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Indonesia News Digest 22 – June 8-14, 2008
Tempo Interactive - June 13, 2008
Reh Atemalem S., Jakarta – Head of the National Child Protection
Commission, Seto Mulyadi, said 6.5 million children have to work
due to poverty. "The number rises by 30-80 percent every year,
aligned with the number of children who drop out of school and
violence to children," he said yesterday.
The commission reported 11 million children aged 7-8 years old
throughout Indonesia do not go to school. Some 2.1 million
school-aged children dropped out of school in 2004, mostly at
secondary school. Working children are aged 7-17 years old.
They work at informal sectors like selling in the street, shoe
polishers, maids, and rag pickers. They also work at night
amusement centers, home businesses, and manufacturers. Most of
them say they work to help their parents.
Susanti, 17 years old, works at Muara Angke helping her parents
by cleaning out swallows nests. She stopped her education when
she was at elementary school. She is paid Rp15,000 a day for 11
hours. "The government should help children go to school," said
Susanti with tears in her eyes.
Fourteen-year-old Musmunah works at the night amusement center
from early morning. "I want to be like other children," she said.
No one from her family ever attended school.
Jakarta Post - June 14, 2008
Jakarta – State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil
said Friday there is nothing wrong with state officials holding
commissioner positions in state enterprises, since they are
needed to voice the interests of the people and government.
His remarks come amid a flurry of resignations by directors
general at the Finance Ministry from commissioner posts at state
firms in support of an ongoing reform launched last year by
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
The move to relinquish positions on the boards of state firms has
gained wide support in a country where incompetent bureaucracy
and corruption in ministries are cited in many reports by the
World Bank, Transparency International and others, as being
detrimental to growth.
Sofyan, however, sees it differently. "State firms are the
state's assets; any state firm should have a government
representative," he said.
As a shareholder, the government has the right to post its
representatives in state companies to oversee its assets, as part
of its responsibility to the public, Sofyan said.
Earlier this week, several directors general at the Finance
Ministry said they were resigning as commissioners of state firms
to support reform and avoid conflict of interest.
Included in that group are the director general of taxation,
Darmin Nasution, who is also the president commissioner of the
Indonesia Stock Exchange, and the director general of budget,
Ahmad Rochjadi, who is also a commissioner at state oil and gas
firm PT Pertamina and at state pension fund company PT Taspen.
This reform aims to help flush out corruption from the Finance
Ministry by raising salaries, among other measures. Directors
general are then expected to focus on their jobs at the ministry.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) earlier said that
top-level civil servants at ministries, including directors
general, should avoid doubling up on jobs because it could lead
to conflict of interest.
Sofyan, however, insisted that there was no conflict of interest
caused by the current double jobs.
"There is no conflict of interest, but there are parallel
interests, meaning that state officials (on boards of state
firms) work for the public and government's interests, not for
themselves."
The secretary to the sinister for state enterprises, Said Didu,
admitted the issue of "double jobs" for top state officials is in
a gray area and that existing regulations need clarification.
"Therefore, the definition of double jobs and conflicts of
interest should be made clear in order to avoid controversy," he
said.
The state ministry, Didu said, would work on a joint decree with
the Finance Ministry to formulate a regulation on double jobs.
Critics have long said the government should follow international
practice in striking a balance between avoiding conflict of
interest and protecting the people's and government's interest.
Many governments appoint highly competent professionals to
represent them in state-owned companies. (dia)
Aceh
West Papua
Human rights/law
Labour issues
Environment/natural disasters
Agriculture & food security
Health & education
War on corruption
Islam/religion
Elections/political parties
Foreign affairs
Economy & investment
Opinion & analysis
News & issues
Poverty causes 6.5 million children to work
Minister OKs double jobs for top officials, against trend
Rubber bullets found on Unas campus
Jakarta Post - June 12, 2008
Jakarta – The National Commission of Human Rights has found 15 rubber bullets at the National University (Unas) campus in East Jakarta, where a clash between police and students took place last month.
"The bullets are round in shape and black in color, like big marbles. There is some kind of metal inside the rubber," said commission member Nhur Kholis on Wednesday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
He was part of a special team established by the commission to investigate the incident. He reported the finding to the Jakarta Police on Wednesday.
Nur cited city police chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman as saying the rubber bullets were not the standard type the Indonesian police use.
Jakarta Post - June 12, 2008
Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's brother-in-law Brig. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo has been promoted to chief of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) as part of the latest reshuffle within the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Edhie, brother of First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, will replace Maj. Gen. Sunarko, who will take over from Maj. Gen. Supiadin Yusuf as the Iskandar Muda Military commander overseeing Aceh.
Supiadin will move to the TNI headquarters as the operational assistant to the TNI chief.
TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso signed the first major reshuffle of the year on May 29, although it was not announced until Wednesday.
Edhie, who graduated from the Military Academy in 1979, was promoted after having served as Central Java's Diponegoro Military Command chief of staff since September last year.
Before that, he was deputy chief of the Kopassus elite force for about two years. The Kopassus top job has often served as a stepping stone to a more strategic assignments, including the Jakarta Military Command post.
Many noted Edhie's promising career when he served as an adjutant to President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whom Yudhoyono defeated in the 2004 election.
TNI chief of general affairs Lt. Gen. Erwin Sudjono is another relative of the First Family who holds a strategic post in the armed forces. Erwin is Ani's brother-in-law.
The latest reshuffle affected 131 officers, including Maj. Gen. Hotmangaradja Pandjaitan, who will replace Maj. Gen. G.R. Situmeang as the Udayana Military commander overseeing Bali and Nusa Tenggara.
Hotmangaradja is the son of national hero D.I. Pandjaitan, who was among the seven Army generals slain in an abortive coup attempt blamed on the communists in September 1965.
Situmeang, who moved to Bali last December, will become Army inspector general, replacing Maj. Gen. Mahidin Simbolon, who is retiring.
| Aceh |
Jakarta Post - June 10, 2008
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A patrol car belonging to Wilayatul Hisbah of the sharia police in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Nanggroe Darussalam province, was burned out early Monday morning by unidentified attackers.
The car was attacked by at least four people using Molotov cocktails outside the sharia police headquarters at Mibo village in Banda Aceh, head of the sharia police Natsir Ilyas said. Ilyas said that after burning the car the attackers fled using motorcycles parked nearby. "They attacked the car using bottles filled with kerosene," he said.
Ilyas said he was still in the dark as to who was behind the attack, but he expressed confidence it was related to the rising number of sellers of alcoholic drinks as well as drugs in the city. "Possibly they do not agree with the implementation of sharia law in Aceh. It can be anybody," he said.
Nearly every day, Ilyas said, his subordinates patrol in the city to monitor activities deemed to violate sharia regulations. The patrols are usually conducted in areas considered to be prone to sharia regulation violations, like cafes and other places where youths gather, he said.
Ilyas said that based on the routine patrols, the sharia police handled 1,245 violations in the period between January and May this year. Out of the total cases, only four dealt with illegal distribution of liquor and 491 with sexual promiscuity, he said.
With regard to the implementation of the caning punishment, the sharia affairs office of Banda Aceh has punished 22 people in this manner from 2005 to 2007. Most of them were found guilty of involvement in gambling and other infractions, including liquor consumption and sexual promiscuity.
Even though Monday's attack did not destroy the car totally, the action has shocked the sharia police officers, Ilyas said. Sharia police commander Bahgia said this was the first such attack in Banda Aceh. He also admitted that in carrying out their duties the sharia police officers frequently faced threats in the field.
"In nearly every law and order operation, we frequently become involved in heated arguments with the perpetrators. They have even threatened us many times," Bahgia said.
Besides the physical threats, the sharia police have also frequently received threats through sms messages and anonymous phone calls, Bahgia said, adding that some of the threats included death threats.
The sharia police are one of the ways in which the Aceh provincial administration attempts to enforce sharia regulations against potential violators. The administration started to implement the regulations in 2004.
Aside from fighting the distribution of liquor, the sharia police officers frequently apprehend girls who wear inappropriate clothes and couples found together in public and deserted places.
| West Papua |
Sydney Morning Herald - June 12, 2008
Hamish McDonald – Senior Indonesian political leaders are looking to Kevin Rudd to restore the warmth in bilateral relations felt under the previous Labor prime ministers Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating, but they expect Canberra to keep repeating the mantra that Papua is an intrinsic part of the Indonesian Republic.
In meetings with Australian media editors two weeks ago, there was no sign of any quid pro quo to open up Papua to outside monitors of the development and human rights situation. The still-restive territory was transferred to Indonesia by the reluctant Dutch in 1963, 13 years after they quit their former East Indies realm.
Theo Sambuaga, a former Soeharto-era minister who is chairman of the the Indonesian parliament's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee, said the issue of Papuan independence was "always being raised" in Australia, despite the Howard government signing the Lombok security treaty, which recognises Indonesia's sovereignty over all its present territory.
He said comments about Papua should "be raised in a proportional way, because the commitment of the Australian Government, we believe, is a commitment of Australia as a whole that there's no question that Papua is an integral part of Indonesia."
Recalling the arrival of 43 Papuans by boat across the Torres Strait to seek political asylum in Australia – granted in all but one case – Sambuaga called on Australians not to encourage any more refugees. "Don't be welcoming them," he said.
The Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, defended his government's policy of restricting access to Papua by foreign media and human rights monitors, arguing it was not the same as the closure of East Timor during the 24-year Indonesian occupation, and that visit permits were given to some media and human rights groups.
"You should not think that if not much access is given that we are hiding something," Wirajuda said. "We simply want for the people to have a peaceful life, not to be disturbed by so many visitors that might be happening in more open access to Papua."
The Government had no policy of violating the rights of Papuans, and had diverted more powers and revenues to its regional and local governments, he said. Under Indonesia's 10-year-old democracy, strong legislatures, vigorous domestic media and numerous non-governmental organisations were "corrective institutions" against abuses.
But Asmara Nababan, of the Indonesian civil liberties group Demos, said Papua was still a region beset by a military operating with impunity, widespread corruption and a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic. "For Papuans to speak out is seen as a threat to their civil liberties," he told the editors, adding, "There is still a strong demand to see the truth and taste the justice."
Clinton Fernandes, an Indonesia expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy, said the restriction of access to the Papuans was a violation of their rights as Indonesian citizens.
"In 2007, the Constitutional Court ruled that anti-free speech provisions in the criminal code were unconstitutional," Fernandes said. "Yet Papuans are jailed for peaceful free speech in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Indonesia ratified in 2006. There is one rule for Papuans and another rule for other Indonesians.
"And Colonel Burhanuddin Siagian, indicted for crimes against humanity in East Timor, remains a senior officer in Papua. If a European country behaved like this, there would be worldwide condemnation."
Some observers see a colonial-style policy of "divide and rule" whereby Papua – previously a single province with nine districts – had been carved up into two provinces and 22 districts. Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group said that in some districts, 85 per cent of civil servants were non-Papuans, and administrations were awash with cash they could not usefully spend.
Wirajuda said many district chiefs seemed to spend most of their time in Jakarta hotels.
Migration from other parts of Indonesia is steadily rising, Jones said. About 80 per cent of these migrants are Muslim. There was a sense of "orchestrated Islamisation" of Papua, whose indigenous people are Christian or traditional animists.
Howick and Pakuranga Times (NZ) - June 9, 2008
Explain Yourself to Cameron Broadhurst
Environmental Papuan activist Septer Manufandu in New Zealand last week to highlight West Papuan deforestation. He also met Maori Party members to forge links between the indigenous people. Times photo Cameron Broadhurst.
Septer Manufandu was born into the Biak tribe on a small island in the north of West Papua, a territory under the control of Indonesia but with a significant native population. They moved to Jayapura, and he grew up in the high mountain areas of central Papua. After studying agriculture the University of Cendrawasih, he moved onto become the secretary of Folker, an umbrella group coordinating West Papuan nongovernmental organisations. Here to campaign against kwila wood the oppression of native Papuans, Septer spoke to the Times about the environment in Papua and its people's struggle.
What relationship does the tribe have with the forest?
Papuan people consist of 356 tribes and most live close to the forest. Papua has lowlands, highlands, wetland areas and coastal and marine areas. 50 per cent of Papuans live in high mountain areas and 68 per cent live close to the forest.
Were you dependent on the forest growing up?
Yes. My parents went to the forest for food all the time. Cutting down sago palms, making traditional fires, planting sweet potatoes, animal hunting and getting fish from the river.
What changes have you seen there over your lifetime?
Logging companies have come and occupied people's land and clear cut the forest. Papuan people live in the forest, but forest land is all controlled by government. It is difficult for Papuan people because all their activities in the forest and coast are their main traditional activity.
What have the tribes lost?
They lose food, they lose animals and traditional medicines and they lose culture because in the forest they implement traditional culture. It's their home. Their perspective is the forest is their mother. The mother can give everything. It can protect, give food and give life.
We believe every indigenous people have a perspective and local wisdom. But so far the Indonesian government has not recognised their rights. When we talk about rights it is very difficult because in Papua there is a stigma from the government and military: "You are separatists!"
So you have no voice?
Papuan people already established their organisation to amplify talking about their rights, the forest, and their land. When Papua got the special autonomy law in 2001, it says there is decentralisation of government and talks about rights, how to recognise, protect and empower. But seven years later it's not effective. Nothing has changed.
What kind of trees are being taken?
We lose many kwila because permits were given in 1984 to 68 companies. Now 15 still operate. In 2005 our report showed illegal logging occurs all over Papua. It reaches 600,000 m3 (cubic metres) a month and the logs are exported illegally.
Who are the companies?
Mostly foreign: Malaysian, Chinese and others. They operate outside the concession. The government gives a legal permit, and then they go outside that area. But illegal or legal are both causing destruction and deforestation.
The military is connected with all of this?
Yes. All activity from logging companies comes through the military.
What do you want New Zealand to do?
Stop buying kwila. Support indigenous people. Destruction of the forest is like killing people because they lose everything. They cannot have food, they can't get water. Logging companies pollute the water too.
I also met people from the Maori Party and the Green Party in Wellington. We are learning about Maori people's conditions here for information and how their strategy was established.
How does the Folker (non government organisations forum) work? What are you doing?
We were created to establish advocacy on 6 major issues: human rights abuses, natural resource problems, good governance, women and child health and HIV Aids. We have 64 member groups. Folker functions to establish policy and a voice for Papua outside about our problems.
What progress has been made?
We prepared a legal draft on the special autonomy law. We've tried to do research on the ten regencies in Papua.
Are Papuan people involved in NGOs?
Yeah, we have good relationship with them.
It sounds a bit like an alternative government, because they have no relationship with the central government?
Yes, yes.
What about the migration issue (of Indonesians into Papua)?
We call it a 'demographic disaster' in Papua. In 1971 Papuan people were 96 per cent of the population, but in 2005 they were 59 per cent and non Papuans 49 per cent. We estimate in 2030, Papuans will only be 15.2 per cent of the population. We are becoming a minority in Papua. There is a paper on it by James Elmslie called "Genocide by Demographics".
I want to talk about the social impact. Mortality of women and children is very high in Papua; the health service is very bad. HIV is very high. It's 2 per cent of the population, comparable to the problem in Papua New Guinea.
Are there signs of progress?
We have groups in Australia, in Jakarta, and in Finland for Europe. They help our situation. Last year the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights visited. Now we are trying to get groups to advocate for the position of Papuan people within Papua. We are trying to describe the Papuan position and work out how to take the next strategy since the special autonomy law. It's a strategy for us, for NGOs and church organisations. We're trying to look at all problems. But human rights abuses are very sensitive in West Papua.
| Human rights/law |
Kompas Cyber Media - June 13, 2008
West Bandung – The investigation into the murder of human rights fighter Munir continues to roll along. A new suspect linked with the case has emerged although the national police are keeping the individual's identity confidential.
"On the question of the new suspect, police will of course give out the name. Currently we are in the process of gathering material evidence, witnesses and other information. We will inform [the public] as soon as possible", said Indonesian Police Chief General Sutanto after attending the closing ceremony of the High Level Administrative Leadership and Staff School (Sespati) G-14 and the National Police Regular Education Leadership and School Staff School (Sespim Dikreg) in Lembang, West Bandung, on Friday June 13.
Sutanto was reluctant to mention the name or initials of the new suspect."Later. A rogue individual basically. They are the one that did and carried it out (the murder of Munir)", he said.
Speaking separately, legal expert I Gde Panta Astawa from the University of Padjadjaran in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung said that the Munir murder case is being dragged out. This is being done intentionally by police because of a certain motive. The motive, among other things, is that for the sake of the national interest the police are not revealing the mastermind behind Munir's murder.
Whereas, said Panta Astawa, with the network and methods at the police's disposal, it would not be difficult to expose Munir's murderer. Right from the start the police could have traced the brains behind Munir's murder, but this was not done he said.
Panta Astawa explained that the police are intentionally and repeatedly delaying making a disclosure with the aim that the public will forget about Munir's murder. At the same time the principle actor remains safe.
However, he continued, it will be difficult for these efforts to succeed because Munir was not just a national figure. The whole world is well acquainted with Munir so the public will not easily forget the case.
Panta Astawa said that the key to successfully cracking the Munir murder case is how daring the police are. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has already given them the green light. "It depends on whether the police have the courage or not to expose the case in an explicit manner," he said. (MHF)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - June 13, 2008
Jakarta – The National Police has adequate evidence to arrest the mastermind of the September 2004 murder of rights activist Munir Said Thalib.
Chief of detective directorate Comr. Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said Thursday the new suspect had ordered and provided the opportunity for the assassination.
"We are convinced the preliminary evidence is adequate to make the arrest in the near future," he said on the sidelines of a hearing at the House of Representatives. Bambang said the suspect was a retiree of an institution, so there was no need to ask for a permit to investigate the person.
He refused to identify the suspect. He said the police would not summon the suspect for questioning before the arrest. When asked if the police faced obstacles to arresting the suspect, he said: "Let's just wait."
A government-sanctioned fact-finding team has linked the murder with former and active officials at the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).
| Labour issues |
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – A foreign company in Medan, North Sumatra, has reportedly dismissed workers for planning to form a labor union at their work place.
The 97 dismissed workers filed a report to the Malaysian consulate in Medan on Tuesday, over the move by Malaysian-based PT Smart Glove Indonesia. They urged Malaysian consulate general Fauzi Omar to demand company director Alan Wong to reinstate all the dismissed workers.
A member of the workers' advocacy team, Bambang Hermanto, said Alan Wong's move to dismiss the workers was against the existing law, adding that the 1945 Constitution guarantees freedom of association.
The action, he said, also broke the law because the company above had prevented workers from working despite their initial approval from the Industrial Affairs Court.
One of the dismissed workers, Yayuk Anggraini, said the company dismissed them on March 27 and there were initially 112 workers dismissed, but the company had reinstated 15 workers with unclear reasons.
Yayuk questioned why the company had dismissed them, when a number of other workers who had long established another union at the company were not fired.
"The management disallowed us to set up a labor union in the company, but approved one union formed by a number of employees from the personnel division," Yayuk said, adding that the union was called Cahaya Indonesia Trade Union (SPCI).
Another dismissed worker, Dedi Siswoyo, said they were surprised to learn that the company had dismissed them without notice or a warning letter.
The company had suppressed workers' rights for the three-and-a- half years Dedi had worked there, it had often failed to pay overtime wages and had forbidden menstruation leave for female workers, he said.
"Frankly, we have been repressed in terms of our working conditions and restrained against our right to associate as stipulated in the law," Dedi said.
An official who greeted the workers, from the Malaysian consulate in Medan, Maim Yazid, said the consulate expressed concerns over the fate of the dismissed workers.
However, the consulate had no rights to meddle with the internal affairs of PT Smart Glove Indonesia, he said, but would question the company's management in the near future.
"I will first report the matter to the consulate general because he has the authority to summon the company management," Yazid said.
| Environment/natural disasters |
Jakarta Post - June 14, 2008
Jakarta – PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) paid at least Rp 6.4 billion (US$684,800) to exploit forests using illegal permits issued by Pelalawan Regent Tengku Azmun Jaafar, a court heard Friday.
Hambali, a former official of the Pelalawan forestry office, testified that he and his partner had received money from PT Persada Karya Sejati (PKS), a subsidiary of RAPP that allegedly took over two plots of forest land illegally allocated for their two companies in 2005.
"One of the companies, PT Harapan Jaya, is mine. The regent told me to use the company's name in applying for a forest resource utilization permit he was to issue later," Hambali told the Corruption Court in Jakarta in a trial against the regent.
"RAPP then took over the companies through PKS. We agreed because we didn't have any capital or equipment to cut down the trees. They later paid us with some of the money gained from the exploitation," he said.
Hambali told the court that he and his partner, Budi Surlani, had received a total of Rp 2.8 billion in early installments from Rosman, a general manager at RAPP who is at large, after the takeovers in July 2005.
Hambali said at least Rp 1.5 billion went to Azmun and Rp 600 million to Asral Rahman, head of the Riau forestry office.
Azmun has been suspended as Palelawang regent as he stands trial for illegally issuing authorization letters to 15 companies for the utilization of more than 120,000 hectares of forest in Pelalawan, Riau, in 2002 and 2003.
The authorization letters, which gave permission to utilize planted forest resources, were later used to exploit natural forest by the companies.
Prosecutors of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said the exploitation of the forest resources by the companies caused a total of Rp 1.2 trillion (US$128 million) in losses to the state.
Seven of the companies were established by Azmun's relatives and acquaintances, and none of them met the criteria necessary for forestry enterprises in terms of financial and technical qualifications.
Six of the seven companies belonging to Azmun's relatives and cronies were taken over by PKS/RAPP soon after their authorization letters were issued.
Prosecutors said RAPP gained more than Rp 930 billion from the exploitation of forest resources.
Azmun received more than Rp 19 billion from the companies since he issued the letters; while Azmun's brother, Tengku Lukman Jaafar, who was involved in establishing some of the companies in 2001, earned more than Rp 8 billion, the indictment says.
A total of Rp 240 million also went to Fredrik Suli and Sudirno, both senior officials with the Riau forestry office, it says.
Presiding judge Kresna Menon adjourned the trial until next Friday to hear testimony from more witnesses. (dre)
Associated Press - June 11, 2008
Sara Schonhardt, Jakarta - International scientists said Tuesday they are almost certain a mud volcano that has displaced tens of thousands of villagers in central Indonesia was caused by faulty drilling of a gas exploration well not an earthquake as claimed by the company.
Debate over the eruption has flared since a seemingly endless torrent of hot, black sludge started oozing from a gaping hole near the country's second-largest city of Surabaya on May 29, 2006.
Well operator Lapindo Brantas, owned by the family of Indonesia's richest man, Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie, says it was triggered by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that occurred 155 miles from the site two days earlier.
"We are more certain than ever that the Lusi mud volcano is an unnatural disaster and was triggered by drilling the Banjar-Panji-1 well," Richard Davies, a geologist at Durham University in Britain, said Tuesday.
He was the lead author of a study published this week in the academic journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters that said his team was 99 percent sure that drilling pressures caused a fluid leakage that led to an "underground blowout."
Lapindo noticed too late that an influx of water or gas entered the well after the drill was removed for the night, Davies said, adding "it is quite clear" the critical pressure was "more than the hole could withstand."
Michael Manga, a University of California researcher who authored the part of the report on the quake's impact, said while earthquakes can trigger eruptions, this one "was simply too small and too far away."
Lapindo responded Tuesday by saying Davies and his team were not experts on drilling, rock mechanics or mud volcanos.
"We are ready for a scientific debate," said company spokeswoman Yuniwati Teryana, adding that some other international experts support claims the eruption was triggered by tectonic activities.
The government has made many attempts to contain or stop the mud, which is coming out at a rate of up to 3.5 million cubic feet a day, including dropping beach ball-sized concrete balls into its mouth and building dams to channel the sludge to sea.
But it continues to wreak havoc, swallowing at least a dozen villages and displacing up to 30,000 people. The government estimates the eruption will cause $844 million in damage and has ordered Lapindo to pay half that, with some of the money going toward compensating victims.
| Agriculture & food security |
Jakarta Post - June 12, 2008
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – Twenty-one children under the age of five have died from malnutrition in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) during the past six months of this year, more than double the figure recorded last year, according to a local health office.
"Poverty is the main cause of malnutrition," Taopan, head of food affairs at the provincial health office, said Wednesday.
"A lack of staple foods forces parents to feed their children food with no nutritional value. Because of the poor diet, children are susceptible to complications from various diseases."
He said his office was expecting to see an increase in the number of malnutrition cases in the coming months because of the combination of a harvest failure and limited budget allocation.
The provincial government allocated Rp 2 billion (about US$2.15 million) for dealing with malnutrition this year. Although it had requested Rp 57 billion from the central government, the latter allocated only Rp 2 billion.
The Kupang municipal and regency administrations are not able to increase their own budget allocations, which were approved by their respective legislatures earlier this year.
Taopan said the government had recorded a total of 512,400 malnourished toddlers in NTT, the country's least-developed province. Most are undergoing medical treatment at nutrition rehabilitation centers following the food crisis caused by the floods and landslides that ravaged farmland during the rainy season between September 2007 and February 2008.
"Currently, 112 toddlers are undergoing medical treatment for complications from malnutrition at several hospitals in the regencies of Southeast Sumba, Central Sumba, North Timor Tengah and Rote Ndao," he said.
Farmers in 137 subdistricts in several regencies are facing the threat of harvest failures because droughts and excessive rainfall have damaged their paddy plants.
Taopan said the children who died from malnutrition included those found in Kupang (seven), Rote Ndao (four) and South Timor Tengah (two).
Anticipatory measures to address the problem, such as educating parents, creating health campaigns and ensuring adequate medicine stocks, are required, he said.
The head of the local food resilience office, Petrus Langoday, said a food crisis was threatening the province, with many regencies suffering harvest failures due to flooding and droughts in the past six months.
To fight malnutrition, the provincial government is not only waiting for financial assistance from the central government, but is also working with regency administrations and NGOs, including churches, he said.
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Adianto P Simamora, Jakarta – More than 100 representatives of farmers groups from across the world will gather in Jakarta next week to seek international recognition of their rights and to tackle the food crisis currently affecting many countries.
The five-day meeting, to be attended by farmers from Asia, Africa and Europe, will start on June 20. The Indonesian Farmers Union and the Indonesian Human Rights for Social Justice will host the forum. The international conference will also seek to put an end to agricultural workers' rights violations.
"The conference is expected to result in an international legal instrument on the rights of peasants, in order to protect farmers from violations and the effects of market liberalization," Indonesian Farmers Union chairman Henry Saragih told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
"Right now, there is no convention on farmers' rights. We have to start pushing for the United Nations to recognize our rights."
Henry said the existing UN human rights convention had failed to stop physical attacks on local farmers worldwide.
"Furthermore, the Peasant's Charter on agrarian reform and rural development cannot protect farmers against the effects of market liberalization policies," he said.
The union reported that rights violations against Indonesian farmers remained widespread particularly in resolving disputes over land ownership.
"We recorded 1,753 cases of violations against farmers during the 1970-2001 period. The same trend has also been seen in other countries, even though we report such cases to the Human Rights Council annually," he said.
He said farmers had the right to land, food, agricultural production facilities, seeding and appropriate commodity prices.
The Indonesian Farmers Union is affiliated with La Via Campesina, an international farmers movement made up of millions of small farmers and agricultural workers.
Henry, who is also coordinator for La Via Campesina, said the world's agriculture policies tended to support the market liberalization system.
Market liberalization has forced farmers to produce food for export and encouraged transnational companies to occupy more land, leaving farmers with only small blocks of land, he added.
Henry said La Via Campesina had long been struggling for agrarian and land reforms to help farmers control larger farming areas.
Indonesia, most of whose 200 million people are farmers, is currently facing problems with the limited land allocation for farming.
He said many Indonesian farmers have less than one hectare of farmland. "Our target is to distribute about 200,000 hectares to local farmers by 2012," he said.
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Jakarta – The World Bank (WB) predicts Indonesia will experience a shorter period of repercussions from the global food price crisis compared to other countries in Southeast Asia.
Country director Joachim von Amsberg said Tuesday Indonesia was relatively better suited to weather pressure from the crisis thanks to increases in domestic production and price stabilization measures.
"Many are understandably concerned about the negative impacts from high prices. For a resource rich country like Indonesia, high commodity prices represent a big opportunity to raise investment and reduce poverty," von Amsberg said in a seminar jointly held by WB and the Bogor Agriculture Institute (IPB) in Jakarta.
He said the government should therefore see the global food crisis not as a threat, but as an opportunity to boost its agricultural growth.
He praised the government's pricing policies and cash transfers for the poor, which he said had strengthened people's purchasing power against what he called "the silent tsunami".
The head of economics department of the IPB, Rina Oktaviani, said the acceleration of food prices in Indonesia had started early 2005 before reaching its peak in the second semester of 2007, which saw pressure from rising crude oil, CPO, wheat and gold.
"Until March 2008, the biggest contribution to inflation came from staple food groups and food products such as cooking foods," she said. However, an agricultural boom, she said, should help boost farmers' wages as long as the government was able to develop infrastructure in rural areas.
Also speaking at the seminar, WB economist Enrique Aldaz-Caroll said the leveling of Indonesia's prices with global prices of foods including rice, maize, cooking oil, sugar, flour and soybeans would not be instantaneous and that regions able to adapt quickly would see less price volatility.
"The speed at which the domestic rice price adjusts to the world price depends on the province. In Jakarta, the adjustment only takes three months, while in West Kalimantan it takes up to two years," Aldaz-Caroll said.
Trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu said it was unlikely food prices would go down in the next two to five years, and that people had no other option than to adapt by working to improve purchasing power.
"Analysts said current commodity prices have already reached their peaks, but they will continue to go up," she said, adding that Indonesia could benefit from the situation by increasing exports.
Indonesia recorded a 41 percent increase in agricultural products exports to US$1.048 billion in the first quarter of 2008 from $740 million in the same period last year.
Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono said a longer rainy season brought by climate change had enabled farmers to increase production. "Because of the climate change, some regions in Indonesia now enjoy three times harvests a year; in April, July and August," he said.
He said climate change would persist into next year, and that the government was increasing spending on fertilizer production to increase output in the sector.
"We need about Rp 17 trillion instead of the Rp 6.7 trillion already allocated," he said.(dia)
Jakarta Post - June 10, 2008
Kupang – At least 137 villages in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are in need of government food supplies following a harvest failure, a local official says.
NTT Food Reliance Agency head Petrus Langoday said Monday the number of villages at risk in Lembata, Rote Ndao and Alor regencies was previously 102.
"Data show that areas prone to food shortages have risen over the last week, including six villages in Ngada regency and 29 villages in West Sumba regency," said Langoday, adding that 6,000 people were effected by the shortages.
He said based on observations by the local agriculture office, the food shortages were likely caused by lack of rainfall during the planting season.
He said residents had to learn not to be dependent on rice as their main food supply.
"There are still a lot of tubers and beans available that can endure drought since they only need a little water compared to rice."
| Health & education |
Jakarta Post - June 12, 2008
Jakarta – Public health care in Indonesia has improved, but it still needs more efficient regulations, greater private sector involvement and better financing, a World Bank report says.
The report, "Investing in Indonesia's Health: Challenges and Opportunities for Future Public Spending", was prepared by the World Bank and several government agencies at the request of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).
Bappenas is tasked with formulating guidelines for the government's plan to develop a policy for nationwide health reform, which may include a social security program for the entire population.
The study and conclusions of the report will be taken into consideration in formulating the next medium-term development plan for 2010-2014, Nina Sardjunani, Bappenas deputy minister for human resources and cultural affairs said at the launch of the report Wednesday.
The report shows despite significant improvements in life expectancy and infant mortality, Indonesia is regressing in many important health areas such as maternal mortality, child malnutrition, access to clean water and sanitary and geographic disparities.
"In Bali and Yogyakarta, fewer than 25 out of 1,000 children die before the age of five. But the number increases fourfold in Gorontalo," it says.
The country faces further trouble with the emergence of diseases linked to diet and a sedentary lifestyle such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, increasing demands on resources for existing diseases such as tuberculosis and measles.
The high birthrate of the past decade and longer life expectancy add further pressure.
"There is no fixed estimation yet, but the whole situation might eventually cost an additional 1.6 percent of GDP," Claudia Rokx, the leading health specialist at the World Bank, said.
Indonesia spent around 1 percent of its GDP (US$4 billion) on health last year, four times the 2001 expenditure. But the proportion is still much lower than that of many neighboring countries including Thailand and Vietnam.
Even when funding is available, bureaucratic procedures including those between the central and local governments stall the implementation of services. The report says local governments have limited authority in managing their medical staff and resources, hindering attempts to increase efficiency. In 2006, only 73 percent of the public health budget was spent.
In response to the report, Laksono Trisnantoro, director of the Health Service Management Center at Gadjah Mada University, said some local leaders tended to view health as the central government's responsibility.
"Many local leaders still think it is the responsibility of the central government. Some have achieved a lot in tackling high- profile diseases that win votes such as malaria, but few make an effort for the overall health system, including spending on children's nutrition or women's health," he said.
Jakarta Post - June 10, 2008
Indra Harsaputra, Sidoarjo – Hundreds of children affected by the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, risk dropping out of school because their parents can no longer afford to pay for their education.
Some 2,400 people, 387 of them school-aged children, currently live in makeshift homes in Porong market.
Lilik Kamina, a mudflow victim and radio presenter at Swara Porong, a local station run by victims to publicize their plight, said parents had spoken on the radio about their worries over their children's education.
"I also hear pleas from girls who say their parents can no longer pay school fees and ask them to look for work instead," Lilik told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
She said mudflow victims had been languishing in temporary shelters for more than two years now and faced tremendous difficulties making ends meet, much less paying for their children's education.
She said the situation was deteriorating because PT Lapindo Brantas, the company widely blamed for the disaster, had stopped compensation payments to the families as of May 1, despite the fact most of the victims are unemployed.
Several people at the shelter complained of the rising prices of staple foods and the lack of clean water.
Iswahyuningsih, 38, said her family could no longer afford fish and chicken. She said she and her husband Karnoto, 40, who earns less than Rp 30,000 (US$3.30) per day as a manual laborer, often had to skip meals to save up money for school fees for their daughter, Dian Utami, 13.
She said the fees were in arrears for the past six months, and her relatives were unwilling to lend her money.
"I don't know if we can afford to keep Dian in school," she told the Post. A number of welfare organizations and individuals have granted scholarships and provided basic learning facilities and makeshift classrooms.
Schools such as the Muhammadiyah school continue to offer scholarships and financial assistance to victims of the mudflow.
Meanwhile, the government and Lapindo have not reached an agreement on what to do about those still living at Porong market.
"This is a form of intimidation by the government and Lapindo to force the displaced people into accepting the unfair compensation they're peddling," said Paring Waluyo, an activist fighting for the victims' rights.
He said the victims would continue seeking justice in the case. They were prepared to continue eking out an existence at the shelter to highlight their condition until a mutually beneficent agreement was reached with Lapindo, he said.
| War on corruption |
Jakarta Post - June 13, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Despite tougher measures to combat graft, Indonesia remains at the top of the corruption index in the East Asia region, the latest UN Development Program report says.
The report, Tackling Corruption, Transforming Lives, gave Indonesia a score of 4.2 out of 5 on the corruption index for its police, judiciary and tax office – the highest score in the East Asia region.
The report cited the 2007 Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer, which measured public perceptions of corruption in public service institutions. The Indonesian police often demand bribes from the public, the report said.
"One study, in Indonesia, involved accompanying truckers in long inter-provincial journeys that encountered multiple police checkpoints," it said.
"The bribery expenses at these checkpoints constituted around 13 percent of the transportation cost which, though less than the fuel cost, is a little more than the wage cost."
Indonesia is using the tax revenue sector as a pilot project for institutional reforms designed to curb corruption. The UNDP released its Asia-Pacific human development report in Jakarta on Thursday.
The report said nearly one in five people in the Asia-Pacific region claimed to have paid a bribe to police during the previous year and only a quarter of crimes in Asia were reported because of a lack of trust in the police and courts.
"Justice has a price, and two-thirds of the Asian population consider the courts to be corrupt," it said.
The report said "petty" corruption was a massive drain on Asian economic growth and hit the poor the hardest.
"Petty corruption is a misnomer," Anurahha Rajivan, head of the UNDP Regional Human Development Report unit, said.
She said anti-corruption efforts too often concentrated on exposing the "big fish".
"Hauling the rich and powerful before the courts may grab the headlines, but the poor will benefit more from efforts to eliminate the corruption that plagues their everyday lives," she said.
The health sector also is subject to corruption, the report found, with many people in South Asia having to pay bribes to gain admission into the hospital and mothers even having to pay to see their newborn babies.
Corruption has led to the deaths of millions of the children in the region from diarrhea and diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation.
In the education sector, corruption is related to fewer children attending school and higher drop-out and illiteracy rates.
An extreme type of education corruption is found in "ghost teachers" who may be on the payroll but never set foot in the classroom, the report said.
Corruption has also been evident in natural resources, with many politicians awarding concessions to family members or political allies.
It said in some Asia-Pacific countries, the proportion of illegal logging, which often involved corruption, might be as high as 90 percent.
"In Indonesia, less than one-fourth of the total logging operations, estimated at US$6.6 billion, is legal," the report said. "Informal payments and bribes in this sector are estimated to be more than $1 billion a year."
UN resident coordinator and UNDP resident representative in Indonesia, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, said for Indonesia, the timing of this report could not be better because the debate about how to deal with corruption was as lively as ever.
"Stemming the tide of corruption today will save Asia-Pacific nations billion of dollars toward a better tomorrow," he said.
Jakarta Post - June 13, 2008
Jakarta – As new information emerges about the links between bribery suspect Artalyta Suryani and top officials at the Attorney General's Office, more questions are being asked about the commitment of prosecutors to the war on corruption.
Pressure is mounting for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to expand its investigation into the bribery case involving Artalyta to target the AGO.
"I am tired of this. The KPK must summon Attorney General Hendarman Supandji about the court findings," said Emerson Yuntho of Indonesian Corruption Watch.
During Artalyta's trial on Wednesday, KPK prosecutors presented taped phone conversations between the businesswoman and then deputy attorney general for special crimes Kemas Yahya Rahman, and between Artalyta and the deputy attorney general for state administration, Untung Udji Santoso.
Artalyta confirmed the conversations, in which she sought advice from the two senior AGO officials on how to deal with the KPK.
The recordings were presented as evidence against Artalyta, who is charged with bribing state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, who led an investigation into businessman Sjamsul Nursalim, the former director of Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia, in relation to the embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds. Artalyta reportedly has ties to Sjamsul.
Emerson said the court findings should raise questions about Attorney General Hendarman's commitment to cleaning up the prosecutors' corps, which is portrayed as an institution riddled with corruption in the latest UNDP human development report released Thursday.
"Most prosecutors found guilty of corruption have only received administrative sanctions.... No more than that," he said. The taped conversations between Artalyta and the AGO officials, Emerson said, could serve as an entryway to widen the investigation into corruption in the Attorney General's Office.
In response to the revelations that have come out in court, Hendarman said the AGO had yet to decide on any actions against Kemas and Untung. "We will continue monitoring this case. The process is not yet complete," Hendarman said.
He denied allegations the AGO had protected Artalyta. He said officials under him planned to arrest Artalyta following the arrest of Urip by the Corruption Eradication Commission.
"We were thinking that Artalyta's case was an extortion or a bribery case. If it was a bribery case, Artalyta had to be arrested too. But the KPK eventually arrested her also, so we dropped our plan. There was no scenario to protect her," he said.
Lawmaker Aziz Syamsuddin of House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs said the AGO should look at the Artalyta case as an opportunity to launch internal reforms. "The AGO must evaluate whether there were conflicts of interest in the case," Azis said.
Emerson urged the Corruption Eradication Commission to take over the BLBI case from the Attorney General's Office and resume the suspended investigation into the alleged embezzlement of the liquidity support funds. The attorney general promised to reopen the investigation if it was proven its suspension was related to the bribery case. (alf)
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Jakarta – The major factions joined forces Tuesday to block a House of Representatives move to investigate the government's failure to recover trillions of rupiah in Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) funds from large debtors.
After 30 minutes of negotiations among faction leaders, held behind closed doors, the House deputy speaker who presided over Tuesday's plenary session, Muhaimin Iskandar, announced the legislative body had been almost unanimous in its rejection of the proposed inquiry.
"The House has agreed to establish a team to monitor the ongoing legal process of the BLBI cases," Muhaimin said.
The National Mandate Party (PAN) was the only faction to oppose the decision.
The House factions had been split over the inquiry proposal, with four major factions challenging the political move.
The Golkar Party, the largest faction with 129 of the 550 House seats, told the plenary session the inquiry was not necessary because the alleged misuse of the BLBI funds was being investigated by the House's Commission III overseeing legal affairs, Commission XI overseeing financial affairs and the Attorney General's Office.
"Commission III and Commission XI are intensively discussing both the legal and the economic aspects of the BLBI case. At the same time, the AGO is continuing the legal process," lawmaker Melchias Markus Mekeng said as he read out Golkar's remarks.
"Therefore, we urge all lawmakers, especially those from Commissions III and XI, to continue monitoring the legal process of the BLBI case and the government's efforts to recover the state assets."
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the second- largest faction, supported Golkar's argument.
"The PDI-P accepts the government's explanations given in previous plenary sessions about the BLBI funds. We are opposed to the inquiry proposal because the government has pledged to resolve the BLBI issue," PDI-P spokesman Tukidjo said.
The BLBI funds were extended to ailing major banks at the peak of the Asian economic crisis in 1997 and 1998, when Soeharto, the chief patron of Golkar, was still in power.
The administration of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the PDI-P chairwoman, was responsible for settling the debts, in which the government awarded the debtors large discounts plus freedom from criminal charges.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) were the other factions that rejected the inquiry move. The four factions control more than half of the seats in the House.
PAN lawmaker Dradjad Wibowo said outside the plenary session the inquiry proposal was dropped during the closed-door meeting of faction leaders. He said a team to monitor the legal process of the BLBI case would not have the authority to influence the course of the investigation.
"Had the House accepted the inquiry proposal, a special committee that could have summoned and investigated anyone involved in this case would have been established. The committee would even have had the authority to ask the police to bring in a person by force if they refused to attend after being summoned three times," Dradjad said.
Also at the plenary session, the House accepted the initiative to summon the government to explain its anticipatory measures to prevent the soaring prices of staple foods.
The lawmakers also heard proposals for inquiries into the government's fuel policy and the alleged transfer pricing involving the country's second-largest coal mining company, PT Adaro Energy. (alf)
Jakarta Post - June 10, 2008
Jakarta – Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Ka'ban and three lawmakers were questioned Monday by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on the embezzlement of Bank of Indonesia funds.
Ka'ban said he was summoned as a witness for Hamka Yamdhu and Anthony Zeidra Abidin, both suspects in the alleged illegal disbursement of Rp 100 billion (US$10.8 million) from the central bank in 2003-2004.
Ka'ban, Anthony and Hamka are all former members of the House of Representatives' Commission IX overseeing financial affairs.
"I don't know anything about disbursement of money to commission members because I wasn't actively involved in it," the minister said after being questioned for more than three hours.
The KPK also questioned three other former members of Commission IX – Burhanuddin Aritonang, Emir Muis and Habil Matari on the same case.
Emir and Habil, currently lawmakers with Commission XI for financial affairs, as well as Burhanuddin, all denied involvement.
In 2006, the Supreme Audit Agency said it discovered the misappropriation of funds, alleging that Rp 31.5 billion was given to more than 10 members of Commission IX during the amendment of the central bank law.
Jakarta Post - June 9, 2008
Jakarta – The House of Representatives has come under public scrutiny and derision for a series of scandals involving lawmakers, ranging from corruption to sexual harassment.
Political observers have identified a poor selection process and a lack of supervision as the root of the problem.
In the last three months alone, four House members have been detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Lawmakers Hamka Yamdhu and Saleh Djasit, both from Golkar Party, are respectively accused of receiving misappropriated funds from the central bank and facilitating an illegal purchase of fire engines.
Lawmakers Sarjan Taher of the Democratic Party and Al Amin Nasution of the United Development Party were both arrested for allegedly receiving bribes in two forest conversion projects.
The media extensively exposed the arrest of Al Amin, not least because he is married to famous dangdut singer Kristina. Following his detention, the KPK searched the his office and those of four other lawmakers at the House.
Adding to the embarrassment, Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) legislator Max Moein is currently embroiled in a sex scandal involving his former private secretary, who accused him of sexually assaulting her.
Max, a member of Commission XI overseeing financial affairs, has repeatedly denied the allegation. The House's disciplinary council has questioned Max and the woman.
Council member Irsyad Sudiro said he regretted the infamous scandals that have tarnished the House's image. "We will get tough with those violating the House's standing order and code of ethics," Irsyad said.
While accepting bribery as a serious violation, the code of ethics does not specifically govern on sexual harassment, requiring only that lawmakers "treat work partners professionally."
Punishments for violations of the internal rulings range from a formal reprimand to dismissal from House strategic positions or the House itself.
Despite these regulations, Bvitri Susanti, a senior researcher with the Center for Indonesian Law and Policy Studies, said violations would continue as supervision of lawmakers was very weak.
"There is no clear and direct mechanism for the public to file complaints against the lawmakers," Bvitri said, adding that a poor selection process contributed to the election of corrupt lawmakers.
"Although we have a direct election, the system still provides opportunities for political parties to elect their favorite candidates. (The system) is prone to money politics. No wonder we have these kinds of lawmakers," she said.
Arbi Sanit, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, also put the blame on the weak election mechanisms.
"The law on legislative elections only stipulates the requirement for the people to participate in the election. It has yet to formulate the capability and morality criteria for public officials, including lawmakers," he said. "These scandals have been common place for a long time. Only recently have we seen many lawmakers implicated and publicized." (alf)
| Islam/religion |
Jakarta Post - June 14, 2008
Dicky Christanto, Denpasar – Victims of the June 1 National Monument (Monas) attack have said demands for the Ahmadiyah sect to be banned are part of a systematic attempt to deflect public attention away from the violence that took place.
Nino Graciano, a rights activist who was assaulted by members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) during the ambush, said the move against Ahmadiyah would only serve to conceal the real issue. "People will forget the brutal violence and accept the motives behind the attack," Nino said.
He was among five members of the National Integration Movement (NIM) and students of several universities in Denpasar who were beaten by FPI members while participating in a peaceful rally to support freedom of religion.
Another victim, Nyoman Aisanya Wibhuti, or Oming, said the attackers targeted not only Ahmadiyah followers taking part in the rally, but also other demonstrators.
"I told them (the attackers) I am a Hindu, but they kept beating me," Oming recalled. She sustained a head injury, which she said might cause permanent brain damage.
Nino said he was afraid the mounting calls for Ahmadiyah to be banned could lead to the facts about the attack being buried and provide reasons to free the attackers.
"The government should be firm in dealing with the attack by saying what happened was a sudden assault on people who were holding a peaceful rally. Therefore, transparent investigation is needed and maximum punishments must be given to the attackers," he said.
The police have arrested nine people in connection to the Monas violence.
NIM president Maya Safira Muchtar said the NGO activists had received threats in the forms of phone calls and text messages before and after the attack, but she said the group would not bow to the intimidation.
"We do not intend to spread hatred against the FPI or other hard-line groups, but our message is that we need real actions to preserve national unity," she said.
Since the joint decree restricting the activities of Ahmadiyah followers was issued, many have demanded the Islamic sect, which the government deems to be "deviant", be banned.
Jakarta Post - June 16, 2008
A joint ministerial decree banning the Jamaah Ahmadiyah sect from spreading its beliefs has sparked debate across the country. National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chairman Ifdhal Kasim shared his thoughts with The Jakarta Post's Triwik Kurniasari about the decree signed by Home Minister Mardiyanto, Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji on June 10.
Question: How do you see the joint decree against Ahmadiyah?
Answer: The polemics over the decree can have negative consequences for Indonesia as a nation. It can lead to rifts and conflict within the community. The decree brings fears there will be other hard-line groups that pressure the government to ban or disband other groups in the future.
I have serious concerns a dominant religious group, for example a certain Christian group, will urge the government to disband another group that spreads interpretations and activities deviating from the basic teachings of Christianity.
The decree also gives the government more power to interfere in religious affairs. Indonesia is a secular country and its government cannot meddle in its citizens' religious affairs, which is a very private matter.
This country wasn't built or developed based on a certain religion. The five principles of Pancasila is the basic system of this country. The decree is nothing but a form of human rights violation. It goes against Law No. 39/1999 on human rights.
Under the decree, the government still ensures Ahmadiyah's internal freedom, including allowing them to perform their daily religious services. It also protects them from being attacked by other groups in the community
The government, however, has violated the sect's external freedom by preventing them from spreading their religious teachings.
According to Law. No. 12/2005, which ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the government can restrain a group's religious rights only for the sake of maintaining public order, public morality and people's right and freedom.
The limitation has to be stipulated constitutionally. Ahmadiyah has never violated the three things above. Nor was it ever taken to court for any crimes. So the government cannot ban or dissolve Ahmadiyah based only on assumptions.
In this case, the decree is unconstitutional. It proves the government can be pressured by hard-line groups.
How about the idea of following the example of the Pakistani government, which declared Ahmadiyah an un-Islamic organization?
I don't think the Indonesian government should follow suit. Pakistan is an Islamic country and it can manage its country under sharia laws. Indonesia can't do that because it's a secular country.
What has Komnas HAM done to challenge the decree?
We have sent letters to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, asking them to annul the decree that curbs the freedom of religion.
The decree is absolutely judicially incorrect. Freedom of religion cannot be limited by such a decree but it can only be limited by the law.
What are your suggestions for Ahmadiyah followers to respond to the decree?
Life should go on. They should live their lives. The most important thing is they have their rights as Indonesian citizens. Although they are banned from propagating their religious teachings, they are still allowed to maintain their faith and perform their daily religious activities, such as performing prayers and visiting their mosques.
The most important thing is they shouldn't be provoked into committing violence to express their objection of the decree.
Besides that, the government itself should be consistent in protecting its citizens. The decree warns of legal prosecution for those attacking Ahmadiyah followers. The government said anyone attacking sect members could be charged under the law on hate crimes. So I hope the government will seriously keep its promise to protect Ahmadiyah followers.
Can Ahmadiyah followers take any legal action to challenge the decree?
Sure they can. They have the same rights and duties as other Indonesians, despite claims their religious beliefs deviate from the principal teachings of Islam. They can file a lawsuit against the government over the decree because the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
But the government should be fair and serious in handling the Ahmadiyah case. It should also improve the performances of the judiciary and police.
For people opposed to Ahmadiyah, they can also take legal action against the sect.
What does Komnas HAM expect from the government in relation to a decree like this?
I hope the government will involve us and ask for our opinion in setting rules related to human rights. It's a must because the commission is in charge of dealing with human rights matters and cases.
The government never asked for our opinion before deciding to issue the joint decree against Ahmadiyah. This has been a big question for me: Why did the government establish the commission, while in practice excluding us when setting human rights policies?
Jakarta Post - June 13, 2008
Jakarta – Most factions at the House of Representatives gave their support on Thursday to the controversial decree restricting the activities of Ahmadiyah sect followers.
The Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) underlined their support for the decree, which prohibits sect members from "spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam".
One Golkar lawmaker, Mesir, urged the government to strength the legal standing of the decree.
"For now, the decree will be very good in helping the public to cool down. But this decree still provides an opportunity for Ahmadiyah followers to continue their activities.
"I urge the government to immediately follow up this decree with a more legally binding regulation," Mesir told a hearing at House Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs.
Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, Home Minister Mardiyanto and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji represented the government at the hearing.
Mesir said the Ahmadiyah belief that its founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, not Muhammad, was the last prophet of Islam was intolerable as it defied one of the basic doctrines of Islam.
Lawmaker Al Yusni of the PKS echoed Mesir's argument, suggesting the government issue a more permanent regulation to resolve similar disputes in the future.
"We encourage the government to issue a more permanent and binding regulation so we do not need partial decrees to solve any similar problems in the future," Al Yusni said.
He said the decree needed a detailed explanation about its implementation so as to avoid misinterpretations that could lead to public clashes.
The Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) was the only faction to clearly oppose the decree.
"The Christian community is able to refrain from acting against deviant sects such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, so why can't the government?" said PDS lawmaker Tiurlan Basaria Hutagaol, who is a reverend.
Despite the strong support, the factions questioned the legal status of the decree, which is not recognized in the law on the hierarchy of legislation.
Hendarman said the decree was legitimate. "Although the decree is not included in the legislation hierarchy, it is mandated by the 1965 law on the prevention of blasphemy and abuse of religions," he said.
Hendarman said the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem), which recommended the government outlaw Ahmadiyah for its "heretical" teachings, was a legitimate institution because it was mandated by the Attorney General Law.
Hendarman said the decree was a kind of warning for Ahmadiyah followers. "If they violate this decree, they will be prosecuted."
Human rights groups have jumped to the defense of Ahmadiyah, encouraging the group to file a judicial review of the 1965 law with the Constitutional Court and the decree with the Supreme Court.
They will also file a report with the International Court of Justice against the Indonesian government for violating the universal freedom of religion. (alf)
Jakarta Post - June 12, 2008
Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – A prominent Catholic priest said Wednesday that the June 1 attack by Muslim hard-liners on a peaceful rally in Jakarta could lead to global misperceptions about Islam in Indonesia.
"The whole world gets the impression that this is Indonesian Islam. But this is nonsense," Franz Magnis-Suseno said during a discussion in Jakarta. He described these misperceptions as "deep trouble" for the Indonesian government.
On June 1, members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), armed with bamboo sticks, beat and kicked activists of the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion. Some 70 people were injured in the attack.
Alliance members had earlier taken out ads in newspapers saying they endorsed pluralism, and urging people not to be intimidated by those who opposed religious freedom.
"We are fine. There is no problem in Indonesia. Even changing religion from Islam to another religion is possible. It is a very substantial thing," Franz told the discussion, hosted by the Center for Islam and State Studies at Paramadina University.
He pointed out that 10 percent of the population was Christian. "There are some difficulties, certainly, but they can be sorted out," said Franz, who is rector of the Driyarkara School of Philosophy.
"There is no general hatred against the minority. There are Indonesian people out in the open using the political opening after the fall of Soeharto, and ordinary people's suspicion of others has been growing," he said.
He did acknowledge the June 1 attack indicated that danger was lurking. "The government is paralyzed by a fear of being perceived as anti-Islam or pro-Islam," he said.
He disagreed with the commonly held view that Indonesia is at a crossroad. He said Indonesia still adhered to plurality, tolerance and the state ideology Pancasila.
Franz urged people actively to work toward making Indonesia's young democracy a success. "I am optimistic but it is necessary to acknowledge the danger of passivism. You have to do something about it," he said.
Ninuk Mardiana Pambudy, a journalist with Kompas daily, told the discussion the attack showed that Indonesia was a society unable to handle its own conflicts.
The discussion was held to mark the centennial commemoration of Indonesia's national awakening, the 1,000th day anniversary of the death of respected Muslim scholar Nurcholish "Cak Nur" Madjid and the 10th anniversary of the political reform era.
Nadya Madjid, the daughter of Cak Nur, used the discussion to announce the establishment of the Nurcholish Madjid Society. She recalled how her father once told her that Islam in Indonesia was very young compared to Islam in India.
"Islam in Indonesia is still undergoing puberty. It's still a teenager who is searching for its identity, not as a lifestyle as yet, but as fashion, music, literature and film, the way we do during puberty, but this is not an excuse for the attack," she said.
Nadya said that in the early days of Indonesia, Islam was used as a weapon against the Dutch colonial government.
"Maybe these people in the FPI are still holding on to their Islamic identity, not Indonesian identity. They are first Muslims then Indonesian, which is dangerous for the sovereignty of the country," she said.
"Indonesian Muslims have to learn about Islamic life in other countries by going out of Indonesia," said Nadya, who lives in the United States.
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Jakarta – Human rights activists have demanded the government annul a decree against Jamaah Ahmadiyah because it violates the Constitution and legalizes crimes against the minority Islamic group.
The government decision to order the sect to cease religious activities in Indonesia also sparked "great regret" from the Ahmadiyah Muslim Community based in London.
"The Indonesian government must realize it is denying its most loyal citizens their most basic rights, and this alone speaks volumes," the group said Tuesday in a statement.
"In recent months, Ahmadis have been attacked, forced out of their homes and seen their places of worship being burned down. This decree can only increase the risk of violence and cruelty against our peace-loving and tolerant community.
"The thoughts and prayers of all Ahmadis are with our brothers and sisters in Indonesia and indeed in all other parts of the world where we are persecuted."
Mariana Amiruddin from the Jakarta-based Women's Journal Foundation said the joint ministerial decree ran counter to Article 28(i) of the amended Constitution on religious freedom, the 1999 law on human rights and the 2005 law ratifying the International Covenant on Social and Political Rights.
"Given these considerations, we urge the government to annul the decree," she said. She said the decree, issued Monday, also justified crimes against Ahmadiyah followers, especially the elderly, women and children.
Usman Hamid, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, said the decree was not legally binding in terms of either the Constitution or human rights laws. "Law 10/2004 on regulations relating to the Constitution does not mention any articles stating any decree a rule," he said.
"The decree can be interpreted in many ways by many parties. And if the government does not take appropriate steps, the decree could lead to further conflicts in the future."
Bivitri Susanti from the Indonesian Center for Law and Policy Studies said the use of the 1965 law on blasphemy as legal basis for the decree was "irrelevant".
"The law was enacted in the Sukarno era, during which the president could issue rules. We believe such rules are a vestige of authoritarianism, and limit citizens' rights to freedom of religion," she said.
The Setara Institute urged the House of Representatives to draw up a petition summoning President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to account for his administration's policy, which they said had "clearly violated the 1945 Constitution".
"It is for a constitutional violation that the President must be held responsible before the House, the People's Consultative Assembly and the Constitutional Court," said a statement signed by Setara director Hendardi.
The institute said the decree was a "first step and a systematic attempt" toward banning Ahmadiyah.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said President Yudhoyono should stand up for religious tolerance and reverse the decree permitting the "prosecution of Ahmadiyah".
"The Indonesian government should stand up for religious tolerance instead of prosecuting people for their religious views," Brad Adams, Asia director of US-based HRW, said in a statement. (nkn)
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Jakarta – Jamaah Ahmadiyah can continue in Indonesia and its followers are allowed to worship in their homes and mosques, but they must not preach or try to convert others, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Tuesday.
"No, they (the government) have no plan to ban Ahmadiyah" provided it follows the law, the Vice President told Reuters in an interview, clarifying a joint ministerial decree issued Monday against the minority Islamic sect.
The decree stops short of explicitly banning or dissolving Ahmadiyah, whose followers believe the sect's founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, not Prophet Muhammad, is Islam's last prophet.
Nor does the document clearly state whether sect members are allowed to worship in private.
The decree orders the sect to stop all religious activities or face five years in jail for blaspheming Islam. It forbids Ahmadiyah from "spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam".
State Secretary Hatta Radjasa denied that the decree, signed by Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, Home Minister Mardiyanto and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, contravened the Constitution and its guarantee of freedom of religion.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not intervene in drafting the decree, fully entrusting the matter to the three Cabinet members, Hatta said.
The decree was issued as the government faced intense pressure from extremist and some mainstream Muslim groups to ban Ahmadiyah.
Kalla said the decree, which has been slammed as "unconstitutional" by human rights groups and moderate Muslims, simply reiterated what is permitted under the Constitution.
Among the critics of the decree is Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a prominent criminologist and current director general for human rights at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry. She said the issuance of the document may have been the result of intense pressure from hard-line groups.
"Who has the authority to determine what is Islam and what is Christian or Hindu? Does performing religious duties in a different way exclude me from a religion?" Harkristuti asked.
She encouraged Ahmadiyah followers to file a petition with the Supreme Court seeking a review of the decree. They can also file a petition with the Constitutional Court for a judicial review of the 1965 law on blasphemy, which the government used as the legal basis to issue the decree, she said.
Harkristuti said the government needed to protect the sect. "We should refrain from making its followers objects of persecution."
She also regretted that internal conflicts within Islam often resulted in violence. "Other religions have different factions, schools and sects, but we have never heard of violent conflicts between them," she said.
Effendy Choiry, who chairs the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction in the House of Representatives, also criticized the Ahmadiyah decree.
"Our legal system does not recognize such a thing as a joint ministerial decree. So the question is whether this decree is legally binding or not? I think it has no legal power at all," he said. He called on Ahmadiyah to defy the decree and continue to practice their faith as before.
"This is a matter of faith. The government or the state cannot meddle in it because this is a private matter. Our Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
"This does not mean that I agree with Ahmadiyah's beliefs, but in this case, the government cannot side with one group to attack another group," Effendy said. (drew/alf)
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Jakarta – Police have officially detained Islam Troop Command leader Munarman at the City Police headquarters for allegedly masterminding the National Monument (Monas) ambush on June 1.
"He has been in custody since 6 p.m.," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen Abubakar Nataprawira said Tuesday.
He said Munarman was charged with breaching three articles of the Criminal Code: Article 160 on provocation, Article 170 on ambush and Article 351 on oppressive acts.
Munarman will not face trial for some time because of the long procedure and numerous dossiers, but the police will work as fast as possible, Abubakar said. "We can detain him for 20 days and if necessary, we can extend the detention to 40 days," he said.
Abubakar said Munarman had the right to request bail, but the investigating officers would have the final say in approving his request.
M. Guntur Romli, a victim in the Monas attack, said he hoped the police would investigate the violence professionally. Guntur and at least 70 other members of the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion were injured during the attack.
"It was pure violence and had nothing to do with the ministerial joint decree," he said, referring to the decree issued Monday that Jamaah Ahmadiyah followers must stop all religious activities or face legal prosecution. Guntur came to City Police headquarters as a witness.
Syamsul Bahri Radjam, Munarman's lawyer, confirmed his client had been detained. "He signed his detention dossier and is currently being detained at the drugs division detention center," he said, adding Munarman was questioned from 11 p.m. Monday to 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Syamsul said he was looking forward to filing Munarman's bail request because he believed Munarman deserved it and would not seek to escape.
"He has been so cooperative, as demonstrated by his willingness to surrender. He will not run away. I hope the police will let him out (of detention) before the trial," he added.
He said Munarman hoped the police would also release Islam Defenders Front leader Rizieq Shihab because he had nothing to do with the Monas ambush.
"He also hopes the police will release the rest of the detainees because he solely is responsible for all accusations related to the ambush," he said.
Munarman's wife, Ana Noviana, and her two sons visited her husband several hours before he was taken to the detention cell.
"I am proud of him because he is defending Islam norms. He followed through on his promises by surrendering," she said. (ind)
Jakarta Post - June 10, 2008
Jakarta – The government, bowing to intense pressure from extremist groups, has ordered Jamaah Ahmadiyah to stop all religious activities or face legal prosecution.
A joint ministerial decree banning the activities of the minority Islamic sect was issued Monday, the same day thousands of hard- liners gathered in front of the Presidential Palace to demand the government move against the group.
The government said the regulation was effective from Monday, but set no deadline for Ahmadiyah to halt its activities or face prosecution.
The decree, signed by Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, Home Minister Mardiyanto and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, also stopped short of explicitly banning or dissolving the sect. "There is no disbandment," Hendarman said after the issuance of the joint decree.
The document orders Ahmadiyah followers to turn to the beliefs of the "mainstream Islam". It prohibits the sect from "spreading interpretations and activities that deviate from the principal teachings of Islam".
Such activities include "the spreading of the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after the Prophet Muhammad".
Ahmadiyah believes its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, not Muhammad, is the last prophet of Islam, defying one of the basic doctrines of the religion.
It is not clear if the decree means that Ahmadiyah followers, numbering around 200,000 in the country, are still allowed to worship in private.
"As long as they claim themselves to be Muslims, they must stop believing that there is another prophet after Muhammad. And as Muslims, they have to follow the mainstream teachings of Islam," Basyuni said.
"If we find them continuing with their misinterpretation of Islamic teachings, they will face legal action," the religious affairs minister said.
The decree also warns of legal prosecution for those attacking Ahmadiyah followers. The attorney general said anyone attacking sect members could be charged under the law on hate crimes.
In a news conference late Monday at the Wahid Institute in Jakarta, the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (AKKBB) slammed the decree as unconstitutional.
The alliance plans to file a lawsuit against the government over the decree in the next two to three days, saying the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
"It proves that the government can be pressured by hard-line groups," said Wahid Institute executive director Ahmad Suaedy, also an AKKBB member.
The ministerial decree came as thousands of hard-liners threatened to launch jihad, or holy war against Ahmadiyah during an angry protest in downtown Jakarta.
The protest, which started at 9:30 a.m. outside the presidential office, caused heavy traffic congestion, forcing police to reroute traffic, including Transjakarta buses, from several main thoroughfares.
The protesters, from several hard-line groups including the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, then marched to Jakarta Police Headquarters on Jl. Sudirman, where FPI leader Rizieq Shihab is being detained.
They demanded police release Rizieq, who is accused of leading a violent attack on pro-pluralism activists from the AKKBB on June 1 at the National Monument (Monas).
Police on Monday seized a knife from one protester, identified as Burhani, 28, and arrested him. "I use it to peel apples...," Burhani told reporters.
Rizieq was brought from his detention cell to meet with his supporters for around five minutes. In a short speech, he demanded the dissolution of Ahmadiyah. (nkn/ind)
Agence France Presse - June 10, 2008
Nabiha Shahab, Jakarta – Liberal Indonesians accused the government of caving in to extremists Tuesday after it issued a quasi-ban against a minority Islamic sect in the face of violent protests by Muslim hardliners.
Islamic conservatives welcomed the move and demanded an all-out ban on the Ahmadiyah sect, but liberals in the world's most populous Muslim country condemned Monday's ministerial decree as unconstitutional.
"The government has been weakened by this decision, weakened in the sense that aggressive or extremist fundamentalist Muslims have taken a good lesson from this. They know they can put pressure on the government," said lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, an advisor to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"I would say this is the beginning of a further war between Indonesians who want to maintain a secular state, an open democratic society, and those who want to dominate (and turn) the country into a Muslim country."
Ahmadiyah leaders said they did not recognise the decree and would appeal. "In the decree it's not detailed what kind of activities are forbidden so we'll keep doing all our rituals," Zafrullah Pontoh, a senior leader of the sect, told a press conference.
He asked whether the sect's three monthly blood-donation drive was one of the activities forbidden under the decree. "We are also the biggest eye donor of any Muslim organisation in this country, is that also forbidden?" he asked.
Television reports showed Ahmadis praying at home instead of their mosques out of fear of further attacks by radical vigilante groups emboldened by the decree.
The edict requires Ahmadiyah, which claims 500,000 followers in Indonesia, to "stop spreading interpretations and activities which deviate from the principal teachings of Islam" or face five years' jail.
Ahmadiyah followers believe the sect's founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, was the final prophet of Islam and not Mohammed, breaking one of the basic tenets of the religion.
"The ban is against the Indonesian constitution that guarantees freedom of religion," said Lutfi Assyaukani, chairman of the Liberal Islam Network think tank. Yudhoyono "should have been firm toward the radical Muslim groups but he is bowing to their pressure instead. It's a very shameful decision."
New York-based Human Rights Watch called on Yudhoyono to immediately reverse the restrictions. "The Indonesian government should stand up for religious tolerance instead of prosecuting people for their religious views," the group's Asia director, Brad Adams, said in a statement.
The move comes less than a year ahead of elections and as the archipelago struggles to define its Islamic identity following the fall of the Suharto dictatorship in the late 1990s.
Top clerics have ruled that the sect is "deviant" and a government panel overseeing religious affairs recommended a ban in April, fuelling extremists' demands for the government to act to "protect Islam."
Thousands of hardliners threatened to launch jihad or holy war against Ahmadiyah in angry protests outside police headquarters in central Jakarta on Monday.
The sect's mosques have been burned and even mainstream Muslims who gathered in Jakarta earlier this month in support of freedom of religion were attacked by stick-wielding fanatics.
Nine of the radicals allegedly behind that attack, including preacher Rizieq Shihab who has declared "war" on Ahmadiyah, are in custody. The man who allegedly led the June 1 attack, Munarman, turned himself in late Monday, saying his mission to ban the "infidel" Ahmadis had been accomplished.
Shihab released a statement to the press calling Yudhoyono a "coward" for failing to explicitly outlaw Ahmadiyah. "Ahmadiyah has corrupted Islam. They cannot be contained or protected, they have to be disbanded," he said in the statement released by another radical cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, who visited him in police custody.
Jakarta Post - June 10, 2008
Yuli Tri Suwarni/Slame Susanto, Bandung/Yogyakarta – An alliance of interfaith volunteers in West Java and Yogyakarta blamed the government for the rise in violence against minority religious groups in the two provinces, saying the government had failed to uphold freedom of religion as guaranteed by the 1945 Constitution.
The Network for Monitoring and Advocacy for Freedom of Religion (Jaker PAKB2) said it had recorded at least 54 cases of violence against Ahmadiyah and Christians between 1996 and 2008 in West Java, with a marked increase in violence since the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Association (MUI) declared Ahmadiyah a "heretical sect" in September 2007.
Suryadi Rajab, spokesman for Jaker PAKB2 and an advocate at the Bandung Legal Aid Institute (LBH), said the inability of the government and the police to act as fair and non-discriminating mediators has aggravated the situation and allowed for certain groups such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) to use violence against minority groups.
He said the sectarian violence in 1996 began with an attack on an Ahmadiyah mosque in Karang Tengah, Sukabumi. It then spread to Garut, Cianjur, Bogor, Bekasi and Kuningan, reaching a peak with the burning of an Ahmadiyah mosque in Parakansalak, Sukabumi, on April 28, 2008.
Suryadi also said violence against Christians had effectively forced them to hold Sunday prayers in their homes and shops because of restrictive rulings which made it difficult for them to secure permits to build churches.
"The government has failed to facilitate dialogue between religious communities to promote tolerance, and the police have failed to enforce the law and take stern measures against those using violence in the name of religion," he said.
Suryadi said the government's discriminatory stance was given further credence by mayors and regents who called for the disbandment of Ahmadiyah in Kuningan, Sukabumi, Cianjur and Cimahi.
"Finally, certain groups took it upon themselves to be the authority figures, and took the law into their own hands by executing this discriminatory policy," he said.
Ria Anggraini, head of the human rights affairs division at the provincial religious affairs office, said many sides were to blame for the sectarian unrest.
"So far, Ahmadiyah has not been invited to sit together with other Muslim groups to work out their differences," she said.
Gatot Rianto, executive director of LBH Bandung, said the government should protect the rights of the minority, who in this case had clearly been victimized.
Thousands of interfaith volunteers from the Yogyakarta Residents Against Violence Forum (FRJAK) call for peace and an end to the violence, in a ceremony at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta on Monday.
Governor Sultan Hamegku Buwono X also attended the ceremony. He said economy-oriented development programs were to blame for the rising use of violence in the name of "a certain religion".
He also said the reform movement had failed to promote tolerance among religious communities.
Jakarta Post - June 9, 2008
Jakarta – Thousands of white-clad Muslims took to the streets of the Indonesian capital Monday to demand the government ban a minority Islamic sect branded "deviant" by top clerics.
Around 5,000 protesters wearing white skullcaps and Islamic headscarves blocked the street in front of Jakarta's presidential palace to demand the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ban the Ahmadiyah sect.
Protesters held up posters bearing pictures of Rizieq Shihab, who was arrested last week after members of his radical Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) attacked religious freedom activists not far from the palace, injuring 19.
The protesters marched five kilometres (three miles) to the police headquarters to demand Shihab and seven other FPI members be released.
Calls to ban Ahmadiyah have been mounting in Indonesia after a government board recommended in April the sect be disbanded over its "deviant" beliefs.
Ahmadiyah, which claims 200,000 followers in Indonesia, holds that Mohammed was not the final prophet, contradicting a central tenet of mainstream Islam.
Jakarta Post - June 9, 2008
ID Nugroho and Suherdjoko, Surabaya, Semarang – Dissatisfied with the government's reaction to violence by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), an alliance of religious organizations in Jember regency, East Java, is preparing a special force to launch a strike at the hard-line group.
The alliance is affiliated with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
The force will be divided into 300-member groups to undergo special training in self-defense and the use of knives, machetes and other traditional cutting tools in a training field in Sucopengetok village, 25 kilometers from Jember.
A large number of self-defense instructors were coming down from mountainous areas in the regency to train the combatants recruited from Garda Bangsa, Batuan Serbaguna, Anshor and a number of Islamic pesantren (boarding schools) in the regency, Ayub Junaidi, coordinator of the force and secretary of the Jember branch of the PKB told The Jakarta Post here Saturday.
"If the FPI is not disbanded, the special force will leave for Jakarta to do it," Ayub said.
Ayub said the training would be conducted in groups and would be completed within several months. "All participants will be trained physically and mentally so they will be able to endure the worst situations."
He said the special militia was not being reestablished to create public unrest but to put an end to that created by the FPI and its affiliated organizations.
The special force was originally founded in 2000 and was deployed to the State Palace to support President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who was facing increasing pressure to resign.
Ayub said all Muslim organizations in East Java were opposed to the FPI, which used violence in the name of Islam, a religion, he added, that actually sought to create peace on the planet.
He said the government must disband the FPI, which had acted against the law, endangered national unity, discredited the 1945 Constitution and risked authoritarianism.
He also said Muslim people and organizations in East Java were disappointed with the police's failure to take strong actions against the FPI, despite the group's history of violence.
Another militia group has been prepared at Soko Tunggal Islamic Boarding School in Semarang, led by cleric Nuril Arifin Husein. The group was ready to take on the FPI, Nuril said Saturday.
"The FPI is only a small group of Muslims, but behaves as if it were the biggest one. Its members like to force their will on others and take the law into their own hands," Nuril said.
Nuril said he did not agree with FPI leader Rizieq Shihab. "From where in the world does the FPI's brand of Islam, which tends to ridicule clerics, come from? What kind of teaching is Rizieq spreading?"
Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said the FPI was the result of social conditions.
"Beyond the merits of banning or not banning the FPI, as long as there are 9.8 million unemployed and 36 million living below the poverty line, there will always be angry young men and women attracted to various streams of radicalism, Islamic or otherwise," the minister said in Jakarta on Sunday.
"They (the FPI) skillfully position themselves as defenders of the humiliated, young and marginalized urban poor fighting the evils of bars, nightclubs and other symbols of decadent foreign secularism."
Juwono reminded people that 10 years ago, the then Jakarta Police chief was a patron of the FPI. "The important thing is that sympathy for the FPI has effectively been eradicated from the hearts and minds of most mainstream Muslims in Indonesia," he said.
Jakarta Post - June 9, 2008
Jakarta – The House of Representatives is pressing the government to issue a decision on Ahmadiyah, to prevent further violence over the controversial Islamic group.
Chairman of the House's Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs, Hazrul Azwar, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday the commission had set a June 12 date for a hearing with the home minister, religious affairs minister and attorney general to demand an explanation for their failure to issue a joint decree on the Islamic sect.
"We want to know how the government plans to resolve the dispute over Ahmadiyah. We also want to know why the government has not yet issued a decree banning the sect. If there are any problems (with outlawing Ahmadiyah), we want to know about them," said Hazrul of the United Development Party (PPP).
A previous hearing on the issue was canceled because the home minister and the attorney general were unable to attend.
The home minister, religious affairs minister and attorney general chair the Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society. The board recommended in April the government outlaw Ahmadiyah, after seeking advice from the Indonesian Ulema Council, which declared the Islamic sect "heretical".
State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said a joint decree on the sect would be issued "later this month".
Last week, members of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI) attacked peaceful demonstrators asking the government to allow Ahmadiyah followers to practice their faith.
Hazrul said the House commission would urge the government immediately to ban Ahmadiyah. "This no longer concerns freedom of religion. It's about blasphemy," he said. "If the government does not take action, we are afraid more conflicts will occur in society."
The secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction at the House, Ganjar Pranowo, said prompt action by the government would put an end to the Ahmadiyah dispute."The government must decide something," Ganjar said.
However, instead of banning Ahmadiyah, he suggested President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono facilitate a dialogue between conflicting parties to find a peaceful solution. "For example, the President could call all the parties related to the conflict, including Ahmadiyah, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and even Muhammadiyah (the second largest Islamic organization in the country), to the State Palace for a dialogue.
"The President could ask them to talk to each other, and let the MUI convey its religious views. Later on, the government could simply formalize any decisions made," he said.
National Mandate Party (PAN) faction chairman Zulkifli Hasan agreed the government could no longer delay a decision on Ahmadiyah.
"The government just needs to announce its stance because it has the obligation to settle such cases. Eventually, it doesn't matter whether it outlaws the sect or not," he said. (nkn)
| Elections/political parties |
Jakarta Post - June 13, 2008
Desy Nurhayati and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the paramount leader of the National Awakening Party (PKB), lost two legal battles against his political foes on Thursday.
In separate sessions, the South Jakarta District Court ruled in favor of Muhaimin Iskandar, who Gus Dur dismissed in April as PKB chief, and Lukman Edi, who the former president dismissed in 2007 as the party's secretary-general after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed him minister for underprivileged regions.
The court said Lukman, who Gus Dur replaced with his daughter, Yenny Wahid, should be reinstated as the party's secretary- general.
Since Muhaimin's dismissal, the PKB leadership has been split. Muhaimin has refused to accept his dismissal, claiming to be the rightful chief of the party, while the Gus Dur camp elected Ali Maskur Musa to replace him.
The dual leadership has jeopardized the participation of the PKB, the third largest party in Indonesia in terms of popular vote, in the 2009 general elections.
The Gus Dur camp immediately told the court they would appeal the decision on Muhaimin to the Supreme Court. The Muhaimin camp said they would seek permission from the justice ministry this Friday to contest the upcoming elections.
Presiding judge Suharto said in the verdict that Muhaimin's dismissal was illegal and violated the party's constitution.
Muhaimin told a press conference shortly after the verdict's announcement that he would ask the Gus Dur camp to concede defeat and join forces for the general elections.
"Winning the 2009 elections is more important than making an issue of who wins this case. I will ask Gus Dur to join us and rebuild the party," he said.
Muhaimin's lawyer, Firman Wijaya, said the verdict reaffirmed Muhaimin's position as the legitimate chief of the PKB.
Gus Dur said the verdict was "politically motivated" and that it was an attempt to block him from running for president next year.
He accused the Yudhoyono government of pressuring the court in favor of Muhaimin.
"The South Jakarta court made a big mistake. The judges could have been under pressure from top government officials," he told a press conference.
Tribun Timor - Jun 12, 2008
Jumadi, Makassar – The elections for mayor and deputy mayor in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar is heating up. An activist from the South Sulawesi Indonesian Poor People's Union (SRMI), Wahidah Baharuddin Upa, has declared that he will nominate himself to enliven the Makassar municipal electoral contest.
Baharuddin will step forward as an independent candidate for the position of Makassar municipal deputy mayor. He will team up with Firmansyah Mappasawang who will run as the candidate mayor for Makassar.
Mappasawang is a business contractor and the chairperson of the West Sulawesi chapter of the Indonesian Reform Youth (PRI), an organisational wing of the Reform Star Party (PBR).
This was revealed to Tribun Timor (the Eastern Tribune) on Thursday June 12 by Pice Jahali SH, the coordinator of the Mappasawang-Baharuddin election team. "The pair of candidates plan to submit a dossier of supporting documents to the Polling Committee (PPS) and the Makassar municipal General Elections Commission (KPU) on June 14 thisweek", he said.
Jahali, who is also the regional executive director of the Makassar Peoples Legal Aid Foundation (LBHR), claimed that the Mappasawang-Baharuddin duet already has the support of labour, student and urban poor organisations in Makassar.
Among others this includes the South Sulawesi SRMI, the Makassar National Student League for Democracy (LMND), the Makassar Indonesian National Front for Labour Struggle (FNPBI) and an alliance of trade unions in Makassar city.
Jahali also claimed that when the pair submits the dossier to the KPU they will also hand over supporting documents in the form of some 40,000 photocopied IDs (KTP) and family (KK) identification cards. In accordance with revisions to Law Number 32/2008, it states that independent candidates must be supported by a minimum of 39,000 photocopied KTP and KK (for the Makassar area).
According to Jahali, the two independent candidates will be taking up the theme "Time for Youth to Lead. People and Youth Form a New Makassar Administration".
Mappasawang is currently 35-years-old while his deputy candidate Baharuddin – a demonstrator who is known as a defender of the urban poor and workers in Makassar – is still 36-years-old.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - June 11, 2008
Dicky Christanto, Denpasar – The upcoming Bali gubernatorial election is a legally-tainted political process, a legal expert claimed Monday.
The Bali General Election Commission's (KPUD) refusal to allow independent candidates to run in the election was in direct opposition to a Constitutional Court ruling, a professor of law at Udayana State University, Ibrahim, told a discussion.
Ibrahim warned that such a legally-tainted political process would eventually create an unstable administration.
"Whoever wins the election and becomes the island's next governor is likely to face dozens of lawsuits and in the end will barely be able to run the administration well," he said.
"Bali's reputation is actually at stake right now, since both the KPU and KPUD have opted to not comply with the Constitutional Court ruling. Furthermore, the KPUD has not done a good job in scrutinizing candidates' administration requirements," he said.
The court issued a ruling last year that provides a legal avenue for independent candidates to participate in regional elections. Legislative laws on local administrations and elections had required candidates to gain support from a political party or a coalition of parties to run.
Ibrahim stressed that the KPU should comply with that ruling to ensure the legality of the upcoming election, scheduled to be held on July 9.
KPUD chairman Anak Agung Oka Wisnumurti has previously stated the KPUD made the decision to reject independent candidates based on a circular issued by the Jakarta-based General Election Commission (KPU) last year. In that circular, the KPU directed the KPUD to begin the local election process and to use Law No.32/2004 on Local Administration as the legal basis of the process. The law does not mention anything about independent candidates.
"Besides, even though the court's ruling has supported the participation of independent candidates, we still need the required implementing laws and regulations to put that ruling into reality. Those implementing laws and regulations have yet to be drafted by the country's legislative bodies," he told reporters.
Ibrahim insisted that both the KPU and KPUD had made a mistake by solely using Law No.32/2004 as the legal basis of the regional election.
"A KPU circular cannot diminish the court ruling's legal standing, so therefore, both the KPU and KPUD should refer to Law No.32/2004 and the ruling, which means that the KPUD should accommodate independent candidates entrance into the election process," he said.
Recently a pair of independent candidates, I Komang Bharuna and I Dewa Gde Ardana, filed a lawsuit against the KPUD in the Bali State Administrative Court contesting the KPUD's decision.
It still unclear whether state administrative court judges will take on the case.
| Foreign affairs |
Agence France Presse - June 13, 2008
Stephen Coates, Jakarta – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Friday promised a "new phase of cooperation" with Indonesia on disaster response and the environment during his first state visit to Jakarta.
Rudd praised the "very strong friendship" between the two neighbours after he met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and senior ministers at the presidential palace.
"Australia and Indonesia are neighbours through geographic circumstance but we are friends through active national choice, and this is a very good friendship," he told reporters after the talks.
He said the countries had agreed to broaden cooperation over nuclear weapons proliferation, climate change and disaster response.
The recent natural catastrophes in Myanmar, which was devastated by a cyclone in May, and quake-hit China underscored the need for a regional disaster response mechanism, he said.
"Indonesia has experienced the tsunami, the people of Burma (Myanmar) the terrible impact of the cyclone, the people of western China the earthquake most recently," he said.
"We do not know where a natural disaster will hit but between us we believe we can take a good and strong proposal" for a regional disaster-response system to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting next year, Rudd said.
The two leaders also discussed Rudd's plans for an EU-style Asia-Pacific Community to be set up by 2020 and to include the major economies of India, China, India and the United States.
He said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had provided a model of regional cooperation which could be expanded.
It was Rudd's first state visit to Indonesia since he defeated conservative prime minister John Howard in elections in November.
He flew into Jakarta late Thursday on the second leg of an Asian trip which started in Japan on the weekend. He will travel to Sumatra's Aceh province on Saturday to visit areas devastated by the 2004 tsunami.
Rudd and Yudhoyono signed an agreement on forests and carbon trading at the end of the meeting, reflecting the growing importance of climate change to the neighbours' relations.
The prime minister, who ratified the Kyoto treaty in one of his first acts after taking power from conservative premier John Howard in November, called climate change the "great economic, environmental and moral challenge of our generation."
Rudd lauded cooperation between Australia and Indonesia in fighting Islamic terror groups but refused to give a timeframe of when Australia might lift a travel warning against visiting parts of Indonesia.
"Indonesia and our future security cooperation will go from strength to strength as we continue in our common resolve to deal with our common enemy, which is terrorism," he said.
Scores of Australians were killed in terror bombings on the holiday island of Bali in 2002 and 2005, and the Australian embassy in Jakarta was attacked in 2004 as Canberra backed the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Ties between Indonesia and Australia are regularly tested by suspicion on both sides, reaching a nadir in 1999 when Australian troops landed in East Timor to help restore order after the province voted to break away from Indonesia.
Current sore points include the treatment of Indonesian fishermen suspected of illegal fishing in Australian waters and the pending execution of Australian drug traffickers jailed in Indonesia.
Rudd's moves to withdraw troops from Iraq and ratify Kyoto have won broad favour in Indonesia after the more openly pro-US policies of Howard.
Sydney Morning Herald - June 12, 2008
Mark Forbes – The Indonesia that will greet Kevin Rudd when he arrives in Jakarta tonight is marked by chaos and conflict, alongside progress and democratic maturity. These contradictions could easily be applied to Australia's relationship with its most significant neighbour.
Just over two years ago the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, took the unprecedented step of recalling his ambassador from Canberra, because he was appalled by the granting of asylum to Papuan activists and a newspaper cartoon of him fornicating with a dog.
The Howard government's actions were inappropriate, unrealistic and biased, Yudhoyono said, vowing not to "tolerate any elements in any country, including Australia, which clearly gives support to separatist movements in Papua".
Australia and Indonesia have since forged a security treaty to replace the pact torn up during the bloody aftermath of East Timor's independence vote, and an agenda for "comprehensive partnership".
Mutual interests drove the patch-up, with John Howard endorsing the concept of potentially suppressing Papuan independence activities in Australia to enable the signing of the Lombok Treaty.
Such concessions warmed Jakarta towards Howard and Indonesia quickly sought assurances from the Rudd Government that all commitments would be adhered to.
This visit will be another test of Rudd's foreign policy credentials, but a gentle one. Suggestions he snubbed Indonesia by delaying his first official visit are off the mark. The welcome will be warm.
In Jakarta, Labor's support for Indonesia's independence and the efforts of Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating to forge a strategic partnership are well remembered. As a former ambassador to Canberra, Wiroyono Sastrohandoyo, said: "Basically we are more comfortable with Australia under the Labor Party".
Yudhoyono's international adviser, Dino Patti Djalal, believes relations have moved past individuals and parties. "Indonesia and Australia now are tied by a realignment of interests, shaping relations no matter who the personalities are," he said. And, Djalal said, Rudd and Yudhoyono "hit it off" when they met at the climate change talks in Bali in December. "The chemistry is there," he said. "This is a good opportunity for the Prime Minister to introduce himself to the Indonesian public."
That public has been preoccupied by religious riots and corruption scandals implicating top businessmen and officials. But these shockwaves obscure the extent of Indonesia's progress in the decade since the strongman Soeharto was unseated.
Former ministers have been arrested and Soeharto's son jailed. A powerful Anti-Corruption Commission has been established, with the side effect of exposing abuses within Yudhoyono's administration. A bloody, three-decade struggle for independence in Aceh has been resolved and the military gently moved back from politics.
Yudhoyono has hesitantly driven contentious initiatives such as cutting fuel subsidies by more than a third in the face of skyrocketing world prices.
As Indonesia's first directly elected leader, Yudhoyono has cautiously built consensus and is acutely conscious of next year's election.
This week's decision to restrict, not ban, the "deviant" Ahmadiyah Islamic sect illustrates Yudhoyono's dilemmas. He cannot afford to offend the Muslim majority, while seeking to protect Indonesia's pluralistic democracy.
It is a battle with implications for Australia and the region. Many Jemaah Islamiah members who supported the Bali bombings have abandoned blatant attacks in favour of public campaigns to introduce Islamic law.
Demonstrations against Ahmadiyah and fury over petrol prices had one benefit for Australia – obscuring the imprisonment of 50 Indonesian fishermen by Australian patrols, which later burnt their boats after they were wrongfully accused of illegal fishing.
Australian authorities' bullying and victimisation of traditional Indonesians struggling to earn a living would usually provoke nationalistic outrage.
But behind the scenes, diplomats in Canberra and Jakarta worked to sweep the incident under the carpet and return the men with as little fuss (and as much compensation) as possible.
Other ghosts haunt the relationship, including the slaughter of five journalists in Balibo, East Timor, in 1975. The federal Attorney-General's Department is considering a new coronial recommendation to extradite and prosecute a former Indonesian officer and cabinet member.
More recent victims of Indonesia's drugs crackdown have also soured the relationship, with conspiracy theories surrounding Schapelle Corby's conviction and the young Australians caught trafficking heroin in Bali who potentially face firing squads. But these seem to be little more than flickers on the landscape.
When Rudd floated the idea of a new Asia-Pacific community, he spoke of Labor's support for Indonesia's independence. The Lombok Treaty provided a basis for co-operation but security and counter-terrorism measures should go further, he said.
Djalal agrees relations have strengthened: "There is a tendency to take the long-term view of our relations. And bonds had been built through tragedy, he said, pointing to the 2004 tsunami and the Bali bombings.
The reprieve of three Australian heroin couriers on death row offers hope of avoiding a damaging dispute over executions and the Corby family's drug controversies have eroded her once substantial public support.
Even East Timor has become an area of collaboration. Although the Indonesian and Australian armies came close to open conflict after the 1999 independence vote, there is a common interest in avoiding a failed state.
The leaders' talks are likely to endorse greater security cooperation, counter-terrorism initiatives and more joint action on the environment, food security and climate change.
Both leaders will emerge from the talks calling for closer ties and stronger people-to-people links. As Yudhoyono has said, both countries have to overcome stereotypical perceptions.
Djalal said: "We want as many Australians to travel to Indonesia as possible, and we want as many Indonesians as possible to travel to Australia." That means Indonesia wants Australia to lift or lessen its travel warning against Indonesia.
"The Australian Government knows how we feel about the travel warning," Djalal said. "Most Australians can see for themselves that Indonesia is a very peaceful place, a great place to visit."
Rudd could bring no more welcome gift than a reassessment of the outdated warning.
| Economy & investment |
Jakarta Post - June 14, 2008
Jakarta – Public consumption of illegal textile imports rose to 70.6 percent last year from 49.9 percent in 2006, costing the local industry billions of US dollars, an industry leader said Friday.
According to data received from the Indonesian textile association (API), domestic consumption rose to 1,220 thousand tons last year from 1,013 thousand tons in 2006 and 836 thousand tons in 2005.
Of those amounts, illegally imported products soared to 862 thousand tons last year from 506 thousand tons in 2006 and 489 thousand tons in 2005.
"These items are most probably illegal because the businesspeople could not show the documents proving the legality of their products," API president Benny Soetrisno said during the launching of the association's new website in Jakarta.
"And the number of these illegal imports has been increasing over the past three years. We need to act on this soon," he said.
He estimated last year the industry lost US$4.8 billion (Rp 44.7 trillion) in revenue due to illegal imports. The industry made US$1.67 billion in accountable domestic sales.
"It's a disheartening trend that our market is still flooded with illegal products, because in Java alone there is a massive market for local textile products.
"Instead, our market is being taken away by illegal products, and small- and medium-sized textile enterprises have to resort to cutting jobs, defaulting on their loans or even shutting down completely," Benny said.
He said the association would ask the government to limit the number of seaports where ships carrying imported goods could dock. "That way, customs will have an easier job of catching these illegal importers because their scrutiny can be more concentrated," he said.
Currently, in Java alone, there are six docking ports that receive imported goods, including Cilacap Seaport in Central Java and Ciwandan Seaport in Banten.
Benny said the government could also protect the country's textile producers by increasing import duty by 10 percent to 20 percent to reduce imports. "So what if it's not a free-trade country, what we need now is a managed-trade country to protect the country's interests."
Gunaryo, the trade ministry's director of market development and distribution, said the government had undergone numerous campaign efforts to persuade the public to buy locally made products.
However, he said the government was more concerned with main commodities, including rice and cooking oil. "With the fluctuation in crude oil prices and the rising prices of commodities, our market intervention to the textile industry will not be as fierce," Gunaryo said.
However, according to data from the trade ministry, the textile industry continues to grow healthily, with exports in this year's first quarter rising 4.6 percent to $2,524 million from $2,413 in the same period last year.
However, the association revised downward its 2008 growth target to 10.7 percent from 11.4 percent to take into account the recent increase in fuel prices. (anw)
Jakarta Post - June 14, 2008
Jakarta – Owing in part to the relative strength of Indonesia's economy, last month's on-average 28.7 percent fuel price increase will have a softer impact compared that caused by the 2005 fuel hike, two bankers predict.
Country business manager of Citibank Shariq Mukhtar said Friday the economy was stronger now compared to in 2005, when the government increased fuel prices by 125.6 percent, a four-times greater raise than last month's.
In the aftermath of 2005's increase, Bank Indonesia (BI) raised its benchmark interest rate to more than 12 percent to balance a skyrocketing 17 percent inflation rate.
The Finance Ministry estimates inflation this year will reach 11 to 12 percent by the end of the fourth quarter, with many analysts expecting the BI rate to climb to between 9.5 and 10 percent within the same period, Mukhtar said.
Tony Prasetiantono, chief economist at Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), said early expectations of a fuel price rise had minimized the shock and had allowed people time to prepare for its effects.
"Current prices are already the result of creeping inflation as the public anticipated the increase. The public also seems to have adjusted its consumption pattern and saved more, hence reducing the pressure on inflation," Tony said.
However, he said July would reveal the true extent of people's purchasing power, when consumption typically peaks amid school holidays and the start of the new school semester.
A steady increase in the BI rate, which currently stands at 8.5 percent, has in the past lead to a similar trend in bank lending rates, discouraging business and individual borrowing and stunting economic growth.
Mukhtar and Tony shared the opinion of many economists when they said Indonesia's economy would still continue to grow this year at a respectful 6 percent. The government has predicted the economy will expand by 6.2 percent this year.
The economic blow, Mukhtar and Tony said, would be felt more by individual consumers, who were more vulnerable to price changes, than by businesses.
"More than 65 percent of our economy is based on consumer spending. There will be some impact on businesses but it is much more about lower profits. But there is (a higher) risk of consumer loans going bad when prices go up," Mukhtar said.
Citibank, he said, was anticipating a possible raise in non- performing loans (NPLs) by giving facilities to their loyal customers based on their credits and monitoring their cash flow.
Tony said banks should apply more stringent requirements on issuing credit cards and increase the minimum monthly payment.
There is currently a strong possibility the rate of NPLs will rise 1 percent this year, still lower than the above 2 percent rise in 2006 that came as a result of the previous year's fuel price hikes, Tony said.
Speaking of a possible BI rate increase to 9 percent, he added: "The economy and banking sector will still be able to absorb it." (mri)
| Opinion & analysis |
Jakarta Post - June 14, 2008
Ahmad Junaidi, Jakarta – "Awas, ada orang Islam!" (Watch out, Muslims are coming!) is now a joke among activists after the brutal attack by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on participants of a peaceful rally organized by the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (AKKBB).
Some probably view the joke as blasphemy against the religion of the Prophet Muhammad but others might see a lesson behind it.
Traditional ulemas would quickly deny that Islam teaches violence, but progressive scholars directly condemn the attack and would admit the brutality has its roots in the religion's teachings. It's probably not exaggerating to say that Sunday's rallies around the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta were representative of a continuing battle between fundamentalists and supporters of civil society.
The FPI claimed their attack was provoked by newspaper advertisements by the AKKBB which, among other things, supported Ahmadiyah, a sect considered heretical by the Indonesian Ulema Council.
A national conservative newspaper (thank God, it's only one) even wrote, "Ahmadiyah is the problem", and blamed the government for not banning the religious sect.
The FPI, who joined another rally organizing a sharia-supporting group and protesting the fuel prices hike in front of the Presidential Palace, decided that beating infidels who commemorate the secular state ideology of Pancasila was more important.
In a soccer game, the FPI is probably similar to Zinedine Zidane, the French player who headbutted Italian defender Marco Materazzi for verbally offending him in the 2006 World Cup.
Religious violence is actually not new in Indonesia despite the claim that Islam arrived here in peace, brought by Indian Gujarat traders and propagated by preachers known as Wali Songo.
A newly reprinted book with the subtitle, Teror Agama Islam Mazhab Hambali Di Tanah Batak (Islam's Hambali School of Terror in Batak Land), by Mangaradja Onggang Parlindungan, described how puritans forced their beliefs and killed the locals in the 1800s.
Fundamentalism here has its roots in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, says Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra in his book, The Origins of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia.
The current radical organizations are also led by ulemas (they called themselves habib) who have relations – cultural and probably financial – to the Middle East.
It's true the FPI is small – and maybe frightful – but some may view the fundamentalist group is part of a larger group, including political parties which are still hiding their eternal dream to change the country into an Islamic state.
Supporters of the AKKBB, many of them Muslims, view these groups as a threat to a pluralistic Indonesia, the idea of which has begun to dim in the hearts of its citizens, including its leaders.
Similar reasons could be used to understand why the police are also afraid to take actions against radicals who recently destroyed mosques and properties of Ahmadiyah members.
But certain officials might still think radical groups can be used to lessen their burden to maintain security.
We still remember the civilian militia groups (pamswakarsa) that were actually established to fight pro-reform activists in 1998. A military commander and a police chief reportedly helped establish the groups.
Like Soeharto who tried to attract Muslims due to the weakening support from the military near the end of his power, certain elements in the government might seek support from the FPI and other fundamentalist groups to maintain their power even while sacrificing the country's unity.
These power-greedy opportunists do not care about any ideology as long as they can be elected in the general elections next year.
They visited and showed sympathy to a radical leader, whose followers tortured AKKBB activists at the rally. But with the support of diverse elements of civil society, including mass media, the incident could be used to strengthen our commitment to democracy, a political system which does not tolerate violence.
Let's make the Monas tragedy a stepping stone toward a more democratic country that protects diversity in term of cultures, and faiths, including differences within a religion.
If we fail to learn from the tragedy, we will witness more violence which could lead to the breakup of the country. We would see uniformity, instead of diversity.
If we ignored the incident, we will watch more and more goateed people in Pakistani attire carry sticks and beat others who considered heretical.
And the joke, Awas, ada orang Islam, is no longer a joke. The joke teller would probably be considered defaming his religion.
[The writer is a journalist at The Jakarta Post. He can be reached at junaidi@thejakartapost.com.]
Jakarta Post Editorial - June 13, 2008
A former general and a successful entrepreneur once sounded like the perfect partnership to lead this vast archipelagic country given their diverse socioeconomic and sociocultural backgrounds.
But, the collaboration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla, individuals with distinctive professional backgrounds and characters, could turn out to be a gross waste unless the two maintain their 2004 pre-election contract to lead the country together, for better or for worse.
This seems to be happening of late. A series of discords between the two have come to the surface over the past year. The cracks in the partnership are only likely to grow wider in the coming months as the country prepares for general elections next year.
An example, that the two were not getting along, was Kalla's absence at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport to welcome home Yudhoyono from a series of overseas trips in March. Kalla usually never misses the tradition of briefing the President as soon as he touches down at the airport.
The presidential office has denied all reports of a breakup, but the episode came in the wake of the House of Representatives' rejection of the President's two candidates for Bank Indonesia governor. Kalla's Golkar Party played a big hand in the rejections.
This month, the government declared Yudhoyono's candidates – Thaib Armayn-Gani Kasuba, the winner in the North Maluku election for governor/vice governor. It overruled the provincial legislature's recommendation, which picked Kalla's choice Abdul Gafur-Abdurrahim Fabanyo pair as the winner. The election in November was inconclusive, requiring central government intervention.
Kalla never publicly commented on the ruling, but it is not a coincidence that his party's parliamentary wing has since become vocal critics of the President, including when he hiked fuel prices last month. This is consistent with a recent Golkar internal party meeting which decided to switch from being a supporter to a critic of the Yudhoyono administration.
Kalla too seems to have started distancing himself from the less popular policies of the President. In an interview with Reuters on Monday explaining the government's ruling on Ahmadiyah, he used the word "they" instead of "we" while referring to the government.
These tensions have not flared into a fierce verbal or physical dispute. It's just as well because a power struggle at the top would only destabilize the nation's social, political and economical foundations, already shaken up by political and religious issues and skyrocketing fuel and food prices.
They also know that an open discord would undermine their own reputation and therefore their chances of reelection next year because voters might perceive them as failing to do their job.
But the question is how long can they keep this game up before their rivalries start to interfere in the partnership? How wide will the cracks grow before either one of them calls it quits?
Kalla in an interview with Tempo last year said he planned to quit the partnership three months before the presidential election. But given the obvious growing tension between them, both men may want to end the partnership sooner.
Yudhoyono and Kalla were elected into office in 2004 on one ticket as president and vice president for five years. One cannot force the other to quit. But they could come to a gentlemen's agreement, parting ways earlier, especially as they seem likely to become fierce rivals in the 2009 elections.
Yudhoyono and Kalla should take their cue from Indonesia's first vice president Mohammad Hatta who gracefully resigned in December 1956 due to irreconcilable disagreements with president Sukarno.
That is the kind of statesmanship qualities we expect from our leaders today: The ability to put the interest of the nation before his own. Here is the bonus: The one perceived to be more statesmanship will likely be the winner. Any taker?
UPI Asia Online - June 11, 2008
Philip Setunga, Hong Kong, China – Since the amendment to the Indonesian constitution in 2000, Indonesian citizens are guaranteed the right to freedom of religion and belief in accordance to one's own conscience.
This was reinforced with Indonesia's ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 2006 and its subsequent incorporation into domestic law. Despite such legal and constitutional provisions, on June 9, Indonesia's religious affairs minister, Muhammad Maftuh Basyuni, Home Minister Mardiyanto, and Attorney General Hendarman Supanji issued a decree tightening restrictions on the minority Ahmadiyah community.
The decree orders the Ahmadiyah to "stop spreading interpretations and activities which deviate from the principal teachings of Islam," including "the spreading of the belief that there is another prophet with his own teachings after Prophet Mohammed". Violations of the decree are subject to up to five years of imprisonment.
The decree follows the recommendation made on April 16, by Indonesia's Coordinating Board for Monitoring Mystical Beliefs in Society (Bakor Pakem) to ban the Ahmadiyah faith. According to a Human Rights Watch press release, moderate Muslim leaders including former president Abdurrahman Wahid and civil rights activists responded by rallying support for the Ahmadiyah and the principle of freedom of religion in Indonesia. More than 200 civil society actors including Muslim scholars, Catholic priests, Protestant preachers, Confucianists, Buddhists, Hindus, poets, writers, and human rights campaigners signed a petition saying the government should be protecting the Ahmadiyah from attack.
The Indonesian government however, has instead listened to the voices of the hardliners including the controversial Islamic Defense Front (FPI) infamous for its protest actions, particularly against entertainment venues during Ramadan.
On June 1, the group attacked supporters of the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion (AKKBB) who were gathered together with many other groups and individuals in Jakarta to commemorate the 63rd year of Pancasila – the philosophical embodiment of five basic principles of the Indonesian state, with the theme 'One Indonesia for All'.
According to local rights group KontraS, the FPI wore black disguises and were armed with swords, spears, and sand, which they threw into the eyes of AKKBB supporters. Furthermore, they threatened police officers stationed there who provided no defense for the AKKBB supporters. One police officer fled the scene after his car was attacked by a member of the FPI.
Rather than restricting the religious rights of minorities, Indonesia should be looking to restrict such violent behavior and intolerance. By giving in to extremist demands, the government of President Yudhoyono is setting itself up for further pressure on any number of issues. As prominent lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution said, "The government has been weakened by this decision, weakened in the sense that aggressive or extremist fundamentalist Muslims have taken a good lesson from this. They know they can put pressure on the government."
By failing to protect the rights of its citizens, and by failing to hold those responsible to account, Indonesia is losing ground on its road to genuine democracy. No democratic society can function effectively without state protection and promotion of basic rights. The arbitrary restrictions placed on the rights of one community can dangerously affect a multitude of other rights and other communities.
[Philip Setunga is a staff member of the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong responsible for the organization's research on Indonesia. He has a doctorate in sociology.]
Jakarta Post Editorial - June 11, 2008
The government finally issued a decision on Ahmadiyah, imposing restrictions on the leaders and followers of the minority Islamic sect. A decree issued Monday essentially warned Ahmadiyah against portraying itself as Islamic as long as it recognizes its founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, as the last prophet instead of Muhammad, as mainstream Islam believes.
Signed by the home and religious affairs ministers and the attorney general, the ruling falls short of the ban sought by conservative Islamic groups. But the government still threatens Ahmadiyah leaders and followers with legal prosecution if they continue with their religious activities. It does not say what laws they would be accused of violating, but the police would likely resort to blasphemy, tarnishing religion or causing public unrest and disorder.
Leaving the substance (and confusion) of the decree aside for now, what is most disturbing about this episode is the chain of events on Monday that led to this decision.
It started with a massive demonstration in the streets of Jakarta by conservative Islamic groups demanding the government ban Ahmadiyah, a sect that has its origins in India and has been in Indonesia since the 1930s, and now counts hundreds of thousands of people among its followers.
Dozens of demonstration leaders were received by presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, and as captured on television, the "men in white robes" were not so much interested in a dialog as in imposing their views on him, shouting him down every time he tried to open his mouth to explain the government's position.
They left him with an ultimatum: ban Ahmadiyah, or else. Sure enough, a few hours later, the new decree was announced, clearly showing the government going out of its way, to the point of violating the Constitution, to try and appease the protesters.
Have we really sunk so low? Is the way to influence President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono through the power of the mob and the power of intimidation? Can a president who was elected with 62 percent of the vote in 2004 be cowed by a bunch of men in white robes whose claim of representing the people is widely in doubt?
Monday's demonstration came after the June 1 violent attack by the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on a peaceful rally of people concerned about the loss of freedom of religion in Indonesia if the government banned Ahmadiyah. These radical groups obviously will stop at nothing to get what they want, and, unfortunately, the government just as obviously will succumb to pressure even if it means depriving a minority group of the right to practice their beliefs.
The decree, as carefully as it was worded by the government, still represents an intrusion by the state into the substance of religious teachings. By decrying the sect for portraying itself as Islamic, the government is passing judgment that Ahmadiyah's teachings are wrong. In preventing Ahmadiyah from using the name Islam, the government again is siding with conservative Islam's claim of a monopoly over the religion.
If Indonesia were an Islamic state, this would probably be acceptable. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan both have banned Ahmadiyah. But Indonesia is not an Islamic state, at least not the last time we checked. This is still by our reckoning a state in which freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution and where the state is expected to protect all citizens in practicing their beliefs.
One can also forcibly argue that preventing people from practicing their beliefs itself contravenes the Islamic principle that "there shall be no coercion in matters of faith".
The style of the decree was characteristic of President Yudhoyono: vague and subject to multiple interpretations. Admittedly the President has bought himself time to momentarily calm the tension. But sooner or later, the government has to decide clearly where it stands on the question of freedom of religion.
And most importantly, after this episode, President Yudhoyono has to come out and show that he, and not the mob, is still in charge of the country.