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Indonesia News Digest 13 – April 1-8, 2007
Agence France Presse - April 4, 2007
Sunil Jagtiani, Banda Aceh – Brightly coloured new homes now dot
the Indonesian province of Aceh as it slowly rebuilds after the
devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, but some lie empty
pointing to the next big hurdle in the reconstruction effort.
Donors committed eight billion dollars to Aceh after the giant
waves tore through the staunchly Muslim province at the northern
tip of Sumatra island, killing 168,000 people. About 1.5 billion
dollars is set to be spent on housing, including the construction
of 130,000 homes.
Government figures indicate a little over 58,000 have been built,
but many lack piped water and electricity, discouraging people
from occupying them and pointing to lagging infrastructure
reconstruction.
"Coordinating infrastructure with housing is the next major
challenge," said James Adams, the World Bank's vice president for
the East Asia and Pacific region, after visiting local projects
paid for by a 650-million-dollar fund the bank oversees.
The availability of housing and essential services such as water
and power supply needed to be better aligned, he said.
The bank had been concerned about the pace of housing
construction, but Adams said he had seen evidence of significant
improvements during his early April tour, even though labour
shortages were slowing progress.
"Six months ago the basic problem was getting houses built," he
said, adding the bank had learned lessons from its experience in
the province.
"We have... just approved a major change in our emergency policy
to give us essentially an ability to do what we've done in Aceh,
but to do it more quickly," he said.
The initiative includes the establishment of a team of emergency
experts that the bank can draw from immediately a disaster
strikes.
The infrastructure problem in Aceh is apparent in villages such
as Lhok Nga which were totally destroyed by the tsunami. New
homes have been built and a number of people have moved into
them, but others lie empty and villagers say that is partly
because they lack electricity.
Many people in Aceh also still rely on daily water deliveries
from tankers, such as those living in Tibang village, where more
than a third of residents were killed by the tsunami.
A number of infrastructure projects follow after new homes rather
than being integrated with them, complicating the reconstruction
process. "The reality is that this is the way things had to be,"
said Geoffrey Read, an engineering consultant at the bank.
Around 100 million dollars worth of projects were close to being
implemented, he added, ranging from water supply to ports and sea
defences.
A total of 300 million dollars is to be spent on infrastructure
over the next three years, with more investment likely to follow
after 2010.
Government figures show about 72,000 homes still need to be
built, with the displaced still living in cramped barracks or
forced to depend on friends and relatives.
There are complaints that some non-governmental organisations,
under pressure to build houses, have failed to deliver good
quality homes resistant to earthquakes in one of the world's most
seismically active areas.
"I don't know if my house will last. We have complained but they
say they can't do anything," said a local worker, who wished to
remain anonymous.
Jakarta Post - April 2, 2007
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A majority of Acehnese people no
longer believe in the effectiveness of the Aceh-Nias
Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) and are calling
for its chief to step down, a new survey has found.
The survey was conducted by Greenomics Indonesia in March and
timed with the second anniversary of the government-backed
reconstruction agency.
It found that only 6.8 percent of the 1,475 respondents –
ranging from local elites to 2004 tsunami victims – were
optimistic of the agency's success, while the rest said they
either distrust the agency or lacked hope it could do its job.
Greenomics said that judging by the results, BRR chief Kuntoro
Mangkusubroto should step down.
"If I were Kuntoro, I would step down and take my suitcase back
to Jakarta because of the disappointment of both the local elites
and disaster victims in Aceh," Greenomics Executive Director
Elfian Effendi told The Jakarta Post over the weekend. "Quitting
BRR would be a laudable decision. The five deputies should also
take account for the slow reconstruction work."
The survey found that 94 percent of respondents were disappointed
with BRR's main programs, which centered on providing basic
supplies to victims, building houses, developing infrastructure
and motivating Aceh's economy.
Greenomics called on the new Aceh provincial administration and
other stakeholders to take concrete measures to revamp BRR in
order to finalize reconstruction work by 2009.
The reconstruction agency questioned the validity of the
Greenomics survey, calling it scientifically unaccountable. The
agency said the NGO made no mention of samples required to reach
such conclusions.
"I would appreciate Greenomics's (survey) if it was based on
standard academic methodology and findings in the field," chief
spokesman for BRR, Mirza Keumala, told the Post.
Referring to the result of a similar survey conducted by the
Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), Mirza maintained that BRR had
made notable progress in its rehabilitation and reconstruction
program over the past two years.
"The LSI survey found last December that 60 percent of the
respondents appreciated the reconstruction work positively. So,
what is wrong with us? It is unfair to under-evaluate BRR's
performance as the five-year reconstruction work is still
ongoing.
"It is not fair to say that BRR is not doing well after we
constructed 57,000 houses, 623 schools and repaired 1,200
kilometers of damaged roads, as well as five seaports, within two
years," he said, adding that BRR aimed to construct 120,000
houses in the five years.
"We have also trained more than 5,000 school teachers and
repaired 305 public health centers."
The agency has also handed over 17,400 land certificates to land
owners and measured 134,300 plots of lands damaged by the
tsunami.
Mirza urged the government to issue a regulation on land
clearance to allow BRR to speed up reconstruction efforts, and
also have Aceh's provincial agrarian office issue land
certificates to disaster victims.
West Papua
Human rights/law
Health & education
War on corruption
Politics & ideology
Government/civil service
Transport & communication
TNI/Defense
Economy & investment
Aceh
Empty homes signal new Aceh tsunami hurdle
Acehnese don't believe in BRR: Survey
West Papua
Level of confidence of Papuans in central government declining
Media Indonesia - April 7, 2007
Jakarta, The level of confidence of Papuan civil society towards the central government has declined as the result of a number of basic problems. despite the fact that improving confidence in the central government represents the most important aspect in achieving reconciliation.
This is one of the most important points to emerge from a study by LIPI, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences that was carried out in 2006. The investigation was conducted in order to consider ways of achieving reconciliation in Papua.
The chief researcher of the Tim Kajian Konflik Papua LIPI (Team to Investigation Conflict in Papua), Adriana Elisabeth, said that the central government still considers any demands made by Papuans concerning justice as being nothing more than a reflection of the desire to separate from the Indonesian Republic, NKRI. The fact is that Papuans always talk about their aspirations for independence whenever they are involved in talks with the central government.
"The government's approach tends to be very one-sided. The government thinks that it alone understands what the problems are and what the solutions are,' she said at a discussion held by the Papuan Pokja (Working Group) on Thursday, 5 April.
Take for instance the role of the Majelis Rakyat Papua (MRP). According to Law 21/2001 on Special Autonomy (Otsus) the MRP is acknowledged as occupying a key position but it does not enjoy optimal support. This is because the centre suspects that the MRP is dominated by pro-independence elements,' said Adriana.
Another member of the team, Amiruddin Al Rahab was of the same opinion. "This makes things very difficult for the MRP even though society as a whole places great expectations in that body,' he said.
Amiruddin said that this means that the formation of a Commission for Truth and Reconciliation (KKR) as provided for in the Special Autonomy law is very important as a way of achieving reconciliation.
"KKR Papua would function as a way of helping to transform the understanding of history. As things stand at present, everything is too Jakarta-centred. It would open up the whole question of history, with the Papuans being seen as the subject and not as the object,' according to Amiruddin.
Adriana also said that reconciliation as defined in Otsus is very limited. The repeal of Law 27/2004 on the KKR by the Constitutional Court has created a legal barrier. "While we await the creation of a new legal basis, it is of great important to engage in reconciliation,' she said.
Although having a KKR, would not alone resolve the human rights violations that occur in Papua, the creation of such a body would be a positive sign from the central government of its desire to resolve the conflict openly and with dignity.
But in addition, the Indonesian government needs to take action on social reconciliation as an essential part of efforts to transform the conflict in Papua. Unless there is widespread reconciliation, any efforts towards achieving a peaceful solution will only be temporary.
"Such efforts would only help to prevent open conflict. What is needed is reconciliation that can replace the resort to violence by non-violence, and strengthen the nature of democracy in Papua' she said.
LIPI believes that the formation of KKR is not simply a pledge contained in the Otsus law but a public indicator of the government's political commitment to reaching reconciliation in Papua.
Courier Mail (Australia) - April 7, 2007
[Reluctant Indonesians: Australia, Papua and the future of West Papua By Clinton Fernandes Scribe, $22.]
David Costello – The issue is on the backburner now but West Papua will inevitably blow up again and drag relations between Australia and Indonesia into crisis.
It doesn't take much to set the alarm bells ringing. Indonesia was outraged when Australia issued temporary protection visas to West Papuan refugees in March 2006. The Howard Government has been in damage control ever since – repeating endlessly that it does not support West Papuan independence and that in the pursuit of our "national interest" we should not meddle in Indonesian affairs.
This position, argues Canberra academic Clinton Fernandes, is not supported by ordinary Australians. The woeful human rights record of the Indonesian military (TNI) is no secret these days. Its strategy of using militias in campaigns of murder, rape and forced emigration were played out in front of the TV cameras during the rampages in East Timor in 1999. As Fernandes writes, an April 2006 Newspoll "found that more than 75 per cent of Australians supported the right of West Papuans to self- determination even if it meant independence from Indonesia". The author is well known as a strident critic of the Indonesian military.
He is a former Australian military intelligence officer who was dragged into controversy over leaks which showed the TNI used militias to destabilise East Timor in 1999. His house was raided by federal police but no charges were laid. Fernandes then wrote Reluctant Saviour, which analysed how Australia worked to keep peacekeepers out of East Timor ahead of the August 1999 ballot on independence.
His main achievement in this new book is to bring the complex West Papuan situation into focus. As expected, he dwells on the scandalous 1969 "Act of Free Choice", in which West Papua was forced at gunpoint to accept integration with Indonesia. Other incidents covered are the 2001 murder by Indonesia of indigenous leader Theys Eluay and the Timika ambush of August 2002, in which two American citizens were killed. The book also shines a light on some lesser known examples of Australian "meddling" in Indonesia. In 1957, then foreign minister Richard Casey shared US concerns about the erratic Indonesian leader Sukarno. Casey met US secretary of state John Foster Dulles and suggested "that it might be prudent to start thinking about breaking Indonesia up".
Australia did support American backing for breakaway military factions in Sumatra and Sulawesi. When these rebellions failed, Canberra and Washington increasingly saw the Indonesia military as an anti-communist bulwark. This translated to support for the repressive Suharto regime which took control after the bloody anti-communist purges of 1965-66.
West Papuan activists are still aggrieved by another incident which Fernandes describes. In May 1969, Australia, acting on a request from Jakarta, stopped two West Papuan leaders from travelling to United Nations headquarters in New York where they intended to raise concerns over the "Act of Free Choice".
While Fernandes is a scathing critic of both the TNI and Australian policy, he is no starry-eyed supporter of West Papuan independence. In fact, there are West Papuans who would be satisfied with more self-government, a better share of the revenues from mineral resources and a scaling down of the military presence. This, the author argues, could be achievable without separating from Indonesia.
But the key problem, Fernandes continues, is the TNI with its appalling human rights record, illegal rackets and contempt for civilian authority. There can be no proper discussion on what Papuans want when Indonesian soldiers can murder with impunity.
While his logic and research is impeccable, Fernandes's book is a little convoluted at times. The early chapters, in particular, could have done with a good edit. That said, this a valuable tool to understanding a most difficult problem on our doorstep.
Kabar Indonesia - April 5, 2007
Yermias Ignatius Degei – Papuan students in Java and Bali who are members of Front Persatuan Perjuangan Rakyat Papua Barat (F- PEPERA-PB) or The United struggle front of West Papuan People held protest in front of the Netherlands embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday (5/4).
The protesters wore head-bands printed with "Morning Star"and held some black flags written with "M" letter symbolizing Merdeka. They yelled out Papua Merdeka and songs of Papuan struggle for freedom.
According to the coordinator of the protest, Tinus Uaga, the action coincided with 5 April 1961, an important date for West Papuan people.
"On 5 April 1961, at the inauguration speech of West Papua Council – Niew Guinea Raad, the Netherlands government recognized the independence of West Papua based on article 73 of UN Charter, i.e. "All people have the right to self determination, regardless of their state of development." Then the legislative council called Niew Guinea Raad had determined and decided the symbols of West Papua state.
Through its press release F-PEPERA-PB wrote the symbols of West Papua state which had been determined or decided by the New Guinea Raad where the flag of West Papua is "Morning Star," the national anthem of West Papua is "Hai Tanahku Papua," the shield of the state is "Crown Pigeon bird," the currency of West Papua is "Gulden," the name of the state is "West Papua," and the legislative body is "Niew Guinea Raad." These symbols were determined by the the legislative body of West Papua, which was Niew Guinea Raad.
Furthermore, as de facto the West Papua nation had declared their independence on 1 December 1961. Even in her official speech, Queen Yuliana II mentioned about the independence of West Papua.
"Now we demand that the Netherlands Government have to be responsible for their speech on the inauguration of the legislative body – Nieuw Guinea Raad on 5 April 1961 recognizing the independence of West Papua. We also urge the United States, Indonesia and the UN to be responsible and to apologize for the historical mistakes and the Act of No Choice in 1969, and to carry out re-referendum for the people and the nation of West Papua," said the general coordinator of the action, Victor Kogoya.
The action was started at 10.00 WIB, at around 12.00 WIB the general coordinator and the coordinator of the action were received by the public relation staff of the Netherlands embassy. The F-PEPERA-PB through their spokesperson had delivered their demandS which are the demands of the West Papuan people. At around 12.15 WIB the protesters were still full of spirit singing and performing Jospan dance in front of the embassy despite the heavy rain.
| Human rights/law |
Agence France Presse - April 6, 2007
Presi Mandari, Jakarta – Indonesia's small, plastic identity cards may seem innocuous enough but campaigners who are trying to have the compulsory religion category dropped say they are behind many sectarian killings.
"People have been killed in sectarian conflicts because religion is mentioned on the cards," said activist Maya Safira, who heads a non-profit group that seeks to embrace Indonesians of different backgrounds.
Safira's National Integration Movement wants religion removed from the cards because Muslim-majority Indonesia has a history of religious conflict.
"We are concerned about these divisions," she told AFP at her group's headquarters in Jakarta, where religious symbols are sprawled across the walls to indicate all are welcome at her organisation.
A law passed in 2006 mandated the inclusion of religion on the identity cards, despite objections that forcing people to display their faith was a violation of basic human rights.
The archipelago nation of 17,000 islands also has a number of minority religious beliefs that critics say the law simply fails to capture.
This is because Indonesia officially recognises only six major faiths – Islam, Catholicism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.
For followers of other faiths, such as animism or local traditional beliefs, nothing is entered on the card because they practice a religion the government does not officially recognise.
While most Indonesians live peacefully together despite religious differences, many do not. That those differences can, and sometimes do, lead to fatal conflict was underscored in March when Islamic militants were jailed for up to 20 years for beheading three Christian teenage schoolgirls in 2005.
That horrific attack, carried out by a gang using a machete, took place in Sulawesi island's religiously divided district of Poso and drew international condemnation, including from the Pope.
Such bloodletting makes people look very differently at the religion stamped on their identity cards.
For Yudanegara, who uses one name, anything that marks religious division brings back awful memories. His brother perished after getting caught up in Muslim-Christian conflict in 1999 on Ambon island in Indonesia's Maluku chain.
"About 50 to 60 people from my brother's office were burned to death in a locked room," he told AFP. "My brother was a Hindu, he had nothing to do with the two conflicting faiths there, but he became a victim nonetheless."
Religious violence in the chain has killed more than 5,000 people and displaced thousands more.
Violence is not the only problem for critics who say the cards can also encourage discrimination in everyday life.
Permadi, a member of Indonesia's parliament who uses one name, follows a traditional faith generically termed Aliran Kepercayaan. The religion box on his identity card should have been left blank, but officials filled it in for him – with Islam.
Even so, he says, authorities have refused to record his daughter's marriage or to issue a certificate as legal evidence of her union.
"They refused to record the marriage of my daughter simply because her father adheres to an indigenous belief," he said. "I am living proof of the discrimination against believers in minority faiths."
Suma Mihardja of LBH Rakyat, a legal aid group, said people who practiced a religion other that the six official faiths were generally unable to obtain vital documents such as marriage, birth, death and residency certificates.
LBH Rakyat, rights activists and other campaigners have urged the government to remove religion from the cards.
Dawam Raharjo, a moderate Muslim who belongs to Muhammadiyah, a large Islamic organisation, said the nation would benefit from such a move. "It would reduce religious discrimination and violence throughout the country," he said.
Some also charge that requiring people to list their faith is an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
Abdurrahman Wahid, a leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Muslim group, said identity cards were a state matter while religion was personal. The government, he said, should not interfere in such personal matters.
"Islam does not prohibit the removal of religion from identity cards," he said. "This is an important issue because it could stop more people dying in religious conflicts."
But there are many who defend the cards against their critics. Indonesia's Minister of Religion, Muhammed Maftuh Basyuni, has reportedly said that making it compulsory to list a religious affiliation, rather than being divisive, could encourage harmony between religious groups.
It could also help ensure a person was practicing his religion properly, he said, since it made it harder for to lie about contravening religious principles.
Other defenders of the cards say it is too simplistic to blame the cards for religious discrimination or bloody violence.
Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, said the causes of religious conflict included social injustice and economic inequality rather than identity cards.
He said only secular countries omitted religion from identity documents, adding: "We do not need to follow what they do."
Associated Press - April 5, 2007
Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – The editor-in-chief of Playboy Indonesia was acquitted Thursday of charges that he violated the Muslim nation's indecency laws by publishing pictures of scantily clothed women.
Erwin Arnada had faced a maximum punishment of nearly three years in prison in a case closely watched by strict Muslims, who have loudly protested since the toned-down version of the American magazine hit Indonesian newsstands a year ago.
Efran Basyuning, presiding judge of the South Jakarta District Court, said pictures of scantily dressed women, some in underwear with their breasts partially exposed, could not be categorized as pornography under the country's criminal law.
Arnada called the ruling was a victory for free speech. "Playboy Indonesia is grateful to the readers and advertisers who have supported the magazine through this difficult time," he told reporters.
Outside the courthouse, a protest erupted involving about 100 members of the Islamic Defenders' Front, a small group with a history of attacking bars and nightclubs. More than 600 police officers armed with two water cannons stood by in case of violence.
"This is a bitter pill," said one demonstrator, Bachtiar Ali. "Do we have to wait until our wives and daughters are raped? We will keep fighting. Pornography as a moral crime that destroys the nation's faith."
Conservative Muslims smashed up Playboy's offices in south Jakarta after the magazine was launched. The magazine kept publishing, but moved its editorial offices to mostly Hindu Bali island.
Indonesia is a secular country with more Muslims than any other in the world, some 190 million. While most practice a moderate form of the faith, fundamentalists have been pushing hard to impose strict Islamic law.
Pornographic films on video, though illegal, also are sold more or less openly at stores across the country and some magazines are more sexually graphic than Playboy.
Detik.com - April 6, 2007
Hestiana Dharmastuti, Jakarta – The law is impartial, it does not recognise position or rank so whoever is guilty of murdering Munir must be indicted by the courts.
Suciwati, the widow of the late Munir, welcomes the national police's plans to reveal a new suspect in the death of the human rights activist.
"I will be please it there is progress. [But] It mustn't be some small-fry on the ground, but the intellectual actor that must be quickly brought to justice", said Suciwati when speaking to Detik.com on Friday April 6.
The mother of two children is also calling on the national police to demonstrate their courage in investigation the murder of Munir that took place on September 7, 2004.
"As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, in the eyes of the world the credibility of the Republic of Indonesian is at stake with the investigation of this case. I will continue to put pressure on the government", she said. (aan/nvt)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - April 5, 2007
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – A special rapporteur has submitted a report on the 2004 murder of Indonesian rights activist Munir Said Thalib to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR).
The report stresses the importance for Jakarta to make public the results of an investigation by an independent team and thoroughly settle the case.
Philips Alston, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, filed the report during a UNHCHR conference on March 28 in New York, which was attended by an Indonesian delegate.
"The government of Indonesia should release the final report of the (defunct) presidential fact-finding team and investigate all those implicated in the murder of Munir Said Thalib," Alston said in his report.
He also expressed deep concern over the October 2006 verdict of the Supreme Court, which cleared Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto of murder charges, despite reported evidence of a conspiracy involving numerous suspects, including some high-ranking intelligence officers.
Pollycarpus, an off-duty Garuda pilot, was on the same Garuda Indonesia flight with Munir from Singapore to the Netherlands on Sept. 6, 2004. Munir was found dead of arsenic poisoning upon arrival at Schiphol Airport.
The fact-finding team set up by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Dec. 23, 2004, carried out a preliminary investigation into the case and recommended a further inquiry into intelligence officers implicated in the murder. However, the President has yet to make public the investigation's final results.
Alston said Jakarta had been cooperative, but had yet to thoroughly investigate the murder.
The report said three senior intelligence officers – Maj. Gen. Muchdi PR, Gen. (ret) AM Hendropriyono and Col. (ret) Bambang Irawan – refused to be interviewed by the fact-finding team and failed to provide documents needed for further investigation.
The President asked the police to reopen the case following Pollycarpus' acquittal by the Supreme Court. However, the investigation, led by the head of the National Police's Detective and Investigative Unit, Comr. Gen. Bambang Hendarso, has yet to achieve any significant progress.
Hendardi, a member of the fact-finding team, and Munir's wife Suciwati, who recently met with Yudhoyono, could not describe the progress of the police investigation but said new suspects in the case were expected to be announced soon.
"We will continue monitoring the police's progress in their investigation into the case," said Suciwati.
Asmara Nababan, executive director of rights monitoring group Demos, Usman Hamid, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, and Rusdi Marpaung, executive director of rights group Impartial, welcomed the decision to bring the Munir murder to the UNHCHR. They said this would put pressure on Indonesia, which is a member of the UN body, to resolve the case.
"Indonesia will face strong resistance from other members if it wants to maintain its membership in the UNHCHR in May and if it questions human rights violations in other countries," said Asmara.
Detik.com - April 5, 2007
Djoko Tjiptono, Jakarta – After "sleeping" for so very long, there has been a new twist the Munir murder case. The team of investigators has promised that within a short time there will be a new suspect.
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Usman Hamid revealed this to Detik.com on Thursday April 5. "In the latest findings, the teams of investigators has promised that there will be a new suspect in the Munir case", said Hamid.
Hamid added however that he does not hold any big expectations that the promise will actually come true as investigators have repeatedly made promises such as this before.
"Previously they promised that a new suspect would be announced in February. Then it was postponed until March. Now the latest news is that they will announce the new suspect soon. Hopefully it is true", said Hamid. (djo/sss)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Detik.com - April 5, 2007
Djoko Tjiptono, Jakarta – Rumours that there is a new suspect in the Munir murder case are growing. And the rumour has it that the new suspect is a general. Furthermore, investigators from the national police headquarters will soon announce the name of the suspect, although it is still not possible to confirm exactly when.
The chairperson of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), Hendardi admits that he has not heard the news. If true however said Hendardi, it will be a significant development.
"I haven't heard. Although a number of journalists have confirmed the matter with me. So it is precisely from journalist friends that know about it", said Hendardi when speaking with Detik.com on Thursday April 5.
And it's not just Hendardi. National police chief General Sutanto has also been waylaid by journalists over the issue, but his answers have only made journalists even more anxious to discover whether it is true. But he didn't confirm it, nor did he deny it.
"Just be patient. It will be announced later", said Sutanto after taking part in a closed coordinating meeting at the offices of the Ministry for Political, Security and Legal Affairs on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta.
but once again however, all of this is just rumour, the truth of which still needs to be confirmed. It may be true, it could be way off the mark. So we'll just wait for further developments. (djo/sss)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| Health & education |
Jakarta Post - April 5, 2007
Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Overcrowding and poor sanitation at Tangerang Penitentiary (LP Pemuda) are said to be the main causes of the deaths of 50 inmates over the past four months.
"The prison was only designed for 800 people but it is now home to 3,816 inmates," warden Kosad Purwanto said Wednesday. He said that many of the deaths in the prison had been linked to overcrowding, poor sanitation and a lack of access to proper healthcare.
Penitentiary data shows that 10 inmates died in January, 18 in February, a further 18 in March and four more this month.
"Based on our records, most of the inmates died of respiratory problems. None of them died after an accident or violent encounter," he said, adding that 85 percent of inmates in the prison were drug users.
He said the existing 418 cells measured 1.5 square meters each and were occupied by eight to 10 inmates. They are designed for one.
Overcrowding is a widespread problem in the country's prison system.
The Justice and Human Rights Ministry, which oversees prisons, should be held responsible for the deaths, Jakarta Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) head Dedi Ali Ahmad said.
"The fact that there are hygiene problems in the (Tangerang youth) prison, which are related to overcrowding and poor sanitation, is against a UN resolution on the basic principles on the treatment of inmates," Dedi said as quoted by Antara.
Inmate numbers have recently increased at the penitentiary because it also receives prisoners through the West Jakarta Prosecutor's Office, the West Jakarta Police and the West Jakarta District Court, warden Kosad explained. The number of inmates increased from 306 in January to 1219 in March.
"The poor conditions have made inmates susceptible to disease. We have asked the Tangerang municipal health agency to provide more paramedics for inmates but there were no response," Kosad said. "There are only four doctors working here, which is certainly not enough."
Kosad said it was possible some of the prisoners had died of AIDS-related illnesses because many of them were drug-dependent and shared needles. "They even share toothbrushes, shavers and many other things," he said.
The last three inmates who died at the prison were identified as Karsim, 22, Muhamad Awage, 29, and Sudar, 25. The three died on Monday morning and their bodies were taken to Tangerang General Hospital's morgue.
Jaelani, who works at the morgue, said no autopsies had been performed on the bodies as the penitentiary had reported the causes of their deaths.
Prison doctor Ahmad Rivan said that he and three other doctors had difficulties in regularly examining inmates because of limited resources.
"Sick inmates should be isolated but this never happens here," he said, adding that the health facility in the prison could only accommodate 20 people while there were 100 patients a day on average in the penitentiary.
He said the team of paramedics assigned to the prison consisted of two doctors, two dentists and three nurses.
Jakarta Post - April 5, 2007
Emmy Fitri, Jakarta – One may well wonder whatever happened to public health and social services for it is still easy to see beggars with missing arms, legs or fingers at the traffic lights on downtown streets.
Is the presence of beggars proof of poorly or half-implemented services? The answer is always either one.
But, in bringing down the prevalence rate to one case per 10,000 population, Indonesia has come closer to reaching the global target of eliminating leprosy than a number of other countries.
The Health Ministry's Director General of Communicable Diseases, I Nyoman Kandun, said that in the past 10 years 371,000 lepers had been cured. "At national level, this disease is considered gone, but there are other regions like South Sulawesi, East Java and Maluku where new cases are being reported."
Considering the relatively low case numbers, leprosy is no longer considered a public health problem here. Though, in Kandun's words, surveillance and free medicine are readily available for those who need them.
An ancient scourge, leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Hansen's bacillus, or the Mycobacterium leprae bacterium. As the disease progresses it can cause a range of skin conditions, loss of feeling and paralysis of the hands and feet.
At an international meeting on tropical diseases in Jakarta in February a report was released that stated there were still one billion people in tropical countries suffering from debilitating and disfiguring diseases associated with poverty, but many remain untreated due to official neglect.
"Despite the existence of inexpensive and safe treatment, those who suffer from diseases such as leprosy remain untreated due to a lack of resources and political will," said Jai Narain, Southeast Asia director of communicable diseases at the World Health Organization. "These diseases are closely related to poverty. The elimination of such diseases would be a significant step toward poverty reduction," Narain said.
Narain said that despite the limited funding allocated to tackling neglected diseases such as leprosy, WHO remained committed to helping countries eradicate the disease.
"Multidrug treatment for leprosy is available for free and governments must make extra effort to optimize surveillance because early detection is one step toward curing a patient," he said.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry's Director General for Health Services, Farid Husain, said leprosy might no longer be a health issue here but the stigma attached to it lingered on.
"The Health Ministry cannot work alone in this case because it is closely related to social issues and local administration policies."
Farid said the directorate general could only ensure lepers were treated for free until they were cured. "Our health workers and leprosy hospitals must also help rebuild patients' confidence so they can begin new lives," he said.
Public education campaigns, he said, were also key to reducing the continuing stigma and prejudice against leprosy patients.
Farid nevertheless said improved health services alone would not be enough to change the attitudes and actions that affected lepers. "Local governments and related offices such as the Social Services Ministry must also work with us to make an integrated program," he said.
| War on corruption |
Jakarta Post - April 5, 2007
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The government's efforts to recover the assets of seven foundations associated with former president Soeharto has received strong support from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).
BPK member Baharuddin Aritonang said Thursday that the assets of the foundations should be placed under government control as, according to the 2003 State Finances Law, they should properly be categorized as state assets.
"It's stipulated in this law that any entity founded using state funds must be included in the state-asset category," he was quoted as saying Wednesday by Antara.
Baharuddin further said that the BPK would conduct an audit on the foundations' assets as soon as they were recovered and incorporated into the government's budget accounts.
The Finance Ministry's director for budgetary accounting, Hekinus Manao, had previously said that the government intended to seize the assets as the foundations had been liberally endowed using the profits of state firms.
Hekinus declined to name the seven foundations or the total value of the assets involved. However, he said that the Finance Ministry had identified assets worth Rp 31.28 billion (US$3.4 million) at the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah cultural park in East Jakarta, which belongs to the Harapan Kita Foundation – one of the foundations associated with Soeharto.
Former president Soeharto established 11 foundations during his time in office, whose activities cover such fields as healthcare, education, religious affairs, disaster relief, and the funding of the Golkar Party and its affiliated organizations.
The eleven foundations are the Dharma Bhakti Sosial Foundation (Dharmais), Supersemar Foundation, Dana Karya Abadi Foundation (Dakab), Amal Bhakti Muslim Pancasila Foundation (AMP), Dana Mandiri Foundation (Damandiri), Dana Gotong Royong Foundation, Seroja Foundation, Harapan Kita Foundation, Mangadeg Foundation, and Ibu Tien Soeharto Foundation – the last named in honor of Soeharto's wife.
Soeharto resigned in disgrace in 1998, with the public convinced that he and his family had squirreled away a fortune amassed on the back of rampant corruption during his 32 years in power.
Under intense public pressure, the government then sued the foundations seeking to recover funds that were alleged to have been stolen from the state. However, little progress has been made, and the foundations retain full control of their assets. Hekinus said that the Finance Ministry had been trying to convince the trustees of the foundations to voluntarily surrender the assets, but had thus far failed.
On behalf of the foundations, Dana Mandiri Foundation secretary Soebijakto Tjokrowardoyo was quoted by the Koran Tempo daily as saying that while there had been talks with the Finance Ministry, these had not involved the handing over of the foundations' assets as the government's claim was still before the courts.
Meanwhile, Soeharto's lawyer, O.C. Kaligis, was quoted by detik.com as saying that the Finance Ministry would first of all have to bring a fresh action against the foundations if it wanted a court order to seize their assets.
Jakarta Post - April 4, 2007
Jakarta – Professionals, lawmakers, academics and journalists have joined forces to urge President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to honor his campaign commitment to eradicate corruption at all levels.
In a communique issued Tuesday, the group Civil Society Professionals asked the government to target those involved in major corruption cases.
"We support the work of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Anti-Corruption Court and other institutions enforcing the law and attempting to eradicate corruption, and the drive against those who have stolen billions of rupiah, such as in the Bulog case. But it is only right that they be asked not to forget those who have stolen hundreds of trillions of rupiah," Hidayat Nur Wahid, speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), told reporters during the release of the communique at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta.
He said it was his duty as a lawmaker to remind the government that MPR Decree No. 11/1998 required a state free from corruption, collusion and nepotism, and that MPR Decree No. 8/2001 demanded the eradication of corruption.
"What we are declaring today is meant to emphasize and to remind us all that the state still has obligations to discharge in relation to these decrees.
"What the President initially instructed and what has been mandated through the MPR decrees seems to be getting no support from law enforcement agencies. In fact, they should be at the front in corruption eradication," said Hidayat.
The communique was signed by 10 leading figures, including Hidayat, Syafii Ma'arif of the Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, Hasyim Muzadi of Nahdlatul Ulama, scholar Ichlasul Amal, lecturer Franz Magnis-Suseno, economist Faisal Basri and rights lawyer Patra Zen.
The chairman of Civil Society Professionals, Ismet Hasan Putro, told reporters: "This is the time for serious and tough law enforcement against state officers and businessmen who embezzled funds from Bank Indonesia liquidity funds, causing more than Rp 600 trillion (US$65.9 billion) in losses to the state."
Ismet added that there were at least three tycoons who still owed more than Rp 50 trillion to the state. He identified the three as Anthony Salim, Samsul Nursalim and Sukanto Tanoto.
He claimed these men were declared bankrupt in 1998 but in five to six years time had re-amassed their wealth and the assets they handed over to the state were not equivalent to the amount of money they owed.
"How can people like these be allowed to be present at a function at the Presidential Palace? At a time the people are struggling for rice, (they) were having coffee with the President. The money that should have been confiscated from them would be enough to feed the people," he said. Ismet said the President needed to offer firmer leadership in the war on corruption.
Faisal Basri, a leading economist, who also attended the meeting, said "Those who embezzled the (Bank Indonesia liquidity) funds are criminals, but the state has allowed them the opportunity to hand over assets equivalent to the amount they had to repay. However, they still tried to deceive the state by repurchasing their assets or offering them to others as collateral."
He said these entrenched economic tycoons were dangerous because they were still dictating to the government and law enforcement agencies.
| Politics & ideology |
Jakarta Post - April 5, 2007
Jakarta – Members of the United National Liberation Party (Papernas) on Wednesday reported the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and Islam Defense Warriors to the city police for attacking them in a rally last week.
Accompanied by lawyers from the Jakarta chapter of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), 17 members of the new leftist party, Papernas told police they were physically assaulted during a rally on Thursday last week on Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.
The 2,000 supporters and members of Papernas were on the way to Hotel Shangri-La to protest a meeting on the Millenium Development Goals and the newly passed Foreign Investment Law when members of the two organizations attacked them.
"Police must arrest the leaders of these organizations," Roder Nababan, coordinator of the advocacy team from LBH Jakarta, said at city police headquarters.
The FPI is led by Habib Muhammad Rizieq while the LPI is led by Habib Muhammad Assegaf. In 2002 Rizieq was sentenced to seven months' jail for attacking a bar in Kemang, South Jakarta.
Roder said Papernas had been given permission by police to hold the rally, therefore he regretted they had failed to protect the victims when the incident took place.
One of the victims, 56-year-old Sri Mulyati, a resident of Cengkareng, West Jakarta, said she was hit in the head and hand during the assault. Siswoyo, 78, also from Cengkareng, said he had sustained a head injury after the minibus he was in was attacked.
Tempo Interactive - April 3, 2007
Dini Mawuntyas, Madiun – Scores of protesters from the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) in the Central Java city of Madiun set fire to pieces of white cloth symbolising the flag of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) at a demonstration in front of the Madiun Matahari Plaza on Tuesday April 3.
The protesters were demanding that the FPI be disbanded and that the national chief of police fully investigate the attack by FPI and its allies against hundreds of Papernas members in Jakarta several days ago.
Unfurling Papernas posters and banners, the protesters held a march from the Madiun town square towards the Matahari Plaza. "The FPI is a mirror of the New Order that uses reactionary violence", said field coordinator Bram Prayugo.
The action by Papernas sympathisers in Madiun follows a clash between Papernas demonstrators and the FPI and Betawi Brotherhood Forum in Jakarta on Thursday March 29.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Green Left Weekly - April 4, 2007
Max Lane – On March 28 and 29, a series of rightist mobilisations took place in Jakarta, including a 500-strong mobilisation aimed at disrupting a march and rally organised by the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas). The Papernas rally was protesting foreign domination of the Indonesian minerals sector and demanding its nationalisation. The right-wing thugs were armed with scythes, knives and canes. This was the fourth time in the last six months that Papernas has been targeted.
According to the Kompas daily newspaper, the following groups were involved in the attacks: Forum Betawi Rempug (FBR), Front Pembela Islam (FPI), Pelajar Islam Indonesia, the Indonesian National Patriotic Movement and the Front in Defence of the Red and White Flag. The Anti-Communist Movement (GERAK) also joined these groups in other smaller mobilisations.
Anti-communism
The common theme in these attacks has been virulent anti- communism. The government has created an atmosphere encouraging these small rightist groups by launching its own anti-communist campaign through the attorney-general's department. This campaign has not been aimed at Papernas, but at a second group that also came under attack from rightist groups on March 28 – the numerous historians who have been writing new histories of Indonesia in the more free atmosphere after the fall of the Suharto dictatorship.
Last week, the attorney-general banned 14 history textbooks. Earlier, writers and even education ministry officials had been summonsed as part of a criminal investigation initiated by the attorney-general's department. The historians' "crime" is that they no longer label the actions of a group of military officers who detained and later killed seven generals on September 30, 1965, as part of a plot by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). The military officers who led the action to arrest their seniors, whom they claimed were plotting to overthrow President Sukarno, called themselves the Thirtieth of September Movement (G30S). General Suharto, whose faction seized control of the army, started a campaign to describe the G30S as a PKI conspiracy, labelling it the G30S/PKI. The PKI was banned and more than a million of its members and supporters killed in an army-led pogrom.
The new generation of historians have written textbooks that refer to G30S and, sometimes, provide alternative explanations of what happened in 1965. That they do not continue to blame the PKI is considered a criminal act by the attorney-general's department. A 1967 resolution of the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR), which had been purged of all its left-wing members, banned the spreading of Marxism-Leninism. This resolution, which in effect bans communism, is still in place.
On March 28, 20 members of GERAK protested at the Indonesian Academy of Sciences, calling on it to clean itself of communists and singling out historian Asvi Warman Adam, one of the most active writers and campaigners for an end to the falsification of history, particularly the events of 1965. Other groups demonstrated at the attorney-general's department supporting the ban on the history textbooks.
Attacks on Papernas
Papernas meetings were also attacked in Surabaya and Jogjakarta last year and in East Java earlier this year. The party that initiated Papernas's formation, the People's Democratic Party (PRD), last came under this kind of attack in 2001 when it was seen to be supporting then-president Abdurrahman Wahid, who had called for an end to the ban on all ideologies including communism. In these earlier instances, the group leading the attacks was the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front (FAKI), which was able to mobilise 50-100 armed men.
In most of these earlier cases, the police stood between FAKI and the Papernas events, so that no actual physical attacks took place. At the same time, the police applied pressure on Papernas to prematurely close its activities. The laws banning communism, which have not been questioned by any party in parliament, lend enormous legitimacy to these groups' activities in the eyes of the police, many of whom reflect the conservative mentality developed during the Suharto years. As a result, while Papernas has refused to be intimidated and has continued to campaign, some of its events have been affected.
As part of launching Papernas's political campaigning following its founding congress in January, the party scheduled a series of rallies including a Jakarta People's Rally to demand the nationalisation of the mining sector. Of the 137 oil and gas companies operating in Indonesia, 110 are foreign owned, with contracts giving them exploration rights over 35% of Indonesian territory, according to Papernas's analysis. The occasion for the demonstration was the parliament's discussion of new laws on investment and a UN seminar at the Shangri-La Hotel reviewing Indonesia's progress in meeting the UN's Millennium Development Goals.
According to Papernas chairperson Agus Jabo, on the morning of March 29 around 2000 Papernas supporters, many of them members of urban poor campaign groups, headed for Jakarta in buses. They had been saving for months, donating a few cents a day so they could hire the buses. As they arrived at the second of their protest destinations, the Shangri-La Hotel, they came under a surprise attack from around 100 members of the FPI, FBR and other groups wielding knives and canes. The attackers threw stones into the crowd and smashed at least 20 bus windows. The overwhelming majority of the Papernas supporters were housewives, unarmed and many with young children. They were forced to disperse, heavy rain making the situation even more difficult. The Papernas supporters later regrouped back in their base areas, but had to cancel their planned afternoon Jakarta People's Rally at the Independence Proclamation Park, where another 300 or so FPI and FBR members and others were also waiting.
Jabo said that at least 10 people had to be taken to hospital. According to Kompas, the head police detective was also injured. Despite knowing of the threats, the police mobilised only a very small contingent to the event, which was totally ineffective in protecting the rally. The police only issued the paperwork making the rally and march legal at the very last minute, using the threats and possible violence as a reason for holding up the bureaucratic permission process.
Still moving forward
Papernas members report that the feeling among their supporters after regrouping back at their base was strong and angry. "Later in the afternoon on March 29, we held a press conference protesting the events", Jabo explained by phone. "There were other groups there who had suffered similar harassment the day before, such as the Coalition Against Foreign Investment, an NGO coalition that had protested outside the parliament." At the conference, a joint protest statement was signed by Papernas and the two main Indonesian human rights organisations, Imparsial and Kontras, as well as the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and the pro- democracy advocacy group DEMOS. Other groups, including the Working People's Association (PRP), have also since issued solidarity statements.
"We will also be suing the FPI and FBR for the damages to the buses and to the ten people who were hospitalised, some beaten, some suffering heart problems", Jabo said.
Dita Sari, Papernas's presidential candidate, also relayed over the phone how three of the women at the rally also spoke at the press conference. "They told how these armed men demanded they confess to being paid to attend the rally. They refused, saying that they had instead donated 10,000 rupiah to pay for the buses. The gang members demanded the women confess to being communists, but they explained they were religious people and were there to support education and health for poor people. Others gave evidence of how they were beaten with bamboo canes.
"Again and again we have seen how the police cannot be relied on at all to protect our rights. I think this means that whenever Papernas organises events in the future we will need to have our own self-defence group for protection", Dita said.
At the same venue, another meeting was being held to organise resistance to the attack on the historians. Hilmar Farid, one of the most active of the historians, said they would be thinking of how to link the responses to the increasing activity of the right-wing groups. As well as their petition campaign they are trying to organise a major public forum to debate the issue of the right to interpret history.
"It seems there is a conflict sharpening between some of the old Suharto-era groups and the elite factions who are trying to consolidate their power", Jabo said. "Both, of course, want to shore up the neoliberal economic system, so they don't like our policies. But it may be that the old New Order elements, now out of power, are trying to provoke wider horizontal conflict as a way of destabilising or discrediting those now in power. The groups who attacked us are just the manipulated agents on the ground, not the real forces pushing this process along."
Liputan 6 - April 4, 2007
Jakarta – There was once a period when rival ideologies were deep and prevalent across this land. At that time political ideologies became the supreme commander. Political forces were divided based on ideological differences. This competition took the form of demonstrations and political pamphlets in the streets.
History it seems repeated itself last week. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which is part of the Anti-Communist Command, attacked a rally by National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas) who they accused of being leftist. "This harms democracy", said the head of Papernas' advisory committee, Dita Indah Sari during a discussion on "This Week's Topic" aired Wednesday April 4.
Aside from Dita, also present was Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) historian Asvi Warman Adam, Indonesian Movement of National Patriots (GNPI) chairperson Alfian Tanjung and the executive director of the Institute for Policy Studies, Fadli Zon. They were invited to the SCTV studios to discuss the controversy surrounding Papernas.
Opposition against Papernas started in late January when it was launched in Kaliurang, Yogyakarta. At the time the Indonesian Anti-Communist Front (FAKI) asked the police to disband the event on the grounds that Papernas is a reincarnation of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) that they believe goes against the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly decree on the prohibition of Marxist and Leninist ideology(1).
It may well be that FAKI brands Papernas as a communist party. But this is not so according to Dita. She admits that they are leftist but rejects it being referred to as communist. "As if all of the 'left' is communist", said the founder of the People's Democratic Party.
Dita also condemned the methods used the FPI who she cites as having committed physical violence against women and children during the clash in the Dukuh Atas area on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta on March 29. The different views held by political parties can only be resolved through the courts so she is asking that the issue be resolved legally.
Tanjung's views are of course different from Dita. The head of the GNPI believes Papernas is an embryonic communist party. This is because the party always takes up issues of poverty and social problems as its main agenda. According to Tanjung, this is done only to attract the masses before metamorphosing into a communist party. "It is already approaching the next jump, not much is left now", said the man who sports a thin beard.
There may well be no end in sight to the counter accusations that Papernas is or is not a communist party. According to Adam, Indonesian people's fear of communist ideas cannot be separated from the experiences of the past. The people are still traumatised by the 30 September Movement(2) and Indonesian Communist Party rebellion in Madiun in 1948(3).
According to Adam it is only human to have such fears. Even other countries such as Germany are still traumortised over the Nazis and its ideas of ultra-nationalism. Likewise also with Malaysia and the Malaysian Communist Party. Therefore he agrees with the regulations in these two countries that prohibit parties whose ideology is deemed to endanger the country.
But making a problem out these differences will of not course resolve the actual issues. Moreover what is being discussed is party ideology that is not easy to just change. Because of this Zon hopes that the two side will forget the dim historical past and accept their differences with an open heart. With this endorsement, Papernas is not a communist party because it would be in conflict with Law Number 27/1999 on the prohibition of the communist parties(4). "If it is not communist why not?" said the editor of the book "Testimonies of the Victims of Brutality of the PKI in 1948".
Although holding different views on the question of Papernas, the four have one thing in common that should be supported. That is the need to resolve the problem peacefully. Although it may not be able to be resolved through dialogue, they agree with resolving it in the courts. Not through counter agitation that will only lead to the spilling of blood and a repeat of this nations dim history. (YAN/Tim Liputan 6 SCTV)
Notes:
1. Tap MPRS XXV/1966 - Provisional People's Consultative Assembly Decree Number XXV/1966 on the Dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party and Prohibitions on Marxist, Leninist and Communist Teachings
2. G30S - A group of military officers who detained and later killed seven generals on September 30, 1965 that the New Order regime officially described as a PKI conspiracy, labelling it G30S/PKI. The PKI was later banned and more than a million of its members and supporters killed in an army-led pogrom.
3. The so called Madiun revolt was triggered by an attempt by Vice President Hatta in alliance with right-wing military officers to disband the PKI and left-wing military units. The conflict culminated when pro-PKI soldiers seized control of the city of Madiun in Central Java in September 1948. The city was retaken and thousands of PKI members massacred and key communist and left-wing leaders of the nationalist movement were arrested and executed.
4. Law No. 27/1999 is a revision to the Criminal Code that codifies MPRS Decree Number XXV/1966.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| Government/civil service |
Jakarta Post - April 2, 2007
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – As lawmakers continue scoring political points with Muslim voters by slamming the government over Indonesia's support for UN sanctions against Iran, observers are urging the House to focus on problems at home.
Several experts and experienced diplomats agreed that the House of Representatives should focus on crucial domestic problems, such as gas supplies, the Sidoarjo mudflow and rice imports, rather than attempting to gain politically from the issue of Iran.
While a strong domestic reaction to Indonesia's UN vote was understandable, Maarif Institute executive director Raja Juli Antony said the issue was being politicized beyond all reason.
"As the House of Representatives is a political body, we can understand if its members look for political gain. However, they should consider using political maneuvers, such as interpellation, for the benefit of the people," he said.
He said there were numerous domestic problems that needed to be dealt with, such as rice shortages and rampant corruption.
An international relations expert at the University of Indonesia, Haryadi Wirawan, said there was no need for the House to summon and question members of the government, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, about Indonesia's support for the UN resolution.
"I am afraid they are merely aiming at getting sympathy from Muslim voters ahead of the 2009 national elections. The Iranian nuclear issue is not that crucial to the public that the lawmakers need to devote their time and energy to it," he said.
Members of the UN Security Council, including Indonesia, unanimously voted on March 24 to impose more sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.
Indonesia's decision angered lawmakers and several Islamic organizations, which accused the government of betraying the people here. More than 180 lawmakers from nine factions, excluding the Democrat Party, have signed a petition calling for the House to summon the President over the issue.
Hassan said Indonesia supported the UN resolution because it believed that it prioritized negotiations that would lead to a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue.
While dismissing any possible pressure from the US, Hassan said most of the provisions in the resolution, which gives Iran and Western nations room to find a peaceful solution to the standoff, were consistent with Indonesia's position on the issue.
An international relations expert at Padjajaran University in Bandung, Teuku Reza Syah, said the government's decision to support the resolution must have been a tough one. "The decision is in line with our national interests, although I don't know what we obtained from the support as the deal remains a secret," he said.
Former Indonesian ambassador to the UN Sumadi Brotodiningrat said supporting the UN resolution, which accommodated several proposals from Indonesia and was approved by the 14 other UN Security Council members, was the right thing to do.
"If our amendments were included in the resolution then there was no reason for us not to accept it. Besides, all members, including Russia and China, supported the resolution," he said.
However, an international law expert at the University of Indonesia, Hikmahanto Juwana, warned the vote had cost Indonesia its credibility as a mediator in the Middle East as well as the trust of the people at home.
All agreed that Indonesia should now be consistent in working to prevent military action against Iran and resolve this standoff peacefully.
| Transport & communication |
Associated Press - April 7, 2007
Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – An Indonesian passenger jet was flying at up to 265 mph, almost double the normal landing speed, when it crash-landed one month ago, killing 21 people, a chief investigator Saturday.
A preliminary accident report has not yet determined, however, if pilot error caused the Boeing 737-400 to overshoot the runway, skid into a rice field and burst into flames at the Yogyakarta airport, Marjono Siswosuwarno said.
"The plane was flying well above the normal landing speed of 140 knots (160 mph) when it crash-landed," he said, putting the speed as it approached the runway at between 255 mph and 264 mph. "We are still interrogating the pilots to figure out why this happened... we haven't determined yet if it was pilot error."
Aviation experts confirmed that speed and flap warnings would have sounded in the cockpit and the pilot should have aborted the landing, according to The Sydney Morning Herald, which said it obtained a copy of the confidential Transport Safety Committee report.
It claimed the airport runaway also did not meet international safety standards – with a safety run-off a quarter of the recommended length – and that weather was good despite claims by pilots of a serious downdraft.
The March 7 crash was the fourth accident involving a commercial jetliner in Indonesia since 2005. Experts say poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of properly trained pilots may contribute to the sprawling country's poor aviation safety record.
On Saturday, a privately owned, propeller-driven Cessna 172-P crashed on the outskirts of Indonesia's capital during a training flight, injuring three people onboard, two of them critically, police and witnesses said.
Jakarta Post - April 4, 2007
Banten – Safety inspectors have seized hundreds of items of marine safety equipment aboard ferries crossing the Sunda Strait in Merak Port, Banten, due to their allegedly falsified expiry dates.
Port authority head Dalle Effendi said Tuesday the confiscated equipment had expired in 1998 but the expiry date on its packaging was 2010.
The safety equipment, including smoke flares, rockets and emergency food supplies, was stored in 25 lifeboats aboard a number of ferries. Dalle, however, did not identify the ferries, saying only that the investigation was ongoing.
He said ferry crew members had tried to convince the safety inspectors the equipment had been checked and would not expire until 2010.
Besides keeping the ferries from leaving the port, the port authority also sent out a letter notifying sea safety equipment companies of the finding.
The port authority had previously acknowledged that more than half of the ferries sailing from Merak Port to Bakauheni on Sumatra island did not meet international safety standards.
According to Dalle, the central government was largely to blame for not putting a limit on the age of vessels. Therefore, he urged the Transportation Ministry to ban vessels over the age of 20 years from operating, for passengers' safety.
"Setting an age limit will help minimize accidents at sea," he said, adding that the age of ferries crossing the Sunda Strait ranged from 15 to 37 years.
| TNI/Defense |
Jakarta Post - April 2, 2007
Rizal Sukma, New York – These days, it is so tempting to write about Iran and the domestic reaction to Indonesia's voting in favor of the UN Security Council resolution sanctioning Tehran over its nuclear program.
However, I managed to resist the temptation when, after browsing the news about Indonesians' reaction to the vote in my office at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York, I found more disturbing news: Mohammad Anis, the editor of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's website, was beaten up and almost killed by a drunken soldier, for no reason whatsoever. Anis was quietly eating his dinner when he felt the obligation to calm the soldier, who was causing trouble in the vicinity. For that noble intervention, he was badly beaten up.
Unlike the case of Iran, no politicians rushed to his defense and raised the issue in public. To many politicians in this country, Anis might not be an important figure. But what he experienced that night – beaten up and almost killed by a soldier, who is supposed to protect the nation from external threats – is really the tip of the iceberg.
The problem goes deeper than just a matter of an individual member of the armed forces exercising his physical power over an ordinary citizen. It is not an isolated incident, and should not be seen as one. It is a problem that goes deeper into the wider problem of the unfinished military reform.
Why do I think this problem is important, perhaps even more important than the Iranian nuclear issue? For one, the incident could have happened to me, to you and to anyone in Indonesia. It could have been me, you or even a member of parliament who was beaten up for trying to calm a drunken soldier. I believe any good citizen – as demonstrated by Anis that night – would have intervened to calm the soldier.
More importantly, the soldier had no hesitation whatsoever to beat and even try to kill a citizen.
He might have been drunk at the time, but that is also part of the problem. How on earth can a soldier, wearing a military uniform, which means he is on duty, get drunk? Why did the soldier have no problem whatsoever with drinking to the point of drunkenness? Why was he not afraid of his superiors or of being punished for drinking while on duty? All these questions point to the problem of a lack of discipline. This is the first aspect of the problem that we find in the incident.
The second aspect relates to the fact that there have been a number of incidents in the past where soldiers displayed and exercised naked physical force, if not violence, against ordinary citizens. In Pekanbaru, Riau, on March 27, a member of the Navy reportedly tortured a 19-year-old woman accused of stealing a cellular phone from a customer at a cafe. The soldier reportedly set fire to the girl's hands and feet.
This was only the latest incident of violence inflicted upon ordinary citizens by members of the Indonesian Military (TNI). I also remember a case in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, where two journalists from TV7 and MetroTV were beaten up by rogue members of the military.
The fact that some members of the military find it so easy to use violence against civilians clearly demonstrates the presence of a culture of violence within the rank and files. Some of our soldiers still see their status as members of the armed forces as a reason and excuse for arrogance.
We, of course, cannot blame this entirely on the soldiers. The culture of violence was pervasive within the armed forces during the New Order era. In fact, this culture of violence was embedded in the nature of the New Order, as an authoritarian regime.
Now, as Indonesia consolidates its democracy, and with the principle of civilian supremacy having been enshrined in the 2002 National Defense Law and the 2004 Indonesian Military Law, it is important that the government also look at how this problem of violence might be addressed.
True, we need to boost the defensive capabilities of our armed forces, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono stated recently to the House. It is also true that our armed forces needs a deterrent capability. But we also need to deter members of the armed forces from committing violence against ordinary Indonesian citizens.
For that, further military reform is imperative.
| Economy & investment |
Jakarta Post - April 5, 2007
Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The government will allocate more money for infrastructure development in next year's budget in an effort to ease the distribution bottlenecks that have seriously hampered the country's economic growth.
"The bottleneck problem will become worse in 2008 if nothing is done to deal with the infrastructure issue," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said Wednesday in Jakarta.
Boediono said that the government planned to increase spending on infrastructure by 34 percent to Rp 56 trillion (about US$6.2 billion) next year from Rp 41 trillion this year. The Public Works Ministry and Transportation Ministry would receive Rp 34.3 trillion and Rp 24.2 trillion, respectively.
The Rp 56 trillion would include Rp 7.03 trillion for the regions paid out of the Special Transfer Fund (DAK).
The coordinating minister stressed that while infrastructure spending would account for the biggest increase in budget spending, human development would also remain a top priority.
Human development, which includes education and health, would receive some Rp 83 trillion next year, an increase of about Rp 7.9 trillion over this year's figure. The human development allocation would therefore account for about 15 percent of total 2008 budget spending, which Boediono estimated would amount to Rp 554 trillion.
He said that the 6.8 percent growth penciled in for 2008 would be difficult to achieve if nothing was done to speed up the construction of infrastructure, such as new expressways and power plants. "We have acute experience of these problems. We lack electricity, expressways, ports," he stressed.
He said that to achieve the 2008 growth target, the government would further relax its fiscal policy. "We have decided to change our fiscal policy to support economic growth," he said, explaining that up until 2005, post-crisis fiscal policy had been primarily intended to achieve fiscal consolidation. "We have now entered a period where spending should serve as a stimulus for growth," he explained.
The country's tax to GDP ratio has slowly climbed from less than 10 percent in 1999 to 12 percent in 2006. The ratio is expected to rise to 13 percent this year. Meanwhile, with the latest debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the debt to GDP ratio has fallen to 42 percent from 60 percent in 2004 and 100 percent in 2000.
The government is predicting that year-on-year inflation will remain moderate at 6 to 6.5 percent next year, while Bank Indonesia (the central bank) is expected to further trim its key rate to 7.5 percent. The oil price reference employed for the 2008 budget is US$57 per barrel, while the country is expected to produce 1.034 billion barrels per day.
Foreign exchange reserves are forecast to grow to between $59.3 billion and $61.1 billion next year, from $51.6 billion at present, with the average rupiah-US dollar exchange rate remaining at Rp 9,300 per dollar.
"It is actually possible to achieve 7 percent growth, as we did before the 1998 crisis, which in itself was a remarkable achievement. The difference now is that we have to do it in a different social and political environment – a more democratic society," he said.
Jakarta Post - April 2, 2007
Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – Despite the enactment of the Investment Law last week, business players continue to reserve their enthusiasm, maintaining that it is far from enough to improve the country's investment climate.
"The new law gives legal certainty for business, especially on the land-use rights issue. However, the law is not the sole panacea to improve the investment climate," Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) chair Mohammad Sulaiman Hidayat told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
He said the extension of cultivation rights from a maximum of 60 years to 95 years would provide significant stability for long- term investments. "Malaysia and Singapore also offer land-use rights above 75 years. I think what we have now is comparable to our competitors."
Hidayat said the new tax incentive schemes offered by the law would also encourage more investment for big and small players alike. "In terms of creating a balance between small and big players, the law is able to do that."
He was quick to add, however, that the law was only the first step in moving toward a better investment climate. He stressed that it must be accompanied by revisions to the current tax law and labor laws to ensure climate improvements.
Last week, the House reached a deadlock in deliberating the tax bill and postponed further discussion until the recess period ends next month.
The ongoing debate on the revision to the labor law among representatives from the government, business players and labor unions is also still far from reaching a breakthrough.
"Of the three, the labor law is the most crucial to improve investment. After talking with the government, I don't see the law can be concluded this year."
If the revision is not concluded this year, Hidayat warned, then it would also be difficult to do so next year, as political parties and legislators would be focused on the 2009 election.
"After all, laborers are also their constituents," he said. Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Sofyan Wanandi and Indonesia Australia Business Council (IABC) president Noke Kiroyan also said the new investment law would not amount to much without revisions to tax and labor laws.
"The new law is definitely better than the old one. It gives equal treatment to both local and foreign investors. But that is not enough. We need to conclude the revisions of tax and labor laws so that investments can actually come in," Sofyan said.
"A law can be excellent. However, implementation is more important, especially at the local government level. This is what concerns foreign investors the most," he added.
"It is of course a benefit for us to have the new law. However, tax and labor reform is far more important," Noke said.
Investment Law Features: