| Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia | |
Indonesia News Digest 21 – June 1-7, 2007
Xinhua News - June 5, 2007
Jakarta – The Indonesian government was grateful and delighted
with the use of Bahasa Indonesia as one of the official languages
in neighboring Timor-Leste, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
said Tuesday.
"I really appreciate and welcome the use of Bahasa Indonesia as
an official language in Timor-Leste," he said in a joint
conference with his Timor-Leste counterpart Jose Ramos Horta
here. "We hope universities in Timor-Leste will open Bahasa
Indonesia department to help strengthen bilateral ties," he said.
Horta at the end of his remarks said he hoped he would be able to
deliver speeches fully in the Indonesian language in his next
visits to the neighbor.
Most of the people in Timor-Leste understand and still use Bahasa
Indonesia in daily lives. Timor-Leste was under the Jakarta rule
for 24 years before it gained independence following a UN-
sponsored referendum in 1999. The half-island country officially
proclaimed independence in May 2002.
Agence France Presse - June 4, 2007
Jakarta – Muslim hardliners stormed a church in Indonesia during
services, smashing images of Jesus Christ and demanding that it
be closed down, the pastor said on Monday.
Dozens of churches have had to be closed in the Muslim-majority
country in recent years, and Sunday's attack was the second on
the small Protestant church in the West Java town of Soreang
since 2005.
Reverend Robby Elisa, who heads the church, said around 100
hardliners attacked while Sunday school was in session. He said
his wife was beaten and that at least four stained glass
depictions of Jesus were smashed.
"They came and forced their way into the church," he said. "The
attackers claimed to be from the Anti-Apostate Movement Alliance.
The same group had already attacked the church in 2005."
The secretary of the church's headquarters in Jakarta, Reverend
Budi Setiawan, said that the attack had been reported to the
Indonesian Church Association (PGI).
West Java, where Islam is strong, has seen a series of attacks on
churches to force their closure.
The Jakarta Post newspaper said that more than 30 churches have
had to close their door in West Java since 2004 because of
attacks by Muslim hardliners. Dozens of churches have also been
forced to close in other provinces, it said.
According to a current decree by the religious affairs ministry,
houses of worship must obtain the approval of at least 60 percent
of local residents and have at least 90 followers to be able to
operated.
Elisa said that his church was small and only had a congregation
of some 20 adults and 40 children and teenagers.
"Where else can we go? We are too far from the city and our
congregation needs a place to worship," Elisa said.
The district police chief could not be immediately reached for
comment, and the officer on duty at the district police declined
to comment.
Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim-majority nation with over
90 percent of its 220 million people adherents of Islam.
Although the constitution gives all religions equal footing, laws
make it difficult for religions other than Islam to establish
houses of worship.
Aceh
West Papua
Human rights/law
Environment/natural disasters
War on corruption
Regional elections
TNI/Defense
Economy & investment
News & issues
Susilo pleased with Indonesian language use in Timor-Leste
Muslim hardliners storm Indonesia church
Aceh
Angry Aceh residents disable tsunami warning
Reuters - June 7, 2007
Banda Aceh – Angry residents in Indonesia's Aceh have disabled a tsunami warning system after a false alarm spread panic in a province still traumatized by the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, an official said on Thursday.
Residents cut power to a siren on a tsunami warning tower in the Lhoknga area near the provincial capital Banda Aceh by smashing an electricity box, Syahnan Sobri, the head of the meteorology and geophysics agency in Aceh said.
A technical glitch prompted the siren to ring for about 30 minutes in Aceh Besar district on Monday, sending residents rushing out of their homes in panic.
"They cut the electricity connection but did not damage equipment," said Sobri, referring to the actual warning siren and tower.
"We are sending our technicians to the location to fix it. For the moment the warning system in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar is still switched off," he told Reuters.
The Indian Ocean tsunami left some 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh alone, inflicting deep psychological scars on many of the survivors.
Earthquakes, which sometimes cause tsunamis, are frequent in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country. Its 17,000 islands sprawl along a belt of intense volcanic and seismic activity, part of what is called the "Pacific Ring of Fire."
In the wake of the 2004 tsunami, Indonesian officials have come under pressure to bring in a network of warning systems, but many vulnerable areas in the huge developing country remain excluded.
There have also been frequent technical glitches with the systems in place.
Aceh Kita - June 5, 2007
Banda Aceh – The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has begun to initiate steps to form a local political party. The idea was revealed during a meeting between GAM leaders, the entire staff of the Aceh Transitional Committee (KPA) and activists from the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA), which took place at the Asrama Haji in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh on Monday June 4.
Also present at the forum were former GAM Prime Minister Malik Mahmud, KPA Chairperson Muzakir Manaf, Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf, Malaysian GAM figure Nur Djuli, former KPA spokesperson Sofyan Dawood and Munawarliza Zein (the mayor of Sabang).
Manaf said that the idea to form a GAM local political party represents a part of GAM's political struggle following the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by GAM and the Indonesian government on August 15, 2005.
He said that right now is the perfect time for GAM to continue its struggle to determine the fate and future of the Acehnese people. "Now is the time for us to undertake measures to create an Aceh that is more just and dignified", he asserted.
It was noted that in order for a party established by GAM to be successful and be accepted by all Acehnese people, all parties, particularly former GAM members that are part of the KPA must support it. "The future success of this party will be carried on all of our shoulders", warned Manaf.
The forum also included a short presentation on the layout and structure of the party's management boards that was presented by GAM figure Tgk Yahya Muaz. Although no board member names were given, at a glance the structure and layout of the party appeared to be very thorough. In addition to a central management board which was referred to as the Majelis Pusat (central council), there is also the Majelis Tuha Peut (four member advisory council) and management boards at the gampong level (based on the Meunasah, or small-sized mosque), which will be called Majelis Tuha Delapan Sagoe (eight member village councils).
GAM however is yet to give a name to the local political party. The forum of GAM leaders and members was closed to the public with each person wanting to enter being closely checked and having to show their invitation. [adw]
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| West Papua |
Detik.com - June 4, 2007
M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I on foreign affairs has commended the measures being taken by the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) in conducting a counter campaign against foreign parties linked to the issue of West Papua. These measures are essential to straighten out overseas opinions about Papua.
"We have agreed to commend what BIN is doing overseas to straighten out erroneous opinions overseas about Papua", said Commission I Chairperson Theo L. Sambuaga following a closed hearing with BIN at the DPR building in Senayan, South Jakarta on Monday June 4.
The reason added Sambuaga, is because elements such as the Free Papua Organisation (OPM) and its sympathisers, which were mentioned by BIN, continue to conduct negative campaigns against Indonesia, especially about West Papua.
These elements continue to garners support through various non- government organisations in overseas countries such as the United States, the Netherlands and Australia. In order to combat this kind of information, BIN has undertaken various types of endeavors or counter campaigns. "We commend this", he asserted.
Sambuaga said that the Commission I has also asked that in carrying out the counter campaign, BIN continue to use as a point of reference the basic principles on resolving the Papua issue, that is the principle of empowering the Papuan people, respecting [their] rights, upholding democracy, implementing special autonomy, combating separatism and building Papua in the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).
BIN has also been asked to seek cooperation with all parties in Papua such as the Papua Provisional Government, the Papuan People's Council (MRP), the Papuan House of Representatives (DPRP) and Papuan social figures. (umi/sss)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - June 7, 2007
Jakarta – Ongen Latuihamalo, one of the key witnesses in the murder case of Munir Said Thalib, has confirmed that he saw Munir on his September 2004 flight to the Netherlands but denied being an acquaintance of the rights activist.
Addressing a media conference here Wednesday, Ongen said that he saw Munir with a man at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cafe during a transit in Changi Airport, Singapore, prior to continuing the flight to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
He declined to confirm that the man he was talking about was Garuda Pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto. "I saw Munir with a man... but I did not know who the man was." Police suspect that the coffee bar was where Munir was poisoned.
Ongen said he initially did not know that it was Munir that was sitting at the cafe, although he said he thought his face was familiar.
"I only knew that he was Munir upon the airplane's arrival at Sciphol Airport, when Dutch police held all of the flight passengers for a while for an inspection," he said. "And I knew about (Munir's) death from a Garuda staffer," said Ongen, referring to an employee named Yosef Riri Mase.
A lawyer for Ongen, Ozhak Sihotang, said at the conference that his client went to the bar for a cup of hot tea because he was not feeling well.
Pollycarpus, an off-duty Garuda Indonesia pilot who was on the same flight with Munir from Jakarta to Singapore, was originally believed to have been involved in Munir's murder.
He was sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Central Jakarta District Court in December 2005, but the Supreme Court later overruled the verdict and sentenced him instead to two years in prison for forging an assignment letter to be an aviation security officer, signed several days after the murder.
Ongen said that he was shocked to hear of Munir's death because he had seen him during the flight. Ongen also denied allegations in the media that he was a "political thug" and a drug dealer. "Ongen is a musician who sings a lot of religious songs. He went to the Netherlands to promote his new album," said Ozhak.
Ozhak also said that Ongen recently went to the Netherlands after he had been questioned by the Indonesian police from Apr. 3 to 4. Ongen returned to Indonesia via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Apr. 20, where two police officers brought him to the National Police headquarters.
The police had questioned Ongen as a witness for the first time on March 30 this year. The police questioned him again upon his return from the Netherlands on May 16.
Ozhak said that Ongen was currently working as a singer at a number of churches here. The lawyer added that he had sent a letter to police headquarters saying that Ongen no longer needed police protection.
Ongen said that he felt this was a heavy burden for him, adding that the truth would finally be revealed. "How unfortunate it was for me to be named as a suspect just because I was there at the (crime) scene," he said.
Jakarta Post - June 7, 2007
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Indonesian Navy chief Admiral Slamet Soebijanto brushed off allegations of gross human rights abuse in last week's deadly clash between Marines and residents in Pasuruan, East Java, and maintained that the soldiers' behavior was justified.
"A gross human rights abuse is defined as an act that is designed systematically, planned and widespread, and there was no such thing," he said after installing Maj. Gen. Nono Sampono as new Marines commander, which, he added, was decided upon in early May and was not related to the clash.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has indicated it believes there were elements of gross human rights abuse in the clash over land that left four residents dead in the village of Alas Tlogo.
Slamet said the decision that soldiers would carry live ammunition when patrolling the plot of land, which both Marines and residents claim to own, was based on Navy procedures.
"We're military and thus we can carry live bullets. In training we carry blank cartridges, rubber and live bullets and each has its own procedure," he said. The Marines' behavior, Slamet said, abided by official Navy procedures and did not constitute an abuse of human rights.
Slamet added that a plan by Komnas HAM to summon replaced Marine commander Maj. Gen. Safzen Noerdin would first have to seek approval from Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Air Marshall Djoko Suyanto.
"It would require permission from the TNI chief. A summons cannot be addressed privately but institutionally. I wouldn't respond if, say, Komnas HAM summoned me. That's for the TNI chief to decide," he said.
Maj. Gen. Nono said the shooting occurred because the soldiers' lives were under threat. "There was a 'must' factor in the sense that the soldiers... had to shoot because their safety was threatened. Still, we must make time for (an investigation) and let law enforcers do their job," he said.
Navy military police have begun an investigation into the 13 Marines named as suspects in the shooting. The TNI chief has also created a team, consisting of Army and Air Force police units, to assist in the inquiry. Despite calls from rights activists that the trial be held in a civilian court, Slamet said the Marines would be tried in a military court.
Responding to the Komnas HAM plan to summon him, Safzen said he would leave the response to the TNI chief's handling. Safzen, who switched postings with Nono to become the Navy's new inspector general, alleged there were provocateurs in the incident, a fact, he said, that should be highlighted.
"Some of the evidence (alleges) that there was a command through the mosque's speakers and the beating of wood drums as people said it's either us or the Marines who die," he said.
The Navy said the gunshots were not aimed directly at residents but rather ricocheted of nearby objects, despite the findings of a special House of Representatives team that uphold the bullets were not designed to ricochet.
Sydney Morning Herald - June 6, 2007
Mark Forbes Herald, Jakarta – Human rights abuses by the military and its continuing role in Indonesia are under renewed scrutiny after marines shot dead four villagers in East Java.
A pregnant 23-year-old woman and her three-year-old son were among those killed in Pasuruan district last week. Another 12 residents of Alas Tlogo village, protesting at attempts by the navy to evict them to make way for a training facility, were shot by a marine patrol.
Talks to resolve the dispute remained deadlocked yesterday, with more than 1000 families rejecting offers of compensation and demands that they relocate.
The 13 members of the marine patrol have been jailed as an internal military investigation and a parallel inquiry by Indonesia's Human Rights Commission continue.
The President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has been called on to intervene, while politicians and human rights groups have demanded accelerated reform of Indonesia's once all-powerful armed forces.
The shootings have provoked allegations that the armed forces continue to operate outside the law, often motivated by illicit money-making ventures.
The head of the Human Rights Commission, Garuda Nusantara, who is leading an inquiry into the incident, said there were wider concerns about the military's use of violence to resolve conflicts with civilians across Indonesia.
After interviewing the marines and local witnesses, Mr Nusantara said he had heard two conflicting versions of events. "Witnesses say there was a quarrel with the soldiers, who suddenly began shooting directly at the villagers," he said. "The marines say they shot in the ground and to the air in self-defence because the local people were charging at them."
Mr Nusantara said military commanders had refused to say why a patrol had taken live ammunition into an area where tension had been high.
A military researcher with Indonesia's Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Kusnanto Anggoro, said it was against the law for soldiers to carry weapons and live ammunition outside their bases unless authorised by the Government.
The Pasuruan shootings appeared to be related to money, Mr Anggoro said. "There is no reason to develop a training ground there." Though the villagers have farmed land for years, the navy won a local court order they vacate to make way for a training ground and residential facilities.
Jakarta Post - June 6, 2007
Jakarta – The National Land Agency is avoiding taking any action on the Pasuruan land dispute case until the President meets with governors from across the country.
"We are intensively following developments. We want to facilitate a resolution, but we also have to consider other social matters, so we will wait until after the meeting," land agency chief Joyo Winoto said.
He added that he was still waiting for a presidential instruction on the Pasuruan land dispute case.
"I will explain in detail after the President has issued instructions and has held the meeting, which will be done soon. My office will also hold a meeting with the military and the relevant governor to have a complete overview of the Pasuruan case," said Joyo after a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission II for internal affairs on Tuesday.
The dispute between Pasuruan residents and the Navy dates back several years, when residents from the subdistrict's 14 villages formally rejected plans by the Navy to transform the land into a location for military training. Villagers took the case to court but lost. The case is currently in the appeal process.
A protest by villagers on May 30 began peacefully but turned violent, resulting in four people being killed, including a woman who was four months pregnant, when marines opened fire on the crowd. Eight people were wounded, including a three year old boy.
Joyo said land dispute cases across the country were a legacy from the New Order regime. He cited 2006 data that listed 2,810 outstanding land disputes. Of this number, 1,065 were still in the trial process, 1,423 were pending trial and 322 were considered to have the potential for conflict.
"Outcomes for those in the trial process are still pending, while we have two ways to solve other land dispute cases, mediation or trial," he said.
He said the majority of land disputes were between individuals, while others were between government institutions and communities. "If we don't handle these cases quickly, they may snowball in the future," he said.
United Development Party legislator Lena Mariana expressed her disappointment over Joyo's statement. She had expected Joyo to provide complete data about land ownership in Pasuruan.
"For example, if we knew an official had bought the land for military training and then allowed it to be used for something else a few years later, the government should punish that official. The land agency should be able to provide the latest information on the status of the land," Lena said.
Legislator from the Golkar Party Ferry Mursyidan Baldan said the government should seek win-win solutions for land dispute cases. He suggested the government give land to the public if they had inhabited the land for years and had no other place to live.
"If land has no clear owner and no one is claiming it, the land should be given to the people. If any party wants to use the land, the government should relocate the residents. This would be a win-win solution," Ferry said.
Jakarta Post - June 6, 2007
Jakarta – The Constitutional Court is examining the 2000 Human Rights Court Law, as requested by a former unit commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopasus) convicted of involvement in the forced disappearances of activists in 1997 and 1998.
Bambang Kristiono, who served 20 months in prison and was dishonorably discharged for kidnapping activists, claims article 43 of the law concerning the ad hoc human rights tribunal by the House of Representatives contradicts the 1945 Constitution.
Bambang, who commanded infamous "Team Mawar", asked the court to rule that article 43 had no binding power as it infringed on his rights as stipulated in articles 24, 27 and 28 of the 1945 Constitution.
Bambang's lawyer, M. Mahendradatta, said an attempt from the House of Representatives on Feb. 27, 2007, to set up a special committee for forced disappearances was a form of political intervention in the criminal justice system which threatened the legal protection and rights of all citizens.
"Our target is to prevent any political intervention in criminal cases. My client is ready to be tried again as long as the trial is held in the context of a free and independent judicial power," Mahendradatta told reporters after the hearing.
He said the House of Representatives, as a political institution, should not interfere with law enforcement.
Judge H.A.S. Natabaya said it was unclear as to whether article 43 had infringed on the constitutional rights of the plaintiff.
"Article 43 relates to the formulation of the ad hoc committee on the forced disappearances of 1997-1998... it has nothing to do with the constitutional rights of a citizen," Natabaya said.
"It seems that the plaintiff is the one with the issue. The court does not examine people's anxiety... it only examines whether a citizen's constitutional rights have been harmed by law."
However, Judge Natabaya said the plaintiff's team of lawyers argue that article 43 infringed their client's rights, such as the nebis in idem principle, which states a person cannot be tried a second time for the same crime.
Judge Laica Marzuki advised the team of lawyers to revise the application with a clearer explanation of how the plaintiff's constitutional rights had been infringed upon.
Answering the judges' claims that the application was predominantly based on speculation, Mahendradatta told the court the team of lawyers had obtained documents explaining that Bambang Kristiono was to be summoned by the House of Representatives's special committee. The team said it could not attach the document to the application as it was classified information.
The court has allowed the team of lawyers to submit a revision of their application within 14 days.
Tempo Interactive - June 5, 2007
Raden Rachmadi, Kukuh S Wibowo, Jakarta – Imparsial, the human rights monitoring organization, viewed that the case of shooting at civilians in Alas Tlogo Village, Pasuruan, is a violation that should be put on record at the human rights court. "This is a crime against humanity," said Imparsial's Executive Director, Rachland Nasidiq, yesterday (4/6).
There are two requirements for an incident to be categorized as a human rights violation. First, according to Rachland, is the state institution as the perpetrator of a planned and systematic shooting. "This requirement is already fulfilled," he said.
Second, Rachland said, it relates to deliberation. At the time of occurrence, 13 marine personnel who committed the shooting carried long-barreled fire arms with live ammunition. This means, according to him, "This case has been previously predicted."
Rachland said in a human rights violation case, the ones who are brought to trial are not only the perpetrators on the scene. The direct supervisor in the command line must also be investigated.
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has a similar opinion. The human rights trial is worth implementing in the Pasuruan case. "We found indications of deliberation in shooting the locals," said Sinung, head of Kontras' legal assistance and conflict department.
However, criminal law expert from the University of Indonesia, Rudi Satrio, is of the opposite opinion. Human rights violation, according to him, did not occur in the Pasuruan case. "The case was spontaneous. I don't see any execution element in this tragedy," he said. Thus this is criminal violation committed collectively by civil and military sides.
According to Rudi, the legal process is sufficient to be carried out in military court. He acknowledged there are many groups that want the civilian murder case be tried in the court of general jurisdiction. However the wish could only come true if the Military Justice Bill is passed by the House. So far the bill is not yet finished. "So the old regulation is used," he said.
In the mean time, the claim for the perpetrators of the shooting at Alas Tlogo village to be tried at a court of general jurisdiction comes from many parties. One of them is Head of National Awakening Party (PKB) Syura Council, Abdurrahman Wahid.
The former Indonesian President asked the 13 marine personnel, who were now arrested at Indonesian Military (TNI) Navy Military Police HQ in Surabaya, to be tried at Pasuruan District Court.
Jakarta Post - June 5, 2007
Apriadi Gunawan and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Medan/Bandung – In separate protests Monday, farmers in North Sumatra and West Java demanded the government intervene to resolve prolonged, sometimes violent land disputes.
In both provinces, protesters evoked the tragedy of last week's killing of four villagers in East Java during a protest against the Navy over a plot of land.
During the protest in the North Sumatra provincial capital Medan, members of the North Sumatra Farmers Association (SPSU) accused security personnel of intimidating villagers locked in land disputes with plantation companies.
A farmer from the city of Kisaran, Juniar Tampubolon, 36, said he was one of dozens of farmers who had been victimized by security personnel over the course of a dispute with plantation company PT Bakrie Sumatera in Asahan regency.
Juniar said farmers were afraid to stand up for their rights because of what he called "mistreatment" at the hands of security officers.
"I've been hit by around 30 security members. Look at these scars on my face," Juniar told The Jakarta Post. He also showed photographs of what he said were farmers being beaten by security personnel several months ago.
SPSU chairman Wagimin said hundreds of land dispute cases in the province had gone unresolved, most involving plantation companies and villagers.
"We have reported the land expropriation cases many times to the police, but our reports have been ignored. On the contrary, policemen often back the companies that have seized farmers' land," said Wagimin.
He said farmers had filed a police complaint on the expropriation of 600 hectares of land by PT Jaya Baru plantation company in Asahan regency, but had never received a response.
Secretary-general of the Indonesian Farmers Association Henri Saragih, who took part in Monday's protest, said there were 2,000 ongoing land disputes across the country that had the potential to lead to violence. He urged the government to carry out an immediate land reform program, in line with the 1960 Agrarian Law.
North Sumatra provincial spokesman Arsyad Lubis said the administration was working with the National Land Agency (BPN) to resolve disputes in the province. "The BPN is aware of the land disputes. We will work together with it to resolve the problems."
In Bandung, the capital of West Java, farmers and students rallied at the provincial legislative building on Jl. Diponegoro. They condemned last week's shooting in Pasuruan, East Java, in which four people were killed by marines during a protest over a land dispute involving the Navy.
The deputy chairman of Commission A on governance and legal affairs at the West Java legislature, Syaiful Huda, said land disputes in the province involved around one million poor people and 500,000 hectares of land.
"Many of the residents (involved in the disputes) obtained right to cultivate (HGU) licenses on land neglected by plantation companies for dozens of years. In 2005, when most of these HGU licenses ended, the disputes worsened," Syaiful said.
The National Land Agency has listed more than 1,200 land disputes in West Java, most involving plantation companies and farmers holding HGU licenses. The West Java legislature has asked the administration to resolve the disputes before they erupt into violence.
According to data from the land agency, most of the disputes in West Java occur in Garut, Ciamis, Cianjur, Sukabumi and Bogor.
Syaiful also criticized companies caught up in disputes for hiring crowds of people and paying security personnel to intimidate residents. He said the administration should inventory all idle land in the province and distribute it to poor and landless farmers.
Jakarta Post - June 5, 2007
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Pasuruan – A meeting between disgruntled villagers and commander of the Navy's Eastern Fleet Rear Adm. Moekhlas Sidiq on Monday over a disputed plot of land in Pasuran, East Java, ended in a walkout.
Four villagers, including one pregnant women, were shot and killed by Marines last week during an argument over the land, which both the villagers and the Navy claim to own.
More than 100 residents and the heads of 11 villages in the Nguling and Lekok districts left the meeting before it concluded.
As the moderator of the meeting, East Java Governor Imam Utomo asked the disputing parties to wait for the outcome of an appeal submitted by villagers regarding the disputed land.
At the meeting, the parents of two of the victims of Wednesday's shooting became hysterical and fell unconscious. The residents walked out of the meeting when Moekhlas spoke about the Navy's plan to build a war training center on the disputed land.
Moekhlas explained the plan in detail after being asked by Achmad Zubaedi, the speaker of the Pasuruan Legislative Council, about facilities planned to be built on the 3,200-hectare area of land.
When Moekhlas began to explain, the residents loudly voiced their opposition and demanded the land be handed over to them in line with the documents they possessed.
The residents insisted land certificates obtained by the Navy were not issued in accordance with existing procedures and claimed residents had never sold the land to the Navy.
Moekhlas rejected their claim. "It should not be handled like that. If we have to hand over the land certificates to the residents, it should be done through the proper legal processes," Moekhlas said afterwards.
At the meeting, 10 village heads from the area surrounding Alas Tlogo strongly supported calls for the Navy to find a new location for the center. The village heads had previously been reluctant to voice their opinion.
Moekhlas said after the meeting the residents' demands were baseless. "It's wrong of them to ask for the land certificates. We agreed the dispute would be settled via legal channels. But if they claim to be correct, let's just wait for the verdict," he said.
"If in the appeal process we are defeated, we are prepared to leave the area. However, if they lose they have to leave the area," he said.
According to the Navy's plan, an education center and residential facilities will be constructed on the site in addition to the war training center.
Alas Tlogo village head Imam Subnadi said he was disappointed with the result of the meeting, but agreed to wait for the High Court's verdict. "We want to end this problem as soon as possible. We hope within the next two months there will have been a solution to the dispute," he said.
Detik.com - June 6, 2007
Inadra Subagja, Jakarta – A key witness in the Munir murder case, Raymond Latuihamalo alias Ongen, has spoken for the first time about Munir's activities while he was in transit in Singapore. Ongen said he saw the late Munir sitting with a person at the Coffee Bean in Changi Airport.
"Munir was at the Coffee Bean with a person, but I didn't know them", said Ongen at a press conference held at the Sizzler restaurant in the Duku Atas area of Central Jakarta on Wednesday June 6.
Ongen claimed that he did not know Munir personally and only knew about Munir because he was a public figure. Unfortunately Ongen declined to relate what then took place at thecaf‚ . "It relates to the police interrogation report, we already have a commitment", said Ongen.
The Coffee Bean is suspected to be the place where Munir ingested the arsenic poison. Ongen said that the caf‚ no longer exists at Changi airport. "The Coffee Bean that was there before has now moved", he said.
In relation to Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto [who was charged but later cleared of the murder], Ongen stated that he was not aquatinted with the Garuda pilot. Ongen became aware of news of Munir's death not through other aircraft passengers but from a Garuda official named Joseph Ririmasa. "I was informed by Joseph, he was a candidate Garuda station head at the Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands", he explained.
Ongen conducted the press conference in a relaxed atmosphere. Even though he is a key witness in the case, there was no tight police security and was accompanied only by his lawyer Ozak Sihotang. (gah/aba)
[Translated by James Balowski. For a more detailed background on Ongen and his alleged relationship to the Munir murder see Operation Thorn Removal, Tempo Magazine No 34 - April 24-30, 2007.]
Jakarta Post - June 4, 20077
Jakarta – Two years have passed since the Ministry of Home Affairs submitted a bill to revise the law on mass organizations, but the House of Representatives had still not deliberated on it, a ministry official said.
"We feel there are several articles in the law that urgently need to be revised in order to meet the demands posed by recent events," the director general for politics and national unity at the ministry, Sudarsono, told The Jakarta Post last week.
The issue of mass organizations returned to public attention after a recent brawl between the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) and the Association of Betawi Families (IKB) in Kebayoran Lama market.
The current law on mass organizations failed to stipulate punishments that would deter mass organizations from violence, Sudarsono said.
"In the (new) bill, we would be encouraging people to file class actions directly to district courts if there are any mass organizations disturbing public order and security," he said.
The existing 1985 law on mass organizations allows the government to freeze the activities of mass organizations and disband them if they are found to disturb public order and security.
But the law does not stipulate further actions that could be taken after an organization was frozen or disbanded.
A member of the House's commission II overseeing home affairs, Jamaludin Karim, contradicted Sudarsono, saying the Home Affairs Ministry only handed over the bill this year. "We just received the draft from the ministry and plan to deliberate on it in early June," he said.
Last week's brawl in Kebayoran Lama market over control of parking fees and the local protection racket ended in the deaths of two FBR members, Ade Sulishadi, 24, and Syarifudin Juhri, 21.
Jamaludin said he agreed with the additional of punishments proposed by the ministry. But he also said the government needed to strengthen law enforcement. "(The government) must see the Kebayoran Lama brawl as a result of the government's own weak law enforcement," he said.
Jakarta governor Sutiyoso said earlier he was concerned by the gang brawl and had given serious thought to freezing the activities of mass organizations that jeopardized public safety.
FBR spokesman Fajri Hussein said he welcomed the initiative to revise the current mass organizations law. "I hope the government doesn't just look at the Kebayoran Lama incident in isolation. We get involved in violence like that or brawls because we're fighting for something we believe in," he said. Fajri said his group was independent and had never asked for government money.
Detik.com - June 4, 2007
Triono Wahyu Sudibyo, Salatiga – Around 250 students and farmers from the Central Java city of Salatiga were disappointed after being 'removed' before having a chance to express long list of grievances over the shooting incident in the Central Java regency Pasuruan on May 30. The demonstration was to have been held at a local sub-district military command (Korem).
Initially, the coalition of protesters from the Peoples and Students Farmers Concern Alliance (ARMPP), which is made up of the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII), the Central Java Peasants Organisation (OTJT), the Indonesian Youth Front for Struggle (FPPI), the Qariyah Thoyibbah United Peasants Association (SPPQT) and various non-government organisations, started the action at the State College of Islamic Religious Studies campus on Jl. Teuku Umar.
From the campus they held a three-kilometer march to Korem via Jl. Jalan Diponegoro. Scores of police officers escorted the rally and traffic on the main street in Salatiga slowed to a crawl.
Upon arriving at Korem, scores of officers from the Salatiga District Police Crowd Control Unit (Dalmas) were ready to intercept them. Action coordinator Imam Rozy invited a number of demonstrators to hold a theatrical action depicting the TNI's brutality against farmers.
Shortly after two coalition representatives had finished giving speeches, all of a sudden a TNI officer approached the crowd and asked if they had a permit to hold the action. Failing to receive a satisfactory answer, the officer then ordered TNI personnel to 'remove' the demonstrators.
The demonstrators however remained clam. Under the leadership of Rozy, they proceed to hold a prayer for the dead (shalat gaib) to pray for those killed in Pasuruan. At around 11.40 am, less than a minute after finishing the prayer, the demonstrators disbanded peacefully and left Korem.
The demonstrators then moved off to the offices of the Salatiga Regional House of Representatives escorted by scores of Dalmas personnel and traffic police. During the action the demonstrators demanded that the government fully investigate the shooting at Pasuruan, uphold civil supremacy and rejected the resurgence of militarism ala the New Order regime of former President Suharto. "Farmers provide an important service to us all, why must they be oppressed", said Rozy. (try/djo)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Tempo Interactive - June 4, 2007
Ahmad Fikri, Bandung – Activists, students and farmers have protested at the headquarters of the Bandung Navy Detachment in West Java to condemn the shooting by marines of farmers in the Pasuruan regency of East Java that resulted in the killing of four people. "(The Pasuruan case) proves that the TNI [Indonesian military] are involved in agrarian problems", said action coordinator Hafiz Asdam during a speech.
According to Asdam, this evidence adds to the series of other cases in land disputes between soldiers and local people. In West Java he cited the case of Rumpin in Bogor and the land disputes in Jatiwangi and Selabinta (Sukabumi).
Asdam also condemned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his deputy Jusuf Kalla (SBY-JK) who have failed to issue any kind of political statement whatsoever about the case. "SBY-JK have let it pass by and legitimised what took place in Pasuruan", he said.
The hundred or so demonstrates arrived at the headquarters of the Bandung Navy Detachment on Jl. Arya Jipang on foot. They called on the commander to take a stand on the incident.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - June 2, 2007
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Pasuruan – Unfinished grated cassava sits outside a small mosque in a green aluminum bowl. A military police line blocks off entrance to the area.
The mosque is a silent witness to the killing of Dewi Khodijah, 25, who died outside her nearby home after being shot in the head by marines. Dewi, who was four months pregnant, leaves behind a 3-year-old son, Lukman, and a husband, Wahid, 32.
Her father, Juma'atun, 48, has left everything as it was at the time of her death, including the grated cassava and the bowl, in Wednesday's shooting in Telogo hamlet in Alas Tlogo village, Grati subdistrict, Pasuruan regency, East Java.
The shooting by marines, triggered by a protest over disputed land, left four residents dead, not five as originally claimed by the Pasuruan regency administration.
Juma'atun said his eldest daughter was making cassava crackers for the family when she was killed. "She rarely made cassava crackers, but that day she wanted to make it for the whole family," said neighbor Sanimah, a childhood friend of Dewi's.
She recalled seeing several soldiers sitting near Dewi, who later told Sanimah the soldiers were advising her not to join protesters. Dewi followed the advice, staying at home and cooking. But still a bullet found her.
Juma'atun said he was not angry with the marine who shot his daughter.
"I just want to see the man who shot my daughter. I just want to ask him why he did it. How can they shoot people who gave them coffee and food anytime they dropped by?
"I'm not upset because my daughter will stay dead. I won't ask for compensation either because my daughter will remain dead. I just want to ask him why."
He said he would not move away from the place he has called home for more than 30 years.
But he hopes the Navy will return the disputed land to residents, to help improve their welfare. Ownership of land has been taken to the courts. The Pasuruan District Court ruled in favor of the Navy, but residents have appealed and a decision is pending.
A meeting between dozens of residents and the commander of the Navy's Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral Moekhlas Sidiq, on Thursday night did not produce any significant results. The two sides did agree to meet again Monday.
Five residents who spoke during Thursday's meeting asked that the land be returned to residents. The meeting was attended by East Java Governor Imam Utomo, Brawijaya Military Commander Maj. Gen. Syamsul Mappareppa and East Java Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Sugiono.
"The land was never purchased. The land was taken by force by the Navy. My father is still alive. He's 85. He was forced to give up the land. There were no witness to the purchase," resident Solihin said.
Another resident, Bunasin, also questioned the land deal, saying villagers still had their land ownership documents. Alas Tlogo village head Imam Subnadi also said residents had their land ownership documents and the Navy never legally purchased the land.
| Environment/natural disasters |
Jakarta Post - June 7, 2007
Jakarta – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has criticized the planned construction of waste incinerators in the capital.
Executive director of Walhi's Jakarta chapter, Slamet Daroyni, said Tuesday the incinerators would pose a risk to the environment and public health. "The incinerators are not eco- friendly," he said.
The administration is studying the possibility of building incinerators in each of Jakarta's five municipalities. If built, the incinerators would be able to handle up to 4,000 of the nearly 6,000 tons of household waste produced in the city each day. Currently, all this trash is dumped in a Bekasi landfill.
The administration earlier attempted to build an incinerator in Bojong, Bogor, but protests by nearby residents forced the abandonment of the project.
Walhi also called on the House of Representatives to pass into law a waste management bill to resolve long-standing garbage problems in the country.
Jakarta Post - June 5, 2007
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A World Bank-sponsored report launched Monday said Indonesia was lagging behind other countries and not making the most of the several options that would help the country deal with the impacts of climate change.
Developing renewable energy sources and reforestation will help ease the adverse impacts of climate change on Indonesia including prolonged droughts and an increase in climate-related diseases, said the report issued ahead of the June 5 World Environment Day.
Recommendations included the implementation of multiple projects contained in the Kyoto Protocol-sponsored Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and to focus on improving forest management and expanding the use of coal.
Green activist and report author Agus P. Sari said Indonesia was lagging behind other major greenhouse gas emitters in the development of alternative energy sources, despite the country's enormous potential.
"Indonesia has the potential for 27,000 megawatt geothermal-fired generators – but so far the country has only 807 megawatts installed," Agus said. "And Indonesia's micro hydro-fired capacity is 500,000 megawatts, yet here there is just 84 megawatts."
While energy policies may call for the development of renewable sources, supporting instruments including financial incentives have not been put in place. Argus said the government had not been able to use CDM-listed opportunities for developing nations.
Indonesia should "sell" gas-reducing projects to developed nations to help them fulfill their Kyoto Protocol commitment (to cut an average 5.2 percent off their 1990 emission levels), he said.
Indonesia has so far registered eight projects with the UN, compared to India which has registered more than 200 and China which has more than 120.
The report also said Indonesia was not good at enforcing regulations on forest protection. The country still suffers illegal logging and forest fires and was not yet adequately adapting to future climate events, Agus said.
"Take February's (massive) floods as example. The government should have mitigated the disaster – but instead continued to see it as a regular occurrence and did not take precautions," he said.
All the options contained in the report would help Indonesia better deal with the impacts of climate change – which would be significant for the sea-surrounded archipelago.
Research has found climate change would shorten the rainy season and intensify rainfall, which might lead to changes in water conditions and soil moisture.
This would effect agriculture and Indonesia's food security. Almost half of Indonesians depend on the agricultural sector for their livelihood and rice is the country's staple food.
Impacts on human health, said the report, would be substantial. Indonesia was already experiencing trends including the rise of dewing fever cases during the rainy seasons. "Research has confirmed that warmer temperature leads to a mutation of the dewing virus," Agus said.
Indonesia will host in December the next meeting of Kyoto Protocol signatories. The meeting will address the future of the environment treaty.
Indonesia is the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, behind the United States and China. The country continues to suffer a very high rate of deforestation but registers low emission levels.
Reuters - June 4, 2007
Indonesia is among the world's top three greenhouse gas emitters because of deforestation, peatland degradation and forest fires, a new World Bank and British government climate change report shows.
An increase of global temperatures has already resulted in prolonged drought, heavy rainfall leading to floods and tidal waves in Indonesia, putting the archipelago's rich biodiversity at risk, the report said.
"Emissions resulting from deforestation and forest fires are five times those from non-forestry emissions. Emissions from energy and industrial sectors are relatively small, but are growing very rapidly," the report said.
"This may lead to harmful effects on agriculture, fishery and forestry, resulting in threats to food security and livelihoods," said the report, which comes ahead of this week's G8 summit in Germany where global warming is a major item on the agenda.
Indonesia's total annual carbon dioxide emissions stand at 3.014 billion tonnes, putting it behind the United States, which is the world's top emitter with 6.005 billion tonnes and China at 5.017 billion tonnes, according to data from the report.
Indonesia's yearly carbon dioxide emissions from energy, agriculture and waste are around 451 million tonnes while forestry and land use change are estimated to account for a staggering 2.563 billion tonnes, the report, Indonesia and Climate Change: Current Status and Policies, said.
Indonesia's rainforests are being stripped rapidly because of illegal logging and palm oil plantations for bio-fuels and some environmentalists say they could be wiped out altogether within the next 15 years.
According to some estimates, the tropical South-East Asian country – whose forests are a treasure trove of plant and animal species including the endangered orangutans – has already lost an estimated 72 per cent of its original frontier forest.
Forest fires, often deliberately lit by farmers as well as timber and oil palm plantation owners, are a regular occurrence on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo during the dry season.
Indonesia's neighbours have grown increasingly frustrated with Jakarta's failure to tackle the annual dry season fires, which last year triggered fears of a repeat of months of choking haze in 1997-98 that cost the region billions in economic losses.
"Indonesia's lowland tropical forests, the richest in timber resources and biodiversity, are most at risk," said the report. "Fires from peatland have become the largest contributor to haze, which is also a major source of carbon emission."
Indonesia will host the next annual Kyoto Protocol meeting on the resort island of Bali in December.
In 2004, Indonesia ratified the protocol, which requires about 35 developed countries to lower their emissions to below their 1990 levels between 2008-2012. Developing nations are excluded from the emissions cuts during the first phase.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world's top authority on global warming, predicted in a report in February that global temperatures would rise by 1.8 to 4.0 degrees Celsius this century.
The World Bank report said perhaps the largest risk for Indonesia from climate change was decreased food security because of changes in rainfall patterns and soil moisture.
Climate change would also increase average sea levels, which in turn would reduce farming and coastal livelihoods in Indonesia, a country of about 17,000 islands where millions depend on fishing and farming.
Reuters - June 3, 2007
Mita Valina Liem, Jakarta – It's one of the few countries that still has vast swathes of tropical rainforests left. But conservationists say maybe not for long.
Indonesia's rainforests – especially those on Borneo island – are being stripped so rapidly because of illegal logging and palm oil plantations for bio-fuels, they could be wiped out altogether within the next 15 years, some environmentalists say.
"Sixty percent of the protected and conservation areas are already badly damaged due to illegal logging and palm oil plantations," Rully Sumada, a forestry expert with Indonesian environmental group Walhi, told Reuters.
"The deforestation speed is 2.8 million hectares a year. At this rate, by 2012 the forests in Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi will be gone, only the forests in Papua will be left. And if cutting of trees carries on, no forest will be left by 2022."
Indonesia has a total forest area of more than 225 million acres, or about 10 percent of the world's remaining tropical forest, according to Rainforestweb.org, a portal on rainforests (www.rainforestweb.org).
But the tropical Southeast Asian country – whose forests are a treasure trove of plant and animal species including the endangered orangutans – has already lost an estimated 72 percent of its original frontier forest.
The biggest threat to the forests of Borneo, and also Aceh on the northernmost tip of Sumatra island, is from illegal logging.
A recent report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Indonesia-based Telapak said that Malaysia and China were major recipients of stolen Indonesian timber and that shipping companies from Singapore carried such wood overseas.
China industry complicit
Greenpeace's China office said China's timber industry was complicit in the illegal felling of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea's merbau trees, with logs then smuggled to China and processed and exported as floorboards and high-end furnishings to the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe.
Merbau is a resilient red hardwood, one of the most valuable in Southeast Asia.
China's Foreign Ministry brushed away accusations that the country's demand for timber was hastening the destruction of Southeast Asian forests, saying it had a strict system of supervision and management of timber and timber product imports."
"The effects of deforestation are crystal clear. Bio-diversity will be destroyed," Masnellyarti Hilman, a deputy minister in Indonesia's environment ministry, told Reuters.
"Not to mention floods, landslides. We see them as a result of massive deforestation by people who do not care about its impact. Although they actually know that one of the conditions to fulfil before cutting trees down is to re-plant, some do, some don't."
Orangutans in peril
Environmentalists say Indonesia has also lost vast amounts of forest land to feed growing global demand for bio-fuels as an alternative source of energy.
The world's second largest palm oil producer already has around 5 million hectares of land planted with oil palm and the government aims to develop between 2-3 million hectares more of oil plantations nationwide by 2010.
Environmentalists say the slash-and-burn technique used to speed up the clearing of land for plantations sends huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and is also destroying several endangered species such as the orangutan and the Sumatran tiger.
According to a recent U.N report compiled using new satellite images and Indonesian government data, orangutan habitat is being lost 30 percent quicker than was previously feared.
It was estimated in 2002 about 60,000 of the shaggy ginger primates were left in the jungles of Borneo and Sumatra. Some ecologists say the number has now been halved and others say the species could be extinct in 20 years.
Indonesia says government policy is to preserve virgin forest and expand palm plantations on degraded and abandoned land that has already been cleared.
Indonesia's government has deployed the military on at least three occasions in recent years to confiscate timber and chase loggers out of its parks – and has begun training quick response ranger teams to police protected areas.
But experts say the new units remain crippled by a lack of funds, vehicles, weapons and equipment, and face a huge threat from ruthless loggers.
"We allow people to open palm oil plantations as long as they replant. Palm oil plantations open a wide range of jobs but they must not do that in conservation areas," Hilman said.
The palm oil industry defends itself and its methods. "If there are some endangered species in the area or an area is of high conservation value, then it will not be opened for plantations," Derom Bangun, executive chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, told Reuters.
"The government has classified areas and has rules and we obey them. It is not what people from outside think that we just come, clear land and burn."
| War on corruption |
Jakarta Post - June 7, 2007
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Legislators from several political parties are busy collecting political support to back a motion urging the House of Representatives to make an official statement on the alleged use of illegal funds during the 2004 presidential election.
The 18 legislators said their motion is aimed at having law enforcers investigate the case thoroughly and ensure concerted efforts would be made to avoid similar instances in the upcoming 2009 general election.
Yuddhy Chrisnandi, a motion initiator from the Golkar Party faction, said the motion proposal would be submitted to the House's leadership after consultation with the Constitutional Court. "We are convinced the move will gain political support from many other legislators despite the alleged involvement of their parties in receiving the illegal funds," he said
"Many legislators are still idealistic about upholding legal certainty and creating clean and fair general elections for the sake of the nation in the future."
Fachri Hamzah, another motion initiator and alleged recipient of illegal Maritime Affairs and Fishery Ministry funds, said the group is awaiting an edict from the Constitutional Court to avoid giving the impression it is seeking an impeachment of the President.
"Our motion purely aims at ensuring all sides that such cases must not happen in the next presidential election," he said.
The distribution of fisheries ministry funds during the 2004 presidential election was revealed by former chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Amien Rais, who also admitted to receiving the illegal funds.
Amien, a 2004 presidential candidate, said other presidential candidates, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, also received illegal funds to finance their presidential candidacies.
Former fisheries minister Rokhmin Dahuri is currently facing corruption charges at the Anticorruption Court in relation to the funds. He confirmed with the court that a portion of the cash was channeled to political parties through their factions at the House.
The 2003 Law on Presidential Election prohibits presidential candidates from receiving funds from foreign institutions and countries, the private sector without clear identification and state-owned enterprises.
Meanwhile, Denny Indrayana, a constitutional law expert from Gadjah Mada University, criticized the legislators' motion, saying they could not distance themselves from their parties' allegedly involvement in the use of the illegitimately distributed campaign funds.
"The legislators will likely stand behind their own party's interests," he said.
Denny called on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate both Amien and the President despite the latter's denial of Amien's accusation and their recent airport meeting.
"KPK should be proactive in investigating all politicians and parties (who received) funds from the ministry and follow up the statements made by the General Election Committee and the now- defunct Election Supervisory Agency, which were suspicious of a transfer of illegal funds to parties during the past election," he said.
Jakarta Post - June 6, 2007
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Rogue prosecutors in North Sumatra have ways to help certain people arrested on corruption and drugs charges escape prosecution.
The presence of such prosecutors in the province is public knowledge, which may be the reason Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said North Sumatra was close behind Jakarta in this area.
The chief of the North Sumatra prosecutor's office, Tengku Zakaria, said at a meeting of prosecutors from across the province Tuesday that rogue prosecutors would be punished if found guilty of such behavior.
He said times had changed and dishonest prosecutors would no longer be "tolerated".
The prosecutor's office, he said, is under regular public scrutiny from non-governmental organizations and members of the public.
He said there is now no alternative for prosecutors but to work professionally at all times.
"Now prosecutors should work extra carefully when handling cases because they are under the spotlight. If it is proven they have handled a case wrongfully, they will be punished," Zakaria said.
Spokesman of the North Sumatra prosecutor's office J. Ketaren, said rogue prosecutors preferred to handle drugs and corruption cases.
Citing an example, he said some prosecutors "exclude" heavy penalties in their indictments, allowing defendants to get away with light penalties, or misuse facts to enable defendants to walk free.
"It seems there are many ways for rogue prosecutors to lower the sentences of defendants or set them free all together. Beside playing tricks with indictments, they are also good at lobbying," Ketaren said.
When asked how many prosecutors had already been punished, he said sanctions had been handed down to dozens last year.
The punishments, he said, generally involved administrative sanctions such as demotion. None have been punished so far this year.
"We are currently investigating several prosecutors who are likely to be punished this year. Who and how many? It doesn't matter," he said.
Jakarta Post - June 6, 2007
Jakarta – After three years of delays, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) announced Tuesday it will form two special teams to investigate corruption cases involving Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) funds debtors.
Hendarman Supandji, the newly appointed attorney general, says there will be an execution team and an examination team, comprising a total of 35 attorneys selected from the 80 names submitted.
"These 35 will be divided into two teams," said the secretary to the junior attorney general for special crimes, Kemas Yahya Rahman.
"The execution team will trace the assets of the BLBI debtors. It will consist of attorneys with intelligence backgrounds who will be supervised by two senior attorneys.
"The examination team will closely inspect BLBI cases. These teams, of course, will be under the attorney general's supervision," Kemas said.
He said the AGO would determine which of the BLBI cases had strong evidence of causing big losses to the state.
The BLBI program was established by the government and managed by the now defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to bail out banks suffering after the 1997-1998 Asian monetary crisis.
However, many bankers abused the program and stole money channeled from the government.
The IBRA was only able to recover about 20 percent of the Rp 650 trillion (US$73.9 billion) in liquidity support.
Kemas said BLBI cases that involved corruption would be investigated, but added that civil cases would be handed over to the Finance Ministry.
He said the AGO would recheck the release and discharge policy, which was enacted by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, to ensure that debtors had repaid their obligations.
"The AGO will make an all-out effort to resolve these cases in 2007. Hopefully, the two teams will be established before July 22."
Hendarman has made coordination visits to the Supreme Audit Agency, the Development and Finance Controller, the Finance Ministry and the Corruption Eradication Commission in order to resolve the BLBI case.
He promised to reopen the case prior to his appointment as attorney general at the beginning of May this year.
According to the Finance Ministry, the eight outstanding BLBI debtors are: Ulung Bursah (Bank Lautan Berlian), Atang Latief (Bank Indonesia Raya), Omar Putirai and Lidia Muchtar (Bank Tamara), Marimutu Sinivisan (Bank Putra Multi Karsa), Agus Anwar (Bank Pelita and Bank Istimarat), and James Januardi and Adisaputra Januardi (Bank Namura Internusa).
Tempo Interactive - June 4, 2007
Sandy Indra Pratama/Wahyu Dhyatmika, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is currently still searching for authentic documents in relation to Suharto's foundations, to be used as evidence in a civil claim against the former president.
"I don't know whether the documents are missing, have been kept or anything else. What is certain is they're being looked for," Salman Maryadi, Head of Legal Information Center at the AGO, told Tempo yesterday (3/6).
The documents were not saved by Jakarta Senior Prosecutors after the Suharto corruption criminal act case could not be tried.
However, when the state prosecutors team led by Dachmer Munthe will use them in the civil claim, only the photocopies will be submitted.
Alex Sato Bya, Deputy Attorney General for Civil and State Administration, acknowledged he did not know exactly the authentic documents' whereabouts. "When I received nine filing cabinets of documents, they contained photocopies," he said.
It is quite difficult to trace because the documents have not been "overseen" for six years. In September, 2000, Lalu Mariyun, the South Jakarta District Court panel of judges' chairman, refused to try the case as Suharto had a permanent illness. In May, 2006, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh halted the prosecution.
Although the authentic documents have not yet been found, the process of civil prosecution against Suharto is ongoing. According to Munthe, the required photocopies will be legalized and confirmed by several related sources.
His team, he said, will ask for confirmation from 43 witnesses who can verify the letters. "In addition, expert witnesses will be asked for statements," he said.
With this legalization and confirmation, the photocopied documents can be as useful as the authentic ones. "Witnesses; legalization and verification make the documents evidence," said Munthe.
Jakarta Post - June 2, 2007
Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Corruption remains widespread among lawyers, judges and police in Indonesia despite the government's attempts to crack down on the country's long-suffered graft issues, according to a report by Transparency International.
In the 2007 Global Corruption Report released by the Berlin-based watchdog last week, Indonesia is among other countries with high levels of bribe payments. Five out of 10 respondents said they had resorted to such practices. TI Indonesia chairman Todung Mulya Lubis said during the launch of the report here Thursday more than a half of Indonesians surveyed said their legal system was corrupt.
"This shows justice is not available for those seeking it, but a commodity for those willing and able to pay," Todung said.
He said the situation was worse when those seeking justice were the poor.
The report said at least one out of 10 respondents across the 25 countries surveyed said they had to pay bribes to gain access to the court system.
The report includes TI's 2006 Global Corruption Barometer, which showed this practice occurring in one third of the 62 countries surveyed.
TI chairwoman Huguette Labelle said rampant corruption in judicial systems worldwide could erode their functionality as pillars of democracy.
The report includes a thorough analysis of corruption in legal systems using study cases in 37 countries including Indonesia.
It was noted more than half the people waiting trial did not exercise their right for bail or for their own lawyer due to poor access to information or to the court's systems. TI's report does not include an index or ranking of corruption in judicial systems worldwide.
In TI's annual indicator of corruption in general, the Corruption Perception Index, Indonesia was ranked 130 out of 163 countries in 2006, and 137 out of 159 countries in 2005.
TI Indonesia has recommended the Judicial Commission's authority be strengthened, particularly in the selection of judges.
The commission should be across supervision and salary recommendations for judges to ensure public participation in keeping the court system transparent and accountable, Todung said.
"The Commission will of course continue to face many problems in selecting people really committed to justice... but it is crucial... to keep the courts independent," Todung said.
The Judicial Commission was formed under law in 2004. It was last year involved in a row with the Supreme Court over the selection of its supreme judges.
TI Indonesia also suggested the ad-hoc Court for Corruption Cases be strengthened, particularly as it had succeeded in quickly processing 29 cases within the two years since 2005. TI Indonesia said all the defendants received fair trials and sentences that adhered to a system of public justice.
This compares to 203 similar cases processed in district courts, in which 72 of the defendants were absolved and the rest were handed lenient sentences.
The ad-hoc court, which employs lawyers and advocates as lay judges, has its legal basis under the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law. "We expect the ad-hoc graft court can be established under its own law to become a permanent court," Todung said.
Asia Times - June 1, 2007
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Just when it seemed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was making significant progress in tackling the country's endemic culture of corruption, he and Vice President Jusuf Kalla have been linked to allegations that they received illegal off-budget funds to finance their 2004 election campaign.
Opposition politician Amien Rais, the onetime champion of the reform movement that helped bring about dictator Suharto's 1998 downfall, admitted he personally received about US$60,000 in illicit campaign funds through the Fisheries and Marine Resources Ministry, formerly headed by Rokhmin Dahuri. Rais dropped a potentially bigger bombshell when he claimed that Yudhoyono and Kalla also received illicit funds from Dahuri and that the General Elections Commission had evidence to substantiate his claims.
Dahuri is currently on trial in a Jakarta court over alleged abuse of public funds, and on the stand he has owned up to channeling about Rp11.5 billion (US$1.2 million) from the ministry budget to at least four political parties between April 2002 and March 2005.
Both politicians have denied the charges, with Yudhoyono referring to the allegations as "slander". "I and Jusuf Kalla clearly never received [funds] and clearly the claims are misleading and unhealthy," he said at a press conference last week. Yudhoyono and Rais later met on Sunday for 10 minutes and appeared to agree to leave the case in the hands of the Corruption Eradication Commission rather than sparring in the public domain.
But the political controversy the allegations have already generated in the media have to some degree undermined public perceptions about the Yudhoyono government's corruption-busting credentials, crucially as the country enters a new election cycle with presidential polls scheduled for 2009. Significantly, Yudhoyono was elected on a clean-hands ticket in 2004, underlining the importance the Indonesian electorate then and likely now puts on corruption issues.
While the business-minded Kalla has recently attracted media attention over possible conflicts of interest related to his family's non-competitive bidding and winning big-ticket government projects, the more bureaucratic Yudhoyono has until now remained above the fray. If public perceptions turn against his government, several opposition candidates, including from the main Islamic party, are poised to present themselves as graft- busters to voters.
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid said this week, "The president and the vice president could be impeached if they are proven guilty of breaching the law." That seems unlikely, because Kalla's Golkar party dominates the legislative body, but the risk is that Yudhoyono and Kalla become in the popular imagination associated with the corrupt old ways they promised on election to reform.
Of course, this would come as no surprise to Indonesia watchers who remember the furor in November 2004 when Election Supervision Committee head Kommarudin Hidayat went on record as saying investigations had revealed evidence of more than 1,000 serious administrative and criminal violations of election-campaign regulations allegedly involving all parties and presidential candidates.
Bribes, kickbacks and phantom donors
The most serious offenses – including fictitious donors, vote- buying and bribing officials – were attributed to both then- president Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Party of Struggle and the military-affiliated Golkar party, of which Kalla is chairman, according to Kommarudin Hidayat at the time. But Rais' allegations represent the first time both Yudhoyono and Kalla in particular have been directly accused of electoral fraud.
Draining state funds for electoral purposes is nothing new for Indonesia. In 1999, Bank Bali paid local corporation PT Era Giat Prima (EGP) a "commission" of Rp546 billion (US$60 million) to help it collect Rp946 billion from the state foodstuffs monopoly, Bulog, which owned it money. Prosecutors later said the commission went into the Golkar party's coffers and helped finance president B J Habibie's 1999 election win. EGP was partly owned by Golkar's then-deputy treasurer, Setya Novanto.
Golkar was later instrumental in pressing for a probe into the next election scandal, known as Bulogate I, which entailed the embezzlement of Rp35 billion from the company and eventually led to former president Abdurrahman Wahid's political downfall in July 2001.
Bulogate II, disclosed by Wahid's National Awakening Party, surfaced when former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramelan told prosecutors he gave state funds for a food-relief program to former defense minister and military commander Wiranto, who was a presidential candidate in the 2004 campaign.
Megawati's reformist reputation was also sullied by a counter- trade transaction to buy Russian-made Sukhoi jet fighters and Mi-35 helicopters. The trade minister at the time, Rini Soewandi, tasked Bulog with executing the $129 million deal between Indonesia and Russia, though she insisted it was the president herself who gave the green light to what was later ruled an "improper" deal.
In less than three years in office, Yudhoyono has arguably achieved more political and economic reform than the other three post-Suharto governments combined. And his corruption-busting has won his administration kudos both internationally and, albeit to a lesser degree, domestically. He recently breathed life into efforts to go after the Suhartos – which, of course, raises questions about the timing of the allegations being leveled against him and Kalla.
Last week, for example, Yudhoyono signed a special decree ordering state prosecutors to file a civil lawsuit against former president Suharto, 85. The former strongman has consistently denied allegations of illegally siphoning off some $600 million through seven foundations and he has in the past been declared too ill to stand trial. New Attorney General Hendarman Supanji, appointed by Yudhoyono during a recent cabinet reshuffle, is also pursuing cases against Suharto's top son, Tommy Suharto.
Some contend that Yudhoyono's move against the Suhartos signals a renewed will to pursue his so-called "war against corruption" at the highest-possible levels. At the same time, there are others who question whether his move may have been preemptive to divert attention from the charges leveled against him.
The still-unsubstantiated charges could not have come at a worse time for Yudhoyono's government. Recent polls show a sharp decline in his popularity, which fell from a 67% approval rating at the end of last year to only 49% in March. That decline has been led by public perceptions that his government's economic- reform programs have failed to lift the masses out of poverty.
That was notably one big reason Indonesian voters dumped the self-proclaimed reformist Megawati for the self-proclaimed clean hands of Yudhoyono at the 2004 polls. Yet exactly nine years after Suharto's downfall and the birth of Indonesia's democratic era, it's still open whether any Indonesian politician can remain completely above the fray of money politics.
[Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has been in Indonesia for more than 20 years, mostly in journalism and editorial positions. He specializes in Indonesian political, business and economic analysis, and hosts a weekly television political talk show, Face to Face, broadcast on two Indonesia-based satellite channels. He can be reached at softsell@prima.net.id.]
| Regional elections |
Jakarta Post - June 4, 20077
Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – A recent survey found most Jakartans would like to see the emergence of an independent candidate in August's gubernatorial election.
The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) polled 1,090 eligible voters in the capital two weeks ago. About 64 percent of respondents said any candidate endorsed by political parties was unlikely to be able to solve Jakarta's problems if elected governor.
When the survey addressed questions specifically to party members and activists, more than 50 percent of respondents preferred a candidate selected by voters to one picked by political parties.
LSI director Saiful Mujani said Sunday the survey underlined the general distrust toward political parties and their hand-picked candidates. He said the nomination process in parties, limited to the party elite, left many people feeling the parties did not care about their interests when selecting candidates.
"It is time for the government to allow independent figures to run for any office, to accommodate people's voices that are no longer represented by the parties," Saiful said during a public discussion on independent candidates in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
The Regional Autonomy Law says a governor candidate must be nominated by a political party or a coalition of parties that won a minimum of 15 percent of the voter in the last legislative election in the province.
There have been examples in the past of parties nominating candidates who did not have the support of voters, or even of the party itself.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) named Fauzi Bowo as its candidate for the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election, even though he scored the lowest of six candidates during a fit-and-proper test given by the party's Jakarta chapter.
Fauzi also received endorsements from other major political parties such as Golkar, the Democratic Party and the United Development Party (PPP), which have formed the Jakarta Coalition to back him in the race. Legislator Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who scored the highest on the PDI-P's test, was passed over by the party's central board because he did not pass "internal mechanisms" in the party, a source said.
Sarwono had to win the blessings of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, a founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB), to guarantee support from the party for his candidacy. He also lobbied the central board of the National Awakening Party (PAN) for their backing.
Economist Faisal Basri said money is the common language when political parties nominate candidates. Faisal had also hoped to secure nomination for the Jakarta election, but said he could not secure any party support despite their "enthusiasm" for his proposed platform. "Their applause and cheering did not translate into support for me."
The Regional Autonomy Law is currently being tested in the Constitutional Court after a councilor from West Nusa Tenggara failed to be nominated for the gubernatorial election there by his political party and demanded he be allowed to run as an independent.
Faisal said he would be willing to run as an independent candidate if the law was amended. "I'm always ready to be nominated, but I want my nomination to come sincerely from residents, not because I gave them money."
Detik.com - June 6, 2007
Nograhany Widhi K., Jakarta – Around 300 people from the Urban Poor Union (SRMK) demonstrated in front of the Constitutional Court on June 6 demanding that the court review Law Number 32/2004 in relation to independent candidates in the election of regional heads.
During the action on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta that started at 9.55am, they held a warok performance through a traditional reog dance from the East Java town of Ponorogo. Wearing unique all black warok clothing, they performed accompanied by jaran kepang music. Other protesters put up posters reading "Independent candidates".
In a speech, one of the protesters, Rasdullah, called for not just Jakarta to be fixed but also the election of regional heads. "Independent candidates must be able to support the little people. Such independents would not come from a party, it could be a pedicab driver or a person who repairs shoes in the street. If later they become governor they won't evict us, right?", he shouted to his colleagues. Rasdullah's call was immediately greeted with shouts of "Right...".
Action coordinator Effendy Gozali meanwhile said that after 'rocking" the Constitutional Court they would move off the Jakarta Regional National Election Commission (KPUD). "We will be asking the KPUD to extend the registration period. We are hoping that the Jakarta election for governor can be postponed so that the Constitutional Court can hold a judicial review", he asserted. (umi/nrl)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| TNI/Defense |
Jakarta Post - June 5, 2007
Jakarta – Rights activists have asked the President to issue a decree nationalizing all commercial military interests, claiming military involvement in business is the root of rights violations against civilians.
Commenting on last week's deadly shooting in Alas Tlogo village, East Java, Sri Yunanto, the director of the Institute for Defense Security and Peace Studies, said the conflict was not only a land dispute but also a conflict between the military's business interests and the interests of the people.
"We saw the obvious misuse of military assets for business purposes and the misuse of the state apparatus to protect that business. These things are the root of the problem that led to the shooting," Yunanto told reporters Monday.
"The President's political stance on speeding up the formulation of a decree on a national team for the takeover of TNI (Indonesian military) businesses is very important in the reformation of the military, especially in order to get the military out of the business sector," he said.
The Defense Ministry should identify all military business assets in order to terminate the military's commercial interests as required by Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI, which prohibits the TNI and all of its members from taking part in business activities, said Yunanto.
The Pasuruan case is just one of many incidents in which state assets were misused to serve the business interests of the military, according to Yunanto. Such incidents can potentially lead to conflicts and human rights abuses, he added.
Yunanto called on the TNI to investigate the shooting case in the civil court system and not in the military court, as the case revolves around allegations of human rights abuses.
In a similar tone, Bambang Widodo Umar, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said the National Police should have been actively involved in the initial investigation into the case and should not have let the Navy's military police conduct the investigation on their own.
"The domain of the case is the police domain because it involves civilians. The police should have been braver about launching an investigation, even though the case involves the military," Bambang said.
He said the police should also investigate the case to balance interpretations of what happened.
"The Navy can investigate the case, but the police must also investigate it in order to serve the civilian's interests. This would prevent any claim of subjectivity on the part of any institution," said Bambang, adding that the shooting case shows that military reform has been half-hearted.
"This means TNI structural reform is not working. Conflicts between the military and civilians are happening everywhere. The TNI should not be involved in everything. Let law enforcement institutions, such as the police and the courts, be responsible for law enforcement," Bambang said.
Jakarta Post - June 3, 2007
Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – Human rights groups have called for the trial over the recent deadly military shooting in Pasuruan, East Java, to be held in a civilian court.
The activists argue the trial of Marines over the shooting of Pasuruan residents should not be by a military court, in order to assure a fair trial and to maintain the spirit of political reform.
"If the Indonesian Military (TNI) keeps pushing for this case to be processed by a military court, this could tarnish its image of maintaining the spirit of reform," Human Rights Working Group deputy coordinator Khoirul Anam told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
"The military court deals with internal military issues, such as soldiers who disobey their commanders' orders," he said. The law on military courts is still being amended.
Wednesday's shooting at Alas Tlogo in Grati subdistrict which left four people dead and eight wounded – was triggered by a dispute over land claimed by both villagers and the Navy.
Former president Abdurrahman Wahid, a leading figure in Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organization in the country, joined prayer gatherings in the hamlet late Saturday. "How come bullets purchased with the people's money were used to shoot them?" he asked, as reported by Antara news agency.
Thousands of villagers joined the gatherings and rallies in protest of the shootings, while the national red and white flags were flown half mast along village roads.
Khoirul said if the district court cannot proceed with the case, the second best option would be to bring the case to a mixed court consisting of military and civilian personnel. He said the disadvantage of a mixed court would be that it would not be accessible to the public.
However, TNI chief Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto said earlier that it was possible to have a transparent military court process. "What the TNI chiefs should do first is discharge the marine commanders involved. After looking into what type of crime (they committed), the commanders should be prosecuted," he said.
The head of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence's impunity division, Haris Azhar, said military courts tended toward a biased judicial process. "Checks and balances could be tainted because (the military) are their own judges," he said.
Haris gave the example of several members of "Team Mawar" from the Army's special forces who were promoted by TNI after being jailed by a military court for kidnapping activists a decade ago.
Lawyer Hendardi said shooting civilians was not acceptable under any conditions and was a gross violation of human rights. Hendardi, who also argued the case should be through a district court, said dealing with land disputes was not the job of the military. He said TNI chief Djoko should order his subordinates not to meddle in any land disputes.
Contrary to claims from the TNI, the National Commission on Human Rights said it found no evidence from the scene of the Pasuruan shooting that civilians had intended to attack marines with sharpened weapons. The 2000 law on human rights states that a deliberate attack on civilians is classified as a crime against humanity.
TNI chief spokesman Rear Marshall Sagom Tamboen said the military would do its best to uphold the law and find justice for victims and their families.
Agence France Presse - June 2, 2007
Singapore – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates met here Sunday with his Indonesian counterpart to discuss ways of deepening military relations between the two countries with an emphasis on reform.
Gates and Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono both "stressed the importance of encouraging ongoing reforms undertaken by Indonesia's military, a crucial and inseparable part of democratic reforms," they said in a joint statement.
Military relations between the two countries have been improving in recent years after a long period in which they were suspended because of the Indonesian military's human rights record.
Their meeting on the sidelines of an international conference on Asian security came two days after an independent government watchdog in Jakarta found that Indonesian marines fired directly at protesters in clashes this week that left four people dead.
The Indonesian navy had said the marines fired only into the air and onto the ground to scare armed protesters who were threatening them. The joint US-Indonesia statement made no mention of the incident.
It said Gates and Sudarsono agreed that "the two countries' security and military-to-military ties need to be continuously monitored, managed and nurtured within the framework of Indonesia's ongoing democratic transformation."
"They also discussed ways and means to deepen the strategic partnership between Indonesia and the USA," it said. "They underlined the importance of strengthening existing bilateral cooperation to address various strategic challenges."
| Economy & investment |
Jakarta Post - June 5, 2007
Andi Haswidi, Jakarta – The latest trade figures show that Indonesia's monthly exports declined 3.7 percent in April to US$8.85 billion from $9.19 billion a month earlier.
The monthly decrease was due mostly to a 3.45 percent decrease in oil and gas exports and a 3.75 percent decrease in non-oil and gas exports, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported Monday.
The decline is the second time this year that exports have fallen, after dropping 0.44 percent from January to $8.32 billion in February.
The total value of oil and gas exports dropped from $1.55 billion in March to $15 billion in April, while non-oil and gas exports declined from $7.6 billion to $7.3 billion.
"The biggest decline (in the non-oil and gas category) was in exports of machinery, including railway rolling stock and locomotives," said BPS deputy chairman for statistics Pietojo. Exports of machines and electronic goods dropped from $702 million in March to $581 million in April.
On a cumulative basis, however, January-April exports totaled $34.55 billion, up 14.82 percent compared with the same period last year. The cumulative figure included a 22.67 percent increase in non-oil and gas exports.
The government is targeting 20 percent export growth this year so as to help it achieve 6.3 percent economic growth. Indonesia's exports hit a record high of $100.69 billion last year.
Despite surpassing the $100 billion mark for the first time last year, Indonesia lags behind other Southeast Asian countries in benefiting from the boom in the world's emerging markets, a recent World Bank report has concluded.
Looking at the figures for parts and component exports to China between 1990 and 2003, the World Bank said that Indonesian trade increased only 5-fold, while the Philippines' trade increased 60-fold, Malaysia's 20-fold and Thailand's 15-fold.
The country's exporters estimate that exports will likely grow by a disappointing 14 percent this year due to various factors, such as the continuing failure to deal with red-tape and the high cost of doing business here.
April also saw total imports of $5.64 billion, an increase of 3.86 percent from the $5.44 billion recorded in March, with oil and gas imports amounting to $1.62 billion, representing an approximately 7.76 percent increase.
From the start of the year up until the end of April, the value of total imports amounted to $21.03 billion, representing an increase of 16.13 percent compared to the same period last year, when the equivalent figure was $18.11 billion.