Farouk Arnaz – The National Police apologized on Thursday for a July 17 incident in which Yogyakarta Police broke up a workshop attended by history teachers on suspicions that the session would be used to spread communism, a human rights activist said.

"We met with the director of the National Police's Intelligence Directorate, Brig. Gen. Mudji Waluyo, today to clarify the issue and they admitted that the Yogyakarta Police had made a mistake and acted unprofessionally when they disbanded the workshop just because a group calling itself the Anti-Communist Forum (FAKI) demanded it of the police," Usman Hamid, coordinator of the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

The workshop was organized by the Solidarity Network for Victims of Past Human Rights Violations and their Families (JSKK) at Perwitasari Hotel in Yogyakarta and was attended by several history teachers from Central Java and Yogyakarta, Usman said.

Usman said the incident took place "due to poor understanding of the law among low-level police officers."

"According to the law, [the officers] should have guarded the workshop so that it could go ahead and not disband it simply because a group of people protested against it."

Usman speculated that FAKI may have thought that the forum was organized to discuss communism because one of the speakers, Asvi Warman Adam, a researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), has proposed that the national school curriculum be revised in regards to the 1965 coup. Asvi has argued that the New Order's version of the coup was distorted as it laid sole responsibility on the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"The purpose of the workshop was to discuss Indonesia's history in general, it was not just about the September 1965 incident," he said referring to the aborted take-over attempt which is believed to have been backed by PKI.

"The police should have known better, Asvi is a civil servant. When he speaks about the coup attempt, it is only based on his knowledge, nothing more," Usman said.

The workshop was also to feature two other speakers, Ratna Hapsari, the head of Jakarta's history teachers association, and Wahono from Gadjah Mada University.

Anticommunist tensions in Indonesia have been present in recent years. In 2006, a group in Surabaya protested the sale of books about communism.

In the same year a discussion about the international Marxist movement, featuring a guest speaker from Canada, at the Ultimus bookshop in Bandung, was broken up by hundreds of young men claiming to represent a separate group calling itself the Anti- Communist Community Forum.

Free-speech award winners named

Jakarta Globe - August 6, 2009

Ismira Lutfia – The Alliance of Independent Journalists announced on Thursday that it would honor a journalist and a kiosk owner for their exceptional contributions toward freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

The Udin Award was this year awarded to Jupriadi "Upi" Asmaradhana, a freelance journalist from Makassar for his fight against criminalization of the press.

Upi publicly protested a call in May 2008 made by then provincial police chief, Insp. Gen. Sisno Adiwinoto, for local officials not to hesitate in filing charges against journalists they thought had defamed them in their news reports. A defamation charge was then leveled at Upi because of his protests.

"Upi was victimized by the defamation clauses in the penal law," alliance chairman Nezar Patria said, adding that Upi was not even brought to trial because of his reporting but because of his protest action.

Kiosk owner Kho Seng Seng, also known as Aseng, received the Tasrif Award – an award for people not in the media who uphold the values of freedom of expression. Aseng was found guilty of defamation by the East Jakarta District Court for writing a letter of complaint to the press about a developer who sold him his kiosk in a deal gone bad.

The Udin Award was established in 1997 as a tribute to Muhammad Fuad Safruddin, more commonly known as Udin, a journalist from the Bernas daily newspaper in Yogyakarta who was killed for reporting a corruption case in 1996. The Tasrif Award was named after journalist cum lawyer, Suardi Tasrif, who is revered as the father of the journalists' code of ethics in Indonesia.

Upi, who is now the coordinator of the Coalition of Journalists Against Criminalization of the Press, said that his defamation trial was still pending and that he had attended 25 court sessions so far in the past eight months. "I will have to go through three more sessions before the court announces its verdict," Upi said.

In addition to the criminal charges, Upi also faced a civil suit seeking Rp 10 billion ($1 million) in damages, which has since been withdrawn.

Upi said he was surprised by the award, however, he felt that did not deserve it as there were many other journalists whose contribution to press freedom was even more exceptional than his. "However, I hope that this award could add more ammunition to fellow journalists to uphold press freedom," he said.

Meanwhile, Aseng said that despite being given a suspended jail sentence, he would file an appeal to the high court. "We plan to file the appeal within two weeks," Aseng said, adding that he planned to attend a mediation meeting today with the developer and the Press Council.

Aseng was found guilty by a panel of judges in July for defaming the property developer based only on the wording of his letter published in a newspaper.

In his letter to the editor, Aseng wrote that the developer failed to inform him that the kiosk he bought was classified as only giving him the right to manage but not to build, and that the land the kiosk was on was actually owned by the city of Jakarta.

"Hopefully the high court judge will be able to see the case clearly," Aseng said, adding that he hoped his case would not discourage others from writing complaint letters to the media, as long as the letters were grounded in solid facts and proof.

Actions, demos, protests...

Students protest plan to move Komodo dragons

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2009

Kupang – Strong public opposition to a government plan to move 10 Komodo dragons from their natural habitat to Bali was fervent as ever on Tuesday.

Rallies sprung up on Jl. Soeharto in East Nusa Tenggara's capital, Kupang, as student activists urged the governor to ignore a ministerial decree that sanctioned the transfer of the reptiles.

"If the goal of the move is genetic purification, why should the dragons have to leave their habitat? It's illogical," rally coordinator Herman Son said.

Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban issued a decree in February, allowing the transfer of 10 Komodo dragons from Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara to Bali Safari Park.

In a joint statement, the student activists requested the minister revoke the decree and thereby advocate the conservation of the rare reptile in the habitat to which it is endemic.

Students protest plan to move Komodo dragons Komodo island has now been officially nominated as one of the new seven wonders of the world.

Pro-Munir demo demands judicial review into top spy's release

Detik.com - August 4, 2009

E Mei Amelia R, Jakarta – The Attorney General's Office is again being urged to immediately submit a judicial review over the Supreme Court's verdict to release Muchdi Purwoprandjono.

This time the request was conveyed by some 200 people calling themselves the "Friends of Munir", who gave speeches in front of the AGO's office on Jl. Sultan Hasanudin in South Jakarta at a protest action on Tuesday August 4.

The protesters, who wore black and red T-shirts with pictures of Munir, arrived using four Metromini buses and a vehicle carrying a sound system.

The wife of the late Munir, Suciwati took part in the protest action along with Solidarity Action Committee for Munir (Kasum) activist Choirul Anam and the director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation, Asfinawati. Prior to this they held demonstrations in front of the State Palace and the National Police headquarters.

"The Attorney General must carry out reforms by appointing a credible team of prosecutors to fully investigate the Munir case. Submit a judicial review on Muchdi's release now", said one of the protesters, Ainul Yakin.

The also demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono provide political support for fully resolving the case and put pressure on National Police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri to [re- ]activate the Munir [fact finding] team in order to open the way for a follow up investigation into the Munir case.

A number of police officers were visible watching over the action and directing traffic along the length of Jl. Sultan Hasanudin in front of the AGO. No traffic congestion was apparent as a result of the protest action. (ndr/iy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

West Papua

Papua tribe targets Freeport in $30 billion legal action

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2009

Heru Andriyanto – The Amungme tribe on Thursday filed a $30 billion lawsuit against Freeport McMoRan, one of the world's major mining firms, for alleged damages sustained over 40 years of operations on their ancestral lands in Indonesia's Papua province.

"From 1969 to 2009, our land has been exploited and we have not had a fair share of the wealth it generates," Titus Natkime, a lawyer for the tribe, said ahead of the lawsuit hearing at the South Jakarta District Court.

He represents about 90 Amungmes who live on the lowlands of a mountainous area in Papua's Mimika district, where Freeport runs a gold and copper mine.

"The tribe holds the traditional rights to own the land and all its resources, but other people took away all the financial benefits from us," the lawyer said.

The plaintiffs claim they are the legitimate owners of 2.6 million hectares of land on which the mine is located, and that the 1967 work contract between the government and Freeport was made without their approval.

They also questioned the promised trust fund of $1 million a year that they said was never received.

The tribe has further accused Freeport of the illegal eviction of indigenous people, with the support of government troops.

The lawsuit is also directed against the government and PT Indocopper Investama, a Bakrie group company, each owning a 9.36 percent stake in PT Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of the US-based mining giant.

The plaintiffs have demanded that the court fine the defendants "$20 billion for environmental damages caused by the mining activities and $10 billion for human rights violations."

"I have lived there for more than 40 years, and things have been getting worse since Freeport started to operate," tribal leader Yunus Omabak said.

"We live poorly in our own land, our children live poorly too. We can't move because we have no money," he said.

Presiding Judge Suharto suggested mediation for the parties. "You have 40 days to settle the case through dialogue. The court will appoint our judge, Ahmad Yusak, as mediator."

Freeport spokesman Mindo Pangaribuan said in an e-mail to the Jakarta Globe that since 2001, the company had paid $25.9 million into a trust fund, $17 million of which had been withdrawn by two foundations set up by the Amungme and Kamoro tribes.

"Since 1996, PT Freeport Indonesia has allocated 1 percent of its gross revenue for a society development program, and in 2008 the partnership fund reached some $324 million," he said.

PNG-Indonesia border stays closed

Antara - August 4, 2009

Border crossings between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea that were closed last month remain restricted due to the security situation in Papua province, a military official said on Tuesday.

Air Vice Marshal Sagom Tamboen said the closure, originally aimed at boosting security for the July 8 election, had remained in place due to several shooting incidents and other violence in the vicinity of the PT Freeport Indonesia mining area near Timika.

Both countries had agreed to keep the borders closed indefinitely in anticipation of any further violence in the province.

"The closure is to anticipate the impact of the incidents, including the possibility of foreign interference in the area," Sagom said.

The Freeport incidents began on July 8 when a company bus and security post were set on fire early in the morning.

Three days later, an Australian employee of Freeport was shot dead by unknown gunmen on the access road to the mine site.

The following day, an Indonesian security officer employed by Freeport was also shot dead by unknown gunmen along the same road.

A day later, a Papuan police officer was found dead with serious wounds caused while reportedly fleeing from an ambush.

West Papuans to lobby Pacific Forum leaders in Cairns

Radio New Zealand International - August 3, 2009

Several West Papuans are gathering in Cairns this week to lobby Pacific Islands Forum leaders at their annual summit to have Indonesia's Papua region discussed at the Forum.

West Papuan representatives have regularly lobbied Forum leaders to raise the issue of ongoing human rights abuses in Papua with the Indonesian government.

In the past, Forum leaders had responded by mentioning concern about the troubled Indonesian region in the Forum's official communique. However more recent Forum summit communiques have not mentioned Papua.

The secretary-general of the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, Rex Rumakiek, is among those who will be lobbying the leaders in Cairns. He says Papua has long been considered part of the Pacific Community and that the Forum cannot keep ignoring it.

"They have to be consistent with the issues that they raised in the previous Forums. We will keep reminding them of things that we have been lobbying them about before, that they're now happening again. So we have to make them realise that they have to be consistent with their own views as well."

Human rights/law

AGO examining Muchdi verdict

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2009

Heru Andriyanto – The Attorney General's Office has received a copy of the Supreme Court ruling that upheld the acquittal of former top intelligence official Muchdi Purwoprandjono, who had been accused of ordering the murder of prominent rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004.

"We received the copy of the verdict about five days ago and prosecutors are currently examining the document," Abdul Hakim Ritonga, the AGO deputy for general crimes, said on Friday.

Ritonga said the prosecution team in the case would soon conclude the examination and make the final decision with Attorney General Hendarman Supandji.

Muchdi was charged with masterminding the killing of Munir but a district court acquitted him last December.

The prosecutor lodged an appeal against the acquittal on the grounds that the judges ignored some evidence and testimonies and that the acquittal was "conditional" so it could be challenged.

The top court overturned the appeal in June because prosecutors could not prove their claims.

AGO spokesman Jasman Panjaitan said earlier that the agency would challenge the latest ruling through a case review, which legally requires new evidence.

"But if we can find overlapping interpretations of the law by the judges or a compelling national interest in the case, we can also request a case review," said Jasman.

Munir died of arsenic poisoning in an Amsterdam-bound flight on Sept. 7, 2004 aboard a Garuda Indonesia plane.

Former Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Priyanto was sentenced to 20 years in jail for slipping a fatal dose of arsenic in Munir's drink and former Garuda president Indra Setiawan and flight attendant Rohainil Aini were each sentenced to one year in jail for being accessories to the crime.

Fresh probe on Indonesian activist Munir's death sought

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2009

Farouk Arnaz – Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the National Police headquarters on Tuesday to demonstrate against the acquittal of Muchdi Purwoprandjono on a charge of ordering the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib.

"We urge National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to reactivate the Munir investigation team to collect more evidence and pass it to the Attorney General's Office to help in their effort to request a Supreme Court review of Muchdi's acquittal," said Chrisbiantoro, one of the protesters.

He said the AGO also should assemble a team to resume work on the high-profile murder of the prominent activist. "We also want to notify the Presidential Palace of our demands because we need political support to reopen this case," another protester, Ainul Yakin said.

The rally was attended by members of at least 15 organizations grouped under the umbrella of "Munir's Friends."

Munir, the founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), died of arsenic poisoning aboard a Garuda Indonesia plane en route to Amsterdam on September 7, 2004.

Pollycarpus Priyanto, a former Garuda pilot, who was on the same flight as an aviation security officer but disembarked in Singapore, was convicted of administering a fatal dose of arsenic in Munir's drink. Pollycarpus was sentenced to 20 years in prison on a murder charge.

Former Garuda president Indra Setiawan and former flight attendant Rohainil Aini were each sentenced to one year in jail as accessories to the murder.

But prosecutors failed to convict retired Army General Muchdi, who came under fierce criticism from Munir and Kontras as the head of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) over the kidnapping of students and activists in 1997-98.

Prosecutors earlier told the court that Muchdi ordered Munir's murder in retaliation for losing his military post. They said Muchdi was dismissed from the military's elite unit following criticism of his human rights record and later used his power as deputy chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to orchestrate the assassination by recruiting Pollycarpus.

On Dec. 31, 2008, the South Jakarta District Court acquitted Muchdi of all charges on the grounds that prosecutors had failed to prove motive. In June, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal by prosecutors challenging Muchdi's acquittal.

The remaining legal option for prosecutors to pursue Muchdi's conviction is by requesting a case review. The AGO has indicated already that it might request a Supreme Court review of Muchdi's acquittal.

Government defends compromise on rights body

Jakarta Post - August 1, 2009

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – The government defended Friday its decision to approve the creation of an ASEAN regional human rights body which has been widely criticized for being toothless as it lacks the power to investigate and punish the culprits.

Speaking to reporters at his office on Friday, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Indonesia would not have endorsed the terms of reference for the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights if the other nine nations had declined to guarantee the body would be reviewed and improved after five years.

"We do not want to speculate. We would not have been involved (in creating the rights body) if there were no guarantee that its procedures and mechanisms will later be improved, especially with regard to the protection aspect."

The terms of reference of the rights body – which is due to be officially established in October – were approved during the 42nd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Phuket last week. While it is considered as historic for ASEAN, the commission has drawn criticism from international rights bodies, including from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Rights activists have accused the government of giving up too early in its fight for a credible rights body in the region. "As long as it doesn't include the idea of rights protection, we can't expect any improvement in human rights conditions in Southeast Asia," Todung Mulya Lubis, from the Indonesian NGO Imparsial, said.

Myanmar has become a burden to ASEAN for jailing pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and other political dissidents in the country, which has drawn international condemnation. The country is likely to sentence Suu Kyi to prison or keep her under house arrest after slapping new charges on her that international communities condemn as outrageous.

On Friday, the court in Yangon adjourned the issuance of the verdict on Suu Kyi's case until Aug. 11. "It could be seen as positive sign that Myanmar is finally responding to international calls (to release Suu Kyi), but nobody knows what they are going to do," he said.

Labour/migrant workers

Domestic workers demand legal protection

Jakarta Globe - August 2, 2009

Anita Rachman – Nongovernmental organizations on Sunday urged the government to participate in an International Labor Organization plan to adopt an international convention on the protection of domestic workers.

Lita Anggraini, chairwoman of the National Network for Domestic Workers Advocacy (Jala PRT), said the group had learned that the ILO had submitted to the government a draft of the convention and a questionnaire on the government's approach to administering and protecting domestic workers.

Addressing a rally of about 100 domestic workers at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout on Sunday, Lita said the questionnaire was an important first step toward adopting the 2010 ILO convention on domestic workers.

"The government should have shown some positive signs on this issue by starting to promote its importance," she said, adding that the questionnaire should be completed by the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration.

Ministry spokesman Sumardoko said the ministry would respond to the questionnaire but questioned how the country could sign the international convention specifically protecting domestic workers when it did not have its own law doing so.

The NGO members at Sunday's rally had told the crowd that the country must be prep a red to ratify the future convention on domestic workers.

Lita said Indonesian domestic workers needed full protection of themselves and their rights. "The government should be telling employers about this," she said. "That is why we urge them to promote the issue."

Indonesia has about 9 million domestic workers, including more than 6 million working abroad. Many are prone to violence and other forms of abuse by their employers.

Most domestic workers live at their employers' homes, often working long hours with few chances to enjoy free time. The vast majority of domestic workers are women.

Over the past five years, Jala PRT has received 472 reports from domestic workers alleging abuse or wrongdoing by their employers. Cases include sexual harassment, delayed or denied wages and excessive workloads.

Albert Yosua Bonasahat, national project coordinator for Combating Forced Labor and Trafficking of Indonesian Migrant Workers, an ILO project, said the establishment of clear standards on the protection of domestic workers worldwide would be debated at the 2010 ILO conference.

"We basically will ask whether or not member countries agree to set standards for domestic workers," he said. "We expect that in 2011 there will be a final decision based on the results of the 2010 conference," he said.

He added that the process of creating the convention began in March this year, when ILO headquarters in Geneva sent draft documents and questionnaires to all member countries in preparation for next year's conference.

Albert said the deadline for completing the questionnaire was the end of the month. By not completing it member countries would be unable to receive feedback on their performance in protecting domestic workers, he said.

"The ILO documents are basically a review of member countries' work in dealing with domestic workers' issues h ow they handle domestic workers' problems, he said. "The questionnaire is asking for details about true current conditions."

Albert said the 2010 ILO conference is expected to end with a convention or recommendation on protecting domestic workers. "It would be a general convention, but we could also give some recommendations, for example calculating the standard salary for them," he said.

Environment/natural disasters

Police wind up inquiry into Lapindo mudflow

Jakarta Globe - August 8, 2009

Amir Teja, Surabaya – East Java Police on Friday dropped an investigation into 13 people named as suspects in relation to the Lapindo mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo.

East Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Pudji Astuti, speaking during a press conference here, said police had issued a letter, known as an SP3, formally absolving 13 executives and staff members of energy corporation PT Lapindo Brantas of all blame.

They were declared suspects in 2007 for causing the disaster, which has left more than 15,000 people homeless.

The 13 suspects were charged with deliberately, or through neglect, causing the mudflow, which led to massive environmental damage, covering neighborhoods, factories and paddy fields. The mudflows began in May 2006 and show no signs of abating.

Lapindo Brantas, which is controlled by the Bakrie group owned by the family of the Minister of People's Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, has yet to finish compensating victims for the loss of their land and homes, as they have previously agreed to do.

Pudji, who addressed the media, accompanied by special crimes unit head Adjutant Sr. Comr. I Wayan Koming, said the SP3 was issued both to provide legal certainty and because of the difficulties investigators had encountered in completing documentation requested by the Attorney General's Office.

He said the AGO had repeatedly rejected case files submitted by the police. For example, the police were unable to produce clear evidence linking Lapindo with the mudflow that started 150 meters from the center of the company's drilling site, he said.

"There were no witnesses when the mudflow began," Pudji said. "Furthermore, no expert has been able to prove that there is a correlation between the drilling and the mudflow."

He said the prosecutors had demanded testimony to prove that a drill head had touched the exact spot where the mud had begun gushing from the ground.

Apart from problems in providing evidence required by the prosecutors, in calling off the investigation the police also referred to court rulings in cases related to the Lapindo mudflow.

The first case they referred to was a class action lawsuit filed by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) against Lapindo Brantas, where the court ruled in favor of the company.

The second case was a class action lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) against the government and Lapindo Brantas. The Supreme Court also ruled in favor of Lapindo, which made the decision legally binding.

"Based on these considerations, we have issued an SP3 [order to cease investigation] in the Lapindo [case]," Pudji said.

Asked whether the police were concerned about whether Lapindo would renege on its promise to pay damages following the issuance of the SP3, Pudji said that was the problem of the Sidoarjo Mudflow Mitigation Agency (BPLS), not the police's. "We trust that Lapindo will stick to their commitment," he added.

Yuniwati Teryana, Lapindo's vice president for external relations, welcomed the decision. "Whatever the legal decision is, it must be honored," she said.

Yuniwati said that although the East Java Police had ceased their inquiry into the disaster, the company would continue to finalize and pay for the purchase of the victims' assets, in accordance with an agreement with the government. To date, Lapindo Brantas says it had completed the sale of11,215 out of 12,886 units of assets. Victims of the disaster responded to the decision with indifference, saying they were not surprised by the verdict.

"The important thing is that the damage sustained by the residents should be paid for," said Choirul Huda, the coordinator of the Union of Lapindo Mudflow Victims.

From the beginning, he said the residents were convinced that the Lapindo mudflow disaster needed a social, rather than legal, solution.

"Ever since the meeting between the victims and Lapindo Brantas, initiated by Emha Ainun Najib, there has been a focus on solving this problem from a humanitarian perspective," Choirul said.

Mangrove damage reaches 97 percent in Central Java

Jakarta Post - August 8, 2009

Suherdjoko, Semarang – Thousands of hectares (ha) of mangrove forest in northern coastal areas have been seriously damaged due to fish farms, residences, industries, tourism and illegal logging, an official has said.

Data at the Central Java Forestry Office showed of the total area of 35,338 ha of mangrove swamps, 61 percent were severely damaged and 33 percent slightly damaged.

Office head Sri Puryono Karto Soedarma said mangrove damage was attributed to conversion into fish farms, residence, industry and tourism development that was not based on conservation, including illegal logging.

He expressed his full support for the International Mangrove Jamboree, which was held in Mangunharjo subdistrict in Tugu district, Semarang on Aug. 1 and 2, in which 350 participants planted around 60,000 mangrove seedlings around fish farms in the area.

"I participated in the jamboree to gain experience on how to cultivate mangrove," said Amri Kumandara from the fishery school of Semarang's Diponegoro University.

A participant from Germany, Sebastian, who is affiliated with the Indonesia International Work Camp supported planting mangroves. "The mangrove can save the coast from abrasion. That's why I joined the event."

His colleague, Marius, agreed. "The organization that I am affiliated with asked me to be involved in the program. I'm very happy to work with many people to save the coast."

The participants came from various circles, such as local and foreign activists, students from state and private universities, high school students, civil servants and employees from the private sector.

The jamboree was held jointly by the Coastal Community and Environment Empowerment Society (Lepaas), Indonesia International Work Camp, Central Java PKBI and Diponegoro University.

Central Java provincial secretary Hadi Prabowo, who inaugurated the jamboree, said mangroves could serve as a buffer against tides, while from the biological aspects, mangrove swamps could act as spawning grounds for shrimps, fish and crabs. "That's why mangrove swamps must be preserved."

Indonesia is home to 89 mangrove species, or the largest number of mangrove species in the world, found along its coast, such as the bakau, api-api, pedada, tanjang, nyirih, tenger and buta- buta.

Indonesia has the largest mangrove forests, in terms of size, which are rich in bio-diversity, spanning 3.2 million hectares.

However, more than 50 percent are damaged. Indonesia dominates 75 percent of mangrove forests in Asia and 37 percent on the global level. The mangroves are mostly found along the coasts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua.

Sri Puryono said his office would set up mangrove banks in Semarang, Pemalang, Batang and Rembang. "Mangrove preservation is essential to prevent coastal abrasion and erosion."

Data at the Central Java Environmental Agency showed 112.03 kilometers (km), or 3,240.24 ha of the 486.03 km of coastline in the north coast has been damaged by abrasion, while 115.35 km, or 663.40 ha by coastal accretion. The extent of mangrove damage accounted for 2,642.97 ha.

Agency head Djoko Strisno said coastal abrasion could be overcome by building wave barriers and coastal belts and mangrove reforestation.

International Mangrove Jamboree organizing committee head Abdul Azis said the event was held given the alarming rate of mangrove damage, especially along the coast of Semarang.

"Mangrove, a habitat for marine life and a barrier against tides, is depleting. From the 226 ha of fish farms in Mangunharjo subdistrict in Semarang previously, now only 70 ha remain and are still producing."

Government alleges companies behind forest fires

Jakarta Post - August 4, 2009

Adianto P. Simamora and Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – The government said here Monday that companies owning forest concession areas might be behind the prolonged forest fires in Riau province, which have prompted the temporary closure of its airport on Monday due to low visibility caused by the thick haze.

The state ministry for the environment has deployed a team to investigate the continual forest fires by tracing the owners of the land where the fires occurred.

"Witnessing such huge forest fires, I suspect it is the work of companies operating in the province. Our team is still in the field investigating," Illyas Asaad, deputy environment minister for law enforcement told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The WWF Indonesia found that hotspots in Riau province continued to increase, from 973 in January to 2,395 in July, the highest across the country. On August 1, the WWF detected a total of 97 new hotspots there.

It reported about 52 percent of the hotspots were located on land belonging to local people, 31 percent were in managed forest areas (HTI) with the remaining 17 percent being detected in plantation areas.

The ministry is using the 1999 environmental law that authorizes officials to investigate environmental violations, allowing them to seek explanations and evidence from individuals or legal bodies in connection with any environmental law violation. The results of the investigations can be submitted to the police, who can then choose to arrest or detain suspects based on the findings. Violators can face a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison and a Rp 500 million fine.

Green activists have repeatedly blamed companies for deliberately setting fire to forest areas to open up tracts of land.

Greenpeace have complained about the government's slow reaction to stopping the forest fires, which hit the country annually and "export" haze to neighboring countries. "Law enforcement is too weak," Zulfahmi, Greenpeace's Southeast Asia Forest campaigner, said.

The number of forest fires is expected to rise significantly once El Nino hits the country in September.

Meanwhile, the Forestry Ministry is proposing around Rp 24 billion (US$2.42 million) in the 2010 state budget bill to the House of Representatives in anticipation of the imminent dry storms from El Nino.

Minister Malam Sambat Kaban said Monday the ministry planned to use the money from the state budget to mitigate the impact of the global phenomenon, which could prompt more hotspots than normal in Indonesian forests.

"We are anticipating [the impact of El Nino on Indonesian forests] by reserving two to four helicopters for about 300 flying hours. They will be very useful, as the storms could cover quite wide areas," Kaban told reporters.

He said the National Police had already allocated two helicopters this year to help extinguish forest fires.

He said the government also planned to conduct cloud seeding, managed by the Coordination Board for Disaster Mitigation, the budget for which would be controlled by the Office of the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare.

Greenpeace urges SBY to take immediate action on forest fires

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2009

Leading environmental watchdog Greenpeace demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono tackle the mostly man-made forest fires that have ravaged the nation every year for over a decade.

The current spate of forest and ground fires raging across parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan were lit deliberately to clear land for palm oil and paper plantations, Greenpeace said on Monday.

"President Yudhoyono needs to wake up to the climate crisis and take immediate action by declaring a moratorium on deforestation," said Zulfahmi, a forest campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

"The president has been handed the historic opportunity to become a world leader in global efforts to reverse the worst effects of climate change, beginning at the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December."

Greenpeace said the fires were destroying forests at a faster rate than in any other country, turning Indonesia into the world's third-largest climate polluter.

"To show his good intentions, the President should make this year a 'fire-free' season by stopping palm oil and paper companies from burning and destroying our forests," Zulfahmi said.

"Only then will forest-protection funds start to flow from developed countries to provide solutions that encompass sustainable forests, the people and the biodiversity and help win the global battle against climate change."

A law against the burning of forests was introduced in 1999, after fires spun out of control in 1997 and 1998, creating a thick haze that blanketed Southeast Asia.

The law carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison and Rp 10 billion ($1.01 million) in fines, but enforcement is weak due to corruption, lengthy legal proceedings and inadequate funding.

A logging moratorium was declared by Riau Governor Wan Abu Bakar in 2007, but the current governor, Rusli Zainal, has blocked its implementation.

Greenpeace has sent a team to help local communities fight forest fires in Kuala Cinaku, southern Riau, using equipment that Greenpeace gave to the community following firefighting drills in 2007.

The small team of 15 has so far only managed to contain flames in an area measuring 10 hectares, close to palm oil concessions where fires have claimed over 1,000 hectares of land. Companies have denied access to firefighters on some concessions.

There were 2,800 fire hotspots in Riau in July alone and the province is bracing for more as the dry season kicks in. Many of the fires are on carbon-rich peatlands, Greenpeace said.

Forests are a defense against rapid climate change because they absorb carbon. When they are destroyed, the carbon is released and contributes to global warming.

Stopping the destruction of forests in places like Indonesia would reduce one fifth of global greenhouse-gas emissions. It would be the fastest way to keep fight climate change, Greenpeace said.

Bandung residents hit hard by drought

Jakarta Globe - August 1, 2009

Kafil Yamin – Drought has dried up the groundwater in several places throughout West Java's Bandung district, forcing residents to cut back on bathing and other usage.

Pumps in houses take longer and produce less water than they did a month ago. Many residents have no water at all.

"Since last week, every morning I have asked my son to go to his grandma's house to bathe because we don't have water in our house," said Yulia Maulidieny, a housewife in the Bandung suburb of Marga Asih. "His grandma lives about ten kilometers from here," she added.

For her own daily needs, Yulia has been borrowing one bucket of water from her neighbors.

In the kampong of Cigondewah, residents are forced to rely on water vendors. Every morning, the vendors come pulling carts piled with one-gallon (3.8 liter) jugs of water.

Each jug costs Rp5,000, while groundwater is free. "It is extra spending for low income people like us," said Husna, a local resident.

Women & gender

Regional women's gathering discusses gender issues

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2009

Niken Prathivi, Nusa Dua – It takes women to make other women talk, to share and discuss their toughest experiences in the hope of eventually solving their common problems.

In such a spirit, the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) Indonesia, in cooperation with the World YWCA, is holding a regional gathering in Nusa Dua, Bali, with the theme "Women Creating Safe and Secure Communities."

In the six-day event, which started Sunday, 90 women leaders representing 24 YWCAs in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan and Australia, are scheduled to discuss violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV/AIDS, migration as well as climate change issues.

Deputy Minister of Women's Empowerment Setiawati Arifin said her office fully supports the meeting, especially in finding ways to cope with the rising number of HIV/AIDS cases among women and children.

"The number of infections in women and children is so high. The government cannot work alone; we all need to work hand in hand to fight the virus," Setiawati told a press conference Monday.

"The women's empowerment minister (Meutia Hatta Swasono) asked me to convey that the spread of HIV/AIDS, human trafficking and violence targeting women are our common enemies."

The World Health Organization stated Indonesia had at least 270,000 people living with HIV in 2008, in 2001 the number was 93,000. The cumulative number of deaths caused by AIDS reached 8,700 in 2008, compared with 100 deaths in 2001.

On violence against women, the National Commission on Women's Protection recorded 54,425 cases in 2008, a 113 percent increase from 2007, with 90 percent of the total categorized as domestic violence.

Setiawati went on that education on HIV/AIDS issues was really important as the disease was closely connected to other women's issues, like reproductive health and rights, and even trafficking.

"The spread (of the virus) is becoming awry, as devoted housewives have reportedly caught HIV from their unfaithful husbands."

The WHO stated Indonesia had an estimated 3,300 number of pregnant women with HIV who needed antiretroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission last year; however, only 89 of them received the required treatment.

"One thing I would like to emphasize is that women are not a burden or barrier; instead, women are a valuable asset for country to develop," Setiawati added.

YWCA Indonesia's president Theresia Rooroh Paruntu said she hoped all 90 participants could confer to produce constructive recommendations for the improvement of various women's issues across Asia.

World YWCA president Susan Brennan suggested that to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS cases in women and children, a country must promote proper treatment for pregnant women with HIV, as well as erase any stigma. "No discrimination is allowed. Please pay attention to another challenge, that is, the criminalization of people with HIV/AIDS."

The World YWCA is a global network of women leading social and economic change in 125 countries. It advocates peace, justice, health, human dignity, freedom and care for the environment, and has been raising the status of women since its establishment in 1855.

Health & education

Education ministry budget cut criticized

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2009

Anita Rachman – The government's proposed budget allocation for the Ministry of National Education is too small to significantly improve educational standards, activists said on Tuesday.

In the 2010 state budget proposal that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono presented to the House of Representatives on Monday, the government allocated Rp 201.9 trillion ($20.4 billion) to education, or approximately 20 percent of the total proposed 2010 state budget of Rp 1,009.5 trillion.

The Ministry of National Education will only receive Rp 51.8 trillion, however, with the remaining funds earmarked to finance educational initiatives in 15 other ministries.

"[The budget for the Education Ministry] is too small," said Ade Irawan, public service monitoring coordinator at Indonesia Corruption Watch. The ministry received Rp 62.1 trillion under the 2009 budget.

Ade said the funding cut would affect the ministry's spending on educational development and access. "We'll see more old school buildings collapse and parents will still be charged to send their children to school," he said.

Fitri Sunarto, program officer for an organization that safeguards educational standards for poor children, said she was worried the government would continue to cut the ministry's share of the budget. "I'm afraid that the 2009 education budget would end up being the biggest we ever got," she said.

Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo on Monday said he would prioritize spending on compulsory educational programs and School Operational Aid (BOS).

Th e government allocated Rp 17 trillion to BOS, to be distributed to 40 million elementary and secondary students in 300,000 schools across the country.

Activists want band-aid for health bill in Indonesian house

Jakarta Globe - August 2, 2009

Dessy Sagita – A number of organizations have urged the House of Representatives to revise the draft of a health care bill it has been debating since 2002 to ensure money is set aside for public health programs.

Ratna Kusumaningsih, a researcher with Indonesia Corruption Watch, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that the draft would set aside 5 percent of the total state budget for public health, but does not otherwise clearly outline how the money would be used.

She said portions of the health budget should be specifically set aside for preventative health care and other key components, because the unnecessary procurement of expensive equipment and bureaucracy costs could easily eat up the 5 percent allocation.

Ratna Batara Munti, coordinator of the Pro-Women National Legislative Program Network, said the bill should also clearly spell out that health care was a basic right for all Indonesians. "Our people should not pay for their health insurance because it is the government's responsibility," she said.

Munti also said the bill should stipulate that free medical services for low-income residents should include programs to prevent diseases, not only emergency health care. She said a statement would be presented to the House's Commission IX, which handles health and welfare issues.

Rustam Effendi, a lawmaker from the National Mandate Party (PAN) who is also a member of the commission, said the draft of the health bill had not been finalized and changes were likely.

"I really appreciate people criticizing the draft and urging for some parts of it to be revised. We still have some time to alter parts of the draft," he said.

Rustam said the bill would be discussed several more times before it could officially pass out of committee. "As long as the input helps to create a better health care system, we will gladly consider it."

Corruption & graft

ICW: Yudhoyono should ask police about Antasari's letter

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2009

Nivell Rayda& Farouk Arnaz – Antigraft watchdog groups on Friday urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to question the National Police over its decision to pursue a corruption case based on a controversial letter written by Antasari Azhar, the suspended chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) who is facing murder charges.

"We see that the president is doing nothing about police plans to make a case based on Antasari's letter alone," said Adnan Topan Husodo, vice chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch.

"If he is really committed to fighting graft, SBY should ensure that the police are professional and have solid evidence before naming anyone as a suspect."

Yudhoyono, who was re-elected in a landslide victory last month, put government reform and fighting corruption at the top of his campaign platform and second-term agenda.

ICW was joined by Transparency International Indonesia and the Center for Law and Policy Studies (PSHK) at a news conference on Friday.

The groups were responding to media reports that the National Police would proceed with a corruption investigation based on a letter written by Antasari claiming that KPK members had taken bribes.

"Police must not make a case based on a weak evidence," PSHK chairman Solikhin said.

Antasari is being detained by police, who claim he was behind the murder of a businessman in March. The letter was dated May 16, just days after his arrest. Some have claimed Antasari wanted to take down fellow KPK members, while others have speculated that the KPK has made too many powerful enemies.

A lawyer for Antasari had previously said police forced him to write the letter. But on Friday, another lawyer for Antasari said police asked him to write the letter after listening to a taped conversation on his laptop.

The conversation was reportedly between Antasari and businessman Anggoro Widjaja, director of PT Masaro Radiokom and a bribery suspect who was being pursued by the KPK.

In the letter, Antasari said Anggoro told him last year that he had given money to several KPK officials on two separate occasions.

Meanwhile, the ICW said it suspected several National Police investigators, including the chief of detectives, met and questioned Anggoro – - who fled the country last year – about the alleged bribery in Si n gapore in July.

"This means police had met a corruption suspect and didn't even alert the KPK that they had located the KPK's suspect," Adnan said. "Police even tried to protect Anggoro from the KPK."

Separately, the chairman of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency, Abdul Haris Semendawai, said police had contacted the agency requesting protection for a corruption witness.

However, Semendawai refused to acknowledge if the witness was indeed Anggoro.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna said officers had questioned four witnesses in the KPK bribery case. "I can't tell you who they are just yet," he said.

New bill will 'weaken eradication efforts'

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2009

Jakarta – The newly submitted corruption bill could derail the war against corruption by undermining the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), antigraft activists warned Tuesday.

"We saw the bill had so many flaws, right from the moment we obtained a copy," Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Febri Diansyah told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

"That bill, if passed into law, will endanger corruption eradication efforts and the KPK as well. The punishment it recommends, for instance, is very weak," he went on. It gives no minimum punishment for violators, and makes it possible for whistle-blowers to face criminal charges."

Febri added the bill would conflict with the KPK law, which already details punishment for violators. "If the bill is made law, it will cause a havoc within the justice system," he said.

The bill was submitted by the government to the House of Representatives this month, while the current House legislators' term will end in September.

Febri said the time constraint had put the House in a weak position, with legislators busy deliberating another bill on the corruption court.

"There is a danger the House will pass the flawed bill into law, due to bickering between the government and legislators," he said.

"However, ICW will continue to tightly monitor both the House and the government. We do not want a repeat of the fiasco surrounding the Supreme Court bill, which was passed into law very quickly despite substantial flaws in its content."

Febri also called on legislators not to use the corruption bill as an excuse should they fail to pass the corruption court bill into law by the end of their term.

A 2006 ruling by the Constitutional Court stipulated the establishment of the Corruption Court, based on the KPK law, had violated the Constitution because it was not based on the judiciary law.

The Constitutional Court ruled a proper legal basis for the Corruption Court must be passed by December 2009, or the latter would have to be dissolved.

"The House must pass the corruption court bill as soon as possible, without excuse," Febri said. "That bill and the corruption bill have no direct link, so for legislators to say they can't pass the one without deliberating the other is hogwash."

The Golkar Party's Dewi Asmara, chairwoman of the special committee deliberating the corruption court bill, said recently the government's sudden submission of the corruption bill had forced the committee to study both bills in tandem.

Transparency International Indonesia (TII) secretary-general Teten Masduki said it boggled the mind why the government had chosen to submit a new bill to the House just two months before its term ended.

"Maybe President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants to emphasize his graft-fighting credentials," he said.

"If the House fails to pass the corruption court bill into law, Yudhoyono will have to issue a regulation-in-lieu-of-law. This will definitely surely boost his image as the person leading the fight against corruption. He'll get all the credit." (hdt)

Stronger law needed to combat 'court mafia'

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2009

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The Judiciary Commission must be strengthened if the government is serious about eradicating corruption in the judiciary and stamping out the so-called "court mafia", a seminar concluded Tuesday.

Officials and legal experts at the seminar agreed that amending the recent Judicial Commission Law would be a good way to start.

"We must not waste our time merely discussing how to tackle corruption without taking any real action to tackle it. We must amend the law," Thahir Saimima, a member of the commission, told the seminar.

Saimima said the amendment should give the commission power to investigate and punish offending judges.

"I expect to see that in the immediate future the Judicial Commission will be able to closely monitor the judges and summon them when they need to investigate," he added.

The current Judicial Commission Law has been criticized for being too weak and not giving the commission the power it needs to effectively monitor judges.

According to the law, the commission only has the authority to select candidates for positions on the Supreme Court.

"The ball is in the hands of the government and the House right now. If they really want to eradicate judicial corruption then I don't see any more obstacles that would prevent them from deliberating the amendment," he said.

United Development Party (PPP) legislator Lukman Hakim Syafiuddin acknowledged the House would most likely be unable to amend the law before their term ends in October.

"With several other bills, such as the corruption court bill, that need to be passed in time, I must say we probably won't be able to make any amendments to the existing Judicial Commission Law as we are running out of time," he said.

Lukman added the task of passing the amendment would be most likely be passed on to the incoming members of the house.

He, however, agreed that giving the commission more power, especially in its authority to monitor judges, would contribute a great deal to the country's effort to eradicating the court mafia.

Lawyer-cum-graft-activist Todung Mulya Lubis, who also attended the seminar, agreed as to the importance of strengthening the commission's authority, saying increased monitoring would force judges to work within the law.

"They would know that they are monitored by an outside body. This would be a good deterrent for judges who are thinking about accepting bribes," he said.

Judge Artijo Alkostar said that good monitoring would enhance the integrity of the nation's judges.

89 legal officials punished this year

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2009

Nivell Rayda – The Supreme Court has taken disciplinary action against 89 judicial officials, including the dismissal of 21 judges, in the first six months of the year, Supreme Court Judge Artidjo Alkostar said on Tuesday.

The Indonesian judicial system is notoriously corrupt, and critics say doubts about the country's legal framework is a major barrier against attracting badly needed foreign investment.

Artidjo, speaking during a discussion organized by the Judicial Commission in Jakarta, said the disciplinary action was part of efforts to eradicate graft.

He said a total of 45 judges had been sanctioned, including 21 dismissals, though he did not provide specific names or cases.

"Those who were fired were suspected of taking bribes from disputing parties," he said. "Those who were cautioned or received administrative sanctions mainly breached the code of conduct by interacting with one of the disputing parties and discussing their cases."

He said the Supreme Court had also dismissed 44 court clerks and other staff members for offenses such as leaking court documents or illicitly releasing confiscated goods.

The number of sanctions imposed on members of the judicial system from January to June this year has almost surpassed the number of sanctions imposed last year. In 2008, the court took action against 91 officials, including 38 judges.

The court data corroborates long-standing allegations of corruption inside the country's judiciary system. In a 2008 study by Transparency International Indonesia, 30 percent of respondents who had been through the legal system said they paid bribes to court officials and judges, for a staggering average sum of Rp 102 million ($10,300).

"We are reforming ourselves, by having no tolerance against misconduct," Artidjo said. "That's why we see an increase in the number of officials sanctioned for illegal actions."

He said the court was minimizing direct contact with disputing parties by setting up electronic systems. "In the future there won't be any more brokers in court," he said.

Busyro Muqoddas, a member of the Judicial Commission, said the legal process should be transparent. "Civil society could become the most effective external watchdog," he said.

"Everyone should be able to access court decisions, indictments and records, including the courts' financial statements."

Year after year, the Supreme Audit Agency has given the Supreme Court a "disclaimer" after their review. This indicates that the scope of an audit had to be curtailed because of accounting weaknesses or missing facts. Last year, the Ministry of Finance also discovered a number of undeclared accounts belonging to the court.

Chairman of Transparency International Indonesia, Todung Mulya Lubis, who is also a prominent lawyer, said with rampant corruption in courtrooms, people have lost their faith in the judicial system.

"The court must make a landmark decision, one that benefits the greater good of the people," Lubis said. "Only then will people trust and respect the court."

War on terror

Terrorist leader arrested: reports

Sydney Morning Herald - August 8, 2009

Tom Allard and Karuni Rompies in Jakarta – Noordin Mohammed Top, the man suspected of masterminding a series of terrorist attacks across Indonesia, including the Jakarta hotel bombings last month that killed three Australians, has been arrested, according to reports late last night.

Indonesian media were reporting a firefight, believed to be in Central Java, between Indonesian police and alleged terrorists about 4pm, Jakarta time yesterday.

According to Al Jazeera, the shoot-out led to the arrest of Noordin, South-East Asia's most wanted man and a radical Islamist who has played a role in all the major terrorist attacks in Indonesia since 2002, and masterminded the last four.

Local television quoted an unnamed police source saying a person in the house that was raided yesterday afternoon "looked like" Noordin, without confirming one way or another if it was the terrorist leader.

The arrest could not be independently confirmed by an Indonesian police spokesman last night but Al Jazeera's Jakarta correspondent, Step Vaasen, quoted "a very reliable source on the ground" confirming that Noordin had been arrested.

Ms Vaasen has been a long-time and respected Jakarta reporter although the Qatar-based network has made false reports from Indonesia before, including the timing of the execution of the Bali bombers.

Twin bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels on July 17 killed seven bystanders, as well as the two suicide bombers.

Noordin has evaded Indonesia's largest manhunt for more than six years and is widely considered to have orchestrated the attacks. A statement written under his name and posted on the internet claimed responsibility for the mass murders.

If the arrest is confirmed it will mark a coup for Indonesian police, who were coming under increasing pressure for their failure to make any key arrests or identify the suicide bombers involved in last month's attacks.

Noordin, a Malaysian university graduate, is a bomb-maker who deeply admires al-Qaeda, and may continue to have links with the organisation. (with wires)

Terrorist mastermind Noordin Top believed killed in police raid

The Australian - August 8, 2009

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta – Suspected terrorist mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top was believed to have been killed in a Central Java police raid today.

Indonesian police this afternoon were evacuating bodies from the house they had stormed, believing that the regional militant leader was hiding on the premises with several followers.

Indonesian news stations carried television footage of the raid, and quoted a police source as being "80 per cent certain" that Top had been in the house.

Top is suspected of having had a leading role in last month's attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in the capital, Jakarta, which killed nine people, including three Australians.

The raid today broke a 17-hour siege of the house that had officers trading automatic weapons fire with the militants.

Indonesian anti-terror police made their first significant advance in the Jakarta bombing investigation last night, when they raided the house in the Central Java village. A gun battle then raged around the house.

The raid was in Temanggung, near the provincial capital of Semarang, and in the same area where another man already linked to the bombs three weeks ago, Nur Said, grew up.

Detachment 88 anti-terror investigators were engaged in a prolonged gunbattle from around 5pm (8pm AEST) yesterday, after evacuating near neighbours first.

Since dawn this morning, at least five explosions had rocked the suspected hideout of the alleged terrorist mastermind, who is a Malaysian.

Police spokesman Nanan Sukarna said officers believed that the alleged militant leader and terror mastermind and two or three of his followers had been inside, but could not immediately confirm their fate.

Minutes after the raid, witnesses said officers outside the house took off their helmets and were shaking hands with each other, suggesting all those inside had either been killed or captured.

Police with anti-blast shields had earlier approached the house, which had been severely damaged in the course of the overnight siege, and laid explosive charges before detonating them through cables.

Another line of about 25 police had taken position on an adjacent hill and fired repeated volleys from their assault rifles into the house below. Some 50 other police had been stationed elsewhere around the property.

Rounds of gunfire burst through the walls from the inside, but it was not clear if this came from the occupants of the house, or from police.

When asked earlier by reporters if Top was in the house, national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said: "God willing".

Nur Said, the second person linked to the bombings three weeks ago, and who went to school at Abu Bakar Bashir's Muslim boarding school in the city of Solo with 2003 Mariott Hotel bomber Asmar Latin Sani, has been a key police suspect for several years but has not yet been located.

Some neighbours said the man who rented the house bore physical similarities to Top, a terrorist linked to al-Qai'da and Jemaah Islamiah.

There were also unconfirmed reports of a grenade being found in the house. Top's father-in-law, Central Java preacher Bahrudin Latif, was also believed to have been one of four people inside.

Mr Latif's daughter Arina, and two toddlers presumed to be Top's children, were taken into police custody days after the July 17 bombings on hotels in Jakarta.

Police admitted repeatedly in recent days they had been unable to turn up any new leads in the case. However, the shootout and subsequent storming of the house followed the arrests of two men earlier yesterday at a nearby market. Those men are believed to have led police to the house.

The raid came after Barack Obama's chief counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, said the US President is replacing the "global war on terror" with a new US strategy more narrowly focused on al-Qa'ida and relying more on a broader effort to engage the Muslim world.

The Jakarta hotel blasts last month broke a four-year gap in terror strikes in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.

The Malaysian Top is also believed to have played a major role in four other bombings in Indonesia since 2002, including nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali that year that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. (With Agencies)

NGOs: End army antiterror efforts

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A decision by the Army to deploy personnel to assist police in conducting antiterrorism operations was criticized by a number of nongovernmental organizations on Friday, who said the measure would not improve antiterrorism capabilities.

Usman Hamid, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said the Antiterrorism Law stipulated that the police were primarily responsible for antiterrorism operations, while the military could only become involved if the police invited them to assist.

"That is how our criminal justice system works, which means that any involvement of the military would harm the system," he said.

He said the military and police operated differently, with the police working in a more transparent fashion, and that the involvement of soldiers would not guarantee that antiterror efforts were any more effective.

As an example, Usman said that in 2006 military personnel in East Java arrested a man identified as Haryono, claiming that he was a terrorist suspect. "But then he had to be released because it was not true. He was a former patient in a mental hospital," Usman said.

"And none of us, or the government, think that the police have failed in their antiterror work. So just let the police do their work."

An Army spokesman said earlier that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered the military to get involved by activating Suharto-era antiterror desks at the country's 12 military commands.

The desks oversee more than 40,000 soldiers down to the subdistrict level to monitor activity and stop terrorist threats.

Amiruddin Al Arab, of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), said it would be better if the government ensured that the police and other civil institutions were working more effectively in antiterrorism efforts.

He said if the police lacked necessary intelligence personnel for monitoring terror threats, then it would be better for the government to recruit more police officers rather than looking to the military. "Soldiers are not trained to work like police officers," he said.

Donatus K. Marut, of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid), said Yudhoyono's order had triggered confusion among the military and the police because both institutions already had their own guidelines in place.

"I think if the president issues a new decree just to guarantee that the military has the right to be involved in any antiterror effort, then that would create chaos among the security apparatuses," he said.

Pesantren seen as key to fighting terrorism in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - August 6, 2009

Febriamy Hutapea & Markus J. Sihaloho – The reluctance of Islamic boarding schools to focus on pluralism and tolerance is a major obstacle to changing the mind-set of their students, leaving open the road to radicalism and conservatism, an Islamic political observer said on Thursday.

"Anyone can become a terrorist if he or she is being indoctrinated into a certain perspective. Economics is not the only factor in the making of a terrorist," Syafii Anwar, the director of the International Center for Islam and Pluralism, said during a discussion organized by the International Religious Freedom Consortium.

Syafii said including aspects of pluralism and human rights in the curriculum was important and needed to be done more often in the country. These issues, he said, should be given more emphasis at Islamic boarding schools, which are better known as pesantren.

"Such an educational focus would be very useful in changing the mind-set of the pesantren community," he said.

Syafii said that many clerics at the helm of pesantrens were often resistant to attempts to teach pluralism at their schools, adding that these clerics frequently accused the Central Intelligence Agency of being behind efforts to introduce the subject. "Radicalism can be brought about because of misleading perceptions of religion," he said.

Sue Gunawardena, IRFC program manager, said the government had a huge role in educating its citizens about multiculturalism and religious tolerance. If the government fails to uphold such issues, she said, then nongovernmental organizations and the media should take over the role of supporting pluralism.

Conservatism and radicalism have long been believed to be at the heart of terrorism, including the recent suicide bombings at two luxury hotels in Jakarta.

Many people have pointed out that the two suicide bombers and their suspected accomplices are thought to have graduated from a pesantren in Ngruki, Central Java, founded by hard-line Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

Meanwhile, the Organization of Retired Army Soldiers (PPAD) demanded that the government step up efforts to root out terrorism in the country.

Speaking at a news conference in Jakarta, Lt. Gen. (ret) Soerjadi, PPAD's chairman, said terrorist attacks would not stop until the government successfully addressed the root causes of such attacks.

"The government should be more active in finding out the triggers behind such acts and how to solve the problem in the future," Soerjadi said.

The retired general also voiced concern over the national security situation, adding that the recent bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels and the spate of armed attacks in Timika, Papua, were not merely part of some domestic conflict.

"There is foreign involvement," Soerjadi said. He declined to point to any particular countries, saying only that these incidents should be handled simultaneously by the military and intelligence agencies.

Indonesian army pitches bigger role in antiterrorist efforts

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Army says it is fully prepared to assist the police in antiterrorism work, particularly in the areas of intelligence gathering, bomb disposal and the deployment of special forces.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Christian Zebua said the Army had thousands of personnel in its Village Guidance Boards (Babinsa) who could be dispatched to collect information and supervise villagers in dealing with any suspicious activity.

The Army also has bomb-disposal teams in each of the 12 military commands across the country, which were always ready to assist police.

"We also have the special antiterror detachment under Kopassus [The Special Forces] and another antiterror team under Kostrad [the Army Strategic Reserve Command]," Zebua said. "They are always ready to be deployed for hammering any terror groups."

Zebua was commenting on action being taken by the Army as a result of a meeting of Army commanders in Jakarta last Friday, in which Army Chief of Staff Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo told those gathered to be actively involved in antiterrorist work mainly conducted by police.

Agustadi urged greater coordination between military and police commanders.

"Please sharpen our intelligence activity, early detection of terror threats and improve our early reporting system," Agustadi said.

"Guide our citizens to be aware of any strangers in their own area and file reports with security agencies. Tell them to be brave in arresting anyone suspected of terrorism," Agustadi said.

Although it was only a verbal instruction, Zebua said commanders would follow the order. He said the Army was in dire need of new "rules of engagement" for soldiers deployed on antiterrorist work.

The Army could not be fully involved in terror detection and eradication at the moment because the country's Anti-Terrorism Law stipulated that the military could only be involved if the police sought its help. However, the police seldom asked for assistance from the military when working on terrorist threats, he said.

"There must be clear rules of engagement that gives the military permission to be actively involving in antiterrorism and not just waiting for any call for assistance," Zebua said.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Andreas Pareira, a member of the House of Representatives Commission I that oversees defense and foreign affairs, agreed with Zebua, saying the military should be given the authority to be actively involved in antiterrorism.

"Currently, there is no clear regulation for the involvement of security agencies in antiterrorism. There will always be poor coordination between the military and the police," Andreas said.

He added that the military had good capabilities and resources for such work, as well as a better territorial network across the country, which would be useful in dealing with terrorists.

"I suggest the government soon issue a special rule or a presidential decree, which gives authority for the military to work without waiting for any demand from the police," he said."

Jakarta authorities delay ban on extremist publications

Jakarta Globe - August 2, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Joe Cochrane – The Attorney General's Office said on Sunday that it was ready to take action against any publication used by terrorists to spread radicalism, but that it was up to the government to name the materials it wanted banned.

"We have to be provided with the books before taking any legal action," AGO spokesman Jasman Panjaitan said. "Until now, none have been given to us."

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Sukarna said on Friday that terrorism could be spread through radical publications widely available across the country. He did not, however, fault the slow handling of the issue by the AGO, which has in the past banned school history textbooks that failed to conform to official views.

The police have been trying to find out who created a blog site that claimed to speak on behalf of fugitive terrorist Noordin M Top, who police suspect was behind the suicide bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels on July 17 that killed nine people and injured more than 50.

Jasman said the AGO could only ban publications if it was decided by the government through a coordination meeting of several departments, including the police, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the AGO.

"It is organized under the Coordinating Ministry of Political, Legal and Security Affairs. We would move if this meeting ordered us to," he said.

However, such a step has been criticized by observers and analysts, who said the government should rethink its position on banning publications.

Sidney Jones, an expert on Jemaah Islamiyah at the International Crisis Group in Jakarta, said she did not think there was a direct link between books and DVDs promoting jihad and people becoming terrorists.

"I think there has to be an intermediary – people can read it and agree with it, but not get involved. It has to be someone using it in religious study sessions, and we've seen that," Jones said.

"It would be impossible to stop book and DVD publication and distribution, but there have been some efforts in discouraging the mainstream bookstores from stocking it... but you can get it anywhere."

Jones said the recently convicted JI group in Palembang was not indoctrinated by written materials. "It was direct face-to-face discussions," she said.

Ken Conboy, a Jakarta-based security analyst and author of "Inside Jemaah Islamiyah: Asia's Most Dangerous Terrorist Network," agreed with Jones.

"The guys that they get to go on these missions are not computer literate and come from rural areas of the country and are simple folk. I doubt they are [the DVDs and books'] target audience," he said.

The target, he said, would be someone who was more savvy – from an urban center. "Those aren't the guys who are blowing themselves up," Conboy said.

Arul, an employee at Toko Wali Songo, a large Central Jakarta bookstore that sells a number of books on the topics of jihad and extremism, said that since the July 17 bombings, sales of such publications had neither risen nor fallen.

Islam/religion

MUI requests total closure for Ramadan

Jakarta Post - August 7, 2009

Fadli, Batam – The Riau Islands chapter of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI) has asked regencies and municipalities in the province to totally close entertainment centers, such as pubs, discotheques and massage parlours, for the duration of the upcoming Ramadan Muslim fasting month.

MUI Riau Islands chapter chairman Azhari Abbas told The Jakarta Post on Thursday the council urged the administrations of Batam, Tanjung Pinang, Karimun, Bintan, Lingga, Natuna and Anambas to close entertainment centers, starting on Aug. 21, the first eve of Ramadan.

"We have sent a circulating letter to the regency and municipality administrations. The administrations could use the letter as a basis on the closure of the entertainment centers during Ramadan."

He claimed the Tanjung Pinang muncipality administration had agreed to the MUI's request and promised to implement the total closure of the entertainment centers in the city during Ramadan.

According Azahari, the council was still approaching Batam administration and urged the municipality to close entertainment centers in the city along the fasting month.

However, Batam has its own regulation that manages the closure of entertainment centers and will close them for just four days during Ramadan, ignoring the Islamic preachers' call for total closure.

The regulation states that the closure is only the first day of Ramadan, the Koran Revelation Day on the 17th day of Ramadan and two days of Idul Fitri celebrations.

"Batam is the only city in the province that does not involve ulema in the closure of entertainment centers during Ramadan. We are very disappointed," he said.

He argued the closure of the entertainment centers along the fasting month was important to prevent immoral activities that could disturb the serenity of worship during Ramadan.

During Ramadan last year, the Batam administration also closed the entertainment for four days. The closure of entertainment along the month was feared to decrease income of workers in tourism sector.

Batam municipality spokesperson Yusfa Hendri said the closure of entertainment centers during Ramadan would be regulated through a muncipal regulation, confirming that last year the centers had been closed only for four days.

"We have to consider workers who depend their incomes on the entertainment centers. It's impossible to close the entertainment centers throughout the month."

However, he said the municipality would involve the ulema council in the planned closure of the entertainment centers during Ramadan. "We would involve ulema in the closing and opening policies of the entertainment centers," he added, responding to the council's call.

The terror fatwa no one's heard of

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2009

Nurfika Osman – The country's highest authority on Islam reminded Indonesians on Monday that it had previously issued an edict against Muslims carrying out acts of terror.

Amid claims that Indonesia was a hotbed of terrorism, the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) in 2006 issued a fatwa, or religious decree, condemning terrorism and suicide bombing. However, the fatwa remains largely unknown in the public arena.

MUI chairman Amidhan said that the council issued the fatwa in 2006 following a series of terrorist bombings between 2002 and 2005 that were blamed on Muslim militants.

"We issued the fatwa because terrorism and suicide bombings have never been justified under Islam and are definitely not part of jihad," Amidhan said, referring to the concept of jihad as a spiritual struggle. "We [Muslims] are very angry with judgements saying that those things [terrorism and bombings] are part of the teachings of Islam."

Jemaah Islamiyah, an Al Qaeda-linked network of hard-line Muslim militants that wants to establish a caliphate across Southeast Asia, was blamed for the string of bombings in Indonesia between 2002 and 2005.

In 2002, suicide bombers attacked two popular nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 people. In 2003, a suicide car bomb exploded at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, killing 12 people. The following year, a car bomb at the Australian Embassy killed nine. Two restaurants in Bali were targeted by suicide bombers in 2005, with 23 people dying.

On July 17, after a four-year break without attacks, suicide bombers blew themselves up at two upscale hotels in Jakarta – the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton – leaving nine people dead.

Amidhan said that the fatwa categorized both terrorism and suicide bombings as haram, or forbidden under Islam. Fatwas issued by the MUI are not legally binding but are considered to be strong moral guidance for the country's large Muslim population.

"In the fatwa, we proclaimed that terrorism and suicide bombings are crimes that can destroy society and have serious impacts such as killing innocent people," Amidhan said.

He said that the council had circulated more than 3,000 books about the fatwa on terrorism to a number of religious institutions across the country and hoped that the recipients would further disseminate the information to local residents.

"We have informed the public," Amidhan said, "but people are likely to be more interested in capturing the terrorists rather than in the fatwa."

Meanwhile, the existence of the fatwa remains largely unheard of. "I didn't know that we had such a fatwa regarding terrorism and suicide bombings," said Razid Armand, an employee at a shipping company in West Jakarta.

Although a Muslim, Armand said he did not care about fatwas issued by the MUI and was more interested in how the police would track down those responsible for the July 17 bombings.

Elections/political parties

KPU admits handing out incomplete voters lists

Jakarta Globe - August 8, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – The General Elections Commission admitted during testimony in the Constitutional Court on Friday that it had knowingly furnished the presidential campaign teams with incomplete versions of the final voters list prior to the July 8 election.

Endang Sulastri, a member of the commission, also known as the KPU, told the court that the voters list handed to the campaign teams was different from the list used on election day.

The admission came on the final day of a hearing into allegations by the two losing presidential candidates, Vice President Jusuf Kalla and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri, that the final voters list contained millions of fictitious voters, making the results of the election flawed.

Both Kalla and Megawati say the flawed results mean a second round of election should be held. However, they both also claim that they should be the one to compete in the head-to-head poll with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Friday's admission by the KPU came after the commission attacked the Kalla and Megawati camps for having inaccurate information.

Arteria Dahlan, a lawyer from Megawati's camp, questioned the statement, saying he got the voters list from the KPU on July 6. "How can you say the information is wrong if it was officially given to us by the KPU?" he asked.

Endang admitted that the soft copy of the final voters list given to the campaign teams was not the fixed final voters list.

When Judge Abdul Mukthie Fadjar asked Endang why the commission distributed inaccurate information, she replied that the campaign teams had insisted on being supplied with the list. "So, you gave it to them to put them at ease?" Mukthie asked Endang.

Andi Nurpati, another member of the KPU, speaking outside the court, said they had been forced to give out the incomplete soft copy of the list as Megawati's campaign team kept insisting they do so.

"Actually, we're not obliged to give them the voters list, but we just wanted to show goodwill," she said, adding that the list had to be revised because it was inaccurate.

But Arteria said that if the final voters list was incomplete, it should not have been labeled as final. "How can it be final, when it still possessed inaccuracies?" he said.

Court Chief Mahfud MD said the court would deliver its verdict soon.

In the morning session of the same trial, Abdul Rasyid Saleh, director general of population administration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, denied allegations from Megawati's and Kalla's campaign teams that there was a high number of ghost voters on the list.

Ghost voters are said to come into existence when one citizen voter registration number (NIK) is assigned to several people with the same names, addresses or birth dates.

"There is no case of double or multiple NIKs assigned to several names," Rasyid told the court. "What really happens is that people have several identity cards based on their various residences, thus they get several different NIKs," he said. "We can't do anything as this problem has existed for 63 years [since Indonesia's independence]."

Megawati's and Kalla's teams on Friday submitted evidence that they believed proved there were 25 million to 28 million fictitious voters in the final voters list used for the July 8 election. The team also claimed that there were areas where voters had no NIK at all. The two camps argued that these meant Yudhoyono did not gain more than 50 percent of the vote, thus requiring a runoff round.

SBY to fill Cabinet only with coalition partners

Jakarta Post - August 5, 2009

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – President re-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the new Cabinet he intends to form with running mate Boediono will consist mainly of figures from political parties in coalition with the Democratic Party.

The move was a solution to incompatibilities between the country's presidential and multiparty democracy systems, he said.

"The presidential Cabinet [system] and multiparty democracy don't really fit together very well," Yudhoyono said while addressing a press conference at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

"Thus the 'middle-way' solution is while we keep attached to the presidential system, our executive board and especially the Cabinet should represent political parties, so as to create good political stability and ensure that the government runs well," Yudho-yono said.

The coalition that had been formed between the Democratic Party and other parties supporting Yudhoyono's presidency would serve as the "main format" for the new Cabinet, he said.

The same coalition would be maintained in the House of Representatives, he added. "However, there will be always room for wider togetherness in future – as long as justice is guaranteed for all," Yudhoyono said, hinting that he may recruit figures from outside the party coalition.

Yudhoyono further explained that what he meant by justice was that the "struggles" of other parties in coalition with the Democratic Party in the presidential election would be the "main consideration" in the allocating of ministerial posts.

In May, the Democratic Party signed the coalition contract with 22 smaller parties, including four major Islamic parties – the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).

The coalition had nominated him and former central bank governor Boediono as presidential and vice presidential candidates for the July 8 presidential election.

Rumors have circulated that these or those ministerial posts have been allocated to certain figures, including Yudhoyono's own close aides and coalition leaders.

However, Yudhoyono has denied them all, saying it was too early to talk about the Cabinet structure, with his winning of the election, recently officiated by the General Elections Commission, currently being challenged by other candidates at the Constitutional Court.

He and Boediono were still working on the government's agenda and priorities for the next five years, Yudhoyono said.

As for the professionalism of his future Cabinet, Yudhoyono said he shared the same idea as the public and observers – that the next Cabinet should be a professional, working Cabinet that could perform its tasks well.

"And, learning from the experiences of the past five years, we must see which functions of government departments and ministries we need to sharpen, and do many other things so that the next government runs more efficiently," Yudhoyono said.

Indonesia's Mallarangeng brothers: a political force

Reuters - August 4, 2009

Jakarta – Three brothers who played a crucial role in the re- election of Indonesia's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, are emerging as a formidable political force with considerable influence on Yudhoyono's party and policies.

The Mallarangeng brothers are household names in a country which only embraced full democracy after authoritarian President Suharto resigned in 1998.

Andi, 46, is literally the voice of the president. Rizal, 45, is a political maverick with presidential ambitions, while the third brother, Choel, 43, is an election strategist who prefers to stay out of sight. All three have political clout, and are seen as future cabinet ministers or even presidential contenders.

In a country where parties, including Yudhoyono's Democrats, are built around personalities, one or another of the Mallarangeng brothers may be groomed to lead the Democrats when Yudhoyono's second, and final, term ends in 2014.

"They have an extraordinary amount of influence in the Yudhoyono administration for one particular family," said Kevin O'Rourke, a political risk analyst.

The Mallarangengs come from South Sulawesi and were born into local politics. Their grandfather was a district regent and their father was mayor of Pare-pare, a city in South Sulawesi.

Andi, a former university lecturer with a PhD in politics from Northern Illinois University, is best known as Yudhoyono's spokesman, and appears on television or radio almost daily.

He was deeply involved in Indonesia's democratic overhaul, helping to rewrite post-Suharto Indonesia's electoral laws and political party regulations. In 1999, he was appointed a member of the General Election Commission which ran the first democratic election in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

He also worked on Indonesia's regional autonomy laws, giving power to provinces and districts which had long chafed under the control of Jakarta and the dominant Javanese. Those reforms gave him a taste for reshaping the political landscape through policy.

"Every time you see the country changing, and you can make a difference to the process, it is a very meaningful experience," he told Reuters in an interview.

When he accompanied Yudhoyono at a conference of Islamic nations in Senegal recently, Andi said he realized how far Indonesia had come.

"Most of the country leaders there are kings or people who are not elected by their own people. Some were absolute monarchs, some don't have a parliament or some have a parliament that is appointed. Only a very, very few are democratically elected and one of them was us," he said.

State vs free market

While Andi puts himself at the center of the political spectrum and sees the state playing a strong regulatory role, he considers his brother Rizal to be a free-market advocate who wants to reduce the role of the state.

Rizal, who has a PhD in politics from Ohio State University, has hopped from one political camp to another. For this year's elections, he joined the Yudhoyono team as spokesman for vice president-designate Boediono, and is likely to remain an influential adviser in the next Yudhoyono government.

In the 2004 elections, Rizal was aligned with Megawati Sukarnoputri, Yudhoyono's rival, sometimes sparring with Andi in public debates about the two candidates. Last year, Rizal briefly flirted with the idea of running for president as an independent.

"We have to say to our seniors, we respect you, Sir and Madam. But please give some space to our new generation. Now is the time for a new generation of leadership in Indonesia," he said on his campaign Web site.

His bid was widely rumored to be supported by Aburizal Bakrie, a controversial minister and crony holdover from the Suharto era who is seen as representing Indonesia's old-school elite. Ties between Rizal and Bakrie go back years.

In 2001, Rizal founded the Freedom Institute think tank with Bakrie's backing, and he has worked as an aide to Bakrie, whose empire spans coal mines, plantations, property and telecoms.

Bakrie is a prominent member of the Golkar Party, Suharto's former political machine, which was in Yudhoyono's 2004 alliance but which did not join the president's new coalition ahead of the presidential election in July.

However, Bakrie is widely expected to become the new leader of Golkar and could still join Yudhoyono's coalition, and Rizal is seen as one of the conduits between Bakrie and Yudhoyono.

When Bakrie's business empire ran into financial difficulties last year, Rizal dropped his presidential bid.

Choel, the youngest brother, also has a Bakrie connection, as he is president director of a Bakrie-owned news portal. But his main focus in recent months has been Fox Indonesia, a political consultancy which he founded and which played an important role in securing Yudhoyono's win through its use of opinion polls.

Choel's skill, Andi said, is in applying business marketing to the world of politics, with slick TV ads, catchy jingles, and heavy use of polling that showed Yudhoyono as the frontrunner from a very early stage in the campaign.

Fox blundered when the survey company it hired to conduct the polls initially failed to reveal its source of funding, leading some to question the validity of their opinion polls. Ultimately, the forecasts turned out to be fairly accurate.

In the run-up to elections, Choel told Reuters that he wanted to run a Barack Obama-style campaign that would appeal to younger voters by using blogs, Facebook, and Youtube, as well as town hall meetings, modeled on Obama's community gatherings.

These allowed Yudhoyono to mingle with ordinary folk and take questions from the floor. In reality, they were carefully stage- managed. But to many Indonesians, used to presidents who campaigned from the stage, this was a new style of engagement.

"I call it the choreography of a national concerto," Choel said, referring to his work designing political campaigns. "They are in a dark room and they just needed me to come in and turn on the light." (Editing by Sara Webb and Megan Goldin)

Mega, Kalla angle for second place

Jakarta Globe - August 4, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – As the campaign teams of losing presidential candidates Jusuf Kalla and Megawati Sukarnoputri began presenting their complaints to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, it was clear where their common cause ended.

They agreed in claiming that millions of fictitious votes had made the election a sham. They agreed that there must now be a second round of voting. But on which of the candidates should be in that second round, their unity abruptly dissolved.

A representative of Kalla's team, Chairuman Harahap, said Kalla and running mate Wiranto lost 24 million votes as a result of a decision by the General Elections Commission (KPU) to scrap 69,000 polling stations. At least 500 voters were supposed to cast their votes at each of the stations, and the Kalla camp claimed at least 70 percent of those disenfranchised voters would have voted for the vice president.

Chairuman said the final results would have been roughly 48 million votes for Yudhoyono (40 percent), 39.2 million for Kalla (32.5 percent) and 32.5 million for Megawati (27.4 percent).

In the KPU's official election results, Kalla came in a distant third with 16 percent.

"Under the true conditions, the election should go to a second round with Yudhoyono and Kalla running again," Chairuman said.

Megawati's team had other ideas, telling the court that 28.6 million fictitious votes went to Yudhoyono and most of these should be stripped from his total.

Arteria Dahlan, a lawyer for the Megawati team, said his calculations showed that Yudhoyono won 48.7 percent, Megawati was second with 35.06 percent and Kalla third with 16.2 percent.

"The true data show that Yudhoyono did not win in one election round," Arteria said, demanding the court annul the results and order an election rerun in 25 provinces that he said had inaccurate final voters lists.

Kalla was absent at the proceedings but a teary-eyed Megawati was at the court as it began hearing both team's challenges against the validity of the results, including a complaint that the KPU failed to ensure a free and fair poll.

Fighting back tears, the former president said before the hearing: "I expect the judges to be fair. I was the one who proposed establishing the Constitutional Court."

Chairuman said the KPU also violated the Election Law by twice revising the final voters list that it released ahead of the poll.

The Kalla and Megawati camps had also made other claims against the validity of the voter rolls, including allegations that there were millions of fictitious or duplicate names on the final voters list while tens of millions of eligible voters were left off.

On July 23, the KPU declared Yudhoyono the runaway winner with 73,874,562 votes, or 60.8 percent of the vote. Megawati came in second with 32,548,105 votes, or 26.8 percent, and Kalla third with 15,081,814 votes, or 12.4 percent.

The Election Law requires a candidate to win 50 percent plus one vote to win outright and avoid a runoff against the runner-up. Both the Kalla and Megawati teams said their goal in disputing the results was to force a second round and hopefully win there.

Both camps say they will introduce evidence when the court hearing resumes today. But analysts have accused the pair of being bad losers and trying to taint Yudhoyono's win by claiming the election results were fraudulent.

There is a general consensus that Kalla and Megawati's legal moves have little chance of overturning Yudhoyono's victory. "The data presented by the candidates will not reduce the votes gained by the current winner to below 50 percent," said Andrinof Chaniago, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia. "I doubt whether the teams of both candidates have sufficient data to request an election rerun."

Ruhut Sitompul, an official from Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, said the two losing tickets needed to present real evidence. "There is no law or regulation that may open the possibility of an election rerun," Ruhut said. "We should respect the election result announced by the KPU."

Andi Nurpati, a member of the KPU, said the evidence being touted by the losing candidates' teams was not valid. "They're only records of the parties and not official data," she said. "We have prepared the official election data".

Losing legislative candidates urge KPU to obey Supreme Court

Jakarta Post - August 2, 2009

Jakarta – A group of unelected legislative candidates say the General Elections Commission (KPU) must quickly implement a ruling issued by the Supreme Court, which would give candidates seats at the House of Representatives.

"KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary, in his capacity as a cleric, will understand the calculation currently being used by the commission is against the law and not righteous," a legislative candidate from the Democratic Party, Zaenal Ma'arif, said on behalf of the group calling itself the "Coalition of Constitution and Justice" at Hotel Sahid Jaya in Sudirman, Central Jakarta, on Sunday.

"Therefore, the KPU should implement the Supreme Court's ruling as soon as possible. Otherwise, people will not believe in the institution anymore," he added.

In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the second phase of vote counting by the KPU was incorrect. The KPU's interpretation is that the second phase of seat calculations included only the remaining eligible votes from the first phase of calculations.

However, the Supreme Court ruled that the votes used by the winning parties in the first phase were to be used again in the second phase, costing parties with smaller votes their legislative seats.

That ruling would mean that at least 66 seats would be allocated to major parties at the expense of minor parties at the House of Representatives, according to a calculation by the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro).

Abdul said the KPU needed more time to synchronize the ruling with the one from the Constitutional Court and any possible revisions would be implemented within 90 days after the Supreme Court's ruling was received by the commission.

According to the KPU's interpretation, the 90 days period will fall on Oct. 22., three weeks after the inauguration of the new House legislators, which falls on Oct. 1.

However, the coalition's advocacy team member, Yosef Badoeda, who himself is also a legislative candidate of the Democratic Party, said the KPU had to execute the ruling by Sept. 18.

"The starting point is on the date of the ruling issuance, which was June 18, not on the date in which the KPU received the ruling from the Supreme Court," he said.

A legislative candidate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Hasto Kristiyanto, said the coalition did not aim to serve the candidates' lust for legislative seats. "We just want to uphold the constitution," he said. (hdt)

Police/law enforcement

Government under fire over witness protection

Jakarta Post - August 8, 2009

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government has been under fire for "neglecting" the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) that has resulted in a lack of employees and a poor performance over the past year.

Emerson Yuntho from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said the government's negligence of the LPSK had occurred since its establishment in August 2008, when the government began its selection process for agency members a year after the Law on Witness and Victim Protection was endorsed in 2006.

"The President has never even inaugurated LPSK members. He had plenty of time to conduct campaign rallies across the country, but no time to inaugurate the agency's members," Emerson told a discussion in Jakarta on Thursday, which was held to commemorate the LPSK's 1st anniversary on Aug. 8.

LPSK chairman Abdul Haris Semendawai confirmed Emerson's remarks, saying that agency members had decided to start working immediately, even though they were yet to be inaugurated, and were armed only with a presidential decree of their appointment.

Abdul also said the government had only disbursed funds to finance LPSK activities in mid December 2008, making it difficult for the agency to implement its programs once it was first established.

Bureaucratic procedures at the state secretariat also hampered the work of the agency, Abdul said, by making it difficult for the LPSK to recruit secretarial staff. "Consequently, we only began to really work in May, about four months ago and there are still vacant positions in our secretariat that we are trying hard to fill," he said.

Emerson further criticized the government, accusing it of supporting the agency halfheartedly, as no "safe homes" have been established to protect witnesses and victims seeking the agency's protection.

He also criticized the poor security measures in place for protecting whistle-blowers. "How can it (the LPSK) provide protection, when the officers in charge are no more than security guards?" Emerson said.

He also highlighted the lack of ethical codes and internal supervision within the agency that could lead to the misconduct.

According to Abdul, the LPSK has received a total of 61 witness protection requests, only five of which have been granted and are now part of the agency's protection program.

The others are either still being deliberated or require additional documents in order to be ratified as part of the agency's protection program. The LPSK, for example, has asked the police to hand over all witnesses in corruption cases.

Rhani Juliani, the main witness in the Nasruddin murder case, declined protection from the agency despite the legal imperative. "The LPSK is a neutral agency. If suspicion arises, it would be better to let us handle the witness," Abdul said.

The police said earlier that Rhani, the wife of the late Nasruddin, had been placed under police protection upon request from her family over fears for her safety.

Early police findings suggest that Rhani had an affair with the former Corruption Eradication Commission chief Antasari Azhar who has recently been named as a suspect in the murder.

Good cop, bad cop: A globe special report on police in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - August 3, 2009

Kafil Yamin – On a hot and sticky recent Saturday, hundreds of travelers heading out of the capital to Bogor found themselves stranded in "UKI," a well-known transportation depot in East Jakarta, perplexed about why they couldn't find any transportation.

"I heard that regular buses are no longer allowed to make a stopover here. It's a shame the police haven't told us about this. They should have announced it," said Sukri, a traveler who was forced to hire a taxi to continue on to Bogor, paying a much higher fare.

Some travelers shared taxis to Bogor to split the cost, while others jointly hired minivans. It was not at all like Jakarta, where transportation can be found just about anywhere, all because traffic regulations were actually being enforced. UKI isn't an official bus depot, and buses technically aren't allowed to make a stop there to pick up passengers, but that's how it's been done for years because local police never enforced the law.

It's a no-brainer as to why: as one bus driver explained, each bus heading for Bekasi, Tangerang, Sukabumi, Bogor or other points in Banten and West Java paid police officers Rp 20,000 to stop at UKI and take on more passengers. So, despite a huge billboard warning that "Stopping and taking passengers is prohibited here," lines of big buses have been a common sight and regular cause of traffic jams.

But in recent weeks, the vehicle congestion has slackened and traffic flows more smoothly. The area has also been cleared of street thugs, or preman, who extort money from taxis as they pick up passengers.

"If we did not give the money, the preman would just hit our car with a brick or iron stick," said one driver. "And even if the police were around, they would not help us. But the preman are not here anymore."

So what's happened? Why is UKI suddenly a model area in the Jakarta chaos? In street food stalls, schools and offices, word has gotten around the past few weeks: the police are getting nicer, not to mention more professional. "We now rarely find police out on the streets looking for drivers who break the rules, which is a result of only one thing: money," said a minivan driver on the UKI-Slipi route. "There are still some police like that, of course."

Agents of change?

A 2008 survey by AC Nielsen and the Japan International Cooperation Agency showed that 36 percent of respondents in several major Indonesian cities felt the police had changed for the better. In Surabaya, a survey last year by the Asia Foundation, a US-based international development group, found residents there viewed the police as kind and respectful.

Are police across the nation, who regularly make headlines for alleged extortion, kidnappings, torture and extradjudicial killings, getting better? Based on a Jakarta Globe investigation, the answer is: yes and no. Some parts of the institution have changed since the National Police were separated from the Armed Forces in 1999, while others have not.

Although the National Police have added 100,000 new officers over the last four years, Indonesia is far short of the one officer per 600 citizens ratio that law enforcement experts recommend.

The most obvious change, according to Leopold Sudaryono, law program coordinator at the Asia Foundation, is that public services such as issuing driver's licenses and processing vehicle tax payments are faster now. Other reforms are not as visible, but all stem from the fact that the National Police's annual budget has soared from Rp 3.5 trillion ($346 million) 10 years ago to Rp 30 trillion today.

But money can't buy everything. The National Police are in a constant fight against their own appalling reputation as human rights abusers instead of rights defenders; law breakers instead of law enforcers; community oppressors instead of community servants.

Leo acknowledges that reforms have been very slow in the middle- to-lower levels of the police, but said that, 10 years after the reformasi (reform) battle cry, we're just in the first stages of reform.

"It's like the process of the so-called regional autonomy, or decentralization. In the first phase, the scheme was merely a transfer of corruption from central to regional administrations," he said. "But then comes a phase of public accountability, when people demand transparency and fight any irregularities, which is taking place now. "The police reform will unavoidably come to that phase," Leo said.

Last year, the Jakarta Police declared war on preman, arresting nearly 3,000 thugs and gang members. They also intensified anticrime operations, rounded up street prostitutes and began stringent enforcement of traffic regulations.

Internally, the National Police have imposed more rigorous punishment on its own members. The polisi nakal (bad cops) were scolded, while many were fired and shamed by having their names made public.

As part of an image-building campaign that began in October 2008, city police fired 160 policemen and punished 230 others for various violations. Between May 2008 and March 2009, the National Police investigated 129 cases of violations by officers, resulting in 81 court cases and 49 officers being fired.

"A number of cases are still at trial," National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri told the Globe.

But the internal battle to create good cops is a tough challenge. Public complaints about police extorting money are commonplace, with gangs of bad cops roaming the system. Worse, the so-called bad police are still free to roam around the city to prey on people.

In April, dozens of pharmacy owners in North and Central Jakarta went public about a police gang that had been blackmailing them for five years. The officers would burst into their shops, grab medicines, claim they were "illegal drugs" and give the owners two choices: pay up or go to jail.

"Of course we have some expired stuff to be returned to our distributors," said Narni, a harmacy owner in Sunter, North Jakarta, who said he paid the crooked police Rp 30 million.

Samsul Bahri Rajam, a Jakarta lawyer, says police extortion is common in Indonesia's major cities. "So the number of victims can be in the thousands and even hundreds of thousands."

Rights and wrongs

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says the National Police have been accused of more human rights violations so far this year than any other state agency. Nur Cholis, a member of the monitoring division of Komnas HAM, said that of the 202 complaints filed, 180 of them were against police.

"The figure shows that the police still prefer to use force in solving problems, while claiming they have become community police who favor persuasive measures," Nur Cholis said, adding that the complaints ranged from torture during interrogation, to forcing suspects to sign investigation reports, to murdering suspects.

Research conducted by the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) between 2007 and 2008 indicated that 83.65 percent of detained suspects nationwide had suffered physical abuse by police.

"The number of cases may even be higher," said LBH chairman Patra Muhammad Zein. "The figure only represents what our survey could find."

The institute interviewed detained suspects in Pondok Bambu, Tangerang, Salemba and Cipinang prisons, and most respondents said they were tortured into confessing during interrogation.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has brought to light three recent cases of alleged abuse by police. In April, relatives of the victims told Kontras a suspect named Carmadi died during interrogation in Slawi, Central Java, after being detained for allegedly attacking a campaigner for a legislative candidate in West Java.

Carmadi's family said that before he died Carmadi told them that police investigators tortured him, showing them scars on his neck and a large cut on the back of his head. He also had a broken rib and had lost his hearing, his family said. The Slawi district police chief, Wahyu Handoyo, however, said that Carmadi committed suicide, according to Kontras.

On April 5, suspect Bayu Perdana Putra died in police custody three days after he was arrested in North Jakarta. Bayu's father found multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and stab wounds to his legs when examining the body. According to Kontras, a North Jakarta Police officer named Santoso claimed that officers had been forced to shoot Bayu because he had tried to escape.

On April 29, police in Cirebon, West Java, arrested Zainal Muhammad Latif at his home in the Taman Bajakarta housing complex for allegedly being involved in drug trafficking, according to Kontras. While in custody, Zaenal was blindfolded and gagged, then beaten by 10 police officers, the group said, adding that officers burned his chest with lit cigarettes.

On April 30, police released him with a warning not to tell anyone about the abuse during his arrest and questioning.

Last year, several nongovernmental organizations filed a lawsuit against Bambang, the National Police chief, and Minister of Justice and Human Rights Andi Matalatta, claiming gross human rights violations against police detainees and suspects. The case is now in court.

During the Suharto era, when the National Police was part of the Armed Forces, it was widely known that political opposition figures and activists suffered shocking abuse during police questioning including beatings, electrocutions and having fingernails or toenails ripped out. Abuse was standard operating procedure.

Open to reform

When the police were separated from the military, international aid groups made a point to teach basic human rights to officers who had never been told that detainees and prisoners were entitled to them. Groups such as the International Organization for Migration have been educating police since 2004, mainly in investigation techniques and principles of basic human rights.

Monica Tanuhandaru, an IOM coordinator, said the National Police now has an established human rights handbook, and as a result, the "use of force during investigations is gradually decreasing."

She acknowledged that some old practices remain, including police recruits paying money to be admitted to the force. According to several sources who helped their sons get recruited, the going rate is between Rp 70 million and Rp 80 million.

Tanuhandaru said the IOM's overall police reform program began in 2000 and would last for 25 years. "Such practices will hopefully vanish before the program concludes."

"I think if you compare how the police were during the Suharto era and how they are now, you will see how different it is," she said.

"In 2005, we did research on police in Aceh, and we found that police were still using force and torture. In 2008, we did research again and found not a single case of such practices."

Tanuhandaru said accountability and transparency were among the striking changes. "Now they are more open with information about how many cases they are working on, how many cases they have finished and how many cases they cannot handle," she said.

For decades, bad police behavior was explained away by saying the force was chronically underfunded, undertrained and ill equipped. But that excuse has worn out its welcome. "Now it has become a cliche, because the National Police budget has increased and police receive better wages," Tanuhandaru said.

The National Police imposed a new regulation on interrogating suspects in 2007 requiring that a defense lawyer and police supervisors be present. The new mechanism is supposed to stop abusive conduct by police during questioning.

"We are determined to create clean officers by any means," said Bambang, the National Police chief, who rebuffed concerns that police reform is progressing too slowly. "The change is very fast. I feel it.

"We have developed transparent investigations, quick responses, and we are continuing to reshape our bureaucracy to become more efficient," he told the Globe in a recent interview.

Economy & investment

Foreign groups prepared to ride out Indonesia uncertainty

Financial Times - August 3, 2009

John Aglionby, Jakarta – Most analysts believe last month's double hotel bombing in Jakarta is unlikely to have much permanent impact on Indonesia's economy, provided it was not the start of a wider destabilisation campaign.

But even before the attacks, the investment climate was far from ideal, as many high-profile foreign investors in south-east Asia's largest economy have learnt for themselves.

When international bondholders tried to seize 70 per cent of Central Proteina Prima after a default, they did not expect a controversial rights issue that diluted their holding in the Indonesian aquaculture company to 40 percent and, last month, a $4 billion lawsuit.

Separately, Research In Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of Blackberry smart phones, recently found itself within a whisker of having imports of new devices banned until it set up an in- country service centre.

International companies such as Mars, the confectioner, and Intel, the computer chip maker, and McDonald's have also found themselves fighting various legal actions. Almost a dozen oil companies based in Batam, a special economic zone east of Sumatra, have just told officials they plan to relocate to nearby Singapore if rules that result in tax being levied multiple times are not altered.

The cases expose the difficulties foreign groups face navigating Indonesia's opaque legal system and uncertain business climate, even at a time when the newly re-elected government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is seeking to portray itself as the region's most stable and thriving nation.

Peter Fanning, the head of the Jakarta-based International Chamber of Commerce, says: "There's no doubt the president is serious about getting on top of the endemic corruption?... But it's also true to say the institutional framework within which the law courts work has not changed one iota [since the president began his first term in 2004]."

The $4 billion lawsuit involving international bondholders and CP Prima shares is a case in point. Four companies owned by Thailand's prominent Chearavanont family pledged shares in CP Prima, defaulted and are now suing the Bank of New York Mellon and Indonesia's Bank Danamon, for their actions as trustee and security agent in the deal.

Todung Mulya Lubis, the bondholders' lawyer, says the fact that the plaintiffs are suing for $4 billion speaks volumes about the woeful state of the country's legal system. CP Prima's current market capitalisation is only about $213 million and the value of the outstanding bonds is only $125 million.

Nevertheless, the four companies are suing for the same damages even though one guaranteed three times more CP Prima shares than any of the other companies.

Elsewhere, the problem hitting Research In Motion exposes another common problem in Indonesia – the contradictory contents of regulations issued by different institutions. "You're never quite sure what's going on, what the next steps should be," said one western diplomat.

In spite of the numerous areas of concern, analysts say there are signs for hope. The time it takes to start a new business has almost halved, Indonesia's fight against corruption does appear to be bearing fruit and, as the Research In Motion spat shows, many disputes can be resolved in the end.

International investors do not appear to be put off. Volkswagen recently announced it would set up an assembly plant in Indonesia, while British American Tobacco in June paid $494 million for 85 per cent of Bentoel, an Indonesian cigarette company.

"Unless the president acts decisively in his next term, the cautious will remain cautious and on the sidelines, while bolder entrepreneurs will continue to come in and be well rewarded," Mr Fanning said.

People

Farewell WS Rendra, poet, playwright and father of theater

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2009

Bramantyo Prijosusilo – Poet, writer, dramatist, cultural activist and theater director, WS Rendra, died on Thursday night, approaching the age of 74, after battling heart and kidney problems for around a month. Indonesia has lost one of its most talented artists.

Rendra rose to fame as a poet in the 1950's and remained the most influential poet in the country until his death. He is also credited as the man who brought modern Indonesian theater to its maturity through his experimental works with Bengkel Teater (Theater Workshop), which he founded in 1968. Before Rendra and his Bengkel Teater, modern Indonesian theater was simply a copy of that in the West, but Rendra brought traditional expressions into a modern context.

Born to a Roman Catholic family and baptized as Willibrordus Surendra Broto, he changed his name to Wahyu Sulaiman Rendra when he embraced Islam in 1970 on his second marriage to Sitoresmi Prabunigrat from the Yogyakarta palace. Rendra leaves behind eleven children from three marriages.

During the repressive New Order era, Rendra was one of the few creative people in this country who had the courage to express dissent. When the novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer was returned from Indonesia's gulag – the prison island of Buru – he said Rendra was "one man who has the courage to resist the power of Suharto, under his own name. If you cannot respect that, you should learn to."

Rendra's plays and poetry during the Suharto era were very critical of the ideology of development and his performances as a poet or with Bengkel Teater were often banned.

"I learned meditation and disciplines of the traditional Javanese poet from my mother who was a palace dancer. The idea of the Javanese poet is to be a guardian of the spirit of the nation," Rendra once said. Because of his poetry readings and his sexy performances on the stage, he was dubbed "the Peacock" by the press.

In 1979, during a poetry reading critical of development in the Ismail Marzuki art center in Jakarta, Suharto's military intelligence agents threw ammonia bombs on to the stage and arrested him. He was imprisoned in the notorious Guntur military prison for nine months, spending time in solitary confinement in a cell with a ceiling too low to stand up and only mosquitoes for company. When he was released, without ever having being charged, his body was covered with sores from mosquito bites.

His experience in Guntur prison inspired him to write the short poem: "Thunder beats and hammers/Life is forged on stone/Harsh thunder is my teacher/The sun always shines" and also the ballad "Paman Doblang" ("Uncle Doblang"), which was later set to music by the rock band Kantata Takwa. The ballad tells the story of Uncle Doblang, who is sent to a dark cell for voicing his conscience, and ends with the lines: "Conscience is the sun/patience is the earth/courage forms horizons/and struggle is the implementation of words."

After he was released from prison he was banned from performing poetry or drama until 1986, when he wrote, directed and starred in his eight hour long play "Panembahan Reso," which discussed the issue of the succession of power that was a taboo at that time. Before the performance at the Senayan sports center, he told his cast of 40-something actors: "Pack your toiletries, because there is a chance that we might get arrested." The play took six months to prepare and was performed for two nights. "Modern Indonesian theater has no infrastructure. We must create it ourselves," he used to tell his performers.

Rendra studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the same school as Marlon Brando, but when he graduated, he chose to return to Indonesia and in 1968 founded Bengkel Teater in Yogyakarta. The group quickly fascinated audiences with works that were artistically experimental and politically critical.

In 1969 he created a series of dramas without any dialog where actors employed their bodies and simple sounds such as bip bop, zzzzz and rambate rate rata. The journalist poet Goenawan Mohamad dubbed these experimental performances as "mini-word theatre." During the 1970's, his plays such as "Mastodon and the Condors" and "The Struggle of the Naga Tribe" and "The Regional Secretary" were often banned because they openly criticized Suharto's development programs that often alienated indigenous people and tended to side with multinational corporations.

Rendra was also a great admirer of Shakespeare and Bertolt Brecht, and he translated and performed Hamlet and Macbeth. A keen student of the traditional Indonesian martial art pencak silat, Rendra always looked a lot younger than his age and he played Hamlet when he was well into his sixties.

He translated and performed Brecht's "Caucasian Chalk Circle," as well as Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy. In the process of embracing Islam, he translated and directed the traditional Islamic poems telling of the life of the prophet Muhammad, in his play comprising drums and poetry, "Qasidah Barjanzi." His works have been translated into many languages and performed all over the world.

Rendra, who was born in Solo on Nov. 7, 1935, will be missed by creative communities all over Indonesia. He was a dedicated mentor who was always willing to help younger artists. He will be remembered for many things, especially by members of his Bengkel Teater. For them, he was a dear friend, a teacher and a father figure.

[Bramantyo Prijosusilo is an artist, poet and organic farmer in Ngawi, East Java. He was a student of WS Rendra at Bengkel Teater.]

Thousands pay respects to revolutionary

Jakarta Post - August 8, 2009

Jakarta – Thousands flocked to the late artist W.S. Rendra's Bengkel Teater workshop in Citayam, Depok on Friday, to pay their respects to the founder of the theater group of the same name.

Among the mourners were vice-president-elect Boediono, Transportation Minister Djusman Syafii Djamal, Depok Mayor Nur Mahmudi Ismail and Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik. Countless fellow artists and celebrities were also present at the theatre workshop.

Among popular artists were folk musician Iwan Fals, theatre artist and essayist Emha Ainun Najib, author and playwright Putu Wijaya, and comedian Tarzan.

Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra, nick-named the "Peacock" for his flamboyant romantic relationships, passed away at around 10 p.m. on Thursday at Mitra Keluarga Hospital in Depok. He was 74.

The funeral procession evoked deep sadness among the poet's family and friends.

"I am unfit to be a teacher at Bengkel Teater. As a wife, I had not dedicated myself enough to you. I love you...," Ken Zuraida, Rendra's third wife, said to her late husband, as quoted by Antara.

Ken then asked the members of Bengkel Teater present at the funeral to sing the Javanese song "Singgah-singgah" to bid the poet a last farewell. Her request was met by several members, who solemnly sang the song usually performed before a play is about to begin.

The poet was buried under a tree behind Bengkel Teater. "The spot had been prepared since a long time ago," Iwan Burnani, Rendra's brother-in-law, said. "He also requested to be buried under a tree."

Artist Emha gave a teary speech before Rendra's body was lowered into the grave. Fellow artist Putu and singer Iwan Fals, a usually no-nonsense man in his songs and attitude, was also unable to hold back his tears, vivanews.com reported.

In Semarang, journalists and artists performed theatrical acts to honor Rendra near the fountain on Jl. Pahlawan. Those who gathered took turns reading his poems and constructed a bamboo throne decorated with the nation's red and white flag as a tribute to the late poet.

Semarang Arts Council head Marco Manardi said Rendra was a revolutionary poet during his time. "He dared to stand up against the New Order. His works contained protests against the current social condition. During the Soeharto era, the things he did were considered acts of bravery," he said.

Poet, playwright WS Rendra dies

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2009

Noted poet and playwright Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra, more popularly known as WS Rendra or "the Peacock," died at around 10 p.m. on Thursday evening at a Depok hospital, less than two hours after he was admitted in a weak condition, a hospital staff member said.

Rendra published his first volume of poetry in 1957. He studied at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the mid-1960s, and returned to Indonesia to found the collaborative Bengkel Theatre. He launched numerous controversial and innovative productions.

"Java had no tradition of causal thinking; things were conceived of only according to parallel processes," he was later quoted as saying in the International Institute for Asian Studies newsletter. "I wanted to introduce something new: causality... I wanted people, particularly politicians who were becoming increasingly dogmatic, to be able to think analytically."

Rendra's writings fell afoul of the New Order regime. He was jailed without trial in 1978 and faced restrictions on his work for the next several years. He continued to travel at age 70 and beyond to lecture and read from his writings.

Rendra died at 73 and left behind 11 children from three wives. Since late June, he had been admitted to the hospital three times due to heart complications.

Jakarta mourners remember poetry of WS Rendra's life

Jakarta Globe - August 7, 2009

Lisa Siregar – Friends and family gathered for the funeral of poet WS Rendra on Friday, with prayers at Jami Nurul Yaqin Mosque in Depok. He was later buried at the compound of his art workshop, the Bengkel Theater, also in Depok.

The graveside was crowded with a few hundred mourners, including family and friends. All seemed eager to share their recollections of one of the country's most beloved writers.

"I am sad, but God knows best," said Yanti Suryo, his younger sister.

"As Rendra's student at Bengkel Theater, I remember Rendra as an egalitarian," said Putu Wijaya, a playwright and director. "He always said that we have to be brave to fight power."

Rendra's grave is just 10 meters from the resting place of one of his best friends, reggae musician Mbah Surip, who died unexpectedly earlier this week.

"Rendra had prepared the plot years ago. He wished to be buried under a shady tree," Rendra's brother-in-law, Iwan Burnani, told Antara news agency.

Six days before he died, Rendra wrote his last poem from his hospital bed, "God, I Love You." The handwritten poem was displayed at his house in Depok on Friday.

Jero Wacik, the minister of culture and tourism, said Rendra was always passionate about developing art in Indonesia. "We lost Rendra but we shall not lose his spirit," he said.

"When he received his first payment as an artist," Rendra's sister Yanti recalled, "everybody gathered in his bedroom and he joyfully threw the money into the air and he bought new shoes for all his siblings."

Other mourners included Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal, musician Iwan Fals and Paramadina University rector Anis Baswedan. "Mas Willy was very humanistic," Djamal told TV One. "He dedicated his life to art and he was very critical of social realities."

Iwan told Antara that Rendra had recently spent two months in a hospital for heart and kidney problems. He was released on Tuesday, but on Thursday he was rushed back to a hospital in Depok and died at around 10 p.m., less than two hours after he was admitted. He was 73.

Analysis & opinion

No surprises in Indonesian presidential election

Direct Action - August 2009

Max Lane – The first major political incident after the July 8 Indonesian presidential election were two co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on Jakarta's Marriot and Ritz Carlton luxury hotels on July 17, which killed seven people, including six foreigners. These were the first suicide bomb attacks in almost five years. On July 29, responsibility for the attacks was claimed by the "Al-Qaeda Organisation Indonesia", believed to be headed by Malaysian Islamist Noordin Mohammed Top.

The presidential election campaign itself was uneventful with low turnouts for election rallies compared to previous elections, and televised presidential debates universally described as boring with all candidates espousing more-or-less the same policies. Voter abstention remained high – above 30%, with non-registered and informal votes – but less than in the April parliamentary elections. The greater voter participation probably reflects the willingness of some sections of the masses who abstained in parliamentary elections to exercise their vote for what is seen as the powerful position of president, as distinct from any of the parties in the parliamentary framework.

The Yudhoyono-Budiono ticket won the elections with 60.8% of the vote, with the Megawati-Prabowo ticket receiving 26.79% and the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto ticket 12.4%. The two losing tickets are challenging the results in the courts claiming irregularities with the voting lists, though neither claims it had won a majority of votes. The court challenges are best seen as part of the manoeuvring in the period leading up to the appointment of a cabinet and the first sittings of the new parliament. Court challenges over the results in the parliamentary elections have recently resulted in increases in the number of seats for Yudhoyono's Demokrat Party (PD), Kalla's Golkar party and Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and decreases in the numbers of seats for Prabowo's Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and Wiranto's Peoples Conscience Party (Hanura).

More challenges from the Islamic right-wing and more intra-elite political tensions are likely to be a feature of the next period. The coalition of parties that supported Yudhoyono have a majority in the House of Representatives (DPR), but there will be intense struggles over cabinet positions among these as well as with non-party figures. There are also likely to be tensions within the government on cultural policies as many of Yudhoyono's coalition partners are Islamic parties, with very conservative cultural agendas.

Golkar, deceased dictator Suharto's old party, was part of the previous governing coalition in the parliament. With Golkar leader Kalla having stood against Yudhoyono in the presidential election, it is unclear what Golkar's position will be in the next parliament. Already a struggle has started inside Golkar, with many leading Golkar figures urging that Golkar approach Yudhoyono to re-enter the government. This reflects the fact that there are no serious policy differences between Golkar and Yudhoyono, despite Kalla's demagogic criticisms during the presidential election campaign of Yudhoyono's neoliberal economic policies. All major issues, Golkar MPs voted for government policies in the previous parliament.

While it is still unclear what role General Wiranto's Hanura party will seek to play, General Prabowo's Gerindra has declared it will remain in alliance with Megawati's PDIP. Both of them are posturing more over the election results, but appear to be confining their protests to legal challenges. Street mobilisations in support of their protests have been tiny. While there were intense talks between the PDIP and Yudhoyono's PD before the election about a possible coalition, it is likely that PDIP, now with Gerindra, will continue to try to position itself as an "opposition". The PDIP however never seriously opposed any of Yudhoyono's economic or political legislation.

Following a recent Supreme Court decision, PDIP is likely to have 111 seats out of 563 and Gerindra 17. In the parliamentary elections, PDIP and Gerindra scored a combined vote of 20%. In the presidential election they increased their vote by 7%. This may have been at the expense of Golkar and Hanura, whose combined vote dropped from 20% in the parliamentary elections to 13% in the presidential election.

"The new parliament is the old parliament repeated, but worse", Vivi Widyawati, a leading activist in the radical left Committee for the Politics of Poor-Peoples Democratic Party told Direct Action. "It is the all the same old parties, plus the two new parties of Suharto era generals, Wiranto and Prabowo. The progressive groups outside the parliament face a big challenge to unite and build a challenge to the interests that this parliament represents."

The Indonesian left and Green Left Weekly

Direct Action - August 2009

Max Lane – For 17 years, from 1990 through to 2007, I regularly contributed articles on Indonesian politics to Green Left Weekly, a newspaper published by the Democratic Socialist Party (Democratic Socialist Perspective since 2005). During this period, GLW played a key role in building solidarity with the anti-dictatorship movement in Indonesia, and in particular, with its radical vanguard, Students in Solidarity with Democracy (SMID) and later the Peoples' Democratic Party (PRD).

GLW also covered the labour struggle in Indonesia, including giving focused coverage to the Indonesian Centre for Labour Struggles (PPBI), later renamed the Indonesian Front for Labour Struggles (FNPBI). GLW worked in collaboration with Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor (ASIET), a solidarity group supporting the democracy movement in Indonesia and the struggle for freedom in East Timor. In Indonesia, the PRD was one of the main groups organising protest actions supporting the right to independence of East Timor.

By reporting the activities and explaining the perspectives of the PRD, GLW and the DSP played a major role, probably the leading role in the world, in introducing Indonesia's main left- wing party to the Australian and international left. By the time of the fall of Suharto in 1998, most people in the organised Australian left had become familiar with the PRD and its leaders.

Around this time, and since, GLW and ASIET organised public meetings in Australia where PRD, FNPBI and SMID leaders and activists spoke. What most people in the organised left in Australia and around the world knew about the PRD and left politics in Indonesia was due to articles that were published in GLW. It is therefore a huge disappointment that since late 2007, GLW has ceased to play that role, abandoning all responsibility to seriously and honestly report developments on the Indonesian left.

Turn to electoralism

In 2007 a major turning point occurred in the history of the PRD and the Indonesian left. A majority of the PRD central leadership voted on a drastic change in strategy to enter into what they called a fusion with another party the Star Reformation Party (PBR), which was a supporter of the incumbent government and that had a consistent record of supporting conservative policies in the parliament. The PBR was originally a split from the United Development Party (PPP), led by Islamic ideologue Zainuddin Muhammad Zein. Later he was ousted by a group of younger opportunist politicians, headed by Bursah Zarnubi, a former activist in Islamic and anti-communist groups.

Prior to this decision, the PRD had been trying to build an electoral party, the United Party for National Liberation (Papernas). The idea of fusing with the PBR came after it was clear that Papernas would not succeed in gaining enough members and branches to pass the stringent electoral registration regulations. The PRD majority leadership also argued that the PBR would allow Papernas to maintain an identity of its own. The PRD leadership majority, headed by long-time PRD activist Dita Sari, argued that the new PBR leadership were amenable to such a fusion and would not demand a major watering down of Papernas policies.

When a minority voted against this new strategy, another vote was taken "inviting" these PRD leaders to "exercise the democratic right" to test out their own strategy separately. This was a de facto expulsion. All members of the PRD who disagreed with the turn to the PBR were offered the same choice: support the new line or leave. Over a period of several months about one third of the PRD membership refused to accede to the new line and started to organise themselves as a new formation: the Committee for the Politics of the Poor-PRD (KPRM-PRD). Eventually they were all formally expelled from the PRD, which became known as PRD/Papernas.

To this day, GLW has not reported, let alone explained these developments. Up until my expulsion from the DSP (along with 50 other members in a miniority faction) in May 2008, the DSP leadership suppressed all written discussion of these developments among the membership of the DSP. In the pre-congress discussion leading up to the DSP's January 2008 congress, written contributions on these developments by myself and one other DSP member were refused publication by the DSP national executive. An earlier report I had written, following hours of discussions with both sides of the conflict in Indonesia, and a reading of documents from both sides, was also refused circulation to the DSP membership. In the main international situation report delivered at the congress, no mention at all was made of the developments in Indonesia.

Defending PRD opportunism

In November 2008, GLW published an article "Indonesia: Tracing a path towards parliament" by a PRD leader, Kelik Ismunanto. The article defended the PRD/Papernas line of trying to obtain parliamentary seats through working in the PBR. The article clearly set out the PRD's new political framework: "It has been shown that the important task of wresting back the people's economic and social rights cannot be achieved simply through an extra-parliamentary movement. Parliament is the main edifice that needs to fortify the people against the ferocity of the free market. To demarcate between parliamentary and extra- parliamentary roads is not the right solution for building the people's movement. As was explained by Dita Sari on television recently, the extra-parliamentary movement needs parliament to formalise the program they are struggling for."

The idea that the extra-parliamentary struggle "needs" parliamentary formalisation and that parliament was the "main edifice" to defend the working people from the "ferocity of the free market" was a complete departure from the PRD's previous politics. After the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, the PRD had participated in the 1999 parliamentary election. It had also tried to participate in the 2004 elections through electoral parties it had initiated. The PRD had always seen the usefulness of putting forward its politics in election campaigns but had never seen parliament as the "main edifice" for the defence of ordinary people's interests. The self-organisation of the working people in their own mass movement was seen as the main way in which they could defend their interests.

GLW neither presented its own critique of this new political direction nor reported on or explained the criticism of it espoused by the KPRM-PRD. It seems clear the DSP leadership had decided to defend the new PRD/Papernas line. This was confirmed at the April 2009 DSP-organised World at a Crossroads conference when a DSP member presented a workshop defending the new PRD/Papernas line.

Between November 2008 and the holding of the Indonesian legislative elections in April 2009, GLW made no attempt to either report on the PRD/Papernas/PBR electoral campaign or its results. Nor did GLW report any of the views or activities of the KPRM-PRD or other Indonesian left groups. There was a massive collapse in the PBR vote from 2.3% in 2004 to 1% in 2009. The PBR lost all its seats. While the PRD-Papernas stood more than 100 candidates under the PBR banner, none, including Dita Sari, were elected.

However, last month GLW published another PRD/Papernas article, again with no critique nor reporting of KPRM-PRD or other Indonesian left perspectives. Entitled "Indonesia: Challenging the neo-liberal regime", it was compiled from an article by PRD leaders Dominggus Oktavianus, Ulfa Ilyas and Rudi Hartono and translated by Canada-based Papernas member Data Brainanta. Without giving any analysis of the failure of the PBR tactic, the article presented a new PRD/Papernas line. Both in what appears on the Papernas website in Indonesia and in the pages of GLW, the line of "tracing a path towards parliament" seems to have just vanished into the ether.

Now the PRD/Papernas line is framed within the assertion that in the 2009 presidential election there was a "contest between pro- people policies versus pro-capital ones". The alleged champion of the "pro-people policies" is "Prabowo Subiyanto, a retired lieutenant-general who commanded the notorious Kopassus elite troops involved in the kidnappings and killings of pro-democracy activists in 1998". The article stated that in the recent period "the content of Prabowo's speeches are almost identical to the arguments of progressives in recent years. This is both the way he explains the nature of neoliberalism as well as, to a degree, the proposed economic solutions."

The new PRD/Papernas line was oriented towards giving electoral support to General Prabowo, a multi-millionaire businessman, who ran an electoral campaign using the slogan "people's economy" and attacked the government of incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for being neoliberal. Sometimes, however, Prabowo makes his real politics clear. According to the January 23 Jakarta Globe, at a launching of A Testimony of Indonesian History: From Pak Harto to Indonesia, a book written by Probosutedjo, Suharto's stepbrother, "Prabowo said he favored Suharto's model of iron- fisted development. He said politicians leading the country after Suharto's fall have been 'too naive' in trying to apply Western political theories to local governance. He argued that despite allegations of human rights violations during Suharto's rule, the people benefitted." Another glimpse at what Prabowo really means by "people's economy" came out when we was addressing the foreign correspondents' club in Jakarta on February 20. Journalist Aboeprijadi Santoso, reported that Pabowo said: "My model is Lee Kuan Yew, a strong leader, a socialist and pro-market." Lee Kuan Yew was prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990 and is "Minister Mentor" to his son, current PM Lee Hsien Loong. Singapore imposes significant restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, particularly on critics of the government, the media and peaceful demonstrations.

None of this was reported in the GLW article. Not only was there no mention of the PRD/Papernas line of "tracing a path to parliament", but there was also no mention in the article or anywhere else in GLW that Dita Sari, the most prominent PRD leader, gave full support to the election of Jusuf Kalla, Golkar chairperson and Yudhoyono's vice-president for the last five years. Kalla's running mate was General Wiranto, who has been indicted by the UN Serious Crimes Commission for crimes against humanity in East Timor. As the newspaper that introduced the PRD and Dita Sari to the Australian and international left, GLW has failed in a major responsibility to provide any honest information on this and all other developments with regard to the PRD.

Direct Action, the publication of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), is trying to continue where GLW left off in late 2007. Our own assessment of political developments in Indonesia is reflected in our reporting, in the analysis we openly present and in our solidarity with the KPRM-PRD. We also try to report the activities of other Indonesian new left parties, groups and non-party left activists that are emerging in Indonesia, often acting together in coalitions around different issues.

Direct Action has sponsored the visit to Australia in June of KPRM-PRD leader Zely Ariane and is organising a visit by KPRM-PRD activist Vivi Widyawati in September-October. Direct Action is a monthly publication; for those wishing to follow Indonesian politics more closely, we recommend visiting the Asia-Pacific Solidarity Network news service.

Mine killings put a vital treaty at risk

Sydney Morning Herald - August 3, 2009

Jim Elmslie – The recent shootings at the Freeport Mine in Papua, which resulted in the death of Australian Drew Grant, is the first real test of the 2007 Lombok Treaty between Australia and Indonesia.

The treaty was designed to enhance the security of both countries and their citizens, but it seems Australians are being caught up in internal domestic conflicts in Indonesia, and paying the price.

Dozens of Papuans are being arrested around Freeport, even though Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono has said that he does not believe the Free West Papua Organisation (OPM), is involved. It is only groups within, or linked to, the police or Indonesian armed forces that have the equipment, training and motivation to carry out armed violence in Indonesia.

If it does turn out that the OPM has been involved, despite the vehement denial by OPM regional commander Kelly Kwalik, then the security situation in Papua is much more fraught than previously thought. Multiple armed attacks (up to six at the time of writing) resulting in at least three dead and 15 wounded, would indicate a much more efficient and effective OPM rebel force than ever before.

Most observers would dismiss this as completely against the recent progression of the West Papuan independence struggle into a peaceful civil movement for recognition of their rights and claims. That leaves groups linked to Indonesia's armed forces.

The motivation is probably money. When a multibillion-dollar enterprise such as Freeport operates in an area of great poverty, guarded by soldiers and police used to raising money outside government budgets, it inevitably becomes a cash cow. Groups compete for that cash.

Another motivation is to ensure that real control of the political, security and economic situation in Papua remains in the hands of the army. After losing East Timor and Aceh, the military are loath to hand over to civilian control the last region in which they exert hegemonic power. This means Westerners, including Australians, have become pawns in a bitter internal struggle in Papua between the military and the police, between civilian authority and the army, and between Indonesia's newly emerging democratic society and the old, dark forces from the Suharto period.

The Lombok Treaty arose in response to 43 West Papuans who landed in Australia in 2005, claiming persecution and asking for political asylum. The Australian Government quickly recognised their claims, infuriating Indonesia.

The treaty covers many areas of Indonesian-Australian engagement, but it is clear that suppression of West Papuan "separatism" is at its heart. The most contentious clause was Article 2.3, which sought to suppress support for West Papuan independence in Australia. The Indonesians would have liked the OPM to be classified as a terrorist organisation, support for which would be a criminal act.

So far this had not happened, but one of the definitions of a terrorist group is that it intentionally kills Westerners for political purposes. This brings us back to the Freeport killings. It is vital to find out the truth behind these murders, not only to bring justice to the victims, but to ensure that the Lombok Treaty is not being used to manipulate Australian-Indonesian relations and increase the persecution of the Papuan people.

Various Australian governments lied for years about the true level of persecution and suffering visited on the East Timorese by the Indonesian occupation forces. This was in the belief that such a policy would strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship. In the end we only prolonged East Timor's agony, strengthened the Suharto dictatorship and ensured Indonesia was treated as a near-pariah for 24 years.

There are many parallels between pre-1999 East Timor and today's West Papua: brutal military occupations to stifle the desire for independence shared by most of their subject populations. It is not in Australia's interests to ignore this struggle: Indonesia needs to address the dilemmas it faces in West Papua directly to have any chance of resolving or mitigating the conflict. If not, we do run the risk of blundering into, if we haven't already, a human rights mess characterised by clandestine forces working outside government control and largely for their own interests.

Australian Federal Police are already involved in the investigation of the killings, but in this context it is vital that independent and objective observers, such as Human Rights Watch, monitor the police and military investigations into the murders.

Without independent scrutiny, any findings by the Indonesian authorities will be open to question. This would in turn undermine the Lombok Treaty. In fact, in the worst case, these crimes could be used as an excuse to tighten the screws on the West Papuans, to increase their suppression, and to stain their legitimate and peaceful calls for self-determination as the acts of a terrorist group.

There is considerable speculation that Indonesian security forces, or at least elements of them, played a role in the attacks at the mine. If the investigation into the murders is seen as a whitewash, with Papuans scapegoated as the perpetrators, the credibility of the Lombok Treaty will be trashed. Pressure should be applied by the Rudd Government, with the spirit of the treaty in mind, to ask the Indonesian Government to allow independent monitors at the investigation immediately.

[Dr Jim Elmslie is co-convener of the West Papua Project at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. He is co-author of Blundering In? The Australia-Indonesia Security Treaty and the Humanitarian Crisis in West Papua.]