Nurdin Hasan – Public order officers readying to demolish illegal structures in Aceh's provincial capital were lucky to escape with their lives when protests quickly turned violent on Thursday.

Two pickup trucks belonging to the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) were destroyed in the melee as protesters chased the officers down Jalan Tengku Imeum Lueng Bata in Banda Aceh. No casualties or injuries were reported.

Satpol PP officers had arrived at the street on Thursday morning to tear down an illegally erected canopy covering a store, as instructed by Banda Aceh Mayor Mawardi Nurdin.

Mawardi has in the past week been sending Satpol PP officers across the city to tear down illegal structures in support of the city's planned tourism program, "Visit Banda Aceh 2011."

Despite encountering a barricade of burning tires set up by local protesters, the Satpol PP tried to go around the demonstration. Within a matter of seconds, however, the protesters had surrounded the Satpol PP trucks and began pelting them with stones.

Although the officers managed to get clear of the trucks, the protesters chased them away and subsequently destroyed the trucks. "We were upset because the way they carried out their demolitions had crossed the line," said Arbi, a local resident.

Police were eventually called in to break up the protest. Warning shots were fired to disperse the crowd and two men were arrested, but as they were being led to a police car, protesters blocked the police and a verbal argument ensued.

The police officers assured the protesters that the suspects would not be harmed during questioning over the incident.

"We will not touch them," Insp. Suyono, from the Lueng Bata Police, told the protesters. "They are being detained only for investigation purposes."

The Satpol PP abandoned its plans to carry out the demolition following the incident.

Local governments use Satpol PP officers – often poorly trained and poorly paid junior high school graduates – to enforce bylaws and evict squatters, but recent high-profile incidents have led to accusations of excessive violence.

Marijuana farmers seen as engine of Aceh's drug industry

Jakarta Post - July 3, 2010

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Aceh is currently the fourth- biggest distributor of illegal drugs in the country and a major producer of marijuana, Vice Governor Muhammad Nazar says.

Speaking in the province's capital of Banda Aceh recently, he said many drug syndicates in Aceh used marijuana, which was readily available in Aceh, as bargaining chips with which to purchase stronger drugs, such as crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu, and heroin, from dealers in other provinces.

"It's not difficult for drug dealers to get marijuana in Aceh. They just need cash to make the villagers plant it for them," Nazar said.

Aceh has long been known to be the biggest producer of marijuana in the country. The biggest production center in the province is in Aceh Besar regency, which produces marijuana primarily to be sold in other provinces, from North Sumatra to Bali.

"Marijuana grows very well in Aceh. Apart from being deliberately cultivated by farmers, the plants can also be easily found in forests in the region," Nazar said.

Other prominent Aceh-based marijuana production centers are in Bireun, Southeast Aceh, Southwest Aceh, Central Aceh and North Aceh regencies.

Almost every month, the police seize hundreds of tons of sun- dried marijuana from drug dealers. The police have also destroyed thousands of hectares of marijuana plantations in the province.

"Of the 1,371 drug cases handled by the police and the National Anti-drug Agency (this year), almost 51 percent were drug- related," Nazar said.

The police, the National Antidrug Agency and the provincial administration have collaborated in several raids that have brought down drug distribution centers in the province.

In May this year, 82 hectares of marijuana plantations were destroyed and some 1,200 kilograms of dried marijuana confiscated by the three institutions. The administration has also called on religious leaders to deliver anti-drug sermons, he added.

Nazar also raised concern that widespread distribution of illegal drugs in Aceh would harm the young generation. He said the administration had asked farmers to switch from growing marijuana to growing mangoes and other fruits.

"I have never seen a farmer achieve success (through planting marijuana). Many have had to deal with the law. "So, it's better to plant rice than marijuana," he said.

West Papua

Paying a covert visit to Papua's fighters in the forest

The Economist - July 8, 2010

Jayapura, the Baliem valley and Timika – The next trick is to find a way out of Wamena. The only airline with seats available is a company whose track record includes ten crashes and forced landings. Flying can be hazardous anywhere in Indonesia, and the same is at least as true of Papua. If I am to move on quickly, however, I have no choice. When the aeroplane does arrive, after a long delay, I quickly learn that the carrier is looking out for the safety of its passengers, at least as far as crash landings on water are concerned. A sign on each seat kindly asks the passenger to refrain from stealing the life vest.

Airborne and soon approaching the Timika airport we cross over a river. Crowds of Indonesian men stand knee-deep in running water working their jigs. They are panning for nuggets of gold that might have been flushed down from the nearby mountains. Upriver lies the Grasberg mining complex, one of the biggest and most lucrative gold and copper mines in the world. The mine has been dug out over decades by Freeport-McMoRan, the American copper-and-gold giant.

Freeport's name is omnipresent at the airport. Timika owes its existence to the mining company. Before heading to Timika proper I stop at the nearest police post to have my travel permit stamped. The police who issued me the permit, back in Jayapura, granted me permission to visit Timika but not Tembagapura, the town next to the Grasberg mine. "This is the area of the Americans. You cannot go there," the officer in charge explained.

Since last July there have been several shootings along the road linking Timika with Tembagapura. Three men were killed: a Freeport employee, a security guard and a policeman. There were scores of wounded as well. This is why security is tight in Timika. There are almost no police or soldiers in sight but my rebel contacts assure me that there are plenty of plainclothes officers around. It is difficult to arrange my meeting with local representatives of the guerrillas and activists of the National Committee of West Papua. At last a car picks me up in front of a supermarket. We drive a meandering route to confuse or evade the security forces who might be watching us or following.

The passenger in the front seat, a man wearing a beard, dreadlocks and a black T-shirt, seems to be the commander. He welcomes me and expresses his hope that my work will contribute to the liberation of Papua. At one point he even asks me whether I could help him with the purchase of weapons. Like the other guerrillas I have met, he talks at length about Papua's history: mainly about Indonesia's efforts in the years after the second world war to annex Dutch New Guinea, including their threat, in 1961, to stage an invasion. The Netherlands were reluctant to relinquish the territory but the Americans convinced them to talk to the Indonesians. Those talks eventually evolved into the so- called Act of Free Choice in 1969. A handpicked group of around 1,000 tribal leaders were forced by General Suharto's government to vote for unification with Indonesia, or so the rebel insists.

Official documents released by America's National Security Archive in Washington, DC, reveal what the Americans were thinking at the time. They knew perfectly well that there was no element of free choice in the Act of Free Choice. In July 1969 the American embassy in Jakarta sent a confidential cable to Washington saying that the Act of Free Choice was unfolding "like a Greek tragedy, the conclusion preordained". Jakarta could and would not permit any resolution other than the inclusion of Papua into Indonesia, the memo stated. America's ambassador offered an estimate: as many as 85-90% of all Papuans favoured independence. But, this being the height of the Vietnam war, the Americans saw Indonesia as an indispensable ally in the region. And their tacit support for Indonesia's position on Papua had already been rewarded handsomely: in 1967, a year after Suharto seized power in Jakarta, a new foreign-investment law was passed. The first company to take advantage of the new opportunities was Freeport. It has maintained the Grasberg concession ever since.

The helicopter to Grasberg

The Americans make a lot of money with the Grasberg mine but we Papuans get nothing, complains the rebel, from the car's passenger seat. Though Freeport employs many Papuans, the company remains hugely unpopular with the natives who live in the mountains surrounding the mine. Later I meet Freeport employees who tell of angry villagers shooting volleys of arrows at the helicopters that fly overhead, ferrying exploration teams into the hills. Around 3,000 Indonesian soldiers and police are on guard to protect the mining facilities. The army has a financial interest in the smooth continuation of mining operations, says one foreign mining worker. "They take their cut from the restaurants we visit in Timika, and even the brothels are owned by army officers," he explains. Indonesia has become a democracy but in Papua the army still seems to function as a state within the state. Because of the huge amounts of money that change hands in the mining and natural-gas business, it is hard to imagine that this will change anytime soon.

Day two

From Jayapura I book a flight to Wamena. The town lies in the central highlands where the Papuan guerrillas keep their strongholds. The aeroplane passes over a landscape crazed with meandering rivers. Now I understand why there are no roads leading to Wamena. The place is isolated in the extreme. Even eggs have to be flown in. On the outskirt of town, a pick-up truck is waiting. I stop to buy presents for the villagers and rebels I intend to visit. My young companions – most of them are students and members of the National Committee of West Papua – ask for betel nuts and some snacks. They say we will need cigarettes too, for the army checkpoints on the way, and they wouldn't mind having some for themselves either.

We drive slowly through the scenic Baliem valley. The Dani, the local tribe, were not "discovered" by white men until 1938. Temperatures on the valley floor, with an altitude of approximately 1,600 metres, can get chilly. Our driver has to stop several times to pick up more passengers as well as a plastic tarpaulin, to protect passengers sitting in the bed from the occasional lashing of cold rain. After each stop the car leaves a mark on the road's surface: a rectangle of red spatter, betel juice spewed out by the passengers.

The farmsteads along the road are surrounded by fences that are capped with thatched roofs to protect their posts. Gardens on the steep hillsides are fenced in the same way. We pass several checkpoints without trouble. At one roadblock, however, I am asked to accompany a soldier to an office. The ambience is relaxed. I show my travel permit and my driver places two cigarette packs on the table. More discreetly, he lays a few banknotes – the equivalent of about ten dollars – on a chair next to the officer in charge. We are then allowed to proceed.

After some hours we leave the road behind and continue on foot. We cross irrigation channels and fields planted with sweet potatoes. Coffee trees grow in the shade of a light forest. Wading in single file through a swamp we reach a fenced village. There is a guard at the gate. Although he has no shoes he tries to click his heels and salutes one of the men in our column, clearly a commander among the guerrillas. Inside the fence about two dozen villagers are standing under a big tree. As we approach them they start crying. For several minutes tears stream down their faces, some of which are marked with clay. My companions explain that this is a way of mourning the many Papuans killed during the struggle for independence. Smearing one's face with clay is a sign of grief.

Soon after, a squad of about 30 militiamen arrive. They carry wooden spears, bows and arrows, all fashioned without a single bit of metal. Two colonels, both barefoot, also form part of the detachment. One of them wears a long beard and carries a suitcase. He says he came from neighbouring Papua New Guinea where the guerrillas' supreme commander, Mathias Wenda, has his headquarters. The villagers bring out a pig in my honour. While two men hold the poor animal's feet, a third shoots an arrow made of bamboo right through the heart. I have never seen a faster and more effective way of slaughtering. While the meat is barbecued, the fighters and villagers sing and dance. Some of the women are dressed in grass skirts, and one of the men wears nothing more than a traditional penis quiver and a woollen cap.

The students prepared a speech that one of the two colonels will read aloud for the rest of us. They want to give me a copy too, but first they need to put the official seal on it. With their first effort, they stamp the paper with the seal of the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPN). But this rebel outfit, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), has been renamed the Revolutionary Army of West Papua (TRPB). No matter, the rebels quickly find the right rubber stamp and correct the error. The colonel from Papua New Guinea draws another document from his suitcase. It is a neatly done booklet about the rebel movement, including displays of all its insignia.

Villagers and militiamen take turns joining in a rallying cry: Papua merdeka! Because many hundreds of languages are spoken on the island of New Guinea, the rebels here converse in Bahasa Indonesia, the national tongue of their enemies, in which merdeka means freedom or independence. The militia pick up their weapons to perform some military drills. It is not easy to pivot briskly with a three-metre-long spear on one's shoulder or to present arms with a bow and a loose bundle of arrows. The only modern weapon I see on this day is an air rifle used to shoot birds. The guerrillas also have a few automatic rifles, according to photos they show me.

Once the pork is cooked, I am given the honour of distributing the meat. With the first few drops of a rainfall we retreat into a hut with a floor of matted straw. The men begin to tell stories of their struggle. I have been told that this can last hours, and it does. Just before dawn I find the chance to explain that we need to make our way back to the vehicle. Some of the fighters and villagers accompany us to the road. We say good-bye and one of the commanders asks me to tell the world the story of the Papuans' struggle.

Day one

Finishing its night flight from Jakarta, the aeroplane descends alongside the green Cyclops Mountains, which divide Papua's shoreline from the island's interior. Lake Sentani reflects the warm light of the early morning through the plane's starboard windows while the pilot keeps the ridge to our left. The airport of Papua's capital, Jayapura, lies between the lake and the mountains. It was near this place in western New Guinea, what is today Indonesia's easternmost region, that General Douglas MacArthur made his headquarters in 1944. From a mountaintop near what was then the Dutch colonial town of Hollandia he planned America's recapture of the Philippines from Japanese occupation – making good on his vow, "I shall return". This place is littered with the history of 20th-century colonial wars.

The plane arrived nearly empty and the Papuan porters in the arrival hall are finding that custom is scarce. One of them wears a woollen hat with a white star on a red ground. It resembles the outlawed morning-star flag, a symbol for Papua's fight for independence from Indonesia. Other porters sport dreadlocks and look like Rastafarians. At first sight a foreign visitor could be mistaken into thinking he had arrived somewhere in the Caribbean or in west Africa. In some ways the scene here is typical of Papua: poorly paid jobs like the porters' are filled by native Papuans while skilled labour and commerce seem to belong exclusively to migrants from elsewhere in Indonesia. Javanese and other peoples from the great islands to the west seem to run the local economy, far beyond Jayapura's airport. The sense of division is such that nearly all the locals use the term "Indonesians" to mean migrants from elsewhere, as if they did not share a single republic.

A friend meets me for the drive along Lake Sentani into Jayapura proper. Huts stand on wooden poles in the water. A woman moves her dugout canoe slowly along the shore. The car brings me to the house of another contact, an Indonesian who believes that I am on a business trip. As a foreign journalist in Papua – on an unsanctioned visit – it would be only too easy to get into trouble with the police and army. For the locals who co-operate with me, the risks are much greater. Stories of torture and secret killings abound. I try to keep a low profile and do everything I can to protect the identities of those who help me in my assignment.

The western half of the island of New Guinea is the most resource-rich region of the Indonesian archipelago, yet most of its native population lives in abject poverty. West Papua, as the natives of Indonesian Papua prefer to call the whole of their homeland (in Jakarta "West Papua" and "Papua" are different), is home to huge reserves of gold and copper, mined mostly by Freeport-McMoRan, as well as natural gas, which is extracted mainly by BP. These contracts make the case of Papua very different from that of Timor-Leste, which was able to split from Indonesia in 2002 after a long and sometimes brutal occupation. Papua is so heavily endowed with mineral wealth that Indonesia seems unlikely ever to loosen its grip. For decades now, the government has encouraged migrants from Java and other densely populated islands to find a new home in Papua. The consequences of this policy can be seen easily in Jayapura. It has become a predominantly Indonesian port city. The Papuans here have been made a minority in their own land.

I meet my first Papuan contact in an open-air restaurant near the harbour, far from the house where I stay. She turns out to be a shy woman who speaks good English, a student and a member of the radical National Committee of West Papua (KNPB), which has close links with guerrillas in the jungle. She refuses to have a meal in an Indonesian restaurant. We drink juice in a cafe and make plans to drive to a safe house outside Jayapura.

The safe house turns out to be only a short drive away, in a valley not far from an army garrison. Our car brings us to a house surrounded by shacks with corrugated iron roofs, all inhabited by Papuans. Before I am allowed to alight, several young Papuans scout the area, to see that nobody is watching us. We remove our shoes outside the entrance. A stream of visitors pours into the house after us, and the pile of shoes outside gets bigger and bigger. Reckoning that it could attract unwelcome attention, a young man brings the shoes inside. Curtains are drawn to shield us from curious passers-by. But for the people inside, the room is almost empty. We sit on the floor, eight men and two women. The student translates into English as everyone is introduced. A man across the circle catches my eye immediately; he does not look like a Papuan at all. He has a Portuguese name and hails from Timor-Leste. He explains that he came to Papua almost two years ago to support the KNPB, but he demurs saying whether he is on an official mission or not. "This place is not very safe," he offers.

He is not the only foreign national in the circle. There is a pastor from the neighbouring state of Papua New Guinea – the island's eastern half – who identifies himself as a member of the guerrilla movement. He says the KNPB "and the fighters in the forests are working together very closely." Moses Tabuni, a spokesman for the KNPB, explains that the guerrillas of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) – "the fighters in the forests" – have been fighting the Indonesians since the 1960s. The pastor from Papua New Guinea speaks of joining the two groups to form a Revolutionary Army of West Papua. "We have lost so many people that we want to organise our struggle in a new network."

Mr Tabuni wears a wristband emblazoned with the morning star. Its image became the official ensign of West Papua during a ten-month period from 1961 to 1962, when the region gained its independence from the Netherlands. That was when the island's western half changed its name from Dutch New Guinea to West Papua – to distinguish it from Papua New Guinea to the east. After its short-lived independence West Papua was temporarily administered by the UN and then annexed by Indonesia in 1969. (Indonesia has designated its share of New Guinea with several names since then, but it has never allowed the whole region to be called "West Papua".)

One of the KNPB's young members says that they are only interested in organising demonstrations against the occupation. As such, all they want is the free exercise of their democratic rights, such as Indonesians elsewhere have been enjoying since 1998. "But the Indonesians call us troublemakers and terrorists. Should we not be allowed to gather and demonstrate in a democracy? It seems that democracy is all right for the Indonesians but not for us Papuans."

"If the American mining giant Freeport-McMoRan wants to continue to extract our copper and gold, and if BP wants our natural gas, then they have to support our struggle," says Mr Tabuni. He adds that he happy for me to quote him by name. On the way back to Jayapura the car is packed with men who took part in the secret meeting. They all seem to be concerned about my security. When we reach my destination, the home of a friend, I ask them to drop me. "No, not right in front of a police post," Mr Tabuni pleads with a smile. They drop me farther down the road and I walk home like a tourist after a sightseeing tour.

Thousands rally for independence referendum in Indonesia's Papua

Agence France Presse - July 8, 2010

Jayapura – Thousands of Papuans rallied on Thursday to urge the provincial legislature to demand a referendum on self- determination, and reject the region's special autonomy within Indonesia.

An upper house of tribal leaders, the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP), voted in June to reject Papua's autonomy status, introduced in 2001 after the fall of the Suharto military dictatorship in Jakarta.

Witnesses said more than more than 2,000 Papuans in Jayapura, some of them wearing traditional outfits, were marching about 17 kilometers from the MRP's office to the provincial legislative building.

"Special autonomy has failed to protect the rights of indigenous Papuans," protest leader Markus Haluk said. "We want to urge Papua's provincial parliament to hold a plenary meeting to declare that special autonomy is a failure and returned it back to the central government," he said.

Haluk said the Indonesian government and Papuans, who are indigenous Melanesians, needed to establish a dialogue in which the UN or a neutral country would act as mediator.

"It's as if Papua is a dark cave, which is always closed and guarded by the government," he said. "Papuan people want a referendum as a solution to our problem."

The provincial legislature canceled a meeting that was supposed to be held on Thursday over the referendum request. "This is a political issue and we're still waiting for other political groups in the parliament to make their decision," Golkar party lawmaker Yan Ayomi said.

Papua has been the scene of a low-level insurgency for decades and despite Indonesia's vast security presence in the region, Jakarta remains extremely sensitive about any sign of separatism.

Indonesia has sent mixed messages about its willingness to loosen its grip on Papua, offering talks with separatist rebels on one hand while jailing and killing their leaders on the other.

Access to foreign journalists in the area has been restricted by the government.

Indonesia pardons Papuan prisoner

Agence France Presse - July 8, 2010

A prominent Papuan activist jailed for raising an outlawed separatist flag has been released after Indonesia granted him a pardon, an official said on Thursday.

Yusak Pakage was arrested in 2004 in the Papuan capital of Jayapura for flying the Morning Star flag as part of a ceremony commemorating the 1962 declaration of Papuan independence. He was sentenced in 2005 to ten years in jail for subversion.

"We set him free on Wednesday following a presidential decree dated on June 24 that accepted the pardon request from Yusak Pakage," said Nazarudin Bunasthe, head of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry's Papua office. "He was supposed to be free in 2013," he added.

Bunas said this was the first presidential pardon granted to a political prisoner in Papua.

Benny Giay, a prominent Papuan activist, said the pardon represented slim progress on a myriad problems in Papua. "Despite Pakage's release, the threat for Papuan people to be easily sent to jail remains high," he told AFP.

Indonesian courts have handed stiff penalties, including life in prison, to people caught with separatist symbols such as the Papuan flag.

More than 170 people are in prison for peacefully promoting separatism in Indonesia, most of them from Papua or the eastern Maluku islands, according to Human Rights Watch.

Indonesia took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony on the western half of New Guinea island, in 1969 after a vote among a select group of Papuans widely seen as a sham.

Papuans have long accused Indonesia's military of violating human rights in the province and complain that the bulk of earnings from its rich natural resources flow to Jakarta.

Indonesia also released on Wednesday Papuan political prisoner Chosmos Yual, who was sentenced to six years in jail for his role in a violent pro-independence rally in Jayapura in 2006, Bunas said.

The Papua question

Jakarta Globe - July 5, 2010

Neles Tebay – Last Friday indigenous Papuans – through the provincial legislative council – symbolically handed back the 2001 Law on Special Autonomy to the Indonesian government.

The act should neither be dismissed as irrational, nor should it lead to the conclusion that referendum and independence are the ultimate goals of those dissatisfied with the current situation in Papua. It is rather a cry to be taken seriously: Papuans are waiting for dialogue to negotiate a new solution to the their governance.

The 2001 law was offered by the central government as the best and most realistic solution to the Papua conflict. Internationally, it was recognized as a win-win solution, preserving on the one hand Indonesia's territorial integrity while advancing and safeguarding the needs of Papuans on the other.

The policy of a semiautonomous Papua was at the time strongly supported by the European Union, the United States and the state members of the Pacific Islands Forum.

But although the special autonomy policy was hailed by many as the only viable solution, it was not the result of genuine dialogue between the Indonesian government and Papuans; rather, it was unilaterally decided by the Peoples' Assembly (MPR) in 1999.

The lack of a joint decision-making process between the government and Papuans thus makes it a solution that is not negotiated but imposed. This is why neither the government nor Papuans felt strongly that they owned this policy.

The decision to "return the law" was taken after a two-day evaluation of the legislation last week in Jayapura, facilitated by the Papuan Peoples' Assembly (MRP).

Papuans from all tribes and political factions participated. According to the 2001 law, an evaluation of the law's efficacy should be conducted every year.

In reality such an evaluation never took place until Papuans took the initiative last week. The action led the Papuans to the understanding that the government does not show moral commitment and political will to implement the autonomy law.

This has been demonstrated through the government's controversial policies, which were felt by many to be deliberately violating Papua's autonomy law.

Those policies include the establishment of three new provinces in Papua in 2001, changing the autonomy law in 2008 to provide a legal foundation for the establishment of West Papua Province, and rejecting the Papuans' proposal of using the Morning Star flag as a Papuan cultural symbol.

Furthermore, the joint application by the government of the law on Papua's autonomy and the 2004 Law on Regional Government has brought about confusion among the local government. The Papuans feel their needs and fundamental rights remain largely unaddressed.

The government in the past nine years did not produce the necessary governmental regulations for the special implementing regulations, establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, work out an adequate policy framework to protect and empower the indigenous Papuans, and address the human rights violations since 1963 until today.

Despite a central government pouring billions of rupiah into Papua, the majority of Papuans still live under the poverty line.

Without government control of migration from other provinces to Papua, Papuans are fast becoming a minority in their own land, economically marginalized and disfavored.

In the light of the above, the act of handing back the special autonomy may be taken as a sign of outrage and anger. More importantly, it is an expression of fear, of frustration and of despair. It is a cry to be taken seriously.

Papuans do not feel protected and empowered by the government. They are seriously worried about their survival today and about their future in the country.

What the Papuans want first and foremost is to be taken seriously and to have their grievances acknowledged. They wish for a solution they can be a part of and can participate in.

They want a solution that they can also own. They cannot accept any solution they feel is imposed by the government.

In their eyes, there is only one way to produce a negotiated solution, which is genuinely accepted by both the Indonesian government and the Papuans themselves. This is through meaningful dialogue between the central government and the Papuans.

In the wake of the events of last week, the time has come for the government of Indonesia and people of Papua to engage in a such a peaceful exchange.

[Neles Tebay is coordinator of the Papua Peace Network in Abepura, Papua.]

Military ties

US has ended lethal weapon sales ban: Indonesia

Jakarta Post - July 5, 2010

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – To quell public confusion on the state of Indonesia's military relations with the US, the Defense Ministry confirmed that the world's largest weapons-maker has completely lifted an embargo banning weapon sales to the Indonesian Military (TNI).

In its first clear statement on the embargo's end, a Defense Ministry spokesman said that Indonesia could procure any type of weapon from the US because there was no longer an embargo.

"The US embargo on the sale of any type of weapon to Indonesia ended completely in 2005," Indonesian Defense Ministry spokesman I Wayan Midhio said over the weekend.

"After the embargo ended, there were no more distinctions to be made between lethal or non-lethal weapons sales," he said.

Indonesia can now purchase lethal weapons from the US and there is no "partial prohibition" of arms sales to Indonesia, as was previously reported, he added.

Many observers – even those well-informed on bilateral military relations – said they did not know if Indonesia could buy lethal weapons from the US or not, even after military ties resumed in 2005.

Indonesia recently proposed a plan to purchase American-made F-16 jet fighters, which are categorized as lethal weapons, and C-130H Hercules cargo jets, which are not considered lethal, if the US lifted its embargo, as previously reported.

Wayan said Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro expressed the government's intent to buy the aircraft in a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

The US Congress imposed an embargo that banned international military education and training (IMET) and military equipment sales to Indonesia almost two decades ago.

The embargo was imposed in response to repeated human rights abuses committed by the Indonesian Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) in West Papua and Timor Leste (then East Timor), which killed more than 100 unarmed civilians, including two US citizens, and injured dozens.

Some experts maintain that the US encouraged Indonesia's use of lethal force against civilians in East Timor.

Padjadjaran University international relations expert Teuku Rezasyah said history shows that former US president Gerald Ford and former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger gave the Indonesian government a "green light" to send Kopassus to East Timor and ignored reports of violence during official US government visits to Indonesia.

The US Congress said it would lift the ban entirely only if the US government could ensure that Indonesia addressed human rights violations.

An Indonesian government delegation led by former president Megawati Soekarnoputeri, visited the US in 2001 in an attempt to soften the policy.

The meeting between Megawati and former US president George W. Bush resulted in a US commitment to provide US$400,000 in extended IMET and to lift the embargo on non-lethal military weapon sales.

The US Congress has not approved joint military trainings between Kopassus and the US military due to alleged Kopassus human rights abuses.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to raise the issue during US President Barack Obama's planned visit to Indonesia in November.

Politics & political parties

Party confederations idea likely to fail, expert says

Jakarta Globe - July 7, 2010

Armando Siahaan – Attempts by smaller parties to form confederations in an effort to consolidate power ahead of the 2014 general elections could be quashed by the larger parties that dominate the House of Representatives, a political analyst said on Tuesday.

The National Mandate Party (PAN) recently said confederations would be one way for smaller parties to meet the legislative threshold, which is expected to be doubled to 5 percent for the 2014 polls. The threshold is the number of votes a party must secure to receive a seat in the House.

However, the laws on political parties and elections do not recognize confederations, and would have to be amended through the House, which would require a consensus from all parties.

"The idea of a PAN-backed confederation would be attacked from all sides, even by its coalition partners," said Burhanuddin Muhtadi, an analyst from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).

He said the heads of three of the country's four largest parties – the ruling Democratic Party, Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – had all indicated their disapproval of the idea.

Burhanuddin said confederations would be a threat to the three parties, as well as the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), by watering down their mandates.

The idea behind forming a confederation is to make use of the votes garnered by smaller parties that fail to meet the legislative threshold and thus are deprived of a seat in the House. Such parties accounted for 20 percent of the vote in the 2009 elections.

Burhanuddin pointed out that if PAN, which won 6 percent of the vote in 2009, managed to engage just 10 percent of those votes, it could transform into a major party with significant power in the House. "That's why the big parties aren't comfortable with the idea," he said.

Moreover, Burhanuddin said, consolidating the votes of parties failing to meet the legislative threshold would mean fewer extra seats for the major parties. Under the current system, those votes are distributed proportionately among the parties that do meet the threshold. "They don't want to lose those free seats," he said.

PAN's Bima Arya Sugiarto said his party knew the idea would receive a hostile reception, thus it was working "to create a more comprehensive understanding." "The proposed system is meant for all parties, and not limited to specific ones," Bima said.

PAN is currently promoting the idea to all parties in the country, he said, including the Democrats and Golkar. "Even a major party would be happy to gain more votes," Bima said.

He also said the system could help strengthen the presidency, pointing out that with fewer parties in the House, there would be less jostling over nominating presidential candidates, and thus a better chance for the most qualified candidates to stand.

However, Burhanuddin said larger parties preferred gobbling up smaller groups as a way of expanding their voter base, citing Golkar's recent talks with the Indonesian Muslim Brotherhood (Parmusi) and the Reform Star Party (PBR).

He said this differed from a confederation in that the smaller party would be assimilated into the larger one, while membership in a confederation would allow it to retain its political identity.

Bakrie's political rivals pounce on rat comments

Jakarta Globe - July 5, 2010

A number of politicians have pounced on Golkar Party Chairman Aburizal Bakrie's comments that when it came to Indonesian politics it was best for party members to think like rats.

Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, head of the executive board of the United Development Party (PPP), called on the controversial businessman to clarify his comments because rats conjured up "very bad" images.

Bakrie, who has a poor public image given the ongoing Sidoarjo mudflow disaster that has displaced many thousands of people and the more recent battle with former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawti, told Golkar members on Sunday that the party had "to have the principals of a rat" in its bid to achieve 30 percent of the vote in the 2014 legislative elections.

"Be like the rat who bites someone's leg, without letting the person know that he has been bitten by us. A rat always bites with a certain tactics and technique," he told delegates at a five-star hotel in South Jakarta.

"The rat bites a little, and carefully, and then waits. After [the rat] feels it is enough, he goes back to biting just a bit again. The person who is bit never feels it, In politics, when we attack, we must not be careless and in a hurry, or our opponents will know and attack us back."

Speaking to reporters at the House of Representatives on Monday, Lukman urged Bakrie not to use "rat politics" for his own benefit.

"A politician must posses an ideology and that ideology must be focused for the benefit of the people instead of him or her self," Lukman was quoted by Detik.com as saying. He suggested Golkar select another animal as a role model.

"A rat is stigmatized as an animal with a negative image. It would have been better if he had used another animal in his analogy," Lukman said. "Live for politics, not live from politics. Don't use politics for personal gain."

Bima Arya Sugiarto, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), suggested Golkar use a dolphin as a role model. "Dolphins are not individualist, clean and friendly."

The ruling Democratic Party was also critical of Bakrie's comments. "I disagree with that kind of politics. Rats sniff around and when it's time to strike, they will gnaw on the target," Democratic legislator Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin told Detik.com.

He said rat politics focused on one's self and not the people. "Politics must be moral-based, not rat-based."

National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Marwan said he had no problem with Golkar adopting rat-style politics but hoped his own party would maintain ethical standards.

"If Golkar wants to adopt rat politics so be it. As for the rest of us, what's important is to give a good, moral-based and civilized political education for the people, not immoral politics."

Golkar, PAN move to raise electoral threshold

Jakarta Post - July 5, 2010

Jakarta – The National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Golkar Party are encouraging smaller parties to join with them so that they can lobby the senate to increase the electoral threshold for the 2014 elections.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a researcher from the Indonesian Survey Institute, said Sunday two ideas had been proposed by the two parties to increase the electoral threshold from the current 2.5 percent to 5 percent for the 2014 elections.

The PAN proposed a confederation of political parties, while Golkar argued for "acquisitions" of small political parties.

"The confederation of political parties would allow several political parties to merge while maintaining their respective identities," he told The Jakarta Post.

He cited the National Front in Malaysia as an example of a successful political confederation. He said the confederation would benefit the PAN and other political parties under its flag.

He said that, as the leader, the PAN could drive the confederation's movements while other smaller parties could maintain seats at the House of Representatives.

Burhanuddin criticized the PAN for not proposing a clear format for how such a confederation would work, which he said had provoked negative responses from its rivals. "As of today, technical details on how the confederation would be run remain unclear," he said.

PAN deputy chief Bima Arya said his party had internally discussed details of how the confederation would be run and would make the results public within a week. "We want the confederation of political parties to be a hot public debate," he told the Post.

He mentioned two ways the confederation could work. The first, he said, would allow confederation members to maintain their party names.

The second, he continued, was a partial confederation, where political parties would compete in the election under their own names, but then merge into a confederation after their votes were counted to ensure they met the electoral threshold.

Golkar leaders have met recently with leaders of small political parties that did not win seats at the House in the 2009 general elections, a move many have seen as an attempt to "annex" them.

Chairman of the Reform Star Party (PBR) Bursah Zarnubi met with Golkar chairman and businessman Aburizal Bakrie on June 1 at Golkar's headquarters in Jakarta. Bursah said the meeting discussed the possibility of his party merging with Golkar.

Previously, Bachtiar Chamsyah, the chairman of United Indonesian Muslims, an organization under the United Development Party (PPP), met with Aburizal in Jakarta. Bachtiar did not comment on the focus of the meeting.

Aburizal said Golkar had never asked other organizations to join it, but added that he would not discourage any organization from joining. "They came to us and requested to merge their organizations with Golkar," he said when addressing a Golkar meeting here on Sunday.

Burhanuddin said Golkar said it was expecting its "spin-offs", like the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), to take votes away from Golkar that it might otherwise win, as happened in the 2009 elections.

"Moreover, the National Democrat [a mass organization led by Golkar senior politician and media mogul Surya Paloh] has the potential to become a political party," he said. (rdf)

Golkar woos 2nd small party for possible link-up

Jakarta Globe - July 2, 2010

Armando Siahaan – Continuing its effort to court smaller parties, Golkar on Thursday signaled the possibility of a partnership with the Reform Star Party, while at the same time reiterating that the National Democrats were not a threat ahead of the 2014 elections.

A meeting between Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie and Bursah Zarnubi, chairman of the Reform Star Party (PBR), concluded with both men declaring that they shared the same "grand idea" for the country's development, which is to progress from the village level.

"We've agreed to play a central role in developing the country together," Aburizal said. He said he hoped the two parties could work together under one organization.

However, the two leaders have yet to agree on the form such a partnership would take. Bursah said it could be a full merger, a confederation or could even mean transforming his Islamic party into a more secular one.

"This grand idea does not unite us ideologically or politically, but economically," Bursah said, noting that Golkar was a nationalist party and PBR was Islamic.

In the 2009 elections, PBR was one of 28 parties that failed to meet the 2.5 percent legislative threshold required to qualify for a seat in the House of Representatives, winning only 1.21 percent of the votes.

With the House currently debating the possibility of increasing the legislative threshold to simplify its political makeup, smaller parties are seeking ways to secure seats in the legislature, inevitably luring big parties for merger possibilities.

The meeting with PBR was the second example in two weeks of Golkar's effort to engage smaller parties. Last week, Bakrie met with Indonesian Muslim Brotherhood (Parmusi) chairman Bach-tiar Chamsyah, with both leaders acknowledging that the groups were looking into a possible partnership.

Golkar's secretary general, Idrus Marham, said the party was in communication with other small organizations, but stopped short of naming them.

Its willingness to ally itself with Islamic organizations such as PBR and Parmusi seems to indicate Golkar has put aside ideology as the single most important factor in amassing more power to the party.

"Golkar is an open party; whether it's green, blue or red, that's not a problem," Aburizal said, adding that Golkar would consider engaging any political party that shared the same vision in terms of the country's economic development.

Golkar's talks with smaller parties come amid an internal rift between Aburizal's camp and that of Surya Paloh, which established the National Democrats, a social organization that recently declared political ambitions for the 2014 elections.

Some analysts have said that Golkar's aggressive engagement of smaller parties is a preemptive measure to anticipate a loss of support if the National Democrats do transform into a political party, which could steal a significant number of members from Golkar.

But the party's deputy secretary general, Nurul Arifin, insisted the move was solely to accommodate smaller parties that need to coalesce with bigger groups ahead of the possible doubling of the legislative threshold.

Idrus also dismissed the idea that the National Democrats posed a threat to the Golkar Party. "The National Democrats are not a decisive factor in political processes," he said.

"Based on leaked information, if a survey shows that the National Democrats' electability is between 5 and 10 percent, they will transform into a political party," Idrus said.

If the transformation takes place, Golkar will urge its members currently belonging to the National Democrats to leave what is currently a social organization, he added.

Idrus noted that though the National Democrats were established by an active Golkar member, the two groups had no organizational relationship.

The secretary general added that while there was no legal prohibition on members of political parties joining civil-society organizations, since the National Democrats were established by a former candidate for the Golkar chairmanship, recruiting Golkar members "is not ethical."

PPP not worried about Golkar wooing its vote

Jakarta Globe - July 1, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Recent maneuvers by the Golkar Party to court smaller organizations connected to the United Development Party are nothing to worry about, the Islamic-based party's deputy chairman said on Wednesday.

Chozin Chumaidy said the United Development Party, also known as the PPP, had noted Golkar's approaches to two of its founding organizations, the Indonesian Muslim Brotherhood (Parmusi) and Syarikat Islam, but was not overly concerned.

Parmusi and SI are fairly independent of the PPP and are entitled to align themselves with whichever party their leadership saw fit, he said.

"Golkar's moves don't trouble us," he said. "We can live with the consequences. Having said that, though, we hope Parmusi and the SI keep in mind their historic links to the PPP."

Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) political researcher Burhanuddin Muhtadi has said parties were looking to co-opt social organizations as a way to broaden their voter base to counter a possible doubling of the legislative threshold in the 2014 general elections.

Smaller parties were looking to band together as in confederations or coalesce into larger parties, he said.

Chozin said the PPP was not considering any such consolidation because it was confident of meeting the threshold. Instead, the party will focus on improving its organizational performance, implementing programs and improving the quality of members, he said.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) senior official Adang Ruchiatna also said his party was not seeking to consolidate smaller groups, pointing out it would be meaningless for the country's third-largest party.

"Alliances like that are based on pragmatism, not ideology, so they will amount to no more than negotiations and compromise," Adang said. "We see it happening all around, and we don't want any part of it."

He added that the PDI-P had called on its members to be role models for their constituents. "It's not easy to manage our current members, so imagine how complicated it would be with outsiders in the mix," Adang said.

However, the National Awakening Party (PKB) said it was in talks with the Reform Star Party (PBR), and was also attempting to reconcile with a splinter group that did not recognize the current PKB leadership.

Social movements & civil society

Din vows to maintain neutrality in politics

Jakarta Post - July 8, 2010

Slamet Susanto and Sri Wahyuni, Jakarta – Sirajuddin Syamsuddin, known widely as Din Syamsuddin, vowed to maintain neutrality in practical politics on Wednesday afternoon after being officially named Muhammadiyah chairman for a second five-year term.

"Muhammadiyah will maintain neutrality and will not affiliate with any political parties," Din said on the penultimate day of the congress.

Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim organization, is holding a six-day congress that ends Thursday.

Din collected 1,915 votes among the 13 new members of the organization's central executive board. Monday saw 2,300 of 2,800 congress participants cast their votes.

"The other 12 members of the board agreed the chairmanship should go to whoever receives the most votes," said chairman of the election committee, Rosyad Sholeh.

Apart from electing Din as chairman, the board members also named Agung Danarto, current chairman of Yogyakarta provincial branch, as board secretary for the 2010-2015 term of office.

"I personally feel happy and honored receiving this trust. However, I also consider this as a mandate that must be performed well and rightfully," Din said.

During his first term of office, Din received strong criticism for his obvious siding with a particular presidential candidates during the 2009 election despite Muhammadiyah's stance on neutrality in politics.

To help maintain neutrality, the other 12 newly installed members of the board said they were ready to remind Din of the organization's stance against aligning with political parties.

"Muhammadiyah should not be brought into the political domain ahead of the 2014 national succession.

The 12 of us are ready to remind the chairman [if he tries to do so]," board member Goodwil Zubir said.

As a large organization, according to Zubir, it is normal if Muham-madiyah is seen by many political parties as a potential source of voters ahead of the 2014 general election.

"Muhammadiyah, however, will concentrate on social and moral issues that, up to present, are still the main problems faced by the country," Goodwill said.

With regard to programs for the next five years, Din said he would obey the congress' decisions. "I will do whatever the congress decides," he said.

He added that with collective-collegial leadership mechanisms, the chairman of the organization can not act individually.

"Whatever a chairman does has to be in line with the mandate of the congress," he said.

He also renewed his stance on Muhammadiyah as a critical partner of the government as part of the organization's pledge to be an amar ma'ruf nahi munkar (do good deeds, abandon bad) movement.

The congress recommended the need for developing pluralism and tolerance among different faiths and civilizations.

"Muhammadiyah supports and develops pluralism but refuses pluralism that leads to syncretism and considers all religions equal," Din said.

No surprises as Din Syamsuddin reappointed to head Muhammadiyah

Jakarta Globe - July 7, 2010

Anita Rachman – Din Syamsuddin has been re-elected chairman of the nation's second largest Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah, for another five years.

Wednesday's decision was reached by the 13 newly elected members of Muhammadiyah's executive board through an acclamation process. The decision was made through an internal meeting within the newly elected 13 members of executive board.

Board member Yunahar Ilyas said the decision took some time because each of the 13 members was given the opportunity to "speak and evaluate what has happened in the past five years."

"There was no voting; we all came to the decision with a very peaceful discussion."

Din said the board had yet to decide on what the organization would focus on in the next five years, though he stressed any such decision would be a collective one.

"Our relationship with the government will remain the same, proportional," he said, referring to previous statements in which the organization would support the government on policies that were pro-people and criticize the government when it stepped out of line.

Agung Danarto, seen as a representative of the younger generation, was elected general secretary.

Muhammadiyah 'should give women a voice at the top'

Jakarta Globe - July 6, 2010

Anita Rachman – The executive board of Muhammadiyah must take into account the aspirations of its female members, the former general chairman of the Muslim organization, Sjafii Ma'arif, said on Monday.

He was speaking as more than 2,000 members voted for a new 13- member executive board.

The Muhammadiyah's women's wing, the Aisyiyah, had earlier criticized the organization for not having had a single female representative on the board in the past 10 years.

"I shall recommend our future executive board include not only men but women as well," Sjafii said at the organization's 46th national congress in Yogyakarta.

The 13 people chosen meet today to decide the new leader for the organization's 28 million members.

"I remind you that those who get the largest number of votes and those sitting on top of the list may not necessarily be appointed as general chairman," senior official Rosyad Saleh said earlier.

"It will completely depend on the internal meeting between the 13 elected members of the executive board."

Sjafii said that if the committee agreed this week to allowing the women to be included, it could give its stamp of approval. "I think they should then bring the issue to the full congress to make it more concrete," he said.

Abdul Mu'ti, secretary of Muhammadiyah's primary and secondary education council, said on Monday the new executive should seriously consider the next biggest political event in the country – the 2014 general election.

Abdul said that while "remaining neutral," Muhammadiyah leaders should be able to guide followers in choosing the right candidates. He said that by pushing the 13 leaders to guide followers towards the best leaders, it did not mean the group would issue an instruction stating that all followers should vote for particular candidates.

"We are not working by only voting for the right candidates, but we want to work within the system and fix it," he said.

Rahmawati Hussein, a Muhammadiyah member who heads a special branch in the United States, said as the 2014 elections approached, the 13 leaders should also be able to steer followers away from the political traps set by parties vying for Muhammadiyah votes.

"It should not be allergic to politics but we should be able to influence policy makers. Whoever the leaders are, we should be able to influence their policies," she said.

Abdul added that many Muhammadiyah members wanted the executive board to support other members who wanted to work with political parties. "They should not support only a single political party but be spread across many parties," he said.

Abdul said that in the future, the 13 leaders should also be able to work on the nation's law enforcement. He said the country had so many regulations but they were not enforced properly.

The leaders also should be proactive in watching how the legislative system operated.

Without mentioning names, a member from Temanggung, Central Java, said he would support what the caucus decided but wished the organization could implement all its programs and concentrate on improving things for the people.

"And I hope that the organization will return to the Koran and hadith. They should be honest," he said.

Budiman Yunus, from West Sumbawa, said he hoped the new leaders would not involve themselves in politics. "Like what happened with Pak Amien Rais, no top leaders should join any candidacy," he said.

Politics seen as part of fight for Islamic values

Jakarta Globe - July 6, 2010

Anita Rachman – Muhammadiyah, the country's second-biggest Islamic organization, says it will remain involved in politics as long as public aspirations require a voice.

Speaking to the Jakarta Globe on Monday on the sidelines of the group's caucus in Yogyakarta, Muhammadiyah leaders said it played an important role in bridging government policies and public demands, as well as in helping in the fight against terrorism, and vowed to continue those roles well into the future.

Chairman Din Syamsuddin said outside calls for the group to withdraw from politics, including from the government, missed the essence of Islamic teaching.

"Our definition of politics is that of a medium in which to fight for the adoption of [Islamic] values in our lives," he said. "Thus politics for us is more about the allocation of values than of power. As people and as an organization, we should not refrain from getting into politics.

"Muhammadiyah as a missionary organization must fight for [Islamic] values."

He said the group sought to serve the public through its political platform. "Muhammadiyah is a movement for humanity, so we serve not just Muhammadiyah followers or Muslims, but humanity as a whole, which in this context is the nation," he said.

Din called homegrown terrorism a blight on civilization and religion. "Terrorists take human lives indiscriminately, so we should take a stand against them together," he said. "However, it must be said that terrorism is not just perpetrated by isolated individuals or groups, but can also be carried out by the state."

Muhammadiyah, which marks its centenary in 2012, has long advocated a peaceful and tolerant form of Islam among its estimated 28 million members.

"I believe the philosophy that we espouse has had a tremendous impact in shoring up society's defenses against the rise of radicalism," Din said. "However, the terrorist threat remains a challenge for both the government and society."

Former Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Maarif agreed that the organization was a crucial part of the national counterterrorism campaign.

"I'm not going to come out and say it, but if you ask Detachment 88, they'll tell you that I'm one of their godfathers," he told the Globe, referring to the National Police's elite counterterrorism unit.

He said the campaign involved more than security operations, extending to the underlying social forces causing people to turn to radicalism.

"It all probably stems from a sense of injustice over outside problems, such as the Palestine issue," Syafii said. "However, I have long said that the issue could be addressed by reviving the fifth principle of Pancasila, which espouses social justice for all."

He also blamed the current mushrooming of hard-line Islamic groups across the country on unfettered democratic freedoms ushered in by the reform era in 1998. Syafii said such groups believed they were entitled by the newly endowed freedom of expression to act as they pleased, often illegally.

Muhammadiyah has notably failed to censure such groups, and instead called for engagement to bring them back into the Islamic fold.

Kontras 'troubled' by former spy's bid for Muhammadiyah chairman

Jakarta Globe - July 5, 2010

The Committee of Action and Solidarity for Munir, or Kasum, and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, said they were "troubled" by news that Muchdi Puropranjono has bid to be the chairman of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Islamic organization.

"We welcome Muhammadiyah's 46th national congress but we are troubled upon learning that Muchdi is one of the candidates for Muhammadiyah Chairman. We are worried for Muhammadiyah's future if the organization chooses a troubled character like Muchdi Puropranjono to their executive board," Kontras said on its Web site.

Muchdi is one of 39 candidates running for the top post of the Muslim organization, along with Din Syamsuddin, the incumbent general chairman, and Yunahar Ilyas, the head of Muhammadiyah's fatwa body.

Muchdi's candidacy has already drawn criticism because he is a former senior intelligence officer who has been accused of ordering the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib. According to Kontras, the murder case of Munir is still being investigated by a number of legal institutions.

"A Judicial Commission has conducted an investigation on the judges handling the murder case and the result will soon be made public. Muchdi is also very much related to the abduction of pro-democracy activists in 1997-1998," Kontras said.

"Muhammadiyah is a moderate religious organization with a distinguished humanitarian image which uses peace to educate the followers. This organization has held an important role nationally and internationally in promoting world peace. A character like Muchdi Puropranjono will make it difficult for Muhammadiyah in their humanitarian work," said the Web site.

Kontras requested Muhammadiyah to leave Muchdi's name out of the candidacy. "We believe Muhammadiyah still has other cadres who are fit [to be chairman] and possess good integrity in pursuing the organization's humanitarian vision for the Indonesian people."

Muhammadiyah warned about infiltration threat

Jakarta Post - July 2, 2010

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – Prominent Muslim organization Muhammadiyah has been told to stay alert to attempts by "Islamic purification" and transnational movements to infiltrate its ranks.

Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra said in Jakarta on Thursday that the second-largest Muslim organization in the country should be more concerned about infiltrations by such groups rather than potential political intervention during its national congress, which will kick off in Yogyakarta over the weekend.

"There is this inclination toward the legalization of sharia [Islamic law] and transnational Islamic movements among some Muhammadiyah members that need to be blocked," Azyumardi told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

"Moderate Islam should be the future of Islam in Indonesia, and it is the duty of Muhammadiyah and NU [Nahdlatul Ulama – Indonesia's largest Muslim organization] to ensure that," he added.

Azyumardi said he had been observing a growing tendency among a minority group of Muhammadiyah members toward what he called salafism, or attempts to "purify" Islam by returning to early interpretations of Islamic teachings.

He said he had seen that some members were growing impatient with Muhammadiyah's "slow" conventional methods of spreading Islamic teachings through the establishments of schools and hospitals. "They've begun to see that they need to use their 'hands', or in this case, power and authority."

The build up to the upcoming 46th congress of Muhammadiyah, founded in 1912, has raised concern that political figures may try to win seats on its executives board.

However, Azyumardi said, political meddling would hardly, if at all, affect the congress, given that Muhammadiyah's members were largely egalitarian by nature compared to members of traditional Islamic organizations such as NU.

The only possible significant intervention, he said, might come from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who had been reportedly irritated with Muhammadiyah incumbent chairman Din Syamsuddin for his frequent criticisms of government policies.

However, Azyumardi added, it was believed Yudhoyono and Din had since reconciled. He said he had drawn this conclusion from Yudhoyono's willingness to officiate the congress on Saturday via video conference. The President is currently on a haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

It was unlikely, he continued, that congress participants would be influenced by several political figures who had reportedly joined the race to secure the 13 seats on Muhammadiyah's central executive board.

Only members of the 13-strong executive board are eligible to run for chairman of the organization.

The alleged aspirants include Nation's Sun Party (PMB) chairman Imam Addaruqutni, United Development Party (PPP) member M. Syukri Fadholi and Gerindra Party's Muchdi PR – who is a Muhammadiyah member and a former deputy head of the State Intelligence Agency. Muchdi became a controversial figure when he was alleged to have been involved in the murder of human rights activist Munir Said Thalib in 2004.

"I'm ready to lead if I'm given the responsibility," Muchdi was quoted as saying by tempointeraktif.com regarding his nomination.

Political observer Fachry Ali said political motivations were unlikely driving the party figures to run for chairman of the organization because they would be required to leave their parties if they made it to the central executive board.

"They might only give it a try due to the prestige they could earn from being one of the 13 board members," Fachry said.

Electoral commission & elections

In changing political landscape, voters may lose out

Jakarta Globe - July 3, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Voters would be better served by smaller political parties joining together to form confederations rather than agreeing to be merged into larger parties, a political analyst said on Friday.

A realignment of the political landscape is currently under way as smaller parties grapple with a plan to raise the legislative threshold to 5 percent, from the current 2.5 percent. The legislative threshold is the number of votes a party must win to claim a seat in the House of Representatives.

Faced with the possibility of being shut out of power, some smaller parties have opened themselves up to being taken over by larger parties, like Golkar, which has already held talks with two smaller organizations.

But Yuniarto Widjaja, an analyst from Charta Politika, said Golkar's actions could harm the interests of grassroots members of smaller parties.

He said if Golkar's talks with the Indonesian Muslim Brotherhood (Parmusi) and the Reform Star Party (PBR) were successful and they joined the Golkar fold, the two parties would have to abandon their original ideologies. "Grassroots members have a strong connection with the ideologies of their parties," he said.

Yuniarto described the kinds of mergers being discussed by Golkar as acquisitions, and said regular members of smaller parties were unlikely to follow their leaders over to the new party.

He said the alternative was smaller parties banding together in a lager confederation, which would allow them to maintain their identities and serve the needs of their grassroots supporters.

"So long as a system that binds the confederation together is made permanent, a new flag, a new name, fair regulations, then that would be the best strategy," Yuniarto said.

Smaller parties know that if the 5 percent legislative threshold is approved, they will have to scramble to find new and creative ways to remain in politics while keeping their original ideologies, he said.

"So confederations are the best solution for reducing the number of parties while still allowing smaller parties an avenue to stay involved," he said. He added that Malaysia's Barisan Nasional and Japan's Liberal Democrats both existed under a similar confederation concept.

Separately, the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) said that it was in talks with 17 other small Christian-based parties to form a new alliance ahead of the 2014 general elections.

PDS chairman Denny Tewu said the talks were one strategy the party was exploring to help it meet the expected 5 percent legislative threshold. "We will try to convince them to form an alliance with us," he said.

In 2009, PDS lost its seat in the House of Representatives after failing to reach the 2.5 percent of the votes necessary under the current legislative threshold.

Meanwhile, the National Awakening Party (PKB) remains beset by internal conflict.

Senior party official Ikhsan Abdullah has criticized the latest reconciliation agreement signed by representatives of two rival factions within the party – one led by the current party chairman, Muhaimin Iskandar, and another that supports the principles of former party chairman Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the late former president.

"The latest meeting was not a reconciliation, not by PKB as a party, but only by individuals. The meeting was only for the political benefit of certain people," Ikhsan said.

A source within PKB, who asked not to be identified, said the party was now dealing with a new feud. The source said this latest conflict began when Lukman Edy, who leads a faction in the party, felt slighted after Muhaimin tapped Helmy Faishal over him as a candidate for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's new cabinet in 2009.

Elections commission not hard enough on Andi: Critics

Jakarta Globe - July 1, 2010

Anita Rachman & Made Arya Kencana – Critics have denounced the General Elections Commission's decision to merely dismiss member Andi Nurpati, saying a dishonorable dismissal would have better underscored the gravity of her offenses.

Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) official Wirdyaningsih said Andi deserved stronger sanctions for her two ethical breaches of joining the Democratic Party and allowing a district head candidate in Toli Toli, Central Sulawesi, to run in violation of polling rules.

"We expected the commission's ethics tribunal to set a legal precedent by issuing a stronger verdict of dishonorable dismissal," she said. "That would have had a significant impact on her future. We believe she deserves more than a simple dismissal."

The commission, also known as the KPU, concluded its two-day tribunal on Wednesday, in which it ruled that Andi had violated the commission's code of ethics in both cases and recommended that she be dismissed.

"The law books don't recognize the concept of a dishonorable dismissal, just a regular dismissal," ethics tribunal chairman Jimly Asshiddiqie said. "We don't want to overreach the law.

"And while we understand some people may be disappointed with this ruling, I believe a dismissal by tribunal should be a sufficient punishment and deterrent," he added.

Andi, who did not attend the tribunal, said she appreciated the tribunal's decision. She pointed out she had already tendered her letter of resignation last week, and would now wait until the president issued an order for her dismissal from the KPU.

She also lashed out at Bawaslu for demanding she be raked over the coals. "If Bawaslu is upset with the tribunal's ruling, that means they don't appreciate the work it has done," Andi said, adding the watchdog's insistence that she be dishonorably dismissed was overdoing it.

However, Jerry Sumampouw, from the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring (KIPP), said the KPU's ruling obviated any hope the commission had of rebuilding its image tainted by Andi's indiscretions.

He said the essence of the tribunal was to prove the KPU's impartiality and independence in meting out punishment to one of its own. As such, he went on, commissioners violating the institution's code of ethics should be harshly sanctioned to serve as a deterrent.

"I'm sure the public is disappointed with the ruling," Jerry said. "It wasn't nearly strong enough. The tribunal failed to give the KPU back its moral authority."

Meanwhile, Democrat chairman Anas Urbaningrum said the party would not renege on its decision to name Andi to its executive board.

"We respect whatever decision the KPU tribunal reaches, but we must make clear that it will not sway Andi's role in the party," he said. "We're looking at her appointment as the arrival of just another new recruit, nothing more or less."

Anas also played down speculation that Andi had aligned herself with the ruling party since before the 2009 general elections, which the Democrats won convincingly.

He said any accusation that the polling commissioner had helped rig the results in favor of the Democratic Party was an insult to the voters.

Human rights & law

Human rights victims appeal to NU for help

Jakarta Globe - July 7, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Families of victims of past human rights violations on Wednesday sought the assistance of the country's largest Islamic organization in pressuring the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to settle their cases.

The families, accompanied by representatives of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), visited the Central Jakarta office of Nahdlatul Ulama in Central Jakarta, where they met the NU's deputy chairman, Slamet Effendy Yusuf.

They asked Slamet to use the influence of his organization, which claims as many as 50 million members nationwide, to help them find answers.

They also sought guarantees that the NU would not provide shelter for those who could be linked to past rights violations.

Most of the family members lost relatives in one of three incidents: the violence in Jakarta that preceded the resignation of President Suharto in 1998, which included the kidnapping of 22 activists critical of the government; the 1989 killings of 130 Muslims in Talangsari, Lampung, by soldiers; and the killings that took place during rioting in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, in 1984.

Soemarsih, whose son, Wawan, a student, went missing during the 1998 violence, asked the current NU leadership to be as proactive in the matter as the late Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid was when he served as the organization's chairman and later as Indonesia's president.

She said Abdurrahman had supported the families, and had commissioned a tribunal to investigate the Tanjung Priok riots.

In contrast, she said, Yudhoyono had promised to investigate 1998 abductions of anti-government activists, but failed to respond to a House of Representative recommendation to establish a tribunal to look into the case.

"President Yudhoyono has done nothing in response to the House's recommendation that the government search for the bodies of our missing sons," Soemarsih said. "We hope the Nahdatul Ulama leadership has the same spirit as Gus Dur."

Soemarsih also voiced concern about the commitment of the NU since its appointment of As'ad Said Ali, a deputy chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN), to its leadership board. "Many of the bad guys always hide behind big organizations," she said.

Slamet promised the families that the NU was committed to upholding the principles of human rights, including the settlement of past violations.

Complaint paves way for court review of bylaws

Jakarta Post - July 7, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – An authority to adjudicate constitutional complaints will open the Constitutional Court's door for those wanting to contest rights-breaching regulations, including discriminative bylaws adopted in regions, an expert says.

A constitutional complaint is generally defined as a request made by citizens to the court for adjudication on violation of their constitutional rights due to the exercise of public power or state action.

On Tuesday, Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud M.D. said it was time for the court to be granted the authority to pass rulings on constitutional complaints.

Constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin told The Jakarta Post that discriminative bylaws, such as those regulating curfews for women, could be contested at the court should it welcome constitutional complaints.

"In fact, the court will be able to review all kinds of regulations that are deemed to violate the constitutional rights of any citizen," he said.

In Indonesia, the authority to review bylaws and other products of law falls under the Supreme Court. The court uses existing laws as a touchstone.

Irman said, should the country provide for constitutional complaint within its legal system, the Constitutional Court would be able to review bylaws using the Constitution as a reference point.

Mahfud said, "If the Supreme Court's ruling turned out to be wrong... the way [to fix it] is through a constitutional complaint."

Most democracies have provided a mechanism for constitutional complaints in their legal systems, including Germany, South Africa and South Korea.

The call for the provision of constitutional complaint in Indonesia mounted especially in 2008 after repeated violence levelled against members of the Ahmadiyah religious sect. Many have argued that the state had allowed for such incidents to occur by taking limited and even no action against those responsible.

Constitutional Court justice Akil Mochtar said the authority to adjudicate constitutional complaints should be granted through the Constitution because "it stipulates all of the court's authorities".

"But amending the Constitution is not easy to do. Therefore, the authority [to rule on constitutional complaint] can be granted to the court through a law," he added.

Irman said the court did not need to wait for a law to be deliberated to regulate its authority to pass judgments on constitutional complaints.

"The Constitutional Court is the interpreter of the Constitution. It can decide for its own authority through its rulings. But one question remains; is the country's political condition ready to accept the fact that the court will be able to review virtually every regulation?" he added.

Freedom of expression & press

Corruption investigator offers firsthand look at brutal attack

Jakarta Globe - July 8, 2010

Nivell Rayda & Dessy Sagita – Indonesia Corruption Watch investigator Tama Satrya Langkun, who was badly beaten by group of men Thursday morning, said he saw the attack as a threat, but wouldn't let it stop him from pursuing corruption cases.

"It was probably a warning to ICW given through me," he said. "But for what case we can't be sure yet."

Tama said he had been receiving menacing phone calls this week and was being followed. He said that a man who claimed to be a reporter with the Indonesian-language daily newspaper Kompas had repeatedly called him over the weekend to request a meeting.

Tama invited the caller – who identified himself as Roni – to ICW's headquarters, but the man turned down the offer. "Roni called me repeatedly but his voice changed with each call despite coming from the same number," Tama said.

Tama said Roni called him at work on Monday, saying he was outside ICW offices. Tama asked him to come in but he refused, choosing instead to wait outside at a nearby security post.

Tama said he went outside and observed Roni sitting next to a Toyota SUV with four people inside. Tama said he took down the license plate numbers of the car and two motorbikes that were also parked in the area.

He said the men were still there at 8 p.m. when he and colleague Febri Hendri left the office on two separate motorbikes. According to Tama, the men let Febri go and began following him. Fearing for his safety, Tama headed back to the office where he stayed the night.

Early on Thursday morning Tama and another colleague, Laode Moammar Khadafi, were stopped by four men on two motorcycles in the Duren Tiga area of Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta while on their way home from watching the World Cup match.

Tama said the men pushed him off his bike and started beating him with a metal object. According a statement Khadafi made at a news conference following the attack, the men specifically focused on Tama. "It happened fast. The men were strong and they moved very quickly," Khadafi said.

After the attackers fled, a suspicious man drove up in a silver Avanza and tried to persuade Tama to let him take him to the hospital, but Tama refused. Eventually, a security guard in the area came to Tama's aid and took him by motorbike to the Asri Hospital's emergency room.

Another security guard at the hospital who went back to the location to pick up Tama's bike said that he was also approached by a man driving a silver Avanza. The driver reportedly claimed he had chased Tama's attackers as they fled, but that he lost them near the Kaisar Hotel near Pasar Minggu.

Tama was one of the ICW activists who had provided the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with details about millions of dollars of money allegedly in the bank accounts of a number of police generals.

On June 28, Tempo magazine ran a cover story about the suspicious bank accounts of six police generals, but the issue was completely cleared off every shelf in the city by groups of men in a pre-dawn buying spree.

Police denied suggestions that they were involved and immediately threaten to sue the magazine, not for the content of the article, but for the cover illustration that depicted a police general walking three pink piggy banks on leashes.

Tama commented on the magazine buyout on his Twitter account, saying: "Sawah Besar Police Chief suddenly bought many copies of this week's Tempo magazine... what's happening? Why, do the police suddenly like to read?"

On Tuesday, two men on a motorcycle reportedly threw three Molotov cocktails at Tempo magazine's offices but there was no damage.

ICW chairman Danang Widoyoko said the beating could be related to the watchdog's investigations into police corruption. Danang said that despite the cowardly attack on Tama, the ICW would not bow to "terror."

Tama said he would stay involved in investigations into the suspicious bank accounts said to be linked to the police officials.

Police agree to drop protest over 'insulting' caricature

Jakarta Globe - July 8, 2010

Ismira Lutfia – Tempo magazine and the National Police have agreed to settle their rift amicably, although the magazine has stood by its use of what police say was an offensive caricature on the cover.

A closed-door meeting on Thursday was brokered by the Press Council, which received a complaint from the police last week saying it was offended not by the controversial cover story about the allegedly oversized bank accounts of several high-ranking officers, but by the caricature on the cover of the issue depicting a police officer leading three piggy banks on leashes.

Pork is haram, or forbidden, for Muslims, and the term pig is considered a strong insult to most Indonesians. Tempo, however, has defended the caricature, saying the piggy banks represented the bank accounts referred to in the story.

During a news conference following the meeting, Press Council chairman Bagir Manan read a statement of reconciliation from the two parties, with National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang and Tempo editor in chief Wahyu Muryadi standing on either side of him.

He said the two sides had agreed the meeting was "a final and binding resolution," and that both had agreed to put aside any criminal or civil charges.

In addition to the cover caricature featuring the piggy banks, the police had also complained about the magazine's cover for its June 20, 2010, edition, which was headlined "National Police Chief Mixed Up in Coal Mafia." Bagir said both parties had agreed that the headline "did not fully illustrate the contents of the story."

Regarding the cover of the June 30 edition with the piggy banks, Bagir said Tempo understood the police's objection and therefore "regrets that the caricature has offended the police." He added that Tempo would also allow the police a right of reply in the magazine.

"This is positive feedback for us on what offends the police and we are sorry that it did, but we stand our ground that what we did was right and it will not dampen our journalistic spirit to reveal the truth," Wahyu said, adding that Tempo appreciated the police turning to the Press Council to resolve the dispute.

He said Tempo would wait for the police to make use of its right of reply and "we surely will make it our top priority to publish it as soon as they wish to do so."

Wahyu said this type of resolution was what the Press Law mandated and was in accordance with the specialized nature of the law. "But we did not apologize to the police and there was no infringement of the code of ethics," he added.

Media analyst Ignatius Haryanto said the dispute over the magazine's cover was "just a matter of taste and interpretation."

Ignatius told the Jakarta Globe that while he welcomed the police's decision not to pursue the issue, it should not divert the force's attention from responding to the report and investigating the suspicious bank accounts. "That is more important and more substantial," he said. "The public is waiting for the police to clarify that report."

Edward said the police had been investigating the suspicious bank accounts "long before they were reported by Tempo." He called on Tempo and the media in general to work with the police in their roles as "the vanguard in developing and fostering public safety."

Bagir said this was not the first time the police had turned to the Press Council to raise their objections to media reports, adding that this was something for which the police deserved praise.

"This is the correct action to take should there be any dispute between the press and their news subjects," he said, adding that the council would conduct a separate meeting to determine if Tempo had breached the code of ethics.

'Corruptors fight back' with molotovs

Jakarta Post - July 7, 2010

Hasyim Widhiarto and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Unidentified assailants attacked the head-quarters of Tempo magazine early Tuesday in an incident widely believed to be linked to the publication's report last week on the bank accounts of high- ranking police officers.

Eye witnesses said two men hurled three Molotov cocktails at the magazine's office on Jl. Proklamasi, Central Jakarta, an incident promptly dismissed by police as the work of a third party who exploited the situation and did not want to see them make peace over the report.

Tri Prianto, one of Tempo's security guards, said the incident happened at around 2:40 a.m. when two men on a motorcycle lobbed the fire bombs at the office. Only two cocktails exploded, sparking a small fire that was quickly extinguished. No injuries or damage to the building was reported following the incident.

The Central Jakarta Police questioned five witnesses but the motive behind the attack remains unknown. "We are still investigating [the motive]," Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Hamidin said.

The incident follows Tempo's cover story last week on the "suspicious" bank accounts of at least seven high-ranking police officers allegedly containing billions of rupiah transferred from third parties.

Among the officers implicated in the article are Insp. Gen. Budi Gunawan, the head of internal affairs and a former adjutant to the president during the Megawati Soe-karnoputri administration; former Mobile Brigade chief Insp. Gen. Sylvanus Yulian Wenas and lecturer at the Police Leadership School Insp. Gen. Bambang Suparno. Former National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji was also mentioned on the list.

Tempo chief editor Wahyu Mur-yadi refused to speculate whether the attack was related to the report, which is being investigated. National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said the attack was intended to shine a bad light on the police.

"We deplore the incident. Whoever [committed the attack], and whatever their motives were, broke the law. We hope the public trusts us to investigate," Edward said. "Maybe they're people who disagree with the process mediated by the Press Council. They want to make us look bad."

Press Council chairman Bagir Manan condemned the attack as a threat to press freedom. "It doesn't make sense in this era of free speech and free press that this violence still happens," he said as quoted by Antara news agency. "This attack is not only a threat to Tempo, but also national press freedom," he said.

Veteran lawyer and human rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis said the attack on Tempo magazine was an act of terror targeting press freedom and corruption eradication.

"This is part of the 'corruptors fight back' campaign," he told The Jakarta Post. He said that in order to succeed, the war on corruption needs to be supported by press freedom, which allows the people to join forces.

Golkar Party lawmaker Setya Novanto said his party condemned the attack, saying that the police should investigate the case as soon as possible to avoid the issue being exploited to fuel conflict between the police and the weekly magazine.

The attack was not the first leveled against Tempo magazine, which was once shut down by the Soeharto regime for its critical reporting.

In 2003 it was embroiled in a legal battle with businessman Tomy Winata over its coverage of his Tanah Abang market renovation project. Before the case was brought to court, his supporters staged a violent protest at the weekly's office.

In 2005, Indo Pos daily was attacked by dozens of people claiming to be supporters of a gang leader. The group objected to a report about thuggery at the Tanah Abang market. The incident injured two reporters. (rdf)

Tempo arson-attackers want to defame us: Police

Jakarta Post - July 6, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said Tuesday the culprits who threw two molotov cocktails at Tempo magazine office were intended to give bad image on the police.

"We truly regret the incident. Whoever did that and whatever their motives were, they have indeed broken the law. We hope the public trust us to investigate it," Edward told the press in Jakarta. He said the police had been seeking for mediation process with the magazine.

"Maybe they were people who disagree with the mediation process we have chosen. They want to make us look bad," Edward said, adding that detectives from the Jakarta Police had been hunting for the criminals.

Two people driving motorcycles threw two molotov cocktails which exploded at the office of the weekly news-magazine in Central Jakarta early on Tuesday morning. There were no injuries in the incident.

Last week's edition of Tempo magazine ran a cover story on the suspicious bank accounts of several high-ranking police officers, a controversial issue that has been in the media spotlight since 2005.

Indonesian press, student group condemn 'terror attack' on Tempo

Jakarta Globe - July 6, 2010

Condemnation of the Molotov bomb attack on the editorial offices of Tempo magazine in Central Jakarta has been swift.

Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) chairman Nezar Patria said that if the attack was related to Tempo's latest edition detailing the suspiciously "fat" bank accounts of six police generals, then "it would be an attack on press freedom."

Nezar, a former Tempo journalist, encouraged the police to solve the crime and uncover the motive for the attack, which caused only minor damage. "It's the police's job to discover the motive – don't let it become an attempt to intimidate Tempo," he said.

Agus Sudibyo, a member of the Press Council, labeled the attack as an act of thuggery. "The attack happened long after Indonesia has entered the era of democracy and freedom where violence against the media shouldn't have happened," Agus told Detik.com.

He said he did not believe police were involved, saying that both parties had agreed to compromise to end their dispute. "Let's not make any assumptions until the investigation has borne results."

The Muslim Student Association (HMI) described the attack as a terror attack, the same description applied by Tempo magazine. "Terror attacks with Molotov cocktail bombs are anarchic and uncivilized. It threatens the freedom of the press in Indonesia," HMI chairman Chozin Amirullah said in a press release.

HMI expressed their support for Tempo and urged the police to conduct a thorough investigation as soon as possible. "This is a country of laws; this is not the country of thugs where people can practice violence, intimidation and threats," he said.

Police off the mark in pursuing Tempo over pig cover - Activist

Jakarta Globe - July 5, 2010

Ismira Lutfia - A rights activist on Sunday criticized the National Police for missing the point when they filed a criminal complaint against Tempo magazine over a cover caricature of a policeman being led by piggy banks.

Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said the criminal complaint against Tempo made it clear that despite claims to have reformed, many government officials and institutions in Indonesia, including the police, were unwilling to tolerate healthy criticism and public debate.

"The claim that their objection relates to the magazine's cover art rather than the contents of the article alleging corruption in the police force is ultimately irrelevant," Richardson said.

The cover of Tempo's edition released last Monday depicted a police officer being led by three piggy banks on a leash, while the cover story, titled "Fat Accounts of Police Generals," took a look at the allegedly outsized bank accounts of six National Police generals.

In Tempo's English edition, released on Thursday, the cover art has been changed with one of the piggy banks moved to cover the face of an anonymous senior police officer.

Brig. Gen. Zainuri Lubis, deputy spokesman for the National Police, said on Wednesday that 900,000 police officers across the country and their families had been slighted by the caricature on the cover of the Indonesian-language edition.

"We felt insulted by the cover, not the report," Zainuri said on Wednesday. "We will file a criminal and civil suit against Tempo magazine."

Pork is haram, or forbidden, for Muslims to eat, and the term pig is considered a strong insult by most Indonesians. Tempo has said the piggy banks on the cover represented the bank accounts referred to in the story.

Richardson said the police had chosen to attack a highly respected media outlet with criminal charges, rather than responding to allegations of corruption within the force by launching an independent investigation.

"To make matters worse, officials from the very institution that filed the criminal claim against Tempo will be responsible for investigating it," she said.

"This poses a serious conflict of interest and calls into question the ability of the police to conduct an impartial investigation. As we have seen again and again, as long as Indonesia's criminal defamation laws remain valid, they will be open for use as a tool of retaliation by public officials against those who criticize them."

Analysts say that even if Tempo eventually prevails against the police in court, the case could serve to deter further criticism of the force.

National Police not to sue 'Tempo'

Jakarta Post - July 5, 2010

Jakarta – The National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said Monday that his institution would not file a lawsuit against Tempo magazine over its controversial cover page following an investigative report on the enormous wealth of police officers published last week.

The police have preferred to settle the disagreement through mediation, supported by the Press Council.

"We will settle the case in good manner. Therefore, both parties' needs could be well accommodated," Bambang said after a meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

When asked about Tempo's report, Bambang promised to hold a press conference on the matter possibly next week.

The police reportedly had sent a letter of protest to Tempo on July 1, in which it states that the use of piggy banks to illustrate the accounts of senior officers tarnished the image of the Indonesian police force.

Previously, the police had said they would use the Criminal Code instead, which would allow them to build a criminal case against Tempo.

'In your face,' Tempo appears to tell police

Jakarta Globe - July 2, 2010

Tempo magazine appears to have thumbed its nose at threats of legal action from the National Police.

Police had been threatening to sue the weekly magazine for the caricature on the cover of its latest edition depicting a police officer leading three piggy banks on a leash – not the story itself on the suspiciously large bank accounts of high-ranking members of the force.

Pork is forbidden for Muslims to eat, and the term pig is considered a strong insult to most Indonesians, though Tempo has denied any such links, saying the piggy banks represented the bank accounts referred to in the story and that they were ready to defend themselves in court.

In the English edition of the issue out on Thursday, the cover art has been changed but one of the piggy banks, has been moved directly in the face of an anonymous senior police officer.

The name of the article has also been changed to "Police in a Poke," which is a play on the idiom "pig in a poke." The idiom refers to a confidence trick in which a fraudster sells a victim a cat in a bag rather than the more desired pig in a bag.

Wahyu Muryadi, editor-in-chief of Tempo, downplayed suggestions that the reworked cover was a statement, saying the artwork for the two editions had been decided upon as part of one package "days ago."

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said he could not comment because he had not seen the edition.

Police file 'Tempo' slander complaint

Jakarta Post - July 2, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Police officially filed a criminal report with their own detectives Thursday alleging the cover illustration on this week's Tempo magazine constitutes slander.

Police have accused Tempo of violating Criminal Code articles 207 and 208, which criminalize humiliation of the government or a state intuition, said Sr. Comr. M. Panggabean, deputy chief of the National Police Legal Assistance Division.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi promised the detectives would be "impartial" in investigating the institution's own report.

"We are professionals. Our detectives must not be involved in conflict of interest even if the report is from the police themselves," Ito said at the National Police's 64th anniversary ceremony at the Mobile Brigade headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java.

"We live under the rule of law. We have rules that all of us must obey,"he added.

Ito denied accusations that the legal action was taken at the order of National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, whom the magazine previously alleged is connected to organized crime in the coal mining industry in Kalimantan.

Bambang said that the legal action could criminalize media actions. "We will see," he added. He said the case would be a "precious lesson for both the police and the media."

The latest edition of Tempo featured a caricature on its front page depicting a police officer surrounded by three piggy banks on its cover page. The story is alleges several senior police officers have implausibly large bank accounts.

Bambang reiterated his regret that the magazine used pigs to signify the police. Pigs are considered haram (forbidden) in Islam.

"We are ordinary human beings. If you want to criticize us, don't do it like that. Police officers who are now assigned to remote areas and border areas, must feel pain when they see the magazine's cover," Bambang told reporters

Although police have chosen a legal way to settle the dispute, Bambang said police also considered mediation through the Press Council, as Indonesian law recommends.

National Police Commission secretary Adnan Pandupradja said police complaint filed against the magazine was not tactical and could evoke a wave of criticism of the police.

"If they file a criminal lawsuit against the magazine, it would mean that police themselves must investigate the case. It would be a conflict of interest and could generate even stronger criticism," he said.

Emerson Yuntho of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said police should investigate officers whose bank accounts had been questioned instead of "criminalizing the magazine."

Bambang Widodo Umar, a police expert from the University of Indonesia, agreed. "Just go and investigate the allegations and make the results public," he said.

He added that the lawsuit would only increase public distrust. "The police must know the origins of their personnel's wealth." (ipa)

Gay, transgender community searches for a voice in the mass media

Jakarta Globe - July 1, 2010

Elisabeth Oktofani, Yogyakarta – The media wield enormous influence in informing public opinion, and in Indonesia this power has often been used to discriminate against marginalized social groups such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Homosexuality is often portrayed in local media as a sexual aberration or deviant behavior. These and similar other labels are used to denounce the LGBT community through the media, both directly and indirectly.

"When was the last time you read a news report about a crime committed by a heterosexual person, in which the headline made reference to their sexual orientation, like 'Heterosexual man kills girlfriend,' for instance?" said Mira, an activist with the Yogyakarta-based LGBT group People Like Us One Heart.

"So why is it the media insist on trumpeting the suspect's sexual preference if they are homosexual, as in the case of Ryan, the serial killer from Jombang [East Java]? And another thing: why don't media report on the achievements of LGBT individuals?"

Mira was speaking at the LGBT in the Mass Media forum on Tuesday, held by PLU One Heart and Yogyakarta-based Atma Jaya University's School of Political and Social Sciences.

The skewed reporting can be traced to journalists' lack of formal training on the topics of sexuality and gender studies, said Ashadi Siregar, the executive director of the Yogyakarta Research, Education and Publishing Institute.

"Media workers are not trained to understand LGBT issues correctly," he said. "Their reference paradigm is one that has been molded by prevailing religious and cultural values, so what they need is more education on this topic."

Atma Jaya journalism lecturer D Danarka Sasangka blamed the poor standard of LGBT news coverage on the fact that the media were catering to viewer tastes in a largely conservative country.

"The media cannot be separated from business and political interests," he said. "Their level of objectivity in terms of homosexuality should therefore be seen from the point of view of industry."

Danarka cited the reality-based television show "Be a man," in which male transvestite contestants undergo a series of tasks ostensibly designed to make them renounce their lifestyle choice.

"Unfortunately, there are many transgender people who want to take part in the show," he said. "It paints an often very negative picture of the transgender community. This is how the mass media shape our reality."

Ashadi said there were steps the LGBT community could take to rectify the situation.

"They can help end the stigma in two ways," he said. "First, by establishing a media-monitoring institute to combat the negative stereotypes, and second, by developing alternative media for advocacy purposes, which will help the LGBT community raise public awareness about the issues it faces."

Police mull suing 'Tempo' for pig insult

Jakarta Post - July 1, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Police have taken offense at the cartoon piggy banks depicted on the cover of Tempo magazine's latest issue, and are threatening to sue the news weekly.

The police said Wednesday that the cover illustration on this week's Tempo magazine is offensive because it "compares the police to the animal".

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang claimed he had received many complaints about the magazine's cover. "Imagine, we have 406,000 officers nationwide, and they and probably their relatives, too, are offended," he said.

Edward said the police were planning to file a criminal lawsuit for defamation and a civil lawsuit for immaterial losses that all police members in the country have suffered.

The National Police's head of public information, Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto, said the police had sent a letter of complaint to the magazine.

Marwoto said the National Police had once protested against the magazine over its edition which carried a cover story about a corruption syndicate in the mining sector that also insinuated involvement of high-ranking police officers.

"There has been no satisfactory settlement since the letter of complaint was sent," Marwoto said.

National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Zainuri Lubis said the magazine "has no heart and acts childishly by featuring an illustration of a police officer enslaved by piggy banks".

"The magazine seems to intentionally dent our image while the corruption they reported might have been committed by only a few individuals."

This week's Tempo magazine edition ran a cover story about suspicious bank accounts of several high-ranking police officers, a controversial issue that was first brought into the light in 2005.

The magazine, citing anonymous sources, reported that at least seven middle-to-high-ranking officers had implausibly large bank accounts and had conducted suspicious financial transactions between 2005 and 2009.

Tempo magazine chief editor Wahyu Muryadi said the magazine had never intended to humiliate the police with the use of pigs on the cover.

"The piggy banks represent bank accounts, the edition's theme. Why pig? In Indonesian, that pot for saving money is traditionally called celengan, which means piggy bank. It derives from the word celeng, which means pig," he told The Jakarta Post. "If they plan to sue us, its their right," he added.

National Police Commission secretary Adnan Pandupradja said the police's decision to sue the magazine was "not tactical and instead could potentially be counterpro-ductive".

Internet & social networking

Living proof of the internet's ability to empower the people

Jakarta Globe - July 6, 2010

Tari Rusbianti, Shafiq Pontoh and Sarah Reiter – You may be surprised to find that Indonesia recently became the number one user of Facebook throughout the Asia Pacific.

The country has quickly topped the social networking charts with a staggering 14 million users. This is not just important news for retailers trying to connect with their consumers but also an alert to big brands and governments that will feel the full force of community sentiment unleashed by the digital world.

This is significant as the Internet, usually perceived as the province of the virtual world, has begun to generate some very real results.

One of the most noticeable is its ability to provide a platform for sociopolitical movements, generating real-world action resulting in tremendous change.

It is also by now apparent that the Internet as a techno- political phenomenon is not limited to the developed world. Its power and influence is rapidly being experienced in many developing nations, including Indonesia.

Indeed, within Indonesia it seems that Twitter and Facebook are no longer simply social networking portals. They also give voice to those with no social standing, birth right, money or power to mobilize support for social change and champion injustices.

Social participation is, of course, not new in Indonesia. Anyone visiting or living here talks of peoples' wonderful sense of community. A common saying in Java is mangan ora mangan sing penting ngumpul – "with or without food as long as we are together."

The formal Islamic religious teaching of Silahturahmi teaches a Muslim to maintain close relationships with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors and others, and that to do so is an act of devotion.

The Internet, social networking and mobile devices have already unleashed social networking's potential here, giving "e-power" to the people.

In five months there were five nationwide social movements originating from social networking. Each illustrates the enormous political and social power of digital communication.

On July 17 last year terrorists bombed the Marriot and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta. Indonesians everywhere were devastated and soon afterward, @ifahmi on Twitter created the #Indonesiaunite hash tag.

The #Indonesianunite tag become the number one Twitter trending topic, topping the Harry Potter movie launch, the Iranian election, Paula Abdul's resignation from American Idol and even Michael Jackson's death.

A very different example of e-power is contained in the creation of the movement BolBal. In July last year Manchester United was scheduled to visit Indonesia but cancelled because of the hotel bombings on July 17.

This not only disappointed millions of fans but also affected the livelihoods of many street vendors who had stocked up with branded merchandise.

The response was BolBal being started on Twitter. BolBal bought the football T-shirts from the vendors and printed the #Indonesiaunite logo on the back, adding new value to the unsold merchandise. Once the @BolBal account was established on Twitter, it took less than a week for all T-shirts to sell out.

Batik Day is the next recent example of this new e-power in Indonesia. When in early August news spread that Unesco had officially recognized batik as an Indonesian cultural treasure, it wasn't a government department, presidential decree or official declaration that suggested a National Batik Day, but someone on Twitter.

Public reaction to the high-profile anticorruption cases is another example of how digital social interaction is beginning to change national politics.

The arrest of Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto, deputies in the Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) on Oct. 29 provided another reminder of the growing social influence of digital interaction. Public disgust at the arrest of the two deputies brought about an instant response. Usman Yasmin, a Bengkulu professor, created a Facebook group called "Gerakan 1,000,000."

In just 10 days the group reached 1,002,000 members and became a litmus test of public disaffection. The result was quite tangible. It led to the eventual release of Bibit and Chandra and their reinstatement as the heads of the KPK.

Many citizens considered the victory of this movement as a clear demonstration of e-power and the influence of the digital realm.

Finally there is the unusual case of Prita Mulyasari and Omni International Hospital. When Prita complained in an e-mail early last year to a friend of her dissatisfaction with the hospital's service, its lawyers responded by suing Prita using the new Information and Electronic Transactions Act."

It became a criminal and a civil case, and in May last year she was jailed for defaming the hospital. Many saw this action as an abuse of power by the regulator, and slowly Internet chatter increased and public opinion swelled.

Bloggers around the country started to write about the case and openly supported Prita's right to freedom of speech. People started Facebook support and on Twitter the #freeprita hash tag was established supporting the cause.

Following support from more than 250,000 people on Facebook, the government regulator decided to free Prita from prison and put her under house arrest until Dec. 4, when she was found guilty and sentenced to pay $20,000 for defamation.

This created a further uproar, and the very next day bloggers, Twitters and Facebookers, hand in hand, generated a movement called "Koin Keadilan" (Coins for Justice).

The idea came from a blogger who asked his friends to collect coins to help Prita pay the relatively enormous penalty. Suddenly this became a huge movement. People from all over the country were collecting their coins for Prita.

Street musicians, beggars, taxi drivers, bus drivers, schools, teachers, executives, students, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and even politicians collected coins for Prita.

Top Indonesian musicians, Rolling Stone magazine and the Hard Rock Cafe also got on board. CNN covered the story in their breaking news and JNE Service Delivery offered their services to transport coins from all over Indonesia to Jakarta for free.

Public accountants helped audit the collection and the Bank of Indonesia and Mandiri Bank offered to help count the coins.

In less than two weeks, the Koin Keadilan movement collected more than $80,000, and OMNI International Hospital dropped the charges. Prita, freed of her obligation to pay the fine, donated the money to a trust. The sentence was reversed, she was found not guilty, and on Dec. 29 she was freed.

This movement led to double victory: Prita was freed and the government was forced to revise the new Information and Electronic Transactions Act.

These extraordinary cases demonstrate the power and influence of the digital medium as e-power has become a reality.

While the full social and political implications of this sudden explosion of social participation and voice is yet to be understood, its impact in virtually all areas of public concern is clear for all to see.

The lesson is not lost on the Indonesian and foreign governments. The US Embassy in Jakarta has, since its early days of cooperation with Pesta Blogger in 2007, plunged into social media with a zeal only Americans can muster.

Its Facebook page, for instance, has nearly 24,500 fans and its latest initiative is to use them to conduct the first direct streaming forum of its kind.

This sudden flowering of digital social networking has brought vigor and depth to the public debate in Indonesia rarely witnessed in formal political circles.

It has brought freshness to the democratic experiment that most developed countries can only dream about. We should all ensure that things stay that way.

[Tari Rusbianti, Shafiq Pontoh and Sarah Reiter are research contributors to Strategic Asia, a Jakarta-based consultancy promoting cooperation among Asian countries.]

Labour & migrant workers

Ministry says hands are tied on domestic worker bill

Jakarta Globe - July 8, 2010

Putri Prameshwari – Amid endless pressure from activists for the government to formulate a law to protect the rights of domestic workers in Indonesia, the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration on Thursday said such a regulation would be difficult to enforce.

Abdul Wahid Maktub, a special adviser to Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar, said that if passed into law, the domestic worker bill would be hard to implement because of its "uniqueness."

"We are not prepared for new regulations on domestic workers," he said, addressing a discussion held by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

Even if the hiring of domestic workers were regulated, he said, monitoring the implementation would be problematic. "Domestic workers are unique in a sense that they work inside a household, which makes monitoring a little bit tricky," he said.

A bill on domestic workers was included in the House of Representatives' national legislation program, making it a priority to be discussed this year. However, it was apparently removed from the list after a closed June meeting of the House's Commission IX, overseeing welfare issues.

The bill seeks protection for domestic workers by requiring employers to provide benefits similar to those enjoyed by workers in the formal sector, such as a minimum of 12 days of leave annually after the first year.

The legislation would also allow the recruitment of domestic workers as young as 15 years old, but those under 18 would need written consent from a parent or guardian.

The government commitment on the issue was further tested when the Indonesian delegation, led by the ministry, voted against a convention of workers' protection, the contents of which are similar to the bill, at the International Labor Conference in Geneva last June.

Labor activist Dita Indah Sari said it had been difficult for the government to agree with both the bill and convention because of a conflict of interest.

"Officials of the government are also employers of domestic workers," she said, adding that therefore, they would have to follow the regulations in their own households.

According to Dita, the problem with Indonesian domestic workers was that they had not organized formal protests. "Their voices are not loud enough," she said, "Their movements are not really grabbing any attention."

Currently, around 2.6 million domestic workers are estimated to be employed in Indonesia, 90 percent of whom are women.

Activists have been saying the failure to protect domestic workers at home is contradictory as the government continues to demand protection from other countries for its workers abroad.

Labor law review may take two years: Government

Reuters - July 8, 2010

Sunanda Creagh – A review of Indonesia's strict labor laws could be completed in one or two years, an official from the Manpower Ministry said on Thursday, longer than hoped for by investors looking for flexibility in hiring.

The country is attracting strong interest from market investors but analysts say laws that enforce high severance pay and make it hard to fire staff are obstacles for manufacturers and other foreign direct investors.

Abdul Wahid Maktub, special adviser to the minister of manpower, told foreign reporters the labor law would be rewritten as part of a review of a range of laws.

"In the labor law reform, there are a lot of contradictions," he said. "The president has set up a special team to harmonize all regulations and identify what should be prioritized. I estimate maybe after one or two years, it will finish."

Maktub said the aim of the review was to "make a more conducive environment and atmosphere for investors to come here."

"Most of us hoped this would have happened five years ago," said Malcolm Llewellyn, the chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has vowed to push economic growth above 7 percent by 2014, up from 4.5 percent in 2009, but needs a huge influx in foreign investment to achieve that goal.

A host of reforms in areas such as tax, customs and corruption that was undertaken during Yudhoyono's first term have helped boost Indonesia's standing with investors.

He was re-elected for a second five-year term last year. But analysts say more needs to be done in areas such as labor reform, judicial reform and infrastructure development before Indonesia can reach an investment grade sovereign rating, a prospect drawing capital flows to its bond market.

"Labor law is one key area which is hurting the investment climate for Indonesia," said Anton Gunawan, chief economist for PT Bank Danamon. "It is too costly for companies to fire people. They cannot restructure."

Dita Indah Sari, a labor activist jailed by President Suharto, said trade unions had offered to compromise on issues such as severance pay.

"But the government doesn't know what their position is. Is it because they don't have the courage to face the reaction from the workers or from employers?"

Danamon's Gunawan said he doubted a new draft labor law would be ready in two years as the issue is politically sensitive and an election is scheduled for 2014. "Two years is 2013. That close to the election? I doubt it," he said.

Environment & natural disasters

Rude exit for visiting green activists

Jakarta Globe - July 7, 2010

Fidelis E. Satriastanti – It came as a shock to Thai environmental activist Chariya Senpong, that one of her first tastes of Indonesian hospitality was a night's accommodation courtesy of the Cirebon Police.

Chariya is in the country with three other Thais for a meeting and site visit as part of a Greenpeace anti-coal campaign in Southeast Asia.

However, the meeting at the Waruduwur village hall in Cirebon, West Java, on Monday turned ugly when 100 policemen burst in and arrested 12 foreign nationals – the four Thais, one from Hong Kong, three from the Philippines, two from China, two from India. Two Indonesians were also detained.

The group, comprising Greenpeace activists, community leaders and experts, were questioned for allegedly staging an unlawful gathering and then handed over to the immigration office, where they were quizzed again until late on Tuesday before flown back to Jakarta and being deported.

"It's OK now because it's almost clear," Chariya, the Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner in Thailand, told the Jakarta Globe. "Our main purpose for coming was to meet activists and share experiences because every one of [our nations have] coal communities and issues."

She said the meeting was meant to explain how stakeholders could work together to promote renewable energy and raise awareness of the impact of coal-fired power plants.

"After we finished, the police came and tried to throw us out," Chariya said. "We didn't commit any violence or do anything wrong, but the police wouldn't release us and finally we all had to go down to the police station.

"We were surprised by Indonesian law enforcement. We were just holding a meeting, and not breaking the immigration law."

Greenpeace Southeast Asia climate and energy campaigner Arif Fiyanto said the police had overreacted. "It was just a meeting on the coal industry in Asia," he said.

"We were confused when suddenly the police broke it up and stated that we didn't have permission to hold a press conference in the area. We've held hundreds of press conferences, none of which required permission from the police."

Arif said the police had charged them with engaging in activities "resulting in public chaos and disorder."

"We only invited reporters to the event, which was held at an outdoor venue," he said. "If other people decided to tag along, that was their decision. We didn't invite them."

Chariya said the incident highlighted a disregard for human rights. "It also affects human rights because we're here to see how each country can support one another in saving the environment," she said.

"I also remember [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] urging the government to join Greenpeace in combating climate change and energy issues."

Other activists had harsher words. "Clearly Indonesia still hasn't completely shrugged off its authoritarian past," said Judy Pasimio, executive director of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, an NGO concerned with indigenous people's rights and natural resources.

"This latest episode evokes the time of Suharto when the coercive power of the state, through the police and the military, were used to sow terror and choke democratic space. This abusive behavior has no place in a supposedly democratic country."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faisasyah said he was not aware of the incident, while Cirebon Police did not answer calls on Wednesday for comment.

Philippine Ambassador Vidal Erpe Querol confirmed three Philippine activists had been deported for alleged visa violations.

"Perhaps our citizens were not aware of the rules, because our understanding of the immigration law between Southeast Asian countries is that you don't need a visa if you're visiting for 15 to 20 days," he said. "However, we respect Indonesian law enforcement's [take on this issue]."

Sinar Mas continues to clear Indonesian rainforests: Greenpeace

New York Times - July 6, 2010

Aubrey Belford – The environmental group Greenpeace has accused one of the world's largest pulp, paper and palm oil companies of aggressively clearing Indonesian rain forests and throwing into doubt a landmark billion-dollar deal that aims to fight climate change by curbing deforestation.

In a report released Monday, Greenpeace accused a subsidiary of the Indonesian family conglomerate Sinar Mas of secretly planning a massive expansion of pulp mills and cutting down essential forests, including habitats for endangered tigers.

An executive with the subsidiary, Asia Pulp and Paper, denied the charges.

The Greenpeace report says that an internal 2007 document shows that Asia Pulp drew up plans to significantly increase its pulp mill capacity to 17.5 million tons a year from 2.6 million tons.

The report also said that Asia Pulp had sought more than a million hectares in new concessions to meet this demand. In the Sumatran provinces of Riau and Jambi alone, the company sought 900,000 hectares, or 2.2 million acres, more than half of which was granted, Greenpeace says.

"What is actually happening in the field is they keep expanding because their timber concessions are not enough to supply their mills," said Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace's lead forest campaigner in Indonesia.

Asia Pulp's sustainability chief, Aida Greenbury, denied that the company had confidentially made any such expansion plans.

"To support production of 15 million tons of pulp a year is just impossible," Greenbury said, because the company would not be able to harvest enough wood to feed the mills. "I don't know how they came up with 15 million tons."

She added, "It's impossible to plan expansion of pulp mills secretly because we need to get approval from the local government, the central government, everything else."

Greenpeace also charges that much of the land set aside and cleared overlaps with endangered-species habitats.

Greenbury said that Asia Pulp did not use wood from forests it deemed to be of "high conservation value," which included deep peat and major endangered-species habitats. The company takes around 85 percent of its wood from plantations, she said, with the rest coming from degraded land or lower-value forests.

Greenpeace also charges that Asia Pulp has cleared peatlands more than three meters, or about 10 feet, in depth. In Indonesia, the clearing of such deep peatland is illegal because the land, which is made up of semi-decomposed vegetation, releases huge amounts of greenhouse gases when burned or drained.

Hadi Daryanto, the Forestry Ministry's director general of forestry management, said he could not comment on the report because he had not yet seen a copy of it. He added that he had heard no reports of Asia Pulp clearing peatland more than three meters deep.

The Greenpeace report also criticizes several multinational companies, including Wal-Mart, Hewlett Packard, Carrefour and KFC, for buying from Sinar Mas and urges them to suspend dealings with the company.

The accusations of wrongdoing are particularly sensitive in Indonesia because President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has staked much of his global prestige on acting against climate change. Large-scale deforestation has made the country the world's third-largest emitter of climate-change-causing gases, behind China and the United States, according to some estimates.

The country signed a $1 billion deal with Norway in May that imposes a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear virgin forest and peatland.

The deal is part of an approach to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which is widely seen as one of the few areas of progress that came out of the collapsed climate change talks in Copenhagen last year.

But Greenpeace's accusations – and Sinar Mas' denials – hint at what critics say are major hurdles in the plan. Bureaucratic dysfunction, corruption and Indonesia's sheer size create confusion over what is happening in the field. At the same time, environmentalists, companies and governments frequently disagree on what constitutes environmentally sensitive land and what does not.

"This is a big question mark for the government of what forest protection will look like," Maitar of Greenpeace said. "If the big companies like APP or Sinar Mas as a group are still doing business as usual, still doing forest clearing, so what's the meaning of the moratorium?"

Greenpeace activists detained for questioning by police

Jakarta Post - July 6, 2010

Nana Rukmana, Cirebon – Fifteen Greenpeace members were detained for questioning after police dispersed their campaign in Cirebon, West Java, on the grounds that the event had been held without a permit.

Of the 15, 13 were foreigners, coming from China, the Philippines, Thailand and India. "We've been questioned for five hours now," Greenpeace Southeast Asia climate and energy campaigner Arif Fiyanto said Monday.

Greenpeace's Cirebon campaign ran from July 3-5, and was among efforts to set up an anti-coal network and a clean energy campaign in cooperation with Cirebon's Kanoman Palace and local environment group Rapel. The anti-coal network involves six countries – China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

On Saturday night, the group hosted the screening of a World Cup soccer match using a solar-powered screen at an event organized for fishermen and residents. On Sunday, it hosted a seminar at Kanoman Palace.

On Monday the group were in the middle of a campaign in Waruduwur fishing village when police had approached them, Arif said.

Police had dispersed the group when they were about to announce the formation of a network of Asian communities against coal, he said. An estimated 500 fishermen attempted to stop the police from arresting the activists.

Arif said his colleagues were treated kindly during the questioning, but had thought police were overacting.

"The police were not making sense because we're supporting the community and the fishermen who felt disadvantaged by the construction of PLTU Kanci [coal] power plant. We're not committing a crime," he said.

Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Edi Mardianto confirmed the arrest but declined to comment. "We're still asking for testimonies," he said.

The 1998 Law on Public Expression does put certain limits on street rallies as a means of expression by making them subject to a number of requirements.

Some articles in the law require organizers of street demonstrations to notify the authorities, at least three days in advance, of the predicted number of protesters and of the routes of the rally. But one thing for sure is that no official permits are required anymore.

Rapel coordinator Aan Anwarudi said the Greenpeace were welcomed by the fishermen who had been fighting for their rights since the power plant was built in 2007.

"Greenpeace's presence is a show of support for the fishermen," said Aan, who has also been assisting the fishermen since the power plant was built.

Plans to build nuclear power plant suffer major set-back

Jakarta Globe - July 2, 2010

The National Nuclear Power Agency has conceded defeat in its controversial attempts to construct a nuclear power plant on the Muria Peninsula in Central Java by 2016, saying opposition from locals has forced them to begin searching for another location.

"It will take two to three years to find another suitable location, Hudi Hastowo, head of the agency, also know as Batan, said in Jakarta on Friday. "So the execution of the plan will undergo a delay, we cannot yet have a nuclear power plant by 2016," he said.

He said that under Law No. 17/2007 on the state's Medium-Term Development Plan, a nuclear power plant must come on line between 2014 and 2019.

He said a number of provincial administrations in the country had offered their respective provinces but any final decision would require meticulous and painstaking studies.

Among the provincial administrations concerned were those of Bangka Belitung, Banten, Gorontalo and West, South and East Kalimantan. He indicated that Bangka Belitung appeared to be the most favorable location. (Antara/JG)

Health & education

Lack of trust in doctors sends patients packing

Jakarta Globe - July 6, 2010

Dessy Sagita – A complete lack of faith in the health care system and threadbare promotions of the country's hospitals that offer international-standard treatment are pushing thousands of Indonesians to seek treatment in Singapore and other neighboring countries, a prominent doctor said on Tuesday.

"Our efforts to promote our hospitals are obviously inadequate, while bad publicity about malpractice are also common," said Zaenal Abidin, secretary general of the Indonesian Doctors Association. "No wonder our patients look elsewhere for treatment."

Businessman Rivo Rozari, 28, backs up that assertion and says that given the choice, he would rather go to Singapore, because he has heard "too many horror stories about Indonesian hospitals and doctors."

"I wouldn't mind paying more for medical treatment in Singapore," he said. "I'm not saying Indonesian doctors are bad, but I don't really trust Indonesian hospitals."

Dr. Khoo Kei Siong, the deputy medical director and senior consultant for medical oncology at the Parkway Cancer Center in Singapore, said most patients come to Singapore because they expect better expertise and care.

"I always thought I worked very hard, but I've heard that Indonesian oncologists work even harder because they have to handle so many patients," Siong said. "You need more oncologists and probably better training."

Dr. Edward Yang Tuck Loong, a senior consultant of radiation oncology at Parkway, said another reason overseas patients were drawn to Singapore was because, unlike in Indonesia, strict punishments were meted out for doctors found guilty of medical malpractice.

"Here, every case can be investigated," he said. "If you're not happy with the result, you can always sue the doctors or the hospitals. This factor makes doctors and hospitals work extra carefully when treating patients."

Zaenal acknowledges there is a dearth of qualified specialists in Indonesia, a problem also exacerbated by the long-ingrained lack of trust for doctors in the country.

"Patient trust in doctors and hospitals is vital," he says. "Nobody can recover if they don't trust the people treating them. This is the kind of perception we need to change."

Mount Elizabeth Hospital, one of Singapore's major private hospitals, reports that 70 percent to 80 percent of its patients come from Indonesia, despite the sizeable travel, accommodation and health care costs associated with going abroad for treatment.

The hospital's Parkway Cancer Center, which also has clinics in the Gleneagles and Parkway East hospitals, receives 13,000 annual visits from Indonesian patients who come both for consultation and integrated treatments.

Zaenal said that a large measure of Singapore's medical success came from its ties to tourism, and that the Indonesian government needed to focus on promoting Indonesian hospitals within the local market.

"It's almost impossible to invite Singaporean patients to come to Indonesia because they have a very good system in their own country," he said.

"However, we have a tremendous potential domestic market. If only we can get Indonesian patients to change their mind-set and choose local hospitals over going abroad, we may have a brighter future."

Graft & corruption

Calls for independent police probe mount

Jakarta Post - July 8, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is coming under increasing pressure to form an independent team to investigate allegations of implausibly large bank accounts held by seven high-ranking police officers.

Anticorruption activists and observers are opposed to an internal police internal investigation, which they say would lack credibility.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Agus Sunaryanto said he doubted an internal police investigation could be neutral because senior police officers previously implicated in alleged criminal activity rarely received more than administrative sanctions.

"Although the National Police chief has rejected the idea, the President should push for its establishment," he said at the Jakarta office of Imparsial, a human rights monitoring group.

Tempo magazine reported last week that at least seven high- ranking police officers had billions of rupiah transferred from unspecified third parties into their bank accounts, allegations first made public in 2005 when a Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) audit was leaked to the press.

Yudhoyono has ordered National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to probe the allegations. Many civil society activists have questioned if the police can investigate its officers impartially.

Judicial Mafia Taskforce secretary Denny Indrayana said he supports the formation an independent investigation team comprised of representatives of the National Police, Attorney General's Office and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to ensure a neutral investigation.

Bambang said there is no need to form such an independent team – nor to involve the KPK. "We will punish police officers who received illicit funds," he added.

Agus said that if an independent investigation – or any other team discovered indications of police corruption in the bank account allegations, the cases should be handled by the KPK.

"That will ensure that those involved in corruption in the police force will receive harsh punishments, not just administrative punishments," he said.

Edwin Kartogi from the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that bribes from businesspeople might be a source of allegedly illicit deposits.

"There are businesspeople who have many legal businesses that are operated illegally, such as by falsifying export or import documents, manipulating taxes, smuggling, monopolizing the market or manipulating the law to their competitors' disadvantage," he said.

The businesspeople shower police officers with gifts such as houses, vehicles, credit cards, insurance policies and holiday packages, as well as corporate shares, Edwin said. "Police officers who accept bribes usually keep the ill-gotten funds in family's bank accounts or safe deposit boxes," he said.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said the police would follow Yudhoyono's orders. "The team has been working to seek clarifications from the officers whose bank accounts were deemed suspicious. We will publicly announce the results next week," he said. (rdf)

Susno to stand trial, police integrity questions remain

Jakarta Post - July 8, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Former National Police chief detective and major judicial mafia whistleblower Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji will stand trial this month while investigations into the case-brokering scandal he earlier revealed leaves many questions on police integrity unanswered.

Susno's attorney, Zul Armain Azis, said Wednesday case files had been handed over and his client transferred to the South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office.

Zul said Susno would stand trial at the South Jakarta District Court no sooner than 14 days after the transfer, pending an indictment from prosecutors.

Susno was arrested by the police on May 10, two months after he made public allegations of a judicial mafia centered on former tax official Gayus Tambunan that eventually implicated police detectives, prosecutors, a judge and several attorneys.

Gayus was acquitted of charges that alleged he paid more than Rp 20 billion (US$2.2 million) in bribes but was re-arrested after Susno's revelation in late March.

The arrest was made possible by the involvement of two Judicial Mafia Taskforce members, Denny Indrayana and Mas Achmad Santosa, who worked with the police to bring Gayus back to Indonesia from a hideout in Singapore.

The taskforce heard Susno's testimony and urged law enforcement officials to probe the mafia and prosecute all parties involved in the case-brokering scandal.

The police previously named 11 suspects in the scandal, including police detectives Comr. Arafat Enanie and Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini; prosecutors Cirus Sinaga and Poltak Manulang; and judge Muhtadi Asnun.

Police have not forwarded case files for any of the suspects to prosecutors, although some were arrested before Susno was named suspect.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said Susno case was much simpler than Gayus' judicial mafia case. "We need more time to complete our investigation," he said.

Susno alleged that Arafat and Sri were not "key players" in orchestrating Gayus' case and implicated Brig. Gen. Edmon Ilyas, then director of special economic crimes, and his successor, Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman in the scandal.

Arafat's widely televised ethics tribunal hearing implicated Edmon and Raja, who were both subsequently dismissed.

Neither faced an ethics tribunal or has been charged with crimes despite Edward's promise they would also face a disciplinary examination. The police then named Susno a suspect for bribery in the self-same graft case he first exposed, raising suspicions that they wanted to silence Susno.

Susno's attorneys requested protection from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), which failed to remove Susno from police custody to a safe house due to differing interpretations of the 2006 Witness and Victim Protection Law.

Susno's attorneys filed a judicial review request of the decision with the Constitutional Court.

Secretary-general of Transparency International Indonesia (TII) Teten Masduki criticized the police's action against Susno."From the beginning... I have suggested law enforcement not arrest Susno until all the culprits implicated in the scandal are prosecuted," he said.

Yudhoyono demands probe of police bank balances

Jakarta Globe - July 6, 2010

Abe Silangit, Ismira Lutfia & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday stepped into the fray between the police and Tempo magazine, ordering the National Police chief to investigate the publication's report that some police generals had suspiciously large bank accounts.

The president, speaking before a cabinet meeting, said he had received numerous messages from the public questioning how police officials could have amassed such wealth – allegedly as much as Rp 95 billion ($10.5 million) in one case – and asking him to step in.

"Please respond to this issue, resolve it and manage it well," Yudhoyono said in his instructions to Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri. "If there are legal violations, impose sanctions. If you don't, explain why."

The explosive report was carried in last week's edition of Tempo, which the police are now pursuing for alleged defamation – not because of the story but because of the caricature on the cover, which depicts an officer leading three piggy banks. Police say the portrayal is an insult to the force.

According to the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Djoko Suyanto, Bambang should use his right of reply to respond to Tempo's allegations and report the matter to the Press Council.

Bambang later said he would soon respond to the accusations outlined by the magazine. The police on Thursday filed a complaint to the Press Council over Tempo's cover, but did not object to the story itself.

"I have also formed my own team to investigate the accounts," Bambang said. "I promise I shall announce the results to the public next week. We will take necessary action if violations are found. If they are not found, we will also announce the results."

The allegations against the police officials stem from a Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) document unearthed by Indonesia Corruption Watch, the publication of which the police have stressed is illegal.

Bambang warned against drawing hasty conclusions from the report, which has not only triggered an outcry from the general public but also from political and community leaders.

Press Council chairman Bagir Manan said on Monday that the council had scheduled a conciliation meeting between Tempo and the National Police for Thursday. "We have to thank the police for taking this initiative," he said.

Agus Sudibyo, head of public complaints at the council, said that Thursday's meeting would be to mediate a resolution.

"We will also examine whether Tempo breached the code of ethics," he said. "Even if the two parties settle this amicably, Tempo still has to apologize to the police should we find any infringements to the code of ethics in their cover story."

Wahyu Muryadi, Tempo's editor-in-chief, told the Jakarta Globe that the ball was now in the National Police's court, "because they are the party who think that there is a problem."

Sidharto Danusubroto, an executive board member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said investigators should also check whether the police officials with the large bank accounts had paid the appropriate taxes.

"Check their wealth reports," he said. "Those who have such exorbitant amounts of money must pay more taxes. Both the tax office and the police should look into the possibility of tax fraud."

TB Hasanuddin, a PDI-P lawmaker and former military general, said that with police generals earning up to Rp 15 million a month, "the money they allegedly have in those private accounts needs to be investigated."

KPK 'struggling' to link police general to graft

Jakarta Globe - July 4, 2010

Nivell Rayda – The Corruption Eradication Commission is struggling to find indications of graft linked to accounts holding Rp 95 billion ($10.5 million) allegedly belonging to a National Police two-star general, a source said on Sunday.

Indonesia Corruption Watch last month told the commission, also known as the KPK, there were signs of bribery and gifts connected to two Bank Central Asia accounts said to belong to a senior officer identified only as BG and another belonging to BG's son.

"We have looked at the claims and the allegations of bribery and gratuity are hard to prove," the KPK source told the Jakarta Globe. "We haven't seen any evidence that could link the money to his duties and position inside the police force."

But KPK spokesman Johan Budi said there had not yet been a formal investigation. "The complaint is still being handled by our public complaints department," he said.

"At this stage we are looking at secondary data available from the public and data already owned by the KPK like [BG's] asset declaration. So we haven't made any plans to solicit information from witnesses."

ICW researcher Tama Satriya Langkun told the Globe the watchdog also was also having a hard time linking the source of BG's wealth to his position at the National Police. "The KPK should request data from the PPATK to trace the money flow," Tama said, in reference to the Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center.

The PPATK is tasked with combating money-laundering and has access to virtually all financial institutions in the country.

"We think the bribery involves at least four layers of transactions. The KPK and the PPATK should trace where the money went," Tama said.

Although ICW never identified him by name, National Police chief of internal affairs Insp. Gen. Budi Gunawan has said he was considering reporting the watchdog for defamation.

"Allegations of the accounts are untrue," he said. "The accusations are slander and a bid to weaken and assassinate my character and that of the National Police."

According to a PPATK document obtained by the Globe, on Aug. 2, 2005, Budi's accounts received Rp 29 billion in cash, while his son Herviano Widyatama got Rp 25 billion a day earlier.

The document also named two companies recorded as having transferred funds into the accounts – PT Masindo and PT Sumber Jaya Indah.

A police source close to the investigation said property developer Masindo in 2004 planned to build an apartment block on land belonging to the National Police. It failed to secure a deal and in 2006 some investors reported the company for fraud.

Sumber Jaya is a lead smelter operating in Bangka-Belitung and in 2007 was accused of buying lead from illegal miners.

The company appears to have transferred Rp 8.9 billion to Herviano's account from Dec. 5-14, 2007, while Masindo transferred Rp 1.5 billion to Herviano on Nov. 17, 2006, the PPATK document suggests.

From 2005 to 2008, Budi was chief of the National Police School for Advance Learning, or Selapa, and was not handling any cases.

"It is uncommon for someone who holds a position in the human resource development field to receive illicit funds," Bambang Widodo Umar, a University of Indonesia legal expert and a retired police officer, told the Globe. "Areas that are prone to bribery are usually in the crime investigation fields."

Selapa teaches technical skills to middle-ranking officers, particularly those who fail to enter the Police Institute, which focuses more on academic studies.

"Although a Selapa chief comes into contact with future district police chiefs, he does not have the authority to decide on their career advancement," Bambang said. "So it is not likely that he had the power to influence an investigation of a case."

The Globe's attempts to contact Budi for comment on Sunday went unanswered. The KPK source, however, said it was still investigating allegations of Budi under reporting his assets.

In Budi's 2009 asset declaration, a copy of which was obtained by the Globe, he stated that he had Rp 363 million in cash and Rp 4.3 billion in assets.

The KPK recorded Budi has two houses in South Jakarta. Budi declared they were valued at Rp 2.3 billion. A source close to the police general told the Globe one of the houses was in the Cilandak area of South Jakarta, where land costs between Rp 5 million and Rp 7.5 million per square meter.

Budi also declared having 12 properties in Subang, West Java, ranging from 1,623 square meters to 21,270 square meters. Budi reported the properties as being valued at between Rp 5.6 million and Rp 74 million each.

The Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force said it was preparing a regulation on reverse burden of proof on asset declaration.

The provision would enable law enforcers to temporarily seize public officials' questionable assets until it was proven in a court of law that they were obtained legally.

"We are conducting research and seeking references from other countries where the provision is enacted," task force member Mas Achmad Santosa said.

War on terror

Weak and divided jihadists pose no danger to stability, ICG says

Bloomberg News - July 6, 2010

Achmad Sukarsono – Indonesia's Islamic jihadi movement, which drove deadly attacks in the country with the world's largest Muslim population since the 2002 Bali bombings, has been left weak and divided by political infighting, according to a new report released on Monday by an independent think tank on global conflict.

The jihadi community "will undoubtedly regroup and produce another hit squad, somewhere, somehow, that causes casualties and generates a new wave of arrests, but without posing any danger to Indonesian stability," the International Crisis Group said in its report on terrorism in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Indonesia has increased its anti-terror operations since the July 17, 2009, bombings at Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels that killed nine people, including the two suicide bombers. They were the first terrorist attacks by Islamist militants in almost four years in secular Indonesia.

The bombings came nine days after elections in which President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won a second five-year term, partly on his perceived ability to contain terrorism. Within a month after the incident, police had uncovered the cell that masterminded the operation.

The group was led by Noordin Mohammad Top, a senior member of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah, suspected of involvement in anti-Western attacks in Indonesia since 2002 that killed almost 300 people, the US State Department said in a 2008 report. Indonesian police killed Noordin on Sept. 17, 2009.

Police this year also killed 13 people and arrested 61 in connection with a terrorist training camp in Aceh, Tito Karnavian, the head of the police's elite anti-terror force, Densus 88, said last month.

While the recent crackdown was a "big blow" to the terrorist network, JI-linked groups "not only are surviving but also collaborating," he said.

The ICG report highlighted the emergence of Jama'ah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), a group established in 2008 by radical cleric Abu Bakar Bashir that advocates Islamic law for Indonesia. Police and prosecutors accused Bashir in 2003 of leading JI, a charge that was later dismissed in court.

JAT members were among the suspects arrested in a May 6 raid for raising funds for the Aceh camp, the ICG said. While some JI members joined JAT, the new organization has "exposed some of the rifts within JI" partly because it built on Bashir's celebrity status, the Brussels-based group said.

"As time went on and JAT grew rapidly, JI leaders were adamant: if you join JAT, you leave JI and vice versa," the report said.

Police had a man wearing a sign saying Abu Bakar Bashir during a re-enactment of the May 6 raid, prompting speculation he may be the next target, according to the ICG.

The cleric denied any links to the raid and training camp, arguing that JAT rejects the use of violence and the arrested members were acting on their own. Bashir has served two jail terms since 2003, neither of them for terrorism charges as prosecutors failed to prove his role in attacks.

"The rifts and shifting alignments so evident now in the jihadi community are a reaction to" the failure of "the jihadi project" in Indonesia, the ICG report said.

"There is no indication that violent extremism is gaining ground. Instead, as with JAT's formation, we are seeing the same old faces finding new packages for old goods," it said.

The bigger danger comes from the jihadi-influenced preaching through Islamic schools that facilitate recruitment and provide shelter to fugitives, the group said. "Until the government finds an effective way of addressing them, the saga of terrorism in Indonesia will continue," it said.

Islamic radicalism in Indonesia is a concern if not kept under control, Templeton Asset Management's Mark Mobius said last month. "If the government is unable to discourage radical forms of Islam, there may be risks to political and economic aspects of the country," he said.

Indonesian cleric Bashir back on police radar: Analyst

Agence France Presse - July 6, 2010

The father of militant Islam in Indonesia, Abu Bakar Bashir, is back under a police microscope for his alleged support of terrorist activity, a security analyst said Tuesday.

International Crisis Group expert Sidney Jones said in a new briefing report that Bashir had been on the police radar since May when officers raided his group's headquarters in Jakarta and arrested three of his followers.

The three members of Bashir's Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT) were charged with raising funds for a terror training camp uncovered by police in Aceh province in February.

"On 12 May, police carried out a reconstruction of a meeting in South Jakarta involving two men now in custody known to have served as camp instructors and another, who wore a large name tag reading 'Abu Bakar Bashir'," Jones said in the report.

"JAT's alleged involvement in fundraising and combat training immediately led to speculation that another arrest of 72-year-old Bashir was imminent."

Jailed and released in 2006 for his role as a spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional terror network, Bashir founded JAT in 2008 as a legitimate – although radical – body with which to continue agitating for Islamic law and militant jihad.

But Jones said there was growing evidence that JAT had a "dark side" of supporting violence in pursuit of a hardline Islamic state in the mainly Muslim archipelago.

"That public face gives 'plausible deniability' to what appears to be covert support on the part of a small inner circle for the use of force," she said.

Bashir's arrest for a third time would not have a significant impact on the jihadist movement in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, as he was "neither the driving force behind it now nor its leading ideologue".

"He has numerous critics among fellow jihadis who cite his lack of strategic sense and poor management skills," Jones added.

"The truth is that the jihadi project has failed in Indonesia. The rifts and shifting alignments so evident now in the jihadi community are a reaction to that failure.

"There is no indication that violent extremism is gaining ground. Instead, as with JAT's formation, we are seeing the same old faces finding new packages for old goods."

JI is blamed for the 2002 attacks on Bali nightspots that killed more than 200 people, mostly Western tourists, as well as numerous other deadly bombings.

Islam & religion

FPI admits military's role in Bayuwangi raid

Jakarta Post - July 5, 2010

Jakarta – Muslim group the Islam Defender Front (FPI) has admitted the role of local military in its raid on a health bill familiarization program in the East Java town of Banyuwangi last week.

FPI deputy secretary general Awit Mashuri told TVOne channel on Friday the hard-line group had always "coordinated" with the state apparatus before it took actions, dismissing allegations that it used to take the law into its own hands.

"The information that ex '65 people were gathering came from district military intelligent unit," Awit said.

Dozens of people donning FPI symbols raided and dissolved the meeting in a restaurant in Banyuwangi, which was attended by House of Representatives lawmakers overseeing health affairs. The group accused the meeting of a reunion forum of former members of the now banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which was blamed for the aborted coup in1965.

A caucus of House lawmakers has linked FPI with the military and police of the past regime.

We protect the FPI, police detective says

Jakarta Post - July 5, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The National Police recently commemorated its 64th anniversary amid controversies and criticism from the public over many issues, including a lack of transparency and the force's lack of action in dealing with the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

Police chief detective Com. Gen. Ito Sumardi spoke to the press, including The Jakarta Post's Bagus BT Saragih, shortly after attending the anniversary ceremony in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java, last Thursday.

Question: The police have been criticized for failing to take action against FPI members, who often resort to violence. How do you respond to this?

Answer: The police have limitations. We cannot monitor all social activities. Therefore, we need your help. Inform us if you want to hold any meeting. If you don't, how can we give you any protection? Please, don't say the police didn't do anything (to protect the public). Society has become more dynamic now.

The public has grown suspicious that the police are backing the extremists. Is this opinion correct?

No. No. That's completely incorrect. The FPI is a registered social organization. They are under our protection and supervision. We protect them. But that does not mean that we are allowing them to enforce the law like we do.

The National Commission for Human Rights has indicated the police were negligent during the Banyuwangi incident in which FPI members allegedly disrupted a meeting between lawmakers and their constituents. How do you respond to this?

It is their right to express their opinion. However, I suggest that all parties study first what really happened before forming any judgment.

Has the force investigated several top officers who, according to Tempo, have implausibly large amounts of money in their bank accounts?

There are 21 officers whose bank accounts are now being checked out. We're still waiting for the results.

How many officers are having their accounts checked out?

Some of them.

Who are they?

I won't tell you.

Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said in a ceremony speech that the police must promote transparency and be accountable. Why do the police seem to be very defensive in responding in this matter?

You must understand that being transparent is good as long as it does not break the law. Bank accounts, according to the Banking Law, are confidential. After all, we must also respect the presumption of innocence.

But is the police following up on Tempo's report?

I've told you, we're checking out the accounts. That's what we're doing.

While the public expect answers about the officers' suspicious bank accounts, the police announced that they would sue Tempo. Why?

This is about how to respect one another. This can be a lesson for both the police and the media. If you want to criticize, go ahead, but respect the law.

The police are now investigating a case that implicates police officers. Can the police be impartial and avoid conflict of interest?

We are professionals. Police detectives must throw off their affiliations – both personal and institutional.

Indonesian Islamists eye proselytizing Christians

Associated Press - July 4, 2010

Niniek Karmini – A banner with a picture of a young, bespectacled Christian man is draped in front of a mosque, a fiery noose around his neck and the words, "This man deserves the death penalty!"

Churches are shut down. And an Islamic youth militia held its first day of training.

Though the events all occurred less than nine miles (15 kilometers) from Jakarta, making headlines in newspapers and dominating chats on social networking sites such as Facebook, they've sparked little public debate in the halls of power.

"I really see this as a threat to democracy," said Arbi Sanit, a political analyst, noting leaders never like to say anything that can be perceived as "un-Islamic," because they depend heavily on the support of Muslim parties in parliament.

"Being popular is more important to them than punishing those who are clearly breaking the law," Sanit said.

Indonesia has a long history of religious tolerance, though a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

Members of the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, have been known to smash bars, attack transvestites and go after minority sects with bamboo clubs and stones. Now, they are targeting Christians in the fast-growing industrial city of Bekasi.

Outsiders have steadily poured into the Jakarta suburb in search of work, bringing with them their own religions, traditions and values. That has made conservative Islamic clerics nervous. Some have used sermons to warn their flock to be on the lookout for signs of proselytization.

So, when 14 busloads of villagers arrived on June 30 at the home of Henry Sutanto, who heads the Christian-run Mahanaim Foundation, rumors quickly spread that he and Andreas Sanau, the condemned man whose face appeared on the mosque banner, were planning a mass baptism.

A spokeswoman for the group, Marya Irawan, insisted the crowds were invited as part of efforts to reach out to the poor.

The FPI was not convinced. Video footage provided by the hard- line group shows hundreds of people getting off buses and entering the residential complex, many of them women in headscarves holding babies in slings, and milling about the pool.

When a questioner thrust the camera in their faces, demanding to know why they came, most just looked bewildered.

"Someone asked if I wanted to come," one woman said with a shrug. Others accepted a ride into the city because they were bored, and thought they would at least get a free lunch out of it.

When the questioner found Sanau, who had one ear to a phone, he asked if baptisms would be taking place. The 29-year-old Christian's brow furrowed. He shook his head, "No, no."

Asked if he had an ID card, Sanau flashed it at the interviewer, who zoomed in on his home address. The house has since been abandoned. "He should be executed!" said Murhali Barda, who heads the Bekasi chapter of the FPI. "He tried to carry out mass baptisms!"

Days later, Barda's group joined nine others in recommending at a local congress that Bekasi mosques help set up youth militias to act as moral police and to intimidate Christians who are trying to convert Muslims.

They started training Saturday morning, about 100 young men turning out on a field wearing martial arts uniforms. Barda stressed there was no plan to arm them.

"We're doing this because we want to strike fear in the hearts of Christians who behave in such a way," he said. "If they refuse to stop what they're doing, we're ready to fight."

A regional leader of the Indonesian Muslim Forum, Bernard Abdul Jabbar, said the youths were given physical training and taught about Islam. "They will guard the Islamic faith and preach the right path to the people," he said.

Priest Andreas Yewangoe, a chairman of the Communion of Indonesian Churches, said the militia will only create fear, nervousness and unrest in the nation. "The government must protect all citizens from anarchist action as mandated by the constitution," Yewangoe said.

Religious-led violence has been on the rise for months in Bekasi.

Mobs have forced to shut two churches this year. Last month, a statue of three women was torn down by authorities after hundreds of hard-liners wearing skull caps and white robes took to the streets, claiming the monument symbolized the Holy Trinity.

Weeks earlier, black-clad youths attacked a Catholic-run school over an anonymous blogger's "blasphemous" website.

The government has made no public comment except when lawmakers were attacked by FPI during a meeting in East Java.

FPI merely imagining PKI threat, says expert

Jakarta Post - July 3, 2010

Erwida Maulia and Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – A specter is haunting Indonesia – the specter of communism. Not likely, an observer and an official said, responding to the claim by the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

A political and military observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Hermawan Sulistyo, said Friday that those who claimed the disbanded Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) was planning a resurgence were "creating an imaginary enemy".

"What power does the PKI have now? It can no longer do anything – it's an old story from 40 years ago," Hermawan told the The Jakarta Post, referring to the group that is believed to have attempted a coup in 1965.

Dozens of people donning the FPI symbol raided and broke up a meeting in a restaurant in Banyuwangi involving members of the House of Representatives committee overseeing health affairs.

The FPI accused the legislators of holding a reunion for former members of the PKI. One of the lawmakers, Ribka Tjiptaning from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, is the author of a memoir titled, I'm proud to be the daughter of a PKI member.

FPI deputy secretary-general Awit Mashuri told TVOne that the hard-line group always "coordinated" with the state before it took action, dismissing allegations that it acted unlawfully.

"The information that 65 people were gathering came from the district military intelligent unit," Awit said.

Referring to the FPI's claim that the Indonesian Military (TNI) encouraged them to act against the meeting, Hermawan said the TNI should focus on real threats.

"The PKI is an unreal threat. Why doesn't the TNI focus on real threats including domestic and foreign ones, such as terrorism and the Ambalat issue (a boundary dispute with Malaysia)?" he said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. I Wayan Medhio, however, denied the FPI's statement that the TNI had been involved in the Banyuwangi raid.

"The military has no connection whatsoever with the FPI. It is not the duty of the military (to inform FPI members on activities relating to the PKI). We will take action against our member who did this," Wayan told the Post. He said the government still considered communism a "latent threat" to the nation.

"What we should be more worried about, however, is the fact that the public is still easily agitated every time rumors spring up (about the return of communism). The problem today actually lies in that there have been physical clashes between people who are accused of being supporters of the PKI and those who are against it," Wayan said.

Hermawan said prominent communist countries like Russia and China had turned toward capitalism, adding that communism in Indonesia was a term pinned on atheists by majority Muslim communities.

Secretary-general of the FPI's Jakarta branch, Habib Novel, said the raided meeting "was actually a reunion of PKI members" or their sympathizers.

Ribka said the meeting had discussed a new health bill. Following the alleged intervention, Ribka reported the FPI to the police and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

"Komnas HAM should issue a recommendation to ban the FPI because of its frequent violations against human rights", Ribka said.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Marwoto Suto said it would follow-up on the report.

Following the PKI coup on Sept. 30, 1965, widespread killings were conducted throughout the country, which may say target suspected communists. Reports vary on how many were killed – with most figures falling between 500,000 and 2 million. Family members of PKI supporters have faced discrimination since.

Sharia-based bylaws a 'political trick'

Jakarta Post - July 2, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – The imposition of sharia-based bylaws is a political maneuver designed by aspiring regional heads who want to garner votes, politicians from the country's biggest political parties agreed.

"It's just politics. That's why it is difficult [to control]. It all comes down to gaining the support of locals," Golkar's Rully Chairul Azwar told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

In regional elections there will always be conflicts of interests between candidates' ambitions to win and the ideology of the parties that support them, he added.

"Golkar opposes laws that discriminate against minorities and hurt the nation's pluralism principle and its Pancasila ideology," Rully said, adding that discriminative bylaws would disintegrate the nation.

"Golkar cannot deny the fact that autonomy has given the regions the freedom to regulate themselves. What can we say if all the people in a region agree to the imposition [of bylaws]?" the senior politician added.

Several regional heads who imposed sharia-inspired bylaws are supported by nationalist parties. Tangerang Mayor Wahidin Halim, whose bylaw on prostitution bans "suspicious behavior" in public areas, is supported by the Golkar Party.

Several Islamic groups in Bekasi recently demanded the administration adopt sharia to curb "ongoing attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity". In some regions, bylaws regulate how people dress or attempt to regulate individual compliance to God.

Politician Nasir Djamil from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said that in many regions the majority of the residents welcomed and even requested the imposition of sharia-based bylaws.

"Such bylaws are the wish of the local people, who are represented by [legislators] at the local regional legislative councils... I don't think the bylaws discriminate against or violate human rights," he added.

The PKS has been known as a conservative Islamic party but has taken a recent turn toward pluralism in declaring that it would seek to be more inclusive in a bid to garner more votes for the 2014 election.

Nasir said the party's new move did not change its stance on sharia-based bylaws. "The bylaws are a part of the democratic process in the regions... We will continue to listen to the people's aspirations and accommodate them," he told the Post.

Both Nasir and Rully recommended that those who feel discrimination or violated by the bylaws should turn to the Supreme Court and file a judicial review request.

The court has become a target of criticism for its lack of transparency in handling similar cases. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that it would caution its members who pushed for the implementation of such bylaws to garner votes.

PDI-P politician Budiman Sudjatmiko said Wednesday that if any party member or anyone it endorses in regional elections sought to discriminate and or supports rights-breaching bylaws, "it will be an embarrassment". "It is against the ideology of this party... and sacrifices our pluralism principle," he added.

Campaigning for sharia-based bylaws doesn't always win votes, he added. "We are winning the most regional elections this year and not once have we sold the idea [to impose such bylaws]. People are more interested in welfare or job opportunities," he said.

Muhammadiyah won't be drawn into debate over radical groups

Jakarta Globe - July 1, 2010

Anita Rachman – Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim organization, has stopped short of denouncing hard-line groups committing acts of violence in the name of Islam, and instead called for introspection on why the phenomenon was on the rise.

Yunahar Ilyas, head of the organization's fatwa body, told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that there had been calls from both radical and moderate Islamic groups for it to weigh in on the debate, but said Muhammadiyah would stick to its mission to propagate a peaceful interpretation of Islam.

"I won't mention the groups trying to pull us to their side," he said. "Muhammadiyah will be consistent in spreading Islamic teaching through peaceful means and education, not through violence."

Muhammadiyah, which has an estimated 28 million members, opens its 46th national caucus on Saturday in Yogyakarta, in which it will discuss pressing issues facing the organization as well as elect a new chairman.

Yunahar said the organization "shared a different opinion" to the recent vigilantism perpetrated by a hard-line group, adding "the use of violence is not right."

In recent months, the radical Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has led a crusade against the supposed Christianization of Bekasi, and last week it was accused of inciting another group to breaking up a meeting between lawmakers and constituents in East Java, claiming the gathering was a reunion of the banned Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Muhammadiyah's alms manager, Hajriyanto Tohari, who is also deputy speaker at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), told the Globe that while the official agenda for the caucus would not include the hard-liner question, Muhammadiyah needed to lend its authority to the debate.

"We first need to discuss whether such vigilantism is theologically justified," he said. "My guess is no."

Hajriyanto also called for a sociological and political approach to evaluate the government's response to the recent rise in radicalism. Only then could concrete action be taken against hard-line groups, he added. "Back in the '60s and '70s, these things didn't happen," he said. "So why now? What is the government doing wrong?"

Hajriyanto said the radicalism stemmed from the demise of long- held values at the advent of the Reform Era, in particular the teaching of Pancasila, which espouses unity and religious tolerance.

Muhammadiyah has since its inception in 1912 strived for tolerance and pluralism, values that it instills in students at its schools and universities across the country, Hajriyanto said.

He cited the group's university in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, where 68 percent of the staff and 78 percent of the students were non-Muslim. "This is the true essence of tolerance among people, and it is this value that we will keep teaching to our followers," he said.

Muhammadiyah's future leaders, Hajriyanto went on, would have their work cut out in promoting tolerance, including engaging with hard-liners rather than keeping them at bay, in an effort to draw such groups "back to the right path."

"Organizations like ours and Nahdlatul Ulama need to introspect and ask why such radicalism has been allowed to flourish," he said, referring to the country's largest Muslim organization.

"Is it because we don't acknowledge these groups, or perhaps because we perceive them as being so different from us?"

Zamroni, chairman of the organizing committee for the Yogyakarta caucus, said Muhammadiyah believed tolerance was the key to bridging communities.

"The use of violence to propagate Islam is not right," he said. "Our principle is that of amar ma'ruf nahi mungkar [encouraging virtue and forbidding vice]."

MUI reminds FPI to avoid violence but says it can't act

Jakarta Globe - July 1, 2010

The Indonesian Council of Ulema say they have reminded the hard- line Islamic Defenders Front not to resort to violence and intimidation but say they have no authority to take action against such groups.

Amidhan, chairman of the council, also known as MUI, said they had committed to being a "big tent."

"MUI is the umbrella for all mass organizations from the most moderate to the most extreme," Amidhan said during a news conference after a meeting with Vice President Boediono at the Vice Presidential Palace on Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan on Thursday.

He made the statement when asked about an alleged raid by a group of people identified as the Islamic Ummah Forum, which was allegedly backed by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), on a health care discussion sponsored by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in Banyuwangi, East Java, last week.

Amidhan said they had reminded the FPI not to commit violent acts and urged the police to investigate who was behind the Banyuwangi incident. "Extreme or moderate groups are under our care but when they violate the law, it's up to the authorities to take action," he said.

Local residents nix sharia-based bylaws

Jakarta Post - July 1, 2010

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Residents, politicians, activists – and at least one actor – in Depok and Tangerang urged their cities to reject sharia-based bylaws.

Implementation of such regulations will make the regions prone to inter-religious conflicts, agreed several residents and activists. The Depok municipal administration must seek approval from both the Muslim majority and local minorities if they want to implement sharia-based bylaws or policies in the city, said Mangaranap Sinaga, the coordinator of the Depok-based Inter- religious Youth Forum.

"All residents, especially minorities, need assurances that such bylaws will guarantee their rights to religious freedom and also give no leeway for [Muslims] hard-liners to outlaw the existence of the country's beneficial laws," Mangaranap told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Mangaranap said it was also important for the city's moderate religious organizations to unite and support each other so that they could take a strong position when discussing sharia with hard-line organizations and local political elites.

"Dialogue alone is not enough, sometimes we also need to be more political," he said.

The forum, which was launched earlier this month, gathered six religious-based organizations in Depok to discuss and respond to threats to pluralism in the city.

The organizations include Nahdlatul Ulama's Ansor Youth Movement, Indonesian Christian Youth Force Movement, Catholic Youth, Buddhist Youth Generation, Persada Hindu Dharma and Konghucu Youth Generation.

Actor-cum-politician Derry Dradjat, who wants to run for deputy mayor in Depok's next election, said there was no urgent need to implement sharia-based bylaws in the city. "Instead of creating a new conflict, why don't we just refer to the existing laws," he said.

Depok, a city on Jakarta's southern border, is currently governed by Nurmahmudi Ismail, who was supported by the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in 2005.

Nurmahmudi has faced strong criticism from many non-Muslim residents who claim that they have been unable to obtain permits to build churches under his administration.

The mayor has been criticized for allowing hard-line organizations, such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) to pressure minorities, such as members of the Ahmadiyah sect and the transgender community.

In 2006, the Depok city council planned to deliberate a draft ordinance banning prostitution but has made no progress after several years.

Implementation of sharia-based bylaws started even earlier in neighboring Tangerang,

A number of women have been arrested when returning home from work after authorities began enforcing a 2005 bylaw banning prostitution in the city. Human rights activists have called for the bylaw to be revised.

Immanuel Malirafin, 43, a Catholic living in Kotabumi, said that although he heard of the bylaw, he never learned about it in detail.

"Some of my Muslims neighbors told me that the bylaw imposed a curfew on women, but I never understood why it was implemented," he said.

Sharia bylaws are only allowed only in Aceh province, as a conditions of its special autonomy following a 2005 international agreement that ended decades of war.

After the introduction of regional autonomy in 1999, bylaws regulating private conduct and morality have sprouted in dozens of regencies and municipalities in the coutnry.

Public is best bet vs sharia-based bylaws, say legislators

Jakarta Post - July 1, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – The public cannot count on the government to overturn sharia-based bylaws and should push for controversial laws to be reviewed through "people power", legislators said.

Civil society should now rely on itself in efforts to revoke sharia-based bylaws, legislator Budiman Sudjatmiko told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"The Home Ministry has yet to make a serious effort. They should list the bylaws and warn the regional heads if they find laws that oppose our national ideology, Pancasila," said Budiman, who is a member of House of Representatives' Commission II overseeing home affairs.

Aziz Syamsuddin, a member of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said those who seek to contest sharia-based bylaws could also resort to the State Administrative Court, which accepts requests to annul bylaws for 90 days after they are enacted.

"After 90 days they should ask their local regional council to revoke the bylaws they deem problematic," said Aziz, a Golkar Party member.

People should not put all their hopes in the Home Ministry, because Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi endorsed sharia-based bylaws when he was governor of West Sumatra, said Budiman, who is from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Gamawan was known to have supported bylaws that required women to wear veils in public and one that made it compulsory to educate students to be able to read the Koran.

Concerns have been raised over hundreds of sharia-based bylaws that discriminate against women and minorities.

A number of Islamic groups in Bekasi recently demanded the administration adopt the sharia to curb "ongoing attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity."

Such bylaws are not in line with the nation's pluralism principle and violate international laws on human rights that the country has ratified, National Commission on Human Rights chairman Ifdhal Kasim told the Post.

"Bylaws cannot, for example, make it compulsory for an individual to pray to God or specify how a person should dress. The state's duty is to fulfill the needs of the people," Ifdhal said.

Previous legal efforts to overturn bylaws have stumbled. The Supreme Court turned down a 2007 request to review a Tangerang municipality bylaw that bans "everyone exhibiting suspicious behavior, and therefore creates suspicion that he or she is a prostitute" from wandering public areas. The court determined that the Tangerang bylaw did not contradict higher laws.

Examples of sharia-based bylaws

- The 2003 Gorontalo Provincial Regulation on Prevention of Immorality, article 3: "Every man and woman who is not married to one another is banned from being together in places or times that are inappropriate according to the religious and decency norms and the customary law".

- The 2001 West Sumatra Provincial Regulation on Prevention and Eradication of Immorality, article 16 says: "Public participation can be realized in the form of an obligation to report to the nearest authority if a person knows of conduct that is allegedly immoral".

- The 2003 Padang bylaw on Koran Reading Skills for Elementary Students states all graduates are required to have certificates on their Koran reading skills as a requisite to enter the secondary junior level.

[Sources: www.nusantaraonline.org, padangkini.com.]

Sex & pornography

Muslim women's organization supports control of web porn

Jakarta Globe - July 8, 2010

Anita Rachman – Aisyiyah, the women's wing of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Islamic organization, has backed a controversial government plan to restrict access to pornographic Web sites.

Aisyiyah chairwoman Siti Noordjanah Djohantini said on Thursday that discussions by the women's group during Muhammadiyah's six- day national caucus in Yogyakarta had concluded with recommendations on several issues, including faith, education, health care and media and communications.

"We recommended that the Communication and Information Technology Ministry continue to take firm steps toward blocking Web sites of questionable moral or religious value," she said, stressing the call was not a reaction to the recent celebrity sex video scandal.

Siti said Aisyiyah was concerned about children gaining access to such sites, and called for a dialogue with Tifatul Sembiring, the communications minister, to discuss implementing Web filters.

The ministry previously proposed a bill to monitor Internet content, but scrapped it in February following an outcry from media organizations, Internet service providers and free speech advocates. However, it has since revived it in the wake of the sex tape scandal.

Siti said she was aware of the controversy surrounding the bill and said Aisyiyah would only support it if it provided guarantees for press freedoms.

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin previously told the Jakarta Globe that families, communities and schools should play a more active role, saying there should be a "cultural movement" through education to shield young people from pornography. Siti said Aisyiyah had for several years carried out an education and literacy campaign to better prepare parents to deal with new media.

"We train and guide them on how to accompany their children while watching TV, for instance, in identifying what kinds of shows are suitable for younger viewers," Siti said.

Police change positions in sex tape scandal

Jakarta Globe - July 7, 2010

Police are continuing to flip-flop over the Peterporn scandal, reversing an earlier position that eight people had been arrested for uploading the pornographic videos featuring Indonesian celebrities on to the Internet.

Brig. Gen. Zainuri Lubis, deputy spokesman for the National Police, said on Wednesday that there had been a "misunderstanding" and the eight people were still classified as witnesses.

On Monday, Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi, National Police chief of detectives, said the police had laid charges against eight people accused of uploading the sex tapes, which allegedly star Peterpan frontman Nazriel "Ariel" Irham, Luna Maya and Cut Tari.

"We are still searching for the missing link. How did the suspects get hold of the tapes? What was the process? That's what we're still investigating," Ito said.

A day later, he claimed that police had also discovered the identity of the person who first uploaded the raunchy videos, identifying the person as "K."

Police had also previously claimed to have made arrests in relation to the distribution of the videos.

Police have only charged Ariel in relation to the case and a month after the case broke, still do not seem to be able to arrive at a conclusion as to whether to charge Luna or Cut Tari.

Anti-porn law misses mark, says women's rights group

Jakarta Globe - July 3, 2010

Nurfika Osman – The National Commission on Violence Against Women has said that the Anti-Pornography Law was not properly able to combat the problem because the issue is not only a legal matter, but also one of morality and religion.

The commission, also known as Komnas Perempuan, said during a news conference on Friday that the controversial law, which was passed in 2008, would only create new problems.

"This will give room for people to conduct more discrimination as everyone has different perceptions about morality, and it will also allow people to take the law into their own hands," said Arimbi Heroeputri, one of its commissioners.

"This is going to threaten the unity of our country," she continued. "The porn industry is exploiting women and children. But when we mix in violence and morality, they will only be victimized all over again and we will not have solved the root problem, which is violence."

Yustina Rostiawati, a senior official from Komnas Perempuan, said the law focused too much on people's morality rather than catching the perpetrators.

"The substance of the pornography industry is the distributors, and by being too busy judging someone's morality – the actors in the video, for example – we are not dealing with the matter and we are not protecting the women and children," she said.

"Every citizen has the right to be protected and by focusing on judging someone's morality, we are not going anywhere and the pornography industry will be always there."

Arimbi said the Anti-Pornography Law was not needed to combat the spread of illicit materials.

"We have laws that can be used to catch the perpetrators from porn industry," she said. "There are four laws that cover this and that do not bring up morality issues, and so far they have been enough."

The laws that covered the issue of pornography, Arimbi said, were the Criminal Code, Law on Child Protection, Law on Broadcasting and the Information and Electronic Transactions Law (ITE).

"The implementation of the porn law is making people too busy thinking about how others should dress and how they should act," she said.

Arimbi also criticized the minister of communications and information technology, Tifatul Sembiring, for having sparked tensions between people of different religions.

Komnas Perempuan's Andy Yentriyani said that it was going to monitor the implementation of the law as it was susceptible to criminalizing women and children, who were most often the victims of porn videos.

"We have not seen any effect on the pornography industry with the implementation of this law, because it is too open to multiple interpretations," she said.

"We are just getting busier conducting raids in schools to check cellphones. This is not the way to combat pornography, as the target should be the distributors."

Komnas Perempuan praised the work of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), which has warned media organizations to stop sensationalizing the celebrity sex tapes scandal.

Separately, Luna Maya and Cut Tari, two of the celebrities implicated in the recent sex tapes scandal, were questioned again as witnesses at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta.

Luna's lawyer, OC Kaligis, declined to elaborate on what was asked during the questioning. "I cannot make any further comments about today's investigation and about my client's status. That is beyond my authority," he said.

The National Police also declined to comment on the celebrities' questioning.

Lombok political sex tape fails to excite police

Jakarta Globe - July 2, 2010

Made Arya Kencana, Denpasar – West Nusa Tenggara Police investigating an Internet sex video featuring a prominent local legislator who is running for district head of Central Lombok say they have yet to find any indications of criminal wrongdoing.

The five-minute video, uploaded onto YouTube on May 25, shows Suhaili FT having sex with an unidentified woman in what appears to be a hotel room, prompting calls for an investigation.

Suhaili has confirmed the video is of him and his wife, and says it was leaked to prevent him winning the June 7 district election. He finished a close second in the poll with 21 percent, behind Gede Sakti on 24 percent. A runoff poll between the two is scheduled for July 19.

Provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Arif Wachyunadi said on Thursday that his office was looking for an angle to approach the case.

"So far we haven't found any indication of criminal wrongdoing," he said, adding that unless someone filed a complaint about the video's production, uploading or distribution, then police were not compelled to treat the case as a crime.

"Presumption of innocence is the key here," Arif said. "Meanwhile, we urge the public not to overreact to the video."

This case, in one of the country's least developed provinces, comes in sharp contrast to the celebrity sex video scandal in Jakarta where Nazril "Ariel" Irham, the lead singer of pop band Peterpan, has been arrested on pornography charges.

Land disputes & evictions

Activist urges council to be open over Koja riot report scandal

Jakarta Globe - July 1, 2010

Arientha Primanita – A legislative watchdog on Thursday urged the City Council to be more open and transparent over the alleged bribes received by some of its members investigating the April riot in Tanjung Priok.

Roy Salam, a researcher at the Indonesia Budget Center, said the Council's chiefs appeared to be trying to cover up the case. "They should be open and transparent about the issue," he said.

Roy said the scandal would only worsen the Council's image, especially since its performance in its first year of office had been underwhelming. He said if the Council went on the defensive about the bribery claims, the public would suspect that something untoward had occurred.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Wednesday accused 10 councilors responsible for a fact-finding report on the bloody Tanjung Priok riot in Koja, North Jakarta, which resulted in the deaths of three public order officers, of taking bribes to suppress a follow-up inquiry.

The KPK alleges the councilors took Rp 10 million ($1,100) each from the city administration to cover up the case. Summonses have been issued for the 10 accused councilors.

The violence between public order officers and residents of Koja came about because locals believed that the authorities planned to demolish the tomb of a revered Muslim missionary on land disputed by port operator PT Pelindo II and the cleric's heirs.

The city has insisted officers were only dispatched to remove structures surrounding the burial site and not the tomb itself. More than 200 people were injured in the incident.

Council Speaker Ferrial Sofyan said he had no knowledge of the KPK summonses and that the Tanjung Priok investigation was the express responsibility of the fact-finding team, which consisted of nine members of each political faction in the Council.

Sayogo Hendrosubroto, a deputy speaker of the Council and head of the fact-finding team, told the Jakarta Globe that he also had not heard about the KPK summonses or of any bribery related to the team's report.

Yusriah Dzinnun, a member of the fact-finding team from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said she knew nothing about the bribery allegations.

"The team worked hard and we did not receive anything other than what we deserved," she said, adding that she would not accept Rp 10 million if it would only cause her trouble.

Yusriah said that she had not yet received any correspondence from the KPK, although she had heard that other members had been sent letters.

Another member of the fact-finding team who declined to be named said he had received a letter from the KPK, but insisted it was not a summons.

"It is only a form for city councilors – not for the fact- finding team only – that we have to fill out about whether or not we have received any money," he said.

The councilor denied that he or his fellow team members had received any bribes. "The team worked hard to investigate the incident," he said, "and the final recommendations were not only the team's responsibility, but were made by all the city councilors."

The fact-finding team, the councilor said, had only gathered the information on the incident while the council had produced the recommendations. Even though the recommendations were not as tough as had been expected, he said he had also approved them.

Jakarta & urban life

Suffer Jakarta traffic like everyone else, officials told

Jakarta Globe - July 7, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie has called on officials to refrain from using police motorcades while the vast majority of commuters are immersed in bumper-to-bumper gridlock.

By law, only the president and vice president are entitled to a full police motorcade, but cabinet ministers, military generals and other officials regularly indulge in the special treatment afforded to them through their position.

Marzuki on Tuesday criticized the officials and said they should make do with a single motor-cycle outrider.

"Only in the case of an extremely busy traffic jam or an important state function can the use of a police escort be justified," he said. "And even then, one outrider should suffice."

The Democratic Party lawmaker also said that for trips outside the capital, where traffic congestion pales in comparison with Jakarta's infamously clogged arteries, state officials should go it alone and not use the escorts at all.

Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party backed the call, saying it would help the government cut its operational costs. "Besides, it's no secret that the use of escorts only makes the traffic even worse for other commuters," he said.

However, Ramadhan Pohan of the Democratic Party said state officials required police escorts, particularly in Jakarta. He said officials often had packed agendas that required them to travel between different parts of the city.

He justified the use of police escorts to ensure quick commutes and, by extension, more effective meetings. "However, if officials use police escorts for personal use, then that's just plain wrong," he said.

The call comes on the back of Philippine President Benigno Aquino's declaration that he would suffer Manila's congested roads. The new president has barred his police escorts from using sirens and has ordered his driver to stop at red lights.

On his first day in office, Aquino was caught in traffic and was late for an official event. He has since said he would just wake up earlier and leave earlier.

Jakarta's traffic is among the worst in Asia. With vehicle ownership rates on the rise and the absence of a subway or other efficient system, experts fear that the capital is in for a much tougher time down the road.

Betawi organizations offer brotherhood to desperate Jakartans

Jakarta Post - July 3, 2010

Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Sitting on a red plastic chair at a small, green Betawi People Communication Forum (Forkabi) guard post on Jl. KS Tubun in Petamburan, Central Jakarta, a skinny old man took deep slow drags on his cigarette, hoping to keep warm against a cold breeze which blew in misty rain outside.

Every time a private car slowed down in front of him, the man would immediately put his cigarette down and approach the car. He would ask the driver whether they needed any help finding a parking space on the street, where a hospital and a dozen or so stores and food stalls are located.

The man did the same when the owners of parked cars returned to their vehicles – carefully guiding them to take their cars and helping them pull out into the street safely. In return, they would hand the man a Rp 1,000 (11 US cents) or Rp 2,000 bank note.

"This job is actually boring but not bad," 63-year-old Jana told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, "At least I can get enough money to buy food and cigarettes every day."

The sole parking attendant on the street, Jana said he had been given the job by his superior at a local branch of Forkabi, which he joined several years ago.

The organization, he said, dispatched its members to work as parking attendants on the streets of Petamburan as a way to support them economically as well as to protect the area from "other groups".

"There are many jobless locals who wanted this parking job. But since they are not Forkabi members they are not allowed to," said the father of four, who has been living alone since his wife passed away four years ago.

Like Jana, the much younger Ronald Armstrong, 21, a member of the Betawi Brotherhood Forum's (FBR) South Jakarta chapter, said he had benefitted greatly from the Betawi organization since he joined up two years ago.

"The organization helped me to learn to control myself and manage people as well," said Ronald, who said he had been involved in countless student brawls when he was at school.

Ronald, however, said it had not been easy to become an FBR member. Before he was officially inaugurated as a member, Ronald said he had been asked to join an FBR mission to protect a disputed swath of land in South Jakarta from a gang hailing from "the eastern part of Indonesia".

The mission, he said, had sparked several brawls, but earned him an FBR membership card.

"Later, I realized that it was important for all newly recruited (FBR) members to have such an experience so that they could learn a lesson about solidarity and loyalty," he said.

A number of so-called Betawi organizations operate in the city, claiming to protect the Betawi local culture, and protecting their territories from non-native gangs and influences.

Last year, the Betawi Consultative Body (Bamus), which supervises the activities of all Betawi organizations, recorded that 104 affiliate organizations had registered with the body, including the FBR, Forkabi and the Betawi Movement (Gerak).

The FBR and Forkabi are perhaps the most well-known Betawi organizations, as they often make headlines for their involvement in street brawls, including inter-ethnic fighting.

Last month, for example, hundreds of Forkabi members clashed with a group of Madurese people in Duri Kosambi subdistrict, Cengkareng, West Jakarta. One Forkabi local leader was killed in the incident. The police insisted the riot had been triggered by an individual, and was not an ethnic clash.

In 2008, the FBR, along with the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), ambushed activists from the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion while they were rallying at the National Monument to support religious pluralism.

The two organizations are also renowned for operating protection rackets, particularly targeting businesses.

Tri "Borix" Aryadi, the secretary of the South Jakarta chapter of FBR, openly admitted that his organization sometimes relied on aggressive tactics to force businesses to hire their members.

He said that recently business owners had become "more cooperative" with the FBR, because they were now familiar with the organization's reputation.

"Our demand is actually very simple, please prioritize people living nearby your building or business area as your employees," Borix said, adding that most members of the organization had undergone little education, and were therefore eligible for only low-paying jobs, such as security guards or street cleaners.

In a recent interview with local TV program JakTV, the head of Bamus Betawi, Nachrowi Ramli, said such Betawi organizations might have a tendency toward aggressive behavior because they were unsatisfied with the unbalanced distribution of wealth in the rapidly developing capital.

Nachrowi, a retired army general and the chairman of the Democratic Party's Jakarta chapter, said Bamus tried to control all of its members through regular meetings and management training. "But it is not only us who are supposed to handle our people. Other ethnic-based organizations (in the city) must also do the same thing," he said.

Literature & the arts

Stories of gender, corruption win young writers contest

Jakarta Post - July 2, 2010

Jakarta – "Why does marital status seem to be the panacea for everything about the future of an eastern woman? Does marriage constitute insurance for the future through breeding?"

These powerful questions were posed by Nita Oktaviya, a junior high student from Jakarta who was one of the winners of the 7th Young Indonesian Writers' Awards, a contest organized by the Unicef and The Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation (YKAI) in partnership with the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry.

The winning story, titled The flag does not fly here anymore, was written by Nita as a reflection on the perceptions on equality and why marriage was still widely regarded as a form of "insurance" to guarantee the future livelihood of Indonesian women. "The flag symbolizes the freedom of women living in eastern cultures," she said.

Nita said the preparations for her sister's wedding had inspired her to write the story. The rigid roles of the wife also bothered Nita.

"When a daughter is about to get married, mothers often say things like, 'You have to learn how to cook and take care of your husband'," she said. "Washing the dishes should not be associated with being a house wife," she said.

Another winner was Aditya Gilank Ramadhan, a student from a state high school in Jakarta who described the process of "cultural conditioning" leading to corruption. Aditya writes that corruption starts with little things, such as being late to work.

Nita and Aditya were two among more than 1,600 youths from across Indonesia who submitted entries on this year's theme, which was culture in the eyes of children.

Unicef representative in Indonesia Angela Kearney said "The voices of teenagers all over Indonesia ring clearly with their rich variety of ideas, their concerns and their hopes. Unicef is extremely proud to have encouraged such an outlet for insights to cultural issues that are the starting point for permanent social change." (JP/map)

Armed forces & defense

Attack on police station a 'misunderstanding'

Jakarta Post - July 7, 2010

Palembang, South Sumatra – An attack Sunday night on the Muaraenim police station by members of the military was due to a misunderstanding, South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Hasyim Iriadi said Tuesday. "We are still investigating the case," Hasyim said.

The police station was badly damaged, with broken glass littered throughout the building. A number of police cars and motorcycles in the parking lot were also damaged. Two police officers suffered wounds and are being treated at a local hospital.

An investigation team, made up of members from the provincial police and Indonesian Military [TNI], has been set up to resolve the case.

Groups criticize territorial expansion

Jakarta Post - July 1, 2010

Jakarta – The recent expansion of the Indonesian Military's territorial command in Kalimantan is opening up a room for illegal military businesses and increasing the possibility of human rights violations against civilians, a coalition says.

The Civil Society Coalition comprises 11 civil society organizations, including Imparsial, the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Institute for Defense Security and Peace Studies (IDSPS) and Propatria Institute.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Toisutta officially opened a new command center, called Mulawarman Regional Military Command VI, in East Kalimantan on June 28. Previously, the Army Headquarters had announced a plan to add 22 territorial command centers in Kalimantan, comprising three regency and 19 municipal command centers.

Haris Azhar from Kontras said Wednesday that the expansion of military territorial command posts would facilitate the expansion of illegal military businesses.

"A Kontras research report showed that most illegal military businesses across the country were backed by military members from territorial command offices, such as city and village military posts," he said at a press conference at the Imparsial office in Jakarta.

Haris said that in Kalimantan, military members had supported palm oil companies as they seized land owned by indigenous farmers. He said that in many cases, soldiers had treated indigenous farmers "violently".

A study conducted by Kontras in 2004 showed that illegal businesses were a main benefactor for the military, as they would pay soldiers to provide security for companies, as well as for extortion, smuggling, illegal logging and drug cartels.

IDSPS Executive Director Mufti Makarim said the military's move to expand its presence might be an effort to strengthen its social and political roles in regions.

"The expansion, which follows the pattern of the regional expansion, might be intended to influence the decision-making process at the regional level," he said, adding that the expansion would threaten democracy.

Imparsial Managing Director Poengky Indarti said that considering the country's geographical condition, it would be better to strengthen the Navy and the Air Force.

Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. I Wayan Midhio denied accusations that the territorial command expansion would encourage illegal military businesses and human rights violations. "The Indonesian Military is committed to reform, including eradicating illegal military businesses. The public should give the military a chance to prove its commitment." (rdf)

Police & law enforcement

Public order agency to bear firearms, electroshock weapons

Jakarta Globe - July 6, 2010

Despite monumental concerns about the lack of professionalism of Indonesia's Public Order Agency, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi has signed a ministerial decree allowing the controversial agency the right to bear arms, including firearms.

According to Ministerial Decree No. 26, 2010, officers from the agency, also known as Satpol PP, can also carry electroshock weapons, including stun guns and electric shock batons.

Last month, Effendi Anas, the new chief of Jakarta's controversial Satpol PP, conceded his officers needed to repair their image as abusive enforcers, but defended the unit as a "strategic weapon" in the arsenal of development.

He also told the Jakarta Globe that he was aware that his officers were often accused of destroying homes and businesses when they were sent to enforce municipal bylaws.

Calls flooded in to disband Satpol PP after a massive riot at the Tanjung Priok port in April, which left three officers dead and hundreds of rioters and police injured.

There have also been previous allegations of the abuse of suspects in custody and of at least one alleged death. Nur Kholis, a member of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas Ham), told the Jakarta Globe that the track record of the organization should have been considered before issuing the decree.

He said given Satpol PP's traditional role of law enforcers acting on behalf of the government and frequent clashes with civilians, "adding firearms into the mix is not wise."

Public apology puts focus on police failings

Jakarta Globe - July 2, 2010

Farouk Arnaz & Nivell Rayda – The chief of the National Police, an institution constantly battered by criticism, showed his candid side by offering an apology on Thursday for "weaknesses and imperfections" within his force.

He was less candid, however, when pressed to explain for what exactly he was apologizing.

"The public's expectations are very high, but we can't fully meet those expectations yet," Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said. "We are not perfect but we keep on trying to change the mind-set and culture of our force."

His apology came in a speech delivered at an event celebrating the 64th anniversary of the National Police held at the Mobile Brigade Headquarters in Depok.

His words might have been vague, but recent events could add more context. On Tuesday, a group of nongovernmental organizations said that dozens of documented abuses of power involving police officers over the past two years was a clear sign that reforms have yet to yield results within the National Police.

On the same day, the Asian Human Rights Commission said that torture and ill-treament of suspects in police custody remained rampant in Indonesia 12 years after the country ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch said on Thursday that it would report a dozen more police officers with suspicious bank accounts to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

"Right now we are preparing documents to support our claims," ICW deputy chairman Emerson Yuntho said. He declined to disclose names and ranks but said "it involves billions of rupiah worth of transactions, some cash and some bank transfers. We feel that there are indications of bribery," he added.

On Monday, thousands of copies of Tempo magazine featuring a cover story on the suspiciously outsized bank balances of six police generals mysteriously disappeared from news stands, propelling the issue into news headlines.

The National Police have promised to investigate the generals, but they have also pledged to sue the weekly magazine for defamation.

To begin fixing the problems within the police, Mufti Makarim, executive director of the Institute for Defense, Security and Peace Studies (IDSPS) said a precedent was needed.

"At least one of these generals with a huge bank account needs to be prosecuted. This is the entry point we need to see how deep corruption runs inside the police force," he said.

Al-Araf, program director of human rights advocate Imparsial, added that police should be banned from running illegal businesses and engaging in freelance police work.

He said many officers hold public shares in companies and provide "security" for businesses such as prostitution dens, gambling rings and illegal logging operations. "This is already a very well-known secret," he said.

A history of saying sorry

March 5, 2010 - National Police apologize to the Muslim Students Association (HMI) after several officers attack its headquarters in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Nov. 22, 2009 - National Police apologize to the family of the late Islamic scholar Nurcholish Madjid after police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri tells a hearing with the House of Representatives that the reason why the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has not arrested a graft suspect is due to the suspect's close ties with Nurcholish. Nurcholish was the father- in-law of KPK deputy Chandra Hamzah.

Nov. 2, 2009 - National Police apologize to the public after former chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji uses the term "geckos and crocodiles" to describe a dispute between the KPK and the police.

Feb. 9, 2006 - National Police apologize to the House after a surveillance order is issued for several lawmakers supervising field inspections of rice imports.

Oct. 31, 2002 - National Police apologize to Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Muslim group, for the damage caused to one of its hospitals by police officers when arresting controversial cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, who was being treated there. The police were involved in a scuffle with Bashir's supporters.

Criminal justice & prison system

Seeking justice for Indonesia's child offenders

Deutsche Presse Agentur - July 3, 2010

Ahmad Pathoni – Twenty-five teenagers were crammed in a 20- square-meter cell in the main prison in the Indonesian city of Bogor. The smell of damp mattresses wafted through the room.

"I feel at home here," said one of the inmates, Slamet Riyadi, 16, sitting on the floor as his cellmates played basketball outside. "It feels like being in a boarding school," said Riyadi, who had served one year of a three-year sentence for what he described as "consensual teenage sex."

Riyadi is one of 30 child prisoners, including five girls, who are serving time in the Bogor Penitentiary, 50 kilometers south of Jakarta.

Their crimes range from murder to drug abuse and their ages range from 13 to 18. Under Indonesia's juvenile-justice laws, children as young as 8 can be tried for crimes, and those as young as 12 can be imprisoned.

About 5,000 children are now in prisons in Indonesia, but a shortage of juvenile lock-ups often means some of them occupy adult prisons, officials and activists said.

Arist Merdeka Sirait, secretary general of the National Child Protection Commission, a nongovernmental organization, said child inmates are at high risk of physical, sexual and emotional abuse from other detainees. "Many children who are held in such conditions commit more crimes when they get out of jail," he said.

The Constitutional Court is hearing a petition filed by the commission requesting the 1997 law on juvenile justice be annulled.

Sirait argued there was no evidence that keeping children in jail had a deterrent effect. "Often they become more violent and their psychological development is impaired," he said. "They also show deviant sexual behavior."

The Bogor prison is designed for 500 adult inmates, but it currently holds more than 1,100 prisoners.

Risman Somantri, head of the prison's education and training division, said the young inmates were held there because they refused to be sent to the nearest juvenile prison, located in the neighboring district of Tangerang.

"They wanted to be close to their families," Somantri said. "They said that being far from their loved ones was like double punishment for them."

Somantri said to prevent the child inmates from mixing with adults, they have separate out-of-cell and recreational schedules. "The system doesn't solve all the problems, but it has been effective in minimizing their contact with adult inmates," he said.

Outside the children's cell, a 16-year-old boy sat crying with his eyes reddened. "He has a headache," said a fellow inmate who declined to give his name.

Sirait warned that the system treats children like adult criminals. "Because there's a lack of space and facilities, they don't get decent treatment and are often mixed with adults," he said. "Some of them are even younger than 12."

In a case that sparked a public outcry last year, police arrested 10 shoeshine boys at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport for playing a coin-toss game.

A court found the children, 12 to 16, guilty of gambling but opted not to give them prison sentences after public criticism of the way they were treated by police.

But things could soon change. The government is drafting a new bill on juvenile justice that is child-sensitive.

"In future, children subjected to the justice process won't be sent to prisons but to social rehabilitation homes," said Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf al Jufrie, whose office is involved in the drafting of the bill. "In prisons, children often mix with adults," the minister said. "That's neither healthy nor just."

Untung Sugiono, the director general of the correctional system at the Justice Ministry, insisted that child prisoners receive treatment suited to their age group.

"We cater to their needs, including education," Sugiono said. "Not all cities in Indonesia have child prisons, but there are blocks designed for child prisoners.

"Everybody knows that prisons are high learning institutions for crime, but our law still allows children to be kept in prisons," he said. "But we are working toward restorative justice, which offers alternatives to the punitive approach."

The prison In Bogor keeps its children busy with activities that include English lessons, Koranic and other religious studies as well as playing music and sports.

For Riyadi, being imprisoned at Bogor had given him the opportunity to learn about his religion. "If I was free, I wouldn't be reading the Koran or learning about Islamic teachings," he said. "I feel I'm a better person now."

Fishing & maritime affairs

Stop issuing fishing permits or face crisis, government told

Jakarta Post - July 5, 2010

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Activists renewed calls Saturday for the government to stop issuing fishing permits to large vessels, because fish numbers in many Indonesian bodies of water have reached critical levels due to overfishing.

The Peoples Coalition for Justice in Fisheries (Kiara) warned the government that failure to restrict fishing in the country's waters would result in a major fish shortage by 2015.

The coalition proposed a five-year moratorium on permits for big fishing vessels – foreign-or domestic-owned – of 30 deadweight tons or more.

"Our finding shows overfishing has occurred in most of the country's waters," Kiara's secretary-general Riza Damanik told The Jakarta Post.

He said that several countries, including China, Japan and European states had implemented moratoriums in their own waters to allow time for fish to replenish.

Indonesia is one of the 10 biggest fish producing countries in the world.

Quoting statistics from the National Commission on Fish Resource Assessment, Riza said fish numbers in six Indonesian bodies of waters had become critical since 2006.

The six areas are the Malacca straits, the South China Sea, the Java Sea, the Flores Sea, the Makassar Strait, the Pacific Ocean and the Sulawesi Sea.

"The areas have been over-exploited but the government has not moved to protect the sea resources," he said.

Many trawlers still operate in bodies of water where trawling is illegal, including off the coast of northern East Kalimantan. The government banned trawling in Indonesian waters in 1980.

"The Presidential Decree [which bans trawling] is still in place but trawling continues in East Kalimantan. We have found trawlers operating in waters off Tarakan where traditional fishermen have been complaining about decreasing catches," he said.

"Where trawlers operate, fish stocks dwindle, coral reefs are damaged and social divides among fishers are triggered," he said.

About 15 million people work as traditional fishermen in the country.

The government has repeatedly acknowledged that illegal fishing is rampant in Indonesian waters, often involving foreign vessels.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad has accused foreign vessels of illegal fishing in Indonesian waters. Many of those had no fishing permits or instead carried fake documents.

Data from the ministry showed the country impounded 186 foreign vessels for illegal fishing in Indonesia in 2008, compared to 184 the previous year.

The coalition has said Indonesia's fisheries potential is slashed by 30 to 50 percent every year due to illegal fishing.

Mining & energy

Pertamina blamed for safety faults, gas explosions

Jakarta Post - July 2, 2010

Jakarta – A new study by the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) says massive safety flaws are to blame for a spate of almost 100 gas explosions in households.

At a press briefing on Thursday, the agency said the poor quality of products distributed by the appointed contractor for the kerosene-to-gas conversion program, oil and gas producer PT Pertamina, was the main reason for gas leaks that had led to the explosions.

As of the end of June there had been 95 explosions, 22 deaths, 131 people hospitalized for injuries and 55 houses damaged in gas explosions. The incidents mostly occurred in Jakarta, Greater Jakarta and West Java.

The program, launched in May 8, 2007, was intended to reduce the government's energy subsidies by replacing household kerosene cooking fuel with LPG.

Under a government commission, Pertamina distributed conversion kits to households, comprising one 3-kilogram gas canister, a stove, a hose and a regulator. By of the end of May 2010, Pertamina had distributed 44.8 million kits, almost all of which had been imported from China.

An updated study conducted by BPKN reveals that all hoses, two- thirds of the canister checkvalves, half of the stoves, 20 percent of the regulators and 7 percent of the canisters did not meet safety standards.

Pertamina had failed to specify the life expectancy of the gas hoses, which according to international standards ranged between one and two years, BPKN complaints and resolutions coordinator H. Gunarto said.

Previously, a study conducted by the National Center for Research, Science and Technology found leaks in the welding in the 3-kg canisters and in the connection between the canister and its check valve.

Customers have also reported that the check valve often does not fit the gas regulators properly, having tried various regulators available.

At a press briefing held at the Vice Presidential Palace, the government blamed the series of explosions on the market for distributing gas hoses and regulators that did not meet Indonesian National Standards (SNI).

Judging by the life expectancy of the gas hoses, Gunarto said a series of explosions would occur in Central and East Java, as distributions of kits in these regions were carried out later. On Thursday, gas-related explosions occurred in Malang, East Java, and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

BPKN chairwoman Suarhatini Hadad said Pertamina and the Industry Ministry were largely to blame for the mess caused by the safety violations.

"Pertamina was too hasty in distributing the conversion kits, while the Industry Ministry failed to check the products and ensure safety," Suarhatini said.

Pertamina, however, is not solely responsible for the mistake. Separate investigative reports had indicated that private distributors of gas had tampered with the check valves on 3-kg canisters so they could mix the gas with other substances to increase profits. This could damage the valves, and potentially cause leaks, the reports said.

To date Pertamina has not made an announcement to recall any items related to the kits it distributed, but the company said it would ensure the quality of new canisters and fittings entering the market to replace the "damaged" ones.

Analysis & opinion

Against impunity

Jakarta Post Editorial - July 8, 2010

Explosive gifts of three Molotov cocktails were thrown at 3 a.m. Tuesday at the office of Tempo magazine in Central Jakarta, immediately leading to condemnation all around. It was of course taken as a message of harassment and terror against all parties whose intention and job is to expose anything wrong in this country – mainly widespread, chronic corruption.

For it is such abuse of power that is the last frontier of those expecting to be able to act in their business-as-usual style, whatever progress reformasi has reached.

The pessimists have predicted that this is what the post-New Order Indonesia can expect – continued resistance at any attempt to loosen the hold of those who seek to control the vital strings to maintain personal gain.

The police have been quick to distance themselves from the dawn bombs, which did not harm anyone. The corps is in the spotlight yet again for their officers' suspicious accounts, reaching tens of billions of rupiah per officer, all 21 of them, which were initially reported years ago – to the police headquarters. Nothing happened to the reports filed by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) until a snowball hit – graft accusations against a top officer, who disclosed more and more among subordinates and colleagues.

Incredulously, we have the honorable detective chief stating, yes I'm aware of this officer's account of Rp 95 billion but it's all from legal business.

All the leaders are saying politically correct things: Investigate all this, says SBY; Yes I plan to, says the National Police Chief, but no thank you we don't need help, we'll settle our own internal affairs. As if they could.

Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri was the same leader who raised the issue of "strong resistance" against attempts of change, imploring the public's understanding that things must go steadily, slowly within the corps.

We have no such patience even as we acknowledge the police's hard work in hunting down terrorists. The general's impatience explains how copies of the Tempo report were whipped up on the street or on the Internet despite efforts of "men in police uniforms" to buy up the magazines.

Throughout this grueling period of reform, the pessimists appear to be right. It seems we'll never root out corruption – the Molotovs being the last reminder of such "resistance" against exposure of any abuse of power.

But there are things which are here to stay. One is press freedom. The public knows it can demand the press to behave itself, and demand that press workers continue to expose all wrongdoings. The press is their weapon; people have found the media can complement or strengthen organization of public energy, such as the online support groups for various causes.

Another is a big no to impunity. This collective no is another public weapon. Ousting Soeharto and his New Order, however much credit actually went to the economic crisis, meant saying "enough" to the taken-for-granted privileges to act outside of the law.

Beyond extra-judicial killings, corruption has turned out to be an even harder battle – one in which you don't have to be evil in arranging for some public money to reach your account; one in which "surely I should get a chance too" seems to be today's frequent underlying motivation.

The realization of this much harder battle is behind the public support to expose, step by step, abuses of power concerning private and public offices and individuals.

It is this public support that drives media workers to pick up the pieces after each traumatic incident, and work for the next edition.

When hard-liners get free pass, moderates are part of the problem

Jakarta Globe - July 5, 2010

James Van Zorge – Is Indonesia's democracy and long tradition of secularism under threat from an onslaught of Islamic fundamentalism?

For some, even posing this question seems overly alarmist. It has become conventional wisdom that Indonesia is a bastion of moderation and living proof that Islam and democracy can successfully coexist.

Die-hard optimists are fond of pointing out that Indonesia will never become, say, another Pakistan or a Middle Eastern theocracy. Without a doubt, today's Indonesia looks like an Asian version of modern-day Turkey.

Western-style democracy and values have, for the most part, fitted in seamlessly with Indonesian culture as well as the ancient traditions and symbolism of Islam. What then is there to worry about?

If for no other reason than it is always better to err on the side of caution, a more pessimistic viewpoint is worth some careful consideration.

Just because mosques and malls share urban space and rock 'n' roll tunes can fill the airways after the call to prayer does not mean one can safely assume that all is quiet on the Islamist front. And the reality is, it's not.

Over the past few weeks, terrorists have been handed extraordinarily light sentences in court because, in the words of the presiding judges, the guilty parties were "polite."

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a gang of Muslim brownshirts heavily involved over the past decade in protection rackets and violence against minority Christian communities, has recently been threatening to start a religious war if Shariah is not enforced in Bekasi – and to the horror of many citizens, local politicians have signaled their willingness to comply.

At times, it feels like Indonesia has entered through the looking glass, where everything has been turned upside down. Much too often, what is wrong is deemed as being right.

It is not uncommon these days for the civil rights of criminals to be given precedence over the safety of decent, law-abiding citizens.

Convicted terrorists are allowed to publish books, lead prayer groups with other inmates and use cell phones, effectively turning the country's prisons into a base for operations and recruitment drives.

These holier-than-thou figures are also subjects of the government's deradicalization program, which involves counseling terrorists to repent and reform themselves.

Scores of program graduates have had their sentences commuted after serving only a couple of years behind bars. More than a few have reappeared in national headlines as being suspects, yet again, in terrorism-related activities.

Meanwhile, the disturbing question of how many former convicts simply left prison only to rejoin the likes of Jemaah Islamiyah remains unanswered.

The problem of fundamentalism has been compounded by what some observers have coined "creeping Shariah."

Since Suharto's fall from power in 1998, politicians from dozens of local municipalities across the country have passed Shariah bylaws, in some cases bordering on the draconian in scope and punishment.

Despite loud protests from human rights groups and ordinary citizens alike, the Supreme Court has recently ruled that these laws cannot be overturned – even though, as all citizens know perfectly well, the Constitution provides for a secular state.

Moderate Muslim leaders are finally waking up. They believe this state of affairs serves as a clarion call for intrafaith dialogue.

But these well-intentioned Islamic scholars and imams – who would like to forge a consensus with fundamentalists on some yet-to-be-defined middle path – fail to understand a few essential truths.

First, fundamentalists are life-long subscribers to moral absolutism and a literal interpretation of scriptures; they are therefore unwilling to compromise their principles or even consider different views on the nature of Islam.

Second, moderates have mistakenly concluded that fundamentalists are waging a holy war. The reality is starkly different.

Fundamentalists are using Islam as an ideological shield for what is, in fact, a profoundly authoritarian-leaning political movement that aspires to undermine the democratic status quo.

Debates about Islam with fundamentalists would be like arguing with communist revolutionaries about competing strains of socialist theory; it makes for interesting and lively philosophical discussions, but ignores the main issue – namely, the struggle for power.

Another part of the problem has been the naivete of liberal politicians and nongovernmental organizations. Ever since JI's first terrorist attack in Bali, these two groups have been staunch advocates for "soft" policies.

Mindful of the excesses of state power during Suharto's New Order, the country's liberals still don't trust the police and military.

Suffering from a serious case of Post-Suharto Stress Disorder, these liberals are under the delusion that the specter of terrorism, hanging ever so gently over the heads of Indonesians like the sword of Damocles, could be exploited by those who would like to roll back democratic reforms.

They are also afraid – quite wrongly – that if the government cracks down too hard, there would be an eruption of Muslim anger in the streets.

In other words, liberals think appeasement will win the day. On the contrary, their liberal instincts have made them into the unwitting accomplices of the Islamists.

While it is true that an Abu Ghraib-type scenario needs to be avoided for both practical and moral reasons, the government is wrong-headed to be lenient.

Deradicalization policies might work well with a few lost souls, but the potential security risks far outweigh the perceived benefits. Granting light jail sentences for terrorists places innocents in harm's way, and it is counterproductive because the government forfeits its ability to deter.

Finally, allowing local governments to institute Shariah law not only contravenes the Constitution, it means the national leadership implicitly condones the tyranny of the few to invade the private lives of the majority against their will.

There has been plenty of talk about what should be done to halt the spread of fundamentalism. But so far, politicians have been either too fearful to act or overly enamored with their bland platitudes.

The lack of political courage to take firm action will make the situation only worse over time. For once, a stake should be driven through the heart of fundamentalism – to do otherwise only courts disaster.

[James Van Zorge is a manager of Van Zorge, Heffernan & Associates, a business consultancy based in Jakarta. He can be reached at jamesvanzorge@yahoo.com.]

Indonesia: Unlearning jihad

Global Post - July 5, 2010

Sara Schonhardt, Semarang, Java – A pitched argument is unfolding between convicted terrorists and high-level criminals detained in a prison in Central Java, where police have been raiding suspected terrorist hideouts since February.

It's a power play, and as their voices gather strength one man leaps from his seat and jabs a finger in the face of his rival. Other men squeeze in, adding to the cacophony. An unarmed guard stands in the corner, indifferent.

Then suddenly a deal is brokered, and laughter and applause break out. What has taken place is a simulation, part of a de- radicalization program run by a collection of nongovernmental organizations headed by the US-based Search for Common Ground.

It is Day 4 – negotiation and mediation – and the participants are given a real-life scenario where one young and marginalized gang must negotiate with powerful, entrenched elites for more freedom and safety in the jail. Life in prison often mimics life outside and the program is teaching participants to respect differences and make positive choices.

The prisoners are clearly engaged. They lean forward in their chairs, scribble notes on small blue pads and nod to show they're listening. This is not what police and lawmakers mean when they say Indonesian prisons are becoming schools for terrorism.

On June 23 police arrested Indonesia's latest most-wanted man, Abdullah Sunata, who police suspect is responsible for setting up a network that was plotting attacks on the Danish Embassy and a July 1 police parade.

Sunata had already served part of a seven-year sentence for his role in the 2004 bombing of the Australian Embassy, but he was released last year for good behavior. What troubles police and security analysts is that Sunata appeared to be open to rehabilitation.

"He was my good boy in the past because he didn't want to carry out attacks," said Noor Huda Ismail, head of the International Institute for Peacebuilding, which is assisting in the de- radicalization program. Noor Huda said he still does not understand why Sunata decided to play the terrorism game again, but he realizes that washing away radical ideologies means more than just denouncing violence.

It also means more than forming good relations with police or having occasional conversations with Islamic preachers – both activities at the heart of the program Indonesian lawmakers say has failed to de-radicalize inmates.

Of the 73 suspects police have arrested or killed since the discovery of a secret paramilitary training camp in the country's northernmost province of Aceh in February, 15 have returned to criminal activity after being released from jail.

National police spokesman Edward Aritonang recently told reporters that jails need a new system for de-radicalizing inmates. The real problem, say analysts, is the belief that such a program ever existed.

"What the police have been doing is not de-radicalization and I don't think it would work if they tried," said Sidney Jones, a senior analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

Abdul Aziz is a case in point. The 34-year-old was co-opted into a jihadist cell by an acquaintance who asked him during an Islamic teaching forum if he would be interested in designing a website about the struggle for jihad.

The group's commander was Noordin M. Top, the mastermind behind the 2002 bombing on the resort island of Bali. Aziz said he did not know about Noordin's connection to the project, nor did he know a plan was in the works to set off another Bali bomb. But shortly after a blast rocked the island, killing 26 people, Aziz was sentenced to eight years in jail for giving sanctuary to Noordin.

Aziz still believes in jihad, which he defines as the struggle to defend Islam. But he does not agree with Noordin's methods because there will always be "missed targets," he said, referring to the term for innocents killed as a consequence of striving for jihad.

"It's fine to have radical thoughts, as long as you don't put them into action," said Noor Huda. And that is part of the reason he prefers to call the program one of disengagement, rather than de-radicalization.

He said he decided to start his own discussion in the prisons when he saw that the police were working on an individual level, usually by offering inmates and their families economic incentives, such as money for school or to start a small business.

The program's trainers recognize that it is not a sure-fire solution. "It's a very, very soft approach," said Farah Monika, from the International Institute for Peacebuilding. "It teaches them to resolve conflicts without violence and to understand each other's differences."

And that, she said, makes it more of program aimed at conflict resolution rather than one geared specifically against terrorism.

The program now runs for five days and since it's in a pilot stage it will conclude after the eighth session in as many different prisons. Monika said five days is not enough but it will help them understand what they need to move forward.

Participants must know how to read and write, they must wield some influence inside the prison and they must have time left on their sentence so they can help spread the program's message, she said.

The problem at present is that not everyone's participation is voluntary. On the first day many of the participants held back, so rather than push them to join, the trainers tried to ease the tension through games and role-play.

Program officer Wakhit Hasim said it helps that he went to an Islamic boarding school and has a similar background to many of the detainees.

"I know about their world, what they know. And the terminology of jihad is familiar," he said. At the front of the room where the classes are held someone has taped a paper to the wall that reads: "Training Principles: 1) Empowerment, 2) Positive Choices, 3) Respect for other humans."

Aziz said he has learned a lot from the training – though he admits he had already begun to re-evaluate his position on jihad before Search for Common Ground came in.

Still, he is candid when he says that the parole board's decision to deny him early release has left him conflicted. When he talks about police abuse his words become clipped. Aziz has a long beard and wavy hair, a sign of his Yemeni heritage. He said he comes from a hard, Arabic tradition and he can be just as tough with police as they are with him.

He believes the government treats terrorists as enemies of the state, and he speculates that recent attempts to target the police are a means of redemption for the way they have treated former terrorist detainees.

That could make Search for Common Ground's program more relevant than ever, since it also works to train prison guards and staff on how to interact and monitor terrorist prisoners. While guards cannot become counselors, Monika said, terrorist convicts still remain a threat behind bars and someone has to make sure they're not radicalizing others.

Police in a poke

Tempo Magazine - June 30-July 6, 2010

A number of senior police officers were reported for conducting suspicious financial transactions. Originating from unclear sources, tens of billions of rupiah were deposited in their bank accounts, some of them under their children's or their adjutants' accounts.

His hands inside the pocket of his long-sleeved batik shirt, Commissioner-General Ito Sumardi asked, "What is the salary of a three-star general like me?" Smilingly, the Chief of the National Police Crime Investigation Unit, answered his own question, "Just nine million rupiah a month, plus some perks."

Ito added that the National Police Chief, the institution's top official, only received a salary of about Rp23 million a month, plus benefits. In handling criminal cases, he continued, the police only receive a budget of Rp20 million per case. Each sector in the police department – the police unit at the district level – is only given a budget for two cases a year. "For the rest we must find our own budgeting," said Inspector- General Dikdik Mulyana, Deputy Chief of the Crime Investigation Unit, who accompanied Ito during the interview with Tempo, on Friday last week.

Ito was not lamenting, but explaining the "internal affairs" of those police officers in order to fend off the charges being made against some senior officers with suspicious bank accounts. A document which contains the financial flows of some top cops had been circulating among the police brass and had become the stuff of gossip at Trunojoyo – where National Police Headquarters is located. Reportedly, this document is a summary of the findings from the Financial Transactions Reporting & Analysis Center (PPATK). Natsir Kongah, a PPATK spokesman, refused to comment on this matter. "I cannot confirm this because that is the jurisdiction of the investigators," he said, on Thursday last week.

According to those documents, six high-ranking police officers and some mid-grade officers committed "transactions which were not in line with their profiles," or in other words were much higher than their monthly salaries. The largest transactions involved a bank account belonging to Inspector-General Budi Gunawan, Chief of the Police's Profession and Security Division. In 2006, through his personal account and the account of his son, this former adjutant of President Megawati Soekarnoputri received deposits of Rp54 billion from, among others, a property business company.

This same list has the name of, among others, Commissioner- General Susno Duadji, former Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit who is currently being held as a suspect in a corruption case. There is also the East Kalimantan Police Chief, Inspector- General Mathius Salempang, former Head of the Mobile Brigade Corps, Inspector-General Sylvanus Yulian Wenas, Inspector-General Bambang Suparno, Senior Commissioner Edward Syah Pernong, and Commissioner Umar Leha.

When asked to confirm the names of the police generals linked to those bank accounts, Ito Sumardi did not directly verify it. He said those officers were on a list of 21 officers with suspicious bank accounts. He said that he had been ordered by National Police Chief, General Bambang Hendarso Danuri to clarify the involvement of the officers. "This is reverse burden of proof, so the burden falls on them to explain the origins of the transactions," he said.

A story about anomalous bank accounts belonging to police generals once appeared at the end of July 2005. At that time, 15 senior police officers were suspected of having questionable bank balances. As spelled out in a document submitted by Yunus Husein, chief of the PPATK to General Sutanto, then the National Police Chief, a number of top cops were suspected of receiving large sums of money from inappropriate sources. It was reported that one bank account held Rp800 billion. However, this case seemed to get scant attention and instead, could just disappear.

One building is visibly larger than the others. Located on Jalan M. Kahfi I in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta, there is the main house, three additional houses, and one building for security guards, all of which stand on 3,000 square meters of land.

There is a 2-meter-high carving of the letter "B" which sits in the yard. The water in the rather large swimming pool in the backyard sparkles from the sunshine. The neighbors call this building the "house of Pak Kapolda (Regional Police Chief)". This is the home of Inspector-General Badrodin Haiti, who was once North Sumatra Police Chief.

Badrodin, who is currently Head of the Police's Legal Affairs & Guidance Division, is one of a number of high-ranking police officers who committed some suspicious financial transactions. According to a Tempo source, Badrodin purchased a PT Prudential Life Assurance insurance policy with a premium of Rp1.1 billion. Reportedly, the cash used to pay the premium came from a third party.

Badrodin, who was Medan Police Chief from 2000 to 2003, also withdrew Rp700 million in cash from Bank Central Asia at the Bukit Barisan Branch in Medan, in May 2006. This transaction, said the source, was seen to be "not in line with his job profile." This is because Badrodin's monthly income was about Rp22 million, consisting of a Rp6 million salary, Rp6 million in business income, and Rp10 million from investment activity.

The findings from an analysis of Badrodin's bank account also mentioned that there were routine monthly deposits of Rp50 million from January 2004-July 2005. There were also deposits of Rp120-343 million. This report also mentioned that these deposits did not have clear underlying transactions.

When asked for confirmation, Badrodin Haiti said that he was not authorized to speak. "That is fully the authority of the Chief of the Crime Investigation Unit," he said. Commissioner-General Ito Sumardi said that his team was still waiting for some additional documents from Badrodin.

Some peculiarities were also found with the bank accounts of Wenas, Bambang Suparno, Mathius Salempang, and Susno Duadji, as well as with some mid-grade police officers. Such indications appeared with Wenas's bank account in 2005, when he was Chief of the East Kalimantan Police Department. On 9 August, Rp10.007 billion was moved from Wenas's account to the bank account of an individual who claims to be a director of PT Hinroyal Golden Wing. Since first opening the account, Wenas's banking transactions have only consisted of incoming transfers from other parties, without any outgoing business transactions.

Wenas has quite a glamorous profile. He has a luxurious home at the Areman Baru Housing Complex in Tugu which sits on a thousand square meters of land. Three years ago the Wenas family moved to a house in the Pesona Khayangan Housing Complex in Depok. Tempo, who visited the Wenas home in this elite housing complex in Depok, on Thursday last week, saw two Toyota Alphards and one Toyota Camry sedan parked in the front yard.

Speaking to Tempo in an interview, Wenas rejected the accusation of making illegal transactions through his bank account. "All of that is untrue," he said. "Those are not my funds."

It turns out that Susno Duadji, who had been keen on exposing the judiciary mafia practices at his institution, also has a suspicious transaction. This former chief of the Crime Investigation Unit accepted a transfer of funds from a business person with the initials JS in the amount of Rp2.62 billion. He also received funds from a businessperson with the initials AS and also from IZM (Head of the Bengkulu Public Works Office). From 2007-2009, Susno accepted Rp3.97 billion from those three individuals. In connection with this flow of funds, National Police Headquarters has named JS a criminal suspect.

Muhammad Assegaf, Susno's lawyer, said that he never discussed the matter of suspicious transactions on the part of his client. On various occasions before being detained, Susno repeatedly denied making any transactions which violated regulations. "All of those transactions are civil law matters," he said.

In addition to some top officers, similar startling transactions had also been done by police officers in the lower ranks. For instance, Umar Leha, last holding the rank of senior commissioner and who once served 12 years as Section Head for Motor Vehicle License Units at the South Sulawesi Police Department.

According to a Tempo source, in June 2005 Umar had Rp4.5 billion, which was saved in the form of mutual funds and a fixed deposit account in Bank Mandiri. It is suspected that the source of these funds, according to transaction analysis, were deposits connected with the administration of motor vehicle licenses.

In Makassar, Umar owns two large houses and four automobiles. Two years ago this police officer became a candidate in the election of the Regent of Enrekang, South Sulawesi. To do so, he resigned from the police department with the final rank of adjunct senior commissioner. He did not win that regional election.

Umar denied the charge of misusing while on duty. He said that he never directly handled state funds originating from the administration of motor vehicle licenses, "Let alone taking any," he said. "I really wouldn't dare to abuse this trust."

Even the bank account of Edward Syah Pernong, the Semarang Police Chief, has invited suspicion. According to a Tempo source, while he was West Jakarta Police Chief, he received deposits of Rp470 million and Rp442 million in August and September 2005 from Deutsche Bank. On 15 September 2005, he closed the account with a final balance of Rp5.39 billion. Edward questioned from where those funds came from. "That data is a lie. It is slander," he told Tempo reporter Sohirin in Semarang, on Thursday last week. Ito Sumardi said that he does not question Edward's wealth. "He is a like a king in Lampung. He has a large palm oil plantation," said Ito.

Even though denials are coming in from all corners, Adnan Pandupradja, a member of the Police Commission, feels that the Police Chief must give serious attention to the report containing questionable transactions. Without a clear examination of those bank accounts, he said, the image of the police department will only get worse.

Neta S. Pane, Head of Indonesia Police Watch, encourages reverse burden of proof mechanism for officers whose bank accounts are under suspicion. He agreed that police generals who have abundant wealth need to be questioned. He added, "If they only live off their salaries, even until doomsday they will never get rich."

Setri Yasra, Wahyu Dhyatmika, Cheta Nilawaty, Tia Hapsari (Jakarta), Abdul Rahman (Makassar)

Accounts under the Spotlight

National Police HQ is asking for clarifications from 21 high- ranking police officers with suspicious bank accounts. The officers in question, whose ranks range from commissioner to commissioner-general, conducted transactions which were "not in line with their profiles" – meaning they were not in line with their official incomes. The following are some of the transactions suspected by the Financial Transactions Reporting & Analysis Center (PPATK). Cheta Nilawati

Inspector-General Mathius Salempang

Position: Chief of the East Kalimantan Police Department

Accusation: Having a bank account of Rp2,088,000,000 from unclear sources. On July 29, 2005 the account was closed and Mathius moved Rp2 billion of the funds to another account in the name of someone with whom he has an unclear connection. Two days later the funds were withdrawn and deposited in Mathius's fixed deposit account.

Property: Land and buildings as well as four plots of land in East Jakarta.

Personal property: BMW and Toyota Alphard automobiles, precious metals.

"I have just found out." (Jakarta, June 24, 2010)

Report of Personal Wealth (May 22, 2009): Rp8,553,417,116 and US$59,842

Inspector-General Silvianus Yulian Wenas

Position: Head of the Police Mobile Brigade Corps

Accusation: Rp10,007,939,259 was transferred from his bank account to an individual who claims to be Director of PT Hinroyal Golden Wing. It consisted of over Rp3 billion and US$100,000 on July 27, 2005. Then there was a transfer of US$670,031 on August 9, 2005.

Property: Two plots of land and buildings in Depok, five plots of land in Depok, two plots of land in Minahasa, four in Central Jakarta.

Personal property: Mitsubishi, Toyota Kijang, Suzuki Baleno, Honda City, and Toyota Innova automobiles, precious metals, and a demand deposit bank account.

"That is not my money." (Jakarta, 24 June 2010)

Report of Personal Wealth (August 25, 2005):Rp 6,535,536,503

Inspector-General Budi Gunawan

Position: Chief of the a Profession and Security Division

Accusation: Involved in large financial transactions not in line with his job profile. Along with his son, it is being said that Budi opened a bank account and made deposits of Rp29 billion and Rp25 billion.

Report of Personal Wealth (August 19, 2008): Rp 4,684,153,542

Property: Two plots of land in South Jakarta and 12 plots of land in Subang, West Java. There are also businesses in the fields of animal husbandry and fisheries, plantations, farming, forestry, mining, tourist attractions, and eateries.

Personal property: Toyota Harrier, Honda Jazz, and Nissan Teana automobiles, two motorcycles, precious metals and antiques.

"That news is entirely untrue." (Friday, June 25, 2010)

Badrodin Haiti

Position: Head of the Police's Legal Affairs Guidance Division

Accusation: Buying insurance policy from PT Prudential Life for Rp1.1 billion. This money was from deposits made by third parties. Reportedly, he withdrew Rp700 million in cash, and routinely receives monthly deposits.

Property: Land and buildings in Depok, two plots in Bekasi, one in Depok, Tangerang, Surabaya, and South Jakarta.

Personal: Kijang, precious metals, demand deposit ac.

Report of Personal Wealth (March 24, 2008): Rp2,090,126,258 and US$4,000

"That is fully the authority of the Crime Investigation Chief Unit." (Jakarta, 24 June 2010)

Commissioner-General Susno Duadji

Position: Former Crime Investigation Unit Chief

Accusation: Accepting Rp2.62 billion of funds sent by a lawyer and another significant amount of funds sent by a businessperson. The total funds transferred to his account come to Rp3.97 billion.

Property: Land and building in Depok.

Personal property: Honda automobile, precious metals, and a demand deposit bank account.

Report of Personal Wealth (2008): Rp1,587,812,155

"We never talked about those suspicious transactions." (M. Assegaf, lawyer for Susno Duadji, Jakarta, June 24, 2010)

Inspector-General Bambang Suparno

Position: Teaching staff at the National Police Officers Staff College

Accusation: urchasing an insurance policy with Rp250 million in premiums on May 2006. A total of Rp11.4 billion in funds came in from January 2006 to August 2007. He withdrew Rp3 billion in November 2006.

Report of Personal Wealth: none made

"There was nothing wrong with those transactions... that happened while I was still in Aceh." (Jakarta, June 24, 2010)

Police captivated by piggy banks, overlook suspicious content

Jakarta Post - July 2, 2010

Pandaya, Jakarta – The police's threat to sue Tempo magazine over its piggy bank cover is both amusing and intimidating at the same time, although it's possible that they are only sounding public reaction now when they are desperately struggling to shed their image as a corrupt force.

People with a good sense of humor will not be able to help but laugh on hearing police officers say that the whole force is irritated by Tempo's cover illustration of a fat officer playing with fat piggy banks.

"Tempo compares the police with animals while it means to target only a few allegedly corrupt individuals among 406,000 police officers nationwide," said National Police spokesman Edward Aritonang.

As we know, the pig is generally considered a religiously dirty animal by Muslims who constitute the overwhelming majority of the country's 235 million, and its meat is deemed haram.

But everybody knows that the cute fat piggy bank is a universal deposit box, which has been in use long before mankind created the bank.

Would it make a different story if Tempo had used a "rooster bank", which is an equally popular alternative to the piggy bank because the rooster symbolizes courage (and good food)? God knows.

But for those familiar with the way Indonesian public officials – the police included – only know well that the police use the very funny joke to cover up their common fear that the constant exposure of corruption within the institution would snowball.

It is foolish to assume that the police do not know how facetious it would be to make an issue of a caricature. It would not need a rocket scientist to judge that the police terribly missed the moral of the story: That the public as represented by the media want the police to clean up its house.

The police, along with the judiciary system, the House of Representatives and political parties have time and again topped the Transparency International-Indonesia's list of most perceived corrupt institutions. Conspiracy theory is swirling around that the information about the officers' fat accounts might have been leaked from the PPATK (Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center) report by some rival officers who will vie for the soon- to-be vacant chieftain post.

A recent revelation by the PPATK that more than a dozen senior officers have stashed suspicious billions of rupiahs in their bank account, has only added credence to the common perception about corruption in the police force.

So anti-corruption activists are right when they question why the police make an issue of the caricature and find Tempo's sources instead of looking into the substance of the story – that they should let other institutions like the Corruption eradication Commission (KPK) investigate the allegations that the institution is corrupt to the core.

It's good to hear that the police have examined 21 of some 60 cases of officers' suspicious accounts as reported by the PPATK, but big doubts remain as to their sincerity when alleged corruption within the police is investigated by the police themselves.

Of course taking the magazine to court is perfectly acceptable so long as the principle of fair play is upheld. Just imagine who would believe the principle is honored if the police investigate a person or an organization they accused?

Besides, a legal action may hit back the police like a boomerang now when the institution is under an intense public spotlight for corruption in the case of Gayus Tambunan, a tax employee who stashed Rp 100 billion and revealed that some officers had had their share of the ill-gotten cash.

The police reactive move also amounts to intimidation to the freedom of the press, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.

A burst of anger came Wednesday from national police's head of public information Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto. He vowed the police would bring the case straight to court instead of filing a complaint with the press council, as the law recommends, and ignored calls for the police to exercise their right to clarify themselves because Tempo had repeatedly "insulted" his institution.

Interestingly, none of the senior officers who expressed their anger explicitly raised objection to the editorial content of the report. The police should put their house in order instead of eyeballing whoever is trying to help them put their house in order.

Spoiled party

Jakarta Post Editorial - July 1, 2010

Flower garlands and a downpour of congratulations will mark the 64th anniversary of the National Police today, but the celebration has already turned sour following an investigative report regarding the suspicious wealth of mid- to high-ranking officers in the force.

An inspector general, according to the Tempo magazine report, lives in a luxury house built on a 3,000-square meter plot of land in South Jakarta, although he currently only earns Rp 22 million (US$2,417) in monthly salary.

An adjutant senior commissioner booked Rp 4.5 billion in assets in 2005, bought two large-size houses in his hometown, Makassar, and dared to contest a regional election in 2008, although some aspirants in other regions complained the polls cost them at least Rp 20 billion.

The findings contradict the public perception that the police force is one of the cash-strapped institutions in the country that is facing herculean duties to instill reforms and uphold good governance.

Nothing is new or surprising with the report, as for the last few years the National Police has been negotiating the issue, which its leaders deem as no less than accusations. Even when former detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, now detained on multiple graft charges, sang aloud about rampant bribery practice within the force, the National Police took a defensive stance.

Thousands of copies of the latest edition of the magazine, which features the investigative report, were sold out before they hit the streets, only to spark speculation that the report would be detrimental to certain officers dubbed candidates for the National Police chief post.

In response to the report, current detective chief Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said the National Police chief had ordered investigations on around 800 suspicious transactions involving police officers, including bank accounts belonging to 60 officers.

Corruption watchdogs have long smelled graft practice within the police force, which they say has worsened following the landmark separation of the police from the armed forces a decade ago. The find reforms have provided fertile ground for corruption to grow, rather than rooted out the practice many used to link to the past regime.

Positive thinkers, however, believe the police reform is not just a facelift, but works well in line with the force's bid to rebuild its image.

A survey conducted by Gallup in April 2007, for example, found Indonesians expressed a great sense of personal security from crime as a result of the police reform. It discovered that nearly nine in 10 Indonesians said they felt safe walking alone at night, and saw a drastic decline in crime rate.

The police's efforts to improve national security have been evident in their continuous crackdown on terror suspects. A number of planned strikes have been foiled, which otherwise would resemble Indonesia to several other Asian countries where bombs blast almost every day due to their persistent fight against terrorism.

Nevertheless, the glamorous lifestyle of police generals in the country may hurt the internal reform they claim to fight for. In a time when corruption is known to have been deep rooted in many, if not all, state institutions as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has found, it is legitimate to question the police's commitment to reform.

A mandatory wealth report sanctioned by the KPK for public officials, including police top brass, does not mean anything but routine as the antigraft body and the country's legal system cannot force state officials to prove they gained their wealth through legitimate means.

A fully fledged police reform will require not only skillful and professional officers who provide security to society, but also personnel with integrity as we cannot afford to rely on law enforcers who break the law themselves.

Good cops are what we need to complete our transition to democracy. We do not want a quick fix, but we believe the police reform, after more than a decade, is too slow to bear fruit.

Book & film reviews

Suharto, by the book

Jakarta Globe - July 5, 2010

Not many people can claim that they were literally part of history. But retired Australian journalist David Jenkins, who was banned by President Suharto from Indonesia for eight years, may be one of those who can actually truthfully make this claim.

Over his four-decade journalism career, Jenkins has had a keen interest in Southeast Asia. He worked as a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review from 1976-84, when he covered Indonesia as part of his assignment, and as an editor of the Sydney Morning Herald and The Times on Sunday from 1985-2004.

Jenkins has also written a lot on Indonesia, including a controversial book and story that had far-reaching diplomatic consequences.

Jenkins was in Jakarta on June 30 for the relaunch of his book, "Suharto and His Generals: Indonesia Military Politics 1975- 1983." The English edition of the book was republished by Equinox Publishing and the Indonesian edition published by Komunitas Bambu. The book was originally published in English by the Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications in 1984.

"Suharto and His Generals" was banned in Indonesia in 1984 due to its in-depth and critical analysis of the political situation at the time.

It tackles the complex military and the parallel government political structure of the country, as well as opposition against the state, which was mainly led by retired generals. Jenkins described Suharto, who was in power for 32 years, as someone who kept his subordinates guessing.

"The story of Suharto is of someone who made good despite a very troubled early life," Jenkins said. "He was of very modest educational background, a troubled family background, but extremely intelligent, capable, thorough in his preparations and a difficult man to read."

The book, as well as the article Jenkins wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald with the headline, "After Marcos, Now for the Suharto Billions," earned him Suharto's ire. Jenkins was banned from Indonesia in 1986 and was only able to re-enter in 1994 to cover a Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Jenkins's Sydney Herald story delved into the Suharto family's wealth and made explicit comparisons between former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his Indonesian counterpart.

"Indonesians at the top level, generals, editors and ambassadors were all saying, what's the difference between the Philippines and here?" he said.

"I don't want to sound disingenuous, but I was just holding up a mirror and genuinely reflecting on what people were saying. I did make the point that Suharto was very different from Marcos because Suharto had done a lot of good. But this was a very sensitive topic, precisely because this is what the elite was talking about."

The article wasn't intended to run as a cover story, Jenkins said. It was meant to be a feature, but the editor decided that it was more suitable as the lead.

"When I look back, I should have objected strongly, but I didn't," he said. "It's my responsibility. I knew I was getting into dangerous territory and it's a pity that it happened because it caused a lot of damage."

The article is said to be one of the reasons why Australia- Indonesia relations crumbled. Australian news bureaus here were shuttered and even Australian journalists traveling with the American press on Air Force One were not allowed to disembark.

Jenkins said that despite this, "others had it worse"."For foreigners, if you can't come [to Indonesia], you can do something else," he said. "But if you're an Indonesian journalist fighting for an open society, it was very risky. They were the ones who really suffered the consequences."

Jenkins wrote the book as a result of "seeing a bit of what it is here [in Indonesia] and [what it] would [be] like to try [and] put it all together in a book form."

The most interesting and perhaps contentious parts of the book revolve around the numerous exclusive interviews he obtained from various high-ranking generals, such as Benny Murdani, Ali Murtopo and Sumitro, who were staunch critics of Suharto.

In addition, it also details the internal politicking of Suharto loyalists as they maneuvered against one another to win his favor.

"They were speaking very frankly about the rival groups," Jenkins said. "It is one thing to be speaking critically about the opposition generals, but within these five or six groups [who were Suharto loyalists], 'Ah, he did this and that.' It was just funny."

Through details provided in the book, one is able to visualize life during the New Order era, a term that Suharto coined to describe his regime.

Looking back at his days as a journalist in Indonesia, Jenkins said that it was an amazing experience for him to be able to speak with personalities who contributed to the nation's independence. One of them was Darsono, one of two co-founders of the Indonesia Communist Party.

"He was worried about deforestation. He said, 'We're cutting down all the trees up high in the mountains of Java. The water's running down and will cause flooding.' This was 40 years ago. Nobody said something like that that I knew of," he said.

Jenkins is currently working on another book about Suharto's early years and his rise to the presidency. Will it be able to live up to the hype of the first book? It still remains to be seen.