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Indonesia News Digest 40 – October 26-31, 2006
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2006
Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Waving and wearing big smile, Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putera walked away from the Cipinang narcotics
prison Monday a free man, after serving less than half of his
10-year jail term thanks to generous remissions.
The youngest son of former president Soeharto left the maximum
security prison in the early afternoon.
Tommy was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2002 for hiring a
hit man to assassinate a Supreme Court justice, Syafiuddin
Kartasasmita, the year before. The judge had sentenced him to 18
months in jail in a land fraud case.
The court convicted Tommy of corruption, premeditated murder and
illegal weapons possession. But the conviction was later altered
by the Supreme Court and his sentence reduced to 10 years.
Tommy has received sentence remissions twice a year, for
Independence Day and Idul Fitri. The total of remissions was
about 31 months.
Tommy, wearing a baseball cap, told journalists shouting
questions at him outside the prison that he was "well" and even
planned to go on a haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
It was earlier reported that he would be released before Ramadhan
as he had requested a conditional release in August. Tommy was
entitled to apply for conditional release because he had
completed two-thirds of his jail term with the remissions
factored in, and had displayed "good conduct" in prison.
For the next three years, Tommy is required to report regularly
to penitentiary authorities and is not allowed to go abroad.
Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin refused to
comment on Tommy's release, saying as a Cabinet minister it was
not an issue he handled. He said later the government still needs
to assess whether Tommy's release will harm the people's sense of
justice.
Hamid had said on Oct. 24 that Tommy would likely be released
after he was granted a sentence cut of 45 days. He said the
ministry would have to coordinate with the prosecutors' office on
the release.
Attorney General's Office spokesman I Wayan Pasek Suartha,
however, told journalists on Monday that the granting of a
conditional release was entirely the authority of the justice
ministry. AGO does not have a say in it," he said.
Under Government Regulation No. 28/2006, the ministry does not
have to ask for permission or a recommendation from the AGO to
release a prisoner. "We don't want people to think the attorneys
requested Tommy's release. It would tarnish our image," he said.
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2006
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Confederation of Indonesian
Prosperous Labor Unions (KSBSI) filed 20 complaints with the
Manpower and Transmigration Ministry on Monday.
The complaints were made on behalf of workers who claimed they
had been denied their right to form unions. Many had been fired
or demoted.
KSBSI chairman Rekson Silaban said the cases had been brought to
the labor court, but that there was little hope that the
claimants would be reinstated in their old positions.
"We asked the minister to campaign for compliance with the
conventions that guarantee workers' rights," Rekson said after a
meeting with minister Erman Suparno.
Indonesia ratified ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association in
1998 and enacted a law in 2001 on labor unions, guaranteeing a
worker's right to unionize. The law states that groups of 10 or
more workers are free to set up a union and allows for the
establishment of more than two labor unions at a company level.
It prohibits employers from dismissing, laying off or demoting
workers for reasons of activism.
All labor unions must be registered with the Manpower and
Transmigration Ministry or its provincial or regency offices. The
law carries a maximum five-year jail sentence or a maximum fine
of Rp 500 million for companies or employers who discourage,
intimidate, or prohibit their workers from setting up unions.
Rekson said that in the 20 cases, 16 SBSI unionists were
dismissed, 30 were involuntarily moved to other offices and
hundreds of SBSI members were dismissed without any severance
payment from the management.
He particularly criticized the management of PT Freeport McMoran
Indonesia for encouraging the Confederation of All-Indonesian
Workers Union (KSPSI) at its copper and gold mine in Timika,
Papua, but dismissing SBSI unionist Siringoringo and allegedly
intimidating workers who supported the establishment of an SBSI
unit at the giant company.
"Siringoringo was dismissed after he was accused of stealing.
There was no evidence that he had stolen anything from his
workplace. If the management had evidence, they should have taken
him to court, instead of taking the law into their own hands,"
Rekson said.
He added that Indonesia's corrupt judiciary made it difficult for
workers and labor unions to afford the costs of industrial
disputes.
Meanwhile, the secretary general of the Indonesian Employers'
Association (Apindo), Djimanto, defended employers' authority to
dismiss, demote and lay off workers in order to improve companies
productivity and efficiency levels.
"Apindo has received many reports of the alleged violation of the
workers' right to unionize but after checking with the companies,
the managements have been familiar with the law on labor unions
and the ILO conventions. In many cases, employers have to dismiss
workers because of financial difficulties. When there were
several unionists among the dismissed workers, is was incidental.
Employers have never dismissed their workers because they were
unionists or set up their own unions," he said.
In the case of PT Freeport, Djimanto said Apindo had recently
facilitated a meeting between the management and SBSI at its main
office. The problem, he said, was not the dismissal of
Siringoringo but SBSI's demands for a secretariat at the site in
Timika.
"Most Freeport workers have joined KSPSI and only a few dozen are
members of SBSI. It would be a waste of money if the management
had to prepare secretariats for every labor union to set up at
the company," he said.
Aceh
West Papua
Human rights/law
Regional/communal conflicts
Environment
Health & education
Islam/religion
Opinion & analysis
News & issues
A beaming Tommy gets out of jail
Workers' right to unionize still shaky in Indonesia
Suharto's son released from jail
Reuters - October 30, 2006
Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – The youngest son of former Indonesian president Suharto was conditionally released from jail on Monday, after serving a third of his original sentence for plotting the murder of a Supreme Court judge.
The move drew immediate fire from critics who said it showed undue leniency and favoritism for the powerful.
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, 44, had been jailed for 15 years for paying a hitman to kill the judge and for other offences, but that was reduced to 10 years on appeal and further sliced by a series of holiday "remissions."
The murdered judge had convicted Tommy in a graft case. In all Tommy served five years before Monday's release. "He is out. He will serve the remaining time outside the prison," Gusti Tamarjaya, the Justice Ministry official handling penitentiaries in Jakarta, told reporters.
While no longer in jail, Tommy is theoretically still a prisoner, having to meet various probation conditions.
Tommy was originally sentenced in 2002. He had already served about a year during the prosecution process.
Like thousands of other prisoners, he benefited from the remission programme. The latest six-week cut last week for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday meant he had served two-thirds of his reduced sentence, making him eligible for release.
"In a country upholding the law, we cannot discriminate. After he has served two-thirds of his sentence, automatically he is free with conditions," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters.
Spotlight on Indonesia justice
However, not all prisoners who serve two-thirds of their terms are released, and the country's attorney general had earlier been quoted as saying various factors could be weighed before a decision was made.
Johnson Pandjaitan, a leading human rights lawyer from the Indonesian Human Rights and Legal Aid Association, told Reuters it was wrong to view the release as automatic.
"Conditional release is never automatic. Nothing is really automatic. It should go through a certain process."
"The problem is this country has a president but does not have a leader in law enforcement," Pandjaitan said, referring to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, currently on a trip to China. "(Yudhoyono) had the chance to control his Justice Ministry officials but he did not take it."
Arbi Sanit, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia, said: "It gives the impression that the (Yudhoyono) government is giving special treatment to Suharto's family. This sends a wrong signal to people outside Indonesia, giving the impression that laws can be bent at will."
Tommy's original 15-year sentence had already been criticised by some as too lenient and showing Indonesian justice had one standard for the powerful and another for the weak. The actual hitman and an accomplice received life sentences and were ineligible for remissions.
Prison and other government officials have said the courts acted independently in Tommy's case and his sentence remissions were similar to those granted to others.
Tommy's father ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for more than three decades before stepping down in 1998, and several members of his family became rich.
Too ill for trial
Suharto himself was charged with graft but escaped prosecution as courts accepted medical statements he was too ill to stand trial. The former president and family members deny any wrongdoing.
Criticism of the justice system in a country where corruption is endemic and judges not necessarily well-trained or highly paid is not new. In one controversial decision earlier this month, a three-member Supreme Court panel overturned the guilty verdict on an off-duty pilot convicted of murdering leading human rights activist, Munir Thalib, in 2004.
Rights groups say the pilot had ties to influential figures, and authorities had dragged their feet investigating the case. "The treatment for Tommy contrasts with the way the government handled Munir's murder case, which allegedly involved people in power circles," said Sanit.
Meanwhile, several lavish "welcome home" bouquets from well- wishers could be seen outside Tommy's home in the Suharto family complex in an upmarket area of Jakarta, radio station Elshinta reported.
[With additional reporting by Achmad Sukarsono.]
Jakarta Post - October 27, 2006
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A man for all seasons, Marsillam Simanjuntak joined Thursday a State Palace meeting to review the progress of the country's economic and political reforms in his new capacity as the President's private advisor.
As the head of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's new work monitoring unit, Marsillam would not elaborate on how the body would operate or what work it would do, and said there was no need for publicity about the new team.
"We don't do anything specific, just reviewing the President's programs in general... the team is internal in its essence, so there's no need for publicity," he said.
A former attorney general, cabinet secretary and justice minister in earlier administrations, Marsillam is tasked to review and advise the President on five issues; improving investment climate, government bureaucracy, small and medium-sized businesses, state-owned enterprises and law enforcement. His job was created by Presidential Decree No. 17/2006, issued on Sept. 29.
Yudhoyono's critics say this new law reflects the President's penchant for creating new institutions to resolve longstanding problems, which only causes more bureaucracy and confusion.
They point to Yudhoyono's establishment of an "integrated team to eradicate corruption", which has so far achieved little and has powers that overlap with the work of prosecutors and the Corruption Eradication Commission.
They have also questioned why the President, who already has seven expert staff and a board of advisors, needs another think- tank.
"Whether or not we'll be effective will depend on what the President and his ministers produce. What output we produce will be for the President. Since this is an internal issue, don't make a big fuss about us," Marsillam said.
The team, which has a three-year mandate of work, has two deputies – Lt. Gen. (ret) Agus Widjojo, former Indonesian Military territorial chief of staff and a former deputy speaker at the People's Consultative Assembly, and Edwin Gerungan, the former head of the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency and an independent commissioner at state Bank Mandiri.
Presidential spokesmen Andi Mallarangeng said the team would monitor and enforce the implementation of the President's policies at the grassroots level of bureaucracy. Andi denied the team had been created because cabinet ministers were not doing their jobs properly.
Jakarta Post - October 26, 2006
Blontank Poer, Klaten – This year's Idul Fitri was hard work for Yadi and Sriyati who live in the earthquake-hit village of Gesikan in Klaten, Central Java.
After the procession of sungkeman – asking for forgiveness to family members and neighbors – they told neighbors about their fate; that they could not afford to rebuild their house, which was destroyed during the May 27 quake.
"The government's pledge to give assistance to rebuild the house has never materialized, while other assistance for our daily lives has stopped as of last month," Yadi said.
While Yadi already has a temporary bamboo house erected by a political party, of which he is a member, hundreds of other earthquake victims still live in makeshift tents.
To earn enough money to eat, many earthquake survivors took on hard manual labor despite suffering broken bones or fractures during the disaster. Now many complain of lingering pain from their injuries.
"Many of them have been informed by doctors that their bones have not properly healed," said Sriyati, who is still pained by her injured right shoulder.
While non-governmental organizations and hospitals are still offering free medical treatment, Yadi worries it would not last.
"If our finances don't improve, it will be difficult for us to get the medical services we need. At the same time we have to think how to rebuild our house," he said.
Another hard-luck story was told by Muhamad Suhudi, 38, a resident of Balong village in Gantiwarno, who was still living at a makeshift tent.
Most villagers have celebrated Idul Fitri in tents and many do not have money for all but the most rudimentary of snacks, he said. "However, most of the victims have submitted to their fate. The arrival of their relatives has helped heal their wounds," Suhudi said.
He hoped the government would keep its promise to help the villagers.
"In our village, there is a now new (local government) policy (that villagers must) make a proposal to the regental administration to get assistance. The money, it is said, will be disbursed in November. I hope the government does not retract its pledge again," he said.
Meanwhile, 75-year-old widow Suto Pawiro has no house and has had to celebrate Idul Fitri alone because her only son could not afford to return home.
"The presence of my neighbors keeps me entertained although I long for my son and grandchildren," Suto said, while she cooked amid the rubble of her house.
Jakarta Post - October 28, 2006
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The generous sentence remissions given to wealthy criminals on national holidays smack of corruption, activists said Friday.
Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) say the remissions are being bought and sold at the cost of the government's credibility.
However, Wibowo Djoko Hardjono, the warden of Cipinang Prison, where many high-profile convicts have been detained, denied the allegations and said sentence cuts were given based on strict requirements.
Emmerson Yanto, the coordinator of ICW's law and judicial monitoring section, said remissions had allowed many prisoners to walk free long before the sentences handed down to them by the courts expired. He questioned whether many high-profile convicts had been properly rehabilitated.
"Granting remissions is apparently based on how close convicts are with the chief wardens. Well-known convicts have easily obtained remissions not solely because of their good conduct but also because of these relationships," he told The Jakarta Post.
Emmerson noted former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence for murdering Supreme Court justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita in 2000, received an 80-day remission at the 61st anniversary of Indonesian Independence on Aug. 17, 2006 and another 45 days during this week's Idul Fitri.
"In 2005, Tommy received a total of one year and 15 days remission (on his sentence). He has received similar cuts annually, which will allow him to walk free in a few years," he said.
Former Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh jailed for 10 years last year for corruption has also received big cuts to his jail time.
Meanwhile, former National Logistics Agency chief Rahardi Ramelan and former forestry minister Bob Hasan also received a series of sentence reductions for "good conduct" before they eventually walked free. "Rahardi received a remission for the first time on Aug. 17, 2005, only two days after he started serving his jail sentence," Emmerson said.
Kontras executive director Usman Hamid said the remissions were not transparent and hurt the public's sense of justice and the government's credibility. "The absence of an independent monitoring mechanism has made it easy for chiefs of correctional institutions to abuse their powers for money," he said.
He said the granting of many remissions to Tommy, who was initially sentenced to 15 years for ordering Syafiuddin's assassination, disappointed the victim's family. Later the Supreme Court reduced Tommy's sentence to 10 years on appeal without explaining the reason for the verdict.
If the Criminal Code had been properly applied, Tommy should have received a life sentence for the murder, Usman said.
Cipinang Prison chief warden Wibowo claimed no corruption was involved in granting remissions because they were given on a "strong legal basis".
"Remissions are granted to convicts who meet all the criteria as required by the 1995 Correctional Institutions Law and Presidential Decree No 174 on remissions. Only those complying with the correctional institution's internal rulings are eligible," he said.
He said all prisoners were regularly evaluated by a team of jailers and evaluation results were given to the justice minister to consider. High-profile convicts like Rahardi Ramelan, Bob Hasan and Tommy had generally set good examples to other prisoners when they served time, he said.
| Aceh |
Agence France Presse - October 31, 2006
Banda Aceh – An eight-person team from the European Union has begun monitoring work ahead of elections in Indonesia's Aceh province, the head of the monitoring mission said Tuesday.
The head of the EU Election Observation Mission, Glyn Ford, told AFP that 36 more members would be arriving in just over a week and another 36 would bolster their numbers shortly ahead of polling day, set for December 11.
Under a peace pact signed between separatist rebels and the Jakarta government, Aceh will for the first time directly elect its governor and vice-governor, as well as district leaders in the polls. Ford said that the 80 EU monitors will be helped by hundreds of local staffers, bringing the team numbers up to 300.
He said that the team planned to open up to 12 offices across Aceh to comprehensively monitor the elections. The peace pact stipulated the presence of foreign observers.
The pact was spurred on by the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which lashed Aceh's coastlines killing some 168,000 people and forced both sides to reassess their priorities at the negotiating table.
Ford added that the assessment of polls should be available at the latest 10 days after election day.
Jakarta Post - October 26, 2006
Vanda Mutia Dewi, Jakarta – A recent report by Greenomics Indonesia revealed some very interesting facts about who exactly is to blame for the delays affecting the reconstruction process in Aceh.
The study found that legal and policy barriers were the most significant constraints slowing rebuilding work in Aceh, with the central government (including the House of Representatives) being responsible for 76.74 percent of the delays in this area and local administrations 23.26 percent. The most common problems concerned land titles and the finalization of local government spatial plans.
These delays clearly show that the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) is far from being the superbody it was originally planned. In reality, the BRR is a normal institution that has to follow the rules laid down by the central government.
At the center, the Offices of the President and Vice President were responsible for 16.28 percent of the delays at the legal and policy levels. Most of these delays were connected with land problems, the procurement of goods and services, special tax breaks for Aceh, flexibility as regards the disbursement of funds, and support for other policies and regulations.
However, to this must also be added the delays caused by the organ closest to these two offices, namely, the State/Cabinet Secretariats, which contributed to 6.98 percent of the delays.
This puts the Offices of the President and Vice President (taken together with the State/Cabinet Secretariats) ahead of the Finance Ministry, which was responsible for 18.60 percent of the delays, mostly due to inflexible disbursement procedures and lack of special rules designed to take the magnitude of the disaster into account.
The National Land Agency (BPN) was also found to have played a major role in the delays, with responsibility for 11.63 percent of these being laid at its door. Delays were also caused by the Forestry Ministry, House of Representatives, the National Development Planning Board (BAPPENAS) and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.
Thus, it is clear that the BRR has been hampered in its work due to inadequate legal and policy support, mostly a result of inaction on the part of the central government. At the implementation level, the delays are once again closely connected with a lack of policy and legal support from the central government.
At the implementation level, the BRR was found to be responsible for 49.56 percent of the delays, and international institutions and NGOs 27.43 percent. These international institutions (bilateral, multilateral, UN and foreign NGOs) have shown themselves to be excessively bureaucratic and centralistic, with the result that they have contributed quite significantly to the slow pace of reconstruction.
Meanwhile, local governments in Aceh accounted for 23.01 percent of the delays, mainly due to a lack of support from local chief executives and a lack of coordination.
Based on the above, it may be concluded that the BRR still faces critical constraints at the implementation level, and shown themselves to be excessively bureaucratic and centralistic, with the result that they have contributed quite significantly to the slow pace of reconstruction.
Meanwhile, local governments in Aceh accounted for 23.01 percent of the delays, mainly due to a lack of support from local chief executives and a lack of coordination.
Based on the above, it may be concluded that the BRR still faces critical constraints at the implementation level, and suffers from a lack of adequate support from the center to enable it to do its job.
However, there are also internal constraints within the BRR. Of the delays in implementation caused by the BRR, 71.88 percent were connected with the BRR's six main deputies.
In light of the above, the BRR should not hesitate to overhaul its management system, including its personnel, with the principal objective of ensuring effectiveness, credibility and trust.
The envisaged new system of management should be capable of responding in a timely fashion to the increasingly complex problems in the field.
If we calculate the level of delays at the legal and policy levels, and also at the implementation level (total constraints on reconstruction), then the level of constraints emanating from the BRR take first place at 31.43 percent. Meanwhile, components of the central government come in second place at 28.57 percent, made up of the contributions of eightcomponents". Finally, in third and fourth place are the international institutions and Aceh local government, which contributed 22.86 percent and 17.14 percent, respectively.
It should be remembered that the public at large will put most of the blame on the BRR, as this is the body that bears the most responsibility for the success of the reconstruction work. If the work is successful, then there is no doubt that the BRR will receive endless praise and kudos, including from the President and Vice President.
Thus, whether it likes it or not, the BRR must do everything in its power to overcome the total constraints on reconstruction by publishing regular performance reports.
In this way, the public will be informed who is actually responsible for slowing down the reconstruction work in Aceh, even if the delays emanate from the Office of the President or Vice President. This is part of what we mean by democratizing reconstruction – something that has never happened before in Indonesia.
However, what the BRR has been doing to date has been highly counterproductive, namely, providing excessive exposure for its successes, particularly through the media. In reality, the conditions on the ground do not provide adequate justification for these sort of public relations stunts.
Accordingly, the impression arises that there is a campaign underway to unjustifiably boost the image of the BRR – something that is causing a lot of unease and resentment among the people of Aceh, particularly those who suffered in the tsunami and politicians who are concerned about the pace of reconstruction.
[The writer is national coordinator of Greenomics Indonesia. She can be reached at vandamutia@greenomics.org.]
| West Papua |
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2006
Markus Makur, Timika – Hundreds of people rallied in Timika, Papua, on Monday in opposition to the trial in Jakarta of seven Papuans charged with the 2002 murders of two American teachers and an Indonesian colleague employed by PT Freeport Indonesia.
Protesters blocked off access for several hours to Freeport's operational area starting at around 1 p.m. The area was eventually cleared at 5 p.m. after the police provided trucks to transport the protesters home.
Earlier in the day, demonstrators gathered in front of the Timika District Court to demand the unconditional release of the seven defendants.
Damaris Onawatme and Vincen Onayame, who organized the rally, said the demonstrators had earlier sent a message to the Central Jakarta District Court, where the seven Papuans are being tried, through the Timika District Court, demanding the release of the defendants.
The organizers said the demonstrators arrived at the court Monday expecting to receive a response to their message. "We came here for an answer to our earlier conveyed demand," Onawatme said.
The demonstrators were met by court official Jhoni Kondolele, who said their demand had been forwarded to Jakarta but there had yet to be a response.
From the court the demonstrators marched to the Freeport compound, handing out leaflets along the way about the deadly 2002 shooting. The leaflets also outlined the demands of the demonstrators, including the release of the seven defendants, the closure of the Freeport mine and the withdrawal of soldiers and police officers from Papua.
Onayame said as long as Freeport continued to operate in Papua, it would remain a source of conflict.
"We will not hesitate to demand that the Indonesian government launch a fair investigation of the 2002 shooting. The incident took place in Freeport's compound. The Papuan people, who own the country's largest stock of natural resources, have been treated unfairly by the US and Indonesia," he said.
Onayame accused Freeport, which is based in the US, of exploiting Papua's natural resources while failing to improve the lives of Papuans. "Moreover, the working contract awarded to Freeport does not benefit the people of Timika," he added.
Radio New Zealand - October 26, 2006
There's a call for the Pacific Islands Forum to send a fact finding mission to Indonesia's Papua province.
In the communique at this week's summit, Pacific leaders welcomed progress towards autonomy in Papua but raised concerns at violence and called for the root causes of conflict to be addressed by peaceful means.
Fiji's Nationalist Vanua Lavo Tako party has been backing the self-determination movement and its leader, Iliesa Duvuloco, says they are happy Papua has not been ignored, but wanted a stronger statement. He says a mission compromised of Forum leaders could determine the truth of reports about military brutality.
"A team to go there to assess, locally, on the spot, on the ground the actual – you know they can interview the people, the nation, or the West Papuan leaders and the people about what exactly is happening, rather than receiving all the conflicting information, you know."
Kompas - October 26, 2006
Jayapura – Development planning in the province of Papua is not being handled well even though the province has huge sums of money, in the form of general allocations as well as special autonomy funds from the central government.
Frans Maniagasi, member of the Papua Working Group said that at the medium-term Planning Constultation held on Wednesday (25/10), in Jayapura, he asked a question about planning policy in Papua and whether it was meeting the needs of the Papuans or meeting the wishes of the regional government.
"If it's only based on what the government wants, those billions of rupiahs will be wasted,' said Frans.
He went on to say that up to now, as much as 75 per cent of the budget has been used for physical construction, whilst improving human resources has hardly been touched. This is despite the fact that improving human resources is extremely important because so many Papuans are very poor and do not yet enjoying a decent standard of living.
Even worse he said, the provincial government is planning to construct a toll road from Sorong to Jayapura which will destroy four national parks.
"Do the people really need a toll road at a time when poverty is still so widespread? It is wrong to treat Papua in the same way as Java because Papua is in the international spotlight and it acts as the lungs of the world; its forests must not be destroyed like this,' he said.
Meanwhile, Director-General of Regional Development Guidance at the Department of the Interior, Syamsul Arief Rivai, said that careful planning was essential in deciding how to use the special autonomy (Otsus) funds in Papua.
"Otsus Papua is for the province, and the needs lie in the districts and towns, which means that distribution of the funds must be well planned.'
In his opinion, the province should be demanding that programmes to combat poverty in the towns and the districts should be synchronised. Many regions, including Papua have large suns of money at their disposal but targets have not been correctly identified. (sie)
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2006
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The widow of murdered activist Munir and her lawyers pressed national flagship airline Garuda on Monday to hand over documents they say could lead to his killers.
Suciwati, with help from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), is suing Garuda for "negligence" leading to the September 2004 death of Munir Said Thalib.
"We will stick to our beliefs and not let the voice of justice down. We refuse to promote harmony unless Garuda hands us the documents related to the murder," said Choirul Anam, Suciwati's legal advisor.
The session was adjourned until Nov. 29, to give the plaintiff and the accused time to find an amicable solution. The court ordered both parties to go through mediation. The trial will be resumed if they fail to reach an agreement.
Garuda's lawyer, Moh. Assegaf, said mediation was only a means of appeasing both sides. "Giving over the documents is out of the question because this case is a civil case. The real question is whether Garuda, including its crew and management, had any reason to let the activist die," he told The Jakarta Post.
Choirul said the group would ask for assistance from the Geneva- based International Air Transport Association (IATA). He said the organization had handled similar cases for other carriers.
Suciwati also demanded that the financially ailing airline pay a total of Rp 13.7 billion (US$1.5 million) in compensation for her husband's death, including Rp 4.7 billion in material losses and Rp 9 billion in non-material losses.
Off-duty Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was sentenced to 14 years in jail for helping to deliver a fatal dose of poison to Munir on his flight to Amsterdam. But the Supreme Court quashed the conviction and his sentenced was reduced to two years for falsifying travel documents.
Activists have alleged that the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) was behind the plot, but BIN leaders have denied any involvement.
On Saturday, Suciwati and the rights groups demanded that the UN become involved in the probe, saying special rapporteur Philip Alston had offered his assistance. She wants the Indonesian government to grant formal approval for his involvement in the probe.
Foreign Ministry director general for multilateral affairs Moh. Slamet Hidayat, however, rejected the idea of the UN joining the investigation.
"First, we are still investigating the case. Second, we have the authority to reject any request by a special rapporteur to visit Indonesia. And third, we have plans to host three special rapporteurs this year and next year, excluding Alston," he told the Post.
He said the Munir case had not ruined Indonesia's image as many have feared, adding that during the recent meeting of the UN General Assembly on social affairs and human rights, no countries mentioned human rights problems in Indonesia or the Munir case.
Jakarta Post - October 30, 2006
Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Losing trust in the new police investigating team, activists demanded Saturday that the government involve the United Nations in the probe into the 2004 murder of rights activist Munir.
UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Philip Alston has promised his assistance provided that the Indonesian government grants formal approval for the investigation.
"He will send the letter in November," Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Usman Hamid told reporters Saturday. Last week he returned from a visit to the US with Munir's widow, Suciwati.
He said Alston's visit would open the way for the UN to get involved in the probe. One possibility was the establishment of a joint investigating team involving the UN representatives.
The envisaged joint investigation, Usman added, would be the most effective scheme with the UN and would hopefully gain support from all parties.
Besides establishing a joint investigating team, he said, the UN might also form an independent team apart from the police or review the overall investigation by Indonesian teams.
The investigation to probe the killing of Munir Said Thalib reached an impasse after the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto last month. Munir died of arsenic poisoning on a Garuda flight from Jakarta to the Netherlands in 2004.
Rights activists grouped under the Committee of Solidarity and Action for Munir (KASUM) has given information needed by Alston to study the case, including the findings of the government- sanctioned fact finding team.
The UN involvement, however, will depend entirely on the government's willingness to involve it.
Asmara Nababan, a former member of the above team, said the government should respond seriously to pressure from the international body, as failure to do so would undermine the nation's credibility as a member of the UN Human Rights Council. "Ignoring international pressure would come at a high cost," he said.
Tom Lantos of the United States Congressional Human Rights Caucus is said to be planning to visit Indonesia by the end of the year to pressure the Indonesian government over the case.
The US Committee had recommended $163.3 million in assistance for Indonesia to help the Southeast Asian country strengthen democracy and implement reforms in various sectors, including the rule of law and human rights. "They hope the Indonesian government could use the money to improve its accountability and transparency," Usman said.
He dismissed the pressure of the U.S congress as a form of intervention and regretted cynical comments from some lawmakers and government officials on what was done by Munir's widow, Suciwati, in the US "This is not an intervention. There are precedents for this," he said.
He said Radhika Coomaraswamy, a UN special rapporteur on women, visited Indonesia in 1998 to help investigate the case of mass rape during the 1998 anti-Chinese riots. Param Coomaraswamy, a UN special rapporteur on independence and impartiality of judges, also visited the country in 2003.
Detik.com - October 28, 2006
Maryadi, Jakarta – A visit by Munir's widow, Suciwati to the United States on October 14-20 has produced results. The United Nations, the US Congress and the Senate have declared their support to quickly find Munir's murderer.
At a press conference on Saturday October 28 at the offices of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) offices on Jl. Borobudur in Jakarta, a member of the Solidarity Committee for Munir (Kasum), Usman Hamid, announced that the UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial Executions, Professor Philips Alston, is prepared to become involved in investigating the Munir case. The first step will be to send a letter to the Indonesian government asking for the Munir case to be quickly resolved.
Next, members of US Congress and Senate are ready to again write to the Indonesian government about the importance for both countries of solving the Munir case. A letter will be send before the end of the year. Support has also come from the US government through the Acting Secretary of State, Scott Marciel. Hamid said that aside from the US, support has also come from the Netherlands, which is ready to cooperate to help resolve the Munir case.
Munir's widow, Suciwati, has warmly greeted these expressions of support. "This convinces [me] that the steps I have taken [were right]. It turns out there are many who support [me]", she said accusingly. Suciwati also warned the Indonesian government not to play around in investigating Munir's murder saying she hopes that Indonesia can find a resolution to the case without going through the International Court of Justice. (mar/mar)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Detik.com - October 28, 2006
Gagah Wijoseno, Jakarta – Suspicions that the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) was involved in the murder of Munir are becoming stronger. There is evidence that BIN is lobbying the United States over the case of the human rights activist.
"Members of congress have confirmed that there is an effort by BIN to lobby the US congress in connection with joint military relations, including the Munir case", said Solidarity Committee for Munir (Kasum) member Usman Hamid at a press conference at the offices of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in Jakarta on Saturday October 28.
Hamid added that during a trip to the US between 14-20 October, US Senators Patrick Leahy, Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar also told him the same thing. During the meeting, they confirmed that BIN representative had come to the US to discuss a number of issues including the Munir case.
But unfortunately, the Senate and the US Congress were not prepared to reveal further details about their meetings with BIN. "It was confidential, it could not be revealed just like that", he asserted.
Another member of Kasum, Asmara Nababan, said that the Indonesian Ambassador to the US, Sudjanan Probohadiningrat, warned that the Munir case had already become a matter of concern within the international community. "He said, the government cannot play around. Aside from the international community, the Munir case has also become a focus in the US", he said.
He also said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is hurting himself by ignoring the concerns of the international community. Prolonging the Munir case will only result in hampering Indonesia's relationship with the international community.
"If SBY goes overseas there will most certainly be people asking questions about the Munir case that never seems to be resolved", he said. (umi/jon)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - October 26, 2006
Ridarson Galingging, Jakarta – According to existing Indonesian law, Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel who commit ordinary crimes are supposed to be tried by regular or civilian courts. Military courts only have jurisdiction when military personnel commit military offenses.
These jurisdictional issues are defined in Article 65 of Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree No. VII/MPR/2000.
However, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono and the TNI leadership are resisting placing soldiers and officers under the civilian justice system. They claim that enforcing the 2000 MPR decree regarding the prosecution of military personnel in civilian courts would disrupt the country's defense system.
The House of Representatives special committee working on amending the 1997 Military Tribunals Law is trying to bring the law on military tribunals in line with the 2004 TNI Law and the 2000 MPR decree.
Speaking before the House committee, Defense Minister Sudarsono tried to block civilian court jurisdiction over TNI personnel who commit non-military criminal offenses that fall under the Indonesian Criminal Code. He wants to give exclusive treatment to military personnel who commit crimes unrelated to their military function or operations.
The TNI thinks such crimes are their own business, as if ordinary crimes committed by soldiers and officers in a non-military context have a different status than crimes committed by all other Indonesians.
The minister offered the odd argument that the country's defense system would be disrupted if military personnel were tried in public courts for ordinary crimes. He also argued that the legal infrastructure of civilian courts was not ready to try military personnel, adding that civilian judges were not trained in military affairs.
This is also a strange thing to mention since civilian judges would be trying soldiers and officers for things that have nothing to do with military affairs.
Why is the Defense Ministry suddenly resisting so strongly the jurisdictional reach of civilian courts to include all Indonesian citizens who commit ordinary crimes? Was it a mistake of our legislators to demilitarize Indonesia by making officers and soldiers equal to everyone else when they commit crimes unrelated to their military function, such as rape, corruption or theft?
Is this not an effort to maintain a separate status for military personnel that was common under the authoritarian New Order regime, and which was so thoroughly rejected by millions of Indonesians participating in the dismantling of that same regime?
Are military personnel so arrogant or privileged that they believe they should not be investigated and prosecuted by the police and prosecutors, and sit and be judged by civilian judges for non-military crimes?
The fundamental spirit of a system of laws, courts and justice is the equal treatment of all citizens. Soldiers would be treated just like any other ordinary citizen. They would be presumed innocent until proven guilty, have due process rights, be entitled to a fair trial and be defended by an attorney.
Part of the resistance on the part of the TNI could be historical. During the New Order, the military was above the police in the hierarchy of defense forces. It may be a psychological shock for soldiers and officers to have the police investigating, arresting and detaining them in the cases involving non-military crimes. For more than three decades under Soeharto, the military had its own courts to try officers and soldiers no matter what kind of crime was involved.
If the 2004 law and the 2000 MPR decree are not enforced now, when can we put the military fully under the civilian judicial system as practiced in other democratic countries?
Subjecting military personnel to civilian procedures is seen in other laws passed in recent years. For example, under the antiterrorism law, the police have the power to arrest and detain suspects in terrorist acts, whether civilian or military. Also, under the law on the human rights court, TNI officers and soldiers who commit gross human rights violations such as crimes against humanity and genocide will be adjudicated by a civilian court, not by a military tribunal. And although it was controversial and showed a number of weaknesses, the ad hoc Human Rights Court adjudicated gross human rights violations committed by TNI officers in East Timor.
Admittedly, it takes time for TNI officers and soldiers to adjust to the new democratic, legal and political environment after the reformasi era. But returning to the New Order system would be a setback in the country's effort to reform the military, long considered an omnipotent group answerable to no one in Indonesian society.
Indonesian citizens need to feel confident that their military personnel submit to the same laws and procedures everyone else does when they violate the Criminal Code. The people are naturally suspicious that by allowing the TNI to handle everythingthat opens the door for the military to protect its members from punishment for crimes.
It is not good for the TNI or for Indonesian society in general that such suspicions exist. For instance, there have been cases of drug use and trafficking involving soldiers, but their trials and subsequent sentences have failed to satisfy the public hunger for justice.
Lawmakers' efforts to make TNI personnel accountable to civilian courts for non-military crimes is the right thing to do and the TNI should embrace the principle of equality before the law. This will accelerate internal reforms in the TNI and place the military on a par with other champions of democracy.
The writer (r-galingging2004@law.northwestern.edu) is a lecturer in law at Yarsi University in Jakarta and a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago.
| Regional/communal conflicts |
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2006
Andi Hajramurni and Ruslan Sangaji, Makassar/Poso – Troops were sent to Poso on Monday, one day after Vice President Jusuf Kalla and religious leaders here drew up a list of government steps to ensure peace in the Central Sulawesi regency.
The troops were assigned to help rebuild homes and repair infrastructure damaged in the communal bloodshed of 2000 and 2001. Economic recovery was one of three goals agreed to in meetings between Kalla and religious leaders late Sunday.
The other two priorities were law enforcement, and a commitment to investigate a police killing. In that incident, on Oct. 22, police shot and killed a man and injured a toddler, saying they were looking for terrorists.
The head of the Wirabuana territorial command, Maj. Gen. Arief Budi Sampurno, said Monday that the troops would work for up to four months to build some 1,000 temporary homes for returning refugees, as well as mosques and churches across 68 villages in Poso.
The troops would not attempt to impose order, Arief said. "I entrust security to the people and troops who are already in the area."
He added that soldiers would build a bridge and a 65-kilometer road to open access to and from the Badak village in the mountainous Tentena district. The area, known for its vanilla production, has been isolated for decades.
Thousands were displaced and some 1,000 killed in the conflict, which followed more extensive bloodshed between Christians and Muslims in Maluku province.
On Sunday, religious leaders stressed that relations between Christians and Muslims were back to normal. But the leaders, whom Kalla met separately until almost midnight Sunday, remain divided over whether police should be withdrawn from the region.
Muslims and Christians both said any current conflict in the community is with the security forces. Only Muslims have called for the withdrawal of the police, however, saying they have incited recent violence. The government has said the forces are still needed to safeguard the area.
Meanwhile, South Sulawesi police said 16 people were arrested in Makassar for attempting to terrorize people late Saturday and Sunday, when mobs set to fire three homes and vandalized a car.
Senr. Commr. Genot Haryanto, the police chief of Pare-pare regency, said the 16 men had admitted to roles in the acts. Genot said they acknowledged the crimes were committed "in solidarity" for two men kidnapped and murdered in Poso, following the execution of three Christians charged with masterminding a 2000 massacre. Genot said the suspects would be charged under the anti-terror law.
Jakarta Post - October 28, 2006
Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – The Central Sulawesi Antiviolence Caucus asserted Friday that four police generals in charge of maintaining order in the conflict-ridden city of Poso should be held responsible for the bloody incident on Jl. Pulau Irian in Gebang Rejo village, Poso, on Oct. 22 in which one man was killed and two others were injured.
The four generals cited by the caucus are National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko, crime unit deputy chief Insp. Gen. Gorries Mere, deputy chief of operations Insp. Gen. FX. Sunaryo and Mobile Brigade commander Insp. Gen. S.Y. Wenas.
Besides the four generals, the caucus also asked that Central Sulawesi Police chief. Brig. Gen. Badrodin Haiti and Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rudi Sufahriyadi be held responsible.
The demand was voiced by the caucus when representatives of the association of Muslim organizations went to the Central Sulawesi Police headquarters where they were received by deputy chief of Central Sulawesi Police Sr. Comr. I Nyoman Sindra.
The incident on Jl. Pulau Irian, popularly known as Tanah Runtuh, led to the death of Syaifuddin, who allegedly was shot by police who were about to conduct a search for weapons and ammunition. Two other people were also reportedly shot by police. One day after the incident, two other people, including a three-year-old child, were shot by stray bullets.
Head of the caucus, Harun Nyak Abu Itam, said at the Central Sulawesi Police Headquarters that the shooting was a brutal act at it was conducted by the police at Amanah Muslim Boarding House for female students.
"That was a brutal act that has gone unreprimanded. The generals are responsible for the incident. They ordered the raid," Harun said.
He said that the handling of the Poso conflict through a repressive militaristic approach had failed to bring about a permanent settlement. Instead of resolving the conflict, such an approach would only create further violence, he added.
"The security officers should have acted as protectors of the community, they should not have acted against the public," Harun said.
The caucus also accused the Central Sulawesi Police of twisting the facts through statements in the media and circulars distributed through mosques on Oct. 23.
In the circular, Nyoman said that the police did not attack Amanah boarding house, but it was attacked by local people...and this sparked the incident.
The caucus said that it was the police, who attacked the residents because the officers had been deployed there since the evening.
Meanwhile, Nyoman said police had detained six residents for carrying weapons during the incident. A number of Mobile Brigade personnel have also been questioned, he said without giving details.
Jakarta Post - October 26, 2006
Poso/Jakarta – New violence flared up in Poso, Central Sulawesi, on Wednesday when a mob of villagers ransacked a house rented by policemen after a villager was shot by security forces Sunday night.
On Tuesday, angry residents burned down a police post. Nobody was reported injured in either attack.
Muslim leaders had earlier demanded police withdraw their 3,000- strong force from the town, accusing them of bias and sparking sectarian violence in the area.
The house attacked in Lawangan subdistrict Wednesday was believed to have been occupied by four provincial police intelligence agents. They were absent at the time of the incident.
The mob of about 50 people forced their way into the house, carried the officers' clothes and laptop computers into the backyard and burned them.
Police said the incidents were likely acts of revenge following the death of a civilian, who was shot during a Sunday-night police raid on a house of suspected militants.
National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam told The Jakarta Post the latest violence involved provocateurs "who want the situation in Poso to stay unstable".
Police were searching for members of the mob, who had "carried various types of fire arms and home-made bombs", Anton said. He said the perpetrators could face up to six years in prison for vandalism and theft.
The Associated Press quoted National Police chief Gen. Sutanto saying police were needed in the area to maintain order. All security officers staying in private residences have been relocated to police barracks.
Late Sunday night, "some perpetrators tried to shoot several police members who were about to conduct a search for weapons and ammunition," Anton said. Brig. Purwanto received head injuries after being pelted with rocks. The resulting shootout left one man dead and a toddler wounded.
Poso, a town that has a roughly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, has witnessed at least 1,000 deaths from violence since 1998.
| Environment |
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2006
Jakarta – Concerned that the embankments containing the Sidoarjo mudflow might burst during the rainy season, the team overseeing the East Java disaster area has opened a spillway, a canal to divert the mud into the nearby Porong river.
The spillway is expected to divert around 864,000 cubic meters of mud each day. The flow from the botched Lapindo gas exploration well site has been increasing since it started in May this year.
"The spillway has been operating since 6 p.m. on Friday. The results have been great as the depth of the mud inside the pool has tremendously decreased," said national team director Basuki Hadimuljono on Saturday. "Unlike the pumps, the spillway is working 24 hours a day," he said.
Basuki told The Jakarta Post that the team had been working on the canal since Sept. 8. Around 100 people have worked day and night to finish the 600 meter long and 15 meter wide canal.
"We chose the spot with the lowest topography so all the mud will flow to the area. Afterward, we selected contractor PT Adhi Karya, a state-owned company, to construct it," Basuki said.
The spillway includes a filter that separates garbage and waste from the mud before it is mixed with water. Three pipes at the end of the canal then pump the mud into the Porong River. The spillway's floor is covered with plastic to prevent underground leaks.
"To prevent sedimentation, we plan to dig sand out of the river's mouth before the rainy season comes. Our calculation shows that we should dig the sand to about 45 meter in depth and 40 meters in length," Basuki said.
The spillway, like the Porong River, faces the constant threat of sedimentation, which could cause an overflow. "We will use dredges and clamp shells to dig and send the mud to the Madura Straits. The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry will assist us in the process," Basuki said.
The gushing mudflow has submerged four villages and left 12,000 people homeless.
Basuki said the local community has been awed by the spillway's reduction of the volume of mud. "Many locals gathered near the spillway and stayed there until Friday evening. I think they felt a sort of relief by looking at the decreased volume of mud inside the pond," he said.
Not everyone, however, is satisfied with this solution. Indonesian Forum for the Environment executive director Chalid Muhammad told the Post that the dumping of the mud into the river and ocean carried an invisible ecological threat.
"Digging up the sand to avoid sedimentation does not solve the problem, as the massive volume of mud could still badly affect the environment," Chalid said, adding that the government had only one provided one solution to the problem.
"(Such a) massive volume of mud has the potential to ruin the hydrological system and the metals in the mud could reduce the output of fishing products, such as organic shrimp, on the coast," he said.
Jakarta Post - October 28, 2006
Jakarta – The national team overseeing the East Java mudflow disaster is racing against time to reinforce a 7.2 kilometer embankment so that it doesn't collapse during the raining season.
The mud gushing from a well at PT Lapindo Brantas' natural gas exploration drilling site in Sidoarjo is increasing daily although some of it is now being drained into the nearby Porong River.
About 300 volunteers and 15 staff from the team, who monitor the site 24 hours a day, are working on the wall, which already holds about 90 percent of its capacity.
"We are using chemical 'X-88' to solidify and iron slag to cover the embankment. We began this work on Friday," team spokesman Rudy Novrianto said.
"We are racing against time. Our five pumps, two for mud and three for water, can only reallocate about three cubic meters of mud each second (about 160,000 cubic meters a day) compared to the 126,000 cubic meters of mud extrusion a day," Rudy said.
"We will have to increase our speed when the wet season comes," he said. The team will continually monitor the integrity of the dike until the wet season ended, he said.
The gushing mudflow, which has been blamed on Lapindo's botched oil and gas prospecting operation, has made about 12,000 people homeless.
Workers have also been dredging the Porong to ensure increased sedimentation from the mud did not cause it to flood other areas. "They are digging sand out of the river to anticipate it becoming shallower because of sedimentation," Rudy said.
Environmentalists have said dumping the mud into the river will only spread the disaster and destroy valuable fisheries when the mud reaches the sea.
They have called on the government to prosecute Lapindo – a company part-owned by the family of Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie – for negligence leading to the disaster.
A geologist and expert adviser to the national team, Soffian Hadi, believed the rain could have a positive effect on the ecological disaster.
"Rain can dilute the mud so it will be easier for the pumps to work. If the mud contains more water, then its load is thinner," Soffian told the Post. "It's a matter of balance between strong construction of the embankments and getting thinner mud to avoid further problems," he said.
However, when the rainy season reached its peak, the team would have to work hard to ensure the embankments did not collapse, he said. The team is currently testing a spill-way that could divert more mud into the Porong.
Jakarta Post - October 27, 2006
Jakarta – An environmental group is questioning the government's commitment to combating rampant illegal logging in North Sumatra, saying many cases have been left unresolved while several protected forests have been converted into forest concessions.
Greenomics Indonesia coordinator Vanda Meutia Dewi warned recently that deforestation could cause landslides and flash floods in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, and many densely populated areas in the area when there are heavy rains.
"The government has made no significant efforts to stop illegal logging in North Sumatra and more protected forests have been converted into industrial forests," she told The Jakarta Post.
She said more than 400,000 hectares of protected forest in Langkat, Karo and Natal-Mandailing regencies had been awarded as forest concessions to forestry companies.
"How dare the Forestry Minister (M.S. Kaban) sell motherland to forestry companies, who loot protected forests and national parks," she said.
Greenomics also questioned the government's seriousness in handling the illegal logging cases which involved businessman Adelin Lis, now detained at the North Sumatra Police Headquarters.
"We are disappointed by the slow progress in the investigation into the case and into a recent auctioning by the police of 9,000 cubic meters of illegal logs confiscated from Adelin's company, PT Mujur Timber Group," she said.
The seized logs should not have been auctioned off because they should be used as material evidence in the legal proceedings in court.
Adelin was arrested in Hong Kong in August after he had been on the Interpol wanted list for his alleged involvement in illegal logging in Sumatra.
Many reliable sources in Jakarta and Medan have alleged Adelin was arrested because he had paid too little to corrupt officials in protection money.
Police in Medan have targeted another timber businessman for a similar offense. The police have brought to court local businessman D.L. Sitorus, who was sentenced to six years in prison for the illegal appropriation of protected forest in South Tapanuli.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anthon Bachrul Alam denied reports that the police had orchestrated the auctioning of the illegal logs at low prices, saying the commodity had been sold before it decayed and the money went to the state coffers.
The auctioning of the illegal logs has sparked strong protests from NGOs because they were sold for Rp 350,000 per cubic meter, way below the market price.
After the auction, some 120 Mobile Brigade police came to the PT Mujur Timber Group's office in Medan, raising suspicions that the auctioning was orchestrated by the police to extort the company.
Chairman of legal watchdog Constitution Vanguard, Abdurrahman Tardjo, called on National Police chief Gen. Sutanto to take action against corrupt police officers abusing their power in handling the confiscated illegal logs.
"We suspect that many police officers have bent the law to enrich themselves and the Forestry Ministry should be involved in handling such cases," he said.
| Health & education |
Jakarta Post - October 26, 2006
Jakarta – The effectiveness of the government's plan to cage fowls in residential areas as a move to curb the spread of the deadly avian influenza virus has been met with skepticism.
The Indonesia Consumers Foundation chief Husna Zahier said Sunday that the plan would be ineffective without a careful study of poultry and the relationship with their owners.
"If people don't keep their habitat and poultry cages clean, then the policy would be pretty much useless," she told The Jakarta Post.
Further details, such as the type of poultry, quantity, purpose for keeping fowls and place where people keep them make a difference in how effective the regulation will be, she asserted.
"Keeping birds or poultry as a hobby or for eggs or meat is not the same," she said.
The National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness (FBPI), the body responsible for controlling the H5N1 virus spread, should pay special attention to the culture of the affected areas, she said.
"People handle poultry differently according to their customs and habits. This should be studied well in order to ensure effective monitoring," she said.
The central government announced last week that fowls would be separated from people in urban residential areas. The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization will assist the government in setting the time frame for the program.
Indonesia has the highest number of bird flu deaths in the world, with 55 fatalities out of 75 cases.
Jakarta, West Java and Central Java have seen the most people infected with the H5N1 virus.
Sociologist Ida Ruwaidi told the Post on Sunday that the quantity of birds, chickens and ducks that people kept in residential areas also matters tremendously.
"The large quantity of the poultry stock means that the whole community in the area, not just the local administration or fowl owners, should also take responsibility," she said.
Ida added that people's mind-set, both individual and collectively, needed to be changed to allow effective implementation.
"Without victims, many people will see the policy as just another regulation. Once someone in their area is infected by the H5N1 virus, then they would readily follow the procedure," the sociologist said.
Ida said that this regulation should be supported by a massive bio-security awareness campaign to change people's mind-set.
"The mass media, especially the broadcast media, is the most effective for raising awareness. Educational institutions and places of worship should also encourage the community to take charge in monitoring," Ida said.
She said that this would need painstaking and concerted efforts before it became second nature. Everybody in affected subdistricts, she said, should be authorized to enforce social control.
"Individuals in affected areas could be given the authority to monitor whether their neighbors have caged their fowls or let them run around in their yard," she said.
She added that besides culling, the government needed to add more facilities and monitor the caging implementation on a regular basis.
"Funding used to be the problem. Now it's up to people how much they want the eradication of avian influenza to be successful," Ida said.
Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie says the government has pledged to allocate Rp 100 billion in order to assist public health facilities in monitoring and treating patients with symptoms of avian influenza.
| Islam/religion |
Jakarta Post - October 27, 2006
Panca Nugraha and Ary Hermawan, Mataram/Jakarta – Suspected Muslim militants have attacked a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyah sect in Sulawesi on Tuesday while the group was performing Idul Fitri prayers, police say.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyah community in Buton regency, Southeast Sulawesi, was ransacked while the religious group were performing Idul Fitri prayers. "The mob smashed up the mosque with hammers, crowbars and machetes," Anton said Thursday.
Anton said the Buton Police prevented the attackers from setting the mosque on fire and evacuated members of the sect. Police were still investigating the incident, he said.
Meanwhile, members of the Ahmadiyah sect in West Nusa Tenggara, who are still waiting to be resettled after being driven out of their village early this year, held an emotional Idul Fitri near their refugee camp in Mataram on Tuesday.
The celebrations were marked by tears and hugging at the mosque where at least 250 Ahmadiyah followers congregated, including 155 people who have been forced out of their hometown in Ketapang, West Lombok.
"To our brothers who have been evacuated to this Transito building, I ask you to be patient to face this difficult time. In loyalty (to one's faith) there is always patience," Syamsir Ali, a senior member of Ahmadiyah's West Nusa Tenggara chapter, said before the prayer.
The Idul Fitri celebration is the group's first since they were chased out of their village by an angry mob nine months ago.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has issued a fatwa that bans the sect and forbids Muslims from following its teachings. It was later criticized for helping spark the violence against the group.
Ahmadiyah followers follow the Koran, Hadiths and Prophet Muhammad's teachings like other Muslims but believe Mirza Gulam Ahmad was the last prophet after Muhammad.
Tuesday's prayers ended with a modest meal. Many of the followers living in the refugee center have no sources of income after being driven off their farmland.
"I'm sad. However, I believe God will recognize our patience," said Ridwan, one of the Ahmadiyah followers.
| Opinion & analysis |
Reuters - October 31, 2006
Jakarta – The early release from jail of the son of former Indonesian President Suharto has thrown the spotlight on what critics say is a justice system still capable of being manipulated by the rich and powerful.
Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of the former strongman, was sentenced to 15 years for paying a hitman to kill the judge and other offences, but that was reduced to 10 years on appeal and further sliced by a series of holiday "remissions."
A smiling and waving Tommy left jail on Monday amid a scrum of journalists. In all, the 44-year-old served five years over the murder of the judge who had convicted him in a graft case.
"The conditional release of Tommy Suharto has ruffled our sense of justice," read an editorial in the Koran Tempo.
"The president should revise the presidential decree on remission and tighten conditions for remissions. Otherwise inmates with money will find ways to get remissions to make their time in prison much shorter," it said.
Like the newspaper, parliament chief Agung Laksono urged the government to explain to the public the factors behind Tommy's early release to dispel suspicions he enjoyed special privileges.
"They should spare time to explain why and how did this happen. If it is really justified, we would appreciate it as a necessary process. But there must be a formula that can be explained so that this case would not create all sorts of suspicions," he told Jakarta-based Radio Elshinta.
Explaining the decision, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters on Monday that under the law it had been right to release Tommy since he had served two-thirds of his sentence.
However, not all prisoners who serve two-thirds of their terms are released, and the country's justice minister was quoted as saying public attitudes could be considered.
Tommy's original sentence of 15 years had already been criticised by some as too lenient and showing Indonesian justice had one standard for the powerful and another for the weak.
Prison and other government officials have said the courts acted independently in Tommy's case and his sentence remissions were similar to those granted others.
Controversial courts
Indonesian justice has often been subject to criticism. In one controversial decision earlier this month, a three-member Supreme Court panel overturned a guilty verdict on an off-duty pilot convicted of murdering leading human rights activist, Munir Thalib, in 2004.
Rights groups say the pilot had ties to influential figures and authorities have dragged their feet investigating the case. Washington has urged Jakarta not to let that case slide.
Eluding to Tommy's playboy reputation, a cartoon in the Investor Daily pictured three beautiful women welcoming home a beaming Tommy, sporting his trade-mark mustache, now shaved off.
"Even though he is just out of jail Tommy is still a prince," said one character. But another warned: "Don't be happy just yet, other charges will follow."
Tommy's father ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for more than three decades before stepping down in 1998, and several members of his family, including Tommy, became rich.
Prosecutors had probed Tommy's role in the Timor national car project of the mid-1990s, which got special tax privileges and incurred the wrath of the international financial community which complained it flouted trade agreements. Elza Syarief, Tommy's lawyer, said her client did not face any more pending legal cases.
She said he planned to perform a haj pilgrimage, as well as spend time with his father and taking care of his businesses.
[Additional reporting by Ahmad Pathoni.]
Sydney Morning Herald Editorial - October 31, 2006
The processes of justice in Indonesia's court system continue to baffle anyone looking for consistency or punishments fitting the crime.
A well-connected member of the Jakarta elite, especially someone belonging to top military or crony circles around the former president Soeharto, can expect to spend a comparatively short time in jail, whatever the crime.
An offender from the lower social orders, or a foreigner, can expect draconian punishment, increased rather than lessened on appeal.
So it has been with Tommy Soeharto, perhaps the most egregious of the former president's children in greedy rent-seeking during his father's 32-year rule. A Jakarta judge gave Tommy an 18-month jail term in September 2000 for a real estate deal that ripped off the state food agency. This was eventually overturned on appeal, but by then Tommy had organised the judge's murder from the Jakarta safe houses where he had hidden from justice. After a year on the lam, Tommy was arrested and in September 2002 sentenced to 15 years in jail for the judge's murder.
A sentence cut of five years followed, and with cumulative remissions for good behaviour Tommy has walked free, having spent just five years in custody. He returns to enjoy the wealth of his Humpuss group, still plugged leech-like into the state oil company, and estimated variously to be worth between $US250 million and $US1 billion.
Another beneficiary of Indonesian clemency has been Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, given 14 years in jail late last year for administering a lethal dose of arsenic to the human rights lawyer Munir Said Thalib while sitting next to him on a Garuda Airlines flight. His main sentence has just been annulled by a higher court, leaving a minor accessory conviction drawing two years' jail, which will have been served in a few months.
The riddle of what Pollycarpus, an off-duty Garuda pilot, had against Munir is still unexplained – as are the 41 calls logged on his mobile phone to a deputy chief of the State Intelligence Agency. Munir's courageous work in exposing the Indonesian military's crimes against humanity in East Timor suggest a motive.
The clemency perversely shown in these murder cases, and to some involved in the Bali terrorist bombings, will make it harder for Australians to accept the more severe sentences meted out to drug smugglers and the wildly divergent sentencing patterns of different judges and courts. It will raise more questions about co-operation with Indonesian police and intelligence agencies. It will increase expectations that political pressure on Jakarta can influence sentencing and commutation decisions.
Asia Times - October 30, 2006
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono enters his third year in office, the world's most populous Muslim country is widely viewed simultaneously as one of the region's most stable democracies yet one of its most unpredictable economies.
Yudhoyono's pro-business government has successfully stabilized the country's macroeconomy. The Indonesian rupiah has gained almost 7% against the US dollar so far this year, inflation is now hovering at a manageable 7%, foreign-exchange reserves are up around US$42.3 billion, and the government is set to repay the final $3.2 billion installment it owes to the International Monetary Fund about three years ahead of schedule.
At the same time, economic growth has failed to keep pace with the improving macroeconomic fundamentals because of lingering foreign and local investor concerns about the country's overall direction. Consider: this year foreign direct investment in the nine months to September plunged by 43.85% year on year to $4.29 billion compared with $7.64 billion over the same period in 2005, according to data released by the state-run Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).
The decline indicates a precipitous drop in both the value of new projects and expansions of ongoing business concerns. The falling figures, some analysts say, can be chalked up to a lingering lack of confidence in the microeconomic environment, including encumbrances to doing business such as endemic red tape, the marriage of relatively high wages to the low productivity levels of Indonesian workers, inadequate infrastructure – especially in terms of electricity supply – and legal uncertainty surrounding the protection of foreign investments.
William Wallace, the World Bank's lead economist for Indonesia, contends that overall business optimism has improved but that investors are still waiting for policy certainty on tax and customs, labor rules and administrative simplification. "The key issue now is the revival of investment," he said.
An Indonesian Survey Institute (ISI) poll in September found that 51% of the country's eligible voters would vote for Yudhoyono for president if elections were held this year (the next polls are scheduled for 2009). However, the survey also rated his government's performance as "bad" on economic issues such as poverty and unemployment reduction.
Unemployment is a growing problem with serious social-stability implications. As of June, unemployment was 10.6%, or 11.6 million of the 106-million-strong national labor force. That's a significant 2% increase on the 9.5 million people recorded at the end of 2005. Moreover, there are more than 43 million workers classified as underemployed, defined as working less than 35 hours a week. According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), almost 40 million people live below the poverty line of about 60 US cents per day.
Need for speed
Economic reforms unveiled this year have so far failed to stimulate a new cycle of investment-driven growth. Nor has progress been made in passing crucial tax reforms designed to simplify tax laws and reduce tax rates. Even if eventually enacted by the legislature, a proposed cut in the corporate-tax rate would not take effect until 2010.
Yudhoyono's proposed business-friendly amendments to the 2003 labor law, which he later shied away from after rambunctious labor unions took to the streets in protest, remain a hot-button issue for investors. Haryo Aswicahyono, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said: "The labor situation has swung from being oppressed by the government to workers having too much power."
The business community contends that wages have risen too fast, and that with highly generous severance-pay requirements and strict regulations on contracting and outsourcing, that they are reluctant to expand their operations and payrolls. US Agency for International Development (USAID) figures show that severance pay in Indonesia is three to five times as high as in China, India, South Korea and Malaysia.
John A Prasetio, vice president of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), says the hard economic reality is that "mainstream Indonesian elites seem not to be too concerned about catching up with our competitors. Without more flexible labor laws, many jobless youths trying desperately to move out of poverty are denied entrance to the formal [economy]."
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, a strong supporter of the proposed labor-law revisions, told members of the US-ASEAN Business Council in Washington last month that Indonesia's investment and labor laws were in the process of being "re-engineered". He said he was confident that a number of pro-business reforms would be finalized by early 2007.
Economists estimate that for the country to absorb new workers entering the labor pool each year while keeping unemployment levels steady requires annual economic growth of about 6%. Yet last year's 5.6% growth rate was the highest the country had recorded since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis ravaged the local economy and pushed tens of millions of people back into poverty.
The Indonesian central bank estimates that the economy will grow by just above 5.5% this year, a respectable clip compared with other regional economies. But that's simply not fast enough for Indonesia, where an estimated 2.5 million people enter the labor force every year. Meanwhile, recent job losses in the manufacturing sector, particularly textiles, have resulted in near-non-existent job creation in the formal sector. Labor- intensive industries slashed more than a million jobs in the last three months of 2005, according to official data.
Hat in hand
The government desperately needs new foreign investment to help fund a planned $150 billion national infrastructure upgrade and to meet its annual average 6.6% economic-expansion target for the period spanning 2004-09. Investment in infrastructure has shrunk from 6% of gross domestic product in the late 1990s to a paltry 2% at present partially because of government paralysis.
The country's first-ever infrastructure conference in January 2005 was attended by hundreds of domestic and foreign investors who were invited to bid on 91 infrastructure projects worth a total of $145 billion. Yet since then there has been only limited progress in actual groundbreaking, because of regulatory and legal obstacles as well as indecisiveness on the government's part over how best to apportion risk-sharing for ventures.
Poor infrastructure, besides being one of the biggest hurdles to attracting foreign investment, now badly impairs the country's overall economic competitiveness through comparatively high costs to production and distribution. Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Manufacturers Association, says the country's faltering infrastructure, particularly crumbling road and rail networks and sputtering electricity plants, have significantly increased logistics costs, which in turn leads to higher-priced, less competitive products than those made in neighboring countries.
KADIN chairman M S Hidayat, while acknowledging the progress made in macroeconomic stability, warns that "this will be rendered useless if it does not touch upon the microeconomic aspects". KADIN wants the government to accelerate this year's budget spending to kick-start major infrastructure spending projects, including the construction of toll roads, power plants and rural infrastructure.
Infrastructure Summit II, to be held in Jakarta next week, will see about $4.5 billion worth of projects on offer to potential investors, including contracts to build new toll roads, power stations and water-supply systems. In pre-event marketing material, the government organizers claim that 24 infrastructure projects worth $6 billion have already "gone under transaction" since the January 2005 summit, including 17 toll-road projects, two gas-pipeline projects, one power-generation project and four water-supply projects.
However, the Asian Development Bank in a report last month claimed that the only contracts awarded so far have been for three gas pipelines, one power plant and three toll roads, reflecting, as the agency puts it, a "continuing incapacity to follow through on policies or regulations rather than problems with the policy framework itself".
Previous BKPM chairman Theo Toemion candidly admits that the Indonesian government has never had a clear indication of just how much is realized from the many investment approvals the agency issues. He estimates that the actual investment realized, where projects proceed to fruition, is less than 40% of foreign- investment approvals and less than 50% of approved domestic investment.
However, the slow take-up is not all the fault of the central government, which at the beginning of this year expedited budget transfers to finance regional developments in provincial areas.
Flush with development funds, many provincial governments have parked that cash in Bank Indonesia certificates (SBIs) rather than pumping it into development schemes, whereby nearly Rp45 trillion (more than $4.9 billion) is now on deposit, said Industry Minister Fahmi Idris during a recent interview with local media. SBIs severely restrict lending for domestic investment and expansion purposes, and many provincial authorities prefer to park their deposits at high interest rates paid by the central bank rather than take the risk of lending to businesses in the real sector.
Faced with these difficulties, Yudhoyono has struggled to meet his earlier policy pledges to cut poverty by one-half, keep inflation in check and create more jobs. Yet the need for strong economic stewardship is reaching a crucial juncture.
Growing unemployment and poverty carry huge political risks, not only of jeopardizing Yudhoyono's bid for re-election in 2009, but also of broad social stability across the crowded archipelago. Some reforms that have underpinned macroeconomic stability have at the same time increased economic suffering – most notably his government's tough decision last year to slash fuel subsidies.
The ultimate benchmark of Yudhoyono's political success will be a return to rapid economic growth. Increasingly it seems that won't be unattainable within the time left in his term. Moreover, a growing number of economic analysts fear that the country's improving macroeconomic fundamentals risk complacency on the economic-reform agenda, despite government denials. But if Yudhoyono fails to lure in more foreign funds to stimulate a new cycle of self-sustaining investment-led growth, the once immensely popular premier's days could be numbered at the 2009 democratic polls.
[Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has been in Indonesia for 20 years, mostly in journalism and editorial positions. He has been published by the BBC on East Timor and specializes in business/economic and political analysis related to Indonesia.]