in turn promised to allow local political parties, including any group set up by GAM, to operate in Aceh, although that contradicted Indonesian laws.

Existing national laws require parties to have branches in more than half the country's 33 provinces, and individuals to obtain party endorsements before they run in elections.

Polls in Aceh should not hit peace pact: analyst

Agence France Presse - September 28, 2006

Jakarta – The challenge of staging polls in Indonesia's Aceh this year should not derail a peace pact signed in 2005 between separatists and the government, an analyst said Thursday.

The province is set to hold its first-ever gubernatorial elections on December 11 under the pact, which was signed last August by Jakarta and the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The agreement ended nearly three decades of conflict.

Voters will also select the heads of Aceh's 19 districts and mayoralty. "At this point of time, I don't think there is anything significant enough (related to the polls) to derail the peace process," said Sidney Jones, the Southeast Asian director of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank.

She told a public discussion about the polls that one of the main reasons why was that only individuals could run and not political parties, which under the peace deal will have to wait until the next electoral cycle begins in 2009.

Local political parties are outlawed elsewhere in Indonesia, but are to be permitted in Aceh under the deal.

"The safety valve that is built in is the notion that it is actually the 2009 elections that are really important for GAM," Jones said.

"There will be irritation, disappointment, frustration, resentment, all of the above, if they come out with nothing from the local elections, but because of the higher goal of 2009, it may not have a particularly destabilizing effect," she said.

Jones also noted that GAM had now split into two rival groups mostly due to differences over who to nominate as a candidate for governor. One centered around ex-leaders who were exiled in Sweden and the other around leaders here.

Their rivalry – which was "getting really, really down and dirty now" with both sides trading insults and accusations – reduced the prospect of violence, she said.

Other elements, such as the Indonesian security authorities, would have more scope to throw money and support behind one candidate and spread disinformation on others than to engage in open violence, Jones added.

The peace pact was spurred by the 2004 Asian tsunami, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh. GAM agreed to drop its demand for independence in return for partial self-rule.

Aceh, located at the northernmost tip of Sumatra island, was racked by a violent separatist conflict for 29 years that claimed the lives of some 15,000 people, mostly civilians.

Aceh demanding gubernatorial candidates recite Koran

Deutsche Presse Agentur - September 28, 2006

Jakarta – Election officials in Indonesia's strife-torn Aceh province have ordered that potential candidates for upcoming provincial polls must be able to recite from the Koran, Islam's holy book, in order to run, a local report said Thursday.

The order is the latest in a series of controversial moves to impose a strict version of Islamic Law, or Shariah, in Aceh, despite the rest of Indonesia being secular.

Aceh, marred by a three-decade separatist war and the 2004 Asian Tsunami, the latter of which killed 177,000 people in the province, was granted the right to implement Shariah in 1999. The province lies on the northwest tip of Sumatra Island and its residents are considered Indonesia's most devout and pious Muslims.

However, the implementation of Shariah has been a disaster, with morality enforcement police abusing their mandate, illegally arresting women for not wearing headscarves, and breaking into diplomatic compounds hoping to find Western aid workers drinking alcohol.

In the latest controversy, a female Acehnese politician vying for the governorship was disqualified by election officials who claimed she was unable to read from the Koran, which inexplicably is a requirement to be a candidate.

Mediati Hafni Hanum, who represents Aceh in the Regional Representatives Council in Jakarta, demanded the Home Affairs Ministry intervene, saying her disqualification was a trick by rival politics to keep her from running, The Jakarta Post reported.

"My teacher testified to my skills in reciting the Koran and during the test I did it well, but based on the results, I was declared (as) failed," Hanum was quoted as saying.

To prove her competence, Hanum read from the Koran during a fast-breaking ceremony in the office of Home Affairs Minister M. Ma'ruf in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon, the Post reported. The minister reportedly said he would look into the case.

It was not immediately clear if Acehnese Christians were also required to read from the Koran to run for governor, deputy governor or parliament in the elections, scheduled for mid- December.

Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation with some 190 million people, but also has minority Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

Candidate protests Koran test score

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – An Acehnese woman is fighting to contest this year's direct gubernatorial election, saying the local poll body unfairly declared her unable to read the Koran.

Passing a Koranic reading test is one of the requirements for candidates to vie for the Dec. 11 gubernatorial election in Aceh, which applies Islamic sharia law.

Mediati Hafni Hanum, the only Acehnese female candidate, said the Independent Election Committee (KIP) announced that she had failed the test at Baiturrachman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh on Sept. 7.

"My teacher testified to my skills in reciting the Koran and during the test I did it well, but based on the results, I was declared failed," she said.

She rejected the results and sought support from Home Affairs Minister M. Ma'ruf to help settle the problem, while insisting she could read the Koran.

At a fast-breaking gathering Tuesday at Ma'ruf's office in Jakarta, Mediati, who is a Regional Representatives Council member from Aceh, demonstrated her Koran-reading abilities for the audience.

Mediati claimed the KIP's finding was a systematic move by the local political elite to prevent her from competing in the race.

"We are determined to press ahead with running for election because political support continues flowing from the Acehnese people," she said. Mediati's running mate is Ramidin Syukur.

Mediati said she could not sue the KIP immediately because she had not been delisted as a candidate yet.

The committee is scheduled to officially announce the gubernatorial candidates on Oct. 15. So far, nine pairs have registered with the committee to run.

Mediati said she had filed complaints with the coordinating minister for political, security and legal affairs and the coordinating minister for the people's welfare.

She said after the meeting with Ma'ruf, the minister called incumbent Aceh Governor Mustafa Abubakar and the KIP chairman to come to Jakarta to discuss the case.

Mediati quoted the minister as saying he would ask the governor to ensure a smooth run-up to the election and would ask the KIP to implement all electoral processes accordingly.

However, Home Affairs Ministry spokesman Andreas Tarwanto said the central government would not intervene in the selection of Aceh gubernatorial candidates.

"We would like to let the KIP handle the selection and settle all problems with the local government," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He denied the home affairs minister had summoned the Aceh governor and the KIP chairman to discuss the case.

Ahmad Farhan Hamid, a National Mandate Party (PAN) legislator from Aceh, said it was unfortunate that Mediati had publicly announced that she had failed the test.

"She should be patient until the KIP announces the results on Oct. 15. And all candidates should respect the formal requirements," he said, adding that it would be better for her to ask to re-take the test.

Farhan said he felt uneasy knowing that Mediati, as an Acehnese resident, had failed the test.

Sidney Jones: Regional leaders' election in Aceh will be safe

Tempo Interactive - September 28, 2006

Sutarto, Jakarta – Sidney Jones, President Director of the International Crisis Group for Southeast Asia, estimates that regional leaders' election in Aceh will be safe.

The indication is that the votes of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) will be divided so now there is no reason to encourage people to oppose the GAM.

"I am optimistic the elecytion will take place without violence," said Sydney during a discussion called "Conflict Potential In the Aceh Regional Leaders' Election" at the office of the National Democratic Institute Jakarta onThursday (28/9). She suggested that GAM's votes must be accommodated.

At least, a GAM representatives should be elected as deputy regent in one regency. "So that they feel there are advantages joining in the democratic process," she said.

If none of there GAM representatives are elected, Sydney confirms that they would be disappointed. However, she believes that this will not end in a conflict.

West Papua

Papua opens doors for donors

Australian Financial Review - September 29, 2006

Morgan Mellish, Jayapura – A group of 40 international donor organisations, including the Australian government and the World Bank, flew to the troubled Indonesian province of Papua this week to meet recently elected governor Barnabas Suebu.

At the end of a day-long meeting outlining his vision, Mr Suebu had one simple message for the diplomats and aid workers: "If you have any trouble getting a permit from the Indonesian government to enter Papua, then come and see me." To reinforce this message, he put the phone numbers of his aides up on the screen.

"If we want to build toll roads, airports and container facilities, they are very expensive," Mr Suebu said after the meeting. "That is why we require donors and they are welcome. "This is the first time we've held a meeting like this and they [the donors] are very enthusiastic."

Indonesia's easternmost province – which has huge natural resources but is still one of the country's poorest – has in effect been a no-go area for most Western organisations due to a low-level but politically sensitive separatist campaign that has simmered for more than 30 years.

Because of this, the Indonesian government, which has ruled the former Dutch colony with an iron fist, has been reluctant to grant access to Western organisations, including media, fearing they would encourage independence sentiments.

"Donors have been staying away from Papua for two reasons," said the head of the World Bank in Indonesia, Andrew Steer. "One, operating here is difficult and projects have a much lower rate of return [than elsewhere in Indonesia]. Two, for political reasons it's been a little more tricky for them to engage."

This is particularly so for the Australian government and Australian non-governmental organisations, which Jakarta has long suspected of supporting independence for Papua.

These tensions only grew earlier this year after Canberra granted asylum to a group of 42 Papuan refugees who claimed there were widespread human rights abuses. As one Western diplomat put it: "You'll never hear Jakarta admit it, but most diplomats have been banned from Papua for years."

At the moment, the United Nations has a small presence here and there are Catholic missionaries. All foreigners wanting to enter the province must apply to the Indonesian government for a travel permit known as a surat jalan. It took The Australian Financial Review, for example, six months to get one. Even then, movements are strictly limited.

Mr Steer said that under new special autonomy laws aimed at quelling the independence movement, the Indonesian government had vastly increased revenue payments to Papua in recent years and it needed advice rather than money, which donor organisations would be happy to provide.

Papuan plot 'no surprise'

The Australian - September 28, 2006

Natalie O'Brien – Indonesia is not surprised at revelations the 43 Papuan refugees who caused a diplomatic incident when they arrived in Australia by boat in January had been hand-picked in a well-orchestrated plot to cause a rift between the two countries.

Dino Patti Djalal, the spokesman for Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said yesterday it was "how these things are done".

"It has always been our suspicion that these were economic migrants, that they had designed firstly to embarrass Indonesia and secondly to take advantage of opportunities in Australia," said Dr Djalal, who is on an official visit to Canberra.

It was revealed in The Australian this week that the 43 Papuans were recruited for the trip on the grounds that they were the most likely to be successful in gaining refugee visas because of their long family association with the province's independence movement and persecution by the Indonesian authorities.

The disclosure prompted Liberal backbenchers to demand the reinstatement of John Howard's tough asylum legislation requiring all visa applications by boatpeople to be processed offshore. The legislation, which critics claim was introduced to appease Indonesian anger over the granting of visas to the Papuans, was withdrawn last month after it became clear it would not pass the Senate.

Dr Djalal said Indonesia was "monitoring" the legislation. "We know that is your internal affairs and how you do your laws is your business," he said. "But, of course, this is something that has bearing on us. Obviously we are still worried about more people braving the seas between Indonesia and Australia and we need to send a clear signal in turn for them that this is not to be done, it is not advisable."

After speaking at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute conference in Canberra, Dr Djalal said the federal Government knew about Indonesian sensitivity on the issue.

"We have conveyed our point that none of these Indonesians are being sought by our authority and that they didn't have any reason to leave in that fashion and if they want to return they can return at any time," he said.

But he declined to say whether it would be on the agenda for talks with Australian government officials during his visit.

Dr Djalal told the conference Jakarta and Canberra were building a stronger relationship on their ability to manage difficult issues, such as the Papuans and the Bali Nine traffickers.

Papuan refugees were hand-picked

The Australian - September 25, 2006

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jayapura – The plot finally coalesced after years in and out of filthy Indonesian jail cells: equip a small outrigger for the long trip from Papua to Australia, fill it with people selected expressly for their likelihood of winning asylum and wait for the political fallout.

Expedition leader Herman Wanggai – now living in Melbourne after being granted a temporary protection visa in March – spent more than two years travelling to far-flung reaches of Indonesian Papua recruiting the best people he could find for the project.

His own chances of gaining political protection once he hit Australian shores were excellent: he had done two stretches inside for opposing Indonesian rule in his homeland, and his uncle, Thomas Wanggai, had declared Papua independent in 1988, raising the controversial Morning Star flag and then dying in a Jakarta jail for his troubles.

Several family members would also be good to go on the risky journey across the Pacific and into the Torres Strait, since they had in various ways supported the banned independence movement, but it was the others, drawn from Wanggai's extensive student network, who needed careful vetting.

The key criteria, Wanggai decided with lawyer Edison Waromi, was that they had parents involved in some way in the original independence struggle, after Indonesia subsumed Papua in 1969, long after gaining its own independence from The Netherlands.

"That way we could prove the potential for intimidation," said Waromi, whom Indonesia has regularly arrested and jailed for sedition. "I know about asylum law, I know what the international situation is on asking for asylum."

Indonesia's crackdowns on Papuan independence activists have long been noted for their brutality, and the province remains largely closed to the outside world. However, in lengthy interviews with The Australian over recent days in the Papuan capital, Jayapura, Waromi was expansive about the trip's overriding political aim.

Waromi left Wanggai to his own devices as far as recruiting, as "he had excellent connections in the independence movement and amongst students, and he knew who was pro- and anti-independence. What I said to him was, 'This is your organisational task; all we want to know is that the exodus succeeds'."

The participants were to come from as wide an area of the province as possible, to back the group's pan-Papuan credentials.

Waromi, leader of a loose coalition called the Papuan National Authority, and Wanggai were close to pulling off a project designed to propel the latter into the limelight as a genuine Papuan independence leader, with Waromi hanging on to his coattails. "We discussed tactics for the struggle, so that Indonesia would open its eyes," Waromi said.

The crafty politician in Waromi could guess what the impact on Australia-Indonesia relations would be when Canberra granted temporary protection visas to 42 of the 43 in March, although he admitted the speed and fury with which the friendship split was beyond his wildest dreams.

"We wanted to show the world a small picture of the terrible human rights situation across all of Papua," he said. "It was a tactical move in the struggle, to publicise the situation here."

He certainly got publicity, and in spades. Within days, ambassador Hamzah Thayeb was recalled, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made an extraordinary televised attack on Australia's decision and the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Michael L'Estrange, flew to Jakarta to smooth ruffled feathers.

Waromi refused to be drawn on when the next boatload would be setting off from Papua's treacherous southern coast, although that was likely to be more due to a lack of ideas and genuine surprise at the success of the last one than because of any plan now hatching.

The original plan was supposed to be for 200 people to set sail but 43 were all that could be mustered – "conditions and funding limited the project", Waromi said.

Wanggai's mother, Karubaba, and father, Sadrak, were also a key part of the plan to bring Papua on to the world stage, with Herman as its star turn.

They accompanied him from Jayapura, in the province's northeast, on a circuitous journey west and then east again, to meet up with the outrigger that would bear its cargo south across the Pacific.

The family travelled overland to the town of Sorong in the west, and from there split up: Karubaba, a tough woman with a fierce protective streak, was assigned grandmotherly duties, taking Herman's one-year-old twin boys, San and Joi, the rest of the way to Merauke on a ferry.

Herman and his father sailed a small skiff for nine days from Sorong to Merauke, picking up successful applicants along the way. Each had paid 5 million rupiah (about $700) to be part of the moment.

Ferdinanda Kumba, Herman's wife, flew from Jayapura to Merauke because she feared a bout of seasickness. The eventual days at sea proved easier than expected healthwise, but there were other concerns: allegations of embezzlement, with claims made to Papuan police that Kumba had collected money from a circle of people for a promised trip to Israel and was now swiftly bearing that cash southwards to Australia. "If that's true, then I should have been arrested, since I organised the trip," Waromi scoffed.

In Jayapura, Karubaba and Sadrak Wanggai were visited by police – they still are – but, in those first days, they stuck firm to their son's instructions: "Don't tell anyone where I've gone, and deny you had anything to do with my departure."

"Herman told me, 'I cannot return now, mother'," Karubaba said of the first contact with her son after that morning on the beach in January, when she and her husband saw the leaky boat off. "His parents, we couldn't sleep during that time as well. What I know is, he said to me, 'Mother, if I return I will die'."

Journalists face difficulties in Papua, even with work permits

Radio Australia - September 25, 2006

Eleanor Hall: Two weeks ago Australia was bemused by the story of a Channel Seven crew's misadventure in the Indonesian province of Papua in search of a story about supposed cannibalism. The crew was deported for travelling to Papua without permits.

Since then the ABC's Indonesia Correspondent, Geoff Thompson, has travelled to Papua with one of the rarely issued permits. But he says that even with official permission to work there as a journalist, it's almost impossible to do so without being treated like a criminal by the local police.

Geoff Thompson joins me now from Jakarta. So, Geoff, how closely does Indonesia monitor journalists in Papua, and what was your experience on the road there?

Geoff Thompson: Well, we got the official permission. We were sort of awkwardly given permission to cover a festival that does not actually take place until October, but we were given permission to go in the last week. So we go there, we register at the police station, as requested, we even requested interviews with the police chief and the governor, et cetera.

But the weird thing is that you're told you can go, you can be in Jayapura, for instance, the capital, or Timika, but we travelled for sort of little more than an hour outside of the city, and on the way back we were pulled off the road by police intelligence. We were quite angrily interrogated until, for about an hour, before being let go, and then that went on.

And then when we arrived in Timika, this had flowed on to a message to the police there, and we barely got off at the airport, we were tailed to our hotel, we were pulled into a police station, interrogated and basically detained for about four hours, and our Indonesian translator was particularly harshly questioned during that time.

And we were told that seeing we weren't covering this festival, that wasn't even taking place, we had nothing really to report.

Eleanor Hall: So were you able to do your job at all?

Geoff Thompson: Ah, well, we got around, we spoke to people, we attended something which would best be described as a Papuan identity sort of ceremony. But really, official human rights people, official NGOs, people like that. But this footage was filmed by the police, off a television screen, and sent to the headquarters to be investigated and treated as if it was something that was completely not allowed in Papua today. I mean, working as a journalist there, you can only get the feeling that it is a police state.

Eleanor Hall: Geoff, there has been recent debate about the extent of Indonesia's human rights abuses in Papua. The International Crisis Group says that they occur, but they fall short of accusations of genocide. From your experience, how easy is it to pin down that down?

Geoff Thompson: Well, all, you know, we were basically not allowed, it seems, as far as the police in Papua were concerned, to speak to human rights groups even, let alone actually travel around the province for any extended period of time, or any time at all in fact, to actually try and verify these things.

So the simple fact is that no matter what Jakarta may say, no matter what permission Jakarta may grant you, the police on the ground in Papua don't want you there and don't want you asking any real questions.

Eleanor Hall: Geoff Thompson, our Indonesia Correspondent, thank you.

Papuans demand release of defendant in Timika shooting case

Detik.com - September 26, 2006

Ari Saputra, Jakarta – Dozens of West Papuans demonstrated in front of the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday September 26 demanding that Reverend Ishak Onawame, a defendant in the shooting case near PT Freeport Indonesia be released.

The demonstrators, who came from the West Papua Peoples Front for Struggle (FPRPB), arrived at the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara at around 10am. Not wasting any time, they immediately began holding speeches.

"We call for him (Ishak) to be released. He is not linked with the shooting incident four years ago in Timika. Witnesses have said that the shooters were people wearing camouflage uniforms", said FPRPB chairperson Martin Cao.

The protesters brought two guitars to the demonstration and accompanied by guitar music, they sang local Papuan songs. They also brought a number of large posters with the message "Release the reverend who is not guilty. He only spread the word of God". A red FPRPB flag measuring 3x2 metres was also put up.

The action did not continue for long. After several minutes of giving speeches they moved off to the Central Jakarta District Court intending to attend the court hearing into the shooting case.

The shooting took place in the area of PT Freeport Indonesia at Tembagapura Mile 62-63 in Timika on August 31, 2002. Two US citizens, Ricky Lynn Spier and Edwin Leon Burgen, and their Indonesian colleague FX Bambang Riwanto, were killed in the incident. Seven people have been indicted over the case, all of them West Papuans, one of which is Reverend Ishak Onawame. (djo/sss)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Suharto's legacy rules and divides

The Australian - September 25, 2006

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jayapura – Computing science student Johannes Kurisi was shot in the back almost a week ago during an apparent Papuan gang conflict, but he and the friends tending to him in a Jayapura hospital don't expect the assailants to be caught.

"The amber-skins aren't interested in helping us Papuans," declared 18-year-old fellow student Assa Asso outside Kurisi's hospital room, summing up in a few words one of the sharp currents of dissatisfaction in Indonesia's easternmost province.

Although Jakarta's transmigration program encouraging central islanders to relocate to the nation's outer reaches was ended in 2000, its effects will be felt in places like Papua for generations.

The scheme was ostensibly about easing population pressure on islands such as Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi, but it had the useful supplementary feature of spreading the dominant culture to areas where the Jakarta political elite would otherwise have had minimal influence.

The faintly self-deprecating joke among Papuan locals is that the migrant traders carry on their business from comfortable shopfronts, while indigenous Papuans sell their wares in the gutter.

While the mechanism of power is slowly shifting into indigenous Papuan hands, with both governors of the region's two provinces, and all regional heads, now being Papuans rather than Jakarta blow-ins, the poverty and power divide along ethnic lines remains stark.

The popular perception is there are very few Melanesians with flash cars or profitable restaurants, and almost no non-Papuans engaged in manual labour. The new arrivals even spend their time busily fabricating "traditional" Papuan handicrafts at Jayapura's art market.

Separatist leader Willie Mandowen, a leading force in the Papuan Presidium – a legitimate political organisation linked to the underground and armed Free Papua Organisation – is scathing of the "divide and rule" tactics being waged by Jakarta, even despite the relatively enlightened presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Yudhoyono came to power promising peace in the provinces of Aceh and Papua; he and Vice-President Jusuf Kalla have somehow managed the former but the latter founders in bureaucracy and the refusal of a police state to relax its grip.

The recent and probably unconstitutional division of the province into two – Papua and West Irian Jaya – is believed by many Papuans to be a ploy to keep them from uniting.

Many argue that recent deadly "tribal clashes" in Timika, where Freeport has its giant gold and copper mine, were more about competition between military, police and other business interests over who gets the massive crumbs being pushed from the edge of the natural resources table, than about traditional tribal law.

And some, such as Jayapura woman Ani Warikar, point out that you can't go anywhere without being reported on by the "intel", or secret police. "They pose as soup sellers, as shoe repairers, motorcycle taxi drivers, anything," Warikar said. "They do anything to keep us in line."

The Australian had its own taste of Papua's retrograde police state, following several days of being tailed by distinctly unsubtle detectives – gold jewellery, discreet surveillance locations at the very next restaurant table, and the like. After being hauled into "intel" headquarters, given a stern lecture about not reporting on anything political and being ordered to hand over "everything you have written", we were set free with the parting shot that "hopefully, we won't meet like this again".

The encounter, while tense, was not without its light moments, such as a big-noting intel officer demonstrating his prowess at memorising mobile phone numbers and despite repeatedly getting them wrong, having the self-confidence to declare, "that's the kind of skill you need if you want to be in intel".

But the jokes were only on the surface. The Australian received several follow-up telephone calls from intel over the next few hours – evidently someone had thought to write the number down, rather than rely on memory – including one pretending to be an offer to meet a jailed political dissident. The last was clearly a clumsy attempt at a sting that would provide easy grounds for deportation.

The calls peaked on Saturday evening with the barely veiled threat that "there is nothing for you to do here in Jayapura; it would be best if you left tomorrow". Eight years after the fall of the dictator Suharto, and the supposed end of the Indonesian police state, there is one corner of the archipelago where its repressive tactics remain alive and well.

Popular resistance

Closure of red-light district in Bandung marked by heated protest

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Residents of Saritem, the oldest red-light district in Bandung, West Java, were enraged Tuesday when public order officers began closing brothels as part of a plan to totally close down the area by November this year.

An elderly resident of Saritem, Etty, 60, expressed anger over the closure. The residents have urged the municipality to provide alternative employment for around 1,000 sex workers.

"The public order officers are safe as they get paid. How are we expected to live if we don't sell women here," quipped Etty, who openly described herself as a pimp in front of TV cameras.

Etty, who claims to be a native of the area, has 11 grandchildren, all of whom work as sex workers there. Besides the presence of pimps and middlemen, many residents take advantage of the thriving business by selling food and drinks, renting out rooms and offering their services as motorcycle taxi drivers.

Another resident, Pendi, 30, said that activities in the district has slowed down as most of the sex workers had returned to their hometowns a week before the fasting month of Ramadhan.

Authorities had initially informed residents of the permanent closure in early September.

A public order officer, Taspen Effendi, disclosed that the closure would be done in stages since residents had not fully accepted it. As of Tuesday, only five of the 81 brothels had been sealed by the municipal police. "We're not finished. We'll seal the rest by November," said Taspen.

Data at the Kebon Jeruk subdistrict office in Andir district, shows that the brothels are located in two neighborhood units – RW 7 neighborhood unit consisting of 207 sex workers and 28 pimps and the RW 9 with 243 sex workers and 45 pimps.

Saritem has existed since the Dutch colonial period. The Bandung municipality has been planning to close down the red-light district since 1998.

The municipality allocated billions of rupiah to build the Darut Taubah Islamic boarding school in the area in 2000 to change the image of the area and provide religious guidance to motivate the sex workers – around 80 percent of whom come from outside the city – to quit the profession. However, six years on, it has failed to have had a favorable impact on the sex workers.

The closure of Saritem was incorporated in a 2005 city bylaw on order, cleanliness and beauty, which will take effect in November this year. The article on prostitution in the bylaw stipulates a fine of Rp 50 million (US$5,600) for providers of sexual services – pimps and sex workers – while users of the services will be subject to a Rp 5 million fine.

Residents of Medan protest blackouts during Ramadhan

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Muslims in Medan are blaming state power company PLN for recurring power cuts, which they say are disrupting special activities during the fasting month of Ramadhan.

The caretaker of Medan's main Al Ikwhan mosque, Asno Susanto, said the North Sumatra branch of PLN had broken its promise not to cut power during the month.

"Frankly speaking, we are disappointed with PLN's service. Blackouts in the Ramadhan will be very disturbing, especially for those performing their religious duties," Asno said.

A city-wide outage on the first day of the fasting month disrupted the fast breaking and the tarawih evening prayers, with many people canceling plans to go to mosques because they feared leaving their houses unattended.

Only a few dozen people had gone to Al Ikwhan on Sunday evening, compared to the hundreds who usually attended the mosque in the early days of Ramadhan, Asno said. Asno did not expect a blackout to occur because PLN had promised to avoid outages a few days earlier.

A Belawan resident, Aidil Syahputra, said the blackout ruined his family's fast-breaking ceremony on the first day of Ramadhan. Instead of a composed ritual, everyone scrambled to find a light, he said. "PLN has gone too far," Aidil said.

North Sumatra PLN spokesman Agus Muliadi apologized for the blackout on Sunday, which he said was caused by a natural event. He assured customers the company would stick to its promise not to cut power during Ramadhan.

"A power transformer in Paya Pasir, Belawan, was hit by lightning, thereby disrupting the power generating units in Belawan," Agus told The Jakarta Post. The blowout meant PLN was short of 151 megawatts of power, a significant disturbance that shut down power in a number of areas, he said.

Agus said repair work on the power transformer was underway. He hoped transmission would be back to normal by Monday evening.

Human rights/law

Stigma against communism kills freedom of speech with book ban

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2006

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – On Aug. 11, 2006, The Jakarta Post received notice of the arrival of a small package that would prove valuable in showing that, despite all the talk of democracy and freedom of speech, little has changed in the way the bureaucracy works.

It was for a book written by Ruth T. McVey, a prominent scholar on Indonesia who is professor emeritus at the University of London.

The book focuses on Indonesian communism as its theme, a subject that was strictly off-limits in the country until the downfall of the authoritarian Soeharto regime in the 1990s.

The Rise of Indonesian Communism, in fact, is no rabble-rousing manifesto bent on persuading readers to take up arms and fight the powers that be.

It's a highly pedantic textbook, not to say tedious in parts, which meticulously chronicles the development of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), from its founding to its temporary eclipse in 1927 after a failed insurrection against the Dutch colonialists.

Every university student who cares enough to go to the public library will have probably come across this book, if they do not own a (photo) copy of it themselves. After all, it is compulsory reading for any student of political science during their early years in college.

So when the Customs and Excise Office at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport prevented the entry of the book, it was obvious that it was due to the same old stigma against communism.

The Post set out to navigate the bureaucratic maze to find that 40 years after the PKI was banned, and eight years after the advent of reform, the specter of the "red menace" still hangs over the country.

"Your book was barred from entering the country because the Customs and Excise Office deemed it a prohibited material as it contains the theme of communism," said one staffer at United Parcel Service (UPS), who handled the Post's shipment and initially attempted to get the book released. "And if you insist on wanting the book's release, you need to get approval from the Attorney General's Office."

The UPS staffer suggested the Post first contact the library division of the AGO to obtain clearance. With no insider contacts at the AGO, the only way to get the information was by calling its office.

The Post's experience in trying to obtain a response is a fitting example of the way the country's bureaucracy operates in "serving" the public. Attempts to contact eight telephone lines in the name of the agency were futile. They were either busy or out of order.

"We don't ask for payment for any license that we issue, but it's up to you if you want to pay a sum after the approval is issued," a low-ranking AGO official in the intelligence division said, recommending that the Post submit a copy of McVey's book for screening purposes.

The official also called up a female superior, who instructed the Post to write an official letter to the Customs and Excise Office to request a copy of the book.

UPS, in fact, was kind enough to fax the cover, introduction and a number of pages deemed to contain communistic content, but that did little to change the AGO's policy of barring McVey's book.

"As far the book is concerned, it can be categorized as illicit material. It has been suggested by its title and we need to get the complete copy of the book to first study it before making any decision about giving permission for it to be published or circulated here," the female official told the Post.

She explained the AGO's routine procedures in examining a book. "We will first set up an inter-departmental team that will review the book and a decision will be made maybe two weeks after we first convene." Well, so much for freedom of speech.

The ban on Marxism and Leninism has never been officially lifted; an attempt to do so by the People's Consultative Assembly in 2003 was met with strong opposition from the political establishment.

The AGO is empowered with the legal authority to monitor the circulation of written materials. During the heyday of Soeharto's authoritarian rule, the AGO served as the grand inquisitor in banning written materials deemed capable of disrupting political stability.

It banned, for instance, the classic work of writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, the Buru quartet, believing some of its contents propagated the teachings of communism.

At the expense of academic freedom and the potential for the country's youth to really learn the history of their country, in the mid-1980s the AGO also banned numerous scholarly works. They included Harold Crouch's Army and Politics, Kunio Yoshihara's The Rise of Ersatz Capitalism in Southeast Asia, Richard Robison's Indonesia: The Rise of Capital and David Jenkins' Soeharto and His Generals.

There has been two months of waiting since the Post first tried to obtain the McVey book, involving dozens of work hours to follow standard procedures (there was even a referral to another Customs and Excise Office at the noncommercial Halim Perdana Kusumah Airport recently).

McVey's book remains stashed away somewhere in a vault at the Customs and Excise Office. It seems the work, like so much of the country's history, has yet to see the light of day, buried under continuing bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

Ex-political prisoners still facing discrimination

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2006

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Blitar – At 78, former legislator Putmainah's eyes light up when she recounts her past activities in the women's division of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"Now is the time for my grandchildren to continue this struggle. My time is over, it's your task is to fight capitalism so it will not oppress the people, like what Bung Karno (president Sukarno) fought for," Putmainah said.

Clad in a flowery cream gown, the former head of PKI Blitar Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani), spoke to The Jakarta Post in her house in the town's Pakis Rejo village.

The mother of six said many experiences still weighed on her heavily, especially the ill treatment she received from the military and the government after the 1965 coup and the bloodletting that followed.

Unlike less lucky party members who were rounded up an summarily executed in the months after the attempted 1965 coup – the death toll in the violence is estimated to be at least 80,000 – Putmainah was not arrested until 1968, when she was hiding out with other PKI members in the Nggayas caves in Blitar. After being imprisoned in 16 jails, she served at least 10 years in the Plantungan women's penitentiary in Kendal, Central Java.

"The government still regards us as a menace. If I entertain many guests – even now – someone will report it to the police, and an officer will come the next day and ask a lot of questions," Putmainah said.

During her interview with the Post, several people were seen walking up and down the street and watching the house discretely.

Putmainah, a former member of the House of Representatives from 1955 to 1965, said she only gained the right to vote again in the 2004 elections during president Megawati Soekarnoputri's term.

During that period, she was asked to attend village meetings. After several of these occasions, things turned sour when she was courageous enough to criticize local officials' poor performances. She has never attended the meetings again. "It seems they are so afraid and think that I will stir up trouble again," Putmainah said.

While the government now officially recognizes the rights of former PKI members and their children, Putmainah says the changes are meaningless at the grassroots, where she still faces routine discrimination.

Syamsu Bachri, 72, a former reporter at the Jakarta-based Kebudayaan Baru daily, affiliated with the PKI, said the 2004 law setting up the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (KKR), had done little to improve things for former PKI members. "To me, the commission... is just a government ploy to shun responsibility for the bloody 1965 tragedy," he said.

Syamsu, who was imprisoned on Buru island from 1969 to 1979 together with the late writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, said he would accept the KKR law if articles that disadvantaged former political prisoners were revised. Article 27, which states "perpetrators of the 1965 incident" would be given amnesty before they were allowed to reconcile with their "victims", was especially in need of a change, he said.

The article is confusing because it does not state clearly who the perpetrators and the victims are, he said. The country's history books blame the PKI members as being behind the attempted 1965 coup, although the communists and their supporters were the main targets of the violence that followed.

Syamsu said the stigmatization that followed also impacted on his children; something that has never been righted. His third son, he said, failed to graduate from the Air Force Academy in 1998 after the Indonesian Military (TNI) discovered he was the son of a former political prisoner.

Syamsu said the government should immediately rehabilitate the reputations and compensate former members of the PKI and their offspring for the injustices they had suffered. People would not be suspicious of former PKI members if the government did not restrict their rights and stigmatize them, he said.

The chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama's Research Commission on Victims of the 1965 Incident (Lakpesdam NU) in Blitar, Lutfi Hafidz, said the continuing discrimination against former political prisoners made the KKR law "nonsense". "Most... prisoners have found the KKR law a lie and something that has ended up being used to repress them, meaning they no longer feel free to talk about the past," he said.

The son of the leader of the Pesantren Al Kamal Islamic boarding school in Wonodadi district, Lutfi is currently working to reconciliate former political prisoners with people in Blitar.

"The KKR can't serve as their legal protection. In their daily lives, almost all of the victims are still intimidated and get depressed every time they see government officials or military personnel in uniform," Lutfi said

He said true reconciliation would only occur if a faction in government was set up to fight for former PKI members' rights. "If they were wrong, then please forgive them. Basically, no one wants to make mistakes all the time. That's what all people have to understand – that history happened," he said.

Lawmakers call Poso executions illegal

Jakarta Post - September 30, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A group of legislators and human rights activists lodged a protest Friday against last week's executions of three Christian men in Central Sulawesi, saying they were against the law.

The joint statement was signed by at least 28 lawmakers from the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS). In it, they demanded that the government form a fact-finding team to thoroughly probe the sectarian conflict that gripped Poso, Central Sulawesi, around the turn of the millennium.

The three men were convicted of masterminding brutal attacks against Muslims during the conflict in 2000, leaving some 200 dead.

The signatories said the way in which the executions were carried out violated the 2002 law on amnesty, as well as the constitutionally guaranteed human rights of the three men, Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva.

Gayus Lumbuun of the PDI-P, speaking for the legislators, said by law the men should have been allowed to live until Nov. 10, 2007, or two years after their first request for presidential clemency was rejected.

Authorities dismissed a second clemency request from the men because it came less than two years after their initial refusal.

"We know the reasons behind the early executions, but they were in fact against the law, because the three were not given a chance to seek clemency for a second time," Gayus said.

Another lawmaker, Retna Rosmanita Situmorang of the PDS, accused officials of treating the three "like animals" by refusing their last requests.

"The three asked to be accompanied by their lawyers and pastors and to have a funeral service in accordance with Catholic traditions but all the requests were rejected.

"The authorities also refused to do autopsies on the bodies of the three, which according to a public health center were covered with bruises and evidence of torture," she said.

There were suspicions that the men were beaten and tortured before being executed by firing squad.

The lawmakers said the executions should have been delayed until 16 men accused by Tibo and friends of actually masterminding the attacks faced justice. The lawmakers said the proposed fact- finding team should include representatives of the police, military and civil society.

Noted human rights lawyers Todung Mulya Lubis and Hendardi gave their full support to the legislators' demands and said the executions would make it difficult for authorities to find the real instigators of the conflict.

"The three were key witnesses to other suspects in other cases involving the conflict. How can they testify when they have already been executed?," said Todung.

The families of the trio said they would report the alleged violations to the International Court of Justice.

Tibo's son, Robertus Tibo, was quoted by Antara as saying Friday in Jakarta that his family was disappointed with the way his father was executed. Robertus too argued the executions were illegal because they failed to respect the trio's constitutional right to seek a second clemency.

Todung reiterated a call for the government to phase out the death penalty, which he said was against the Constitution and UN covenants on human rights.

"The death penalty based on the Criminal Code is no longer effective and applicable since it is against Chapter 29 on human rights in the Constitution as well as UN Covenants against Torture, cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, and on civil and political rights, all of which Indonesia has ratified," he said.

Hendardi and Todung said they would file a request to the Constitutional Court to review the Criminal Code with an eye to abolishing the death penalty. "All human beings have the fundamental right to live, which all sides, including the government, must respect, and no-one is authorized to kill other people," said Todung.

Activists decry bias in bill on demography

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2006

Hera Diani, Jakarta – Activists urged lawmakers Thursday to revise the demography bill or change it into a civil registry law, as they believe the bill still maintains religious discrimination and interferes with civil administrative affairs.

The bill, which is being discussed by the House of Representatives' Commission II on political and domestic affairs, is well-intentioned in its aim to clean up the demographics administration that has been riddled by corruption and red tape.

Legislators said previously that the law would lead to the implementation of a single ID number to avoid bearing more than one identity.

The bill also is said to be an attempt to curb discrimination because the previous regulation adapted from the Dutch colonial era distinguished people based on their religious and ethnic group, indicated by the use of certain code numbers in their birth or marriage certificates.

However, the bill still obliges every citizen and every family to include their religion on their identity cards, as stipulated in Article 68. However, the state only recognizes five religions: Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hindu and Buddha.

"The state does not give legal protection for citizens of different religions (other than the five recognized), yet the 1945 Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion and beliefs," Sumamiharja from the Civil Administrative Consortium said in a discussion Thursday.

It has caused problems for believers of Confucianism, for example, because they cannot receive an ID card unless they pick one of the religions recognized by the state. If they do not, their marriage would be considered illegal, and their children deemed illegitimate. This would make it difficult for them to receive their inheritance later on.

Such cases are found among Confucianists in Tegal Alur, West Java, as well as what are known as "indigenous religion" believers throughout the country.

Another problem of the bill, according to the activists, is how it crosses the line into civil administrative affairs.

"If it aims to arrange the demographic administration, it should stop at registering the population. But it also regulates marriage, death and other civil affairs," said Lies Sugondho of the National Commission on Human Rights.

"There is no clear definition on population either, as it also administers (demographic issues of) Indonesian citizens living abroad. Yet Indonesian children born in other countries are not recognized as Indonesian."

Dual nationality, as stated by the new citizenship law passed in July and granted to children of transnational marriages until they reach the age of 21, also is not regulated in the bill.

Activists urged the government to separate the demographic administrative and civil administrative affairs, or instead implement a civil administrative law as imposed in any country in the world.

"We have never had a proper civil administrative law. Interfaith marriage, for instance, is prohibited. But rich couples get married abroad and then register their marriage here, and it's legal. What about couples who are not as wealthy?" said Ari Masyhuri from the consortium. "It will be even more confusing to have a law that mixes demographic administrative and civil administrative affairs."

Appeal in Soeharto case rejected

Tempo Interactive - September 28, 2006

Riky Ferdianto, Jakarta – Yesterday (27/9) the South Jakarta District Court rejected an appeal against the Order to Stop Prosecution (SP3) in the case involving former president Suharto.

The appeal was lodged by the People's Movement to Try Soeharto (Gemas), the Association of Indonesian Legal Advisors (APHI) and the Committee Without a Name (KTN).

Andi Samsan Nganro, Head of the South Jakarta District Court, said the appeal was rejected because it did not have any legal force. "There isn't any decree which regulates such appeals," he said when he was contacted.

Andi has not yet sent written report to the parties in conflict because report are only sent when someone requests them.

On May 1, 2006 the Jakarta High Court issued an appeal sentence for pretrial hearing of the SKP3. The SKP3 was issued regarding Suharto's suspected corruption in seven foundations by the Attorney General's Office.

In the sentence, the panel of judges legalized SKP3 which was issued on May 11. This sentence annulled the South Jakarta District Court's sentence on June 12 which declared three sides requesting pretrial hearing-Gemas, APHI and KTN-as winner as also stating SKP3 was illegal.

House, government lock horns over state secrecy bill

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The government and the House of Representatives once again engaged in heated debate Tuesday over whether to deliberate a bill on state secrecy.

A number of lawmakers, already frustrated by what they considered the government's procrastination in deliberating a House- sponsored freedom of information bill, rejected the idea of discussing the government's bill.

"We demand that the discussions on the freedom of information bill be completed first," lawmaker Andreas Pareira of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said. That bill is now under deliberation by the House.

He added that stipulations concerning state secrecy issues could be incorporated into the freedom of information bill. "That way, we don't need a new law on state secrecy," Andreas said in a hearing with Communications and Information Minister Sofyan Djalil.

Andreas said he suspected there had been efforts to kill off the discussions on the freedom of information bill to make way for the state secrecy bill. Andreas and other members of House Commission I on defense and foreign affairs were dismayed by what they considered the government's effort to stall the freedom of information bill.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told a hearing with Commission I on Monday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had decided to appoint Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin as the government's representative in the deliberation of the state secrecy bill.

Fellow lawmaker Dedy Djamaluddin Malik of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said the freedom of information bill, once put into effect, should serve as an umbrella regulation. "The freedom of information bill already carries provisions about what can be considered a state secret," Dedy told reporters. Even if the state secrecy bill is eventually discussed, it should be done after the freedom of information bill is passed into law, Dedy said.

Provisions in the freedom of information bill guarantee public access to government information. The state secrecy bill aims to keep such materials out of public reach. The state secrecy bill, for instance, defines confidential information as anything that could jeopardize the state's sovereignty or safety if it fell into the wrong hands.

That includes information on defense, international relations, law enforcement, the national economy, the state coding system, intelligence and vital assets.

The government has said it wants the bills to proceed in tandem. "It would be better if we can deliberate them simultaneously so that once they are endorsed, both can be implemented concurrently," Sofyan told reporters after the Tuesday hearing.

Sofyan downplayed criticism that the government had dragged its feet in discussing the freedom of information bill. "I am also upset by the slow pace of this bill's deliberation. But I am sure that the discussion will wrap up in time," he said.

Police deny torturing executed Poso convict

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

Yemris Fointuna, Maumere – The National Police denied Tuesday accusations that one of three Catholic convicts, Dominggus da Silva, was tortured before being executed last week.

The family of da Silva, who was executed for inciting violence against Muslims in Central Sulawesi in 2000, insisted that his body be exhumed for a second time to check for evidence of torture.

Da Silva's adoptive father Anselmus da Silva said that the autopsy report would be used by the family and his lawyers to file a lawsuit over the execution with the International Court of Justice.

"We're convinced that the execution was not done in accordance with procedures, which explains why the executors buried the body immediately without informing his family members," Anselmus said.

However, the International Court of Justice does not accept reports and complaints from individuals.

However, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko said that the family's remarks were made based on information from people claiming to have seen the body, who told them that it appeared to have four bullet wounds, a stab wound and some bruises and broken bones.

Da Silva was originally buried in Palu, Central Sulawesi, where the three convicts were executed, before his body was exhumed by his lawyers and church members. The body was bathed, a wake was held at the local Catholic Church and the body was then sent back to da Silva's hometown in Maumere, West Nusa Tenggara, for a proper burial.

"The execution was conducted in line with technical instructions from the National Police Headquarters," Purwoko said as quoted by Detikcom online news agency. He said that there were a dozen shooters for each of the three condemned men, half of whom were given blanks without their knowledge.

Anselmus said that the decision to exhume da Silva's body had been made in consultation with da Silva's lawyer Roy Rening and Petrus Salestinus. "The two lawyers have given their approval for exhuming the body," he said.

The autopsy was originally scheduled to be held upon the arrival of the da Silva's body in Maumere on Sunday, but was not conducted due to a number of considerations, Anselmus said. He further said that before exhuming the body, his family would sent a letter to Sikka Police for the sake of security.

Indications of torture were reportedly found on the bodies of the two other executed convicts. Rening said that there were five bullet wounds on the bodies of both Fabianus Tibo and Marinus Riwu. "An autopsy had been conducted on the bodies of both da Silva and Riwu," Rening said without commenting on the plan of da Silva's family to exhume the body again for another autopsy.

Palu Police reported that an autopsy had already been conducted before da Silva was buried in Palu, however, the family say it was conducted without their knowledge.

Rening said that in line with a 1964 law on executions, the firing squad was only allowed to fire one shot at the heart.

"If the first shot is done and an examination shows that the convict is still alive, the firing squad will be allowed to aim their rifle at the head above the ear. "The fact is that the executed trio were shot several times," Rening said.

Students protest defamation trial

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Jakarta – Dozens of students protested at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday, demanding the release of a fellow student being tried for defaming President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The students, coming from various universities, attempted to enter the court but were blocked by police. The protesters then gathered in front of the building to hear speeches, causing serious traffic congestion along Jl. Ampera.

"Our friend is not being tried as a criminal. This is a political trial. Security therefore must not treat us like criminals," said one of the protest leaders, Borang. He added that he would negotiate with the police to allow representatives of the students to enter the court.

Antara reported that Fakhrur Rahman was detained shortly after taking part in a demonstration on June 21 at National University in South Jakarta.

During a speech at the demonstration, Fakhrur allegedly said President Yudhoyono was helping former president Soeharto avoid trial on corruption charges.

Defamation law faces challenge

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Jakarta – A political activist arrested for defaming President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono filed a request Monday for the Constitutional Court to review the defamation article of the Criminal Code.

Pandapotan Lubis, accompanied by a man who was held as a political prisoner during the Soeharto regime, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, argued that the article violated his right to freedom of expression was violated.

Pandapotan is being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court for allegedly defaming the president at a rally at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in May.

"The article is unclear since only those in power have the authority to define defamation," Pandapotan's lawyer, Irma Hattu, said.

Sri Bintang, who served 34 months in prison for defaming former president Soeharto in 1995, said he would testify at the trial.

Munir's family sues Garuda Airlines for 13 billion rupiah

Tempo Interactive - September 26, 2006

Tito Sianipar, Jakarta – Munir's widow, Suciwati, has filed a lawsuit against PT Garuda Indonesia Airlines for 13 billion rupiah. The civil lawsuit was heard at the Central Jakarta District Court yesterday.

One of Suciwati's lawyers, Asvinawati, said that the lawsuit was filed because of Garuda's lack of professionalism which resulted in Munir's death aboard a Jakarta-Singapore-Amsterdam flight on September 6-7, 2004. "A lack of professionalism causing the death of a passenger is a fatal error", said Asvinawati at the Central Jakarta State Court on Monday September 25 (Asvinawati is also the director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundations).

Suciwati is suing Garuda for 4 billion rupiah in material damages calculated from Munir's potential earnings until retirement, the cost for Munir's planed and paid for study at Utrecht University in Holland and the cost of his burial. Suciwati is also suing Garuda for non-material damages amounting to 9,000,700,400 rupiah, a figure taken from the flight number of Munir's flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands, GA-974.

Suciwati said that the lawsuit was filed in order increase public awareness. "As consumers we must be respected by companies", she said. Suciwati also reminded the public that Garuda is a state- owned enterprise that receives funds from the state budget. "We as members of the public pay for Garuda, but (Garuda) does not provide a good service. Moreover it continues to make losses", she said. Added to this is the fact that Munir's murder took place aboard a Garuda flight.

Suciwati is suing 10 parties that are being held to be involved in or liable for Munir's death: the Garuda Airlines management; former Garuda executive director Indra Setiawan; the vice president for corporate security Ramelgia Anwar; flight operations support officer Rohainil Aini; pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto (who has already been jailed for 14 for the murder) and five cabin crew members – Yuti Susmiati, Oedi Irianto, Brahmanie Hastawati, Pantun Matondang and Madjij Radjab Nasution.

The defendants are considered to have broken the law by failing to fulfil their responsibilities to guarantee the safety of passengers and for providing an unprofessional service. Suciwati is also submitting the legal fact that following Munir's murder, Garuda actually covered up evidence and failed to provide prompt and correct information. The transfer of Munir from an economy class seat to a business class seat is also considered to be negligence on Garuda's part.

The panel of judges presided over by Andriani Nurdin postponed the hearing in order for Suciwati's lawyers resolve some technical issues with the suit. Garuda's attorneys meanwhile has been asked to fulfil the requirements to act as power of attorney for the 10 defendants. "The hearing will be continued in two weeks", said Judge Nurdin.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Mourners pray for executed Poso three

Jakarta Post - September 24, 2006

Jakarta – Hundreds of mourners in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu prayed Saturday for three Catholic men executed the day earlier for leading a Christian militia that killed Muslims.

Some 500 mourners prayed at the Santa Maria Catholic church during a morning mass in Palu, Agence France-Presse reported.

The execution of the three by firing squad, despite appeals for clemency and criticism from human rights groups, triggered a violent reaction Friday, with large mobs vandalising government buildings and police posts in Maumere, Flores, and storming a local jail, in Atambua, West Timor.

In the town of Maumere on the mainly-Christian island, the situation was calmer on Saturday afternoon although most shops and businesses were still closed. Sikka Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Endang Syafrudin said police had not anticipated Friday's violent reaction to the executions.

A large, angry mob of about 1,000 people had burned down the Maumere District Court and ransacked the local prosecutors' office and legislative council buildings, he said. "The mobs suddenly rushed there and ended up burning the buildings. This is far beyond what we expected," Endang told The Jakarta Post.

A requiem mass was held Saturday for two of the executed men, Fabianus Tibo and Marianus Riwu, in Beteleme, Central Sulawesi, where their bodies were lying in state at a small Catholic church.

The two, together with Dominggus da Silva, were executed early Friday for masterminding some of the deadly unrest that rocked the province in 2000 and 2001, including a machete and gun assault on an Islamic school that left at least 70 people dead. Muslim groups put the death toll at 191.

The attack on the school was one of the most brutal incidents during the sectarian violence that swept central Sulawesi province from 1998 to 2002, killing at least 1,000 people from both faiths.

Roy Rening, a lawyer for the men, told the Associated Press that the Beteleme mass was presided over by family priest Jimmy Tumbelaka from Palu. Tumbelaka said the bodies of Tibo and Riwu would be buried at two separate cemeteries in Beteleme on Sunday.

A representative for the families of the three men, M. Adu, told detik.com the families had evidence the government had been in violation of human rights when it executed the men.

The authorities had not allowed the men to be given their last rites by the Catholic Church, he said. A request for a funeral procession for Dominggus and Marinus in Flores was also turned down. Police had worried that a funeral procession would spark rioting in the area. "This was not an execution but a slaughter. Our culture requires that our brothers be buried in accordance to our custom and religion," Adu said.

Rening said he was making arrangements to bring Dominggus' body back to his hometown of Maumere. Police and prosecutors had initially denied the convict's request. The body was set to leave Palu on a plane at 7:15 a.m. Sunday, he said.

Saturday also saw the East Nusa Tenggara regency of Sikka send two people representing the administration and Dominggus' family to take his body home for burial. Sikka Regent Aleks Longginus said the representatives were scheduled to fly to Palu on Saturday afternoon to lobby Palu Catholic church leaders and other institutions to let him be buried there.

"The representatives are being sent mainly to respond to Dominggus' request before the execution that he be buried in Maumere," Longginus said.

The East Indonesia People's Solidarity group said Saturday in Jakarta that it would report the executions of the three to the International Court of Justice.

Meanwhile, the East Nusa Tenggara Police said they were hunting rioters involved in Friday's destruction of government buildings in Atambua and Maumere.

Officers of a special detachment have been deployed to Atambua and Maumere to search for the perpetrators, police said. "One of our duties is to capture the rioters," East Nusa Tenggara Police spokesman Comr. Marthen Radja said in Kupang on Saturday.

The officers would help local police locate those behind the riot and hunt down the escaped prisoners in Atambua, Marthen said.

[Yemris Fointuna contributed to this story from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.]

Labour issues

Ex employees ask retirement fees

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2006

Jakarta – Dozens of former employees of Hotel Indonesia, otherwise known as Inna Wisata, staged a protest in front of the hotel management's office on Jl. Buncit Raya, South Jakarta, demanding immediate payment of an overdue retirement fund.

The protesters alleged the Rp 3,722 billion fund was misused by the management. Representatives of the protesters were met by directors and were engaged in a heated argument.

No agreement was made after the meeting as protesters threatened to seek legal assistance to get the money they claimed was owed to them.

Sujono said the management should have paid the retirement funds in March this year. "They (the management) keep buying time to avoid fulfilling their obligation," he said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.

The management's industrial relations officer, Muchamad Nasir, said the company had fulfilled its obligations and the retirement fund for the former employees had already been disbursed.

When pressed by protesters to show the bank transfer slips, Nasir said it would take time to collect them. "We didn't know that you (protesters) would come here today," he said.

Unionists say employers ignore, abuse social security programs

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

Jakarta – Major labor organizations are protesting what they call rampant violations of the law on social security programs by employers, as well as alleged dismissals of unionists for protecting workers.

The complaints were filed with Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno, said the chairman of the Indonesian Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), Bambang Wirahyoso, on Tuesday.

Bambang said many ICTU unionists in Bandung, West Java, and Tangerang, Banten, had been dismissed for fighting for labor protections in their workplaces. He added that many have brought their cases to labor courts in the two provinces, accusing the managements of taking unilateral action by demoting or dismissing them for unclear reasons.

"Most unionists won their cases but many of them had to quit their jobs because of disharmonious industrial relations in their workplace," Bambang said after signing a memorandum of understanding with state-owned labor insurance firm PT Jamsostek.

He pointed out that in implementing the social security law, many employers did not register all their workers with Jamsostek or reported only part of their workers' salaries in an attempt to reduce the amount the companies had to pay into the programs.

"Both Jamsostek and the government have frequently detected such violations but they appear reluctant to enforce the law. Meanwhile most labor inspectors in the field turn a blind eye to the infractions after taking bribes from the employers," he said.

The 1992 law requires companies employing 10 people or more to register them with Jamsostek. Workers and their employers pay 11 percent to 13.7 percent of their gross monthly salaries as premiums in the healthcare, death aid, occupational accidental benefit and pension benefit programs.

The deputy chairman of the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI), Syukur Sarto, said only 30 percent of the workers employed in the formal sector were registered with the social security programs.

The KSPSI had to suspend its cooperation with Jamsostek in registering all of its members with the company because of difficulties gaining access to all of its unionists in the field, he added.

Data released in June by Jamsostek shows that of 24 million workers registered with Jamsostek, only 7.6 million are active, and it is believed most them have had only part of their salaries reported.

Rekson Silaban, who chairs the Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI), said his organization also suspended the memorandum of understanding it signed with Jamsostek in July because of technical hurdles in the field.

"We also understand most employers are facing economic difficulties, making them unable to contribute to the social security programs," he said.

The secretary-general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) said most small- and medium-sized companies are facing economic hurdles to participating in the social security programs because of the prolonged fiscal crisis.

"Many labor-intensive companies have stopped operations or 'rationalized' their staffs due to the ailing global market. Now, we are striving to survive. It would be unwise for the government to force ailing companies to register their workers with Jamsostek," he said.

Manpower minister Erman Suparno said law enforcement was one of several high-priority issues in the government's plan to reform the social security programs. "Workers need protection and job security but ailing companies cannot be forced to take part in the social security programs amid the continued economic crisis," he said.

Jamsostek transfers union leaders out of Jakarta

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The management of state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek has transferred two leaders of the Jamsostek Workers Union (SPJ) to far-flung branch offices as an internal battle rages on.

SPJ chairman Abdul Latief has been reassigned to Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, while secretary-general Rizak Rangkuti has been transferred to Belawan, North Sumatra.

Both Latief and Rizak confirmed their new assignments and called the action "without reason and unacceptable". "I reject the decision. I'm requesting an unpaid annual leave to lead the labor movement until the government reforms Jamsostek and fires the president director," said Latief.

He told The Jakarta Post on Monday that Jamsostek management was also taking punitive actions against another eight senior officials who have supported efforts to have the company's top executive dismissed for alleged corruption.

Rizak, 54, will reach his mandatory retirement age next year. He insisted he had not committed any major offenses.

Both unionists believe their transfers are connected with their role in the union's no-confidence motion against president director Iwan P. Pontjowinoto in July.

The workers' union demanded the government fire Iwan, whom they accused of abusing his power in order to enrich himself and his cronies as well as mismanaging company assets worth Rp 33 trillion (about US$3.6 billion).

Iwan declined to comment on the action he had taken against Rizak and Latief, saying it was an internal affair. He also said the friction between management and employees was not discussed during a company conference in Bali last week.

The removal of the unionists met opposition from an expert staffer, Basani Situmorang. He sent a letter to the management warning that the action was illegal and could be punished by a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of Rp 500 million.

Basani, who is also a former chief of the legal bureau at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, said the management should reverse the decision and trust the government, as the main shareholder, to resolve the dispute.

State Minister for State Enterprises Sugiharto has been reluctant to respond to the union's actions, which have gained full support from the House of Representatives, for fear they could set a bad precedent for other state-owned companies.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno has called for a total reform of the social security programs. He wants the company to be turned into a trust fund so that government would not have power over its internal affairs, including the appointment of the board of directors.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has also criticized the company, saying the management has signed agreements to improve the social welfare of workers but has followed through on very few of them.

War on corruption

Human rights defender claims his rights have been violated

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2006

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – A member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), Achmad Ali, claims the South Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office has wrongly named him as a suspect in a graft case without questioning him.

Achmad, a law professor at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi, explained his view of the legal conflict to Komnas HAM leadership Wednesday.

Achmad, who is also a member of the Commission for Truth and Friendship, said the attorneys had trampled on his right to equal treatment before the law. "I come here as citizen whose rights have been violated," he told journalists after meeting with Komnas HAM leadership.

South Sulawesi Prosecutors's Office head Masyhudi Ridwan named Achmad a suspect in a Rp 250 million (US$27,000) graft case on Sept. 2, while he was taking a recruitment test for the position of Supreme Court justice in Jakarta. "I'm not saying that the decision is politically motivated, but it was made while I was taking a test as a candidate for justice," Achmad said.

He was accused of misappropriating state revenue from the university's postgraduate program while acting as dean of the law school from 1999 to 2001. He was also accused of embezzling tuition fees. Achmad said he had never been questioned over the case. "I was suddenly named a suspect," he said.

He also maintained that he was not in charge of the management of the university's master's degree program. "Neither was I ever involved in the decision-making about the postgraduate program."

Achmad's report was received by Komnas HAM member Said Nizar, the deputy head of the commission's division on civil and political rights violations.

Meanwhile, Judicial Commission member Irawady said the body had no plans to take action against Achmad for his legal status. "There is no regulation banning a criminal from applying for a position as a Supreme Court justice," he said.

He said the Judicial Commission would let the authorities continue the probe into Achmad's case, while the recruitment process went on. "If he is found guilty, we will retract our support for his justice candidacy," he said.

Outside the Komnas-HAM offices, the Alliance of Makassar Students staged a rally in support of Achmad, whom they described as a "clean intellectual".

They accused the South Sulawesi Prosecutors' Office of being paid to tarnish Achmad's image. They demanded that the rights commission and the National Police investigate Masyhudi, whom they alleged of practicing "character assassination" against Achmad. "The naming of Professor Achmad Ali as a suspect in the graft case is politically motivated," a student protester said.

Showdown brewing between House, AGO

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2006

Jakarta – A new showdown is brewing between the House of Representatives and the Attorney General's Office, this time over the decision to charge a human rights campaigner with graft.

The South Sulawesi prosecutor's office has declared Achmad Ali, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, as a suspect in a Rp 250 million (US$27,000) graft case.

Deputy chairman of House Commission III on law and internal security Azis Syamsuddin said the commission would summon Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh to explain the situation.

"We take this case seriously as it concerns the country's top law-enforcement authority, which has made an arbitrary decision against one of the country's top legal experts," Azis, a member of the Golkar Party, told a press briefing Thursday after receiving a complaint from Achmad.

The House and Abdul Rahman locked horns earlier this month over the latter's decision to dismiss Jakarta Prosecutor's Office head Rusdi Taher.

Achmad met with a number of lawmakers to complain about the graft case. "My presence here is just to convey the message that if a legal expert like me can be treated in this way, what about the little people?" he said.

The law professor at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi, was named a suspect by South Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office head Masyhudi Ridwan on Sept. 2, while he was taking a recruitment test in Jakarta for the position of Supreme Court justice.

He is accused of misappropriating state revenue from the university's postgraduate program while he was acting as dean of the law school from 1999 to 2001. He is also accused of embezzling tuition fees.

Achmad, who is also a member of the Commission for Truth and Friendship, was named a suspect without ever being questioned about the case. He has maintained his innocence, arguing that he was not in charge of the university program in question.

The rights campaigner said the corruption allegation was an insult to his intelligence. "I was insulted twice. First I was accused of being involved in a graft case; second I was accused of misappropriating only Rp 250 million. It's too little money – it will barely be enough to pay my lawyers," Achmad said.

Achmad was once touted as a candidate for attorney general himself. A number of lawmakers said the graft case may be politically motivated.

"We suspect that the South Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office is desperately building a weak case against him to deal a blow to his candidacy as a Supreme Court justice," said lawmaker Arbab Papruka of the National Awakening Party.

Agencies join forces against graft

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Three state agencies charged with combating corruption and money laundering signed agreements Monday to improve their coordination in the fight against white- collar crime.

The agreements between the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) principally envisage increased information and personnel exchanges, and joint education, training and research programs.

"These agreements will be put into effect so as to create synergies between these state agencies. This is essential given that each agency has its own unique powers and capabilities," BPK director Anwar Nasution said before the signing of the MoUs.

He said the BPK only had the power to audit state funds and that, unlike other institutions such as the police and the KPK, the agency could not conduct investigations.

In his speech, KPK director Taufiequrrahman Ruki expressed a similar view about the importance of combining forces. "Corruption and money laundering are transnational crimes that have to be handled cooperatively given that they involve not only local agencies but also overseas ones."

While the BPK, KPK and the PPATK had worked together on numerous occasions in the past, Ruki expressed the hope that the latest agreements would ensure deeper and better collaboration between the three agencies.

PPATK director Yunus Hussein said that full interagency cooperation was the key to solving complex crimes such as money laundering.

"I remember my visit to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in America. There is a statement hung up on the wall there saying 'the most effective way to combat crime is cooperation'." He said that the PPATK had been conducting its operations in collaboration with 11 other government agencies, mostly helping them with their inquiries into cases involving financial transactions.

Since its establishment in 2002, the PPATK uncovered two million suspicious crossborder transactions, he added. "So far, we have submitted 400 of these cases to prosecutors, with only six acquittals thus far. We have employed other regulations in dealing with the remaining cases," Yunus said.

When asked about the current status of alleged cases of Indonesian money laundering overseas, including in Singapore, Yunus said that some progress had been achieved and that Singapore was becoming more cooperative.

"We have seen some changes in the policy of the Singaporean government. Unlike in previous years, they are now more willing to respond to our inquiries." Singapore is considered by many in Indonesia as a safe haven for white-collar criminals due to its perceived unwillingness to provide information on capital inflow and outflow.

Minister admits graft in school aid

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo admitted Monday that irregularities occurred in the disbursement of this year's operational support fund for schools due to poor student registration and monitoring systems in some regions.

During a hearing Monday with House Commission X on education and health, Bambang said that the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) had found cases in which the numbers of students were inflated, or funds went to nonexistent schools or school development programs, in all of the 33 provinces.

"We will improve the supervision systems in the future," he said as quoted by detik.com news portal, adding that he would punish or dismiss principals and education officials involved in irregularities.

Long before the BPKP findings, House members and nongovernmental organizations reported irregularities and alleged corruption in the distribution of the funds. Some of the reports said principals used a portion of the funding to bribe local education officials to file good reports about them, rather than for school programs.

Bambang said the alleged irregularities served as a lesson for the government and schools in distributing the funds in the first years of the program.

"This is a huge country. We need to learn the process better," he said. "Principals are still learning how to manage their own school budgets." Bambang reported to the House that of the Rp 10.3 trillion (US$1.1 billion) earmarked for the school support funds, about 71 percent was already spent.

Environment

Indonesia's mud volcano wreaking havoc

Associated Press - September 28, 2006

Chris Brummitt, Porong – Factories that once produced watches and shoes lie under a sea of thick, stinking mud. Villagers stand on hastily constructed dams and gaze at the thousands of homes swallowed by brown sludge.

Four months ago, a torrent of hot mud from deep beneath the surface of Indonesia's seismically charged Java island began surging from a natural gas exploration site following a drilling accident.

The "mud volcano" pours out some 165,000 cubic yards of mud every day – enough to cover a football field about 75 feet deep. Often spewing out in geyser-like eruptions, the mud has left some 665 acres swamped or abandoned as unsafe, forcing more than 10,000 people from their homes.

Experts say the mud volcano is one of the largest ever recorded on land. Geologists fear the technology may not exist to stop the eruption, saying mud could flow for years or even centuries – or stop on its own at any time.

The mud is believed to come from a reservoir 3 1/2 miles below the surface that has been pressurized by shifts in the crust or by the accumulation of hydrocarbon gases.

The calamity has underscored the patchy safety record of mining companies exploiting the natural resources of this Southeast Asian nation made up of thousands of islands.

Police seized the drilling rig involved in the accident and are investigating whether to bring criminal charges against the principal well owner, PT Lapindo Brantas.

Lapindo, which is linked to the wealthy family of Indonesia's welfare minister, is paying for an ever expanding network of earthen dams to contain the mud, but many people fear the resulting slimy ponds will overflow during the approaching rainy season.

"The volume of mud that is coming out of the hole is not just large, it's enormous," Earl Hunt Jr., an engineer from Woodward, Okla., said while supervising dredging operations. "We are running out of room up here, period," he said. "If they don't pump it to sea or something soon, then there will be more villages lost."

The government recently gave permission to dump the mud into the sea via a local river. But experts question whether that will get rid of the sludge faster than it gushes from the hole, and environmentalists are opposing the plan as a threat to the marine ecosystem.

The mud, which stands as deep as 16 feet in places, has submerged or washed into houses in four villages. At least 20 factories and many acres of rice fields and prawn farms have been destroyed.

The sludge has repeatedly washed over a major road, closing it for weeks at a time, and now it is threatening a rail line in the industrial area just outside Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city.

The mud, which is not toxic, first appeared several days after a blowout deep in Lapindo's well shaft May 29. Police claim the company mishandled the accident by failing to cap the hole properly, allowing the mud to surge to the surface from several cracks close to the well.

Independent analysts also have said the company's activities were a factor in the torrent. "This is a natural disaster induced by drilling activity," said Andang Bactiar, a consultant for the oil and gas industry who is working with authorities investigating the case. "Somehow, or somewhere, several mistakes occurred that caused the mud to come from the hole."

The company declined to give its version of what happened or the steps it took to stem the mud, citing possible legal liability. But spokeswoman Yuniwati Teryana said drilling activity had not been proven to be linked to the eruption.

The well is 50 percent owned by Lapindo. Another Indonesian firm, PT Medco E&P Brantas, has a 32 percent stake and Santos Ltd. of Australia holds the remaining 18 percent.

Lapindo has made emergency payments to those who have lost homes and promises to compensate their losses.

But in a country where mistrust of government runs high after decades of dictatorship that ended only in 1998, many people fear the company will try to dodge its responsibilities. The involvement of Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie's family in Lapindo has only added to worries.

"We are just poor people, our rights will be torn up as usual," one resident, Sukararji, said as he stood on a dam gazing at mud that reaches the second-floor windows of his house. "We are being stepped on like ants."

After two unsuccessful attempts to stop the flow, Lapindo is digging three shafts alongside the hole, hoping to kill the eruption by pumping in concrete.

Experts are skeptical that will work. "If they manage to stop it, it will be the first time in the world that it has been done," said geologist Arif Munsyawar.

Shrimp farmers fear all lost from dumping

Jakarta Post - September 29, 2006

ID Nugroho, Sidoarjo – Shrimp pond owners are resigned to losing their livelihood from the government's plan to directly dump hot mudflow into a local river from the gas exploration well disaster in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java.

Farmers from Jabon district fear dumping of the mud without treatment to remove any toxic materials will decimate their shrimp stocks.

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto has said that the work would begin in a matter of days, with mud directed to Porong River using pumps, and the river current then carrying the mud to the sea.

Since the hot, foul-smelling mud began spewing from the gas exploration site operated by Lapindo Brantas Inc. on May 29, more than 10,000 people from nine villages in two districts have been displaced from their homes. It has inundated 450 hectares, 18 schools and 20 factories.

Shrimp farmer Muchtar said his colleagues felt trapped in a hopeless situation. "If President SBY himself has also agreed to the plan, who else dares to defend shrimp pond workers?" Muchtar said, referring to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who approved the plan Wednesday.

Local shrimp pond workers say the effects of the mudflow have already been felt on the 7,000 hectares of ponds in Sidoarjo. "Even before the dumping, seeping water from the mudflow area had caused the shrimps and fish in the ponds to die. The condition will surely worsen if the mud is dumped directly," Muchtar said.

He predicted the dumping would put an end to fish and shrimp farming in Sidoarjo, with losses amounting to trillions of rupiah because the rental of each pond costs from Rp 90 million (US$9,473) to Rp 150 million annually.

It does not include the costs for breeding which reached hundreds of million of rupiah per annum, he said. "Who will compensate all of that, Lapindo or the government?"

The National Mudflow Mitigation team has transported three mud pump units from Batam in Riau Islands province and Jakarta in order to enable it to start dumping the mud on Oct. 5. The pumps have a combined capacity to move 25,000 cubic meters of mud per day.

Based on research by the Marine Geological Research and Development Center, officials claim the dumping of the mud into Porong River is a feasible solution because the flow of the riverwater is much greater than the volume of mud.

But as well as the huge material losses from the swamping of homes, factories and a section of turnpike, there is the human toll. Consternation has greeted a proposal to move some of the displaced people to outer islands, like the Riau Islands or Kalimantan.

"The displaced people will surely oppose the idea because it could be interpreted as driving them away as transmigrants," said Ahmad Novi, a resident of inundated Jatirejo village, who is staying at Porong market. "What will we do there, and how about the side businesses that we have developed?"

Muhammad Saiful Aris, director of the Surabaya chapter of the Legal Aid Institute, said that the government's plan to relocate them could be revoked if the local people filed a legal injunction.

However, it may be difficult because of the people's lack of means and awareness of taking legal action, Aris said. "The people are usually put in a losing position, but if they want to, they can do it (file suit)," he said.

Activists bring mud to welfare minister

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2006

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Environmental activists poured some 700 kilograms of toxic mud outside the office of welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie on Wednesday to protest the government's handling of the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster.

The mud was brought from Sidoarjo, East Java, where sludge has been gushing since May 29 from a gas drilling site owned by Lapindo Brantas Inc., which is linked to Aburizal's family. Protesters from Greenpeace Southeast Asia demanded that Lapindo take full responsibility for the disaster.

"It is utterly shameless for the minister to distance himself from the disaster when his corporate group owns the controlling shares in this operation," Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Emmy Hafild said at the rally.

The activists staged a silent protest, holding posters that read "Stop your mud Mr. Bakrie or your mud will stop you!"

Police arrived at the scene but did not prevent the protesters from pouring the blackish-gray mud at the gate of Aburizal's office. No-one from the welfare ministry came out to talk with the activists.

Greenpeace said it could not offer any solutions to the mudflow problem, but said the handling of the disaster should focus on evacuating residents from nearby areas. "We can't do anything about it. We're not experts," Emmy said.

Greenpeace said it did not oppose the government's plan to dump muddy water into the sea and the Porong river, despite fears that this would pollute the ocean. The environmental group said dumping untreated mud and water into the aquatic environment is "a regrettable outcome arising from a very desperate situation".

Emmy argued that the social problems arising from the tragedy were more urgent than the environmental damage. Others felt the mudflow itself should be the top priority. "All attempts now must be focused on how to stop the mud," said Nur Hidayati, another Greenpeace activist.

Emmy said the government should force the Aburizal family or Lapindo to pay all the costs for evacuation, compensation, containment and rehabilitation associated with the disaster.

"Taxpayers' money must not be used to deal with the disaster, which was caused by one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Indonesia," she said. "We demand corporate responsibility."

Aburizal, who is one of the country's wealthiest businessmen, has been quoted as saying the mudflow was not his responsibility. Lapindo, in which the Bakrie Group has a controlling stake, has made payments to those left homeless by the disaster and is building an ever-expanding network of dams in an effort to contain the mud.

Mudflow declared disaster zone

Jakarta Post - September 28, 2006

Jakarta/Sidoarjo – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday declared areas swamped by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, a disaster zone and ordered some 3,000 affected families to be permanently relocated.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting in Jakarta, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said the President had declared some 400 hectares affected by the mud, which has been gushing out of a Lapindo Brantas Inc. gas exploration site since May 29, as no longer fit for human habitation.

"That's why residents in the area have to be relocated," Djoko was quoted by Antara as saying after Yudhoyono met with the government team appointed to deal with the mudflow. He said Yudhoyono had ordered 2,983 affected families to be relocated. The President also ordered they be provided with jobs as well as financial compensation.

The minister said land in West Porong district was being prepared by the Sidoarjo regency administration for the affected families, but Djoko said "there is still a chance to find other locations if it better suits residents".

He said the President also told officials to continue their efforts to stop the mudflow. Responding to a plan to dump the mud into sea, the minister said work would begin in days. He said the mud would be directed to Porong River using pumps, and the river would then carry to the mud to the sea.

Since the toxic mud began spewing from a gas exploration well operated by Lapindo, which is indirectly owned by the family of Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, more than 10,000 people from seven villages in two districts have been forced from their homes.

Experts say it is impossible to predict when the mudflow might stop. "About Rp 1.5 trillion (US$164 million) will have to be spent by Lapindo for the installation of pumps and the construction of dikes," Basuki Hadimuljono, who heads the government-appointed disaster management team, was quoted by AFP.

He said some 126,000 cubic meters of mud was oozing from the earth daily. Engineers have been struggling to contain the sludge – which reaches as deep as five meters in some areas – by building a series of dikes.

"The budget will solely be shouldered by the company and no state budget will be used. This amount does not include costs for relocating people and the realignment of the road, train tracks and pipes," Basuki said.

Minister Djoko said the key Surabaya-Gempol turnpike linking the country's second city of Surabaya to the rest of Java, gas pipes under the road as well as train tracks would have to be shifted as a result of the disaster.

Siti Maimunah, the national coordinator of Jatam, a watchdog of the country's mining industry, said the public needed more information about the risks of shifting the mud into the sea, insisting the government clarify contradictory reports about the toxicity of the mud.

"Stop fooling the public by saying that there is nothing wrong with the mud. The massive volume in itself poses huge risks to the environment and people's health," she told AFP.

In Sidoarjo, some residents have set up huge banners around their villagers demanding the mud be dumped into the sea. "The mud should be dumped to the sea. If it isn't the dikes will break apart during the rainy season and inundate houses," Ishak, a Besuki resident, said Wednesday.

He said residents were not concerned about the potential environmental costs of moving the mud into the sea, saying their lives were at risk. "The media should not listen to Walhi (the Indonesian Forum for the Environment), which says the mud will damage the marine ecosystem. We need to be saved here," he said.

[Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho contribute to the story from East Java.]

Shoot-on-sight order set for 'anarchical' mudflow protests

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – The East Java Police have issued a shoot-on-sight order against anybody trying to disrupt activities of the National Mudflow Mitigation Team at the disaster site in Sidoarjo, East Java.

"The police also will shoot any anarchical demonstrators, whose actions could lead to the destruction of state facilities, both at Banjar Panji-1 well or other locations throughout East Java," Greater Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Anang Iskandar said Tuesday.

With displaced local residents increasingly frustrated at the handling of the problem in Porong and other areas, Anang said the shoot-on-sight order was issued as a police procedure to safeguard public and state facilities. He added it was not to protect the interests of Lapindo Brantas Inc., which owns the exploration site.

"All of you already know the police will act against any acts of anarchy, right. Now the mass situation in Porong is very unstable. But we have to beware and continuously be on the alert."

Since the start of the steaming mudflow about 150 meters from the Banjar-1 well at Siring village, Anang said, the police had stationed up to 1,089 officers to safeguard the area.

Meanwhile, dozens of mudflow victims from three villages in Ngoro district – Kunjoro Wesi, Wates Ngoro and Munduro – again staged a rally in front of the Mojokerto Legislative Council building Tuesday to express their opposition against the dumping of hot mud in their areas.

Sulamin, the coordinator of the rally, said they were adamantly opposed to the measure because it would overflow during the rainy season and could inundate their villages, as has happened with residences near the site of the disaster.

He noted that embankments built to contain the mudflow have broken nine times thus far, inundating nearby locations. "We will organize much bigger rallies to oppose the dumping activities. We're ready for a potential conflict with anybody because the mud threatens our villages."

Dumping of the mud at Ngoro village has reportedly been approved by the national mitigation team and the East Java provincial administration. East Java Governor Imam Utomo has asked for permission for the disposal from the Mojokerto regent, who has not responded to the request.

Several residents have agreed to the dumping because they said the mud could be utilized as a basic material for the production of earthenware handicrafts and roof tiles.

Rudi Novrianto, spokesman for the national team, had not commented Tuesday about dangers posed by Monday's rupture in the mudflow embankment at Siring village, which injured six people.

Four of the injured, identified as Didik, Isbianto, Agus and Ismael, have been allowed to leave the hospital after getting medical treatment, while Effendy and Syahroni remain at Sidoarjo General Hospital. They all sustained burns.

The embankment's collapse has also inundated the Surabaya-Gempol turnpike and threatened the nearby railway tracks. "We are still declaring the situation in Porong to be an emergency," Rudi said.

Several experts have said the mudflow could have been triggered by a crack about 6,000 feet (1,800 meters) deep in the Banjar Panji well. However, a group of international scientists said this week the mudflow might be a natural phenomenon that could be impossible to stop.

Company must take blame for leak: Walhi

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

Khairul Saleh, Palembang – An ammonia gas leak Saturday at state fertilizer company PT Pusri in Palembang, South Sumatra, made residents living near the factory sick, an environmental group says.

The community living in the Tiga Hilir subdistrict next to the factory had become nauseous from the potentially fatal gas that began leaking on Saturday, the South Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) said.

Walhi accused PT Pusri of negligence said the company should take responsibility for the incident under the 1997 Environmental Protection Law on industrial pollution.

Campaign division head Dodi Reza said the provincial Environmental Impact Control Agency (Bapedalda) must be proactive in resolving the matter. "Bapedalda should not be afraid to publicly air its findings (on the leak)," Dody said.

Residents said the company had tried to cover up its responsibility for the pollution. "We don't want PT Pusri just to apologize, but to take real measures and pay more attention to the local environment. The little people are always the victims, especially in the event of gas leaks," a local resident, Yani, said Tuesday.

Another resident, Umar, said many villagers felt dizzy and had experienced breathing difficulties when they were performing the tarawih evening prayers (Saturday) because of the smell of ammonia in the mosque. "Some even fainted," he said.

PT Pusri spokesman Jakfar Abdullah acknowledged a gas leak had occurred in the plant's 1B urea factory. He said the problem had been fixed an hour later by suspending the factory's operations.

However, Jakfar claimed the gas was not responsible for residents' ailments because they had suffered from respiratory illnesses before the leak. "Results from medical tests indicate the residents felt nauseous not from ammonia but because they were already sick," Jakfar said.

Dodi said PT Pusri was lying if it denied responsibility for making the villagers sick. He accused the medical staff at the local hospital of colluding with the company and trying to cover up residents' test results.

"Our intention that patients would state they were suffering from breathing difficulties due to exposure to ammonia has failed. The company has said residents were suffering from (other) respiratory illnesses. That isn't true," Dody said.

Agency signals end of road for trees on Jl. Thamrin

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Jakarta – The Jakarta Parks Agency plans to relocate 34 banyan trees and cut down mahogany trees along one of the city's main thoroughfares to make room for an additional fast lane for motorists.

Agency head Sarwo Handayani said the 20-year-old banyan trees along Jl. Thamrin would be temporarily moved to the city's seedling center in Ragunan, South Jakarta, before being replanted in as-yet determined locations.

"Those banyan trees were grown by our agency," Handayani told reporters at City Hall on Monday.

The agency is now in the process of preparing the ground around the banyan trees for their safe removal. "We regularly water the ground," Handayani said.

She said the banyan trees were of the bonsai variety, so the agency would not have to deal with strong and complex root systems.

The city has recently seen a flurry of construction of new lanes for the busway system. As a result of this construction, many trees planted along the roads have been cut down.

Authorities also plan to cut down the mahogany trees near the Mandarin Hotel in Central Jakarta, to make way for the extra fast lane along Jl. Thamrin.

"We cannot remove them, so our solution is to cut them down. However, we will coordinate with the Jakarta Public Works Agency so we cut down the minimum number of trees. In compensation, we will plant mahogany trees every five meters along the pedestrian walk on Thamrin," Handayani said.

She told The Jakarta Post that Governor Sutiyoso had approved the plan but the money for the work had not yet been allocated.

"We will ask building owners to add greenery to their complexes," she said.

Handayani added that a lack of groundwater to water the grass on the median strips and pedestrian areas along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin had caused the grass to dry up.

"We usually use pumps to get the water from the ground, which is then sprayed onto the grass through a sprinkler system. Now we have to get water from dams and recycled water from hotels," she said.

Meanwhile, an official with the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Khalisah Khalid, expressed doubt over the city's handling of the trees affected by lane expansions.

Walhi opposes the construction of the additional fast lane on Jl. Thamrin, which it believes will not resolve the traffic problems.

"I don't think the agency will relocate the banyan trees. Even if they are removed, it won't solve the city's problems. It will only aggravate the problem of the dire need for green areas in the city," Khalisah said Monday.

"The city administration keeps violating its own pollution bylaw, which stipulates that the city must have 13 percent green area by 2010," she said.

Land conversions in several areas of the city have a lot to do with the lack of water for keeping the grass healthy and green, she said.

"The Jakarta administration needs to be more careful and analyze such issues 'from stream to upstream'. They cannot be impartial in handling infrastructure and environmental problems," Khalisah told the Post.

Forest fires down in West Java

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Bandung – Fires in West Java have decimated at least 3,000 hectares of protected forested land during the first nine months of this year, the head of West Java Forestry Office says.

Wawan Ridwan said Monday fires degraded the condition of about 300,000 hectares of vacant, farm or forested land, dropping from 580,000 ha in 2004.

This year's forest fires were detected in 208 spots in several regencies, including Kuningan, Cirebon, Majalengka and Garut, he said. "We have cooperated closely with people and non- governmental organizations here to extinguish the fires because planes used to drop water from the air are not available," Wawan said.

Most of the fires are deliberately set by farmers to cheaply remove old crops, while fires illegally set in forested areas clear new land for farming and settlements.

The land affected by fires this year dropped because of an aggressive campaign against the practice and a regreening program, the office said.

Data at the local Natural Resources Conservation Agency showed the Cikepuh animal sanctuary in Sukabumi was the worst-hit area, with fires affecting more than 2,070 ha in 58 fire spots between April and Sept. 18.

Mount Ciremai National Park was the second-hardest hit area, with fires clearing 900 hectares in 30 spots, the data says.

"New fire spots were also detected at Mount Tilu in Pengalengan near Bandung regency," agency head Sutandi said.

Activists protest intimidation

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2006

Jakarta – Environmental activists are demanding the government do more to end the intimidation and violence against people who report illegal logging.

"Some parties have resorted to terror and intimidation to protect illegal loggers. Activists, forestry officials and journalists are often subject to threats," Environmental Investigation Agency director Dave Currey said last week.

The agency said violence against people who reported on timber theft had worsened during the past 10 years. There have been reports of activists and journalists being kidnapped, attacked or intimidated by thugs hired by loggers.

"Journalist Abi Kusno was left unconscious after being attacked by armed thugs while investigating an alleged illegal timber business in Central Kalimantan," the agency said in a statement.

Walhi appeals over environment trial

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2006

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – The West Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) plans to appeal the Padang District Court's decision refusing to hear its lawsuit against West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi.

Walhi had filed the suit against the governor over his recommendation that forestry company PT Salaki Summa Sejahtera be allowed to operate on Siberut Island.

The panel of judges at the Padang District Court led by Hasan Basri rejected Walhi's lawsuit Thursday, saying the Padang court had no jurisdiction over the case. The court ruled Walhi should take the case to the State Administrative Court.

Alvon Kurnia Palma, the head of the Padang Legal Aid Institute, said Saturday the decision to reject Walhi's lawsuit was wrong.

"The panel of judges should not have rejected our suit. The suit hinged on a statement made by the governor that an integrated team had made a recommendation to the Forestry Minister (Malam Sambat Kaban for the concession) although in reality the team had not made any such recommendation," Alvon said.

What was under question was the governor's actions, not his recommendation, he said. "This means the case should clearly be tried at the Padang District Court," Alvon said.

Walhi would appeal the court's decision within the next 14 days after receiving the notification, Alvon said. "The rejection by the panel of judges was strange because if we did send the lawsuit to the administrative court, it would have clearly be turned down, as the 90-day limit to file the suit has expired," he said.

Walhi filed the lawsuit against the governor after he sent a letter to Kaban on Sept. 5, 2005, recommending he issue a license to PT Salaki Summa.

Health & education

Indonesia probes possible bird flu cluster in family

Reuters - September 27, 2006

Indonesia is investigating a possible cluster of bird flu cases after a man died and his brother and sister were hospitalised, one of them testing positive for bird flu, a doctor said yesterday.

The man, 25, died with bird flu symptoms on Sunday after being treated at a Christian hospital in Bandung, the capital of West Java province, said Hadi Yusuf, head of the bird flu ward at the city's Hasan Sadikin hospital.

The dead man's brother, 20, and sister, 15, were being treated in Hasan Sadikin hospital. Tests by a government laboratory showed the surviving brother had bird flu, Yusuf said.

It was not clear whether samples from the dead brother had been taken for tests when he was treated, the doctor said. "The condition of the (other) brother is not good. He's on a ventilator," Yusuf told Reuters. Results for the girl were expected tomorrow, he said.

The brothers often bought dead chickens to feed their dog, but the girl had no known history of contact with chickens, the doctor said. "If it is true that the youngest did not touch chickens at all, and she had bird flu, we need to suspect she got it from the brothers," he said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 146 of the 249 people confirmed as infected with H5N1 bird flu since 2003 have died. Those infected have come from countries ranging from China to Iraq to Djibouti. Indonesia, with 51 deaths, has the highest toll of any nation.

In Thailand, a 59-year-old man died of bird flu last month, the country's 17th victim of the virus since it swept through much of Asia in late 2003, a senior Health Ministry official said today. The man died on Aug. 10 in a north-eastern province near the Lao border after chickens at his house fell sick and died, the official said.

The virus mainly affects birds but experts fear it could mutate into a strain capable of killing millions of people in a global pandemic. This fear heightened in May when seven people in an extended family died of bird flu in Indonesia's North Sumatra province.

Government to send street kids to school

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

Jakarta – The government is initiating a program to send some 800,000 street children to school. Their parents, if they also live on the street, will be trained for work abroad or in other areas of the country.

The program will be jointly conducted by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno and Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah.

Erman said children living on the streets would sent to pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) and open high schools at the government's expense, while adults would be trained to join labor export training programs or resettlement programs.

"This is a new program that will start in January with the hope that there will be no more beggars and street singers at the traffic lights and in public buses in major cities," Erman told The Jakarta Post here over the weekend. He said the government had allocated Rp 59 trillion (about US$6.4 billion) this year for effort.

He explained that street children aged seven to 18 would be sent to pesantren for elementary and secondary education before attending vocational programs at government-run training centers.

"They will receive monthly cash aid to meet their daily needs while they study at the pesantren or open schools. After completing high school, they will undergo vocational training to ready them to work overseas or join the resettlement program," he said.

Erman said street singers who had already graduated from high school would be trained for overseas employment, and couples living on the streets would join the transmigration program.

"Working abroad, they are expected to earn at least Rp 1.5 million to Rp 2 million a month. Those joining the transmigration program will be resettled on sparsely inhabited islands across the archipelago," he said. He added that many impoverished parents have forced their children to beg on the streets to survive.

Marudin Simanihuruk, the director general for labor inspection at the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, said he was still building a complete database on street children and street singers in major cities as well as on Islamic schools willing to participate. "This program is part of the national movement to eliminate child labor and alleviate poverty," he said.

Tangerang cut budget for family planning

Jakarta Post - September 25, 2006

Tangerang – Criticizing the poor performance of its civil administration and family planning agency, the Tangerang Municipal Council decided last week to cut the budget allocated for the provision of contraceptives.

"The agency failed to use the budget as planned so we had to cut it," Tangerang Municipal Council head Endang Sudjana told newsportal Tempointeraktif on Sunday.

The council planned to slash an initial fund of Rp 500 million for family planning to Rp 300 million, he said.

"The budget is due in three months and has not been used. It will not be feasible to spend all of it in a short time," council member Sultoni said.

He added that the budget would be put to better use if it were allocated for infrastructure projects, education or health.

Indonesia confirms 51st bird flu death

Agence France Presse - September 24, 2006

Jakarta – A nine-year-old boy has been confirmed as Indonesia's 51st human bird flu fatality, a health ministry official said.

The boy died on September 22 and test results from two laboratories confirmed he was infected with the H5N1 virus, a doctor on duty at the national bird flu center in Jakarta told AFP Sunday.

He identified the laboratories as the ministry of health's laboratory and that of the US Naval Medical Research Unit (Namru). The boy died shortly after he was admitted to the Sulianti Saroso hospital, the capital's main center for bird flu treatment, said the doctor, who declined to be named.

The latest death brought the overall toll in Indonesia from H5N1 to 51, the highest reported anywhere in the world.

Tests from two laboratories are required for the World Health Organization to count the fatality in its official toll.

The boy, who came from Pondok Pinang in South Jakarta spent two days at a police hospital before he was moved to Sulianti Saroso, the doctor said. He could not immediately provide more details, including whether the victim had come into contact with sick poultry, the usual method of transmission of the virus.

But he said the boy's family had informed doctors that the boy had already been under high fever for about a week before he was admitted to hospital.

Indonesia's death toll from bird flu has been steadily rising as the virus has marched across the archipelago nation, spreading to 29 of its 33 provinces.

While the virus does not spread easily among people, the chance of a mutation that would allow it to do so is heightened as more humans catch it from infected birds. Scientists fear that if this occurs, a global flu pandemic with a massive death toll could result.

Economy & investment

Kalla accused of nostalgia for despotism

Jakarta Post - September 27, 2006

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla is under fire for his statement that democracy is less important than political stability and security in attracting foreign investors to Indonesia.

Djoko Susilo, a legislator from the National Mandate Party (PAN), and Effendi Choirie of the National Awakening Party (PKB) accused Kalla of "dreaming about the return of Soeharto-style authoritarianism".

Kalla, who is also the Golkar Party chairman and head of a business conglomerate, made the statement when addressing the Indonesian community Saturday in New York.

Djoko and Effendi said given his important role in the government, Kalla should not have said something which in their opinion revealed him to be anti-reform. "Do his views reflect those of Golkar?" Effendi asked. Indonesia's largest political party was the vehicle Soeharto used to rule with an iron fist for 32 years.

Defending his statement, Kalla said foreign businesspeople were more interested in investing their money in Vietnam and China because they are politically stable, even though they are not democratic and their respect for human rights is generally seen as inferior to Indonesia's.

Kalla has been in the US trying to convince investors to do business in Indonesia, which some argue has become a less attractive corporate target since Soeharto's fall in 1998.

Djoko said stability and security would come when democracy, strong law enforcement and good government were firmly in place. "The Vice President should understand that political instability in Indonesia has to do with the corrupt bureaucracy, the absence of good governance and legal certainty, and the rising unemployment rates," he said.

Djoko said the government has panicked since its effort to revise the labor law was thwarted by strong resistance from workers' unions.

Effendi and Djoko called on the government to reform the bureaucracy and strengthen law enforcement in order to improve public service and ensure legal certainty. They said the bureaucracy and judiciary system were corrupt because civil servants and law enforcers were underpaid.

"Once the bureaucracy is reformed, red tape in applying for business licenses will end, and once legal certainty is in place, investors will come in and feel safe," said Djoko.

Djoko doubted Kalla would succeed in attracting American investors unless Indonesia worked hard to improve the business climate.

When Pertamina no longer holds monopoly

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

A. Hamzah, Jakarta – "Pertamina calls on you to become a Pertamina gas station owner as a token of participation in national development." You may be puzzled by this call, which can be found on Pertamina's website. Why does an oil company of Pertamina's class link the retail gasoline business with nationalism when the government has given its blessing to the operation of foreign gas stations in Indonesia? Does it mean that in Pertamina's view the government lacks nationalism? Like it or not, competition in the gasoline retail business in Indonesia has intensified following last November's termination of over 30 years of Pertamina's monopoly over oil distribution. In Jakarta, in particular, Shell Indonesia, a subsidiary of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc., became the first foreign company to retail gasoline in Indonesia.

Shell, which started with only one gas station in upmarket Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, now runs four such stations. This oil company, which has seashells as its logogram, has introduced a concept of a gas station in a modern design, coupled with free air for your tires, free cleaning of your car's windows and windshields and free filling of radiator liquid.

For the time being, Shell markets only two brands of high-octane gasoline of the class of Pertamina's Pertamax and Pertamax Plus. Its Super and Super Extra gasoline are sold at Rp 5,450 and Rp 5,850 per liter respectively, while Pertamina now sells its Pertamax and Pertamax Plus at Rp 5,350 and Rp 5,550 per liter respectively.

In addition, each Shell gasoline station has a mini market, which sells various products, ranging from lubricants to snacks and cold drinks. Motorists can enjoy all these products and extra services, Fathia Syarif, Shell spokesperson, said recently.

Besides Shell, another company, PT Petronas Niaga Indonesia, a subsidiary of Malaysia's Petroleum Nasional Bhd oil company, has also been issued a permit for the construction of 200 gas stations, to be built at an investment of US$200 million. At present, investing Rp 10 billion, this company operates a gas station in Cibubur, Jakarta. Within the gas station compound, you can also find a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, an ATM and a mini market.

Like Shell, Petronas sells only "green" gasoline, Primax 95 and Primax 92, at Rp 5,600 and Rp 5,400 per liter respectively. Petronas has reached its target of selling 14,000 liters of gasoline a day, said president director of PT Petronas Niaga Indonesia, Kamarulzaman M. Hashim.

Today, most motorists still go Pertamina gas stations because the gas stations selling Shell and Petronas fuel are still few in number and Pertamina provides the types of fuel subsidized by the government. Pertamina sells subsidized Premium gasoline at Rp 4,500 per liter and subsidized diesel at Rp 4,300.

Petronas and Shell have called on the government to allow them to also sell both types of subsidized fuel. Once the government allows them to sell the fuels, both firms will pose a greater challenge to Pertamina's domination in the country's fuel market.

Indonesia, with a population of some 220 million people, is indeed an alluring market. In addition, statistically, there is a constant increase in the number of motorized vehicles every year. As for motorcycles alone, some four million motorcycles are imported every year and the import growth stands at an average of 10 percent annually. As a whole, motorized vehicles use up almost half of the national consumption of oil, which is recorded at 60 million kiloliters a year.

Given such an attractive market, it comes as no surprise that there are many parties interested in retailing gasoline here. So far, almost 180 companies, including oil giants like Caltex, Chevron, both of the US, British firm BP and France's Total, have expressed interest in being involved in the oil distribution business.

Pertamina has anticipated this competition and reacted by, among other things, intensifying the construction of new gas stations. Recently, the company broadened public access to becoming a Pertamina partner by providing a registration facility through the Internet.

While in the past investors had to wait many months for a response from Pertamina to their application to be a partner in distributing fuel, Pertamina promises to respond to applications within a week at the most.

"Pertamina has and will continue to upgrade the quality of its gas stations to make them more competitive by improving their displays, providing world-class products at competitive prices, improving their service, expanding to strategic locations and campaigning to boost the public's love of domestic products," Pertamina's fuel marketing division head Djaelani Sutomo said.

To strengthen its market position domestically, Pertamina has also increased the number of its international-standard gas stations, or those known as Company Owned and Company Operated (COCO) gas stations. Currently, Pertamina operates 24 COCO gas stations, all of which are situated in strategic locations in major cities. At every COCO gas station, Pertamina provides additional facilities such as a mini market or convenience store. The company plans to establish 200 more COCO gas stations in the next five years. Currently, Pertamina operates about 3,000 gas stations along with its partners throughout Indonesia.

Above all, Pertamina has also started to position itself as the first oil company to market bio-diesel oil made with coconut palm as the basic material. It sells its bio-diesel oil under the name of Biosolar with two types of composition: 5 percent coconut palm oil and 95 percent conventional diesel oil (B5) as well as 10 percent coconut palm oil and 90 percent conventional diesel oil (B10). The bio-diesel oil sells for Rp 4,300 per liter, the same price as subsidized diesel oil.

A number of Pertamina officials have promised that the price of bio-diesel oil will be lower in future when national bio-diesel oil production, including fuel made from physic nut plants, has reached mass production level. At present, Pertamina purchases coconut-palm-oil-based bio-diesel oil at Rp 4,600 per liter and provides a subsidy for the price difference.

"Pertamina now sell products that are environmentally sound and meet requirements of (new automotive) technology," Djaelani said.

Pertamina's Premium Ron 88, Pertamax Ron 92, Pertamax Plus Ron 95, for instance, meet international standards, while BioPremium Ron 88 and Biosolar are considered environmentally sound, Djaelani explained. "Meanwhile, Pertamina Dex, a fuel for diesel machines, meets Euro II standards," he explained.

As competition is becoming increasingly stiffer, you may ask which company will emerge as the winner. The answer is still difficult to give. What is obvious, however, is that the public will choose a gas station that gives competitive fuel prices and offer satisfactory facilities and services.

Opinion & analysis

History-phobia

Jakarta Post Editorial - September 30, 2006

In communist and authoritarian countries it has been common for rulers to order historians to write official history textbooks is such a way as to dignify those in power and help ensure that they remain unchallenged. For such regimes there is zero tolerance for any efforts to question their version of history.

Indonesia is neither a communist nor an authoritarian regime, and even prides itself as the world's third largest democracy after India and the United States. However, the way it treats historians who are simply carrying out their professional duty to critically assess the country's history is no better than authoritarian states.

The Attorney General's Office recently questioned two officials from the Education Ministry for approving a history textbook that said the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was only one of the perpetrators of the Sept.

30, 1965, coup attempt. This is the same office that has been widely criticized for seemingly dragging its feet in investigating major corruption cases, but it was certainly enthusiastic about investigating the history textbooks, which it said had the potential to cause public unrest.

During his 32-year rule former president Soeharto succeeded in brainwashing the nation into blindly believing his version of the coup attempt and the succeeding violence that reportedly claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. In his version, the PKI was entirely responsible for the coup attempt. According to the version studied by all Indonesian children, Soeharto was forced to take the reins of power from Sukarno for the sake of the country.

After Soeharto's fall eight years ago, more and more people began to dispute this official version of events. In 2004 the Education Ministry introduced a textbook that said the PKI was only one of the perpetrators of the attempted coup. However, citing "public pressure", the ministry returned to the more "acceptable" version of events in its 2006 textbook.

Reopening the 1965 attempted coup and the violence that followed certainly could harm the interests of people who played a major official role around the catastrophe. Those regarded as heroes could be categorized as human rights abusers if the truth came out. Many well-known organizations were also reportedly involved in slaughtering alleged PKI members. However, former president Abdurrahman Wahid, in his capacity as the leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization, is perhaps the only leader who has had the courage to issue a public apology to the victims. Others prefer to bury the past.

The 1965 violence is one of the darkest chapters in the country's history. Millions of people suffered, including PKI members and alleged members, and their families. Many of the victims were innocent. And the relatives of PKI members and alleged members continue to be stigmatized today, suffering for events in which they played no part.

This is not intended as a defense of the PKI or any other party, or a call for the nation to dismiss entirely Soeharto's version of these events. Rather, this is a call to the nation to have the courage to honestly assess our history and find the real truth.

Forty-one years have passed. It is clear, however, that the nation, not just the government, does not want to make the effort to find the truth and restore the dignity of the victims of the Sept. 30, 1965, violence.

This is not surprising. Even when it comes to finding the truth of events on a much smaller scale, the government – and maybe the country as a whole – has shown little commitment. Look at July 27, 1996. A dozen supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri went missing when the military broke up their gathering in Central Jakarta. Even when Megawati became the country's fifth president in 2001 she refused to find the truth of the incident, despite appeals from the victims.

The latest example is the murder of rights activist Munir Said bin Thalib. He was poisoned while flying from Jakarta to Amsterdam aboard a Garuda flight in September 2004. Despite President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's emotional promise to punish the perpetrators, two years have passed and questions continue to surround Munir's death.

People here tend to forget or pretend not to remember rights abuses as long as they are not directly affected. It is no wonder we have to go to foreign universities or foreign historians for a more objective view of this country's history.

Indonesia: Historians under criminal investigation

Green Left Weekly - September 27, 2006

Max Lane – Several prominent Indonesian historians have come under criminal investigation for writing an official history textbook in 2004 in which they no longer insisted that the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) was the mastermind of an attempted left-wing coup in September 1965.

In October 1965, General Mohammad Suharto used chaotic circumstances created by a pro-left colonels' revolt to lead a right-wing military coup and initiate a wave of terror against the Indonesian left in which at least 1 million people were murdered and all leftist organisations were outlawed. Mass organisations such as trade unions were also banned or ordered to stop their activity.

For 40 years after the 1965 coup, Suharto's "New Order" regime pursued a deliberate policy of re-writing Indonesian history in accordance with aims of the military-dominated political and business elite that it fostered.

There were many aspects to this, but a key issue was how the September 30, 1965, colonels' revolt was portrayed. Suharto's official propaganda depicted the colonels' actions – the arrest and execution of several top army officers – as a coup attempt organised by the PKI. The colonels' themselves called their movement the September 30 Movement. The official version always referred to this "movement" as the Gerakan 30 September/Partai Komunis Indonesia (G30S/PKI).

From 1965 onwards the writing of history textbooks for use in schools and universities was undertaken under the supervision, either directly or indirectly, of the History Centre of the Armed Forces. These textbooks taught as the sole permitted version of history that the 1965 colonels' mutiny was a PKI coup attempt. They also taught that PKI women activists mutilated the genitalia of the generals whom the colonels' had detained before they were executed – despite the fact that the army hospital autopsy showed that no torture of any kind had taken place.

After Suharto was forced out of power by the student-led mass protests in 1998 there was an immediate call by many Indonesian historians for a review of the official histories. In 2004, a new textbook was issued, written by a committee of prominent historians, which no longer referred to the G30S/PKI but just to the G30S. After the book was published, organised anti-communist groups forced its withdrawn by the education ministry.

On September 19, education minister Bambang Sudibyo told journalists that the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a former Suharto-era general, had decided to abandon the 2004 curriculum. The September 19 London Financial Times reported that "Sudibyo said he had also asked the country's attorney-general to investigate the historians and other officials responsible for textbooks derived from the 2004 curriculum that failed to blame the PKI for the coup.

"A spokesman for the attorney-general's office confirmed an investigation was under way into the publication of the history books, saying they had caused 'restlessness amongst the people'." The September 20 Jakarta Post reported: "Education ministry curriculum center head Diah Harianti had argued that the 2004 curriculum more comprehensively explained the events surrounding Sept. 30, 1965. Instead of associating the tragedy only with the PKI, it blamed the social conflicts on ideological and political differences among citizens. Now, with no explanation, the education ministry had decided to reinstate the PKI as the main culprit, he said.

"Members of the police, attorney general's office (AGO) and State Intelligence Agency questioned Diah and one other official at the curriculum center recently about why 12th-grade history books based on the 2004 curriculum did not blame the PKI for the violence...

"A historian with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Asvi Warman Adam, said the AGO was trying to intimidate the people who were trying to understand what really happened in 1965 and the subsequent political events leading to {Suharto's] rise to power. 'The AGO is not supposed to do that, since we [historians] haven't even agreed on what actually happened (in 1965)', he said."

[Max Lane is a lecturer in Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Sydney. Visit ]

A win for press freedom

Jakarta Post - September 26, 2006

A trial last week at the South Jakarta District Court passed largely unnoticed, although the court's decision indicated a seismic shift in the Indonesian judiciary.

To understand this shift we need only to hear what the presiding judge said in delivering the court's decision in the trial of a journalist charged with religious blasphemy for reprinting the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that first appeared in Denmark.

"What the defendant did was not based on disrespect. The pictures only appeared as background to the news," Judge Wahyono said last Wednesday.

Teguh Santosa, chief editor of the online version of Rakyat Merdeka newspaper, was indicted late August for "publicly expressing or inciting animosity and defamation toward Islam". Santosa posted the Prophet Muhammad cartoons on the website of the paper, known for its sensational headlines, in February.

Judge Wahyono, who led the panel of three judges hearing the case, declared the indictment unacceptable. The charge leveled against the defendant, he said, was not appropriate.

He said prosecutors, if they wished to indict Santosa, should have charged him with "publicly broadcasting, showing or displaying writing or pictures that contain enmity, hatred or insults towards groups in Indonesia". That charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 months in jail, compared to the five years for the original indictment.

It was a bold, maybe even revolutionary, decision by the court. But the real bombshell was the court's agreeing to try the journalist under the Press Law, as opposed to under the Criminal Code.

Santosa's legal ordeal may not yet be over, as prosecutors may appeal the decision or file new charges, but it appears his defense is on the right track.

This trial was different from past ones when journalists were often subjected to the Criminal Code, which allows for the jailing of journalists for defamation. This despite the existence of the 1999 Press Law, a groundbreaking law enacted during the Habibie administration.

One of the more publicized recent cases involved Tempo magazine, which was charged with publishing false information and libeling a well-connected businessman in 2004. Both the Central Jakarta District Court and the Jakarta High Court found Tempo guilty, but the verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court in February 2006 on the grounds that the case had been erroneously filed using the Criminal Code instead of the Press Law.

In 2004, Rakyat Merdeka lost separate libel cases involving stories it published about then president Megawati Soekarnoputri and House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung. In both these cases, the Criminal Code was used.

It has been the Supreme Court that has set a good example by recognizing the lex specialis for the press. According to this view, journalists are not treated like common criminals for simply being suspected of making an error while doing their job.

The Supreme Court deserves praise for this. Now this understanding appears to have spread down to the district court level.

It is heartening that judges are making strides in their understanding of the profession of journalism. Their initial confusion over what law to apply against journalists is understandable given the repressive political climate of the recent past.

The press was anything but professional during the three decades of Soeharto's repressive rule until he was forced from office in 1998.

The closed culture of the bureaucracy under Soeharto was well entrenched and is largely unchanged today. This is reflected in the government's efforts to hastily draft a state secrecy bill, while the bill on freedom of access to information seems to have stalled in the House of Representatives.

A change from authoritarianism to democracy cannot be accomplished overnight.

After the Press Law was enacted in 1999, a Press Council was set up. Its role is to mediate disputes between readers and media companies. But funding for the council is a steep exercise. Money from the government, media corporations and the public comes in drips.

Although Santosa's trial is an encouraging sign, press freedom cannot be taken for granted. The flower wreath the judges received from Santosa's supporters was a fitting gift. On it was a message: "Congratulations for upholding press freedom." The decision by the South Jakarta District Court is a big step toward a free press and democracy. In the heavily tainted world of the Indonesian judiciary, it is consoling to learn that there are judges who are trying to make a change in their own quiet way.

Let us now hope this shift will reverberate in courtrooms throughout the archipelago.

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When Pertamina no longer holds monopoly

History-phobia

Indonesia: Historians under criminal investigation

A win for press freedom