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Indonesia News Digest 41 – November 1-7, 2008
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2008
Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Three days after the National Police
declared its war against thugs, questions still remain as to
whether the operation will give residents more peace or not.
So far, nearly a thousand alleged street thugs have been taken
off the streets of main cities throughout the country and brought
in to police headquarters.
Some have been released, some stay. To decide who goes and who
cannot, the police need cooperation from residents to testify
whether a suspected thug causes unrest among the neighborhood or
not.
Some interviewed residents, however, said Thursday they were
reluctant to testify against the arrested thugs because they were
still in the dark about the police's promise to protect
witnesses.
"Who will guarantee my life if I decide to testify against these
thugs? Maybe I will be safe for the moment, but what will happen
when they are back on the street? Will the police still be able
to protect me then?" Kelly, a resident who owns a small cafeteria
in West Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
She said the police should come up with a witness protection
program. "Maybe I could participate further in the investigation
process," she said.
A 2006 law on witness protection stipulates that law enforcers
have to provide witnesses with proper protection when needed.
However, many doubt the law's effectiveness.
Denny, another West Jakarta resident, said he shared the same
hesitation, adding that some police officer had actually turned
out to be the masterminds behind street crimes.
"It is already public knowledge that these thugs give a large
proportion of their money to corrupt police officers. I don't
know who to trust," he said.
He said he was skeptical about the police's efforts, saying the
operation would be just as ineffective as past police operations.
"If they were serious, they would start by arresting the big guys
first, who operate the thugs, and not just pick street thugs off
the streets," he said.
West Jakarta Police crime detective unit head Comr. Suyudi
Arioseto said the police had not turned a blind eye to witness
protection.
"Don't be afraid. We guarantee the safety of witnesses at any
price. I will order my subordinates to personally guard a witness
if he or she wants us to," he said. The testimonies will help
police jail thugs threatening residents' right to a peaceful
life, he said.
"Filing a report does not help us completely. So if the residents
want to see the thugs jailed, they have to testify against the
thugs later on," he added.
He said there was always a possibility that some corrupt officers
were involved in the crimes. "Once we find out, we will expose
these corrupt officers to the press and punish them even harder."
As many as 242 alleged street thugs were brought to West Jakarta
Police headquarters Thursday for further questioning. Police
caught one red-handed carrying a dagger, while the remaining
suspects claimed innocence, saying they were brought to police
headquarters for not showing their ID cards to police officers.
On the same day, Bekasi Police arrested 152 alleged thugs.
Bekasi Police chief Sr. Comr. Mas Guntur Laupe said they detained
17 of them as suspects and released the remaining 135, as
reported by kompas.com.
According to local media Warta Kota, police officers arrested a
woman, identified as Lidia, at Kampung Melayu bus terminal in
Jatinegara, East Jakarta. Lidia said she was arrested even though
she showed her ID card to the police. Besides Lidia, the police
officers netted a number of street musicians.
Jakarta Post - November 3, 2008
Jakarta – A series of three explosions, damaging administration
and council buildings, occurred about 02:30 a.m. local time in
Ternate, North Maluku on Monday, Antara reported.
There were no injuries reported. The police have deployed its
investigators to the locations. Ternate police chief Adj. Snr.
Comr. Ahmad Marhaendra has yet to issue a statement about the
incident to press.
The first explosion was heard from the official residence of
North Maluku governor Thaib Armayn. It damaged a side part of the
house, which was located in Jl. Kapten Pattimura.
About five minutes later, the second explosion blasted the
ceiling of a room in the governor's office in Jl. Pahlawan
Revolusi, about a kilometer from the house.
The third explosion occurred at the Regional House of
Representatives building in Jl. Stadion Ternate. It damaged the
building's security post.
Witnesses said that the explosions were heard up to five to six
kilometers from the locations. (dre)
Actions, demos, protests...
Pornography & morality
Execution of Bali bombers
Aceh
West Papua
Human rights/law
Labour issues
Women & gender
War on corruption
Elections/political parties
Armed forces/defense
Economy & investment
Analysis & opinion
News & issues
Residents question war on thugs
Three explosions shock North Maluku
Malaysia detects Indonesian Islamic militant's movement
Jakarta Post - November 3, 2008
Jakarta – A Malaysian council has detected activities of the Indonesian Islamic State Movement (GNII, Gerakan Negara Islam Indonesia) in Selangor State.
Selangor Council of State Security said in its report that the GNII was a popular and active underground movement in the state.
Saad Khiruddin, chairman of the council, said that the group's secretive character has made it difficult for local authorities to stamp out the movement, Antara reported.
NII activities were dated as far back as the earliest years of Indonesian independence.
It caught public attention again early this decade when one of its chapters recruited new members through prayer groups at public and university mosques. (dre)
Jakarta Post - November 3, 2008
Jakarta – People swarmed the East Jakarta Immigration office, jostling in and out of different rooms just to get a small yet important gateway book, the passport.
Anyone can get a passport simply by standing in line for hours and purchasing a Rp 5,000 (50 US cents) application form, filling it in and then submitting it with all the required documents, including family data, identity card, birth certificate and diplomas.
Three days later one comes back, pays the standard Rp 270,000 passport fee before being photographed, fingerprinted and interviewed. This takes a few more hours.
"After completing these procedures, your passport will be done in five days to one week," an official in a light brown uniform at information said recently.
Or you can contact Kiki or one of the other many neatly dressed men and women who merge with the crowd at the immigration office offering their services to passport applicants. They are the scalpers, the middle-men or women who haunt the immigration office almost every day, trying to convince applicants to use their services.
"I can arrange your passport, but there is a price to pay. It is just like buying a train ticket. There are VIP, business and economy classes," said Kiki, a forty-year-old woman with a serious stare.
She then stated her rates. For Rp 1.5 million, the passport is printed and done in one day, for Rp 700,000, it takes two days, and for Rp 500,000, it is done in five days.
"It's all in the game. We give some money to certain officials at certain desks to facilitate the passport arrangements, so by giving more, it will be done more quickly," said Imam, another scalper.
He added that if someone arranged for their passport and did not submit all the required documents, the application might be rejected by the immigration office. On the other hand, if someone who lacked documents arranged for the passport through a scalper, he could get it with the help of insiders, no problem.
"You don't even need to queue for hours and go through the hassle. All you need to do is to agree with the price, hand me some documents, and I'll call you to do the interview, photographs and fingerprinting sessions," he said.
Although arranging passports through scalpers is more expensive, some people still use this kind of service. In a small restaurant right beside the office, a young woman haggles with a scalper.
"Can you trim down the price you've offered? It is too expensive for me," said the young woman. "I don't think so MBak, Rp 450,000 is the final offer," said the male scalper the man.
Another applicant, April, a middle-aged business woman wanting to renew her expired passport, said, "I prefer paying them because I don't want to queue all day long, be fussed over and slowed down by bureaucracy at the immigration office. "I'm a very busy person, I don't have time for that. I need my passport done quickly."
Santo, who needed his passport immediately because he had to go abroad in three days, had a similar opinion.
"The immigration office said my passport would be done in five to six days. I thought I could bypass the process by using a scalper. See, I have had my passport done today," he said while showing off his new passport. (pmf)
| Actions, demos, protests... |
Detik.com - November 6, 2008
E. Mei Amelia R, Jakarta – Five protest actins will be held today in various parts of Central and South Jakarta. Those passing through these areas should be on guard for traffic jams.
"We don't yet know the total number of protesters, but we ask [the public] to be on the look out for traffic jams", said Briptu Heri from the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre when contacted by Detik.com on Thursday November 6.
The first demonstration will be held at 10am in front of the Department of Labour and Transmigration and is being organised by the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) and the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation.
At the same time, the Solidarity Forum for North Sumatra will also be holding a protest action in the vicinity of the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.
Also at 10am, Bureaucracy Supervisory Social Movement (GMPB) will be demonstrating front of the Vietnamese Embassy on Jl. Teuku Umar.
A protest will also be held by the Friends of Falun Gong Indonesia in front of the Chinese Embassy in the Mega Kuningan area of South Jakarta.
Finally, a protest action will be held in front of the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara by the Solidarity Network for the Families of Victims of Human Rights Violations (JSKKP-HAM). (mei/nwk)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| Pornography & morality |
Time Magazine - November 6, 2008
Jason Tedjasukmana, Jakarta – It's a moment that has been many years in the making. The far-reaching anti-pornography bill, according to the Islamic parties that drafted it, is an attempt to define and regulate pornography in order to protect women and children who, they say, are vulnerable an increasing immorality creeping into Indonesia.
The bills' critics, however, primarily ethnic and religious minorities, claim its provisions are a first step towards imposing Sharia law. Widespread protests to a previous, more severe version of the law in 2006 forced legislators to amend it, but efforts to shelve it altogether were defeated on Oct. 30.
While the bill has been watered down from its original pitch to exclude tourists and terms like "porno-action" in deference to minorities who feared their traditions could face persecution under the vague category, the final version retained a broad definition of pornography that many fear could be abused by law enforcers and radical organizations.
"The law is wide open to interpretation and could even apply to voice, sound, poetry, works of art or literature," says Kadek Krishna Adidharma, one of many Balinese who see the law as an attempt by the Indonesian Muslim majority to impose their will on the rest of the country. "Anything that supposedly raises the libido could be prosecutable."
The law, first drafted in 1999 but resurrected this year by the nation's Islamic political parties as the country nears 2009 elections, has a long list of possible offenses. Anyone "displaying nudity" could be fined up to $500,000 and jailed for up to 10 years. Public performances that could "incite sexual desire" have been banned, and "civil society" groups will be allowed to help enforce the legislation. "The timing is very political," says Kadek. "The [supporting] parties want to use it to take the moral high ground as they enter the campaign season."
Parliamentarians who voted in favor of the bill deny this. "We are only giving voice to our constituents who are concerned with what they see on television and a sense of moral degradation," explains Zulkiflimansyah from the Muslim-oriented Prosperous Justice Party. Still other supporters say the law chiefly aims to regulate the distribution of adult materials, which circulate freely across the country in both big cities and small villages.
While it is true that loose regulation has made pornographic magazines and pirated DVDs easily available to minors in Indonesia, advocates for the rights of religious and ethnic minorities say the problem will not be righted by the new legislation. They point to existing provisions in the criminal law as sufficient to deal with the problem, and complain that the new law poses a threat to non-Muslim Indonesians.
"The law imposes the will of the majority that embrace Islam, is a form of religious discrimination and against the spirit of tolerance taught by the country's founders," says Theophilus Bela, chairman of the Christian Communication Forum. "It is an effort to divide the country."
Four provinces with sizeable non-Muslim populations – Bali, Yogyakarta, Papua and North Sulawesi – have already rejected the law and said it will not be enforced in their regions. It remains to be seen how and if that will be tolerated by Jakarta. Major protests are planned for this month in Bali, where the governor has been a vocal opponent of the law and pledged that it will not be implemented. Many Balinese are now calling for greater autonomy and say dire consequences lie ahead if their demands are not met. "There is even a possibility that Bali will ask to separate from Indonesia," says Rudolf Dethu, a Balinese who has helped organize protests against the law. "It's that serious."
Jakarta Post - November 6, 2008
Ati Nurbaiti, Sanur, Bali – Women's groups, NGOs and lawyers said Wednesday they might file for a judicial review of the newly passed anti-pornography law, while activists called for public education campaigns, research and rallies to be held to have the law repealed.
Mariana Aminuddin of Jurnal Perempuan magazine said women's groups were gathering lawyers from across the country to file the request at the Constitutional Court.
At a conference of women researchers and activists, the Kartini Asia Network, participants signed a petition for solidarity in opposing the anti-pornography law. "We must be optimistic," said Valentina Sagala of the Women's Institute, which issued the petition.
She said in addition to several flaws, the law risked allowing for the "politically legalized intervention of the state in defining moral ethics".
Critics say the bill, passed by the House of Representatives on Oct. 30, ignored widespread protests, including from North Sulawesi and Bali.
State Minister for Women's Affairs Meutia Hatta insisted the law would protect women and children from pornography. She said many groups did not fully understand it or the changes made in response to the protests.
"The law doesn't only serve one group, and it doesn't undermine our diversity," she stressed. Large rallies against the law are planned in Bali for later this month.
Kamala Chandrakirana, chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women chairwoman (Komnas Perempuan), warned of the legal fallout should the Constitutional Court, which issues the final binding verdict on a law's validity, uphold the law.
She said it was better "to educate people on all the clauses of the law that protect the people", given a clause allowing for public participation in preventing pornography.
The clause states this can include reporting suspected instances of pornography to the police, and "must be in accordance with the regulations". Critics fear it could be abused and lead to people taking the law into their hands.
Dwi Rubiyanti Kholifah, Indonesia's representative to the Asian Muslim Action Network (Aman), said "research is needed into the impact of the law", adding public feedback was also required. She warned of radical groups could take the law into their own hands.
Activists from Turkey and Malaysia, where women have campaigned intensively against laws considered detrimental to women and minorities, said the continuous mobilization of people would be needed to stop the law from taking effect.
Pinar Ilkkaracan of Turkey's Women for Women's Human Rights-New Ways, said the campaign against attempts to revise the Constitution to eliminate state responsibility in ensuring equality between men and women "was very loud and very tiring".
Zainah Anwar, who chairs the Kuala Lumpur-based Sisters in Islam, said if women felt they would be harmed by the law, then they should be mobilized to object to it. Zainah also cited their experience to stress that "to create a moralistic society, a punitive law does not work".
Madu Mehra of the Asian Pacific Women, Law and Development Network's Women's Human Rights Working Group, said a more effective law would be one on hate crimes, one that "controls violence and nonconsensual behavior", rather than one that obscured the differences between pornography and consensual and nonconsensual sexual behavior.
Tempo Interactive - November 5, 2008
Eko Ari and Cunding Levi, Jakarta – West Papua Religious Community Forum chairman, Bram Maudoma, will urge voters in his region not to vote in the 2009 Elections. This is a follow-up to their rejection of the Pornography Law and the joint ministerial decree which made Sunday a working day.
"We will pressure people and urge them to not vote in the elections," he said, following a meeting with the Regional Council (DPD) vice chairman La Ode Ida at the House of Representatives' (DPR) building in Jakarta yesterday. He said the aspiration of the Papuans have been ignored by the government and the DPR. "We are doing this because the country is not respecting us."
According to Bram, the ratification of the Pornography Law will hurt the people of Papua. "This violates our human rights and will destroy the Papuan culture, which actually needs protecting," he said, mentioning 265 ethnic groups currently living peacefully in Papua.
Bram warned that if the law is maintained, it will create conflict among people. He regards the ratification as benefiting the interest of only a certain group.
A delegation of West Papua Religious Leaders, headed by Andrikus Mofu, added that people in his region also rejected the implementation of the five-minister's joint decree that determined Sunday to be a working day as an effort to save energy in Java and Bali. "Sunday is the time for Christians to go to church," he said. "We want the law annulled."
A member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), Ishak Madacan, said their demands need to be taken seriously. "This is a matter of existence," he said. "There must be a political decision from the DPD to deal with this issue."
La Ode Ida said he will immediately respond to the input from the West Papuans. "We will have discuss it internally with the DPD chairman," he said.
According to La Ode Ida, their response will be in the form of a political decision. "This is a matter of defeated pluralism. This is a serious issue, the nation's unity could be at risk," he said.
Last Monday, West Papua Legislative Council chairman Jimmy Demianus Ijie also urged the government to annul the Pornography Law, which was ratified end of October at a DPR plenary meeting. He threatened that West Papua will separate from Indonesia if their demand is ignored.
Tempo Interactive - November 6, 2008
Dwi Riyanto A., Jakarta – Chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) urged the government to immediately respond to a demand of West Papua's delegation over the approval of the pornography bill by the government.
West Papua refused following the election and separate themselves from Indonesia if the bill is not canceled. "That's too much. If they disagree, they should let us know which item to be fixed," Agung said.
He went on to say that a region cannot refuse an approved regulation as it binds all citizens.
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2008
Ni Komang Erviani, Denpasar – Members of Bali's tourism industry declared their support Tuesday for efforts to legally challenge the recently passed pornography bill, calling the bill a violation of individual rights and an egregious monopoly on cultural values.
Head of Bali Tourism Board (BTB) Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya said the industry was ready to support any legal challenge made to the pornography bill, including the plan by the Bali People's Component (KRB) to file a judicial review with the Constitutional Court.
He regretted the passing of the bill, saying it was a violation of personal rights and a blatant attempt to standardize public values. "Thus we are in full support of KRB's attempt to have a judicial review of the bill," he said at Denpasar's BTB office.
He further applauded the island's leaders, Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika and Speaker of the Bali Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) Ida Bagus Putu Wesnawa, who last Friday had declared that the province would not carry out the law because it was not in line with the island's philosophical and social values. "That was indeed representative of our Balinese feelings as a community. We salute and support the governor and DPRD speaker."
When asked whether the tourism industry would be at stake should the bill become law once the president signs it, Ngurah said he was not worried. Ngurah said the island's united approach in dealing with the bill would automatically halt any effort to apply the law on the island.
"We are not worried at all. We are certain that the central government will not be able to apply that bill in Bali because the people here have denounced it."
In a separate interview, head of the Bali Tourism Workers Union (SP Par), Badung I Putu Satyawira, also declared his support for a judicial review of the pornography bill, calling it a threat to the 11,582 members of his union and the Balinese public as a whole.
"We are in full support of the judicial review because it is obviously detrimental to our business and our livelihood," he said. He echoed Ngurah's statement and said that the pornography bill dove deep into people's personal matters.
Satyawira said the bill was a violation of basic human rights, and that it would be an "egregious" violation of human rights if the country's leaders allowed the bill to become law.
"Deciding for ourselves what is right is a god-given individual right. We simply cannot condone the fact that the bill is trying to meddle in our personal lives," he said.
He further lambasted the House's attempt to standardize public values, which threatens Indonesia's pluralistic culture. "We should not allow Indonesia, rich as it is in various cultures, to be standardized for ambiguous interests," he said.
Satyawira said the pornography bill would hurt employees in the tourist industry financially since it might discourage tourists from visiting the island. "Bali has always been known as a tolerant culture, and we have done pretty well all on our own filtering the various cultures which have entered Bali."
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2008
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Churches in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) have rejected the passage of the anti-pornography bill, saying it neglects people's aspirations and could trigger disintegration.
Rev. Eben Nuban Timo of the Timor Messiah Evangelical Church (GMIT) synod, said Tuesday the bill could provoke national disintegration.
He said House of Representatives members had ignored people's aspirations and only listened to majority groups. "The government should cater to all people, not just to those in the majority," he said, adding all churches in NTT had rejected the bill outright.
"(It's) as if all problems in this nation are caused only by pornography," he went on, saying the bill's passage would hamper people's creativity in preserving local traditions.
Eben said the churches and some organizations in the province would file a judicial review with the Constitutional Court to seek the law's revocation for "justice purposes".
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – It is unlikely the recently passed anti-pornography bill will be enacted in several provinces as top officials there have announced they will not enforce it, legal experts say.
Many provinces have declared they will not enact the bill, raising questions of whether a House law can be valid if it is not applied nationwide.
"How can we expect the law to be implemented when people and officials oppose it? Who's going to enforce it? It will end up as merely a dead document," constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin said.
At least four provinces – Bali, North Sulawesi, Yogyakarta and West Papua – have rejected the porn bill, with the predominantly Hindu island of Bali and the Christian province of North Sulawesi officially rejecting it.
They have said they will file a request for a legal review with the Constitutional Court. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives last Thursday.
Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika and North Sulawesi Governor SH Sarundajang have said the new law will destroy Indonesia's unity and threaten cultural harmony. Yogyakarta's community leaders have raised similar fears over the law.
Leaders of churches in West Papua rallied in front of the House on Monday, threatening to push for independence should the central government agree to enforce the law.
"Hereby, we announce that we reject the bill on pornography because it will harm our pluralism," Filep Mayor, secretary of the group representing 40 church communions in the mainly Christian province, said after meeting with House speaker Agung Laksono. Filep said locals would "break away from Indonesia if the law is enforced".
Group chairman Andrikus Mofu said that should their demand not be heeded, they would take up the issue with an international forum. "We will inform the international community of our aspiration and our intention to separate from Indonesia," he said.
Responding to the protest, Agung promised to follow up on the demands and urged the government to immediately offer clarity on some of the law's articles, which have been criticized as vague and misleading.
Irman, chairman of study forum the Indonesian Legal Round Table, criticized the bill's loose definition of pornography, saying it did not offer the public legal clarity. The constitutional law expert called on the provinces to unite in calling on the Constitutional Court to annul the law.
"According to Article 28 (B) of the amended 1945 Constitution, legal definition must be clear, strict and definite. Previously, all loose definitions were revoked by the court. I am optimistic the court will do the same for this law," he said.
Irman said the provinces opposing the law could call on the President to delay passing the bill or annul it. "The President can annul a law which is determined to threaten the country with disintegration and that is chronically protested against by regions," he said.
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Andra Wisnu, Denpasar – Following calls made by their Balinese leaders, many members of the island's public declared their intention to have the pornography bill reviewed or revoked just days after it was passed by the House of Representatives.
Numerous announcements were made Monday by various Balinese institutions and persons in opposition to the bill, which has been deemed by many as a threat to national unity.
The Balinese Public Exponent (EMB) staged a rally that began at the Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) in Denpasar and finished at the nearby governor's office, demanding Bali's leaders maintain pressure in their fight against the bill.
The group, which comprised representatives from Buleleng, Tabanan, Badung and Denpasar, called on the DPRD and the governor to move quickly to oppose the law.
Governor Made Mangku Pastika voiced his support, saying the provincial administration would wait for the President to sign the bill before it took legal action. "We need to remain calm, show everyone that the Balinese have manners," he said.
Under the Indonesian legislation system, a bill will become legally binding 30 days after it is passed by the House regardless of whether it has been signed by the President.
The pornography bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of 10 out of the 12 House factions during a plenary session last week. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), snubbed the bill, choosing to walk out of the session in a show of resistance.
Pastika, along with Bali DPRD Speaker Ida Bagus Putu Wesnawa, publicly declared that the province would not be able to enact the bill – the first time a province has ever rejected a House law.
The Bali People's Component (KRB) said it would seek a judicial review of the law at the Constitutional Court. The KRB's legal representative, Ketut Ngastawa, said he believed the Constitutional Court would vote against the bill, citing numerous contradictions between the bill and the 1945 Constitution.
"Just take Article 28 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen's right to exercise their traditional culture and practice their values," Ngastawa said in Denpasar on Monday. "This bill clearly discriminates against Balinese. And the House passed it for what? Just to appease a certain majority?" he said.
KRB coordinator Ngurah Harta said his legal team had found discrepancies in the legislation process, including evidence the bill had not been sufficiently tested in public and of a possible forged signature on the bill belonging to a high ranking House official.
"Some PDS lawmakers have also complained that they were given misleading invitations to many important meetings regarding the bill, causing them to lose voting rights," Harta said. "Basically, this bill has so many holes in it that it deserves a legal challenge."
Harta said the bill was an insult against Balinese culture. "Take the lingga yoni (a stone sculpture displaying a penis and a vagina). That is not porn. It's a symbol of fertility," he said.
Should all legal attempts fail, Harta said, then the KRB would deliver on its promise and organize a mass civil disobedience.
With support from various art and human rights organizations, the KRB has set up a two week window to complete and hand in a formal judicial review request to the Constitutional Court.
The KRB, which has garnered legal support from the Indonesian Advocate Association and noted advocate and former Constitutional Court justice I Dewa Gede Palguna, has invited anyone with legal standing to join the litigation process at the court.
Those who wish to take part in the legal process may call the KRB secretariat office on (0361)-257080 or (0361)-257081. The KRB has also established a joint bank account for receiving funds from supporters to stop the bill. The Bank Central Asia (BCA) account number is 6700194343.
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Pandaya, Jakarta – Last week's passage of the controversial antipornography law, a symbolic victory for conservative Muslims, can further undermine Indonesia's increasingly fragile religious harmony.
Proponents of the bill turned a deaf ear to the fierce objections raised by rights and pro-democracy groups. They underestimated rejections by the non-Muslim majority provinces of Bali, Papua and North Sulawesi for reasons of culture and religion.
How can these politicians endorsing the law prove their claims that it won't in any way threaten the unity of this multi-ethnic and multi-faith country when some provinces vehemently reject it?
From its inception, the bill has received a cold shoulder from those suspicious that Islamic political parties had sheathed their sharia agenda within it. And the agenda is plain to see. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and numerous Islamic groups had aggressively campaigned for its passage to save the "people's morality".
Islamic parties such as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP), the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) account for the law's main proponents.
It's a shame the so-called "nationalist" parties, including the Golkar Party and the Democratic Party, danced to the Islamic parties' tune. Afraid of losing Muslim support in next year's elections?
Probably. The fact the porn law has always been religiously hyped, promoted by Islamic parties with the zealous support of Islamist groups, gives credence to the suspicion that the legislation is part of the "Islamization" of Indonesian politics.
Critics have from the outset questioned the (Islamic) religious values underlying contentious issues in the disputed legislation. Although the religious overtones that pepper it have not become a main subject of debate, the undercurrent is strong.
The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) flatly rejected the bill on the grounds that the legislation "disrespects the nation's diverse cultural expressions" that the 1945 Constitution guaranteed.
The Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) saw the controversy surrounding the porn bill as increasingly "ideological and political",warning it could trigger conflict among citizens.
"There are many more urgent issues for the House of Representatives to address than the porn bill, which is opposed to by many for good reason," the KWI said in its Sept. 17 press statement.
People in the predominantly Christian North Sulawesi, which has openly rejected the law, say it is incompatible with Christianity and local traditions.
The predominantly Hindu Balinese say the bill should be thrown into the trash can because it does not respect the "local culture" that accounts for the backbone of its tourism industry.
In a 2006 interview with The Jakarta Post, Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – the country's largest moderate Islamic organization, and on that has long rejected the formalization of Islam in state politics – said many mostly Muslim regencies were anxiously awaiting the porn law.
Local government bureaucrats, Muzadi went on, needed the porn law as a legal umbrella to adopt sharia-based bylaws to win support from Muslims. Countless regencies and cities have adopted morality ordinances in the name of autonomy, whose interpretation has often been overstretched by local politicians exploiting the weak central government.
Assuming cleric Muzadi is right, the advent of the porn bill will inspire more predominantly Muslim regencies to adopt sharia bylaws. Some mayoralties and regencies in Aceh, South Sulawesi and West Java make Koran-reading skills mandatory for prospective civil servants.
The government has turned a blind eye, if not tacitly condoned, this disturbing trend – despite objections and warnings about its potential dangers.
Now that the porn bill is here to stay, love it or hate it, let's hope the religious fanatics will not take to the streets and attack anything they deem "pornographic" on their way, although the new law does ask "members of the public"to participate in enforcing the law.
The passage of the law with only two of the 10 political factions in the House of Representatives – the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) – opposing it has only demonstrated politicians' shortsightedness. They underestimate the danger of making a flawed law for short- term political gains.
By the way, no need to worry, because Bali's rejection of the law means you can still go to the souvenir market there and buy that enormous, shiny brown wooden penis to tickle your friend's heart.
Detik.com - November 3, 2008
Laurencius Simanjuntak, Jakarta – Leaders from the Communion of Christian Churches (PGGK) covering five regencies and municipalities in West Papua province went to the House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday November 3 to declare their opposition to the recently enacted law on pornography. The leaders from the 40 Church denominations were received by DPR speaker Agung Laksono.
During the hour or so meeting, they expressed their opposition to the law, which was ratified on October 30, saying that it could destroy the diversity that has been built in Indonesia up until now.
"We hereby declare our opposition to Republic of Indonesia Law 2008 on Pornography," said the head of the group Filep Mayor in reading out a statement at the DPR building in Senayan, Jakarta.
In addition to this, they although threatened to quit the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) if their demands are not met. "We will separate ourselves from the Indonesian state if this law is put into effect nationally", added Mayor.
Another head of the delegation, Andrikus Mofu, said that the threat to leave the NKRI is a means of political bargaining against the policies implemented by the Indonesian government in relation to the ratification of the pornography law. "This is our political bargaining [chip] against the government in relation to the enactment of the pornography law", explained Mofu.
Mofu added that if their demands are not met, they will take their complaints to the international community. "If our [demands] are not met, we will declare our wishes to the international community, to quit the Republic of Indonesia", continued Mofu.
West Papua Regional House of Representatives speaker Jimmy Demiongus Ijie also took the opportunity to explain the historical role of the Church in the return of West Papua to Indonesia. As a result, he said, the voice of the Church is an important part of the aspirations of the entire Papuan people.
"The Church played an important role in the return of West Irian to the lap of the motherland. If the Church decides to leave, who could stop it", asserted Ijie. (lrn/rdf)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - November 3, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – Senior politician Theo L. Sambuaga looked uneasy when asked why his Golkar Party, which boasts a nationalist platform, voted for the controversial pornography bill.
"Personally, I don't agree with the bill as it endangers our national unity. But what can I do? The majority said it was in the party's interests," he said Saturday.
He skipped the House of Representatives' plenary session to pass the bill last Thursday.
Theo hails from the predominantly Christian province of North Sulawesi, which together with predominantly Hindu Bali and predominantly Christian Papua officially reject the bill.
The House endorsed the bill regardless of the provinces' opposition and the boycott of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Prosperous Peace Party (PDS).
The two parties walked out of the plenary session in a show of protest against the House majority, which they said had put national integration and pluralism at stake for giving their fiat. Many legislators have said Golkar was instrumental in blocking the PDI-P's demand for the bill's passage to be delayed.
A professor in politics at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, said Golkar's interest in supporting the bill was obviously to woo Muslim voters ahead of the 2009 elections. A number of recent surveys have shown Golkar has fallen behind the PDI-P.
While the move sacrifices Golkar's founding values for short-term political gains, it will not necessarily bear the fruits the party's elites expected, Ikrar said.
"I don't really understand Golkar's calculations. They are afraid Muslim voters will desert them if they voted against the bill. But now, moderate Muslims and the party's constituents in the provinces that reject the bill may leave them," Ikrar said.
As if confirming it was all for the elections, Hakim Sorimuda Pohan of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party asked people not to vote for the PDI-P and the PDS because of their opposition to the bill.
"People must be aware now who they should vote for. They must not vote for the PDI-P and the PDS, which support pornography," he said.
Former Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Maarif, who was recently awarded the Magsasay Award for his pluralism stance, said he believed the pornography bill would not threaten pluralism in the country.
[Syofiardi Bachyul Jb contributed to this story from Padang.]
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2008
Andra Wisnu, Denpasar – In a move of defiance against the controversial pornography bill, Bali's governor and speaker of the provincial legislative council declared Friday the province would not be able to enforce the newly passed law.
In a two-point written statement, signed by Governor Made Mangku Pastika and Speaker Ida Bagus Putu Wesnawa, Bali made its historic mark as the first region ever to publicly declare an inability to implement a law passed by the House of Representatives.
"With the passing of the porn bill on Thursday, we hereby declare that we cannot carry it out because it is not in line with Balinese philosophical and sociological values," Pastika said at the council building here.
"We further implore every element of the Balinese public to keep calm, stay alert, not be easily provoked and maintain the appropriate atmosphere to maintain the integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia."
The pornography bill was passed with overwhelming support from 10 of the 12 factions in the House. The remaining two, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), walked out during voting in a show of resistance.
However, the legal force of the declaration remains unclear. Pastika did not elaborate on how the declaration would affect the island, calling it simply a "statement from the people of Bali".
Neither did he elaborate on the position of the provincial police on the matter or whether he planned to join forces with other regions that had explicitly stated their opposition to the bill.
"This is just a public announcement of our position. We simply cannot enforce this particular bill," he said.
Pastika said the letter would not be sent to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or any other government officials, as "this declaration will reach them anyway".
Asked whether the provincial administration would pursue a Constitutional challenge, Pastika said he and other leaders were still considering it, adding a legal challenge was the next most viable option.
Many organizations, such as the Bali People's Component, have stated their intention to challenge the bill through the Constitutional Court.
Made Arjaya, head of the council's Commission I overseeing law and security, said his office would wait until "further development". The President still had to sign the bill, he added.
Under the Indonesian legislation system, if a bill is not signed within 30 days after the House passes it, it automatically becomes legally binding.
Wesnawa refused to call the declaration an act of defiance, saying the province had no option because the bill goes against everything the Balinese stand for.
"An act of defiance is an act of refusal. We're not refusing the law, we just simply can't enforce it," he said. "The fact is, many of our artists, our religious beliefs and our people are in danger of being persecuted by this law. So we simply cannot enforce it."
Bali's leaders and public have been united in their opposition to the draft pornography bill for years. Many in the island have called for civil disobedience should the bill be passed into law.
The previous governor, Made Dewa Beratha, even stated during the bill's first introduction to the public in 2006 that Bali "might as well declare independence" if the bill was passed.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – For Santi, a 29-year-old staffer at a Jakarta law firm, the fun and carefree days of hanging out at a mall in a shoulder-exposing tank top may well be over.
Despite the comfort and confidence she says her attire gives her, Santi is wary of inadvertently violating articles in the recently approved anti-pornography bill.
"I am confused about what to wear now," she said while strolling around a Central Jakarta mall on Friday. "But I have to be careful because I'm afraid that walking in public with bare shoulders could be considered by some groups as inciting obscenity."
The way women dress is one area affected by the far-reaching definition of pornography as stipulated in the bill. It says body movements or gestures perceived as inciting obscenity or violating moral ethics in the community may be considered pornography.
"Who can guarantee that certain groups won't attack me for what I wear, because they think I'm arousing them? I won't take the risk," Santi said.
Patra M. Zen, chairman of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), agreed the extensive definition of pornography targeted and criminalized women. "After all, it's women who are seen as capable of inciting obscenity in our society," he said.
The definition, Patra added, placed the creativity of artists, models and designers in danger by potentially labeling their work as pornography.
Articles 8, 34, 36 of the bill stipulate artists and models may face up to 10 years in prison or Rp 5 billion in fines for their involvement in shows considered pornographic.
Observers are also warning the definition invades people's private lives, with even the exchange of "dirty" jokes, defined as conversation and sound deemed as inciting obscenity – and hence pornographic – punishable by law.
"It's really an effort to create uniformity in people's private lives by enforcing a certain one-sided morality without taking into consideration different cultures within our society," said Hendardi, chairman of the Setara Institute.
He accused political parties of passing the bill only to woo support from Muslim voters ahead of the 2009 elections.
Legal expert Frans H. Winarta and Elsam executive director Agung Putri Astrid Kartika agreed the bill violated the principle of pluralism as enshrined in the Constitution, by defying the aspirations of provinces such as Bali, North Sulawesi and Papua, which all opposed the bill.
Worse, Patra said, the enactment of the bill into law would justify a "morality police", which could include vigilantes, launching crackdowns on those they believe were in violation of the legislation. The bill allows the public to take part in the fight against pornography.
So what happens to people like Santi, who simply wish to enjoy their lives? They could become the first victims of the moral police, Patra said. "Nobody supports pornography; but we must focus only on limiting its distribution and protecting our children," he said.
He warned of a possible bandwagon effect in many regions following the bill's passage, leading to possible violence and abuse of the law for certain political interests.
| Execution of Bali bombers |
Agence France Presse - November 6, 2008
Jakarta – Islamic extremists rallied in the Indonesian capital Thursday against the imminent execution of three Bali bombers, as defence lawyers demanded the families be allowed a final visit.
Chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater), some 100 militants descended on the offices of the national human rights body as the bombers' lawyers met officials inside to demand access for the families.
The radicals condemned the executions, believed to be hours or days away, and praised bombers Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and Imam Samudra, 38, as "holy warriors."
They carried banners pledging to follow the bombers' path of jihad or "holy war" and warning that "hell" awaits the executioners.
Defence lawyer Mahendradatta urged the human rights body, Komnas Ham, to back the families' demand for visiting rights. Komnas Ham chairman Ifdhal Kasim said the prisoners had a right to meet their families before they faced the firing squad.
"A prisoner awaiting execution must be given a chance to meet their families," he said, promising to take up the matter with the prosecutors office which handles executions.
Meanwhile the families wrote to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pleading for a delay in the executions, defence lawyer Fahmi Bachmid said.
He said however that the letter was not a request for clemency. The bombers have said they want to die to become "martyrs" for their dream of creating an Islamic utopia across Southeast Asia.
"We don't know the contents of the letter. The families only told me that they hope the execution will be postponed until the president gives an answer to the letter," he said.
The bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists.
The government has said the condemned men will be executed by firing squad in "early November" after they exhausted the appeals process.
Sydney Morning Herald - November 4, 2008
Tom Allard, East Java – Family and supporters of the Bali bombers are using the time before their executions to peddle anti-Australian conspiracy theories and praise the condemned men as holy warriors as they complained bitterly yesterday about being locked out of the prison where Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra are being held.
An Indonesian judge insisted yesterday that an appeal by the bombers would not delay their executions, meaning they could go ahead as early as today.
Extra security was in place in the port town of Cilacap, a short distance from the prison island of Nusakambangan, with barbed wire being rolled out around the docks to prevent access by supporters and journalists.
A large team of lawyers and family members are in Cilacap, spending much of their time holed up in a mosque. They have brought food and letters of support for the condemned men but have so far been denied access by the Jakarta office of the Attorney-General.
They arrived at the docks in a minivan yesterday with a huge media entourage in tow but were blocked by police. They vowed to stay in the town until they were allowed to visit the prisoners and threatened protests if they continued to be denied access.
Already, the family and lawyers in Cilacap have been holding court with the media as authorities decide when they are going to put the killers in front of a firing squad.
Lulu Jamaludin, a younger brother of Imam Samudra, said that members of the Bali nine – the Australians convicted of heroin smuggling – should be killed before the bombers, adding that Australia had been paying for the executions of his brother and his co-conspirators. "Obviously, Australia is funding it," he said
Islamist websites in Indonesia were promoting the same conspiracy theory, saying Australia had donated 3 billion rupiah (about $420,000) to pay for the execution.
The charge is absurd but is indicative of the kind of rhetoric that is getting play in Indonesia in the rarefied atmosphere as the executions approach.
Agus Sentiana, a lawyer who acts for Imam Samudra, said a group of supporters wanted to set up a foundation in his honour and build a militant Islamic boarding school in his home town of Serang in West Java. "We want to immortalise his spirit," he said.
Another part of the public relations strategy employed by advocates for the bombers is to launch legal challenges such as an appeal made yesterday to the Denpasar District Court.
But Indonesia's Supreme Court said last night that the bombers had exhausted all their legal options. The latest appeal "will not change or delay the execution," Supreme Court judge Djoko Sarwoko said.
A spokesman for the Indonesian Attorney-General's office, Jasman Panjaitan, said the executions could take place any time between now and November 15.
The Indonesian newspaper Suara Merdeka reported that the three bombers spent yesterday reading the Koran and fasting. A prison source said the bombers were locked in the main part of their isolation cells and denied access to exercise areas.
The prison chief, Bambang Winahyo, said the bombers appeared calm and ready to die, in line with their repeated assertions that they were looking forward to becoming "martyrs".
In Sydney, Pauline Whitton who lost her 29-year-old daughter, Charmaine, in the bombings, said the killers should not be executed but left to "rot in prison" for the rest of their lives.
"I'm as happy as everybody will be to see them gone from the face of the earth but there are families who are still suffering and there are people in Bali who are still suffering and a lot of people who are still suffering with burns and injuries. I'm not a violent person but they should suffer." (With Georgina Robinson and agencies)
Sydney Morning Herald - November 1, 2008
Tom Allard, Jakarta – The Bali bombers have been isolated in their prison wing, separated from the nine other convicted terrorists who live with them, as preparations intensify before their impending executions.
The prosecutors from Bali who will oversee the firing squads that will kill Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra have also arrived in Central Java while security continues to be increased, including at the Australian and US embassies in Jakarta.
Under the timetable laid out by the attorney-general, Hendarman Supandji, the executions can take place anytime from this morning.
This week senior Indonesian police gave private briefings that the men would be killed today. That has since been revised to Monday, although no-one will accept that as the definitive date because of the uncertainties of information in Indonesia.
Yesterday a Bali parliamentary official told AAP he had been invited to a ceremony at the port town of Cilacap to hand over the bodies of the three Islamic militants to family. "I am planning to go on November 1, at noon, along with the other Bali parliament member."
He said he had previously been invited to the executions in August, but they were cancelled.
The Bali bombers joined other prisoners at Friday prayers yesterday, hearing a sermon about the virtues of patience. But their prison mates in their maximum security wing of the prison – all of them convicted terrorists and many of them perpetrators of the second Bali attacks – have been moved to other locations.
Still, the men continue to be allowed to vent their rhetoric and incite violence, even as their deaths draw near. The latest letters from the three include a threat from Imam Samudra, in English, of a "smack down" against foreigners after their deaths, the ABC reported.
Terrorism analysts are exasperated by the decision to let the Bali bombers conduct interviews and issue statements before their executions, saying it makes the security situation much worse.
Security fears are behind the decision to take the bodies off the island by helicopter after the executions, which will be undertaken by three different firing squads at exactly the same time. At least three sites have already been prepared on the island of Nusakambangan, where the Bali bombers are being held.
Security fears also mean the traditional 72 hours warning to families before executions is likely to be dispensed with. "Given the situation, we, the lawyers, suspect we will be notified one day before the execution," Achmad Cholid, a lawyer for the families, told the Herald yesterday.
Security measures were beefed up across Indonesia. There was an increased presence in Solo, the home of the radical preacher Abu Bakar Bashir, who addressed a rowdy pro-Amrozi rally yesterday and repeated his theory that the Bali attacks were a CIA plot.
Police are also searching cars entering Cilacap and the home village of Amrozi and Mukhlas, Tenggulun. This week they rehearsed transporting the bodies from makeshift helipads near Tenggulun to a nearby cemetery.
While Cecep Hermawan, a confidant of the Bali bombers and wealthy businessman, says the bombers and their families have accepted that the men be buried together in a martyrs' shrine in West Java, lawyers say there has been no decision.
Agence France Presse - November 1, 2008
Richard Macey – On the eve of their executions, the Bali bombers have called for revenge against the West and have warned the US to expect defeat.
In separate letters on October 22, and posted on an Islamic website, Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra have urged Muslims to attack non-believers.
Amrozi declared in his letter that every "fellow Muslim" needed to raise his hands "to offend the infidels and Thagut [non- believers] that wronged the Muslim, by cutting their necks [beheading]". This, he warned, would be the only way to stop "their cruelty to us".
Samudra directed his letter to people in the West, suggesting they should not be surprised "if America, the so-called superpower, is beaten, almost dying," and it would lose "the war against the mujahideen".
"You, the little people, will be easy to 'smack down' by the mujahideen. You will be defeated in this world and will be taken to hell. Who doesn't know that the toothless giant, the US infidel and their allies, are now dying.
How can it be, Andi Matalata [Indonesia's Human Rights and Law Minister], and all the judges from Bali do not understand this? Don't understand that America is 'klepek-klepek' [a slang word used to describe the death throes of an animal as it is slaughtered]. You think, if you execute the three of us, you can walk freely, there's no way."
Attacking corruption in Indonesia he wrote "you even have to pay if you want to be a civil servant, even bribe ... so there's no way, man. Nothing is free. You can probably decide on the execution as ordered by your bosses but ... ahem! The answer is, 'what you see' not 'what you hear'.
He completed his letter by writing, in large print, "Remember: there's not one free Muslim blood drop!"
The ABC reported the International Crisis Group's terrorism expert, Sidney Jones, as saying she was amazed that the bombers were still able to incite violence from their cells.
"I just think that if there's an increase in the security threat as the result of the executions, the Government is at least in part to blame for allowing these three men access to the media over and over and over again."
The mother of two of the Bali bombers says her sons were right to "kill infidels". Seventy-year-old Tariem was speaking in Tenggulun, East Java.
"I don't cry. I leave it all to God," she said as Amrozi and Mukhlas, two of her 13 children, waited for the firing squad. "I feel that killing infidels isn't a mistake because they don't pray."
| Aceh |
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Aboeprijadi Santoso, Banda Aceh – The top leader of former rebel group the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Teungku Chik Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, may be the founder of Indonesia's longest proactive separatist movement, but when he came home it was not as a rebel, but still with a cause.
The first time I met him 19 years ago in The Hague, the Netherlands, he was a proud man; he showed me photos of young Acehnese joining military training in Libya; the second time we met, six years later, he was an angry man, explaining why he thought Aceh had the right to independence; and during his recent trip to Aceh, I watched an old man, still proud of his beloved homeland, calling on his compatriots to learn the history of the country and to maintain peace.
Aceh, he said, "has been victimized by Javanese aggressors, using a masquerade named Indonesia. The Acehnese should maintain their freedom or seize it. Every struggle will strive for a victory to be achieved sooner or later. I pin much hope on myself, on the Acehnese nation and on other nations. We have the right, on a legal basis, to independence."
How do you think you will achieve it? I asked. "Jalan apa saja (By any means)," he replied.
Hasan Tiro is a man of strong opinion. Now, 13 years later, we know his former enemy, the central government – in particular the Army – also took jalan apa saja to achieve victory. Hence, the dirty war, misery and the deaths of tens of thousands, especially among local civilians.
In the late 1950s Hasan was a nationalist who dreamed of Indonesian federation. However, he later changed his view and attempted to build new patriotism by transforming his patron Daud Beureueh's idea of Darul Islam (DI) of the late 1950s into a vision of Acehnese nationalism, thus redefining the politico- religious desire into a modern nation-state idea.
For, "to continue the DI would result in a civil war", not freedom, said Suheluddin D. Batubara, a former aide to Beureueh, in 2003.
It was this redefinition into Acehnese nationalism that implied a challenge and demanded a redefinition of Indonesian nationhood. But we also know that this patriotism, which Hasan over time introduced into Acehnese consciousness, has in effect been strengthened and widened by Jakarta's broken promises and violence and the suffering that the war caused. Now, as he traveled from one mausoleum to another, praying before Aceh's endatu or ancestors (Sultan Iskandar Muda, Sjech Abdul Rauf al Sangkili), Acehnese heroes (his great-grandfather Tgku. Chik di Tiro, who is also a national hero) and comrades (Tgku. M. Usman Lampoh Awe, GAM commander Abdullah Syafei'i), we saw him paying tribute, expressing pride and demonstrating his loyalty to Aceh.
His trip thus suggested that Hasan remains loyal to his cause even though his homeland – contrary to his promise not to return home before Aceh becomes free – remains within the republic.
Similarly, although his idea of a "successor state", which was supposed to succeed the Dutch, never materialized, he might have noticed that Aceh has become a significant part of the consciousness of Indonesia's nationhood.
If Aceh means in the first place a point of identity to the Acehnese, and at the same time an important element of Indonesia's nationhood, there is, however, a third factor that could bind the two: democracy.
After all, wasn't it greater democracy for Aceh that Hasan Tiro and GAM said they wanted to realize? Hasan surely remembers that West-Java DI leader Kartosuwirjo resisted Beureueh's idea of a federal Islamic state in the 1950s and recalls that former president Soeharto flatly rejected his federal idea when he met with him in the early 1970s; instead, Soeharto used violence to break any opposition. These were indeed among the reasons that he chose to rebel.
It's important, therefore, that in addition to paying tribute to his Acehnese ancestors, Hasan during his trip stressed a second theme – peace – by calling on the Acehnese people to respect the Helsinki pact of 2005 and thanked the world, the mediator Martti Ahtisaari and the European Union for their contributions to peace and post-tsunami aid.
By praising the Helsinki pact, he indeed accepted not only the republic of which Aceh is part, but also democracy for both Aceh and Indonesia. A salient detail was the irony that it is now the GAM leaders, not Jakarta, that ban the term "separatism". "Peace is now forever," said Malik Mahmud representing Hasan.
What role Hasan Tiro should now play is a matter for the Acehnese to decide. That people celebrated his homecoming with heart and tears suggests that the decades of conflict and suffering changed not only Aceh, but also Hasan's role and image.
To many Acehnese until the early 1980s he was just an anonymous self-exiled rebel leader. But the enthusiasm with which the Acehnese welcomed him last week as a "fighter for the nation" (pejuang bangsa) means that the concept of Wali Nanggroe, a title Hasan claimed and used throughout his rebel years, has changed from its original meaning – the Guardian of the State – into a unifier, a penyatu bangsa Aceh, as one local put it.
Since the Wali is not a sultan and there is no wish to restore the sultanate, to do so would be artificial. Instead, as former GAM negotiator Nur Djuli argued, the Acehnese "should look forward and the Wali (Hasan) should return his mandate to the people, leaving the historic institution of Wali Nanggroe as a symbol to unite the people of Aceh". And with it, Djuli added, "GAM will fade away".
While Hasan Tiro's homecoming may be too late to enable him, at 83, to exercise any political function, his trip has performed an important symbolic role to unite Aceh – in addition to enabling Partai Aceh, the party founded by GAM, who organized the events, to gain momentum going into the 2009 elections.
Now that Hasan the Wali is no longer a famous-but-faceless figure who was far away for decades, he will be just an ordinary human being. With it, the myths surrounding his person will fade away.
[The writer is journalist. He can be reached at tossi20@yahoo.com.]
Jakarta Post - November 2, 2008
The world's "post-conflict" areas are a living laboratory with ever changing experiments, the Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA) and the local population being among its guinea pigs.
Critics say that approaches such as that of the BRA which only distributes funds to verified individuals to ensure their accountability, are ineffective and further weaken "strong communal ties".
Traditionally these ties ensured that a neighbor would not go hungry, said Afridal Darmi of the Legal Aid Office in the capital, Banda Aceh. In a tense situation "people have grown tired of data taking," an activist said.
In a land scarred by war and one of the world's most devastating natural disasters, all the note taking "brigade", including journalists, can easily trigger an angry reaction when promise after promise fails to materialize. The communal ties mentioned above already disappeared during the war; people spent decades working out who to trust among family and friends.
One could never know who was the resented spy, or cuak, who often reported his neighbor of being a GAM member only because of a personal grudge.
"Reintegration" then involves not only former GAM militia and those who were "defending themselves against GAM", but also the stitching back together of mutual trust in society.
The BRA is faulted on each occasion that it fails to provide its services, which would at least give peace of mind, to conflict victims – the former militia, the ordinary civilians who protected local peple and those who lost loved ones.
Sensitivities flare even with the first step of verification of victims. Widows who have remarried demand why they are no longer listed as beneficiaries, as they need the funds for the children of the dead or missing father.
In a press conference on the first day of Tiro's visit, Oct. 11, Fatimah, identifying herself as a former member of the GAM women fighters, Inong Bale, asked Tiro's aides about the fate of orphans and widows including former female combatants.
Malik Mahmud, who signed the MoU on behalf of GAM, appealed for patience, saying that in the peace process, everyone would be taken care of.
Knowing that this issue is central to pacifying those directly engaged in the conflict and those affected by it – virtually the entire population – this message was reiterated in Tiro's statements read out by Malik on all his stops in Aceh.
Support and oversight for those working on such essential details is still critical in the struggle for peace. Tiro's visit seemed to cool tensions and frustrations. Held well before next year's elections, it was also timely and helpful "to heal rifts" among former GAM members, said Juha Christensen, one of the facilitators of the MoU during one of Tiro's family reunions.
Locals here cite another category of restless people which might disrupt the peace: the scores of GAM members forced to surrender before the Helsinki agreement was signed.
Victims of rape are silent; "which victim would ask for anything if they were asked to submit evidence?", one activist asks.
Not too long after the MoU was signed the old grumblings and accusations of graft have shifted to the new elite – such as BRR officials and the elected governor Irwandi Yusuf and his former GAM loyalists.
"The governor is GAM so of course his men get all the projects," said a driver. "Look at all their cars," he said, pointing to the costly SUVs of former commanders in the long convoy of Tiro's bodyguards and his hosts.
Scholars blame corruption and centuries of rivalry among Aceh's elite for adding to its people's problems. Such rivalry enabled intervention and "divide and rule" tactics from the dominant central power, whether colonialists or the late Soeharto's New Order.
The painfully slow work to complete regulations to implement the new laws of Aceh's government following the MoU provides a test case on whether Jakarta will habitually "break its promises," in the eyes of Acehnese, and pull back, as it did since the 1950s, any intention of giving more authority to provincial rulers.
In this vicious circle, locals are far from fatalistic.
"Our elders say we have always had bloodshed," said another driver, Wadi. However like many others, since that August day when locals crowded around televisions to see the signing of the MoU in faraway Finland, he said at last he had peace of mind.
"In the past we were always worried what would happen to our wives and children at home," Wadi said.
A quiet voice meanwhile, voices one of Aceh's challenges to peace. "Some of us have jobs, some don't," said a former GAM militia man.
| West Papua |
UPI Asia Online - November 5, 2008
Martin Lundqvist, Hong Kong, China – "Witch hunting" has historically been, and still is, a common phenomenon in Papua among the indigenous people. Although different local communities have different interpretations of the practice, the basic tenets are the same: people are blamed for the things that go wrong in life.
It is a cosmology that refuses to accept the haphazardness of death, disease and misfortune. When someone dies at an early age, for example, this is perceived as the work of a witch for which punishment is soon to be meted out.
Information recently received from a local NGO tells of the threatened position of nine women in a village on Bird's Head Peninsula in West Papua. Local religious leaders and the local community believed these women to be witches responsible for disease, death and general misfortune in the local community. For this, the women have been punished.
The nine women were declared "sinful" and "devils" by the religious leaders and were then segregated from their husbands and children and forcibly moved to isolated areas in the jungle surrounding the village. These areas are not fit for living, and the women who were deported there are in pressing need of the most basic necessities, such as food and healthcare. They are naturally also shocked, and possibly traumatized, from the degrading and violent treatment to which they have been subjected by the local religious leaders.
Papua is a region which is normally considered underdeveloped. Many Papuans live in remote locations where they are deprived of access to the services of the Indonesian state, including education, healthcare and a "modern" justice system." The police rarely visit the remote villages; if they do it is normally to arrest, torture or threaten someone allegedly belonging to the independence movement OPM, which is also known as the Free Papua Movement.
On July 19, for example, six Papuans were brutally arrested and charged with the crime of subversion for conducting a peaceful pro-independence demonstration, hoisting the symbolically charged Morning Star flag. This incident is not an isolated occurrence but rather forms part of a pattern of political subjugation of the Papuan indigenous population by the Indonesian military, the police and the military police.
When it comes to healthcare, the remoteness of the Papuan villages is sometimes used to justify inaction by the government. In a recent cholera outbreak in Dogyai District of Papua, Indonesian authorities blamed the outbreak on "the long distance between local medical units, or puskesmas, and the village, where local people usually take a four-hour walk to reach the puskemas." Statements like this make it seem the government is not responsible for the health of these people, that the remoteness of their villages somehow justifies their neglect.
The Indonesian government has a duty to recognize the right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, according to domestic law No. 11/2005. This law seems to have been bypassed in Papua, where about half the population lives below the poverty line, compared to Jakarta, where approximately 3.4 percent of the population is poor.
At the same time, the government of Indonesia is directing much attention to Papua through the many "development" projects it has initiated there since the mid-1960s. Normally, development would entail an improved standard of living for the people of the region; but in Papua, development has come to have another meaning. Here the government-sanctioned "development" schemes have brought with them large-scale forced evictions, arrests, assaults and killings of indigenous people, as well as environmental disaster, in order to "make room for" transnational mining companies, among which US-based Freeport is the largest.
The Indonesian government has granted these companies access to lands which have traditionally been owned by the indigenous people of the region, who have been forcibly removed from the so-called sacrifice zones – as the Freeport vernacular labels them – and who benefit nothing from the operation of these companies.
The Indonesian government owns 10 percent of Freeport, and Freeport is Indonesia's largest corporate taxpayer. Needless to say, the stakes are high, and such petty matters as the basic human rights of the indigenous people and the destruction of the environment cannot stand in the way of this Indonesian "model of development."
Development is often said to have two faces: one of exploitation and one of economic progress. It is also frequently said that these two sides are interdependent. The significance of this connection becomes abundantly clear in Papua, where the indigenous people suffer in order for the large mining corporations to make profits.
Given the present and historical circumstances of the indigenous people of Papua, it is not without hesitation that one calls for the Indonesian government to intervene in cases of "witch hunting." On one hand, there is a very real problem with development in these areas: people are actually dying from the lack of it. On the other hand, seeing how "development" projects initiated by the government in the region historically have hit, and keep hitting, the indigenous people, asking for "more development" seems instinctively wrong.
Papuans have no need for, as a colleague put it, "the government to march in there to open up a bunch of McDonald's." There is, however, an urgent need for the Indonesian government to redefine its conception of development in Papua in a manner that benefits all citizens, including the so-called tribal people of Papua.
[Martin Lundqvist is currently serving as an intern at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, where he is primarily assisting in the group's work for human rights in Indonesia. He has a bachelor's degree in peace and conflict studies from Malmoe University in Sweden.]
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Nethy Dharma Somba, Papua – Around 100 protesters from the International Parliament for West Papua (IPWP) staged a rally Monday against an alleged increase in militarism in Papua outside the Provincial Legislative Council building.
"We reject militarism in Papua. We see more and more fully armed Indonesia Military (TNI) soldiers milling around in villages and towns," IPWP Papua coordinator Buchtar Tabuni said in his speech. "The soldiers are supposed to ward off expansion threats from outside, not watch people in towns."
Buchtar said the number of armed troops in Papua gave the impression there was a war taking place. He said the military presence was particularly strong on Oct. 16 when a rally was staged to celebrate IPWP's establishment.
The organization was founded in London by two British parliamentarians with the aim of revising the 1969 Act of Free Choice, or Pepera referendum. The IPWP believed the act was unfair because it was based on a representative system rather than the one-person-one-vote principle.
"There were so many soldiers conducting searches on the day, when it is the duty of police to secure public order," Buchtar said.
The TNI is fighting a low-level armed rebellion waged by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) separatist group.
Buchtar also asked the Papuan legislative council speaker John Ibo to arrange a meeting with Papua's provincial police chief and the Cendrawasih Military Command chief regarding the increasing number of soldiers in Papua.
Detik.com - November 3, 2008
Muhammad Nur Abdurrahman, Makassar – Scores of students from Papua demonstrated in front of the Mandala monument on Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar on November 3. They were demanding that the government immediately withdraw the 6,000 Indonesian military (TNI) troops stationed in Papua because they have been intimidating the Papuan people for decades. This would be in order to create a zone of peace in Papua.
According to action coordinator Mape, large numbers of Papuans have been terrorised and accused of involvement in separatist activities. Yet, according to Mape, they were simply struggling for the rights of indigenous Papuans. "Papuan citizens have been arrested, even killed as a consequence of being accused of separatism," said Mape.
Aside from the repressive actions by military forces in Papua, the protesters also called for the repeal of Special Autonomy Law Number 21/2001 because it has failed to bring any benefit to the Papuan people.
In speeches the demonstrators also protested against government injustice against Papuans since Papua became part of Indonesia in 1965 (sic). They also cited the many health epidemics that have broken out in various parts of Papua that have been ignored by the central government in Jakarta.
Following the speeches, the demonstrators held a theatrical action depicting the repressive actions by soldiers against Papuans. Accompanied by traditional Papuan music, the protesters were also carried away by the unique Papuan music of Waita. Following the protest action, the students returned to their dormitories on Jl. Lanto Daeng Pasewang. (mna/asy)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2008
Dian Kuswandini, Jakarta – Former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy head Muchdi Purwopranjono employed a pilot to murder human rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004, a court heard Thursday.
Earlier this year, former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the murder.
Reading out the testimony of Budi Santoso, a former BIN director under Muchdi, a prosecutor told the South Jakarta District Court, "Pollycarpus once told me, 'Pak, I received an order from Muchdi to kill Munir.'"
The testimony was given by Budi to the National Police between October 2007 and May 2008 as part of an investigation into Munir's murder.
The court allowed the testimonies of Budi and former BIN deputy chief M. As'ad to be read out, after prosecutors failed several times to have the two men appear in court to testify in Muchdi's trial.
Prosecutors argued the whereabouts of both Budi and As'ad, on state assignments abroad, remained classified, and the two did not reply to dozens of summonses sent to them to testify.
"Muchdi's subordinate Kawan also told me he was ordered by Muchdi to either run Munir over with a car or shoot him," Budi's testimony read, adding he often saw Pollycarpus at BIN headquarters, particularly in Muchdi's office.
"On June 14, 2007, Muchdi phoned me, ordering me to bring Rp 10 million to his office. He said the money was for his guest. When I got inside, I gave the money to Muchdi and I saw Pollycarpus in the room."
Budi also said Muchdi had ordered him to pay Pollycarpus Rp 3 million in November 2007. However he could not say what the payment was for.
Budi told the police Munir was a threat to certain BIN individuals because of his scathing criticism of the agency and the government.
Munir was found dead on Sept. 7, 2004, aboard a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore. An autopsy conducted in the Netherlands revealed an inordinate amount of arsenic in his body.
After the murder, Budi went on, Pollycarpus called from Singapore to report on the successful killing of Munir.
"On Sept. 7, 2004, Pollycarpus phoned me to say '(I) got a big fish in Singapore.' I asked him whether he had already told Muchdi about this and he said yes," Budi said in his May 7, 2008, statement to the police.
He added Pollycarpus had earlier asked him to make a correction to a draft letter drawn up by the pilot.
According to Budi, it was a recommendation letter from the BIN to then Garuda president director Indra Setiawan to assign Pollycarpus as a corporate security officer. The position allowed Pollycarpus to share the same flight with Munir on Sept. 6, 2004 – a day before the activist was found dead.
"The draft letter had a column for the signature of BIN deputy head M. As'ad," Budi said. But As'ad, in his testimony also read out by prosecutors, said he did not remember signing such a letter.
"After Munir's murder, I checked with the administration department about the letter but it did not exist. I also asked Muchdi about the letter, but the defendant denied knowing about it," he said in his March 2008 testimony to the police.
At Thursday's hearing, Muchdi denied Budi's allegations. "The fact is I didn't have the authority to order a director like Budi to withdraw an amount less than Rp 50 million," he said.
Muchdi's defense team asked the court to present audio or video recordings of Budi's and As'ad's questioning to prove they really took place.
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2008
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Judicial Commission (KY) proposed to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday that the retirement age of Supreme Court Justices remain at 65 years, as stipulated under current law.
The Supreme Court put forth a bill, under deliberation at the House of Representatives, which allows the retirement age be extended to 70 years.
Commission member Chatamarrasyid said his office opposed the government's proposal to extend the retirement age to 70 years as spelled out in the draft revision of the 2004 Supreme Court law.
"We told the President 65 years is the most suitable retirement age for justices because people usually become less productive after 64," he said after meeting with Yudhoyono at the presidential office in Jakarta.
The term extension has sparked strong public objections because it may hinder reforms considered necessary within the Supreme Court, which is deemed as one of the country's more corrupt institutions.
Chatamarrasyid said limits on judges' tenures should be set because they are only elected once, making it difficult for the public to evaluate their performance. "Besides, we are not a country with a common-law legal system, which allows justices to serve for life," he added.
Presidential adviser on legal affairs Denny Indrayana said Yudhoyono would be "flexible" about accepting the commission's proposal and would leave the matter to the ongoing deliberation in the House.
During the meeting with Yudhoyono, the commission also asked that the required size of the candidate pool be reduced in the selection of Supreme Court judges.
The current system applies the ratio 3:1, meaning that three candidates should be proposed for each vacancy. "We think the ideal ratio is 2:1 because it's hard to find qualified candidates for the Supreme Court," said another commission member, Mustafa Abdullah.
Commission chair Busyro Muqoddas said Supreme Court justices must exhibit the highest integrity, be professional and be unblemished by any past corruption cases. The commission is currently conducting the selection process for Supreme Court justices. Out of 24 candidates needed for eight judgeships, it has only proposed 13.
Kompas - November 5, 2008
Kompas – The families of missing activists hope that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will not take conventional measures in completing the investigation of the forced disappearance of activists that occurred in 1997-98. Particularly given that 13 of those who disappeared have to this day still not returned.
The families of the missing persons, who are part of the Indonesian Association of the Families of Missing Persons (IKOHI), together with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) met with Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta at the Department of Justice and Human Rights in Jakarta on Tuesday November 4.
IKOHI Coordinator Mugiyanto said that the forced disappearances that occurred in 1997-1998 represent a unique case because the victims are still missing, yet not one perpetrator of the disappearances has been has been sentenced by a court.
"Legal steps are not enough because the evidence has confirmed that the perpetrators are free while the victims who disappeared have still not been found. The president must uncover this case of forced disappearances", he said.
According to Mugiyanto, the president has the authority to force the Indonesian military (TNI) headquarters to open up its documents. The commander in chief of the TNI has already said, if asked, that he is prepared to provide documents from Officers Honour Council. President Yudhoyono as once a member of the council, which took part in examining the offices allegedly involved in the abductions.
One of the basic things for the families of the disappeared is following up the recommendation by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), that the Attorney General continue to investigate the case, that the House of Representatives recommend the formation of an ad hoc human rights court and that the president be asked to continue searching for the missing victims.
Kontras deputy coordinator Indria Fernida however said that they were disappointed with the substance of a meeting with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights. During the meeting, said Fernida, Mattalatta based his comments on legal efforts such as returning the case to the Attorney General's Office.
"We have yet to see any breakthrough by the Minister of Justice and Human Rights," said Fernida. (VIN)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Human rights groups have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the newly enacted law against racial and ethnic discrimination, citing its narrow coverage.
"The law will not settle all problems related to discrimination because it only regulates discrimination against races and ethnicities, whereas the causes of discrimination are far more widespread than that," Wahyu Effendi, chairman of the Movement Against Discrimination (Gandi), told The Jakarta Post here Sunday.
The anti-discrimination law was officially enacted on Oct. 28, 2008, to coincide with the Youth Pledge anniversary.
Wahyu said Gandi and several other NGOs had earlier proposed the law also deal with discrimination against women, the disabled, and homosexual, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) groups. "But the proposal turned into a long debate at the House of Representatives. It held up the deliberation of the bill for a while," he said.
He added Islamic parties were strongly opposed to recognizing religious and sex orientation discrimination in the bill, forcing the House to revert to its old draft. "The old draft was based on the 1999 convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination, and focuses more on racial and ethnic discrimination," Wahyu said.
Besides, he went on, the law only covered discrimination committed by individuals or discrimination in workplaces. He pointed out discrimination by government officials or institutions were not dealt with in the law.
"There are many omissions that make me pessimistic about the effectiveness of the law," he said.
Ahmad Baso, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the commission welcomed the new law despite its perceived shortcomings. He said Komnas HAM had asked why legislators had only dealt with racial and ethnic discrimination in the law. "According to lawmakers, religion is part of ethnicity," he said.
The legislators, Ahmad continued, claimed the need to not recognize gender discrimination was regulated in the 1984 law on the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
He added the commission would continue discussing the law with representatives of community groups and bring their opinions to the House. "We will soon discuss the implication of the law with religious organization figures and NGOs," he said.
Asked if he would likely file a judicial review, Ahmad said there was no such plan as yet. "The law was deliberated over just a few days and many people were not aware of it," he said.
| Labour issues |
Tempo Interactive - November 7, 2008
Dini M., Surabaya – Around 500 laborers representing East Java's Indonesian Laborers Union Alliance Congress (KASBI) has urged the government to annul the four-ministerial decree limiting laborers' wage from exceeding the rate of economic growth.
Their demand was conveyed at a demonstration in front of the East Java provincial administration office yesterday. "The joint decree prevents laborers from getting decent wages," complained Mahfudz, coordinator of the protests.
According to Mahfudz, businesses will use the decree as an excuse for not paying the laborers what they deserve. In fact, he said, it was the impact of the crisis which led to a drop in the prices of daily commodities, and resulted in a decline in people's purchasing power.
Detik.com - November 6, 2008
Henni Marlina, Jakarta – Hundreds of demonstrators from the Workers Challenge Alliance (ABM) held a demonstration against a joint decree (SKB) signed by four ministers on wages. They were demanding that a minimum national wage of 3.5 million rupiah per month be put into effect.
During the action, which started at 10.45am, the demonstrators demanded that the joint ministerial decree be revoked. "The four ministers SKB will oppress workers, revoke it now," said action coordinator John Silaban in the lobby of the Department of Labour and Transmigration building on Jl. Gatot Subroto, in South Jakarta on Thursday November 6.
In addition to demanding that the decree be revoked, the protesters also called for the enactment of a national minimum wage. According to Silaban, a reasonable wage would be 3.5 million rupiah a month. "A reasonable wage for workers nationally is 3.5 million rupiah," he said.
During the action, they also unfurled banners with messages such as "The capitalist road has failed to bring prosperity".
Based on Detik's observations, the action inside the building proceeded in a peaceful and orderly manner and no traffic jams were apparent along the length of Jl. Gatot Subroto.
As of 12noon, the action, which was watched over by 207 police officers from the Metro Jaya regional police and the South Jakarta district police, was still continuing. (mad/iy)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Indah Setiawati – The Bali Manpower and Transmigration Agency will unlikely be able to meet its target unemployment rate of 3.5 percent due to the global economic slowdown caused in part by the US sub-prime mortgage debacle.
"I think we have to reconsider the target because there is no certainty from the government that it will cushion the impact from the global crisis," head of the agency's work force placement and employment division, Anak Agung Putra Adi, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
He was concerned people would reconsider and decide to economize on their travel plans due to the economic slowdown, thus decreasing the number of tourists, he said.
"If the tourism industry is affected, I am afraid the unemployment rate here will increase as well because that industry accounts for 65 percent of the island's jobs," Putra Adi said.
As of July 2008, out of a labor force numbering 2.09 million over 15 years old, at least 95,000 or 4.56 percent, were unemployed, according to data from the Bali office of the Central Statistic Agency (BPS).
By comparison, last year's unemployment rate was 3.7 percent, or 77,577, of 2.05 million potential workers.
Before the financial crisis, even getting a job in Bali was difficult, especially in the tourism industry which has seasonal characteristics. Meanwhile, finding a job that the Balinese desire is another challenging task.
Alit Puspawati is an example. The 29-year-old mother was patient for five years, doing work she did not really like before finally landing her dream job as a spa therapist at Le Meridian Hotel in Tabanan, Bali, almost three years ago.
"It's difficult to get a job. Four months after I graduated I was lucky to spot a vacant position in the hotel's kitchen and was hired," Alit said.
Alit added she was unemployed for the first four months after she had graduated.
Working in the kitchen, however, was laborious and tiring because there were so many different menus to prepare for all the guests, Alit said.
While trying to stay motivated in her job, she kept her enthusiasm alive by repeatedly checking a therapist position in the spa.
"I saw a vacancy in the spa almost three years ago. Although both jobs take physical effort, I enjoy the spa much better. It's probably because I like the work," Alit said, smiling.
She said her younger sister, who had graduated from the same college as she did, had given up trying to find a job and eventually decided to stay at home to take care of her child.
Alit's sister is not alone. Nationally, BPS data shows that the number of unemployed people has decreased to 9.43 million as of February of this year compared to 10.01 million of Indonesia's total population of 220 million in February of last year.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2008
Tifa Asrianti, Jakarta – Several provinces have announced a significant rise in workers' minimum wage, but the amount of the increase is facing opposition from certain business groups.
Workers in Jakarta will get a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, from the current Rp 972,604 (US$89.22) to Rp 1,069,865 next year.
Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said Friday the raise had been agreed to by wage councils, labor unions and business associations.
"We understand that a raise in the minimum wage is necessary, but we also need to maintain the sustainability of the employment provided by businesses. The raise is a compromise," Fauzi said.
He added the global financial crisis had caused several businesses to cut production or even close down due to declining export orders.
"We hope the new minimum wage will prevent layoffs," he said.
The Jakarta administration has gradually increased the provincial minimum wage, from Rp 711,843 in 2005 to Rp 819,100 in 2006, Rp 900,560 in 2007 and Rp 972,604 this year.
The West Java administration will raise its minimum wage for 2009 by 10.56 percent, from Rp 568,193 to Rp 628,191.
West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said incentives would be offered to businesses affected by the global downturn, through the search for new export and domestic markets.
Some 700,000 West Java residents are employed in 248 textile factories, with 500 to 35,000 workers at each factory.
While provinces in Java raised their minimum wages by about 10 percent, workers in Riau are struggling to top the 6.5 percent raise – in line with national growth – that the manpower, home affairs, and trade and industry ministries have allowed businesses to give. The minimum wage in Riau is Rp 800,000 this year.
There has been mixed response from industry to the wage hike. Sofian Pane of the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that during a discussion held two weeks ago, businessmen had proposed an increase of 6 percent, or in line with Jakarta's growth rate. "However, we support the final figure of 10 percent. We will ask our colleagues to accept it too," he said.
Ade Sudrajat, chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association, said the wage hike failed to address the global economic slowdown. "We will intervene at municipal and regency level to implement a lower wage than that decided on," he said.
[Yuli Tri Suwarni and Rizal Harahap contribute to this article from Bandung and Pekanbaru.]
| Women & gender |
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Women are unlikely to win many legislative seats in next year's legislative elections as six parties have fallen short of the female representation quota and many others have stuck their female candidates at the bottom of their pecking orders.
The final list of legislative candidates published by the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Friday shows that six parties fall short of the minimum 30 percent quota for female candidates.
The 2007 legislative elections law requires each political party to grant at least 30 percent of its legislative candidate seats to women.
The six that fell short of the requirement are the National Mandate Party (PAN), with a 29 percent female representation and the United Development Party (PPP) with a 28 percent female representation.
The National Concerned People's Party (PPRN) has 26 percent, the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) 29 percent, the My Republic Party 28 percent and the Patriotic Party 17 percent. However, KPU member Endang Sulastri said her office could not impose any sanctions on the six parties as the threshold was not mandated by the elections law.
"The KPU is only required to announce the parties that fail to meet the minimum quota of 30 percent to the public but there should be no sanctions imposed on them," she said.
The KPU published the final list Friday, naming 11,225 legislative candidates from 38 parties who will contest next year's legislative elections. The list was published in the Republika daily and was announced by state TV broadcaster TVRI.
Endang also said she was disappointed some parties had not ranked their female candidates high on their pecking orders to win seats at the House of Representatives. "Many of these parties also place their female hopefuls at the bottom of their lists," she said.
She said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had only included two female candidates in their top groups to secure seats. Some 215 of the PKS's nominees are female, while 221 of the PDI-P's 628 candidates are women.
"Nine parties have made less than 10 women level-one candidates," Endang said.
KPU data shows that of the total 11,225 legislative candidates, only 496 female nominees have been made level-one candidates and that 761 are level-two candidates.
The 30 percent female representation requirement was first introduced in the 2004 elections. However, only 62 women, or 11 percent of the winning candidates, secured House seats out of 550 on offer. Next year, the candidates will vie for 560 House seats.
The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) said though many parties had complied with the legislative quota for women, there was little hope many would win seats as they were ranked so low in their parties' pecking orders.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2008
Fadli, Batam – Limited transportation and communication between remote islands and the main island of Batam in Riau Islands province is responsible for the low skills of the workforce in those areas, especially among women, says an activist.
"The economic empowerment programs carried out by the Batam municipality should have raised the skills of women living on remote islands, but they have not had the best results and tended to overlook the aspect of upskilling the workforce, evident in the high rate of illiteracy among women on islands around Batam," Reny Widya, head of Perempuan, an NGO that supports women, told The Jakarta Post in Batam this week.
A survey conducted by the organization on several islands in Batam, such as Seraya, Ngenang and Janda Berhias, showed that of the 100 respondents, comprising 30 men and 70 women between the ages of 20 and 40, only five women could read and write.
The majority of the men could read and write despite not having finished their basic level of education.
"Most of the men there often travel to other areas and their level of social intercourse is higher than that of the women because they meet many people. Efforts by the Batam municipality to empower the women on the islands around Batam have apparently not touched the core of the issue," Reny said.
The government-initiated programs conducted on the islands, such as training in craftsmanship and environmental protection, have not met expectations. The administration has reportedly failed to follow up on the programs to create families that are economically independent.
"With regard to craftsmanship using marine resources, for instance, the administration has not thought about how to market the products or whether or not the activity can support them or if they are keen to do it," Reny said.
"The education programs provided to the islanders are also not well-coordinated with (programs from) other relevant agencies."
The group has urged the government to address the issue seriously, especially in eradicating illiteracy on remote islands in Batam and throughout the Riau Islands province.
One of the programs considered the most effective was the introduction of informal reading and writing classes for the community and supply of reading materials, Reny added.
| War on corruption |
Jakarta Post - November 6, 2008
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Three former House of Representatives legislators admitted Wednesday they received Bank Indonesia money in exchange for aiding the settlement of BI liquidity support (BLBI) graft cases and the passage of an amendment to the BI law in 2003.
Agus Condro Prayitno, Amru Al Mutasyim and Ali As'ad testified at the Corruption Court against their former colleagues on the House's Commission IX overseeing financial and banking issues Hamka Yandhu and Anthony Zeidra Abidin, who are standing trial for their role in the graft case.
Amru and Ali said they had received Rp 300 million (US$27,270) and Rp 100 million from Hamka, respectively. "I received the money in two installments; The first was Rp 100 million and then Rp 200 million in the second installment," Amru said without mentioning a date.
He said Hamka had given him the money on behalf of Anthony for disbursing information about the BI law amendment to the public.
Ali said he had received the money as a donation for his campaign in the 2004 legislative election.
"Hamka said it was for the campaign fund. I received a total of Rp 100 million in three installments," Ali said. Both said there had been no receipts for the payments.
Earlier Agus told the court he had received Rp 25 million in five traveler's check from Hamka via his secretary between July and August 2003.
"It was kind of a welcome gift," Agus said, quoting his fellow Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator the late Sukono, who had notified him that he would receive the money.
Agus had recently been reassigned after serving on House Commission VII overseeing manpower and transmigration.
Agus said he spent the money because Sukono had told him it was legal. "I did not know the money had something to do with the BLBI settlement or the amendment to the BI law until the media reported that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was investigating the case in 2007," he said.
He said he had no receipt for the traveler's checks. He also said legislators considered such payments part of their salaries.
However, Hamka rejected Agus' statements, saying he had handed over the money to PDI-P faction head Dudi Makmun Murod.
Hamka and Anthony have said they distributed Rp 31.5 billion in BI funds to 52 members of Commission XI, including Rp 1 billion to Paskah Suzetta, now National Development Planning minister, and Rp 300 million to Malam Sambat Kaban, now forestry minister. The two ministers have denied the allegations.
Former BI governor Burhanudin Abdullah was sentenced to five years in jail for his role in the case, while two former senior BI officials, Oey Hoey Tiong and Rusli Simanjuntak, are standing trial for their parts.
In another trial Wednesday, KPK prosecutors rejected the defense pleas of Oey and Rusli.
One of the prosecutors, Nur Chusniah, told the court the two defendants were behind the embezzlement of Rp 100 billion from BI funds. The defendants have claimed they disbursed and used the money at the request of the then BI board of governors.
According to the 1999 BI Law, the central bank is tasked with determining and implementing monetary policies, regulating and enforcing payment systems and regulating and monitoring the operations of other banks.
"So it is unreasonable for the defendants and their lawyers to say they did know about it and that they were only following orders," Nur said.
Christian Science Monitor - November 3, 2008
Simon Montlake Simon Montlake, Jakarta – Once a byword for corruption, Indonesia has begun to fight back against the well- connected bribers, brokers, and embezzlers who have for decades fed off its public sector.
Almost every day brings news of another arrest or trial hearing on corruption charges, and the faces of the accused are familiar: lawmakers, judges, police, and other government officials. Once ensnared, these high-fliers try to wriggle off the hook, as was so often the case during past anticorruption drives. But these days they usually find their efforts are in vain.
Last Wednesday, a court convicted former central bank governor Burhanuddin Abdullah of bribing lawmakers in 2003 to pass legislation. Several other bank officials and lawmakers are either on trial or have been named as suspects in the high- profile case.
At the forefront of Indonesia's battle with public-sector graft is the elite Corruption Eradication Commission, known as the KPK, which reports directly to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. After quietly building up its manpower and expertise, with help from the United States and other foreign donors, the KPK has gone on the warpath this year, taking on powerful institutions long seen as untouchable.
Its efforts have lifted Indonesia's reputation in international surveys. Transparency International, a watchdog group that compiles a widely watched corruption index, gave Indonesia a score of 2.6 out of 10 for 2008, up from 1.9 in 2003, and ranked it 126th out of 180 countries surveyed.
This turnaround underpins an often turbulent overhaul of governance in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, since the ouster in 1998 of US-backed President Suharto. Mr. Yudhoyono took office in 2004 on an antigraft platform.
His reelection campaign next year is certain to stress his record on corruption, even though the economy will probably be the No. 1 issue, says Kevin O'Rourke, a political analyst in Jakarta. "Voters in polls clearly rate the Yudhoyono administration as clean and relatively effective with regards to corruption, and that's pretty much down to the KPK," he says.
The KPK, set up in 2003, took its time to make its mark with a handful of high-profile busts. Last year, its first intake of commissioners was replaced by a new board that was criticized by anticorruption advocates as less than ideal. Far from backpedaling, though, the agency has stepped up its rate of arrests and convictions. Lawmakers have been caught red-handed with bribe money. A senior prosecutor was jailed for accepting payoffs to drop investigations.
To those in the KPK's cross hairs, as well as the public, it can appear to be all-powerful. Its investigators use sophisticated wiretaps, track suspicious bank accounts and e-mail addresses, and cooperate with overseas counterparts. It makes its own arrests and prosecutes its own cases in a special anticorruption court.
Officials know they are being watched, and that's a powerful deterrent, says Antisari Azhar, the agency's chief commissioner. "They're afraid, and it's not like being scared of ghosts. Now they're starting to follow the rules," he says.
In fact, the agency is fairly small, with 600 employees and an annual budget of $18 million. By contrast, the police force employs around 350,000 people in a country of 235 million.
The KPK's mandate is to investigate major public-sector corruption cases, not the petty graft that infects daily life here and across much of Asia. By ferreting out corrupt officials, the KPK hopes to spur internal reform within institutions such as the police and judiciary, says Mr. Azhar. That should eventually make them partners in Indonesia's anticorruption battle, even if they initially push back against the KPK.
For all its successes, the KPK has failed to arrest "big fish," says Adnan Topan Husodo, deputy chairman of Indonesian Corruption Watch, a watchdog group in Jakarta that has shared data with the agency. "Corruption is always a trickle-down effect. If you catch big fish, it's easier to address problems in the middle and lower ranks," he says.
Several cabinet ministers have been implicated in KPK prosecutions, including the central-bank bribery case, but none have been named as suspects. Nor has the KPK made any headway in investigating the powerful military, which has its own justice system.
Some politicians have proposed transplanting the agency to Indonesia's provinces, where corruption has flourished under post-1998 decentralization. But that may be spreading it too thin, says Staffan Synnerstrom, an expert on governance at the World Bank in Jakarta.
Alarmed by the KPK's zeal, some state agencies have become reluctant to spend budgeted funds for fear of irregularities in procurement contracts, says Mr. O'Rourke. That has braked the government's economic stimulus efforts.
Taking the grease out of Indonesia's creaky bureaucracy can have other pitfalls, too. Earlier this year, after a surprise inspection, scores of customs officers at Jakarta's port were transferred and new management installed. Containers sat in warehouses for months, unable to move as cargo brokers tried to figure out whom to pay off. Eventually, the new managers became embroiled in a web of corruption that triggered another high- profile raid.
Eradicating corruption "takes time," says Azhar. "I might not be around to see the results. We're talking 5, 10, 15 years. The most important thing is that it must be continuous. We can't stop. If we do, it's difficult to restart."
| Elections/political parties |
Jakarta Post - November 7, 2008
Khairul Saleh, Palembang – Home Minister Mardiyanto is scheduled to install Alex Noerdin and Eddy Yusuf as South Sumatra's new governor and vice governor on Friday.
South Sumatra's General Elections Commission (KPUD) has declared that Alex and Eddy (aka Aldy) won the Sept. 11 gubernatorial election, defeating incumbent Syahrial Oesman and his partner Helmi Yahya (Sohe), their sole competitors in the controversial, neck-and-neck race.
Aldy, nominated by the Golkar Party, garnered 1,866,390 votes (51.40 percent), edging out Sohe, who, backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), received 1,764,373 votes (48.60 percent).
Tensions ran high prior to the official announcement as, after polling stations closed, two opposing quick count results were published simultaneously.
Results issued by the Policy and Development Strategy Research Center (Puskaptis) declared Sohe the winner with 51.12 percent of votes to Aldy's 48.88 percent.
Meanwhile, two other pollsters claimed the opposite, declaring Aldy had one with some 51 percent of the vote. Puskaptis, political consultant for the Sohe pair, was unavailable for comment.
Both camps announced their victory through advertisements in the local media. The contradicting election results have raised public anxiety in the region. This has caused the public to question the credibility and independence of survey institutions.
The East Kalimantan KPUD banned quick count announcements during the second round of the Oct. 23 gubernatorial election fearing they could lead to civil unrest.
Adman Nursal, director of Maestro Strategious Institute in Jakarta, said that Puskaptis used inaccurate quick count methods to sway the election in their favor.
The number of polling stations sampled did not accurately reflect the number of voters in areas including the Prabumulih and Musi Banyuasin regencies. "Vote counting is therefore inaccurate and does not correspond with the results of the KPUD," Adman said.
He said that, in principal, quick counts are a scientific means of determining possible procedural and documentational irregularities in elections, but intentional errors are hard to pardon because of the intent to cheat the public, which disadvantages the people at large.
Meanwhile, Ardian Saptawan of the Socio-political Sciences post graduate program at Sriwijaya University in Palembang said that the public should be aware of a survey agencies credibility, including its track record, the people behind it, their educational background and professional experience. The agency itself must be responsible and open too, he said.
There are suggestions that survey institutes should be certified, although it was not clear which institute, state or public, could issue the certificate.
Secretary general of the Public Opinion Research Association, Muhammad Umar Bakry, supported the certification idea and said it could help avoid political tension in the future.
"Pollsters must be certified so they can be held responsible for their findings," said Bakry, who is also director of the National Survey Institution.
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – New political parties are stepping up pressure for a revision of the newly passed presidential election bill, with potential candidate Wiranto vowing to lead the way.
Wiranto said Sunday his People's Conscience Party (Hanura) would be at the forefront of a motion for a judicial review of the new law, which he said deprived citizens of their right to run for president.
"Limiting president and vice president candidates by setting such a high threshold is actually hurting the democracy that the nation is trying to develop," Hanura leader Wiranto said after swearing in party volunteers.
The House of Representatives last week endorsed the presidential election bill, which requires a party or a coalition of parties to win at least 20 percent of seats in the House or 25 percent of the popular vote to be eligible to nominate a candidate.
Major parties such as the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had pushed for a higher threshold, arguing it would create stable government. Smaller parties wanted an electoral threshold of 15 percent.
The threshold was set at 3 percent of seats in the House and 5 percent of the popular vote in the 2004 presidential election, in which five teams ran, including Golkar candidate Wiranto and his running mate Solahuddin Wahid.
Although nominated by small parties, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla beat the odds to win the election over Megawati Soekarnoputri and her running mate Hasyim Muzadi in the runoff.
A number of surveys have found that Hanura, which counts several former military generals among its members, was the most popular party among the new contenders. Some have suggested Hanura could be a dark horse posing a serious threat to the established parties, thanks to its popular members and financial resources.
Despite his party's prospects, Wiranto, a former chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI), said he was unhappy with the new threshold.
"Our 1945 Constitution clearly stipulates that presidential and vice presidential candidates are nominated by political parties or a coalition of parties. That's all," he said.
"That means the Constitution opens up wide opportunities for the public to choose their leaders."
He said given intense global competition, Indonesia needed a leader who could help the country overcome any rivals.
"This can materialize only if there are not too many regulations limiting candidates' opportunities to run for president," Wiranto said.
Hanura will announce its presidential and vice presidential candidates after the legislative election, which will take place on Apr. 9 next year.
The Islamic-based Crescent Star Party (PBB) and self-proclaimed presidential candidate Sutiyoso have also indicated a plan to file for judicial review in the Constitutional Court.
Independent candidate Fajroel Rachman has also demanded a review of the bill because, he said, it denied nonpartisan aspirants such as himself the chance to run.
The government has said it welcomes attempts to challenge the law in court.
Jakarta Post - November 3, 2008
Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – New political parties are stepping up pressure for a revision of the newly passed presidential election bill, with potential candidate Wiranto vowing to lead the way.
Wiranto said Sunday his People's Conscience Party (Hanura) would be at the forefront of a motion for a judicial review of the new law, which he said deprived citizens of their right to run for president.
"Limiting president and vice president candidates by setting such a high threshold is actually hurting the democracy that the nation is trying to develop," Hanura leader Wiranto said after swearing in party volunteers.
The House of Representatives last week endorsed the presidential election bill, which requires a party or a coalition of parties to win at least 20 percent of seats in the House or 25 percent of the popular vote to be eligible to nominate a candidate.
Major parties such as the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had pushed for a higher threshold, arguing it would create stable government. Smaller parties wanted an electoral threshold of 15 percent.
The threshold was set at 3 percent of seats in the House and 5 percent of the popular vote in the 2004 presidential election, in which five teams ran, including Golkar candidate Wiranto and his running mate Solahuddin Wahid.
Although nominated by small parties, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla beat the odds to win the election over Megawati Soekarnoputri and her running mate Hasyim Muzadi in the runoff.
A number of surveys have found that Hanura, which counts several former military generals among its members, was the most popular party among the new contenders. Some have suggested Hanura could be a dark horse posing a serious threat to the established parties, thanks to its popular members and financial resources.
Despite his party's prospects, Wiranto, a former chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI), said he was unhappy with the new threshold.
"Our 1945 Constitution clearly stipulates that presidential and vice presidential candidates are nominated by political parties or a coalition of parties. That's all," he said. "That means the Constitution opens up wide opportunities for the public to choose their leaders."
He said given intense global competition, Indonesia needed a leader who could help the country overcome any rivals. "This can materialize only if there are not too many regulations limiting candidates' opportunities to run for president," Wiranto said.
Hanura will announce its presidential and vice presidential candidates after the legislative election, which will take place on Apr. 9 next year.
The Islamic-based Crescent Star Party (PBB) and self-proclaimed presidential candidate Sutiyoso have also indicated a plan to file for judicial review in the Constitutional Court.
Independent candidate Fajroel Rachman has also demanded a review of the bill because, he said, it denied nonpartisan aspirants such as himself the chance to run.
The government has said it welcomes attempts to challenge the law in court.
Jakarta Post - November 2, 2008
Jakarta – Presidential hopefuls retired generals Wiranto and Sutiyoso expressed their disappointment Sunday against the newly passed presidential election bill, saying they would support a judicial review of the law.
Wiranto and Sutiyoso both said the required threshold set out by the law to nominate a presidential candidate was too high.
The law requires a party or coalition of parties to win a minimum of 20 percent of seats at the House of Representatives or 25 percent of the popular vote to be eligible to nominate a presidential candidate.
"This requirement does not meet our sense of justice and therefore, it needs to be amended," Wiranto told his supporters in Cikarang, West Java.
Wiranto founded the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) as a vehicle for him to run for president next year.
Speaking at Bang Yos Center in Jakarta, Sutiyoso said, "I'm very disappointed with the 20 percent requirement. Why? Because it reduces the chance that people will get a number of alternative quality leaders. With that requirement, there will only be three or at most four candidates."
Therefore, he said he would support any move to file for a judicial review of the law in the Constitutional Court.
"I'm now studying it with a team," he said. "We have no problem with whoever initiates it. I'm studying other voices. We need to coordinate on this."
Recently, Sutiyoso met with another presidential hopeful and retired general Prabowo Subianto, but he refused to state if the meeting was to gather support for the judicial review. (rid)
| Armed forces/defense |
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – A national task force has recommended the Indonesian Military (TNI) hand over control of cooperatives and companies it runs, worth Rp 3.1 trillion (US$281 million), to the state.
During eight months of identification and verification, the team registered 23 foundations, 55 firms and 1,098 cooperatives owned by the military, which it said should be transferred to the state to fulfill the mandate of the 2004 law on the TNI.
The recommendation was submitted to Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono as the chairman of the team's steering committee.
The committee also includes Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi and TNI chief Gen. Djoko Santoso. They report to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who must complete the transfer of all military businesses by Oct. 16 next year, as stipulated in the law.
Team chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said the team found that assets owned by TNI cooperatives, including its subsidiaries, were valued at Rp 1.3 trillion; while assets owned by the foundations were valued at Rp 1.8 trillion.
"But the cooperatives and foundations have liabilities totaling Rp 1 trillion, making TNI's net business worth only Rp 2.1 trillion," Erry said at a press conference.
The team called for the TNI's primary cooperatives, operating at district and regency levels, to be maintained because they fulfilled troops' needs for basic commodities and savings and loans.
"Because the state is not yet able to meet soldiers' basic needs according to the law, primary cooperatives should be maintained until the state can satisfy these needs," the recommendation read.
The team, however, proposed central cooperatives, foundations and firms be dissolved or merged with existing units under the Defense Ministry's supervision.
The Army's central cooperatives are called Inkopad and Puskopad, the Navy's Inkopal and Puskopal and the Air Force's Inkopau and Puskopau.
Puskopad, Puskopal and Puskopau operate at provincial level under the auspices of regional military commands, while Inkopad, Inkopal and Inkopau are based in the capital under the control of TNI headquarters.
Apart from profit-seeking companies in construction, trade, mining and plantation, the foundations also control schools, universities, hospitals and mosques.
"While we recommend the transfer of all businesses to the state will not violate any law or cause third parties losses, we must ensure the operations of schools and hospitals be preserved during the handover to the defense, education or health ministries," Erry said.
The TNI's cooperatives employ 3,523 active soldiers and 4,970 civilian officials, the team found.
It also revealed the use of state assets by the TNI with no accountability, and its refusal to report non-tax income to the state. "We recommend that all assets be returned to the state, and that the TNI pay the state from the proceeds," Erry said.
The team's conclusion confirmed an audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that found financial reports from the Defense Ministry and the TNI failed to include huge amounts of non-tax income, estimated at billions of rupiah, generated mostly through productive assets such as rented land and buildings.
| Economy & investment |
Jakarta Post - November 6, 2008
Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Having expanded by a fairly healthy 6.4 percent in the third quarter, the economy is facing a slowdown in the last quarter as it begins to feel the impacts of the global crisis, according to the central bank.
"With two months left to run in the fourth quarter, we estimate the impact of the global slowdown will hit Indonesia's economy, resulting at best in growth of around 5.9 percent," Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor Hartadi A. Sarwono said Wednesday. That should bring "full-year growth between 6.1 percent and 6.2 percent," he said.
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) will report the official growth figure of the third quarter on Nov. 15. In 2007, the economy grew by 6.3 percent.
Hartadi said exports would decline in the last two months of 2008, although early in November the figures suggested better than expected results.
"From our latest data, we see that in the fourth quarter of 2008 there should be some good news despite the drastic drop in global demand. Exports are not as bad as predicted. Still, the full impact of slowing global exports and imports will be felt in 2009."
As demand from the United States, the world's largest importer, slows amid a recession and investor concerns, the economy will find "a new equilibrium", Hartadi said, without elaborating.
The rupiah will also adjust to the conditions, setting a new comfortable rate against the dollar, he said. "When the rupiah has adjusted, it will be assisted by policy responses from BI to have an orderly adjustment."
On Wednesday, the rupiah weakened to 11,050 per dollar, Bloomberg reported. If the rupiah finds a new rate against the dollar, the balance of payments will find equalize. Imports will drop and exports will adjust to the economic growth, creating a whole new balance in monetary policies, Hartadi said.
BI will use its monetary policies as an anchor to curb inflation expectations, a major problem hampering economic growth. BI expects inflation to reach between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent in 2009. According to BPS, inflation reached 10.96 percent between January and October this year.
BI had raised its interest rate by 25 basis points in six straight months from 8 percent in May to 9.5 percent in October. BI will hold a collegial meeting Thursday to decide its rate policy.
Economist Fadhil Hasan said BI might hold its rate as inflation expectations would remain a problem for the next three months, undermining economic growth.
"BI rate policy has a mid-term aim. In that context, BI will not cut its rate, but businesses will complain," he said. A higher BI rate will prompt banks to raise their lending rate, increasing borrowing costs for businesses.
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Mustaqim Adamrah and Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – The manufacturing sector grew slower in the third quarter of the year, due to a decline in output in some of the country's top industries such as garments and machinery, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data says.
The BPS announced Monday that the manufacturing sector posted a meager 1.6 percent growth in the third quarter from a year earlier, slowing down from 3.3 percent and 5.85 percent in the second and first quarters, respectively.
The garment and textile sector is among the hardest hit, with output during the three-month period ending September dropping by a staggering 30.61 percent from the same period last year.
Machinery and equipment industries declined by 17.30 percent, while chemical and chemical-based industries were also down by 12.96 percent, the report said.
The BPS report contradicted earlier reports by the Trade Ministry, which had estimated that the manufacturing sector grew by 3.85 percent to 4 percent in the third quarter of this year, compared to the same period last year.
In response to the BPS' reports, the ministry's secretary-general Agus Tjahjana said the drop mostly reflected sluggish demand for exports. "I believe exports are the major factor in the drop," he told The Jakarta Post.
"You see, textile and garment exports are sensitive due to the sluggish global market," he said, referring to the ongoing global financial crisis which has helped push the United States – the world's largest economy – into recession, with European nations, Japan and Singapore apparently following suit.
In September, exports of garments and textiles dropped by US$30.2 million. Garment and textile producers earlier estimated this year's total exports would total around $10 billion, around the same figure booked last year, as demand from the US – which absorbs 33 percent of the country's textile exports, would decline.
Agus warned that the impact of the global downturn would remain to be felt in the months to come.
Agus also said that the wood-based products industry was also declining, as a result of logging restrictions and the slowdown in the global market.
On industry overall, he hoped that the manufacturing sector would still grow in the fourth quarter, propelled by normally higher demand during the traditional high season of Christmas and the New Year.
BPS head Rusman Heriawan however was convinced Indonesia's exports would start to feel the pinch from the global crisis during the fourth quarter.
Exports to the US are predicted to decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 now that the country is in recession, Rusman said.
Between January and September, Indonesia's main exports destinations were Japan with $10.42 billion (12.51 percent), the US with $9.74 billion (11.70 percent) and Singapore with $7.96 billion (9.56 percent).
From January to September, however, total value of exports surpassed $107.65 billion, a 29.69 percent increase from the same period in 2007. Exports were dominated by industrial products (63.84 percent) and oil and gas products (22.62 percent).
Imports meanwhile, stood at $101.09 billion in the same period. Imports of non-oil and gas products mostly came from China with $11.51 billion (11.39 percent), Japan with $10.45 billion (13.32 percent) and Singapore with $8.64 billion (8.55 percent).
Jakarta Post - November 4, 2008
Aditya Suharmoko, Jakarta – Inflation eased in October, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), providing leeway for the central bank to hold its interest rate steady after raising it for six straight months.
Monthly inflation stood at 0.45 percent in October, the lowest monthly rate recorded this year, bringing October's year-on-year rate to 11.77 percent, down from 12.14 percent in September.
"September was the peak of inflation as psychologically and economically consumer prices rose in the fasting month," BPS chairman Rusman Heriawan told a press briefing.
Indonesians spend more money during the fasting month and ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday, which took place on Oct. 1 and 2. Businesses usually take advantage of these trends to go for higher prices.
"In October, everyone was cooling down. Consumption was back to normal and prices were held at normal values," Rusman said.
Out of 66 cities surveyed by BPS, 53 cities had inflation and 13 cities had deflation. Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan had the most inflation at 1.71 percent, while Ambon in Maluku had the most deflation at 1.63 percent.
BPS said fresh fish was the main contributor of October's inflation as higher awareness of fishermen on the implications of bad weather prompted a supply shortage.
Between January and October, inflation reached 10.96 percent, and with two months left to run in 2008, full-year inflation would likely be below 12 percent, Rusman said.
The central bank has predicted inflation will reach between 11.5 percent and 12.5 percent by the end of this year.
Danareksa Research Institute chief researcher Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said that the easing inflation transmitted "a good message" to the central bank to hold its interest rate steady.
Bank Indonesia (BI) had raised its interest rate by 25 basis points from 8 percent in May to 9.5 percent in September to curb inflation, hoping it would fall again to single digits next year.
Businesses have demanded BI hold its interest rate, as banks, using the BI rate as their benchmark rate, tend to raise their borrowing rates pro rata, increasing costs for businesses seeking to expand.
If BI decides to maintain the rate, it "will be good news for businesses, the market and our economy", Purbaya said.
BI is scheduled to hold its collegial meeting on rates this coming Thursday.
Purbaya added BI would unlikely cut its rate, as demanded by some economists following the trend of central banks worldwide, as this would show signs of policy inconsistency.
Purbaya said that instead BI would most likely "hold it (steady at this rate) for the next three or four months."
BI has said a consistent monetary policy is needed to show that BI is safeguarding the economy.
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2008
Ika Krismantari, Jakarta – The stock market main index extended gains Friday for the third day this week, hovering above 1,200 on the back of good sentiment from global markets and the better- than-expected financial results of several top companies.
The Composite Index market jumped 7.1 percent – the highest rise in more than 10 months, according to Bloomberg – to close at 1,256.70 points, extending a 5.4 percent and 2.23 percent rallies on Thursday and Wednesday, respectively. This means the index has risen 1 percent this weak.
Head of research at Bhakti Securities Budi Ruseno said Friday the gains were the result of good sentiment in regional markets after the US Fed cut its interest rate by half a percentage point to 1 percent. "The Fed's decision gives global and regional markets good sentiment," he said.
On the domestic front, the good performance of several top companies with big capitalizations in the market over the first nine months this year also helped push up the main index.
Among those are the country's biggest publicly traded company by sales, PT Astra International, whose nine-month profit rose 61 percent due to higher car and motorcycle sales and an increase in palm oil prices. Its shares soared 19.87 percent to Rp 9,350 (8.6 US cents).
Another big gainer is the country's third largest bank by assets, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), whose shares skyrocketed 18.97 percent to close at Rp 3,450, following announcement that its nine-month profit jumped by 17 percent to Rp 4.2 trillion.
Bank Danamon, the fourth largest lender, and Bank Mandiri, the largest, gained 18 percent and 20 percent respectively to close at Rp 2,600 and Rp 1,560.
Heavy equipment company United Tractors rose 20 percent to Rp 3,150, after it announced another solid third quarter performance. State gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) climbed 15 percent to Rp 1,400.
Overall, Friday's trading saw 116 shares rise, 52 decline and 43 unchanged.
Budi also said the stock market authority to change the upper limit of shares trading to 20 percent, from 10 percent initially, helped the shares to move forward. The regulator retained the lower limit of trading at 10 percent.
When asked about the projection of trading next week, Budi said the positive mood would still cloud the market, with the index estimated to range between 1,150 and 1,330.
Among events to be watched domestically is the release of the inflation rate Monday by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and a decision on interest rates by the central bank. At present, the central bank's key interest rate stands at 9.5 percent.
| Analysis & opinion |
Jakarta Post - November 5, 2008
Rita Sastrawan, Paris – The establishment of oil-palm plantations in Kalimantan and Sumatra poses the greatest threat to orangutans today. In fact, the clearing of forest and the establishment of oil-palm plantations has a negative impact not only on orangutan populations but also on climate, the water cycle, carbon emissions and livelihoods in local communities.
Although many people are aware of these facts, oppose the development of biofuels from palm oil and oppose the creation of these plantations, the destruction of the rainforest continues.
The effects of land-clearing are simple and obvious once you have seen it with your own eyes. It is even easier when you witness the rescue of orangutans or experience breathing difficulties and stinging eyes from the smoke of burning forest and peat.
When we consume destructive palm oil in crispy chips or delicious chocolate, or wash our hands with sweetly fragranced soap, we are very rarely conscious of the adverse effects our activities incur. Because we don't feel the negative impacts firsthand we can't imagine the way our behavior influences nature and the lives of people on a faraway island. Meanwhile the destructive oil business continues and the market keeps growing.
Unilever is one of the biggest palm oil consumers worldwide using 1.3 metric tons every year. Its heart-shaped ice cream brand under many names and numerous other brands – Dove, Sunsilk, Omo, Knorr, Blue Band, Becel, Best Foods, Ben & Jerry's and Findus – are only a few of the many Unilever companies.
Avoiding products which may contain palm oil is nearly impossible, but as consumers we can all try to do what we can. Many consumers have made an effort to avoid products containing palm oil, and Unilever has been forced to respond, promising improvement by way of ensuring the palm oil they use is "sustainably" produced.
But where should all this sustainable palm oil come from? As worldwide demand for palm oil is so high, it can't be met with only the sustainably grown version simply because not enough is available.
With limited supplies of certified sustainable palm oil only now entering the market, Unilever has had to buy unsustainable palm oil from many companies, one of which is Wilmar Group, one of the biggest palm-oil trading companies in the world, handling at least a quarter of all global palm-oil output. Besides supplying Unilever with palm oil, Nestle and Cargill are also among Wilmar's customers.
Not only are we eating palm oil, washing our clothes and ourselves with it, driving cars and producing electricity fueled by it, but our savings are often invested in banks connected with this biofuel that is helping destroy the planet. Among Wilmar's financiers are Rabobank, ABM Amro, Standard Chartered, Citibank, IFC of the World Bank, OCBC, Fortis and ING.
Just as Unilever has many brands which we might assume are independent local companies, Wilmar International also owns plantations under different company names and buys palm oil from family-related companies as well, such as from the Indonesian Ganda Group. Wilmar's plantations are situated in Kalimantan, Malaysia, Sumatra and Uganda. Their plantations cover nearly 600,000 hectares, and are proposed to grow to up to 1 million hectares, an area as large as South Korea. Two-thirds of these lands still must be cleared of forest and planted with palms.
Forest where orangutans were known to live have been cleared illegally. Plantations were established without official permission or environmental impact assessments. After immense pressure by NGOs, Wilmar International admitted in February 2008 it had violated its own plantation development policies in Indonesia.
Since Wilmar is planning to set up plantations in Central Kalimantan in Borneo, large-scale forest destruction and burning awaits that region. With the merging of PPB Palm Oil and Wilmar International, Wilmar now has 16 subsidiaries in Central Kalimantan. Most of the approximately 250,000 hectares have still not been developed. Another 250,000 hectares in Central Kalimantan are allocated for other companies' plantations; concessions covering one million hectares in all have already been handed out.
Existing forest should be protected from more onslaughts and oil-palm entrepreneurs should be forbidden to clear further. This and other steps are laid out in the Indonesian "Oranguatan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan", which should be enforced and implemented.
"To save orangutans, we must save the forests," the Indonesian President said in December 2007.
That is quite true, but implementation looks quite different. Companies are still cutting down forest and setting fire to peatlands as the cheapest and quickest method to clear new ground for yet more oil-palm plantations.
We see a nightmare relentlessly approaching. The forests will burn and orangutans will have to flee or die of hunger. Borneo is a hotspot of endemic plants and animals, hosting creatures most people haven't seen in their lives and natural medicines (which the resident Dayak people know well and use), but Borneo is also a hotspot for destruction, suffering and death.
Let your voice be heard. We as consumers are driving the market. Because of our consumption, companies make a profit from rainforest destruction. Be concerned about your consumer behavior and show your concern by writing to companies. Help us save what is left!
[The writer is International Communications Coordinator for Borneo Orangutan Survival International). She can be reached at rita@bos-international.org.]
Sydney Morning Herald - November 1, 2008
Tom Allard, Jakarta – For three men who say they welcome death, the Bali bombers have spent a lot of time trying to avoid it. In the five years since Mukhlas, Amrozi and Imam Samudra greeted their guilty verdicts and death sentences with fist-pumping glee and shouts of "Infidel die", they have fought at every turn their moment with the firing squad.
Perhaps these killers of 202 people are not so comfortable with meeting their maker. But they are truly fanatics and a far more worrying explanation for their antics offers itself. This spectacle was engineered by hardline Islamists, high-powered lawyers and wealthy businessmen to keep the headlines running, to increase the killers' notoriety, to publicise their cause and, along the way, to make money on the side.
"The Bali bombers want to be martyrs," says Sidney Jones, the Jakarta-based terrorism expert from the International Crisis Group. "And it's much easier to be a martyr if a lot of people are following your every word. In this respect, their strategy has worked."
The strategy has two interlinked elements: the first, to launch one legal challenge after another to create an impression that the killers are the victims of a crooked justice system; the second, to generate maximum media coverage.
Many Australians will be familiar with the open day held at Nusakambangan prison last month when the smiling and unrepentant bombers cavorted with journalists, especially brought in for the occasion to mark the Islamic holiday of Idul Fitri, when Muslims break a month-long fast.
Taunting their victims and vowing revenge upon their deaths, the manic flight of the Bali bombers was relayed around the world, accompanied by widespread anger at Indonesian authorities for allowing such an event.
But it was only the beginning of a media blitz. Despite maximum- security incarceration on death row, the bombers have given at least half a dozen interviews in the past few weeks. Indonesian television has run lengthy feature programs, while CNN, Al Jazeera and the BBC have broadcast their own interviews.
Each has been a variation of a theme. The bombers claim to be warriors for Islam, show no remorse and predict a firestorm of attacks against Westerners after they die. "A lot of the coverage fails to remind people of what the bombers have done that led them to prison life and facing the death sentence," says Hendardi, chairman of the religious tolerance-promoting Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace in Indonesia. "I don't know if it's been done deliberately or not, but this kind of coverage gives them an opportunity to campaign."
This week Indonesia's Communication and Information Minister, Muhammad Nuh, urged media restraint. "Don't make people who committed violence seem like heroes, because Islam does not use violence in solving problems," he said. "I don't intervene in the press. But please ponder to put the national interest upon the interest of press freedom when it comes to terrorism."
Fine sentiments, but the Indonesian state has been the facilitator of this orgy of Bali bomber stories. To be sure, Indonesia's Government has made enormous headway in combating terrorism. Its police have arrested hundreds of violent jihadists and pioneered methods of deradicalisation that have been innovative and replicated elsewhere. There have been no attacks since the second Bali bombings in October 2005.
But willingness to give the likes of the Bali bombers a megaphone by regularly granting them access to the media is deeply puzzling. "It's not against their human rights to stop these people having their views aired every other night on national television," Jones says.
While media attention reached a peak in recent weeks, the prison freedom afforded the Bali bombers for years has been extraordinary, a testament to the lack of security and culture of bribes in Indonesian jails. For a time, Imam Samudra kept a laptop in his cell. He communicated with other members of Jemaah Islamiah, set up his own website – instimata.com, or martyrdom.com – and fielded questions about the Bali bombings and dispensed advice on jihad. He also published "Me Against The Terrorists", a book in which he repeats his Bali bombing defence as the righteous killing of infidels and also offers a primer on how to undertake cybercrime and build terrorist networks online.
The royalties went to his family, with lawyers and publisher also taking cuts.
Money is a big part of the story. The bombers have become a burgeoning cottage industry. Most media interviews come at a hefty price and there's no shortage of donors funding the legal team, which has done rather well for itself in attracting more work.
The Muslim Defence Team of ideologically driven yet savvy lawyers has shadowed the Bali bombers since their arrests. They have acted for other militants, from Abu Bakar Bashir to members of the Islamic Defenders Front, a gang of young men accused of regularly attacking moderate Muslims and non-Muslims.
The lawyers know how to work the Indonesian judicial system and are apparently well-connected. Clients include Muchdi Purwopranjono, the former deputy head of the Indonesian intelligence agency who is on trial for allegedly ordering the poisoning of a prominent human rights activist.
This week the lawyers were still threatening legal challenges on behalf of the Bali bombers. One included joining Amnesty International in a challenge before an international court.
The Bali bombers have said they do not care about the manner of their executions, yet the lawyers launched a challenge arguing death by firing squad was torture, and therefore unconstitutional. Such episodes illustrate the hijacking of the bombers' fates for the lawyers' own ends.
The Setara institute's Hendardi says a minority of Indonesians side with the bombers, citing a recent survey finding that only 3 per cent support violent promotion of a religious agenda. But Indonesia has more than 220 million people; even a fringe group can be formidable if it can mobilise its members. And a noisy minority can have a disproportionate influence in a country still building democratic institutions and identity, and where much of the population is poorly educated.
Certainly, a major security effort by police is timed to curtail violence associated with the executions, which can occur any time from this morning. The bodies of the executed will be flown to their burial places to minimise public rancour.
Militants have been thin on the ground. Perhaps they are biding their time, or perhaps Indonesians – even the radical – have become bored with the over-exposed Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas. It's what happens after they die, however, that will test the bombers' influence.
[Tom Allard is the Herald's Jakarta correspondent.]