Ashlee Betteridge – This year in Indonesia has been rather eventful, with terror bombings, terror raids, legislative and presidential elections, two major earthquakes and a raging corruption scandal making up just some of the big headlines. But the articles with the most traffic on the Jakarta Globe Web site have told a very different tale about the news that has captivated our online readers this year.

Jakarta Globe's 2009 Countdown: Our top 10 news stories by hits for 2009

10. Manohara in her own words

No matter what you may think of Indonesian-American teen princess/model/actress/philanthropist/political activist Manohara Odelia Pinot, you can't deny she's got quite a story. Married to the allegedly abusive Malaysian Prince Tengku Temenggong Muhammad Fakhry, Manohara, with the help of Indonesian and US officials, managed to escape him while visiting Singapore. Since her return to Indonesia, Manohara has landed her own soap opera, gotten tangled up in a defamation case lodged by the prince and joined the nation's anticorruption fight, among other pursuits. This story is the Globe's first exclusive interview with Manohara shortly after her dramatic escape from the prince.

9. Outrage over 'stolen' pendet dance ends up as a misstep

Malaysia not only allegedly stole Manohara this year – it also apparently tried to steal pendet, a Balinese traditional dance. However, after online outrage accusing Malaysia of using Indonesia's culture in their tourism advertisements, it all turned out to be one big misunderstanding.

8. Sayonara Miyabi: Japanese porn star will not visit Indonesia for film

Japanese porn star Miyabi caused quite a stir when she planned to visit Indonesia to star in a non-pornographic comedy movie titled "Menculik Miyabi" ("Kidnapping Miyabi"). By "quite a stir," we mean "quite a lot of rather big protests by hard-line Islamic groups." The public outcry led to Miyabi canceling her visit.

7. Miss Indonesia shames us all, cry Aceh's clerics

Islamic clerics accused Putri Indonesia Qori Sandioriva of "bringing shame" to Aceh by abandoning Muslim values on her way to winning the beauty pageant title. The issue is likely to reignite in 2010, when Sandioriva will represent Indonesia in the Miss Universe competition, which has a swimsuit segment.

6. Anang confirms divorce from Krisdayanti

The confirmation that celebrity couple Krisdayanti and Anang Hermansyah had officially split was apparently big news. The couple, who had been together 13 years, are now entering into a custody battle over their children.

5. Two plunge to deaths in Jakarta shopping malls

It was a strange day in the capital when two individuals committed suicide from the fifth floors of two of Jakarta's luxury shopping malls. When the story first broke, rumors abounded that the young woman and man may have been in a Romeo and Juliet-style love pact, but these were later disproved.

4. Manohara: 'I was drugged and abused'

Arriving back on Indonesian soil after a dramatic escape from her Malaysian prince husband, Manohara detailed the abuse she had allegedly endured during their relationship. The shocking details of sexual and physical abuse, including her statements that parts of her body had been cut by razors and that royal staff injected her with drugs that made her vomit blood, caused public outcry.

3. Japanese porn star's visit delayed due to Indonesian uproar

More Miyabi. Ho hum. Some of the search terms users typed in to find this article included "Japanese porn" "Indonesia porn" and "porn". They may have been disappointed with the 283 words of prose that they found instead.

2. Indonesian vigilantes prepare for battle in Malaysia

A group of Indonesians announced that they were planning to invade Malaysia to seek justice for the Ambalat terroritorial dispute, Malaysia 'claiming' Indonesian cultural heritage, the Manohara case, an offensive parody of Indonesia's national anthem and the abuse of migrant workers. Equipping themselves with black magic spells and sharpened bamboo sticks, their mission sparked lots of questions, including: "Are they serious?"

1. Indonesian smartphones battle: Blackberry beats iPhone

In a year of dramas, it may seem surprising that the number one story on the Jakarta Globe Web site is about mobile phones... but look around. Indonesia is cell phone obsessed! You might even be reading this story from your BlackBerry or iPhone right now. Maybe you're reading this story on your "work phone" while taking a call on your "friends phone" and ignoring an incoming text message on your "family phone." We know your type. The stats don't lie – above devotion to country, above devotion to Michael Jackson, above interest in Japanese porn, lies nationwide worship of the humble SMS message and the devices that relay it.

Reform 'hijacked' by political elites for their own agenda

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – The reform movement has been gathering pace for the past 11 years but justice and prosperity have not trickled down to the people because the movement has been seized by political elites, a professor said.

"Reformation tends to benefit only the political elites. It has been hijacked by them to make decisions that are not in line with the public interest," Pratikno said in his inaugural speech as professor at Gadjah Mada University's (UGM) School of Social and Political Sciences in Yogyakarta on Monday.

He said the hijacking was driven by the shift in political actors from an absolute ruler (Soeharto), to the oligarchy ruling the current reform era.

The problem is the pluralism of political parties is not based on a mutual foundation of nation building, he added. "What's important now is political consolidation."

He said the shift had taken place in the administrative structure – from a hierarchical to a lateral system – involving a growing number of officials.

Pratikno said the People's Consultative Assembly was no longer regarded as the highest state institution, but on a par with the House of Representatives, the President and the Supreme Court.

The Assembly also no longer formulates State Policy Guidelines carried out by the President.

"The President runs the government in tandem with the House, but that doesn't mean the President is above the other institutions, including the judiciary," he said.

Following Soeharto's downfall in 1998, the political scene in Indonesia has become crowded, competitive and open, he said.

He said the enactment of laws to protect freedoms of expression and assembly in the reform era had encouraged the growth in media and civil society organizations that are independent and critical of the state.

Pratikno added that the forming of hundreds of political parties could not be avoided, and that individual candidates also had the opportunity to become regional heads.

He said the current political pluralism in Indonesia was attributed to the public desire to build a representative democracy, which was why efforts to form an effective administration should be carried out by involving all stakeholders, or a public management authority controlled by various parties.

Effective democracy and administrative development are necessary to achieve reforms, he said, adding that a democracy without positive results is not beneficial to the community at large and endangers the government's position.

He said excessive pluralism was hard to manage and must be streamlined and that the current leaders' abilities to manage plurality was urgently needed. He cited examples such as building cooperation between the administrative center and the provinces, and between the provinces themselves, and also creating better communication between regional leaders and their communities.

"One skill that should be developed is networking management," he said.

Actions, demos, protests...

Students burn Democratic Party flag in Makassar Century protest

Jakarta Globe - December 21, 2009

University students burned a Democratic Party flag during a demonstration protesting the Bank Century case in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Monday.

The police tried to stop the students from burning the flag lost in a tug-of-war.

Besides the flag, the students also burned pictures of a number of figures including Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs Andi Malarangeng, Democratic Party lawmaker Ruhut Sitompul and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's son Edi Baskoro. Pictures of former National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji was also burned.

The students said they were disappointed by the seemingly endless corruption cases. The students urged Yudhoyono to suspend Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, who they accused of being responsible for the bailout of the ailing lender. The protest caused traffic delays in downtown Makassar because the demonstrators also burned used car tires.

Student rally turns ugly in Samarinda

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Jakarta – At least six students from Mulawarman University in Samarinda were wounded in a clash with security guards when a rally against regulations on a dropout system turned ugly Thursday.

Lukas Hinuq, leader of the university's law association, said a number of university staff hurled wooden items at the students as they exited their office.

"The security guards beat me, then the university staff trampled me," Lalu Luna, another student involved in the event told tempointeraktif.com.

However, the university's spokesperson Mulyadi said the students started the scuffle by throwing stones at the security guards. The students denied these accusations.

Aceh

Aceh official insists lion dance 'never banned'

Jakarta Globe - December 23, 2009

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Aceh's Religious Affairs Office has moved to distance itself from its controversial decision to prevent the barongsai, or Chinese lion dance, from being performed during commemorations for the 2004 tsunami by the Chinese Buddhist community in Banda Aceh last Sunday.

"We never banned it," office head A Rahman TB told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

"But for Aceh there needs to be an introduction. We need to determine the right time when it can be performed in Aceh, because it's something new and should first be introduced to the people.

"The [Buddhist commemoration] committee understands that this is to maintain interfaith harmony in Aceh, which so far has developed very well."

Rahman said that the committee had issued an official statement signed by Yuswar, its chair, and Erlina, its secretary, to declare that they had never said the religious affairs office had "banned" the barongsai performance.

Semantics aside, requests for permission to stage the traditional dance as part of official remembrance ceremonies for the Dec. 26 disaster were reportedly rejected a number of times by the Religious Affairs Office.

Speaking on Wednesday, Yuswar said he dared not comment further and considered the controversy closed. He said he issued the retraction, "So as not to complicate the matter."

Yuswar said the committee agreed to recant their original claims after a storm of debate emerged on the Internet over the issue. "But there was no pressure or intervention from the Aceh Religious Affairs Office for us to make the statement," he said.

"We can't let the issue compromise the good harmony we have so far enjoyed."

Yuswar said religious affairs officials had not overtly banned the barongsai, "But from the statement made by the head of the office to the press on Sunday, we could draw the conclusion."

"Basically barongsai could not be performed," he said.

The committee had also met with Banda Aceh's mayor and police chief, neither of whom saw the barongsai as an issue.

On Sunday, Rahman told reporters after the prayer session by Aceh's Buddhist community at the Ulee Lheue mass grave for those killed in the 2004 tsunami, that the barongsai had to first be introduced to the people because it had not been performed in Aceh before. The performance, he said, was not allowed "for the sake of interfaith relations."

"There has never been any religious conflict in Aceh. People of different religions live in relative peace and harmony," he said. "Isn't it better to maintain this than allow something that is bad for the people?"

Evi Narti Zein, executive director of the Coalition of Aceh Human Rights NGOs, said the effective ban on the barongsai performance constituted a violation of freedom of expression and had no legal or religious basis.

"This is a very foolish thing to be done by Aceh's Religious Affairs Office, because there is no law or religious ruling on this," she said, adding that Acehnese of Chinese decent were Acehnese people too.

Evi said the marginalization of minorities had the potential to upset Aceh's good interfaith relations much more than any dance.

Indonesia's Aceh still healing after tsunami

Agence France Presse - December 21, 2009

Lampuk (Indonesia) – Ikra Alfila has rediscovered the joy of play, but the little 10-year-old still has nightmares about giant waves five years after the tsunami that killed everyone in her family except her father.

Life has resumed its tranquil course in Ikra's fishing village of Lampuk, which was all but wiped off the map on that awful day on December 26, 2004, when an earthquake off the Sumatran coast unleashed a wall of water.

Most of the physical damage has been cleaned up thanks to a massive international relief effort, but the emotional and psychological trauma for the survivors of Indonesia's Aceh province may never heal.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't forget. It's the same for my friends who survived," Ikra says, her voice breaking.

Indonesia was the nation hardest hit by the tsunami, with at least 168,000 people killed when the sea surged over the northern tip of Sumatra island. Over 50,000 more died in Sri Lanka, Thailand and India.

Images of the devastation around Lampuk, where the mosque was the only building left standing in a landscape of flattened trees and rubble, were flashed around the world in the days after the disaster.

Houses, schools, businesses and markets were washed away as far as seven kilometres (four miles) inland, and more than one in five villagers lost their lives.

People felt the 9.3-magnitude undersea quake that morning, but few had the presence of mind or the time to head for higher ground as the tsunami bore down on them with the speed of a passenger jet.

"I was with my grandmother but the wave separated us. I was carried away and then some people saved me. My grandmother drowned," Ikra recalls.

Her baby brother, mother and grandfather also died, but her father managed to survive by clinging to a tree. Women and children died in the greatest numbers. Of 300 children at Ikra's school, only 24 survived.

One of the two surviving teachers, Khairiah, 43, thanks the international community for the outpouring of aid that rebuilt the school and provided her with a new house, one of 700 constructed by the Turkish Red Cross.

"The village was totally rebuilt thanks to the aid which we received from all over the world," Khairiah says.

But the brightly coloured new homes tell only half the story, she adds. "It looks like life is normal here, but the trauma remains."

Indonesia's tsunami reconstruction agency wound up its work in April, having spent almost seven billion dollars on reconstruction including 140,000 new homes, 1,759 school buildings, 363 bridges and 13 airports.

Confronted by the terrible loss of life and basic infrastructure, the Indonesian government sat down for talks with Acehnese rebels who had waged a three-decade war for independence.

In 2005 the two sides struck a peace deal guaranteeing far- reaching autonomy for the province, and thousands of demobilised rebels were put to work on reconstruction.

But with the relief agencies gone and the international aid exhausted, there are concerns that chronic unemployment could undermine the peace process.

And there is the ever-present fear that with the Indo-Australian tectonic plates in relentless motion, another catastrophe of the scale of 2004 is almost certain to hit Sumatra again.

Khairiah, a devout Muslim, says that despite the danger she has never considered leaving her seaside home. "It's our village. If a new disaster hits us, that's our destiny," she says.

Ikra also says she wants to stay, and as the nightmares fade, she is also dreaming of becoming a teacher.

Chinese lion dance banned in Indonesia's Aceh

Jakarta Globe - December 21, 2009

Nurdin Hasan, Anita Rachman & Putri Prameshwari, Banda Aceh – Religious officials in Aceh have sparked yet another controversy, this time banning the barongsai, or traditional Chinese lion dance, from a cultural performance as part of commemorations leading up to the fifth anniversary of the 2004 tsunami that devastated the province.

The move is seen as a slap in the face to hundreds of Acehnese Buddhists of ethnic Chinese descent who had wanted to include the dance in their official remembrance ceremony on Sunday.

Yuswar, a member of the Buddhist commemoration committee, said plans to have nine barongsai groups from North Sumatra perform around Banda Aceh as part of events to mark the Dec. 26 disaster had to be canceled.

"Barongsai has no religious elements. It's just a cultural show," he said, though he added that Chinese-Indonesians believed the dance had the power to calm the restless spirits of their relatives who died in the disaster.

Yuswar said the committee had obtained permits from the city's mayor and police chief, but was rejected three times by the Aceh Religious Affairs Office. "They argued that conditions in Aceh did not allow [barongsai performances] yet," Yuswar said. "But we weren't told what they meant by 'conditions.'?"

A Rahman TB, head of the Religious Affairs Office, claimed the permit was not granted because the dance had never been performed in the province before and the Acehnese needed an introduction first.

"If the people don't like it, what then?" he said. "It is for the sake of interfaith relations, between people of that religion and others. We can't let Aceh be ruined, or sow seeds of conflict."

Barongsai in Indonesia dates back to the 17th century, but the late dictator Suharto banned it and other Chinese cultural expressions in the wake of the 1965 coup attempt, allegedly led by Indonesian communists.

Former President Abdurrahman Wahid lifted the ban in 2000, allowing the barongsai to be performed publicly for the first time in decades.

Nasaruddin Umar, director general for Islamic religious guidance at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said officials in Aceh should never have banned the performance, which he viewed as cultural, and promised to question those responsible.

Aceh has been embarrassed by a series of negative headlines this year, including a bylaw that allows stoning as capital punishment for adultery, a local ordinance banning tight-fitting clothes for women in one district and claims by a local cleric that the province's representative to the Miss Indonesia beauty pageant had brought shame upon it.

Dressing to impress Aceh's shariah police

Jakarta Globe - December 20, 2009

Teuku Dani Ramadhan, Zahara Sulaiman & Ade Mardiyati – In Pasar Rakyat, a market in Meulaboh in Indonesia's West Aceh, a young woman busily browses through a rack of skirts.

She is wearing a loose, long skirt, a tight, long-sleeved T-shirt and a jilbab that comes up to her chest. She analyzes the material of the skirts, touching them to feel the texture.

"I have to replace my clothes with skirts and Muslim outfits [that are long-sleeved and loose]," 20-year-old Rahma said last Tuesday. "I don't want to be arrested by the Wilayatul Hisbah [Shariah police] when they really implement the new law."

The district of West Aceh will begin enforcing a new regulation in January that will strictly forbid Muslims, especially women, to wear tight clothes. M Nur Juned, head of West Aceh district's Shariah division, said in a telephone interview with the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that authorities would regulate the clothes that people were allowed to wear.

"For women, the clothes should not be skintight, see-through, show the contours of their bodies or be boyish. The jilbab should be long so it can cover their chest," he said. "Women can still wear trousers as long as they are not tight.

"As for men, they can't wear shorts when they are out in public. And they can't dress up like a woman, either. Allah hates such a thing."

Juned said that in 2008, the West Aceh government had advised Muslims in the area regarding their manner of dressing.

"We [the district-level office] circulated letters to subdistrict offices on how people should dress. But since this was only an appeal and there were no sanctions, people didn't take it seriously," he said. "We decided to make it more serious by issuing this new regulation."

He said that those caught breaking the law would be reprimanded and advised on how to dress accordingly. He added that if a person repeated the offense, he or she would be subject to the ta'zir penalty.

The word ta'zir literally means to bring something to a halt. But it can also be translated as "to help, respect or honor." Under Shariah law, ta'zir is defined as a sentence or punishment given to those charged with assault.

"The kind of punishment [subject to ta'zir] depends on how serious the violation is," Juned said.

"Punishment can range from the very mild to harsher ones. It could mean being caned once to dozens of times. It is the Shariah court that decides [how many times one should be caned] depending on how serious the violation is."

Juned said that once the new regulation was implemented, the district-level government would strongly recommended that government and private offices refuse services for Muslims who violate the dress code.

"Of course, for the first time, the person [who violates the dress code] should just be reprimanded, not ignored," he said. "But the next time they come back and still do not follow the dress code, they should be sanctioned by not being given any service."

Juned added that officers found assisting those in violation of the dress code would also be sanctioned.

In 2003, Aceh province opened its first Shariah court, which implements laws based on Islamic teachings. These laws cover almost all elements of life in the province, including obligating Muslim women to wear a jilbab.

Under the laws, any Muslim found eating, drinking or selling food during sunlight hours in the fasting month of Ramadan, as with the more serious charge of adultery, could be sentenced to a public caning or fines.

Juned said that West Aceh would be the first district in the country to strictly implement an Islamic dress code.

"Maybe later, when the [Aceh] governor issues the same regulation, then it will be applied in all parts of the province," he said. "Meanwhile, this will apply to all Muslims in West Aceh, be they residents or visitors to the district.

"For non-Muslims, they are expected to respect us, just like during the Ramadan month, when all Muslims are fasting and non- Muslims should not eat or drink in front of them."

Ita, a vendor at the Bina Usaha, another market in Meulaboh, said last week that demand for outfits conforming to Muslim standards, especially skirts, had increased sharply. She added that prices had also gone up. A skirt that she used to sell for Rp 30,000 ($3.20) now costs between Rp 60,000 and Rp 100,000.

"It depends on the material," Ita said. "But I am overwhelmed with such a high demand like this. I have been a vendor for years, but this is definitely the first time this has happened."

She said that skintight clothes and jeans were the best-selling items before the issuance of the new regulation became the talk of the town.

"Young people loved to follow the trends, imitating what they saw on TV or magazines," the 40-year-old said. "But now, I don't display the old stock, as no one seems to be interested anymore."

Boy, a vendor at a different market in the area, also said that the new regulation had helped lift sales of Muslim outfits, including skirts. "I still find it hard to keep up with demand," Boy said.

In contrast to West Aceh district, young shoppers continue to indulge their preference for trendy tight jeans and tops in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, where there is no dress code.

"We update our collection, basing it on what we see on TV, the Internet or in magazines," said Romy, owner of Fashion Gaul, which opened in 2008. "Young people, especially women, are our biggest clients," the 30-year-old proprietor said.

Should the North Aceh government implement a regulation that might impact his business, Romy said he would return his current stock to Medan and Jakarta, where he purchased the goods. "We can exchange them with new collections that support the implementation of the new law," he said.

Ricky, another vendor in Lhokseumawe, said that selling clothes geared toward young women was a lucrative business in Aceh. "We make an excellent profit in this business because women love shopping for clothes to follow what is in today," he said. "They love skintight clothes and jeans."

Ita, a 23-year-old bank teller in Lhokseumawe, said that she felt comfortable wearing tight jeans and tops, despite Shariah law.

"I don't think it should be a problem," she said. "I'm still wearing a headscarf, which is compulsory here. "I'm not afraid of the Shariah police. I believe that a person should not be judged by what they wear. It is the heart that matters, not a piece of cloth."

West Papua

Papuan independence leader laid to rest

Agence France Presse - December 22, 2009

Timika, Papua – Tribal leaders in Papua on Tuesday called for the closure of a massive US mine linked to allegations of rights abuses, as they buried slain rebel leader Kelly Kwalik.

Some 400 people followed the casket of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) commander, who was shot in a police raid last week, through the streets of Timika to his grave beside a local church.

Kwalik's death has triggered days of anti-Indonesian protests and calls for independence for the ethnic Melanesian region.

Anger has also been directed at US miner Freeport McMoRan, which operates a huge gold and copper mine north of Timika that has long been at the center of allegations of rights abuses against ordinary Papuans.

Kwalik, who was 60 when he died after spending 30 years fighting for Papuan independence, claimed to have been dispossessed by the mine and was accused of several deadly ambushes against Freeport workers.

Police blame him for a series of attacks this year that killed three people, including an Australian mine worker, on the road north of Timika. In 2002, Kwalik allegedly led an attack that killed two American Freeport employees in similar circumstances.

Kwalik denied the allegations and some analysts believe the Indonesian security forces launched the attacks as a way of extracting more protection money from Freeport.

"Freeport is responsible for the death of Kelly Kwalik and that is why Freeport must be shut down," Papua Customary Council spokesman Dominicus Serabut told mourners ahead of Kwalik's burial. "General Kelly Kwalik was not involved in the shootings in the area of Freeport Indonesia," he added.

Poorly-armed OPM guerrillas have waged a war of independence for four decades, often launching hit-and-run attacks against Indonesian troops with traditional bows and arrows and World War II-era rifles.

Kwalik's casket was draped in the outlawed Morning Star flag of Papuan independence, a last act of defiance given stiff penalties of up to life in prison for anyone waving the separatist standard.

Some 800 people attended a funeral Mass on Monday but disagreements among tribal leaders delayed the burial.

Indonesia gained sovereignty over the Papua region in 1969 in a UN-backed vote that was widely seen as rigged.

Analysts say the killing of Kwalik may only fuel anti-Indonesian sentiment in the restive territory, underlining the need for talks with separatist leaders.

Indonesia has succeeded in resolving separatist violence in Aceh and the Malukus since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, but the resource-rich region of Papua remains an embarrassing thorn in Jakarta's side.

Analysts said Kwalik's shooting by police would not prove fatal to the OPM guerrillas, and could even strengthen the separatist sentiment.

"Kwalik's death will intensify the Papuan people's struggle for independence," said analyst Muridan Widjojo, who has been involved in efforts to foster trust and dialogue between the two opposing sides.

"There will be growing distrust among Papuans toward the central government. This is a strong reason why a peaceful dialogue becomes an urgent need," he added.

He said that although Kwalik was one of the most active OPM commanders and was the backbone of the insurgency around the strategic town of Timika, which serves the Freeport mine, other militants could take his place.

Another six OPM leaders are still at large across the region who could increase attacks on security forces and other symbols of Indonesian rule as revenge for Kwalik's death, he warned.

"In this case, there's no other way but to hold peaceful dialogue in order to prevent a possible backlash," Widjojo said, adding that Kwalik's death was a blow to tentative, informal talks that had already taken place.

Analysts said Kwalik had been promoting dialogue through the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, an umbrella organization of independence groups that has been seeking talks with Jakarta.

Papuan human rights advocate Theo Hesegem condemned the shooting of Kwalik and said his death would only disrupt efforts to promote dialogue.

"If this kind of violent approach continues to be used, the Papuan people will become more convinced that they have to be separated from Indonesia," he said.

Australian academic Damien Kingsbury, of Deakin University, was involved in the negotiations that clinched a peace deal in Aceh in 2005 and believes Kwalik's death has created "new opportunities" for a settlement in the region. "The death of Kwalik, as a hard- liner, may... allow the West Papua Coalition an opportunity to streamline its internal negotiating position," he wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald last week.

"The question will be, in his second and final term of office, whether Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is serious about taking up the option of negotiation," he wrote.

Papuans demand closure of US mine in Indonesia

Agence France Presse - December 22, 2009

Timika – Tribal leaders in Indonesia's restive Papua province Tuesday called for the closure of a massive US mine linked to allegations of rights abuses, as they buried a slain rebel leader.

Some 400 people followed the casket of Free Papua Movement (OPM) commander Kelly Kwalik, who was shot in a police raid last week, through the streets of Timika to his grave beside a local church.

Kwalik's death has triggered days of anti-Indonesian protests and calls for independence for the ethnic Melanesian region on the extreme east of the Indonesian archipelago.

Anger has also been directed at US miner Freeport McMoRan, which operates a huge gold and copper mine north of Timika that has long been at the centre of allegations of rights abuses against ordinary Papuans.

Police blame him for a series of attacks this year which killed three people including an Australian mine worker on the road north of Timika. In 2002 he allegedly killed two American Freeport employees in similar circumstances.

Kwalik denied the allegations and some analysts believe the Indonesian security forces launched the attacks as a way of extracting more protection money from Freeport.

"Freeport is responsible for the death of Kelly Kwalik and that is why Freeport must be shut down," Papua Customary Council spokesman Dominicus Serabut told mourners ahead of Kwalik's burial.

"General Kelly Kwalik was not involved in the shootings in the area of Freeport Indonesia," he added.

Kwalik's casket was draped in the outlawed "Morning Star" flag of Papuan independence, a last act of defiance given stiff penalties up to life in prison for anyone waving the separatist standard.

Some 800 people attended a funeral mass on Monday but disagreements among tribal leaders delayed the burial.

Indonesia gained sovereignty over the Papua region in 1969 in a UN-backed vote widely seen as rigged.

Papuans threaten to block Indonesia Freeport's mine

Reuters - December 22, 2009

Samuel Wanda – Tribal leaders in Indonesia's easternmost Papua province on Monday threatened to blockade Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold's huge mine after police killed a separatist commander last week.

Kelly Kwalik had led a militant wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and was one of the members who had campaigned against the presence of Freeport, which operates the Grasberg copper and gold mine.

The OPM has waged a low-level insurgency against the Indonesian government for four decades.

About 700 people gathered on Monday outside the local parliament building in Timika where Kwalik's body was kept, awaiting burial, and threatened to disrupt activity at the mine if Freeport's chairman, James (Jim) Moffett, did not come to Timika to pay his respects to Kwalik.

"Moffett must come and follow the burial, if not the burial must be delayed and Freeport must be closed down," men and women shouted outside parliament.

Timika is the main town near Freeport's huge Grasberg mine, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of Freeport's total copper reserves of 93 billion pounds, and boasts the world's largest gold reserves.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia under a widely criticized UN-backed vote in 1969, after Jakarta took over the area in 1963 at the end of Dutch colonial rule.

Indonesia's foreign minister said on Monday Jakarta saw no UN role in what he called the sovereignty issue of Papua, but would engage the UN system on development in the province and developing government human rights capacity in general.

"Indonesia is very much concerned that there is a situation that needs to be managed in Papua," Marty Natalegawa said at the United Nations, where he served as Indonesian ambassador until October. He compared Papua to Aceh province, where Jakarta and separatist rebels signed a peace deal in 2005.

"This is principally a question of governance, a question of ensuring development opportunities prosper in Papua, a question of ensuring that any human rights abuses or shortcomings are properly addressed," he told reporters.

An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman said last week the government was not in a position to negotiate with the OPM.

[Reporting by Samuel Wanda in Timika and Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations, Writing by Olivia Rondonuwu; Editing by Will Dunham.]

Kwalik's death could fuel anti-Indonesia sentiment: Analysts

Agence France Presse - December 22, 2009

The killing of Papuan rebel commander Kelly Kwalik may only fuel anti-Indonesian sentiment in the restive territory, underlining the need for talks with separatist leaders, analysts said.

Analysts said Kwalik's shooting by police last Wednesday would not prove fatal to the poorly armed Free Papua Movement (OPM) guerrillas, and could even strengthen separatist sentiment among Papua's ethnic Melanesian majority.

"Kwalik's death will intensify the Papuan people's struggle for independence," said Indonesian analyst Muridan Widjojo, who has been involved in efforts to foster trust and dialogue between the two sides.

"There will be growing distrust among Papuans towards the central government. This is a strong reason why a peaceful dialogue becomes an urgent need."

He said that although Kwalik was one of the most active OPM commanders and was the backbone of the insurgency around the strategic town of Timika, which serves a massive US-owned gold mine, other militants could take his place.

Another six OPM leaders are still at large across Indonesia's easternmost region who could increase attacks on security forces and other symbols of Indonesian rule as revenge for Kwalik's death, he warned.

Analysts said Kwalik had been promoting dialogue through the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, an umbrella organisation of independence groups which has been seeking talks with Jakarta.

But police said he was wanted over a string of ambushes near Timika over the past six months targeting the operations of US miner Freeport McMoRan.

Freeport's giant Grasberg mine, which sits on one of the world's biggest gold and copper reserves to the north of Timika, has long been linked to human rights abuses involving Indonesian troops who secure the facility.

Australian mine technician Drew Grant was killed in one of the mysterious ambushes in July.

Kwalik, who was 60 when he died, denied responsibility for the shootings and some analysts believe the ambushes could be the work of rogue Indonesian police or soldiers seeking more money from Freeport.

Kwalik was also accused over the killing of two American mine workers in 2002, and eight Javanese students in 1986. He also allegedly kidnapped a team of European scientists in 1996 and two Belgian journalists in 2001.

Papuan human rights advocate Theo Hesegem condemned the shooting of Kwalik and said his death would only disrupt efforts to promote dialogue.

"If this kind of violent approach continues to be used, the Papuan people will become more convinced that they have to be separated from Indonesia," he said.

"The death of Kwalik, as a hardliner, may... allow the West Papua Coalition an opportunity to streamline its internal negotiating position," he wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald last week.

"The question will be, in his second and final term of office, whether Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is serious about taking up the option of negotiation."

Kwalik's men riot at Mimika Legislative Council

Jakarta Post - December 20, 2009

Markus Makur, Timika – The security in Timika, the capital of Papua's Mimika regency, was disrupted briefly Saturday following the arrival of the body of Papuan rebel leader Kelly Kwalik at the Mimika Legislative Council building.

Chaos ensued following a statement by the executive director of Amungme Tribe Consultative Institution, Nerius Katagame, who asked the Amungme people to express their grievances and aspirations brought about by Kelly's death.

These comments, Nerius said, would be handed to the committee organizing Kelly's funeral, scheduled for Sunday, where they would be publicly read.

However, the gathered crowd disagreed with the suggestion. Tempers flared and commotion broke out among the Amungme visitors to the council. The anger gave way to stone throwing and led to an uncontrolled fracas.

Responding to the turn of events, police officers backed by Indonesian soldiers began firing warning shots in the air to maintain order.

The warning shots forced visitors to flee the area with many taking shelter inside the council building where Kelly's body was lying in state.

Order was soon restored with the security situation returning to normal. Many police officers were stationed in key locations throughout the city.

One of the police officers was taken to the nearby Masyarakat Mitra Hospital for treatment after being hit by a rock. Nerius was also struck by a rock but managed to take cover.

Kelly, who led the Free Papua Organization (OPM), was shot dead in the early hours of Wednesday morning during a police raid on his house in Timika. He died at a clinic following heavy blood loss from a gunshot wound in his right thigh.

Local military have blamed Kelly for a recent spate of attacks on PT Freeport Indonesia employees, in which three people were killed and dozens injured.

His body was immediately flown to the Papuan capital of Jayapura for DNA testing to verify its identity, after which it was flown back to Timika on Friday.

The angry crowd briefly occupied the Mimika Legislative Council building. They tried to lower the Indonesian flag in the yard, but were foiled by security officers, who pre-emptively lowered the flag themselves and took it to a nearby police station.

Meanwhile, a group of OPM members also engaged in violent acts at an Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border area. Two people were wounded in the incident.

"The two people were wounded by stray bullets fired by OPM members who were subordinates of Kelly," an unidentified witness was quoted as saying by news portal detik.com.

One of the wounded was taken to a hospital in Jayapura and the other to a hospital in PNG, the witness said.

The border area has been secured by the arrival of Indonesian police officers and soldiers, the witness added.

Hundreds welcome Papuan rebel's body

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Markus Makur and Nethy Darma Somba, Timika, Jayapura – The body of Papuan separatist leader Kelly Kwalik was welcomed by more than 500 supporters at Timika airport, Papua, on Friday.

The remains were flown onboard a chartered Susi Air plane from the Papuan capital of Jayapura, where forensic authorities conducted DNA testing to verify Kelly's identity.

However, National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in Jakarta the forensic team had difficulties verifying the body, but failed to elaborate.

Kelly's body is currently being held at Masyarakat Mitra Hospital in Timika before being handed over to his family. Police are tightly guarding the hospital.

The family and supporters of the Free Papua Organization (OPM) leader are currently undecided about the details of his burial.

However, some of his supporters who gathered at the Mimika Legislative Council called for the raising of the separatist Papuan flag during the burial ceremony.

"Kelly Kwalik was a fighter for the West Papuan people and for all Papuans. We want the Morning Star flag to be hoisted at his burial," a local villager said during an open dialogue at the council building.

The dialogue held in relation to the death of Kelly was attended by more than 500 people, including acting council speaker Trifena Tinal and his deputy Jimmy Syalom Erelak, as well as several other councillors.

On the same occasion, Kelly's loyalists, Papuan community figures and councillors were negotiating with security authorities over the funeral plans.

Ahead of the arrival of Kelly's body, hundreds of his supporters blocked the main access to Moses Kilangin Airstrip in Timika, Mimika regency. They prevented all vehicles from entering the airport, forcing passengers catching flights to walk to the airstrip.

Mimika Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Moh. Sagi along with his personnel were dispersed among the crowd to calm the protesters. The block disrupted traffic at Mile 28 street leading to the Freeport mine.

Kelly was shot to death in the early hours of Wednesday morning during a police raid on his house in Timika. He died at a clinic suffering from serious blood loss after he was shot in the right thigh.

Suspicion has arisen that police were unclear how to charge Kelly, so the raid was conducted against him. However, the local military blamed Kelly for a series of recent attacks on PT Freeport Indonesia employees, which killed three people and injured dozens more.

The police are considering relocating five people who were arrested during the raid to Jakarta.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna said Thursday the move was aimed at protecting Jeep Murip, 24, Noni Sanawarme, 35, Martimus Katarame, 21, Yorni Murip, 10 and Yosep Kwamtik, 60, from possible retaliation by OPM rebels. Papua Police are currently questioning them over a series of acts of separatism across the region.

Police said they were prepared for any attacks as a result of the raid.

During the raid the police also seized documents belonging to the OPM including a handgun, ammunition, a sickle, two bows and 12 arrows. Nanan said the police were hunting four suspected accomplices that allegedly helped Kelly organize separatist activities.

Director of the Anti-violence Human Rights Foundation (Yahamak), Yosepha Alomang, expressed regret over the killing of Kelly.

"Why was he killed? He was not a thief. The police did not search for him in the jungle, but killed him in his own home," said Yosepha, winner of Yap Thiam Hien Human Rights Award in 1999. Kelly's family members visited the hospital in Jayapura to see Kelly's remains, but the police denied them access.

Tensions rise as Kwalik body awaits positive identification

Jakarta Globe - December 19, 2009

Farouk Arnaz, John Pakage & Anita Rachman, Jayapura – The police-announced death of Papuan pro-independence rebel Kelly Kwalik has inflamed supporters, leading analysts to worry about a rise in violence in the province.

Hundreds of Papuans turned out to greet the body at the airport in Timika, where it was flown following an autopsy in the provincial capital, Jayapura.

"This incident will create a new problem with the Papuans," said Father John Jonga, the recipient of the 2009 Yap Thiam Hien Award, Indonesia's most prestigious human rights honor. He said police should have captured Kwalik alive.

Police claimed to have killed Kwalik, 60, on Wednesday but by Friday they had yet to officially identify the body. The family of the self-proclaimed military leader of the outlawed Free Papua Organization (OPM) declined to provide DNA samples and no fingerprint or dental records appear to exist.

A former Mimika district police chief recognized the body, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in Jakarta on Friday. Preliminary identification was also made through videos and photos of Kwalik.

Bambang said the police action was justified because Kwalik had used violence.

Bambang accused Kwalik of being behind a series of attacks, starting with the abduction of a research group in central Papua in 1996. A rescue attempt in that incident left two Indonesian hostages dead.

Kwalik was also involved in the 2002 ambush of a convoy of buses that killed a US national near the huge gold and copper mine operated by the Indonesian subsidiary of Freeport McMoRan and in a July shooting that killed an Australian project manager for Freeport, Bambang claimed.

In a Web site posting, Kwalik had called himself a "general" of the West Papua National Liberation Army, the military wing of OPM. He also denied being involved in the shooting incidents, calling them a "pure conspiracy between the Indonesian police, the Army and Freeport."

In Sentani, near Jayapura, a rally held to mourn Kwalik's death turned ugly when journalists covering the event were chased and harassed by some in the crowd of about 100.

"I am worried that this incident will have a negative impact, like Kwalik's supporters staging a riot," said Johanis Harry Maturbong, the director of the Papua chapter of the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

Harry said is was impossible to assess the impact on the OPM, since the group's strength is unknown and the poorly armed rebels are split into several decentralized factions.

Forkorius Yabusembut, head of Papua's Traditional Council, said that "inhumane" killings of Papuans could "evoke a burning spirit" to fight for independence.

Bambang said he expected calm and there was no need for the police or Army to send reinforcements to the region.

Papuans protest Indonesia police slaying of leader

Associated Press - December 18, 2009

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – About 300 people on Thursday protested the police killing of a separatist leader accused in the deaths of 11 people in Indonesia's restive Papua province and demanded his body be released for burial.

Many wore tribal dress, sang patriotic songs popular with secessionists and danced outside a government building in the mining town of Timika where Kelly Kwalik, a militant leader in the Free Papua Movement, was shot Wednesday while fleeing a police raid.

Police had suspected Kwalik of ordering a series of shootings this year near the Freeport gold mine – a symbol of Jakarta's rule of the province and a common target of rebels.

Police flew Kwalik's body to the provincial capital Jayapura, where his identity was confirmed, Papua Police Chief Maj. Gen. Bekto Suprapto said Thursday. He did not say when the body would be released.

Kwalik's followers want the body returned to Timika for burial; their protest ended peacefully.

The police assertion that they shot Kwalik because he was armed with a revolver and resisted arrest has been met with skepticism in Papua.

His followers accuse the police of undermining the prospects of a peace dialogue between Jakarta and separatists in Indonesia's easternmost province by intentionally killing the leader, who was in his 60s.

"The problems in Papua cannot be solved by weapons because that will only result in new violence," the Rev. Sofyan Yoman, a Baptist Church leader in Papua, said on Thursday.

He called for Jakarta to agree to a brokered peace dialogue similar to that which led to the province of Aceh becoming semiautonomous.

Indonesian military spokesman Rear Marshal Sagom Tamboen welcomed the prospect of a peace dialogue and congratulated police in tracking down Kwalik.

Police accuse Kwalik of ordering ambushes from July to November on the road to the world's largest gold mine, which is in central Papua and is operated by Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona. The attacks killed eight people, including an Australian, and wounded 37.

They also allege Kwalik ordered a 2002 attack on a vehicle convoy headed toward the Freeport mine that killed three teachers – two American and an Indonesian.

Independence activists have been protesting Indonesian rule in the impoverished province since a United Nations ballot placed the former Dutch colony under Jakarta's control in 1969. Police have been accused of brutality against the secessionists.

Papuan rebel leader 'shot to death' in Timika raid

Jakarta Post - December 17, 2009

Markus Makur, Timika – Police said Kelly Kwalik, a leader of the separatist Free Papua Organization (OPM), was shot to death during a raid in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Agus Riyanto said the Papuan rebel leader was cornered in the Gorong-Gorong complex, one of his hideouts in the town of Timika, Mimika regency.

Kelly was shot in the right thigh by Mobile Brigade police as he was attempting to escape a house in the complex at around 3 a.m., Agus said.

He said Kelly died from blood loss after being taken to the Kuala Kencana clinic for treatment. At least five people were arrested in the raid.

Agus said police had planned to arrest the rebel leader. However, it was not immediately clear what police intended to charge him with.

Earlier this year Papua Police held a meeting with Kelly in connection with a series of attacks on US-based gold miner PT Freeport Indonesia in Timika.

During the talk, Kelly claimed he was not responsible for the attacks, which killed three people and injured dozens of others since the first ambush on July 11.

Police have denied allegations they had set up the talk to establish that native Papuans were behind the violence. At least seven Mimika residents are facing trial in Jayapura for the attacks by unidentified gunmen.

Later in the day, security authorities flew Kelly's body to the Papuan capital of Jayapura for DNA testing to verify the body's identity.

On board the same police plane were Papua Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Syafei Aksal, Mobile Brigade deputy commander Godhelp C. Mansnembra, and a number of other local high-ranking officers.

Police said they were adamant that the body was that of Kelly, but were conducting the tests as part of procedure.

Separately, hundreds of members of the Amungme tribe occupied the Mimika regency legislative council office following the incident. They demanded police return Kelly's body, saying they would bury him in Timika.

The protesters tried to block the Moses Kilangin Airstrip to prevent the police from flying the body to Jayapura. But they failed to break through a police cordon at the airbase.

Police performed roadside stops on motorists heading to the airstrip and to the nearby hamlet of Kwamki Lama as a precautionary measure.

By late afternoon, the Papuan demonstrators still occupied the legislative council. Mimika council speaker Trifena M. Tinal came out of his office and negotiated with the protesters, calling on them to disperse.

Amid the protests, authorities tightened security at check point entry 28 into the Freeport mine and the company's Kuala Kencana clinic.

An expert on Indonesia at Australia's Deakin University, Damien Kingsbury, told Reuters that Kelly's death could potentially improve prospects for talks between the wider separatist movement in Papua and the government. "[Kelly] was the most militant of the senior OPM figures," he said.

We had to kill Kelly Kwalik, say Indonesia police

Jakarta Globe - December 16, 2009

John Pakage & Farouk Arnaz – The National Police announced on Wednesday that they had shot and killed Kelly Kwalik, the charismatic leader of an armed faction of the pro-independence Free Papua Movement.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna said Kwalik was killed in the early hours of Wednesday as he was resisting arrest during a police raid on a house in Timika, Papua.

Papua Police Chief Brig. Gen. Bekto Suprapto said members of the counterterrorism detachment shot Kwalik and that five others, including a 10-year-old boy, were also arrested during the raid.

Nanan said police had no option but to shoot Kwalik and that a team will conduct DNA tests on the body to confirm his identity.

The five arrested were identified as Jeep Murip, 24; Martimus Katarame, 21; Yosep Kwantik, 60; Yorni Murip, 10; and a woman, Noni Sanawarme, 35. Antiterror detachment chief Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian said the five may be sent to Jakarta for questioning.

Nanan said Kwalik was involved in a 2002 ambush of a convoy of buses that killed a US national near the huge gold and copper mining operation of the Indonesian subsidiary of Freeport McMoRan.

Police said Kwalik was also believed to have been behind a string of armed attacks in the Freeport area that left eight people dead, three of them foreigners, between June and November this year.

However, local leaders in Papua denied that Kwalik was behind these acts of violence and insisted that his death would dent hopes of peace.

"Kelly has never done anything criminal to disrupt the security in the region. This is pure fabrication by people working with those wishing to ruin the region," said Andreas Anggaibak, former chair of the 1999-2004 Mimika District Legislative Council.

"I have spoken with Kelly and he said he was not the one who carried out the terrorist acts," he added.

Forkorus Yobiosembut, chief of the Papua Traditional Council (DAP), said neither Kwalik nor his group had been involved in the terrorist acts around the Freeport mine.

Markus Haluk, secretary general of the Papua Central Highland Students Association, said in a statement that the shooting jeopardized the peace process in Papua, where a pro-independence movement has been waging a low-level insurgency since the 1960s.

"The government of Indonesia has not shown goodwill in solving the Papua problem peacefully," he said.

Human Rights Watch activist Andreas Harsono concurred. "This shooting has certainly disrupted the process by destroying the Papuans' trust in the government of Indonesia," he said.

He added that it showed that Jakarta's "peaceful approach" to pacifying Papua had failed.

Police question five people over Kelly's activities

Jakarta Post - December 16, 2009

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The National Police is considering relocating five people to Jakarta after they were arrested during a raid that is believed to have killed rebel group leader Kelly Kwalik in the Papua regency of Mimika early on Wednesday.

Spokesman for the National Police, Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna, said the move was aimed at protecting Jeep Murip, 24, Noni Sanawarme, 35, Martimus Katarame, 21, Yorni Murip, 10, Yosep Kwamtik, 60, from possible retaliation by Free Papua Organization (OPM) separatist group members.

"We will soon decide whether to fly them to Jakarta for further questioning," Nanan told a media conference. Papua Police are currently questioning them over a series of acts of separatism across the region.

Chief of the police's counter-terror squad Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian, who also attended the press conference, said the police were prepared for any attacks as a result of the raid. "We need to anticipate any outcome, including retaliation from [Kelly's] friends," he said.

During the raid the police also seized documents belonging to the OPM, a hand gun, ammunition, a sickle, two bows and 12 arrows. Nanan said the police were hunting four suspected accomplices of Kelly who allegedly helped him organize separatist activity across the island. He declined to identify the suspects.

Police will conduct DNA tests to confirm whether the man killed during the raid is indeed Kelly.

Papuans protest after reported killing of separatist leader

Tempo Interactive - December 16, 2009

Tjahjono EP, Jakarta – Hundreds of residents in Mimika Regency Papua gathered outside the regional legislature office on Wednesday (16/12) to demand confirmation from the regional authority after reports of attack which killed one senior leader of the Free Papua Movement separatist began circulating in the region.

The angry mob demanded the local authority to hand over the body of the alleged separatist Kelly Kwlik and the release of five other men captured by the police somewhere in the regency. The body of the killed man reportedly taken to the Kuala Kencana clinicwhile the five men were detained at the Mobile Brigade Division's Headquarter in the regency.

Several lawmakers tried to calm the angry mob saying the legislature is willing to facilitate the public but they have to coordinate first with the authority.

Some of the crowd headed to the Mozes Kilangin Airport after hearing reports that the body will be flown to Jayapura, the seat of Papua Province. The other five men detained reportedly will be flown to Jakarta, which fueled locals' anger.

Kelly Kwalik was known as one of the most senior "commander" of the separatist movement. There were various version of the ambush which killed Kelly. The movement had just marked its anniversary on December 1st without any major incident beside protests and low level clash between police and protesters.

Human rights/law

Defamation articles need revising: Justice minister

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar has admitted the need to revise "sensitive" article on defamation in the 2008 Information and Electronic Transactions Law, saying it threatens freedom of expression.

Speaking Tuesday on the sidelines of an event in Jakarta, Patrialis said the article had curtailed the public's freedom to voice an opinion, following with recent charging of two people who did just that.

"This is my personal view," said the minister and National Mandate Party (PAN) politician, as quoted by the Information and Communications Ministry's press division.

"I agree with the demand that the article be struck off. We've experienced this twice – first in the Prita Mulyasari case, and the latest with Luna Maya.

"From the very beginning I wanted the article to be revised because it's very sensitive. People can be easily charged for defamation or libel," he went on. "This certainly doesn't guarantee freedom of expression."

Prita is the Tangerang housewife and mother of two who was dragged to court after sending emails to friends complaining of the poor service she had received from Omni International Hospital.

She lost a civil suit and was ordered to pay the hospital Rp 204 million. Outraged citizens, from school students to street musicians, have rallied in her support by donating money in excess of Rp 800 million.

The hospital later dropped the civil case, but prosecutors insisted on proceeding with a criminal trial, and have sought a six-month jail sentence.

Luna is a local celebrity who lashed out at infotainment reporters through Twitter, calling them lower than prostitutes and murderers. She had apparently been angered by reporters after an incident at a Central Jakarta mall where the daughter of her boyfriend was hit in the head by a reporter's camera.

Luna was reported to the police by the Jakarta office of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), which represents infotainment workers.

The two women have garnered widespread public support, as evident, among others, in the number of people joining their respective causes on Facebook.

Prita, whose case came to light last year, has garnered more than 130,000 supporters on the social networking site; while Luna, whose case only broke out last week, has garnered 5,500 supporters as of Tuesday.

Luna has also apparently received the backing of the Press Council and the Independent Journalists Alliance, both of which lambasted the PWI for choosing to file charges against Luna under the two defamation articles in the information and electronic transactions law.

In response to Patrialis' statement, Information and Communications Ministry spokesman Gatot S. Dewa Broto said the ministry was "open to the proposal".

Rights abuses increase child crime rates

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Jakarta – The National Commission for Child Protection attributed the increasing number of crimes committed by children to trauma related to human rights abuses.

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry revealed that 5,760 children received jail sentences this year, up from 5,630 children last year.

Commission chairman Seto Mulyadi said that many places in the country did not support the growth of children, as they were frequently exposed to violence and humiliation. He said this occurred mostly because of rampant poverty and other unresolved social problems.

"Instead of being role models for children, parents, teachers and law enforcers commit acts of violence and humiliation against children," he told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Tuesday. "This situation often scares them. They become traumatized and think that it's OK if they do the same thing."

He said that education in Indonesia was not friendly toward children. "There are still many teachers that do not protect children. Instead, they commit violence to force children to obey them," he said.

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry signed Tuesday a joint decree with the Social Services Ministry, the State Women's Empowerment Ministry, the Child Protection Agency, the Attorney General's Office and the National Police on the handling of children before the legal system.

The decree followed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with similar content signed on Dec. 15 between the ministries and the National Police.

State Women's Empowerment Minister said the joint decree would emphasize rehabilitation rather than retribution in the handling of child delinquency cases. "We will use justice, legal, moral and social approaches," she was quoted as saying by Antara state news agency.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono witnessed the signing of the decree held at the Beautiful Indonesian Miniature Park (TMII) as part of a ceremony to mark Mother's Day.

Yudhoyono said the decree was a serious step taken by the government to minimize violence against women and children. "Children may not understand the consequences of breaking the law," he said.

The commission secretary general, Arist Merdeka Sirait, told the Post the commission had recorded that 1,582 children had committed crimes this year.

He said that 52 percent of those children had stolen property because they needed money for food, 21 percent were related to drug abuse and the remaining 17 percent were related to sexual abuse and gambling. "We also have to ensure that judges and prosecutors protect children during court trials," he said.

On Nov. 23, Arist told the Post the number of cases of violence against children at school had increased to 326 in the period between January and June this year, from 75 cases in the same period last year. Last year's total number of cases reached only 148.

Arist said the most reported cases were sexual abuse, followed by physical and psychological abuse. He added that such violence mostly occurred at the elementary and junior high school level.

Commission to call up 62 judges over 'iffy' rulings

Jakarta Post - December 22, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Judicial Commission will summon 62 judges, out of the country's total 6,300, for questioning in connection with "problem" rulings handed down in court.

"The judges will be questioned [in stages] over these rulings that we consider controversial and problematic," Judicial Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas said Monday at a discussion on " Reflection of Corruption Eradication Efforts in 2009". He declined to elaborate on the judges and the kinds of rulings they had handed down.

Busyro previously said the commission had received more than 900 public complaints of problematic rulings nationwide. "The total number of reports we've received this year is 968," he said as quoted by Antara.

He added the complaints had to be evaluated first to classify the level, if any, of poor judgment on the part of the justices, before any recommendation to repeal or strike the rulings could be given.

As of Dec. 1, the Judicial Commission has recommended 28 contentious rulings be re-evaluated by the Supreme Court. The court has not followed up on any of the recommendations to date.

Busyro said the court's reticence to pick up the cases was mostly due to the fact the problems were related to judicial procedure. He added "delinquent" judges had a knack for toying with the judicial procedure.

"The method used frequently by the judges is to disregard legal facts in the consideration of their rulings, or manipulate the legal interpretation so as to hand the defendant the minimum sentence or even acquit them," he said.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has also reported 56 judges to the commission for consistently letting suspected illegal loggers off the hook. From 2005 to 2008, ICW data shows, 137 of 205 suspected illegal loggers were acquitted of all charges by the 56 judges in question.

The remaining 68 suspects were all convicted; however, only 10 suspects were sentenced to more than two years in prison, while 14 were given one- to two-year sentences and 44 were jailed for less than a year.

ICW deputy coordinator Emerson Yuntho said most of the judges dealing with these cases of illegal logging had been bought by higher-ups in the logging industry. That was why most of the rulings in these cases were so favorable to the loggers, he said.

Emerson pointed out the case of Adelin Lis, who was acquitted in 2007 by the Medan District Court of corruption and illegal logging charges. During his trial, the prosecution had sought a 10-year sentence and a Rp 1 billion fine. The acquittal triggered a public outcry across the country.

Police also tried to arrest Adelin on a separate charge of money laundering. However, he fled the country immediately after his acquittal.

"The ruling was iffy because the judges hadn't even taken into consideration the testimonies of the witnesses, and there was no investigation in the field," Emerson said.

Two of the judges under scrutiny have been promoted by the Supreme Court, which is still holding back from censuring them.

Father John Jonga: The unstoppable rights advocate

Jakarta Post - December 21, 2009

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jakarta – The struggle for human rights is universal, unrestricted and equal, whatever the person's tribe, religion or race.

That's been the philosophy of Father John Jonga who won the Yap Thiam Hien award for 2009. The award was handed over at an event in the Flores Room of Hotel Borobudur in Jakarta, on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009.

Originally from Flores, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), Jonga has been fighting for human rights in Papua, specifically in the Keerom region on the border of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

From 2000, Jonga has been working as a pastor in the region of Keerom. During that time, he has often been called to witness the OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka), the Free Papua Organization, fighting human rights violations.

Jonga knows of many human rights violations in that area, including persecution, arbitrary arrest, intimidation and violence against women. The situation there is not safe and he says the military are responsible.

Experiencing these incidents has made Father John Jonga, born in Flores on Nov. 4 1958, work for their rights. He has even told the military to withdraw from Keerom, as it has been making residents feel uneasy.

This statement was delivered directly to the Governor of Papua, Barnabas Suebu, during his visit to Keerom in 2007. Jonga's has received threats for his efforts from the military, including threats he would be buried alive.

"After I voiced my concerns, I was terrorized by a military member. The person told me I would be buried alive, 700-meters deep," he said. "I was scared, but I believe that our life is in the hands of God, and I am alive and passionate to serve the small community in Keerom."

The Fellowship of Papuan Churches in the region of Keerom reported the human rights violations in the territory of Keerom, Papua, to its regent, Celsius Watae, in 2007.

Many insults have been hurled at Pastor John Jonga in his attempt to fight for human rights, such as "Father OPM" and "provocateur".

"I have been called many names, and there have been efforts to pit public opinion against me," explained the son of Arnoldus Lete and Yuliana Malon.

Human rights violations around border areas have been recorded in reports, especially because people in that region have been labelled as part of the OPM. Residents have been asked about OPM activities and matters relating to the OPM, making residents weary.

"Although the residents are farmers who just go about their daily business, they're always being asked questions. If they do not answer, they are labelled separatists, or even shot," Jonga said.

"If things were going well there shouldn't be any acts of violence or any other human rights violations. I know the community in Papua well, and what has happened in people's lives. They're the blood in my body," he said.

In addition to fighting for human rights, he is also a well-known vocal advocate for the rights of Papuans, such as their rights to accessing forest and land, earning a livelihood, getting access to education and health care, and other aspects of life.

Pastor Jonga is worried about the spread of HIV/Aids, which is more common in the border region. He is also concerned about the loss of land and income Papuans living near the forests encounter, now that some forests are privately owned.

Jonga's cause has born sweet fruit. He was given the 2009 Yap Thiam Hien award, which is dedicated to an institution or an individual fighting for human rights.

Father John Jonga is the second person from Papua who has received the award. The first was Yosepha Alomang, the director of Yahamak (the Human Rights and Anti-Violence Association campaign) who received the Yap Thiam Hien award in 1999.

Jonga admires Yosepha Alomang and said he learned a lot about life from her, especially a poem she wrote in 2002 titled Prayer of the Naked Child.

He has since matched her achievements that he so greatly admired. "I will read the poem when I receive the award," he said.

Jonga arrived in Jayapura in 1986. At that time, he was a catechist, placed in Wamena. The young Jonga saw many men wearing koteka (penis sheaths).

"When I arrived at Wamena many Papuans were wearing koteka and I didn't understand what they were. A man came approached me and said he would help carry my luggage, but I refused.

"But he returned again and offered to carry my stuff. I said I wanted to go to the rectory in Wamena. He said he knew it. "On the way I asked the man wearing a koteka why he wanted to carry my goods. 'So I can go to heaven', said the man.

"This response surprised me, he knew heaven," recalled the priest who spent his childhood and school years in his village home in Manggarai, Flores.

In 1999, Jonga went to college at the Fajar Timur High School and when he finished, was ordained as a priest on October 4, 2001.

His achievement will be dedicated to all the people of Papua and be a source of inspiration to enable them to stay motivated in their fight for human rights in Papua and in Indonesia.

"I will continue to work for this cause until my last drop of blood," stressed the Pastor.

His calling has been to help small communities whose lives are powerless in dealing with authorities.

As their pastor, Jonga has a duty to reassure his people. After witnessing members of his church suffer violence, he helps protect people from violent acts that lead to human rights violations.

"I was surprised and pleased when I was told I would receive the award, but I still respect all parties who appreciate the struggle of humanity."

Activists oppose draft regulation on wiretapping

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – The draft government regulation on bugging, which could limit the antigraft's inception authority, met jeers from human right activists who said it would benefit corrupters.

They said it was better for the government to control bugging activities done by the police, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), instead of limiting that of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which was proven effective at combating corruption.

"The government's reason is just baseless. Public officials have their human rights but they already traded a part of their right (to privacy) for their job which other civilians do not possess," Bhatara Ibnu Reza, a researcher from Imparsial Human Rights Watch, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

"Every single decision made by public officials greatly influences the public. Therefore, it is fair for them to be objects of wiretapping, because the public deserve to know decisions made by public officials," he added.

Bhatara said the draft regulation was nothing but another effort to further weaken the KPK after it managed to publicly expose the face of the country's law enforcement institutions at a public hearing at the Constitutional Court in November.

The Court played wiretapped recordings of conversations between fugitive corruption suspect Anggoro Widjojo's younger brother Anggodo Widjojo and several high-ranking officials from the National Police and the AGO.

The recordings were played in connection with fabricated charges against KPK deputy chairmen Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah.

In Anggodo's case, Bhatara said, even though Anggodo was a civilian, his connections with high ranking officials in fabricating charges against the KPK deputies was revealed after the KPK used its authority to wiretap the conversations between Anggodo and the law enforcers.

Separately, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, said privacy was a basic human right and had to be protected.

"However, that right is not absolute. The government has the authority to limit such a right based on the condition that the limitation must be regulated under a law," he said.

Meanwhile, former Supreme Court chief justice Bagir Manan said he also believed interceptions had to be regulated, but not by the government.

"The general regulation on limiting wiretapping can only be regulated by law. A government regulation can only regulate the technical details on the execution of the interception," he said as quoted by detik.com in Jakarta on Friday.

The draft regulation has also ignited a war of words between Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring and presidential advisory staffer Adnan Buyung Nasution.

Responding to Tifatul's defense of the draft regulation, Adnan said Tifatul was a "spokesman for corruptors" because the minister was the one initiating the regulation draft.

Commenting on Buyung's remarks, Tifatul said that he would "dismiss" Buyung.

Refugees/asylum seekers

Asylum seekers leave Indonesia: official

Agence France Presse - December 20, 2009

Jakarta – Fifteen of the Sri Lankan asylum seekers who spent weeks refusing to get off the boat that rescued them near Indonesia have left the country, a foreign ministry official said Sunday.

"They left Indonesia yesterday. Two were flown to Australia and the other 13 were taken to an evacuation centre in Romania where they will be processed by Canada, which had promised to take them," foreign ministry official Sujatmiko told AFP.

"The group were mostly families, comprising men, women and children," he added.

The migrants were part of a group of 78 Sri Lankans rescued at sea from their sinking boat by the Australians in Indonesia's search-and-rescue zone in October, as they attempted to get to Australia.

The group had refused to leave the boat in Indonesia, saying they wanted to be taken to Australia but agreed to disembark after receiving assurances they would be quickly resettled abroad.

The weeks-long stand-off fuelled an intense refugee debate in Australia and piled pressure on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to stem the flow of boat people through Indonesia, amid a sharp increase in arrivals this year.

The migrants say they face persecution at home, where a decades- old civil war pitting ethnic Tamil separatists against majority Sinhalese ended earlier this year.

"As to where the remaining migrants will be resettled... that's still being processed by Australia and the UN refugee agency," Sujatmiko said.

Indonesia, which sprawls across 17,000 islands to Australia's north, has been a key staging point for migrants being taken by people smugglers on the perilous sea journey to Australia.

Labour/migrant workers

Governor in hot water over wage revision rallies

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Serang – Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah criticized the Remuneration Council, the tripartite body recommending the minimum wage every year, following a series of rallies demanding revisions to the council's decision.

"The Remuneration Council should have agreed on a common outcome to prevent worker protests following the setting of the 2010 minimum wage," Atut said at the gubernatorial hall in Serang on Thursday.

The governor signed a decision to determine the 2010 wage increase on Nov. 20. The determination was based on recommendations from the Remuneration Council.

Atut said she feared the rallies staged by workers at council buildings and municipality offices in Tangerang, Cilegon and Serang will negatively impact Banten because investors might be scared off.

Requiem bell tolls for ailing labor unions

Jakarta Post - December 16, 2009

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The mushrooming labor unions have been left toothless as they have no strong network with the grassroots level nor political capital to fight for pro-labor policy, according to labor unionists.

Senior unionist Hanafi Rustandi criticized the labor unions and their elite groups for being trapped in the reform euphoria over the freedom of unions and exppression, which he said has replaced their main mission of representing workers.

"A requiem bell is tolling for most ailing labor unions which represent less and less workers. [The labor unions] are building their own coffins and digging their own graves," he said in a discussion on regional minimum wages here on Tuesday.

Hanafi, chairing the Indonesian Seafarers' Association (KPI) and representative of the Asia-Pacific International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), said with the 2001 freedom of organization law, more than 110 labor unions, including three confederations, have been already registered with the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry but most were just "names on pamphlets", and all together they represented only 14 percent of around 33 million workers in the formal sector.

"[Indonesian] unionists have not noticed the global trend in unification of labor unions to make them effective at collective bargaining both with employers and the government. Europe has only the International Trade Union Confederation [ITUC] while United States has the unified American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations [AFL-CIO]," he said.

Hanafi said seafarers and ITF have stood behind the rife industrial strike with company-level unions and workers demanding for an increase of at least 200 percent on the regional monthly minimum wage.

"With the current minimum wage level, workers are paid only around Rp 800,000 per month or US$1.2 dollar per day, on which a single laborer cannot survive," he said.

Referring to the ILO promotion on decent work and wages, Hanafi said a single worker should be paid at least Rp 2.4 million per month to allow them to meet minimum daily needs.

A survey conducted by the National Workers Union (SPN) and the Confederation of Prosperous Labor Union (KSBSI) between March and June this year, showed that most workers in the garment and textile industry had asked their wives to seek additional income to support their family and send their children to school since their monthly wages ranging from Rp Rp 800,000 and Rp 3.5 million were inadequate to meet their minimum daily need. Many other workers have to seek credit from workers cooperatives at their workplace to pay their children's school fees, despite the government's school fee assistance (BOS).

Chairman of the Confederation of Indonesian Workers Union (KSPI) Thamrin Mossie said the decentratilization program under the guise of regional autonomy has cut the links between labor unions and workers.

"After losing their close link to laborers in the field, most unionists apponited in regional councils fixing the regional minimum wages are representing company-level trade unions, instead of national labor unions," he said.

Employers have often complained about the numerous labor unions having different opinions and approaches to collective bargaining and social dialogue.

"Employers grouped in a single union, Indonesian Employers' Association [Apindo], have difficulties figuring out who they should negotiate the minimum wages with due to the numerous labor unions.

Without having any intention to fall back into the New Order era, labor unions should make a merger or take a common stand in proposals and negotiations," Apindo chairman Sofyan Wanandi said, adding that the low minimum wages had something to do with the low quality of human resources and productivity and the presence of cheap Chinese products flooding domestic markets.

The three confederations – KSBSI, KSPI and Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI) – and many other labor unions such as SPN and Indonesian Metal Workers Union (SPMI) have declined to make a merger for conceptional, ideological and political reasons.

They were also of different opinion on the importance of setting up a labor party to fight for pro-labor policies.

SPMI chairman Muhammad Iqbal said his union still needed internal consolidation to make the merger while KSPSI Chairman Mathias Tambing said most unions have enjoyed their affiliations with the existing political parties despite the presence of the Labor Party and the Indonesian Worker and Employer Party.

Workers oppose new minimum wage in NTT

Jakarta Post - December 16, 2009

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) provincial administration has set the 2010 provincial minimum wage (UMP) at Rp 800,000 (about US$80), up from the current Rp 725,000.

Despite a rise of 10.3 percent, the majority of the workforce in NTT have aired their objection to the gubernatorial decision and demanded it be reviewed.

"The prices of basic daily necessities have increased. Where will we get the extra money to support our families, pay for our children's education and save for our old age if the UMP is only Rp 800,000," Marthen Nahak, a worker at the Nusa Lontar Port in Kupang, said.

Marthen said the government should have conducted a thorough survey to determine people's minimum living needs before setting the 2010 UMP.

"If they simply sit behind a desk and make the decision, the people will be the ones sacrificed. It is as if the authorities have sided with the government and not the people," Marthen said.

The decent minimum living needs of a blue-collar worker in NTT, he added, ranged between Rp 3 million and Rp 5 million. "Why are laborers only valued at Rp 800,000 per month. It's not even enough to buy rice and side dishes," he said.

NTT Manpower and Transmigration Office head Mat Wongso said the UMP increase had gone through revisions from the remuneration council and input and recommendations from the government.

"The 2010 UMP will be effective from Jan. 1. Every employer employing workers should adjust workers' salaries in line with the new UMP," Wongso said. A number of companies in Kupang acknowledged they had accepted the gubernatorial decision on the 2010 UMP.

"Based on a worker's decent standard of living, the amount of the UMP, at Rp 800,000, is probably adequate, because the government has so far subsidized a number of basic needs, such as clothing, so the workers can use their salaries for other basic needs," David Dethan, the owner of a supermarket in Kupang, said.

"As entrepreneurs, we expect the increase in the minimum wage should be followed by an improvement in the quality of work, to our mutual benefit," he added.

NTT legislative councilor Kristo Blasin expressed hope the government would not ignore the aspirations of workers who demanded a more appropriate salary scheme.

"I don't know whether or not workers were involved in determining the new UMP. The government should have heeded the workers' aspirations because, as workers, they should also be respected and paid appropriately," Blasin said

Environment/natural disasters

Indonesia gets serious about nuclear energy

Sydney Morning Herald - December 18, 2009

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesia could formally embrace nuclear power as early as next year as senior Government members push to revive a proposal to build up to four reactors just 30 kilometres from a volcano in Central Java.

Indonesia is beset by regular blackouts that are crimping industrial production and deterring investors, and nuclear energy is being resurrected as a means to meet the country's growing electricity needs while also capping carbon emissions.

But serious concerns remain about the viability of the plan, not least because Java is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that could cause catastrophic radioactive leaks.

At the urging of the new Minister for Energy, Darwin Saleh Zahedi, the National Energy Council has begun assessing the construction of a nuclear reactor in the lead-up to a meeting to be chaired early next year by the President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to approve a new energy blueprint.

"There are pros and cons on the nuclear power issue but if you ask my personal opinion, of course I want to use it," Agusman Effendi, a member of the council, said. "The building should begin in 2010 because our fossil fuel resources are decreasing from time to time."

Mr Effendi suggested it could take 10 years to build the reactor. The Minister for Research and Technology, Suharna Surapranata, has identified 2016 as the possible start-up date.

"The plan to build the nuclear power plant must go on," he said this month, identifying the Muria peninsula as the most likely site.

The peninsula has been favoured for as many as four 1000 megawatt reactors since 1983. Several attempts to build there have been thwarted due to public opposition, including in 2007, when Islamic clerics declared a fatwa against the proposal and locals staged a protest march.

During this year's presidential election campaign, Dr Yudhoyono appeared to back away from nuclear power when he addressed voters in Central Java. But, according to RMIT University's expert on Indonesia's nuclear program, Richard Tanter, the nuclear option has influential backers in the new Yudhoyono Administration.

"It's come alive with a ferocity that's unexpected. It's back, front and centre of the energy agenda," said Professor Tanter. "But it carries high-level risks for which Indonesia is not well prepared. There are very serious volcanic and seismic risks."

Gunung Muria, the volcano 30 kilometres from the proposed site, has been dormant for centuries, underpinning Indonesian confidence that the area is safe.

But a 2003 study by International Atomic Energy Agency researchers obtained by Professor Tanter painted a far bleaker picture. It concluded that the 1600-metre-high Gunung Muria was capable of erupting during the lifespan of any nuclear plant, showering debris, hot gases and rocks on to the facility from vents as close as 4.5 kilometres away.

Moreover, there was some evidence of a "shallow source of magma capable of producing other types of volcanic phenomena" on the peninsula, while offshore faults could also lead to earthquakes that could rattle the plant.

Such damage could lead to deadly radioactive leaks with catastrophic results, Professor Tanter said.

Even so, Muria may still be the safest site on Java, which is riddled with volcanos and fault lines. The problem for Indonesian nuclear authorities is they need to build the plant on or very near Java, where the power is needed.

Kalimantan is the only non-active area of Indonesia and has reserves of uranium but is too far away from population and industrial centres to make building a nuclear reactor there feasible.

Indonesia has an abundance of coal, gas and geothermal energy reserves. But the coal is polluting, and Indonesia has chosen to sell its natural gas rather than deploy it in a significant way for its own energy needs.

Geothermal energy – Indonesia has about 40 per cent of the world's known reserves – has potential but is regarded as being incapable of being used on a large scale.

KPK vows to follow up Walhi report on Lapindo

Jakarta Post - December 17, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) promised to follow up reports on alleged corruption in the issuance of a letter to halt an investigation against PT Lapindo Brantas.

The report was filed by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and related to the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java, allegedly caused by Lapindo's drilling activities.

"We will follow up every report filed to us," KPK spokesman Johan Budi said as quoted by detik.com on Wednesday.

Walhi reported Tuesday that there may be corruption behind the distribution of Rp 4 trillion (US$422.49 million) of state money allocated to compensate victims of the Lapindo mudflow by the government since 2007.

"Distribution of the compensation money has legal and procedural flaws because it was distributed before [the mudflow] had been determined to be the result of corporate negligence or natural disaster," Walhi spokesman Erwin Usman said Wednesday.

Walhi and the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) brought a lawsuit against the company at the South Jakarta District Court and Central Jakarta District Court in 2007. However both courts ruled in favor of Lapindo.

Both organizations later appealed to the Supreme Court, which also rejected the charges against the private oil and gas company partly owned by the family of then coordinating minister for the people's welfare, Aburizal Bakrie. Aburizal is currently chairman of the Golkar Party.

Erwin said the 2007 audit report conducted by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) also showed legal loopholes in the distribution of the compensation money.

Johan said the KPK had recommended that the government not hurriedly disburse the compensation using state money, without guarantees from Lapindo that it would reimburse the money if the mudflow was proven to have been caused by the company's negligence.

However, the President issued a presidential decree in 2007 establishing the Sidoarjo Mudflow Controlling Board (BPLS) and stipulating, among other things, the mudflow victims will receive compensation for damaged houses and land in installments.

The decree also stipulated that part of the compensation will be paid by the government.

The Sidoarjo mudflow in Sidoarjo's Porong district, which occurred at a Lapindo exploratory drilling site, began as an eruption of gas and mud in May 2006.

Mud continues to flow to this day. The outflow has buried thousands of houses, rice fields and factories but Lapindo has not yet payed any compensation.

Walhi said it was the government, which has spent more than Rp 4 trillion, had replaced the company's responsibility. "We suspect there might be abuse of power in this case. Therefore we ask the KPK to start investigate," Erwin said.

He added the KPK was the only legal enforcer they could count on since other legal institutions had washed their hands of the case.

"We also ask the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center [PPATK] to track the distribution of funds from Lapindo to senior officers at the Attorney General's Office and the police," he said.

Indonesia defends palm plantations

Jakarta Globe - December 17, 2009

Belinda Lopez, Copenhagen – Indonesian delegates on Wednesday night promoted the country's palm oil industry as sustainable at the UN climate talks, in the wake of a recently-published Greenpeace report accusing Indonesia's largest palm oil producer of deception and illegal practices.

Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said Indonesia would cut its emissions 9.6 percent by making palm oil plantations more sustainable. That is a sizable chunk of its much-lauded recent commitment to slash emissions by 26 percent before 2020.

A 2009 decree on environmental protection would use law enforcement and improved technology and management to ensure the "development of oil palm will be sustainable and will not harm efforts in anticipating climate change, and will reduce carbon dioxide," Hatta said at a press conference.

A recently-released Greenpeace report accused Indonesia's largest palm oil producer, Sinar Mas, of flouting environmental and social standards while "crafting an illusion of commitment to sustainability".

The report said the pulp, paper and palm oil conglomerate was clearing land without permits and in deep peat. It accused Sinar Mas of violating Indonesian law and the standards of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, an industry group the company belongs to.

Hatta said on the sidelines of the press briefing that a delegation from the forestry and environment ministries had been sent to observe Sinar Mas. While some of the reports' claims could be accurate, he said, "it seems to me that they practice sustainable development for forestry."

Agriculture Minister Suswono said that despite "mismanagement in the past", the focus in the future would be on raising the productivity of existing palm oil plantations, rather than the converting more forests into plantations.

Asked whether a law would be passed to enforce this policy, Hatta said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had ordered all governors of Indonesian provinces to follow it.

"As a developing country, Indonesia needs to use its land and all natural resources to provide people with better revenue," Suswono said, adding that palm oil industry had provided the financial means for food, infrastructure and electricity in underdeveloped regions.

Indonesia has 18 million hectares of land suitable for oil palm, Hatta said, with seven million hectares occupied by palm oil plantations in 2009. Small farmers owned 40 percent of that figure, he added.

Women & gender

Indonesian system failing imprisoned moms: Study

Jakarta Globe - December 23, 2009

Ismira Lutfia – Shame, poverty and distance hamper a mother's relationship with her children when she is in prison, a study has found.

The study found that female convicts often had to endure separation from their children when they were relocated to women-only prisons.

"The lack of female-only prisons in Indonesia often leads to them being relocated to another prison that is far from where they live since ones closer to their homes are full," said Herlina Permata Sari, the lead researcher for the project, on Tuesday.

There are just six women-only prisons in the country, including five in Java and one in Medan, North Sumatra.

The study was conducted this year by the University of Indonesia's Criminology Department at two women's penitentiaries, in Semarang, Central Java, and Malang, East Java. Three hundred female inmates at both the Semarang and Malang prisons were interviewed between May and July. The majority were serving time for drug-related crimes, and were between 18 and 50 years old.

Herlina said poverty often led to imprisoned mothers losing contact with their children, since they did not have enough money to make long-distance telephone calls and their families could not afford to travel to visit them.

"However, there are also some mothers who voluntarily cut off contact with their children out of fear of having them labeled as children of convicts," she said.

The inability to endure the loss of being separated from their children was another reason why mothers chose to cease contact with their children.

"They don't want to suffer the pain of longing for their children after brief visits, and vice versa for the children. They think that it won't be good for them," Herlina said.

The study also found that imprisoned mothers often feared that they would not be able to properly care for their children after being released because of the stigma of being former inmates.

Herlina said the study showed that a majority of inmates hid their imprisonment from their children, while a surprising 40 percent claimed to be open and honest with their children about it.

"They have various reasons for being frank with their children, but in general they said that they just wanted their children to know the truth," she said.

The remaining 60 percent said they decided to hide the truth because they feared it would be a psychological burden to their children, Herlina said. "They even decided to cut all contact to keep the secret from their children," she said.

Another member of the research team, Mamik Sri Supatmi, said the study would continue over the next three years. The second stage, scheduled for next year, will examine the children's perspectives, while the third phase will analyze the support systems for children separated from imprisoned mothers.

"We will compile these findings into a manual for prison or detention centers where there are female convicts to cater to their needs to keep in contact with their children," Mamik said.

New mothers still lack necessary facilities at work

Jakarta Globe - December 21, 2009

Nurfika Osman – Despite the introduction of new legislation eight years ago, working mothers still face barriers in attempting to juggle the pressures of work and the challenges of raising children, particularly newborns.

Speaking ahead of today's Mother's Day, Frida Harni Attila, the mother of a 9-month-old girl, told the Jakarta Globe she was disappointed the trading company she worked for in South Jakarta did not have a nursery.

"I cannot breast-feed my baby," Frida said. "The government recommends that mothers breast-feed their babies for six months, but we only have three months for maternity leave. This is strange."

"I wanted to breast-feed my baby for six months because I know it's good for the baby's immune system," she said. "The government should review its laws if it wants to support working mothers."

Nurhandayanti, a working mother with two elementary school-aged children, said that though the 2003 Law on Manpower should enable women to breast-feed babies at work, most offices lacked the required facilities. "The facts are far different from the law," she said.

Sri Danti, a senior official from the State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, acknowledged that the law remained difficult to implement.

"[Employers] always argue that they do not have the budget or room to support working mothers," Danti said. "Our officials are not sensitive to gender issues and we keep pushing them to provide the facilities."

She added that more than 40 percent of Indonesian women were in the workforce in 2008, an increase of 5 percent from 2003.

She said the State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, and the Ministry of Health had implemented the law.

The State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection has successfully pushed six other ministries to implement a gender-responsive budget system, a tool to achieve gender equality by balancing the interests of both sexes.

Danti said the policy was introduced because Indonesia has "a homogenous budget system that is not effective in addressing the needs of both genders."

In addition to the State Ministry for Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, the education, finance, public works, agriculture and health ministries, and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) have implemented the budget system. All other ministries are expected to join the program by 2011.

Many women still fall victim to sex trafficking

Jakarta Post - December 22, 2009

Jakarta – Lita (not her real name), 26, never imagined she would be forced to remove her clothes in a locked hotel room to serve a high-paying customer shortly after her arrival in Kuching, Malaysia.

"I dropped to my knees to persuade him to let me go, but to no avail," she said during a conference on trafficking on Monday. She added that her customer eventually let her go after she gave him a sexual service.

Lita dealt with customers daily and continued to beg them to help her escape.

Three months later, a customer lent her his cell phone, on which she contacted her older brother, who later reported the case to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). IOM later coordinated with the police to raid the brothel.

Lita is a single parent of a 4-year-old child. Her husband left her for another woman when she was seven months' pregnant in 2005. After giving birth, she met with an agency official promising her a good salary if she was willing to work in a restaurant in Malaysia.

She accepted the offer in the hope that she could improve the financial situation of her family. She didn't know that she would be forced to work as a prostitute.

Lita managed to return to Indonesia by the end of 2006. Shortly after her return, she underwent a medical checkup in a hospital in Jakarta.

She was shocked to learn that she had contracted HIV. "I didn't even know where and how I got the virus. I thought I would die very soon," she said.

Lita is one of 30,000 Indonesian women who fall victim to sex trafficking each year, according to the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan). The IOM says that in February alone, 2,307 out of 3,339 trafficking victims were women, while 676 were children.

A member of Komnas Perempuan, Sri Wiyanti Eddyono, said that poverty and ignorance were the main causes of human trafficking. "Trafficking victims are generally from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, people who dream of improving the welfare of their family," she said.

Sri said the implementation of the 2007 law on the eradication of human trafficking had been ineffective, citing the high frequency of women trafficked every year.

She also said that weak coordination between regional administrations and the central government, as well as with government representatives in other countries had increased the number of women being trafficked.

"The government has failed to protect its own citizens and protect their rights," she said.

A policy analyst from Migrant Care, Wahyu Susilo, said that most trafficked women went abroad through legal means. However, after arriving at their destination were sold to unknown parties.

State Women's Empowerment Minister Linda Gumelar said a strategy involving various ethnic and religious groups was needed to minimize discrimination against women. (nia)

Women in parliament - where are did your vote go?

Kompas - December 21, 2009

Umi Kulsum and Ignatius Kristanto – Two months have passed, but like an engine, they have also yet to "warm up". Yet, their numbers have increased significantly compared with the previous period. What's going on?

During one particular commission meeting, I asked the members to consider the aspect of gender. All of a sudden, there were shouts and jeers, "Huuu..., gender again, gender again", related Eva Kusuma Sundari, a House of Representatives (DPR) member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Eva's experience illustrates how women members of parliament in the DPR for the period 2009-2014 do indeed still have to struggle to counterbalance the political domination of men at Senayan (the DPR).

There were in fact high hopes that the presence of women would be able to influence the parliament, one being that the institution would be able to produce decisions or policies that were no longer gender bias. This was one of the reasons why women activists had enthusiastically fought for a 30 percent quota in parliament.

The campaign for a 30 percent quota was defeated and replaced by the direct election of legislators, which as it turned out, resulted in a larger percentage of women in parliament. From 11.8 percent in the 2004 elections, it increased to 18 percent in the 2009 elections (where voters directly ticked the name of legislating candidates on the ballot papers).

On the one hand, this increase did indeed provide a sense of optimism that their presence would have an impact. But, many also expressed doubt bearing in mind that current female legislators do not have any previous experience in political activity or social organisations.

These doubts can be seen from a Kompas research and development survey conducted between 15 and 16 December. The majority (60 percent) of respondents felt dissatisfied with women legislator's performance in parliament. Their voices are yet to be heard "loud and clear" compared with those of male politicians.

In addition to this, the public is also of the view that there performance is inferior to their male counterparts. The majority (61 percent) of respondents believe that the female members of parliament have not yet played much of an active role. In the midst of the political uproar post the presidential election, starting with the "gecko verses the crocodile" (the Corruption Eradication Commission verses the police) case to the Bank Century (bailout scandal), their voices are still being drowned out by male politicians.

Recruitment system

A similar view meanwhile was also raised by University of Indonesia Faculty of Social and Political Science lecturer Ani Soetjipto. Soetjipto suggests that the problem is caused by the political party's system of recruitment. The parties should look at the background of each legislative candidate, not just pursue a 30 percent quota of women.

The mechanisms for determining the legislative candidate list ranking in parties should also give more consideration to candidates' qualifications, prioritising people who have a good track record or will representing the people in parliament.

In addition to this, the legislative candidate list ranking is often still influenced by a person's closeness to or family relationship with party leaders or senior officials. "Indeed, sometimes the top ranking in regional elections are usually filled by people who are close family members of senior party officials," added Soetjipto.

Conversely, it appears to be difficult for women who have long been fighting for women's rights to get into parliament. The evidence being out of the women currently sitting in the DPR, only one activist made it into parliament. The majority of women legislators come from political dynasties, the business sector or families of businesspeople and from celebrity circles. Celebrities have a second advantage aside from being widely known, generally they have quite a lot of money.

So, it is not surprising therefore that an negative view has emerged among the public. The majority of respondents (64 percent) still doubt that women legislators' will be able to free themselves from the domination of the male members of the House so their ability to play an active role in the DPR will remain minimal.

Certainly their numbers have increased. But according to Eva however, their numbers in parliament are still [not] decisive. The figure of 18 percent turns out to be like a drop in the ocean that is still not audible amongst the domination of male politicians.

"I call this the politics of numbers, I [always] loose the vote, particularly if it has to be through a quorum, I will definitely loose," said the former University of Airlangga lecturer.

So, according to Eva, more women are needed in the DPR than there are now. "But it's not just because of numbers, but support from fellow women colleagues is extremely important in the assembly hall," she said.

In addition to this, their "burden" is added to by the deeply entrenched rampant gender bias of male politicians, as related by Eva at the beginning of this article. Apparently the public is also aware of this as reflected by 64 percent of respondents who believe that the political world still discriminates against women.

Minimal experience

In politics, good organisational experience is absolutely vital in order to organise larger issues, but only a small number of members elected to parliament have this.

Eva is one of the DPR members that has a quite strong social and political organisational background, but no more than 10 women in the current parliament has the experience of this PDI-P politician. Indeed there are eight women assembly members who have never been involved in social or political activities.

Viewed from their age however, the women politicians in parliament are very promising. The majority are still in their productive years, being under 36 years old. This is very different from the situation in the previous parliament that was dominated by people in the 50 year and above age group.

In addition to this, their educational levels are also promising. Out of the 102 women in the current parliament, 94 have a university degree or higher. Only eight women are senior high school graduates.

It is these two factors that actually represent a huge capital for women to have a louder and better voice in parliament. It is this capital that makes Eva remain optimistic about the majority of elected legislative members. Although they do not have experience, surely everyone needs to go through process of learning.

"I needed six months before I was able to understand and know what I had to do", said Eva.

A similar sense of optimism and hope was also revealed in the survey. Women politicians in the current parliament are still capable of performing better. At lest this conviction was reflected by 62 percent of respondents who said they had heard that these women politicians are already fighting for women's interests in Indonesia. (Litbang Kompas)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Club promotes polygamy in Indonesia

BBC Nwes - December 17, 2009

Karishma Vaswani, Jakarta – It is a scene of peaceful serenity. Rows of men kneel in deep prayer inside a large hall on the outskirts of Jakarta. The women sit just behind them, their heads bowed in quiet contemplation.

It could be afternoon prayers anywhere in Indonesia, a vast Muslim-majority archipelago, but this scene happens to be inside the sprawling headquarters of Jakarta's newest club – the "Global Ikhlwan" polygamy club.

Tucked away in a leafy suburb a few hours out of Jakarta, the club was set up in Indonesia earlier this year, but has its origins in Malaysia. It says it has more than 1,000 members worldwide – as far away as Australia and the United States.

In Indonesia, the law allows men to marry more than one woman – but only under strict conditions, which makes the practice of polygamy less common here than in other Muslim nations. But that could change if the controversial new polygamy club is a success.

Peaceful environment

The club has garnered a great deal of criticism since its inception. But in the hall, the only sounds you can hear that disrupt the quiet are the voices of young children filling the corridors. They are being taught to read Islamic scriptures, so that they can become pious Muslims from a young age.

There is also a small shop that sells Islamic and Halal food – even a production house which makes Islamic films.

But the main aim of the club is to promote the virtues of polygamy, as well as to support those who are struggling with their choices.

In one of the club's rooms, the director of the organisation, Dr Gina Puspita, speaks to a group of young women trying to help them get over their jealousies and insecurities. She admits she found it hard when her husband Rizdam took on a second wife.

"It was difficult for me in the beginning, but I knew it was because of my emotions, my desires," she told me. "But polygamy is a way for us to find happiness and love in this world. There are a lot of advantages for women in polygamous marriages – we learn how to control our desires and jealousies, and this brings us closer to Allah."

Tight controls

But Dr Puspita's stance on polygamy is firmly opposed by some groups in Indonesia. This country has strict rules about who is allowed to take on multiple wives.

The guiding principle of Indonesia's marriage law is monogamy. Polygamy is tolerated – but tightly controlled. You have to go through a number of steps to take more than one wife.

First, you have to get your first wife's permission. Second, if she does not give you her consent, you must prove that she is either infertile, terminally ill, or not performing her wifely duties. And finally you have to get the permission of a religious adviser.

Although there are no official statistics for how many people in Indonesia are polygamous – because so many of the marriages go unregistered – women's groups say organisations like the polygamy club could prompt more Indonesian men to take on multiple wives.

Activist Nursyahbani Katjasungkana is incensed by the polygamy club, and she uses the Koran to try to refute claims that polygamy is an acceptable, even desirable Islamic practice.

"When the scripture revealed to the Prophet Muhammad its direction on polygamy, it was during the time of war," she says.

"I believe it was a direction to the Muslims of that time that all the victims of war or widows and children who lost a father or a husband have to be protected. That's the message of the scriptures – it wasn't really a command to men to have a second or third or fourth wife."

But that is not an interpretation Dr Gina Puspita or her family accepts.

Back at her house, she's frying up some rice and chicken for her family for lunch. She cooks while Salwa, wife number three, chops up the vegetables. It is a picture of domestic harmony, an unusual family tableau. Her husband Rizdam tells me this system works for them.

"I think polygamy is better than monogamy," he says to me as we share the lunch his wives have cooked for us. "There are so many advantages – for men, it teaches us leadership. If it difficult to manage one wife in a marriage – but four? It is much more difficult and it is a good educational practice."

Sign of the times

Indonesian women's groups are calling on officials to shut the club down. But so far the Indonesian government has said it will only monitor the club's activities – it won't curtail it.

Indonesia prides itself on its reputation as a tolerant Islamic nation, but many of its people are pitted against each other in an ongoing ideological battle.

The current controversy over Indonesia's polygamy club is a sign of the struggle this country is going through – how to be Muslim and modern at the same time.

Health & education

More midwives needed 'to achieve MDGs'

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Jakarta – Indonesia needs more dedicated midwives to help reach maternal and infant mortality targets set by the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, a meeting heard Tuesday.

Listiani Ritawati, a midwife from Sambirejo village in Ngawen district, Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta, said the lack of clean water in her village had led to a worsening health situation for pregnant women.

"We lack clean water because the soil in the area is all limestone," she said in Jakarta on the sidelines of a conference for the selection of candidates for the Srikandi Award.

The award is conferred on outstanding midwives who contribute to reducing maternal and infant mortality rates across the country.

Listiani is one of 10 candidates for the award, which is handed out each year by the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI), the Health Ministry and PT Sari Husada. The three winning candidates will be announced Wednesday.

Listiani said more than 150 people in her neighborhood unit previously had to walk up to 2 kilometers to fetch clean water from a well in another neighborhood unit. Once there, she added, they also had to queue many hours to get the water.

Listiani then pointed out the case of a pregnant woman, out fetching water, who fell from her motorcycle at a bend in the road. She suffered severe bleeding and had a miscarriage.

"That was the point at which I realized our neighborhood unit urgently needed a 75-meter-deep well for clean water, to prevent such accidents ever happening again," she said. However, she added, this was not easy because the well cost Rp 25 million (US$2,600) to build.

"Most people in the area are poor; they scrape a living as farmers, and most don't have a senior high education," Listiani said.

Many children in the village also suffered from diarrhea due to the lack of clean water, she said. "If access to clean water remained out of reach, the quality of women's and children's health would have declined, and their lives would have been in danger," she said.

Listiani also said she and a new graduate midwife on a temporary posting in the local community were the only health workers in the area, handling childbirths for the 874-hectare village that had a population of more than 7,000 people. "She's my assistant, and together we can serve around 40 patients a day," she said.

The well was eventually dug in the village last September, with funding from the IBI and Sari Husada to recognize midwives making outstanding efforts to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. As a result, Listiani said, the number of people suffering from diarrhea had dropped to only two patients over the past four months, down from 15 in the same period last year.

IBI board member Ruslidjah said what Listiani had done highlighted the significance of midwives for the country as a whole. She said Indonesia lacked skilled midwives, who were badly needed in many areas across the archipelago to help reduce rates of disease and mortality among infants and mothers.

"The lack of midwives in remote areas, especially in the eastern part of the country, is behind the low quality of health of the people there, as well as the increased number of dying women and babies," Ruslidjah said, adding there were only 100,000 midwives across the country.

Indonesia expects to achieve a maternal mortality rate of 102 per 100,000 live births by 2015, down from the current rate of 228 per 100,000 live births. It also expects to achieve an infant mortality rate of 23 per 1,000 live births by 2015, down from the current 34 per 1,000 live births. (nia)

Organs for sale online: A risky way out for the needy and greedy

Jakarta Globe - December 18, 2009

Cash-strapped Indonesians are cutting out the middleman and selling their organs online, exploiting a loophole in local laws and fueling a dangerous and illegal trade in human body parts.

Hundreds of advertisements have appeared on Indonesian personal advertising Web sites offering kidneys for as little as Rp 50 million ($5,300) each.

Among the usual cars, jewelry and beauty products, one advertisement on www.iklanoke.com states: "16-year-old male selling a kidney for Rp 350 million or in exchange for a Toyota Camry."

Many of the advertisers – students, professionals and even housewives – are not shy about using their real names or leaving their contact numbers.

Most insist they are disease-free and do not smoke, consume alcohol or take drugs. Family debts and outstanding bank loans are driving them to desperate measures, they say.

Eighteen-year-old high-school student Elisa said her family had debts worth tens of thousands of dollars after a fire razed their home in Jakarta and her father's grocery store failed.

"We now live at my grandmother's house. My mother works as a cook and my father helps out at an uncle's grocery store, but their earnings are only enough to buy food," Elisa said.

"I owe my school six months in fees. I often cry thinking about our fate. A movie I saw said selling kidneys is a quick way to get loads of cash. I want to sell mine so I can buy a new house and pay my school fees," the eldest of four siblings said.

She rejected two Indonesian buyers who couldn't meet her asking price of Rp 800 million, she said. Interested local and foreigner buyers are willing to pay up to Rp 200 million for a kidney, sellers say.

Another seller, 22-year-old graphic designer Andi, said a European and a Chinese have separately offered to buy his kidney for 200 million rupiah – four times his asking price.

"They wanted to see a health report from a doctor and asked if I would go overseas for transplant. After a few e-mails, I never heard from them again," he said.

Andi said he wanted to repay his elderly foster parents for "looking after me like their own," he said.

Organ trading is outlawed in Indonesia and carries a penalty of up to 15 years' jail and a 300 million rupiah fine. Officials acknowledge that sellers get away with it because Web sites such as iklanoke go largely unmonitored and the law is vague and difficult to enforce.

"The health law states that organ transplants can only be carried out for humanitarian purposes but it doesn't define the meaning of humanitarian," said Anas Yusuf, department chief for Indonesia Interpol. "So it's hard to prove if a transplant is carried out for humanitarian or commercial reasons."

He said Interpol was aware of cases of organ trading in Indonesia, although government officials contacted by Agence France-Presse said they had no data on the size of the illegal market.

"Negotiations between sellers and buyers are carried out in private so unless they're reported, we won't know. Also, transplants are usually carried out overseas so it's hard to prosecute offenders," Yusuf said.

Two Indonesian men were jailed and fined in Singapore in July 2008 for their involvement in the organ trade. The judge said that although they had agreed to sell their kidneys, syndicates had exploited their disadvantaged backgrounds.

General practitioner and lawmaker Subagyo Partodiharjo said much of the grisly trade was controlled by an "organ mafia" which approached poor people in remote villages in Java. "I suspect it could be them posting the advertisements on behalf of the sellers," Partodiharjo said.

Public education on the risks of organ transplants and stricter monitoring of the Internet could help reduce the illegal trade, lawmakers said.

"The poor are usually ignorant of the health risks involved and are tempted by the money. Local governments need to inform people not to resort to selling organs to get money," Partodiharjo said.

Twenty-six-year-old telecommunications officer Jhon, who is offering to sell his kidney, liver and cornea, said desperate people would do anything to pull their families out of debt.

"I know about the law, I know about the health risks. Nobody wants to lose a body part and become a handicapped," he said.

"It's a last resort. If I can't earn enough to pay off my family's debt by December, I have no choice. For them, I'm willing to give up everything... my kidneys, my heart, my eyes, even my life," he said.

Selling organs, especially kidneys, is not necessarily a new thing in Indonesia. In October, Zha Kania, a 20-year-old girl from Bandung posted an advertisement in a Web site stating that she intended to sell her kidney for Rp 600 million to pay off her father's debt. She said his garment business collapsed after he was scammed by his partner.

Kania said she needed the money immediately because none of her family members had a stable job and the idea to sell her kidney came from a friend.

According to Surabaya-based psychiatrist Yuniar Soenarko, it was important to consider the sellers' reasons for selling their organs.

Yuaniar said that for those suffering from sheer poverty, selling an organ could be a sensible solution, as long as they were perfectly health. "Their misery ends there because money is the only answer to their problems," she said.

But for those who sold their organs for impulsive reasons, there was a risk of a psychological impact because they were likely to regret their decision even if they were healthy.

"Many people have sold their organs because they wanted to buy a car or drugs, and when they finally came to their senses, they regretted their decision," she said. This regret, she said, could lead to depression and even suicide.

[Agence France Presse with additional reporting from the Jakarta Globe's Dessy Sagita.]

ICW suspects education fund being embezzled

Jakarta Post - December 16, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said it suspected potential losses from mismanagement of the Special Allocation Fund (DAK) throughout Indonesia between 2003-2009 could reach Rp 194 billion (US$20.53 million).

"One of the indicators is that the state of educational facilities, which are funded by the DAK, have shown no significant development despite the DAK budget being increased every year," the head of ICW's investigation division, Agus Sunaryanto, told a conference Tuesday.

Data from 2008 showed there were 467,000 classrooms in serious need of repair in elementary and junior high schools, 15,772 junior high schools without libraries and 17,709 junior high schools without laboratories.

"Such lack of development does not correlate with the amounts allegedly spent on improving the quality of school buildings and facilities," ICW chief of public service monitoring division, Ade Irawan, said. "Therefore we suspect corruption is the root of this problem," he said.

He claimed officials from the central government to the school level allegedly embezzled the special education fund. Ade said corrupt practices began with the National Education Ministry's planning process, which was not supported by valid data on the schools' needs.

"Officials from regional administrations often have to spend days lobbying decision-making officials at the ministry to get a bigger portion of the DAK for their regions," he said. Ade said the lobbying process opened the opportunity for third parties such as politicians, middlemen and businessmen to benefit.

He also questioned why it was the ministry that determined the programs and type of goods that would be funded by the DAK, instead of giving that authority to the schools to determine their own programs according to their needs.

There are other ways for the losses to add up, he said, adding that transfers of the special allocation funds to schools were prone to cuts by officials at the regional levels.

"According to the Supreme Audit Agency [BPK] report in 2007, regional administration officials had skimmed off some of the money before the funds were transferred to schools," Ade said.

Apart from these illegal methods, the DAK management at school level was also opaque and unaccountable, allowing school principals and administrators to easily manipulate reports on the special allocation funds.

ICW has urged the government to give schools the autonomy to use the funds according to their needs. "Planning the DAK allocation must also be a transparent process," Ade said.

He suggested regency or city administrations look at individual school conditions to facilitate prioritizing DAK recipients.

ICW also suggested stopping the distribution of funds to schools or regions proven to have embezzled the education fund. Previously ICW had reported alleged DAK embezzlement in Tasikmalaya, West Java, to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

However, an official at the KPK's public complaints division, Yuli Kristianto, said the case was still under evaluation.

Bank Century inquiry

Boediono stands firm over Century bailout

Jakarta Globe - December 22, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati & Adrian Wibisono – Indonesian Vice President Boediono, addressing a roomful of lawmakers on Tuesday, defended the central bank's decision in 2008 to bailout ailing PT Bank Century, saying that the collapse of even a small bank in times of crisis could bring dire consequences to the country's banking sector.

During an open, high-profile hearing with the House of Representatives' special committee investigating the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout, Boediono remained composed and confident as he answered questions. "The bailout in the situation at that time was the best decision," he said.

The vice president's reputation, integrity and position have come under fire as the Century case has become the focus of political maneuvering.

Boediono said that in 2008, there were several indications that banking conditions in Indonesia were in peril, including unstable reserves, banks stopping giving loans to each other, mounting rumors about sick banks and fluctuating foreign exchange rates.

Those indications resembled the 1997-1998 period when Indonesia and much of Asia suffered a severe economic crisis, he said. "In a situation of crisis, public psychology could easily incite panic," said Boediono, who headed the central bank at the time the bailout decision was made.

On Monday, Boediono's predecessor at the central bank, Burhanuddin Abdullah, and former deputy governor Anwar Nasution told lawmakers they considered Century a small bank whose collapse would be unlikely to prompt a systemic crisis.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who approved the bailout in her capacity as chairperson of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), has said that the bailout was approved because of fears that Century could have a systemic effect on the banking system.

"If only they were in our position, [they] would have taken the same actions. Our data was OK to decide quickly to contain the effect," Boediono said, referring to Burhanuddin and Anwar.

Boediono also rejected a conclusion of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) that suggested that the central bank had changed its short-term loan facility policy to benefit Century, which is now known as Bank Mutiara.

The policy initially required a bank to have a minimal Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 8 percent, to be eligible for short-term government loans, but in 2008 that was changed to banks merely having to have a positive status.

Bank Century's CAR was 2.35 percent positive when it applied for a Rp 1 trillion loan from the central bank.

The central bank's decision to change the policy, Boediono said, was taken to try and stop the financial situation from disintegrating. "We decided to change the requirements for the short-term loan facility policy and changed the required CAR to try and salvage the situation and help avoid a greater crisis," he said in response to a question from a lawmaker.

At the time the regulation was revised there were three banks, including Century, that had a CAR below 8 percent, Boediono said.

CAR is a ratio that banking regulators use to watch a bank's health, specifically the bank's capital to its risk exposure. Regulators track a bank's CAR, a measure of how much capital is used to support the bank's risk assets, to ensure that it can absorb a reasonable amount of loss.

Replying to another lawmaker's question as to why the bailout sum ballooned from the initially planned Rp 632 billion to Rp 6.7 trillion, Boediono said that "the calculations became very dynamic during the crisis. It was based on daily developments."

Boediono said he would abide by the ongoing probe but he challenged lawmakers to prove suspicions that the bailout was the result of a conspiracy between central bank officials and the owners of Bank Century.

"If there is any suspicion about a conspiracy, then please prove it. You have to have evidence so that no innocent person is punished," he said.

Special committee chairman Idrus Marham, from the Golkar Party, said that Boediono was expected to appear before the committee another time to offer further explanations on the short-term loan policy and the KSSK.

Observers reject Bank Century witch-hunt

Jakarta Globe - December 20, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Calls to suspend Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati were malicious attempts to oust the two professionals from their posts, political observers said on Sunday as they voiced support for the president's appeal to dismiss such recommendations.

Political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) said on Sunday that the suspension calls from the House of Representatives' Special Committee probing the bailout of PT Bank Century last year, had the "clear aim" to push Boediono and Sri Mulyani out of their coveted positions.

"The calls came too early, considering that Boediono and Sri Mulyani have yet to testify before the committee. The inquiry is still a far cry from legal investigation proceedings," Burhanuddin said, adding that he thought the committee was politically driven and he doubted it could maintain its objectivity.

"Neither Vice President Boediono nor Finance Minister Sri Mulyani have to be temporarily suspended or discharged" during the investigation, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told a press conference on Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he was attending the UN climate talks. Yudhoyono said there was no legal basis for suspending the officials.

The president said he came to that view after talking to both Boediono and Sri Mulyani, who assured him that they could carry out their duties while being investigated by the House committee. He added that having them step aside would harm the economy.

Among Sri Mulyani's fiercest political critics is controversial businessman Aburizal Bakrie, chairman of the Golkar Party. The pair have clashed over numerous issues and the Tax Directorate, overseen by Sri Mulyani, is currently investigating alleged tax evasion involving three companies from Aburizal's Bakrie group of companies.

Calls in the special committee in favor of the suspensions rose mainly from the factions from Golkar, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), National Mandate Party (PAN) and National Awakening Party (PKB).

Political observer Arbi Sanit, from the University of Indonesia, was skeptical about the committee, calling it "a political drama" outwardly aimed at satisfying public expectations.

"They appear to act in the name of the people while they actually do it for personal and party interests," he said. Arbi pointed to the House committees for other cases that resulted in "nothing significant but political brouhaha," despite the fact that they were financed by taxpayer money.

The House has allocated Rp 2.7 billion ($286,000) for the special committee investigating the Bank Century case, which is expected to conclude its probe and present its recommendations by early February.

Constitutional law expert Refly Harun, of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), also backed the president's move, saying the committee "had gone too far."

"It appears that they spend their energy too much on calls to suspend those figures," he said. "They seem to forget that the main issue is investigating corruption over the bailout."

Century account not linked to Sri Mulyani, ministry says

Jakarta Globe - December 18, 2009

Jakarta Globe & Antara – The Finance Ministry has confirmed that a bank account at PT Bank Century containing $17.28 million held by the finance minister was not Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati's personal account but that of the government.

The disclosure of the account's existence was made during the House of Representatives' special committee hearing on Thursday into the controversial Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout of the bank in 2008. Critics say the bailout far exceeded the Rp 1.3 trillion amount approved by the House.

During the hearing, Yunus Husein, head of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), confirmed the existence of the account.

Legislators seized on the account in a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) audit, which stated that the Finance Ministry had transferred grants from the US Department of Agriculture to the Indonesian government worth $17.28 million on Nov. 1, 2005.

But just where the money had gone was unclear, Yunus said, drawing the wrath of a number of legislators when he declined to speculate on the funds' whereabouts.

"Mr. Yunus, we just want clarification. Is it true that there was an account belonging to the finance minister [at Bank Century]?" said Marwan Fajar, a member of the investigating committee from the National Awakening Party (PKB), according to news portal Detik.com.

Just hours after the hearing concluded, the ministry released a statement saying the account "under the name of the finance minister, was opened when the minister was still Mr. Jusuf Anwar." Jusuf was replaced as minister in December 2007.

The funds in the account "up until now are still recorded as belonging to the government and are reported to the BPK every year in the central government's financial report," the ministry added.

Fauzi Ichsan, an economist from Standard Chartered Bank, said on Friday that he supported the investigation into the Bank Century bailout, but warned against the increasingly political tone the committee was taking, warning that its credibility was on the line as well as confidence in the country's economic footing.

He said speculation that attempts were underway to remove Sri Mulyani and Vice President Boediono – both respected, reform- minded professionals – from their positions had made market players more cautious about the country's political stability.

"We had a peaceful presidential election and the cabinet was formed over a month ago," Fauzi said. "These two figures are seen by the market as highly accountable; now some want them removed from the cabinet?"

Speaking during Thursday's hearing, Yunus said that as part of efforts to trace the Bank Century funds, the PPATK had found transfers to names "identical to or resembling" those of a number of leaders of political parties.

"The focus of our fund flow tracing efforts so far has not been on money transfers to political parties, but on transfers to scores of individuals and institutions. And we found such transfers to at least 10 names that were identical with or resembling those of political party leaders," he said.

Yunus said the PPATK has not been able to verify whether the names were those of political party leaders or of others who just happened to have the same names. He declined to list the names.

"I cannot mention those names because of legal restrictions. It is not that I am unwilling to help the committee, but I just don't want to breach the law," Yunus said.

A number of committee members asked Yunus to gather more information on the suspicious transfers and to present his findings to the committee at a later date.

Committee chairman Idrus Marham of the Golkar party gave the PPATK two weeks to meet again with the committee. Yunus has complained about technical and manpower constraints in carrying out the investigation into Bank Century.

Finance sector professionals back Boediono, Sri Mulyani

Jakarta Globe - December 17, 2009

Dion Bisara – A group of respected professionals from the financial sector on Wednesday threw their support behind Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who are under fire over the government's decision to bail out ailing PT Bank Century last year.

"We are ready to back up Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani with whatever we can do in our professional capability," said Mas Achmad Daniri, the spokesman for the group, which includes economics observers from bank-affiliated or independent bodies and capital market players.

Daniri was a former president director of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, which subsequently changed its name to the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

Also appearing at the press conference were Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, a former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) economist; Christianto Wibisono, from private think-tank Global Nexus Institute; Indonesia Research and Strategic Analysis analyst Faisal Basri; Lily Widjaja, president director for global brokerage firm PT Merrill Lynch Indonesia; and political analyst Wimar Witoelar.

"Professionals want the case of Bank Century to be settled proportionally, in line with the law, without confusing the public and without any slander or character assassination," the group said in a statement.

The group also claimed to support lawmakers currently conducting an inquiry into the Bank Century saga, but said it was vital that they acted rationally and professionally, as the issue had now come under international scrutiny and there were concerns it could deter investors planning to put money into the country.

Separately, Tony Prasetyantono, chief economist PT Bank Negara Indonesia, also pledged his support to Sri Mulyani, saying that the credibility of the government would be at stake if she was replaced.

"Confidence would heavily depend on who replaces her. Indonesia's stock market index movement is mainly due to sentiment," Tony said.

However, Iksan Modjo, director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, said it was an exaggeration to say that the economy would crumble just because of one person.

"This is not the first time we've experienced this. For example, [the case of] Burhanudin Abdullah. No one doubted his integrity [as a monetary policy maker] but he could still make mistakes. When he was replaced our economy still went on," Iksan said.

Burhanuddin is a former central bank governor who was named one of the world's five best bankers in 2007 by Global Finance magazine. He is now serving a five-and-a-half-year prison term for misusing funds from the Indonesian Banking Development Foundation.

Economic analyst Faisal Basri, center, and activists from the Indonesian professional community expressing their opinions of the Bank Century scandal in front of the Indonesian Stock Exchange in Jakarta on Wednesday. They demanded that the parties involved in resolving the case be professional and focus on a fair judicial process.

Indonesian lawmakers satisfied with BPK Century audit

Jakarta Globe - December 17, 2009

Ismira Lutfia & Camelia Pasandaran – Members of the House of Representatives special committee probing the Bank Century bailout claimed to be satisfied on Wednesday with the Supreme Audit Agency's explanation of its report and, although there was nothing substantially new, lawmakers now "had fresh perspectives" on the case.

"We are satisfied with the presentation and we really appreciate their work," said Machfud Siddiq, a committee member from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

He said the auditor's presentation indicated that there had been violations in the decision-making process for the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout.

However, the committee failed to get the agency to hand over a copy of the recording of a late night meeting between the Ministry of Finance and the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) to discuss the ailing Bank Century's fate just before the bailout.

Andi Rahmat from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said the recording was needed to determine the role of each individual and institution involved.

Andi said some data were not yet finalized because of a failure to acquire the supporting audit-related documents. "We need them to construct and find the whole [bailout] structure systematically," Andi said.

Hasan Bisri, a member of the auditor, also known as the BPK, told lawmakers it had concluded that the KSSK had inaccurate and incomplete data from the central bank concerning Bank Century's condition.

"BPK cannot determine who is wrong or right.... We are not investigators but auditors," BPK chairman Hadi Purnomo said.

"I think the public also has the same perception and, no matter how it is debated and twisted around, it would eventually lead to the same thing," Andi said, adding that his own "very preliminary suspicion" was that there was a mutually beneficial connection between those involved in the bailout process and the bank's major clients. He said that Vice President Boediono had played a "vital role."

Committee deputy chairman Gayus Lumbun of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati would be summoned after Boediono was questioned on Monday.

Vice presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat said that by 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Boediono had not received a summons to appear before the committee. "As Pak Boediono has said before, he is willing to meet the House special committee to make all things clear."

However, he reminded lawmakers that Boediono was "a state symbol." There should be consideration of political and state etiquette," he said when asked to elaborate.

Committee member Bambang Susatyo of Golkar said the committee had no intention of watering down its questioning.

"Special treatment doesn't mean that we lose the right to ask. The House, as stipulated in the constitution, has the right to ask for and get an explanation," Bambang said. "Our investigation today revealed that there was possible corruption."

NGO threatens to topple SBY over Century case

Jakarta Globe - December 16, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The People's Democratic Defense, the fringe nationalist group that blamed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election campaign for allegedly misappropriating funds from the Bank Century bailout, on Wednesday threatened to overthrow the government.

"What is our reason to keep the current government?" said Mustar Bonaventura, the leader of the group known as Bendera. "If the finance minister [Sri Mulyani Indrawati] and Vice President Boediono knew about the bailout, it is impossible that the president didn't know about the matter. We are warning Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. If he fails to resolve the Century scandal, then he must resign."

The group called on the president to resolve the Century case immediately or to resign from his position, threatening to topple him if he failed to heed their warning.

Bendera earlier claimed to have evidence that Rp 1.8 trillion ($190 million) of the Rp. 6.7 trillion bailout was channeled to the president's Democratic Party re-election campaign.

Speaking at a press conference at Bendera's headquarters in Central Jakarta, Mustar denounced the bailout, saying the money should have been used for social welfare projects.

The group, which earlier this year also called for an invasion of Malaysia over cultural slights, claims to be a non-partisan NGO. Their headquarters, however, are in a building formerly used to house the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Mustar said that occupying the former PDI-P premises was just a coincidence and did not imply any political affiliation.

He did admit, however, that some of the activists involved in Bendera had ties to PDI-P and other opposition groups, including the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) and the Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK). The party members were not part of the Bendera leadership, Mustar said.

PDI-P leaders have denied being behind the group. Other activists attending the press conference included a number of former student leaders from the Suharto era.

Ridwan Saidi, an activist prominent in the anti-Suharto movement, said the president had to accept command responsibility for the Century case and not allow Sri Mulyani and Boediono to be scapegoats. "We demand that SBY resign in January 2010, otherwise, we will force him to fall in April."

Asked how the group planned to unseat the government, Mustar said "public disappointment" would be sufficient to rekindle the kind of outrage that led to the fall of Suharto in 1998.

Corruption & graft

Police, info ministry score 'lowest integrity'

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – While currently drafting a government regulation on lawful interception, the Information and Communications Ministry has been included on a list of institutions with the highest rates of graft, a survey has found.

The survey, conducted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), also included the National Police on the list. The survey was held between April and September 2009 and covered 371 service units across 98 institutions.

"We surveyed 11,413 respondents who were direct users of services in the institutions," KPK deputy chairman for prevention, M. Jasin said Tuesday.

The survey ranked institutions on a scale of 1-10, with 1 as a measure of the most corrupt.

The survey found that services most prone to corrupt practices included the police issuance and extension of driving licenses, passport services at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, procurement processes at the Information and Communications Ministry, and the Public Housing Ministry.

Services that were considered graft-free included social aid programs at the Coordinating Public Welfare Ministry, procurement processes at the Agriculture Ministry, university accreditation at the State Accreditation Agency and services provided by state shipping company PT Pelni.

Jasin said the police scored the lowest with 4.6, followed by the Industry Ministry with 5, while the Information and Communications Ministry scored 5.6. "Starting this year we have set the standard for integrity at 6," he said.

Institutions with scores higher than the minimum included the Agriculture Ministry, PT Pos Indonesia, PT Pertamina, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), PT Jamsostek, the State Accreditation Agency, PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara, PT Angkasa Pura II, PT Pelni, the National Education Ministry, PT PGN, the National Authority for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI), the Coordinating Public Welfare Ministry, PT KAI and PT Asuransi Jasa Raharja.

The survey also recorded South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, DKI Jakarta, North Sumatra and Lampung as having provincial administrations with the lowest integrity.

East Java, South Kalimantan, West Java, East Kalimantan and Bali were identified as the areas with the most accountable administrations.

Jasin said this year the average national integrity score was 6.5, lower than last year's score of 6.84. However, he said, this was due to changes in the scoring mechanism and not because of a reduction in corrupt practises.

Transparency International Indonesia (TII) launched a similar survey earlier this year revealing that bribery occurred in about half of all transactions between residents and police officers, making the police the most corrupt institution in the country.

In the TII survey, held between September and December last year involving 11,520 transactions at 15 institutions, the customs and excise office ranked second-worse with 41 percent of 423 transactions settled with bribes.

The third-worst ranking went to the immigration office where bribery practices accounted for 34 percent of 363 transactions. The TII survey found the average going rate for bribes with police was Rp 2.2 million (US$231.82).

Wiretapping rules under fire from Indonesia graft watchers

Jakarta Globe - December 22, 2009

Nivell Rayda – The proposed regulation restricting the bugging of telephone lines through the establishment of an agency to clear all wiretaps would practically guarantee immunity for many corrupt government officials and law enforcement officers, an antigraft group warned on Tuesday.

Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) has strongly rejected the planned regulation, which calls for the creation of a national interception agency to handle all requests to tap telephone lines by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Attorney General's Office or the National Police.

The proposal however, seems designed to leave the KPK out of the process by proposing that the agency be led by the National Police Chief, the AGO and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) – all of which are widely seen as being among the country's most corrupt institutions, ICW says.

"What if law enforcers want to tap conversations of the National Police Chief, a state minister, a cabinet member or members of the new [national interception] agency? It certainly becomes impossible. It would also be impossible to bug the telephone of the president and his cabinet members. After all, ministers are also cabinet members," said ICW deputy chairman Emerson Yuntho.

Emerson added that the court permission requirement also poses a threat.

"The court system in Indonesia is one of the most corrupt in the world. Someone could easily bribe court officials in return for not authorizing the wiretap," he said. "What would happen if the people whose phones need to be bugged are court officials themselves?"

ICW feared that the regulation would not stop at shielding government officials from wiretaps. "The untouchables would also include the officials' family members, friends and cronies," Emerson said.

Chaerul Imam, a former director of investigation at the Attorney General's Office, said that under the current circumstances, where corruption continues to plague the country's judicial system, it would be best if the decision on the regulation was postponed by the government.

"Better the regulation is delayed or completely abandoned. As long as corruption is still rampant in Indonesia, there is a good chance that the regulation will be manipulated to serve corrupt officials," he said.

Similarly, Asep Iwan Iriawan, a former judge at the Central Jakarta District Court, also saw the dangers of requiring court permission. "Someone within the court system could leak the information and tip off corrupt officials whose conversations are being wiretapped. It would also be impossible to wiretap judges," he said.

Antigraft groups have opposed the plan to establish the regulation, saying it would reduce the KPK's authority and hinder the fight against corruption. The KPK currently has the power to record telephone conversations without a court order.

Although the taped conversations do not stand as evidence in a court of law, the commission boasts a 100 percent conviction rate – which has included policemen, politicians, governors and state officials – thanks in part to the unrestricted authority it enjoys to conduct wiretapping.

Several judges of the Constitutional Court have pledged to nullify the regulation should it contradict existing laws on the KPK, which has a stronger legal basis.

2009 a dark year for Indonesia's antigraft fight

Jakarta Globe - December 22, 2009

Nivell Rayda – This year will go down as one of the darkest for the country's antigraft fighters, as witnessed by several attempts to undermine the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission, a discussion heard on Monday.

Danang Widoyoko, chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said at least 13 attempts were made to thwart antigraft investigations undertaken by the commission, or KPK, ranging from moves to restrict the commission's power to an alleged plot to fabricate a case against two KPK deputy commissioners.

"Not a single day went by without someone trying to limit the KPK's power," Danang told the discussion, which was organized by a donor organization, the Partnership for Governance Reform.

"Corrupt officials tried everything, from political moves at the House of Representatives to resorting to legal measures like filing for a judicial review."

Danang added that there were even subtler attempts to undermine the commission, such as transferring investigators and auditors stationed at the KPK back to their respective institutions.

Wicaksono Sarosa, chairman of the Partnership, said that through its inaction, the government was also guilty of undermining the antigraft commission.

"Throughout the year, the KPK was under attack from all sides. We saw a lack of leadership from SBY in his failure to do something [concrete] about the matter," he said, referring to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Yudhoyono had made the eradication of corruption the main focus of his re-election campaign, but Danang said the president had so far failed to live up to his promises.

"If SBY was really serious about fighting corruption, he should really have stepped in from the start. Not just when his popularity decreased," Danang said.

He pointed to a survey by Kompas daily, which indicated that the president's approval rating had dropped from 70 percent early this year to about 40 percent in October.

The sharp decline coincided with the arrest of KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah for alleged abuse of power and extortion.

Following intense public pressure, Yudhoyono formed a fact- finding team that concluded the case against the deputies had been fabricated. The Attorney General's Office later dropped the charges against the two.

Wicaksono, however, said the incident had also brought about some positive developments. "Bibit and Chandra's case showed that people have faith in the KPK and support its quest to eradicate corruption," he said.

Since its establishment in late 2003, the KPK has had a 100 percent conviction rate, jailing many high-ranking officials and politicians for corruption.

Judges reject two challenges to Chandra-Bibit dismissal

Jakarta Globe - December 22, 2009

Heru Andriyanto – The South Jakarta District Court on Monday threw out a pretrial motion filed by a group of lawyers who challenged the decision to drop criminal charges against two antigraft officials.

"According to the Criminal Procedures Code, those who can file a pretrial motion are the police, prosecutors or the third party directly affected [by the decision]," Judge Kusno argued on Monday.

The lawyers said they had filed the motion because they believed prosecutors broke the law when they dropped the charges against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairmen Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto because President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono suggested that they should.

The disappointed petitioners rushed toward Kusno's seat as soon as he issued the ruling, prompting Kusno to flee the courtroom.

The court's security officials immediately took control of the situation but the lawyers continued to demand a meeting with Kusno in his office. "He is ignoring the supremacy of the law," one of the protesters shouted at the judge as he fled.

Lawyer Eggi Sudjana, who led the group, said he would consider appealing the court's ruling.

In a separate hearing, a similar demand filed by a different group of lawyers, led by the Otto Cornelius Kaligis law firm, was also rejected by the same court.

In that case, Judge Tahsin repeated Kusno's statement that the only parties who could lodge a pretrial motion, other than the police or prosecutors, were those directly affected by the decision. He said fugitive graft suspects Djoko Tjandra and Anggoro Widjojo would be eligible to do so, but not the group of lawyers led by Kaligis.

Bibit and Chandra were initially accused of abusing their power at the antigraft agency by lifting a travel ban against Djoko, who was a suspect in a KPK graft case, while imposing a travel ban on another suspect, Anggoro. Both are still on the run.

The petitioners have argued that the decision to drop the case against Chandra and Bibit could further damage the country's already unpredictable justice system and the principle of equality before the law, noting that many other suspects had been tried and convicted for minor cases such as "stealing watermelons."

The lawyers also alleged that Yudhoyono's intervention had unfairly influenced the case. Yudhoyono formed a fact-finding team to investigate the case and later advised prosecutors not to proceed to trial after the team's report concluded that the charges were baseless.

The Attorney General's Office dropped the case against Bibit and Chandra after being subjected to intense public scrutiny and fierce criticism.

After the KPK launched investigations into Anggoro, the extortion scandal took on a life of its own when telephone conversations, secretly recorded by the KPK, indicated that the charges against Chandra and Bibit had been fabricated by law enforcement agencies to weaken the commission and to frame the two deputies.

Shortly after the Constitutional Court played the recorded conversations at a public hearing last month, Yudhoyono suggested that prosecutors and police not take the case to court, but stopped short of ordering its dismissal as recommended by the fact-finding team.

Indonesian Muslim groups rip weak policy vs. graft

Antara News - December 20, 2009

Indonesia's two largest Muslim organizations criticized over the weekend at the country's feeble attempts to eradicate corruption, specifically singling out the failure of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Corruption Eradication Commission to address the issue.

Hasyim Muzadi, who leads the 40-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, said the commission, also known as the KPK, did not live up to what NU and Muhammadiyah, another influential Muslim organization, had expected when the KPK was first established.

What the two groups had envisioned was a national movement led personally by the president with regard to strategies, Hasyim said.

"Corruption in Indonesia has become too big a problem to be fought by a single commission," Hasyim said on Saturday. "It must be dealt with through a national movement led directly by the president. So far, we've been catching [a few] corrupters but not eradicating corruption."

Hasyim was speaking after signing a joint statement with Muhammadiyah, which boasts of 28 million members, calling for an emphasis on national interests, not political interests.

"The fact is, the nation seems to be faced with problems that are too difficult to solve," said Rozak Saleh, secretary general of Muhammadiyah, reading from the joint statement.

"All [the country's] potential, energy and commitment must be directed toward building Indonesia as an advanced, just, prosperous, respected and sovereign country as per the ideals of independence."

Speaking outside of the KPK headquarters, both organizations agreed to jump-start their initiative to create a national antigraft movement.

Hasyim also called for the launching of a campaign promoting " halal living" that would cover broader aspects of national life.

War on terror

Terrorist cells still wired and buzzing, police warn

Jakarta Post - December 22, 2009

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Terrorist cells across the country are still actively recruiting members and planning future attacks, the elite counterterrorism squad said Monday, despite the deaths earlier this year of several top fugitives.

"The death of [most-wanted terrorist] Noordin [M. Top] hasn't stopped these terrorists," said Detachment 88 head Brig. Gen. Tito Karnavian. "Our investigations show his remaining cells are still active today."

Police shot Noordin dead in a raid in Surakarta, Central Java, in September. Noordin was the prime suspect behind the July 17 bombings of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Kuningan, South Jakarta, in which five people were killed and 55 injured.

He was also widely believed to be responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists.

Tito also said the possibility of horizontal conflicts in several hot spots across the country could serve as the ideal foundation for the cells to recruit new acolytes and launch terrorist attacks.

He cited Poso in Central Sulawesi and Ambon in Maluku as examples of such trouble spots. "We must be extra careful, as even a small-scale horizontal conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims could easily degenerate into terror activities," Tito said.

He added the police had also managed to trace the funding for terrorist activities back to foreign donors.

"That's why we need to enforce the use of a soft approach toward members of these active cells," he said. "We must be able to fight their radical ideology."

Tito said the police were currently attempting to de-radicalize as many people as possible involved in various terrorist activities, adding de-radicalization programs were the force's main hope for dismantling radical ideology.

Psychotherapist Mardigu W. Prasantyo, involved in the police's de-radicalization program, said it could take him hours to start convincing jailed terrorists to cooperate with the police.

"I have to be become their friend in the discussion in order to get their attention," he said. "At the end of the day, I have to be able to convince them that it is not Indonesia and its people that they should be fighting against."

The police claim to have 113 former terror activists now on their payroll.

According to Sr. Comr. Petrus Reinhard Gollose, a senior police officer who had conducted a study on de-radicalization, most of these people had finally decided to cooperate with the police after being made to see that their previous activities had not been the least bit beneficial to them.

"Some of them admitted it was their financial straits that led them to join terrorist cells," he said.

Islam/religion

Residents attack church in Bekasi

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – A group of people attacked on Thursday night a church under construction in Harapan Indah residential complex, Bekasi, West Java, leaving several makeshift buildings damaged. No one was injured in the incident.

The chairwoman of the St. Albertus church construction committee, Christina Maria Rantetana, said the incident happened around 10:45 p.m. on Thursday.

"I saw around 1,000 people dressed in white marching to the church. When they arrived, they started throwing rocks," she told The Jakarta Post on Friday. "Some of them then entered the church compound and started a fire," she added.

Christina said she immediately reported the incident to the nearest police precinct. Several police officers arrived on the scene within moments but could not calm the mob. The incident finally ended around midnight after hundreds of Bekasi Police officers arrived.

A motorcycle, a security guard post and at least two makeshift offices were severely damaged in the incident.

Christina said the incident would not alter the church congregation's plan to use the half-finished church to host the upcoming Christmas Eve mass.

"We still plan to use the church for the first time on Christmas Eve," she said. "After that, we will continue to use the church even though there are no walls and we have to sit in plastic chairs."

Bekasi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Imam Sugianto claimed that the attack was a spontaneous act.

"The crowd gathered to celebrate (the Islamic New Year)," he was quoted as saying by news portal tempointeraktif.com. "However, when passing by the church, they were suddenly provoked and retaliated," he said.

As of Friday night, Imam said the police had so far detained one suspect for allegedly stealing a drill from the church and questioned other 28 witnesses. "None of them knew anything and said they had been provoked," he said, obviously believing the attackers.

It was reported last year that several local Islamic organizations had questioned the legality of the church's building permit. The groups alleged the church construction committee had falsified local residents' signatures to obtain the building permit from the local administration.

Christina, however, denied the accusation, saying the committee had completed all administrative procedures to obtain the building permit. The legality of the attack was not questioned.

Elections/political parties

Golkar rift denied despite calls to suspend Bakrie

Jakarta Globe - December 18, 2009

Dian Palupi & Antara – Golkar lawmaker Ferry Mursyidan Baldan has denied a growing split within the party spearheaded by members who want to see the back of controversial magnate and faction chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

Ferry, one of the initiators of the Clean Golkar Caucus, said "Golkar is still solid," despite demands from party members on Thursday that Bakrie stand aside until he resolves allegations of tax evasion totalling Rp 2 trillion ($212 million) by three of his companies.

"The caucus has been created to remind the party that it should be clean, that its members do not get involved in corruption cases or other criminal cases," Ferry said. "It is a forum for stimulating, rather than establishing, a new organization within Golkar."

He claimed provincial branches of the party had received the caucus positively. "Support has also come from both senior and junior members of Golkar. All responses have so far been very positive," Ferry said.

He denied comments attributed to legislator Zainal Bintang were an attempt to get Bakrie to step down. The comments, however, were far from ambiguous.

"The alleged tax violations involving the chairman have the potential to tarnish Golkar's image," Zainal, the founder of the caucus, told a local newspaper on Wednesday. "We have asked the chairman to temporarily step down, not because we hold any grudges against him, but because we care about the party's image. We are very saddened to see a lot of Golkar members involved in corruption and criminal cases."

PT Bumi Resources, the crown jewel of the Bakrie group, is being investigated by the Finance Ministry's tax office regarding charges that the miner and two of its subsidiaries – PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) and PT Arutmin Indonesia – evaded taxes in 2007.

The Finance Ministry is headed by Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who clashed with Bakrie when he was the coordinating minister for people's welfare in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's first cabinet.

Among other high-profile issues involving the Bakrie group was the ministry's request for a travel ban on a number of businesspeople, including from Bakrie group, over unpaid state royalties. Also, Sri Mulyani reportedly threatening to resign amid sustained pressure from Bakrie to suspend trading of Bumi shares last year when they plummeted last year amid the economic crisis.

Another Bakrie company, PT Lapindo Brantas, is suspected of being solely responsible for the Sidoarjo mudflow disaster in East Java that has left tens of thousands of people homeless.

Analysts speculated before Bakrie's election to party chairman that he needed the political power associated with the position for protection against the inevitable legal problems stemming from his business practices. However, Sri Mulyani, acknowledged as one of the few reform-minded professionals in Yudhoyono's cabinet, has proved herself quite a stumbling block.

There is speculation that Bakrie has been doing everything in his power to target Sri Mulyani – who approved the bailout of Bank Century – including calling for her and Vice President Boediono to temporarily step down to "make smooth" the House of Representatives special committee inquiry.

Hatta Rajasa the heavy favorite in race for leader of PAN

Jakarta Globe - December 18, 2009

Muninggar Sri Saraswati – All the stars are lining up for Hatta Rajasa, a confidant of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to assume control of the National Mandate Party (PAN) at its national congress in Batam, Riau Islands province, from Jan. 8- 10.

The party made a less-than-impressive showing in April's legislative elections, attracting a dismal 6 percent of the vote. A split within the party was blamed for PAN's lack of unity and subsequent weak performance in the elections.

One group led by former PAN chairman Amien Rais backed Yudhoyono in the presidential race in July, while another faction led by current party chairman Sutrisno Bachir backed the ticket of Prabowo Subianto, the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party, who ran for vice president with former President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

The main source of contention was the belief within the party that Sutrisno's stance would hurt the party's chances of being awarded powerful and lucrative cabinet posts.

Two members of the party – which has been jokingly referred to as the United Artists Party because of its recruitment of celebrities to boost its profile – were cabinet ministers in Yudhoyono's first cabinet. That number increased to three in October.

The cabinet ministers are Hatta, the controversial former state secretary who was dumped from Yudhoyono's previous cabinet after a spate of airplane and ferry disasters, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Patrialis Akbar, who failed to win re-election to the House of Representatives, and Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan.

Though Sutrisno, who is not seeking re-election, says he is not backing any particular candidate, Hatta is heavily favored and is expected to assume the chairmanship and shore up political support for Yudhoyono's Democratic Party-led ruling coalition in the House.

The coalition has been battered as Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie targets Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati for her role in the PT Bank Century bailout.

Three of Bakrie's companies are allegedly under investigation for irregularities by the Tax Directorate, which is overseen by Sri Mulyani.

Hatta's main challenger appears to be Drajad Wibowo, a senior member of the party who appears to have little chance of winning. Drajad, however, said he remained optimistic.

"I am ready to compete to win the party ideology. In a party, it is not all about winning and losing," Drajad was quoted as saying by Antara, as he officially announced his candidacy in Yogyakarta on Friday.

Drajad said what was important was consistency in fighting for the ideology one believed in, though he did not spell out exactly what that ideology was. "As it is an ideology, there is no winning or losing, but to continue struggling until the end," he said.

He said he had asked members of the party to confirm themselves as supporters of reforming party financing to "maintain party ideology and public trust." "PAN will not harm the public trust by using corruption money to fund the party," he said.

The race will likely not be a complete whitewash. Members of the provincial party boards support the candidacy of Drajad, whom they consider "a clean figure who is not under the influence of the government."

"In the regions, we support Drajad because it would be difficult for PAN to grow if Hatta leads the party as he will always be under the control of SBY," said Agus Salim Ujung, the deputy secretary of PAN in North Sumatra. "We agree with Drajad that a PAN chairman should not be within the government [in order] to focus on managing the party."

Civil service & bureaucracy

Boediono to head new task force to shake up civil service

Jakarta Globe - December 16, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – The government is establishing a team headed by Vice President Boediono to oversee a massive program of bureaucratic reforms that would take until 2025 to complete.

"The National Bureaucracy Reform Team will push for employee discipline, synchronizing the work of related state ministries and agencies and getting rid of overlapping duties altogether," Minister of State for Administrative Reform E.E. Mangindaan said after meeting with Boediono on Wednesday.

Mangindaan added that state institutions would be encouraged to monitor and evaluate every single employee.

The agencies to be targeted next year include the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), the Attorney General's Office, the National Police, the Defense Ministry and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, he said at a briefing on bureaucratic reform at Sahid Jaya Hotel in Central Jakarta.

"Rewards, including increases in allowances, will be given to those with good track records and punishments such as a pay cut or dismissal will be rendered to those who cannot adjust to new measures," Mangindaan said.

"We aim to create an atmosphere that has zero tolerance for corruption. Preventive efforts will involve the issuing of regulations and the implementation of the Public Service Law next year. Punitive measures will include employees getting the sack," he added.

The Public Service Law stipulates that state institutions must assess their employees using criteria approved by the government. The law also says that institutions should process public complaints and take immediate action to resolve them.

The government began bureaucratic reforms within the Finance Ministry in 2007, before moving on to the Supreme Audit Agency and the Supreme Court in 2008. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati revealed recently that investigations within her ministry had resulted in disciplinary sanctions being taken against 1,961 personnel.

The government has already raised civil service salaries by 21 percent to a total of Rp 161.7 trillion ($17.1 billion) in 2010 to make officials less susceptible to graft.

But Roy Valiant Salomo, an expert on bureaucracy at the University of Indonesia, warned that the latest reforms missed the mark.

"Bureaucratic reform is not only about remuneration," he explained. "The main requirement for bureaucratic reform is a change in mind-set, but the mentality has not been changed."

Jakarta/urban life

Happiness in Jakarta proves elusive

Jakarta Globe - December 22, 2009

Arientha Primanita – Jakarta's gleaming skyscrapers and bustling malls are hiding a legion of unhappy residents, a researcher said on Tuesday, citing the results of a recently conducted survey.

Andy Agung, a researcher with Yayasan Indonesia Bahagia (Indonesian Happiness Foundation), told the Jakarta Globe that the conclusion was the result of a two-week survey recently conducted by the foundation.

The survey, which queried 500 randomly-selected residents from a wide range of social classes, showed that Jakarta's "happiness index" stood at 3.61 on a scale of five. "This is still considered low because an index of three is average while four is happy," Andy said.

The survey also indicated that happiness was not significantly dependent on age, gender, religion, social background or economic status, he said, adding that the only independent variable affecting happiness was education.

"This means that Jakartans with higher levels of education tend to have higher levels of happiness," he said. Therefore, Andy said, the city administration should provide greater access to higher education for residents.

This was the first-ever survey of its kind in the country, Andy said. He said that starting next year, the foundation would conduct similar surveys in other large cities in the country.

"We should not make material possessions and economic well-being the standard for [judging] people's welfare; happiness should be the standard," he said.

Andy said happy people were those who lived positive lifestyles and were not unduly burdened by problems. "The surrounding environment and good public services can contribute happiness to one's life," he added.

Radhar Panca Dahana, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Indonesia, told the Globe that both external and internal factors affected happiness.

He said external factors involved the surrounding environment such as weather, traffic and politics, all sources of pressure that could affect internal factors. "People living in Jakarta are always in a hurry. They always feel worried and are highly competitive," Radhar said.

The government, he said, should ensure that the basic needs of residents, such as food, housing, health and education, were met, so that they could have a sense of security. "Although poor and not well educated, if their basic needs are met, people will feel happy," Radhar said.

Cucu Ahmad Kurnia, a city spokesman, said the administration appreciated the survey's results but that it remained to be seen whether the method used and the results were valid.

Armed forces/defense

Navy decries inefficient arms industry

Jakarta Globe - December 18, 2009

Amir Tejo & Anita Rachman, Surabaya – The Navy has raised doubts about the domestic arms industry's ability to supply the nation's defense forces, saying it remains inefficient and expensive compared to other countries.

Speaking a little over a week after the government moved to bolster the local defense industry by requiring the military and police to purchase weaponry manufactured by state-owned enterprises over the next five years, Rear Admiral Mochammad Jurianto said on Thursday that local manufacturers were unable to supply most of the technology required by the Navy.

Jurianto, the planning assistant to Navy Chief Vice Admiral Agus Suhartono, also questioned why state shipbuilder PT PAL – under an agreement with a South Korean shipbuilder – took two years to build landing platform dock vessels in Indonesia, while the same equipment was built at a lower cost and in less than five months in South Korea.

"It we can get a cheaper product faster, why do we have to choose the expensive one?" Jurianto asked.

PAL, which has long been accused of poor management, was bailed out by the government to the tune of $44 million in August. The company said at the time that it was eying a $243 million contract to construct a missile defense ship for the Navy.

The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has also reported that PAL may have been implicated in "improper corporate actions," including marking-up project costs.

Jurianto also lamented the state of the Navy's "ancient fleet" of 144 war ships. He said only 54 percent were operational, 40 percent were aged under 25 years, 55 percent were between 25 and 50 years old, and the remainder were older than 50.

He did, however, acknowledge that it was "critical" for a country to have the ability to construct its main weaponry systems. "Because, if we use foreign products, then the internal systems are already known by other countries. For instance... we could be jammed," Jurianto said.

He was talking during a seminar on the Theory and Application of Maritime Technology held by the Maritime Technology School at the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) in Surabaya.

Djauhar Manfaat, dean of the maritime school, responded to Jurianto's criticisms by saying there needed to be the political will on behalf of the government to give domestic industries the chance to compete. "Although the prices may be higher, there is a learning process we can benefit from," Djauhar said.

He said that if the government wanted to lower prices, it should guarantee consistency when placing orders. Djauhar also suggested that universities get involved in the research of certain technologies, such as stealth technology for corvettes.

Suntoyo, chairman of the seminar, said that although Indonesia had been left behind the likes of China and South Korea in maritime technology, it had made significant progress in other areas, such as ships used in coastal surveillance.

"Of course, we need to improve our maritime technology and one of the ways is by conducting these kinds of events, which involve elements of the government, industry and end users," he said.

Suntoyo said that the follow up to the event will be a discussion on the need to establish a national ship design center. He said that at the moment, only ITS has one, "but a national center can be established if all elements are committed to this goal."

President's brother-in-law inches closer to TNI lead

Jakarta Post - December 17, 2009

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Hans David Tampubolon, Bandung/Jakarta – Maj. Gen. Pramono Edhi Wibowo, the younger brother of First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, was inaugurated Wednesday as the Siliwangi Military commander, overseeing West Java and Banten, a post seen as a stepping stone to the Army's highest seat.

The move follows the inauguration in September of Lt. Gen. George Toisutta, a close aide to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as the Army chief of staff, sparking rumors of a wider reshuffle to set up allies of the President in key TNI positions.

Pramono's move from chief of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) to Siliwangi commander is giving credence to speculation that he may go on to higher posts, including chief of the Army's Strategic Command (Kostrad) and even Army chief of staff.

George was previously the Siliwangi commander and Kostrad chief before becoming Army chief of staff, widely seen as the ultimate career path to becoming the TNI chief.

Pramono, a 1980 graduate of the Military Academy, is the first from his year to assume the role of territorial commander, with the previous Siliwangi commander, Maj. Gen. Rasyid Qurnuen Aquary, hailing from the 1975 batch.

Parahyangan University military observer Anak Agung Banyu Perwita, who in September predicted that Pramono would be made Siliwangi commander after George was made Army chief, said that with Yudhoyono's other family member, Lt. Gen. Suryo Prabowo, serving as deputy to the Army chief, all military chiefs would soon fall under the President's control.

He added that after serving as Siliwangi commander, it would be easier for Pramono to head up Kostrad then the Army, finally becoming the TNI commander.

The ultimate goal, he said, was to smooth the way for the rise through the ranks of Capt. Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the President's oldest son, to groom him as the country's next leader.

"Yudhoyono's not eligible to run for president in 2014, so the next two years will likely see Pramono promoted to a three-star general, the Kostrad commander, and then the Army chief of staff," he said.

George played down the claim, saying Pramono's promotion was due anyway and had nothing to do with the Presidential Palace pulling strings.

"Seen from the hierarchy, the leadership replacement is being carried out in accordance with the regeneration [in the Army]," he said after the inauguration ceremony.

"There's no manipulation in Pramono's promotion." He added the reshuffle was part of the military's efforts to refresh Army interests and organization.

Yudhoyono was not at the inauguration ceremony, as he is currently on a four-country European trip. Pramono declined to comment on his promotion.

Rasyid has been named the assistant to the TNI commander on intelligence affairs.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Christian Zebua said the recent reshuffle, including Pramono's new assignment, had not ruffled any feathers within the Army because it had been "conducted professionally". "The assistant to the TNI commander on intelligence affairs is actually a prestigious post," he said.

Yudhoyono in-law has new command

Jakarta Globe - December 16, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Maj. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo, a brother-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was officially installed on Wednesday as chief of the Siliwangi Military Command in Bandung, West Java, replacing Maj. Gen. Rasyid Qurnuen Aquary.

Army Chief Lt. Gen. George Toisutta, who presided over the inauguration ceremony, said the change was a routine rotation and asked citizens and the media to guard the new commander's performance.

Before assuming the post, Pramono, who graduated from the military academy in 1980, was the chief of the Army's Special Forces, also known as Kopassus.

According to the book 'Master of Terrors', edited by Des Ball, Pramono was also commander of Kopassus's anti-terrorist unit in 1999 which was deployed in East Timor following the Aug. 30, 1999 referendum that led to the territory's independence. In the book it was said that no evidence was found of human rights abuses committed by Pramono or the group he led.

Expert salutes Indonesian military's move to restructure itself

Jakarta Globe - December 16, 2009

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – A military analyst on Wednesday welcomed the army's decision to establish new brigades and military commands, saying the move was part of modernization efforts.

Andi Widjajanto of the University of Indonesia also said that the Armed Forces had made plans to form a number of new brigades under military commands across the country until 2029.

He argued that the army's current structure, in which battalions are placed directly under military commands, does not fit with modern military theory, which requires the existence of brigades and divisions for the order of battle.

"The current structures have been heavily influenced by elements of past military operations, which were aimed at suppressing internal threats. So the establishment of new brigades and military commands means that they want to become a normal military with a normal order of battle," he said.

Newly installed Army Chief Lt. Gen. George Toisutta introduced three new infantry brigades on Tuesday as part of the government's defense strategy.

The 21 Komodo Infantry Brigade falls under the Denpasar-based Udayana military command, which oversees security in Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces. The 22 Ota Manasa Infantry Brigade is under the First Division of the Army's Strategic Command in Depok, West Java, and the 24 Bulungan Cakti Infantry Brigade under the Balikpapan-based Tanjungpura military command in East Kalimantan. Each brigade consists of between 300 and 1,000 soldiers.

The Army had earlier announced that it planned to establish a military command in West Kalimantan in 2010, while a study for one in Papua is expected to begin next year.

Andi said the effect of the changes was that the Indonesian military now possessed a structure similar to that of modern forces.

It also meant, he said, that the Army would focus on defending the country against external rather than internal threats. He forecast that the 21 Komodo Infantry Brigade and the 24 Bulungan Cakti Infantry Brigade would mainly be deployed to secure border areas near their headquarters.

Police/law enforcement

Militaristic cops need radical change of system, say experts

Jakarta Post - December 21, 2009

Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – Amid a slew of reports of civilians being abused by the police, experts say the Jakarta Police should implement human rights standards in their work procedures and improve their education system to curtail human rights violations.

Jakarta Legal Aid Institute director Nurkholis Hidayat said the most crucial step in preventing violence and abuse of power by the police was for the House of Representatives to revise the Criminal Code.

The revised code should be in line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, he added. "It's up for legislation, so the House should deliberate it soon," Nurkholis said.

The Jakarta Police came under fire recently after officers assaulted University of Indonesia historian and researcher J.J. Rizal, in Beji, Depok, after claiming to have mistaken him for a drug dealer. The three Beji Police officers have been demoted following a disciplinary hearing.

Another case that surfaced recently was the random shooting of 15-year-old M. Rifky by a Koja Police officer in Sunter, North Jakarta. The boy was only treated for gunshot wounds three months later.

The Jakarta Police's internal affairs division will hold a disciplinary hearing next week for the officer and question the former Koja Police chief and chief detective.

The boy said the officer had taken him to a secluded part of Sunter and ordered him to get out of the car and run. Rifky said the officer then shot him and placed him in detention on the pretext Rifky had resisted arrest.

Despite having separated from the military in 2000, the reform of the police force has been slow and has shown little significant progress.

University of Indonesia security expert Bambang Widodo Umar said the police still used a militaristic and repressive approach in carrying out their job. "They should take a more humane approach and uphold the rule of law," he said.

He added the force's education system was still very militaristic. "Any curriculum that teaches destructive behavior should be changed," Bambang said, pointing out the example that cadets' training involved the maiming of a dummy.

"These approaches should be cut back," he said. "The police should be educated more on crime scene investigations and how to help people."

Bambang added it was important to recruit those with a strong sense of altruism rather than aggression. "They should recruit people with a strong urge to help others," he said.

He also said the police should hire an independent organization to carry out the recruitment process, to cut out corruption.

The National Police issued a decree on the implementation of human rights in the police force earlier this year. Nurkholis said the decree should be incorporated in standard procedures in police work.

The public should also report and take legal action against any abuse of power by the police that they experience, Nurkholis said.

"There are plenty of organizations that provide advocacy," he said. "The public should be brave in fighting abuse of power by the police."

The police say they are taking stern action against offending officers. A National Police internal report shows 279 officers have been discharged this year, down from 252 last year.

A total of 5,464 disciplinary cases have been investigated by the internal affairs division, a significant decrease from last year's figure of 7,035 cases.

AGO reforms useless without tighter monitoring: Critics

Jakarta Post - December 21, 2009

Suherdjoko and Dicky Christanto, Semarang, Jakarta – Experts on Sunday called for the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to build a stricter internal monitoring system following its plan to trim 3,000 positions within the organization as part of an internal reform program.

These experts argued the internal reforms would be meaningless if the AGO did not manage to initiate stricter internal monitoring that would allow the AGO to mete out stronger sanctions on prosecutors who had violated regulations.

"Organizing and setting up a new internal monitoring system is much more important that trimming 3,000 positions within the AGO as it would allow the AGO to follow through on disciplining its staff," Saldi Istra, a constitutional law expert from Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, told The Jakarta Post via telephone Sunday.

"Since the AGO has vowed to conduct internal reforms, it should also reinforce the reforms with stricter internal monitoring."

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji had said over the weekend that he had planned to cut 3,000 positions in the AGO in response to the public need for better law enforcement.

He added that all divisions within the AGO, including the special crimes, general crimes, internal career development and intelligence divisions, would see a reduction in headcount.

"We will propose the draft of new regulations to the President early in January. It will probably take three to four months for the President to sign the draft, after which we will move fast," Hendarman said while attending an alumni congress at Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, on Saturday. "We will modify procedures to streamline our system," he added.

When asked whether he faced resistance over his plans to reform the corruption-ridden institution, Hendarman said so far there wasn't any from within the organization. "Everybody at the AGO has already acknowledged that internal reforms are necessary. I have faced no resistance so far," he said.

He denied widespread speculation that institutional reforms were being pushed through following public scrutiny of the AGO in relations to several cases involving public prosecutors in the past.

"(Reforming the institution) has been one of my passions. These reforms aren't a reaction to previous cases," Hendarman said. "However, I do acknowledge that those cases have encouraged and enabled us to fast-track the program," he added.

Many antigraft activists have said that the involvement of several prosecutors in graft cases obviously indicated that the AGO was in desperate need of stricter monitoring.

Danang Widoyoko of Indonesia Corruption Watch had previously commented that one of the problems that needed to be addressed immediately within the AGO was its internal monitoring system.

He added that the current system had failed to impose strong sanctions on prosecutors who had clearly violated regulations.

"We have seen that the AGO has failed to deter prosecutors who have violated regulations," he told the Post recently. "Officials at the AGO need to take urgent steps to address this problem, or we run the risk of seeing the same story repeat itself over and over again."

The most prominent cases cited by critics of the AGO include a bribery scandal involving senior prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, and the AGO's alleged role in colluding with the National Police and a businessman to frame two Corruption Eradication Commission deputy chairmen.

Economy & investment

Indonesia moves to speed business licensing

Jakarta Globe - December 16, 2009

Camelia Pasandaran – Four ministries and the Investment Coordinating Board on Wednesday signed a joint regulation aimed at slashing the time needed to license a new business from 60 days to just 17.

Vice President Boediono said the new policy was designed to raise the country's ranking in the annual "Doing Business" survey by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation.

"Indonesia has been left far behind by other countries in the region in the time it takes to issue business licenses," he said. "We're currently ranked 161, while Thailand, at only 32 days, is ranked 12." In the Philippines, licensing takes only three days and in Malaysia just 11, he added.

In overall ease of doing business, Indonesia ranked 122nd, 12 places higher than the previous year, according to the IFC's general survey, released in September.

Boediono said it was important to reduce the time needed to license a new business to improve international perceptions.

An IFC survey released on Tuesday found that some of Indonesia's regulatory practices compared well against international standards. However, the report also said there was a "wide variation" in services across the country and a confusing amount of non-standardized regulations.

As part of the ongoing plan to speed up licensing, the government has opened 315 "one-stop" licensing offices nationwide, including 15 that became operational this month, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said.

Before, people had to go to several ministries to obtain a business license. Other permits, such as export licenses and brand registrations, would go online soon, Gamawan added.

"There will be 70 permits integrated with electronic services in the offices," he said. "The service will begin on January 15."

To ensure the program ran properly, Gamawan has sent letters to the country's district heads reminding them of the importance of the Public Service Law. "Under the new Public Service Law, public servants who do not provide services according to the standard will be sanctioned," he said.

Gamawan said that if better licensing times were achieved Indonesia could improve its ranking to as high as the 50s next year. "Before 2014, we want Indonesia to be in the top 20," he added.

Aldian Taloputra, an economist at PT Mandiri Sekuritas, said he doubted the country could improve its ranking so quickly.

"I'm concerned about the program's implementation, especially when businesses need speedy licensing approvals from the local governments. The question is, can such coordination happen that fast," he said.

The four ministries participating in the new regulation are Home Affairs, Trade, Manpower and Transmigration and Justice and Human Rights.

Analysis & opinion

The House brinkmanship game

Jakarta Post Editorial - December 23, 2009

Famous American politician Henry Adam's observation "practical politics consists of ignoring facts" aptly describes the mindset of most members of the House of Representatives' special inquiry committee on the 2008 Bank Century bailout policy.

Even before starting its cross-examination of central bankers and finance officials directly involved in the decision-making process for the bank rescue, the committee hastily moved last week to recommend a temporary suspension of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and then Bank Indonesia governor Boediono (now the Vice President).

Certainly, as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rightly asserted in Copenhagen last weekend, not a single article of the 1945 Constitution recognizes the suspension of a vice president. The 2008 State Ministry Law does allow for the suspension of a minister who is a defendant undergoing trial on charges which carry a possible sentence of a minimum five years' imprisonment. But none of these grounds is relevant to Sri Mulyani.

Even though several committee members later toned down the word "recommendation" into simply "a moral appeal", the mere hinting at the possible suspension of Sri Mulyani and Boediono, without first digging deeply into all the facts of the bailout process, only served to reveal the hidden agenda of the political parties sponsoring the inquiry.

Sri Mulyani and Boediono are internationally respected technocrats with clean track records in Indonesia's economic management. Bringing up in public debate the issue of their possible suspension at such an early stage of the inquiry process will only open a game of brinkmanship at the expense of the nation's best interests.

It is quite flabbergasting to observe how irrelevant or sometimes even "fool-hardy" were the commentaries made by most members of the inquiry committee, which only revealed their technical incompetence on banking and financial affairs and their complete ignorance of the self-fulfilling prophecy of panic in the financial market.

Last Wednesday's hearing between the committee and auditors from the Supreme Audit Agency, for example, turned into a political circus and puerile jostling where House members, aware of the TV cameras, shamelessly raised completely irrelevant questions. The state auditors, who had left their more pressing agenda to fulfill the committee's summons, should have felt helplessly disillusioned at having to deal with such raucous politicians.

If the inquiry committee, instead of focusing their attention on banking crimes at Bank Century (now Bank Mutiara) before and after the bailout, continued to accusingly revile the bailout decision without any rational and sensible arguments, it would not only damage its own credibility but also the reputation of the whole House.

Yet more damaging to the future economic management is the adverse impact the House political harassment would have on the capacity and morale of policy decision-making within the government, especially at the central bank and finance ministry.

If politicians could dispute or even attack a policy judgment taken in a good faith and fully in compliance with proper procedures, as stipulated in the laws, no senior officials would in future be willing or have the courage to take any economic or financial decision however urgent or imperative it may be.

The credibility and capacity of our policy decisions in the financial sector is now in such a battered condition, that we are now in a very precarious, off-guard situation.

Let us just hope there will not be strong speculative attacks on the rupiah. Let us pray there will not be banks facing severe liquidity problems within the next few weeks or months because not a single official would dare or have the courage to take any decision to manage such a crisis.

The year of human rights paradox for Indonesia

Jakarta Post - December 21, 2009

Usman Hamid, Jakarta – Final days of each year are always the best opportunity to reflect on what happened during the year in order to predict or project the future.

Just recently, people from across the country, together with other global citizens, commemorate the International Human Rights Day and still have classic demands that haven't yet come to fruition: justice, land, employment and welfare.

The human rights situation in the year 2009 illustrates a paradox state. On one hand there were some improvements.

In order to come to terms with the past, the parliament has made the political decision that recommends the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono establish an ad hoc human rights court for enforced disappearance cases, including finding the fate and the whereabouts of missing persons, to provide rehabilitation and compensation to the victims and their families and to ratify the United Convention Against Enforced Disappearance.

In order to prevent such legacy from repetition in the future, the Indonesian government has been actively pushing for the establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.

And also, other positive developments have been observed in the introduction of the National Police Chief Regulation on the Implementation of Human Rights Principles and Standard.

Such instrument will be extremely important to measure the incompatibility of police technical procedures and actions, and also prevent the use of excessive force in handling demonstrations or to prevent arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture practices. These are all improvements that need to be appreciated.

On the other hand, however, those achievements were nothing compared to the stagnation of justice concerning other important human rights violations, including the acquittal of former Commander of Army's Special Forces and Deputy V of State Intelligence Agency Muchdi P.R. in the murder of human rights defender Munir.

Having the State Intelligence Agency led by a former police chief (civilian) is something useful for building a less militaristic state intelligence and cooperative for the next investigation on the Munir case.

However, without having a more committed Attorney General who dares to take action against masterminds with strong connections with those in power, nothing's going to change.

The recent legal status on the Munir case is up to the Attorney General, whether it would take the very last legal resort, to file for Peninjauan Kembali/PK or review with the Supreme Court, and whether it will provide new evidence that has already been collected by the police.

In the context of legislative and institutional reform, the government and the parliament didn't even meet the targets in the National Action Plan on Human Rights 2004-2009 that includes the ratification of the Rome Statue and several other conventions on migrant, genocide and refugees.

Furthermore, the parliament and the executive have failed to revise the law on military tribunals, where the police has been blocked from investigating crimes committed by military personnel.

By having this law, soldiers will continue to enjoy impunity in the future. And even a strong state body, such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) cannot take on cases of corruption involving military personnel, to justice. From the era of Soeharto to Yudhoyono's administration, the military is still above the law.

In the meantime, the situation in Papua is also deteriorating with many violent acts and people being prosecuted for peaceful political activities.

In Aceh, the enactment of the new criminal code based on Islamic Sharia law (Qanun Jinayah) will undermine the image of Indonesia as a moderate Muslim society with the role as a pioneer of democracy.

It's clear that those agendas should be readdressed by the government and the parliament in 2010.

Unfortunately, the re-elected President didn't consider the human rights agenda as the priority of his programs, at least in the upcoming year. What will happen then?

First, although it's likely that a gross violation of human rights will occur, violation committed by security forces will be unavoidable.

The most risky situation is the violence related to the conflict surrounding the claim of people living in poverty or other vulnerable groups concerning economic rights.

In the context of civil and political rights, the main issues will concern the attack on the freedom of thought or religion and expression with the trend of using the criminalization act, particularly against the people who promote those rights.

Second, the state accountability is absent, which would facilitate other human rights abuses to take place again without an effective remedy. Interestingly, the President should respond to the previous parliament's recommendation on the establishment of a court to try the responsible perpetrators of the 1997/1998 enforced disappearance case.

Delaying the decision is not an option and could undermine the Yudhoyono's credibility.

Similar to that, it seems that the Munir case is going nowhere, although this case is considered by many as a political test to the human rights issue in Indonesia.

The year 2010 could also be a good opportunity to reform the law enforcement institutions, particularly the National Police and the Attorney General's Office, which have been declared by Yudhoyono after recent public outrage on corruption.

The President should think of strengthening the external accountability of those institutions and consider a vetting system based on human rights standards.

Third, the situation in Papua could worsen if there is no genuine dialogue between the central government and representatives from Papua.

This region is one of a few areas that has significant numbers of prisoners of conscience. People are convicted for peaceful political protests with treason charges. If this practice is maintained, Papuans will continue to feel abandoned.

[The writer is coordinator for the Commission for Disappearances and Victims of Violence (Kontras).]

West Papuan leader's death opens door for negotiation

Sydney Morning Herald - December 17, 2009

Damien Kingsbury – The shooting of one of West Papua's independence leaders, Kelly Kwalik, has opened up new opportunities for a negotiated resolution to that troubled territory's long-running problems.

Kwalik was one of two senior commanders of the Free Papua Organisation's National Liberation Army (OPM/TPN), and had a reputation as being among the OPM hardliners.

However, despite recent Indonesian army claims, he was not behind a recent spate of shooting near the enormous Freeport gold and copper mine, a claim that was accepted by local police.

Kwalik's death came after an informer told another group of police that he was behind the shooting, and where he was hiding. In an attempt to arrest him, police shot Kwalik in the leg. However, he died in hospital, in circumstances that remain unclear.

Kwalik led the more militant of two groups of separatist fighters in West Papua and orchestrated a number of kidnappings and attacks in the 1980s and '90s. However, in recent years, Kwalik had joined with the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation, an umbrella organisation of pro-independence groups seeking a negotiated settlement to West Papua's issues, and had not been militarily active.

Kwalik denied involvement in the recent shootings near the Freeport mine, which have left three people dead and briefly closed the mine, as well as a deadly ambush on US teachers in 2002. Suspicion for these attacks has focused on a dispute between the Indonesian army (TNI) and the Indonesian national police (Polri) over the division of spoils for protecting the mine site, which is one of the largest in the world.

As Indonesia's Government has moved to gradually wind back the involvement of the TNI in domestic affairs, it has increasingly handed over to the police responsibility for internal security. However, as a lucrative source of corrupt income, the TNI has opposed this shift of responsibility, and has been at pains to establish a case that the police are unable to deal with security issues.

In classic protection racket-style, if a security problem does not exist, it is created. If the police are capable of looking after the situation, create a situation that is beyond their control.

Kwalik's death will have little material impact on West Papua's separatist movement, given his own relatively hard-line position and the movement's shift towards seeking a negotiated settlement. However, his death may indicate to many younger activists that the Indonesian Government's security forces remain too concerned with their own welfare to place trust in them.

However, the death of Kwalik, as a hardliner, may also allow the West Papua Coalition an opportunity to streamline its internal negotiating position. The question will be, in his second and final term of office, whether Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is serious about taking up the option of negotiation.

[Professor Damien Kingsbury has been appointed to a personal chair in the School of International and Political Studies at Deakin University.]

Australian Indonesian relations weather 2009's 'ups and downs'

Australian Associated Press - December 17, 2009

Adam Gartrell, Jakarta – Australia and Indonesia kicked off 2009 with an orgy of bilateral backslapping. February's Australia Indonesia Conference was the diplomatic equivalent of a 1960s love-in, all peace, togetherness and understanding.

Things have never been better, we've never been closer, officials from both countries enthused. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delighted in pointing out that he'd met with his Indonesian counterpart, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, seven times the previous year.

"We've now entered that into the Guinness Book of Records under the bilateral relations heading," he quipped.

But as Foreign Minister Stephen Smith pointed out, the Australia- Indonesia relationship has always been prone to "ups and downs" – and 2009 was no exception.

The year brought renewed cooperation on terrorism, people smuggling, natural disasters and climate change but it also brought controversy.

The Australian Federal Police's decision to launch a war crimes probe into the Balibo Five journalists – killed during Jakarta's 1975 invasion of East Timor – put a lot of Indonesian noses out of joint.

As far as the Indonesian Government's concerned, it's case closed: the men died in crossfire. It's completely deaf to claims the Indonesian military deliberately murdered the men to cover up their invasion.

It's not yet clear whether the AFP will pursue the case with any real vigour. But if it does, it will undoubtedly strain the bilateral relationship.

"It's a potential irritant," says Greg Fealy, an Indonesia expert from the Australian National University. "And I think the Indonesians were irritated that the AFP, with whom they have had a very close relationship on terrorism and people smuggling, would be taking on this investigation."

The Rudd Government's so-called "Indonesia solution" to asylum seekers has also strained ties. While Rudd and SBY have been perfectly at one in public – asylum seekers are a regional problem and we all have to do our share – many Indonesians resent Australia's behaviour on the issue.

Senior Indonesian officials have complained that Rudd is using their country as an asylum seeker "dumping ground", just to avoid political pain at home.

Australia is a rich country that can provide for refugees, they point out. Indonesia is a poor country that cannot properly provide for its own people. "I think there is a broad view within Indonesia that Australia is in a much better position to be dealing with these people," Fealy says.

Despite his public pronouncements, SBY himself probably resents Australia's approach to the issue, Fealy says. "But SBY's a very pragmatic leader who can see the advantages of continuing to have very good relations with Australia," he says.

Contrary to popular opinion, it's unlikely SBY's displeasure over asylum seekers played any part in his decision to cancel his trip to Australia in November. At the time, SBY was facing two of the biggest corruption scandals of his five year presidency.

One of those scandals – surrounding last year's 6.7 trillion rupiah (A $786 million) bailout of the local Century Bank – is still threatening to derail his government. SBY is fighting allegations that some of the bailout money was redirected into his re-election campaign earlier this year.

The bailout was overseen by Indonesia's central bank, run at the time by Boediono – now SBY's deputy. Protesters have called for Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to be sacked over the affair. If an inquiry finds dirt on SBY's hands, he could be impeached.

All of which means Indonesia could be in for a tumultuous 2010. And that's not good news for Australia.

Under SBY, Indonesia has become a paragon of regional stability and democracy. It has emerged from the global financial crisis with barely a scratch, staged a series of peaceful elections and all but crushed terrorism.

But if SBY was removed or sufficiently weakened, Indonesia could slip back into the disarray of years gone by. Of course, even if SBY survives, 2010 won't necessarily be smooth sailing for the Australia-Indonesia relationship.

As well as the Balibo probe and asylum seekers, the looming executions of three of the Bali Nine are set to flare as bilateral issues. All three – Scott Rush, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran – are expected to lodge their final appeals in 2010.

If those appeals fail, their only hope of survival will be presidential clemency. Australians will expect the Rudd government to do all it can to convince SBY to spare the drug smugglers.

Whatever happens, the government seems optimistic the good relationship can survive. "There have been periods when we have not seen eye to eye," Smith told February's conference. "But we have now learnt to address our differences without disrupting the whole relationship."

But Fealy urges caution. "I think successive foreign ministers say those kinds of things," he says.

"But I think there's still a lot of issues that could emerge that could undermine those kinds of undertakings. Anyone who was too confident about that is someone who's oblivious to the broader patterns of Australian-Indonesian history."

Indonesia needs peace process in Papua

UPI Asia Online - December 16, 2009

Theo Hesegem and Chrisbiantoro, Jakarta – Even though Papua became a province of Indonesia by an ambiguous referendum in 1969, peace between the indigenous Papuans and Indonesia's security forces has never been achieved. While the resource-rich province is Indonesia's largest, it is also one of the poorest, with poor public services and poor protection of the rights of indigenous Papuans.

The living conditions of indigenous Papuans are worsening, as Indonesian migrants from other provinces have occupied the economic sector in a most intrusive way, cutting the local people's access to their traditional resources. They have also infiltrated the local government and law enforcement agencies, making the institutions bureaucratic and corrupt.

But the problem also lies with the Papuans. Few have adequate skills to handle a higher level of administrative services. The reason for this is lack of education and insufficient resources, which have obstructed any meaningful development.

Papuan history, as described in the Papua Road Map published by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, explains that the Netherlands occupied parts of Papuan land after the Treaty of London with the Dutch colonial ruler in the late 19th century.

The Dutch wanted Papua, known as Western New Guinea then, to be a independent state, to which Indonesia objected and staked a claim as its own territory. The conflict between Indonesia and the Netherlands regarding Papua's sovereignty ended with the New York Agreement of 1962, which handed Papua over to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority, which in turn handed it to Indonesia in 1969 with the condition that it must implement a referendum.

The sufferings of Papuans under Indonesian rule took an ugly turn when former Indonesian President Suharto's "new order regime" displaced his predecessor Sukarno in 1966. During the 32 years of Suharto's rule, indigenous Papuans suffered from his policies, which saw a buildup of military presence to protect economic assets and mining businesses in the province.

After the Indonesian political reforms of 1998, the situation in West Papua continued to be marked with gross human rights violations. The Indonesian government made several efforts to introduce laws to make special autonomous areas in West Papua. But lacking implementation and besieged by problems, most indigenous Papuans concluded after more than eight years that the law was unable to provide a solution.

As Papuans struggled for their rights, various civil society organizations came to support them. Among them was the Free Papuan Movement, also known as OPM, which was established in 1965 to fight the Indonesia government for an independent Papua.

To achieve their goal, OPM chose to use weapons and guerrilla warfare, but in the process broke into several splinter groups with no central command. Another group fighting for Papua's independence was the National Liberation Army. Neither group received sympathy from Papua's indigenous people.

Both groups sympathized with the Papuan people, however, who endured many forms of violence at the hands of the Indonesian armed forces. Both groups ran their warfare with the sole aim of attaining an independent Papua, which they said was offered in 1961 before the territory was handed over to the UNTEA, but the Indonesian government rejected it. The policy of either side to resolve the sovereignty conflict by military and violent means has yielded no concrete results and has further exacerbated the situation. Many people in Papua have died in the crossfire.

Papua's main conflict can be explained in four parts: The failure to develop education, health and human resources; the problem of marginalization and discrimination of its indigenous population; the historical contradiction of its integration with Indonesia; the failure to resolve past human right abuses against its indigenous people.

Based on the above, we recommend to the Indonesian government to start a peace process and not use the military approach to resolve the issue. The peace process should include a review of the policy for deploying armed forces in Papua, which has not brought any solution but has instead become the source of serious human rights violations.

It should review the implementation of Special Autonomy Law No.21 of 2001, which has not been able to provide any assistance or increase the welfare of the indigenous people.

It should conduct a thorough inquiry into human right violations and establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Papua. It should release and rehabilitate all political prisoners still in jail.

Finally, it should prepare for a comprehensive dialogue between representatives of the Papuan indigenous people to seek the best solution in order to resolve the conflict.

[Theo Hesegem is director of the Advocacy Network for Law Enforcement and Human Rights in Papua, Indonesia and has been working with victims of human rights for many years. He has written for newspapers in Papua and worked with different nongovernmental organizations. Chrisbiantoro works in the Impunity Division of the Commission for the Dissappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) based in Jakarta and is also a human rights lawyer.]

Indonesia News Digest 47 – December 16-23, 2009

Sex, smartphones and celebrities: JG's top web stories for 2009

Jakarta Globe - December 23, 2009

10. Manohara in her own words

9. Outrage over 'stolen' pendet dance ends up as a misstep

8. Sayonara Miyabi: Japanese porn star will not visit Indonesia for film

7. Miss Indonesia shames us all, cry Aceh's clerics

6. Anang confirms divorce from Krisdayanti

5. Two plunge to deaths in Jakarta shopping malls

4. Manohara: 'I was drugged and abused'

3. Japanese porn star's visit delayed due to Indonesian uproar

2. Indonesian vigilantes prepare for battle in Malaysia

1. Indonesian smartphones battle: Blackberry beats iPhone

Other big stories that just missed out on the top 10:

Reform 'hijacked' by political elites for their own agenda

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Students burn Democratic Party flag in Makassar Century protest

Jakarta Globe - December 21, 2009

Student rally turns ugly in Samarinda

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Aceh official insists lion dance 'never banned'

Jakarta Globe - December 23, 2009

Indonesia's Aceh still healing after tsunami

Agence France Presse - December 21, 2009

Chinese lion dance banned in Indonesia's Aceh

Jakarta Globe - December 21, 2009

Dressing to impress Aceh's shariah police

Jakarta Globe - December 20, 2009

Papuan independence leader laid to rest

Agence France Presse - December 22, 2009

Papuans demand closure of US mine in Indonesia

Agence France Presse - December 22, 2009

Papuans threaten to block Indonesia Freeport's mine

Reuters - December 22, 2009

Kwalik's death could fuel anti-Indonesia sentiment: Analysts

Agence France Presse - December 22, 2009

Kwalik's men riot at Mimika Legislative Council

Jakarta Post - December 20, 2009

Hundreds welcome Papuan rebel's body

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Tensions rise as Kwalik body awaits positive identification

Jakarta Globe - December 19, 2009

Papuans protest Indonesia police slaying of leader

Associated Press - December 18, 2009

Papuan rebel leader 'shot to death' in Timika raid

Jakarta Post - December 17, 2009

We had to kill Kelly Kwalik, say Indonesia police

Jakarta Globe - December 16, 2009

Police question five people over Kelly's activities

Jakarta Post - December 16, 2009

Papuans protest after reported killing of separatist leader

Tempo Interactive - December 16, 2009

Defamation articles need revising: Justice minister

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Rights abuses increase child crime rates

Jakarta Post - December 23, 2009

Commission to call up 62 judges over 'iffy' rulings

Jakarta Post - December 22, 2009

Father John Jonga: The unstoppable rights advocate

Jakarta Post - December 21, 2009

Activists oppose draft regulation on wiretapping

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Asylum seekers leave Indonesia: official

Agence France Presse - December 20, 2009

Governor in hot water over wage revision rallies

Jakarta Post - December 19, 2009

Requiem bell tolls for ailing labor unions

Jakarta Post - December 16, 2009

Workers oppose new minimum wage in NTT

Jakarta Post - December 16, 2009

Indonesia gets serious about nuclear energy

Sydney Morning Herald - December 18, 2009

KPK vows to follow up Walhi report on Lapindo

Jakarta Post - December 17, 2009

Indonesia defends palm plantations

Jakarta Globe - December 17, 2009

Indonesian system failing imprisoned moms: Study

Jakarta Globe - December 23, 2009

New mothers still lack necessary facilities at work

Jakarta Globe - December 21, 2009