They demanded the Supreme Court acknowledge KAI officially as the court has only acknowledged their rival organization, the Association of Indonesian Lawyers (Peradi), Metro TV reported.

Commotion took place when the lawyers were not allowed to enter the Supreme Court building. The association vice president, Zakirudin Chaniago argued with security officers who tried to block him and his fellow lawyers from entering.

The irate lawyers finally broke open the gate. Two lawyers hurled a flower pot towards the police before entering the lobby with the crowd. In the lobby, they took down and smashed the official picture of Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa and then proceeded to stomp on it.

Security officers managed to extricate the photo from the lawyers' stomping feet before it was completely destroyed.

Another commotion occurred when security officers prevented the angry mob from going to the second floor where court officials were having a meeting with the chairman of KAI, Indra Sahnun Lubis.

"We are lawyers too, don't play favorite," they shouted at the officers. The bitter stand off has yet to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

Workers say electricity hike will mean wage cuts, more dismissals

Okezone - July 12, 2010

Rheza Andhika Pamungkas, Jakarta – Around 80 workers from the Indonesian Labour Movement Union (PPBI) held a demonstration today demanding the cancellation of basic electricity rate (TDL) hikes that came into effect on July 1.

"Although the TDL for people categorised as poor will not rise, poor people will still be hit by the impact of these TDL hikes", said PPBI chairperson Ata B. Udi in a speech at the Department of Labour and Transmigration in Jakarta on Monday July 12.

According to Udi, the electricity rate increase will result in cuts to employees' wages and numbers. Udi said that some 15,000 workers have already been hit by dismissals because the companies where they work have had to increase efficiency.

"In addition to this, the TDL hike will also impact on other prices, such as basic commodities, building materials, as well as transportation fares such as electric trains", added Udi.

In addition to the Labour Department, the protests also plan to hold a demonstration at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circles and the State Palace. "We will be conveying the same demands. If they are not heeded, we promise to bring more demonstrators in coming days", threatened Udi. (ton)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Aceh

Indonesian Islamic police jailed for gang-raping woman

Agence France Presse - July 15, 2010

Banda Aceh – An Indonesian court on Thursday jailed two Islamic policemen for gang-raping a young woman in custody, a case that has sparked outrage in the deeply religious province of Aceh.

Mohammed Nazir, 29, and Feri Agus, 28, were found guilty of raping a 20-year-old student in a police station in January after she was arrested with her boyfriend under local laws designed to enforce Islamic morals.

The eight-year jail sentence for the two men was lighter that the maximum penalty of 12 years demanded by prosecutors who said the defendants, as sharia police officers, should have better morals.

But the judge defended the punishment. "The defendants have never committed any crime before, they were always polite during the trial and they are the breadwinners in their family," chief judge Lukman Bachmit said.

"An eight-year jail term is considered quite heavy compared to other similar crimes in Indonesia," he said.

Indonesia's Muslims are mostly moderate, but Aceh has special autonomy, and one of the ways it differentiates itself is through implementation of Shariah law, enforced by special Islamic police.

Rights activists called for the Islamic force to be disbanded after the incident, saying it did nothing but harass women about their clothes and humiliate young unmarried couples.

They also said the Shariah police were not empowered to detain anyone, and could only issue warnings. Aceh's provincial deputy governor Mohammad Nazar said the rape was an isolated incident.

Tempers flare as Arun Gas plant blockade enters third week

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A blockade of the giant Arun liquefied natural gas plant in northern Aceh by more than 500 villagers demanding the company honor 36-year-old promises entered its third week on Tuesday with no end in sight.

The blockade flared up on Monday when protesters scuffled with the police while trying to stop plant workers leaving by the main gate.

The protesters are from four villages in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, whose land was taken over by Arun LNG in 1974. The four villages are West Lancang, East Lancang, East Rancong and West Rancong. The protesters have blocked the main entrance to the plant.

Ahmad Refki, the coordinator of the protesters gathered under the Evicted People's Alliance, said his group would continue the peaceful protest until their demands were met by the government and state oil and gas company Pertamina.

"The residents demand resettlement and an agriculture area to make a living, as promised by the government when Arun was established in 1974," Ahmad said in a phone interview.

He said the government and Pertamina had promised all residents affected by the oil and gas mega project that they would be resettled and given land to farm.

The promise was contained in a letter from then Aceh Governor Muzakkir Walad. Residents of other villages surrounding the plant have already been relocated, but not those from the four villages.

"The 452 heads of families from these four villages have only been compensated for their land," Ahmad said.

Some of these people have since left, while other have stayed and have had to rent houses. The protesters have put up a tent at the plant entrance.

The blockade has not affected the company's operations, but workers have been forced to look for other ways to get in and out of the plant.

"The demonstration is peaceful," Ahmad said. "We will continue this blockade until our demands are fulfilled by the government and there is a written agreement that residents can hold on to."

He added that the armed conflict in Aceh between the military and the separatist Free Aceh Movement, and the resulting security presence in the area, had prevented residents from claiming their rights earlier.

He denied claims made by a witness that the cars of several Arun staff had been vandalized during Monday's scuffles, saying the cars had been only slightly scratched or dinged.

The witness, who declined to be named, said police had fired warning shots into the air to disband the protesters but there were no serious injuries.

Ahmad said that to avoid further clashes, the protesters had stayed inside their tent on Tuesday because the police were on guard around the site.

The Arun gas field is one of the country's largest and for decades has been considered a vital project requiring tight security.

The plant was a target of guerilla attacks during the three decades of separatist conflict, and the military has always had a strong presence in the area.

Aceh, sharia & coffee shops

Jakarta Post - July 13, 2010

Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A group of men relaxes in a coffee shop in Lamkabeu village, Aceh Besar, chatting about the breaking news of terrorism in their village.

Mulyadi, the stall owner, busily prepares dozens of glasses of black coffee for his customers. Since dawn, he and his small cafe had been set to welcome the male guests with their favorite drink to start the day.

"After dawn prayers, the men of this village will come straight here to sip coffee," said Mulyadi. Waiting on the table were glasses of hot coffee and heaps of traditional cakes. Cigarette smoke formed a thin mist in the shop.

Gathering and talking about everything in a coffee shop are part of the daily routines of all men in Aceh, consuming almost half of the day. "There's nothing left untouched, from household matters to current international issues. A coffee shop is virtually a communication center for villagers," said Lamkabeu village head Maimun.

Many believe the coffee-drinking tradition dates back to Arab traders who came to the province in the past. But during the period of conflict in Aceh in the 1980s and 1990s, coffee shops served as a neutral zone for all circles to meet in a relaxed way. It was widely heard about accidental encounters between conflicting parties, from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as well as the Indonesian Military, in coffee shops. "Anybody could enjoy coffee openly without fear," added Maimun.

He explained that when the conflict was intense, nearly all residents, especially men, were suspected by the military of joining GAM and hiding in village homes. Male family members frequented coffee shops to avoid being suspected by soldiers, who were hunting GAM followers in their villages.

Coffee shops now also function as a main information center for village communities. They are the only type of village business kiosks subscribing to newspapers. Visitors are therefore gathering to get the latest information. Still, TV programs via satellite service offer another attraction to the rural customers.

Though television is not a rarity in villages, not all villagers can afford to buy antennas to receive both domestic and overseas broadcasts.

Some striking differences can be noticed between traditional village and city coffee shops. In big cities like Banda Aceh, they provide not only satellite television but also free Wi-Fi facilities. Almost every coffee shop in such cities in Aceh now offer free Internet facilities for 24 hours.

"Despite the physical difference, village and city coffee shops mostly present their coffee in the same way and with almost the same taste, except in certain places," said Hasbi Azhar, an Aceh coffee buff.

In Banda Aceh, coffee shops have their regular customers. Automotive enthusiasts choose to gather in Black Jack, civil servants prefer Taufik's shop, activists and government officials enjoy drinking at Jasa Ayah Solong, while teenagers' favorite hangout is Chek Yuke.

"Coffee shops are practically informal offices for these people. Usually their discussions are held in an apparently informal way. Yet many talks starting in coffee shops have served as the basis for major projects undertaken in Aceh," added Hasbi.

Normally coffee shops in Aceh, the only among 33 provinces in the country to apply Islamic sharia law, open from 6 a.m. to midnight, but some serve their customers around the clock, seven days a week.

The enforcement of sharia banning the opening of entertainment houses such as discotheques prompts the public to accept the only choice of going to coffee shops to forget the burden of daily routines for a while.

After the tsunami hit Aceh, many NGO workers from various parts of the world also found some comfort in visiting these shops. The NGO volunteers even penetrated the men-only visitor culture to these shops.

"For the Aceh community, coffee shops were originally meant for men, as it was uncommon for women to hang around there. But since the presence of NGO workers, the discrimination between males and females seems no long apparent," noted Hasbi.

Now coffee shops in Aceh cities are no longer men-only zone. Many female customers ranging from housewives to teenagers frequent the shops for relaxation. Parents even bring along their children just to enjoy the shops' cheerful atmosphere, as the coffee tradition continues.

West Papua

Australian academics warn violence might break out in Papua

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Nivell Rayda – A report published by an Australian university this month warns that massacres such as those alleged to have occurred in East Timor are likely to occur in Papua.

The report, prepared by the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies highlighted that the majority of the Papuan people feel that the special autonomy in Papua had failed to bring prosperity to the province and paved the way to corruption.

The special autonomy status which was granted by the central government in 2001 was meant to suppress calls for independence after the fall of former president Suharto in 1998.

The autonomy gave larger economic independence and meant that a large portion of the royalties received from logging and mining industries were channeled back to the province.

"Money supposed to be allocated to health and education expenditure was swallowed up in public servants wages, in buildings and even in funding local military operations. Health and education services have declined in many areas," the report says.

"Special Autonomy led to a fall in people's living standards. It also failed to empower the Papuans politically."

Jim Elmslie and Camellia Webb Gannon, the authors of the report, urge a peaceful dialog between Jakarta and the Papuan people.

The Papuan Parliament, or MRP, and leading Papuan intellectuals called for a referendum of independence on June 18. A massive rally took place in the province capital, Jayapura, just a day later.

10,000 people are estimated to have participated in the demonstration during which members of the crowd symbolically handed back the special autonomy status to the central government.

The academics warn that unless a peaceful talk is staged soon there is likely to be an escalation in violence in the province.

"The real danger in Papua is that all of the events discussed in this report will lead to even larger-scale demonstrations that run the risk of increasingly violent military responses," the authors wrote.

Elmslie and Gannon predicted that a repeat of the 1991 alleged massacre in Santa Cruz, East Timor, is likely to occur.

Papuans don't understand what they really want, ministers claim

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran & Banjir Ambarita – If the broad autonomy accorded to Papua had not raised the region's prosperity it was the local authorities' fault, government ministers said on Tuesday.

The comments came on the heel of massive protests in Papua last week that demanded a referendum on self-determination and claimed the special autonomy handed to the region in 2001 had failed.

"In Papua there are people demanding freedom from Indonesia," Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said. "Actually, they don't really understand that what they really want is good welfare. In fact, we have sent Rp 30 trillion [$3.3 billion] to Papua."

The coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, Djoko Suyanto, said it was not up to Jakarta to monitor the region's special autonomy status.

"If there are funds for the region that have not been disbursed, that is the work of the governor and the DPRP to supervise," Djoko said, using the acronym for the Papua Legislative Council.

Djoko said that trillions of rupiah had been sent to develop the region, making Papua the largest single recipient of special autonomy funds.

The coordinating minister said that last week he had met twice with representatives of the DPRP and the Papuan People's Council (MRP) to discuss the calls for a referendum in Papua. "They have stated what they need to say and we also stated our standing position," he said.

Salmon Yumame, who heads the United Papua People's Democracy Forum (Fordem), said that despite the introduction of special autonomy, Papuans remained marginalized.

"The special autonomy with its trillions of rupiah has never touched the lives of our people," Salmon said. "Those who enjoy the money are only the elite and bureaucrats," he added.

Salmon said that special autonomy did not protect or benefit Papua's native people and that there was a need for the policy to be evaluated. "In the nine years since special autonomy was given, it has never been evaluated," he said.

Salmon said that the special status given to the region had failed to raise the dignity of the Papuan people and that the MRP had seen its decisions ignored. He said that despite the council's recommendation that heads and lawmakers in Papua be native to the region, many were appointees from outside.

Fordem's secretary general, Benny Giay, told the Jakarta Globe that another problem giving rise to dissatisfaction in Papua and therefore fueling the demand for a referendum was the wide economic gap between natives and migrants in the region.

"There are also problems of the basic needs and rights of the Papua people, such as education and health, which are not being fulfilled by the government," Benny said. "This reality has forced some of Papuan people to ask for a referendum."

He said migration to Papua from other parts of the country should be halted. Benny accused the government in Jakarta of being arrogant and failing to ensure special autonomy in Papua was really implemented.

Discontent in Papua has been fueled by what local people perceive as the siphoning off of the region's natural resources by non- Papuans and the alleged human rights violations in the region committed in the name of national security.

Prisoners riot over inmate's beat-down in Papua

Jakarta Globe - July 12, 2010

Banjir Ambarita, Jayapura – Several correctional officers were injured when dozens of prisoners at Abepura Penitentiary rioted on Sunday in revenge for a previous incident in which officers beat up an inmate and took his money.

Papua Justice and Human Rights Office head Nazaruddin Burnas said on Monday that officers had found Rp 9.8 million ($1,080) during a routine inspection of the inmate's cell, in direct violation of prison rules.

"The prisoner wouldn't say where he got the money, so the officers beat him up," he said. "That, plus the seizure of the money, riled up the rest of the inmates."

Nazaruddin said his office was investigating reports that the money was intended for bribes for correctional officers to help prisoners escape.

Abepura Penitentiary has a wretched security record, with mass breakouts occurring regularly at the facility. In May, 18 inmates escaped during a protest by correctional guards over the sacking of then chief warden Antonius Ayorbaba.

In June, 26 prisoners broke out by scaling down a prison wall using a rope strung together with bedsheets. Only two inmates from those breakouts have been recaptured.

"Several correctional guards refuse to cooperate with the new warden, leading to gross derelictions of duty that have left security at the penitentiary in an appalling state," Nazaruddin said after the June breakout.

He said he would replace some of the officers with new graduates from the Academy of Correctional Sciences.

75 wounded by arrows in Papua tribal war

Antara News - July 11, 2010

Jayapura – Tolikara district on Saturday afternoon succeeded in ending a tribal war that erupted in the small hour of the morning.

Papua Police spokesman Snr. Comr. Wachyono confirmed the violent communal clash had happened in Tolikara district but according to the latest information from the local police, the hostilities had stopped, and police had gained full control over the situation.

"True, there was a clash in Tolikara that lasted from dawn until around 9 a.m.... However, I have been informed that the situation there is now under control," Wachyono said.

The conflict was triggered by a family quarrel and violence, he said. Apius Wenda, a member of the Papuan indigenous people, had a quarrel with his wife, Betina Wendik, and beat her up on Friday. Betina later ran away to her relatives' house and complained about the manhandling by her husband.

The wife's relatives could not accept the fact, and retaliated by assaulting Apius Wenda when he came to pick up his wife.

The fighting among the relatives eventually escalated into a communal war.

According to Wachyono, about 75 people were wounded by arrows, and one by an axe. Three of the injured as listed as being in a critical condition due to severe injuries and had been transferred to Wamena, Jayawijaya, by a plane.

According to the latest information on Saturday, the two warring communities had withdrawn to their respective home areas.

The security officers have also seized evidence in the form of six cleavers, 13 knives, 50 arrows and six bows.

Tribal wars still happen from time to time in Indonesian Papua where many indigenous people are still living in very traditional ways.

Most political prisoners in Papua refuse to ask for pardon

Jakarta Post - July 10, 2010

Jakarta – Most political prisoners in Papua refused to ask for a pardon from the President as they claimed not guilty for their separatist movement.

Kompas.com reported that there are 34 Papuan political prisoners who were involved in the Free Papua Movement in the 1960s.

Head of Papua office of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, Nazarudin Bunas, said it was difficult for him to recommend the political prisoners get remission should they refuse to ask for a pardon.

Some prisoners such as Yusak Pakage and Cosmos Yual, however, were granted a pardon by the President. Yusak has been released from jail although he is supposed to complete his jail sentence in 2013, while Cosmos is now on parole.

Papua autonomy protests challenge Jakarta

BBC News - July 9, 2010

Karishma Vaswani – Hundreds of protesters in West Papua have continued their demonstrations rejecting the province's special autonomy status.

The protesters, who camped outside the provincial parliament in Jayapura overnight, say they will not leave until their demands are heard by the government in Jakarta.

The peaceful rally began on Thursday in Jayapura, the provincial capital. West Papua is Indonesia's most remote and least developed province.

Beny Giay, one of the organisers of the protest, told the BBC they will not leave until their demands for dialogue on a referendum for independence are met by the government.

Autonomy debate

But police say that while the protesters had a permit to hold a peaceful demonstration on Thursday, their gathering is now illegal.

Imam Setiawan, Jayapura's police chief, told the BBC police are ready to disperse the protesters with force. He admits his officers could even use live ammunition but only as a last resort.

Representatives of the Papuan assembly delivered a list of their demands to the Indonesian government in Jakarta on Thursday.

They say the special autonomy status which the province was granted in 2001 has failed the Papuan people because it has not raised the standard of living for the province's population.

Human rights groups say despite a large reserve of natural resources Papua remains one of the least developed parts of Indonesia.

Police praised for showing restraint in huge Papuan demonstration

Radio New Zealand - July 9, 2010

Indonesian police have been praised for showing restraint in their handling of a massive demonstration in the capital of Papua province.

At least 50,000 Papuans marched towards the provincial parliament in Jayapura yesterday, calling for formal rejection of special autonomy status.

About twenty thousand camped outside the parliament overnight. They're calling for the upper house to endorse last month's decision by the lower house to reject the autonomy arrangement which they say has failed to ensure their basic rights.

Australia-based activist Nick Chesterfield says the protest has been peaceful but that this hasn't stopped violent response from police in the past.

"The Indonesian police initially were going to disperse them with full force. They were fully armed, came in and gave a deadline of 6pm and then a very tense standoff ensued for quite a while. And the leaders of the movement entered into negotiations with police. Police agreed to let them stay until this afternoon."

Politics & political parties

What will happen to small parties?

Jakarta Post - July 16, 2010

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The next legislative elections are four years away, but debate is already underway on a change to the parliamentary threshold, which will affect the number of political parties in the House of Representatives.

Hadar Gumay, a political observer from the Center for Electoral Reform, blasted seven major and medium-sized parties in the House of Representatives for seeking to increase the parliamentary threshold from 2.5 to 5 percent, which would effectively exile small parties from the House.

The seven parties, who each control between 5 and 21 percent of the House's 560 seats, will collaborate on a planned revision of the 2008 law on political parties and legislative elections. The government is currently working on a draft revision.

The two smallest parties in the House – the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) – are the only opponents of the proposal.

The major parties argue that a higher parliamentary threshold is needed to simplify the country's multi-party system and ensure more effective government, Hadar said.

The argument is weak and more influential factors, such as the political maturity of the politicians and the assertiveness of party leaders, determine the effectiveness of the governance, Hadar added.

"Will we reach the goal [of more effective government] by continually increasing the threshold? This is a flawed assumption. Yet if we do so, we will surely disrupt our representation system and democracy," he added.

There were 19 million wasted votes last year, worth 15 legislative seats that ended up being distributed among nine parties that made it to the House because of the 2.5 percent parliamentary threshold, he said.

"Had the 5 percent threshold been applied last year, there could have been 32 million wasted votes for 45 seats. Imagine how low our representation level would be. There would be a large number of inappropriately represented people."

The National Mandate Party's (PAN) proposal of a "political party confederation" to accommodate the small parties at the House is worthy of support, he added.

The beginning of the reform era in Indonesia was marked by the participation of 48 parties in the 1999 legislative elections, which was a dramatic increase from the three parties that operated under the New Order regime.

The 1999 Election Law provided for a 2 percent electoral threshold for House representation, which has been amended twice for the 2004 and 2009 legislative elections.

The 2003 law on legislative elections increased the legislative threshold to 3 percent, which forced many small parties out of the 2004 legislative elections and cut the number of participating parties in half to 24.

The 2008 law on legislative elections law stipulated a 3 percent electoral threshold and a separate 2.5 percent parliamentary threshold.

Arbi Sanit, a political expert from University of Indonesia (UI) supports the seven-party proposal and suggested a higher threshold that would effectively create two House factions.

Parties should set aside their differences and consolidate to form two big factions at the House, the one supporting the government and one the opposition, to foster political stability, he added.

Coalition partners pounce on latest Golkar suggestion

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Golkar stalwart Priyo Budi Santoso's call for a cabinet reshuffle was rebuffed by other lawmakers from the ruling coalition as political grandstanding on Tuesday.

Priyo, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, made the call following a recent evaluation that gave a quarter of the cabinet failing grades for their respective performances over the past nine months.

However, House Speaker Marzuki Alie, from the ruling Democratic Party, said Golkar should "stop politicizing everything for its own interests."

He said the evaluation, conducted by the Presidential Working Unit for Development Supervision and Control (UKP4), was a routine performance appraisal and should not be used as an impetus to change the cabinet and that legislators should not "interfere in the executive branch of the government."

"Any decision to reshuffle the cabinet should be made by the president," Marzuki said. "Neither political parties nor lawmakers should get involved in this issue."

Marzuki justified the failing grades by saying the cabinet was less than a year old and needed more time to come together.

In its report, the UKP4 flunked the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, and the Public Works Ministry, as well as all three coordinating ministries.

United Development Party (PPP) secretary general Irgan Chaerul Mahfiz also denounced Priyo's call, saying he should not try to influence the president's judgement of his own cabinet.

"We really hope that if a reshuffle is forthcoming, then it's based on the president's own sound judgement, and not on the political agenda of a single party," Irgan said. "If the president deems a reshuffle is necessary, then we won't object."

Rather than busying itself with getting more of its members into the cabinet, Golkar should pay greater attention to more pressing problems like rising food prices, Irgan said.

Mahfud Siddiq, deputy secretary general of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), also said Priyo was out of line in calling for a cabinet reshuffle. He suggested that Golkar could be using the assessment as a ploy to replace its own ministers in the cabinet.

"Perhaps they don't want the public to catch wind of their internal problems," Mahfud said. "So they pounce on the UKP4 evaluation as an excuse to withdraw their own troubled members from the cabinet."

Social organisations & NGOs

Victorious Prabowo reaches out to angry HKTI rivals

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Made Arya Kencana, Denpasar – In a move surprising no one, Prabowo Subianto was re-appointed chairman of the country's largest agrarian group, following a much-derided selection by acclamation that his rivals said was illegitimate and rigged.

The latter went on to hold their own rival congress at which Oesman Sapta Odang was elected the new chairman, although the legitimacy of this congress remains in doubt.

Speaking after his selection on Wednesday at the official Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) national congress in Bali, Prabowo called on his rivals to put their differences aside for the sake of the organization.

"I invite all my detractors to lay aside all their prejudices and come back to the fold to work together to advance the interests of farmers," he said.

He made a reconciliatory offer by naming Jafar Hafsah, his only rival for chairman who did not boycott the congress, to the post of chairman of the HKTI's advisory council, replacing Siswono Yudo Husodo.

"As an agricultural expert and a senior member of this organization, his capabilities are unquestionable and he will do much for the HKTI," Prabowo said.

Jafar, who on Tuesday night joined Oesman and Siswono in denouncing the selection process, said he had since held a long discussion with Prabowo and had accepted his offer.

Prabowo also made reconciliatory calls to rivals Oesman and Siti Hediyati "Titiek" Hariyadi, a daughter of the late former president Suharto, both of whom boycotted the congress.

"I'd like both of them to feature in my plans for the HKTI," he said. "There's no need for friction. We can all achieve so much more if we stand together."

However, rival camps held their own congress on Wednesday, arguing that the congress that selected Prabowo as chairman was illegitimate. Oesman won the vote by a wide margin, notching up 229 votes out of 400.

Both Oesman and his campaign head, Herri Suginaryo, said the official congress's use of an acclamation rather than a vote to select the chairman went against the HKTI's rules.

"In our congress, there was no pressure on the voters or intervention of any kind," Oesman said. "My victory is legitimate because our congress was valid, unlike the other one."

Herri had previously accused Prabowo's camp of rigging the selection from the very start. He also said that the delegates who were allowed to take part in selecting the chairman had not been picked by the association's national executive board.

Joko Edi Abdulrahman, chairman of the HKTI's legal division, agreed that the official congress was not legitimate and said the rival congress met all administrative requirements.

However, Fadli Zon, the secretary of the official congress's organizing committee and a close confidant to Prabowo, insisted the congress was legitimate because the entire proceedings had been unanimously approved by the delegates.

Prabowo reelected as chairman of farmers association

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

The national congress of the Indonesian Farmers Association on Tuesday night reelected incumbent chairman Prabowo Subianto by acclamation for the 2010-15 period.

"Because the majority of the national congress had agreed to reelect Pak Prabowo by acclamation, we speeded up the congress and officially elected him late last night," committee member Komang Suarsana told state news agency Antara on Wednesday.

Based on the schedule, the election for chairman should have been conducted on Wednesday morning, but congress members had pushed for the election to be held as soon as possible.

"On the early hours of Wednesday, Pak Prabowo was officially named as the chairman for the next five years," Komang said.

Jafar Hafsah was Prabowo's only rival for the post. On Tuesday, Jafar's camp accused Prabowo's team of having engineered the congress and of rigging the election from the start.

Another previous contender for the post was Siti Hediati Hariyadi, one of the daughters of former President Suharto and Prabowo's former wife. However, Siti, who is better known as Titiek, withdrew her bid for the candidacy, stating that the association was no longer fighting for farmers.

"I don't want to be a part of the national congress anymore because the association has distracted itself from its real purpose, which is fighting for the farmers' benefit," she said in a statement.

Big names vie to lead farmers' group

Jakarta Globe - July 12, 2010

Made Arya Kencana, Denpasar – The usually sedate national congress of the Indonesian Farmers Association has suddenly become a who's who of political heavyweights thanks to a string of big-name candidates vying to become the organization's next chairperson.

While much of the talk among the candidates is of improving the lives of farmers, many observers believe the sudden interest in leading the association, or HKTI, is more about shoring up grassroots support for national elections in 2014.

Fadli Zon, secretary of the congress's organizing committee and a close confidant of the current HKTI chairman, Prabowo Subianto, said on Monday that despite the appearance of major political players, the association would not allow itself to be drawn into party politics.

Prabowo, a retired Army general and top official at the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), faces a potential showdown with his ex-wife, Siti Hediyati "Titiek" Hariyadi, a Golkar Party deputy secretary general and the daughter of the late President Suharto.

Titiek is running on her family links to the HKTI, which supported Suharto during his three decades in power. The association's influence has faded since the downfall of the dictator in 1998.

Also in the running to lead the association are Jafar Hafsal, a legislator from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, Benni Pasaribu, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and former Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Another prominent candidate is former Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, though he is considered a long shot.

"We welcome all of the candidates running for chairperson, but we maintain that the HKTI is a purely nonprofit organization and should not be used as a political tool to galvanize farmers' votes," Fadli said.

He denied claims that Prabowo had used the association to muster votes during his failed presidential run last year. The president usually opens the congress, but the organizing committee conspicuously failed to invite Yudhoyono this year, fueling speculation of a still-simmering feud between Prabowo and the president.

But the HKTI's secretary, Rachmat Pambudy, denied the rumors. "The decision not to invite Yudhoyono was a purely logistical one," he said.

'It's not political' as Suharto scion eyes HKTI

Jakarta Globe - July 12, 2010

Armando Siahaan, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Antara – Long forgotten as a political vehicle until it resurfaced behind Prabowo Sugianto in his failed bid for the presidency last year, the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) is again suddenly in the spotlight with a leadership bid by a daughter of the late President Suharto.

Established in 1973, the HKTI is a confederation of 14 organizations of agricultural producers. Prominent in its support for Suharto during his three decades in power, it faded with the downfall of the dictator in 1998. Prabowo became chairman in 2005 and used it extensively to campaign for his party, the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), and his run at the presidency.

HKTI today begins a four-day national congress in Bali to elect a new chairman for 2010-15.

Siti Hediyati "Titiek" Hariyadi – also a former wife of Prabowo – is the latest to announce her interest. Titiek also happens to be a deputy secretary general of the Golkar Party. "I ask for your support to continue to realize Pak Harto's efforts to make farmers self-reliant," she said, referring to her father by his nickname.

Titiek's announcement was the latest after Jafar Hafsal, a lawmaker and an official of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, declared his candidacy on June 28.

Aside from Prabowo, other figures expressing interest include Oesman Sapta, from the Regional Unity Party (PPD), and former Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Titiek has pledged not to use HKI as a political vehicle to raise Golkar's grassroots clout – including in the 2014 elections. "I will not make HKTI yellow," she said, referring to Golkar's color. "Making a political choice is a member's individual affair."

Many are doubtful. Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political analyst from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said Titiek's candidacy was highly motivated by politics.

He argued that Golkar, like other parties, was seeking to capitalize on the HKTI as "an instrument for the political party," and that Titiek had the most viable links with farmers given her father's legacy.

"Electorally, the HKTI constitutes a huge market for political parties," he said, referring to the fact that over 44 percent of Indonesians work in agriculture, and that the group has the networking capacity to reach those farmers.

Titiek's candidacy also highlights the Suharto family's attempt to make a comeback in the political arena, Burhanuddin said. "It's quite clear the Suharto family wants to re-enter politics."

Titiek's younger brother, businessman Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, failed miserably to be elected Golkar's chairman in 2009, while elder sister Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana is a key figure in the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB).

Titiek Suharto to battle ex-husband to head farmers' organization

Antara News - July 11, 2010

One of the daughters of deceased dictator Suharto, Siti Hediati Hariyadi, says she is running for the leadership of the Association of Indonesian Farmers to help her realize her father's ideals in making the country's farmer self-reliant.

The organization is currently led by Prabowo Subianto, chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the former husband of Siti, better known as Titiek Suharto.

"I will run for the post of general chairperson of HKTI for 2010 to 2015," Siti said on Saturday. "I ask for your support to continue to realize Pak Harto's efforts to make farmers self- reliant."

Titiek who was born in Semarang, Central Java, on April 14, 1959, claimed she was concerned about the welfare of farmers and would use her position as head of the association, also known as HKTI, to remedy the situation.

"They are in fact the nation's backbone with regard to meeting food supply in Indonesia," she said.

Titiek said she came from a farmer's family. Her great grandfather, grandfather and father were all farmers. She said her father – who ruled as president for 32 years – had always fought to improve the welfare of the Indonesian people who were mostly farmers.

Titiek, the only woman to run for the position, pledged that she would not use HKTI as a political vehicle for the Golkar Party, of which she is still a senior member.

"Although I am one of the Golkar Party's associate chairpersons, I will not make HKTI yellow," she said referring to Golkar's colors. "Making a political choice is a member's individual affair," she said.

Subijakto Tjakrawerdaja, a member of the HKTI's advisory council, said he hoped the presence of Pak Harto's daughter in the organization would bring changes. "Certainly what we are hoping for is progress for the better," he said.

The HKTI plans to hold a national conference from Monday to Thursday to elect the new general chairperson. In the running for the post are Prabowo, Djafar Hafzah and Osman Sapta. Titik Soeharto is Prabowo's ex-wife.

Electoral commission & elections

Legislators split on revision to poll body law

Jakarta Globe - July 16, 2010

Armando Siahaan – Lawmakers from House of Representatives Commission II failed once again on Thursday to reach a consensus on the draft of a revision to the 2007 Law on Election Organizers, which could allow elements of political parties to become members of election management bodies.

The commission, which oversees domestic affairs, was scheduled to finalize the draft on Thursday.

However, two of the nine factions on the commission – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – disagreed on the draft, and called for the session to be adjourned to Tuesday.

The dispute mainly revolves around incorporating members of political parties into bodies that manage and supervise elections, like the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu).

The current law stipulates that a political party member can only become a member of these election bodies five years after having officially resigned from the party.

Another disputed article deals with the appointment of the committee to select members of election bodies. The revision aims to include the legislature in the process, whereas the government has the full authority based on the current law.

The idea of allowing members of political parties into election management bodies has been met by heavy criticism from the KPU and Bawaslu as well as a string of political watchdogs, which argue that it could result in abuse of the election process by political parties.

Commission II chairman Chairuman Harahap, from the Golkar Party, said he was hoping that the draft could be finalized by next week.

Ganjar Pranowo, a commission deputy chairman and a member of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was more skeptical.

He said if the Democrats and PAN maintained their opposition, the draft of the bill would never make it to the House legislation body and its plenary session. And after that, it still has to be discussed with the government.

Ganjar said that even if the current draft was agreed upon, it would likely face more opposition during the House plenary session and the deliberation phase involving the government.

"There will be stronger opposition," he said, adding that the government would most likely disapprove of the draft.

Jufri, a Democratic lawmaker, told the Jakarta Globe that his party wanted election organizers to be free from political partisanship, and therefore would not change the current law.

Democrats believe that partisanship could jeopardize the objectivity of the bodies running elections, Jufri said, adding that it would be impossible for parties not to politicize the process.

Teguh Juwarno, a commission deputy chairman from PAN, also said his party wanted election organizers to be nonpartisan.

"The KPU should be the referee and politicians should be the players," he said, adding that it was unlikely PAN would change its position.

PDI-P's Ganjar lambasted the Democrats' refusal to agree on the draft, calling it inconsistent with their own political practices.

Ganjar referred to the recent appointment of serving KPU commissioner Andi Nurpati to the executive board of the Democratic Party. "Their argument is illogical," he said.

Film & television

Tabloid TV hit with 'non-factual' tag over journalistic standards

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Ismira Lutfia – The marriage of two celebrities, the pregnancy of an unmarried actress and the divorce of two musicians over an alleged affair – should reporting these items be considered journalism and the people who report them journalists?

No, according to House of Representatives Commission I, which oversees communications and information, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the Press Council.

In a joint meeting on Wednesday, they agreed to begin categorizing racy gossip shows – known as infotainment shows – as "non-factual" programs.

Non-factual shows, as established by the KPI, do not follow religious norms, ethical or moral values, social values and the journalistic code of ethics. Therefore, they can't be considered journalism, according to the KPI.

The categorization, which includes dramas, reality shows and game shows, also allows the KPI to censor these programs.

"Under KPI's broadcasting code of conduct and programming standards, non-factual programs are subject to censorship by the Film Censorship Body (LSF)," KPI member Ezky Suyanto said.

"However, we will still have to talk with the LSF about the proper censorship technicalities for infotainment shows."

The Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI) welcomed the decision and said there was a need to deal with shows whose content was of no use to the public, "especially programs which many believe to be journalistic products," IJTI chairman Imam Wahyudi told the Jakarta Globe.

Imam said if these shows wanted to be considered as factual programs or journalism, they must bear in mind that the information they present must be of public service, for example, how to curb pandemic diseases.

But Ilham Bintang, from the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), which recognizes infotainment workers as journalists and counts them among its members, stood his organization's ground, saying that infotainment is journalism and citing the 1999 Press Law as his main reference.

"They are journalists as long as they adhere to the code of ethics and the prevailing laws," said Ilham, who is the owner of the "Cek & Ricek" infotainment show and tabloid.

While acknowledging that there were a number of infotainment shows that failed to comply with the code of ethics and the law, he said House Commission I could not simply decide with the KPI and Press Council that infotainment was non-factual, because "as the people's representatives, they have to bring their decision to a plenary meeting."

He dismissed the commission's decision as "illegitimate."

Ilham said he saw the decision as just "feedback," and said that the PWI would support its members, especially those working in the field of infotainment media.

"We will announce their names and endorse them [as journalists] to television stations so that they know we can provide them with a professional guarantee from PWI," Ilham said.

Media analyst Veven Wardhana described the decision to classify infotainment shows as non-factual as "quite odd." He said that the celebrities and the information surrounding their lives presented in the programs were factual.

She added that the new label did nothing to address the real debate over these gossip shows – whether they air too much of celebrities' dirty laundry.

Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization, in 2006 issued a fatwa declaring infotainment haram, or forbidden under Islam, and the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) has also criticized the shows.

Complaints about infotainment shows being useless or harmful, as well as calls to put an end to the shows, are regular entries to the complaints corner on the KPI's Web site.

Imam said that regardless of whether infotainment shows were classified as journalism or non-factual, the programs still had to follow the prevailing rules and norms.

"If they want to be considered a product of journalism, they have to follow the journalistic code of ethics and journalism standards during the process of gathering and presenting information," Imam said.

"But now that they fall under the non-factual category they are not obliged to adhere to the journalistic code of ethics, but they are bound to adhere to other standards, for example the standards ruled by the censorship body," he said.

"They need to shape up no matter what category they are in otherwise they will still be considered as troublesome programs," he added.

Labour & migrant workers

Malaysian maid deal sunk again

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Putri Prameshwari – The number of Indonesians working illegally in Malaysia could spiral out of control after a long-awaited agreement on workers' protection was indefinitely delayed again, activists warned on Tuesday.

The delay was announced just a day after Malaysia said a deal would be signed this month. Malaysian Human Resources Minister S Subramaniam said the deal had been delayed because the two countries had yet to agree to terms.

"It will not be signed this month as expected because both sides have outstanding issues yet to be resolved," he said. "We are hoping for an agreement soon but we are not sure when this will be."

One day earlier, the same minister said both countries were expected to sign an agreement in the next five weeks.

Anis Hidayah, director of Indonesian labor watchdog Migrant Care, said the failure to reach a deal meant more Indonesian workers would enter Malaysia under the guise of being tourists. "There will be massive illegal placements in Malaysia," Anis said.

A flood of complaints about alleged mistreatment of Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia has strained relations between the countries and prompted Jakarta to freeze sending maids in June until a deal giving them better protection was signed.

Anis said the delay automatically extended the moratorium but added that it had not stopped "backdoor" deals by labor agencies. She said these illegal workers had no protection.

"Therefore, it could lead to more Indonesian maids being tortured, and we have no legal means to react to that," she said.

Nisma Abdullah, from the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, said the delay made it imperative for Indonesia to tightly monitor the recruitment of workers. "The government must also watch out for workers who enter Malaysia as tourists," she said.

Labor activist Dita Indah Sari said the delay showed how weak Indonesian diplomacy was. Points of agreement so far were that workers were entitled to one day off a week and had the right to hold on to their personal documents, including passports.

"However, the crucial issues such as salary and the transparency of work contracts are yet to be settled," she said, adding that such issues were potential sources of abuse.

The government, however, said it had done its best. Rosstiawati, director of workers' placement abroad at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, said it was the Malaysians who were stalling.

"We have invited them twice to hold discussions with the joint working group on the agreement," she said. "But for God knows what reason, they have not responded."

Subramaniam said the Malaysian government would be looking to recruit more maids from southern Thailand and the Philippines, countries that have sizeable numbers of Muslims.

"Those countries have always been a source of maids for us but now we will intensify efforts to recruit more to meet any shortage," he said.

Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labor and depends heavily on domestic workers, 90 percent of whom, according to Dita, are Indonesians.

An average of 50 maid abuse cases are reported annually out of the 300,000 Indonesian maids working in the country, according to Malaysian officials. But Indonesia says up to 1,000 maids face violence and mistreatment every year.

With job opportunities falling in big cities across Indonesia, more undereducated people are turning to Malaysia, the closest and most easily accessible neighbor, for work.

Environment & natural disasters

Greenpeace activists hold up RAPP vessel

Jakarta Post - July 16, 2010

Pekanbaru – Twenty-five Greenpeace activists blockaded a vessel loading thousands cubic meters of timber at a port operated by PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) at Teluk Binjai Village, Pelalawan Regency, Riau, on Thursday.

In a campaign on forest preservation, the protesters demanded the company stop its logging activities and the government step in.

The protesters unfurled a banner, calling for the urgent halt of environmentally unsound land use. Another banner reading "Stop Pencurian Masa Depan Kami" (Stop the robbery of our future), was hung on the pile of logs on the vessel.

Zulfahmi, the spokesperson of Greenpeace Asia, said their blockade of the vessel to prevent it from transporting timber to a pulp factory was held to protest Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan's policy issuing logging permits for the Kampar peat land.

"The newly issued permit contradicts the ministry's commitment to preserve peat lands," Zulfahmi said.

The blockade lasted only ten minutes as hundreds of police personnel stepped in to remove the banners and drive away protesters.

Cooperation urged to bring dwindling orangutans back from brink

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Fidelis E. Satriastanti, Sanur, Bali – Conservationists, wildlife experts and government officials are set to meet today at an international conference in Bali to save the orangutan from extinction.

The International Workshop on Orangutan Conservation, which will run through Friday at the beachside resort town of Sanur, is aimed at stabilizing the habitat and populations of both the Sumatran and Bornean subspecies by 2017, as well as completing a three-year-old rehabilitation program to release previously captive orangutans back into the wild by 2015.

However, the chief of the Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation, Bungaran Saragih, on Wednesday said that very little progress had been made toward either goal.

"First, there are still no visible signs of stabilization of orangutan habitats or their populations," he said.

"Second, the rehabilitation target is still far out of reach, because in the three years since the plan was announced, we haven't seen a single individual released back into the wild."

Part of the problem, Bungaran said, was the difficulty in finding suitably large, undisturbed areas of forest in which to release the animals.

"At BOS, we have around 850 orangutans in rehabilitation [centers], but we can't release them precisely because of this problem," he said.

Bungaran did, however, say the international workshop was a step in the right direction and would allow all stakeholders to share their experiences on the current dire situation facing orangutan, as well as to evaluate actions taken thus far.

"Since 2007, there has been almost no coordination between the various stakeholders – the government, NGOs, the private sector," he said.

"I believe that this opportunity to evaluate the implementation of the action plan couldn't have come at a better time. Hopefully we can reach some kind of understanding and get the full cooperation of all stakeholders."

According to Bungaran, one of the main obstacles toward realizing the action plan was the apparent reluctance of the government and private sector to get involved in orangutan conservation efforts.

"Protecting orangutans should not be the sole domain of NGOs," he said. "We need support from the government and from businesses, and that's the message we'll try to get through at the workshop."

There are an estimated 7,500 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild, and some 45,000 of their Bornean cousins. The latter subspecies is categorized as endangered, while the former is critically endangered.

Orangutan expert Sri Suci Utami Atmoko, from Jakarta's National University, said that more needed to be done to protect the animals.

"The current quandary is in law enforcement," she said. "There are just as many cases these days of illegal orangutan trading – particularly in Kalimantan – as there has always been."

In terms of releasing rehabilitated orangutans into the wild, Suci said businesses needed to play a bigger role in the conservation effort.

"Consider this: nearly 70 percent of orangutans live outside protected parks and reserves," she said, "so it's crucial that we get the private sector to contribute their land and efforts, otherwise forget about protecting the orangutan.

"There's this impression that only conservationists, scientists and the government should deal with orangutan conservation, but we want all stakeholders, particularly businesses, to contribute to the effort. The national action plan will never work otherwise."

Suci said that many logging and plantation companies across the country wanted to help but were hampered by poor coordination by the authorities, which she accused of not being serious about designating conservation areas for orangutans.

"That's a shame, because the companies are really keen about helping out, and we'd really like to welcome them on board," she added.

Harry Santoso, director of biodiversity at the Ministry of Forestry, conceded that the orangutan release program was "going rather slow," but blamed it on the dearth of institutions willing to contribute to the effort.

"It's going to be tough to meet the 2015 target because there aren't that many institutions in the country that deal with orangutan conservation," he said. "That's why we're hoping for a breakthrough at this workshop."

Harry dismissed accusations that the government had been dragging its feet on the issue of orangutan conservation by arguing that its job was to supervise, facilitate and regulate, and not to get involved in the implementation of programs.

"That's why we're focusing on strengthening the existing regulations, facilitating stakeholders and increasing supervision for orangutan conservation," he said. "Our hope is that other stakeholders, such as the private sector and NGOs, also play a part."

Peatland moratorium seen as 'half-hearted government policy'

Jakarta Post - July 12, 2010

Adianto P. Simamora – The government initiative to entail a five-year moratorium on peatland conversion is a half-hearted policy if the country still wants to seriously mitigate climate change, activists said Saturday.

They said the moratorium to shift the peatland for business use should be permanent since the area held huge stocks of carbon emissions.

"If the government wants to end peatland conversions, there is no story about timelines; it must be permanent," executive director of Forest Watch Indonesia Wirendro Sumargo told The Jakarta Post. "No matter how deep the peatland is, the area should become a conservation area and protected."

Currently, the peatland with a depth of less than 3 meters, can be converted into business purposes, from residential to oil palm or for mining companies.

Wirendro said the government should provide financial compensation for the relocation of existing companies in the peatland into other areas. "If not, the peatland will continue releasing emissions, even with the five-year moratorium," he said.

The government has pledged to suspend new permits to converse remaining natural forest and peatland for two years starting 2011. The pledge was made after Indonesia and Norway signed a US$1 billion deal to cut deforestation in Indonesia, home to the world's third largest forest at 120 million hectares.

But a draft presidential regulation is proposing the five-year moratorium on peatland conversion though it did not refer to the Norway deal.

The draft says the moratorium is aimed at meeting the country's promise to cut 26 percent of emissions to mitigate climate change. It says the government will re-examine all peatland concession permits during the moratorium, including existing ones.

The government will also assess financial benefits from a huge stock of carbon in peatland that could be saved from the moratorium, according to the draft. In addition, a restoration management unit will also be established to reclassify the degraded peatland as protected area.

Indonesia has more than 21 million hectares of peatland, including 8 million hectares in Papua, 7.2 million hectares in Sumatra and 5.8 million hectares in Kalimantan. The country's peatland forests contain an estimated 46 gigatons of carbon.

Executive director of Wetlands International Nyoman Surtadiputra said that using a five-year moratorium could not answer the main problems of peatland in Indonesia.

"The moratorium is only added value for the emission cut program, but it would not solve the basic problems since many oil palm companies and industrial forest concessions [HTI] are operating in peatland," he said.

He said the opening of business activities in peatland would drain the area and speed up the release of emissions.

Nyoman criticized the lack of coordination on the government's part in managing peatland. "We noted there are at least four controversial policies related to peatland," he said.

He said that the Public Works Ministry's plan to review the government regulation on swamp areas aiming to revitalize water canals could further impact on the release of emissions in the area. He said the government plan to develop 1.6 million hectares of food estate in Papua mostly would be in peatland areas.

"Legally, Papua's peatland can still be utilized since its depth is less than 3 meters; but if the government is committed to a moratorium, there should not be such a project in Papua's peatland," he said.

The 2009 agriculture ministry's decree has regulated that if 30 percent of total concessions in peatland are at a depth of more than 3 meters, the area could not be conversed. "The Environment Ministry is currently drafting a government regulation on peatland but still allows business in the area," he said.

He said that the government should first review all the policies on peatland. "It is also urgent for the government to map a location of peatland, including its thickness, and determine the most-prone peatland areas on fires,"

"The concrete action is to run a ground check and close all water canals in the One Million Hectare Peatland Project [PLG] in Central Kalimantan to reduce emissions."

Health & education

Broken health care drives women to sell babies

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Ulma Haryanto & Made Arya Kencana – The recent cases of low- income women selling their babies in order to pay for their medical bills highlights the need for a comprehensive national health care insurance scheme, an academic said on Monday.

Suparti, a resident of Gunung Kidul district near Yogyakarta is one such case. The 41-year-old said she was forced to sell one of her twin girls in order to pay the delivery fees at a state hospital.

Munawaroh, another low-income earner, offered to sell her newborn boy to cover the birth and related medical bills from a Bali hospital. Her bills have now reached Rp 17 million ($1,870).

And on it goes. In the latest case, Dewi Mukarom, a 17-year-old migrant worker from Tegal in Central Java has given her baby up for adoption after she failed to come up with the money to pay a Jakarta midwife.

An affluent couple from the capital has already petitioned the Central Jakarta District Court to allow them to adopt the child.

Hasbullah Thabrany, a public health professor from the University of Indonesia, said that even though he was not against the adoption itself, the reasons behind the adoption should be made illegal.

"A midwife or doctor or hospital should not and cannot advise patients to give away a baby just because the parents cannot afford the delivery fees," he said.

He also said that Dewi was a clear example of the people who were falling through the massive cracks of a shattered health care system.

"Because she is from outside Jakarta, I am sure that she was not applicable for the regional health insurance scheme [Gakin] for the poor," Hasbullah added.

"There are loopholes in our system. There is yet to be a regulation that obliges local and national government to cover the health care of their people."

The public health expert said that a lack of information for the poor on their rights and access to health care and insurance is exacerbating the problem – and in many cases is driving women to give up their newborns.

Usman Sumantri, head of financing and insurance at the Health Ministry, said on Monday that he believed Dewi had not been covered by the national health care scheme for the poor, also known as Jamkesmas.

"If she were a member of Jamkesmas, which is valid nationwide, her fees would be covered," he said. "But I believe she wasn't. She could also have asked for a letter of recommendation from the Jakarta Social Affairs Agency, but it might be difficult since she is not a registered resident."

Usman said that Dewi was also ineligible for the regional insurance scheme. "Jakarta is quite unfriendly to migrants," he added.

In Monday's first hearing of the proposed adoption of Dewi's baby, the court heard from an acquaintance of the couple, who testified that Susanto, an enterpreneur, and Risna, an air stewardess, were financially secure and had no children.

The witness, Sri Mulyono, also said he had been to the birth mother's home and said that "in my opinion, Dewi could not afford to keep the child."

Dewi, who was also present for the hearing, told the court that she came to Jakarta last year to work but had become pregnant shortly afterward.

"The father did not acknowledge the child and did not want to be responsible for it," she said, adding that she had no family in the capital and was living with a friend.

According to a 1983 Supreme Court memo on child adoption procedures, prospective parents need to file their adoption request with the district court in their jurisdiction before a judge and a court clerk, and present two witnesses who can attest to their social and financial wellbeing.

In Bali, Munawaroh, who plies a hard trade as a washerwoman, was allowed to leave the clinic where she gave birth to a baby boy recently, although she could not afford to pay her bill.

"We allowed her to leave. We cannot do anything," said Gede Widarta, an official at the Sari Dharma Clinic in Denpasar.

The baby, who was suffering from a lung infection, had been referred earlier to Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar for treatment. The baby was later placed in an incubator.

The hospital's director for general and operational affairs, Triputro Nugroho, said that the baby's treatment costs at the hospital had already reached Rp 17 million.

But because Munawaroh did not claim a reduction under the Jamkesmas scheme, "the cost we charged her is the same as for any other patient in general, and not the discounted cost."

Women with AIDS are mostly housewives

Jakarta Post - July 13, 2010

Jakarta – According to the National Commission for AIDS (Komnas-AIDS), "good" housewives make up 59.9 percent of women living with HIV in Indonesia.

Commission secretary Nafsiah Mboi said here Monday that, according to official data, women account for 25 percent of the 3,525 people living with HIV nationwide.

"They are monogamous, faithful wives and not drug users who use syringes. They most probably contracted the disease from their husbands who have used syringes or practiced unsafe sex," Nafsiah said as quoted by kompas.com.

She also lamented the lack of awareness among men about the use of condoms, saying that it was important for men who have more than one sexual partner men to use condoms, even when having sex with their wives.

Children deprived of right to education

Jakarta Post - July 9, 2010

Jakarta – Zulfika Rochmah stood shyly in front of the crowd, trying to explain why school was so important to her.

"I want to be a doctor someday so I can make my friends well again. They have trouble breathing now since the mud," said the skinny 10-year-old from Sidoarjo, East Java.

"A lot of my friends are too sick to come to school now, or have moved away. I feel so lonely sometimes," said the pony-tailed girl wearing a faded red T-shirt and old baggy jeans, who studies at an Islamic elementary school in West Besuki.

"It used to be pleasant studying at school, but now the mud bubbles up all around, making everything smelly and dirty," Fika, as she is known to friends, told gathered activists and journalists at the Jakarta office of a human rights group affiliated with the Coalition of Movements in Support of Justice for the Lapindo Mudflow Victims, which was founded for the sole purpose of seeking justice for the 40,000 people displaced by the disaster.

The coalition was organized by several civil society groups in Indonesia, including the National Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), the Indonesian Green Institution, the Peoples Coalition on Fisheries Justice (Kiara), Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Imparsial, Lapis Budaya, the Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and several other NGOs.

Chalid Muhammad from the Indonesian Green Institution said the government ignored the right of children to education in its effort to assist the victims of the mudflow, which started on May 29, 2006, when PT Lapindo Brantas, an oil and gas company controlled by the family of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, was drilling in the area.

"This coalition is our way of reminding the public of the corporate negligence and the state's reticence in dealing with the disaster's aftermath including what to do about the area children's education," he added.

The coalition plans to collect Rp 43,644,500 (US$4,800) to buy books, uniforms and to pay for exams and building fees to help the Sidoarjo children.

Mujtaba Hamdi from the Lapindo Mudflow Victim Rescue Post said there were 103 children – from elementary to high school age – whose educations were now threatened because their parents' incomes had declined following the disaster. He added that neither the government nor Lapindo had provided compensation for education.

"Most of the funds are to rebuild infrastructure, such as housing," Mujtaba said. "Children's rights have been not addressed in any of the presidential regulations issued to handle the disaster," he said. "This is our reason for starting this movement to raise funds to assist the children."

Kontras has set up a special donation box at its office at Jalan Borobudur No. 14, Jakarta, to help the coalition effort to assist the Sidoarjo children.

Anyone wishing to donate can visit www.korbanlumpur.info and www.jatam.org, or go to the Kon-tras office between July 8 and Aug. 7, or transfer funds to the Mampang Jakarta branch of CIMB Niaga Bank at account number 9030 1010 46008.

Around 40,000 people were displaced by the disaster, which the Supreme Court said could not be blamed on Lapindo. (map)

Mothers give up newborns to pay hospital bills

Jakarta Globe - July 9, 2010

Nurfika Osman – Two mothers who were left no option but to sell their newborns to pay hospital bills could have avoided their plight had they been informed they qualified for insurance and financing, health officials said on Thursday.

Suparti, 41, a poor woman from Gunung Kidul district near Yogyakarta, said she was forced to sell one of the twin girls to whom she had given birth to pay medical expenses for the deliveries at a state-owned hospital.

Her husband, Sarimin, 50, who makes a living doing odd jobs, failed to get a loan to pay the Rp 6 million ($660) bill. She said a hospital staff member offered to pay the bill if she allowed one of the twins to be adopted by another hospital employee.

"I had to sell one of my twin girls, whom I gave birth to only 10 days ago, because I couldn't pay the bill at Wonosari General Hospital," Suparti told state news agency Antara on Wednesday. "On Tuesday, I was allowed to go home. One of my babies was taken by Mbak Rina [the staff member]. I was not allowed to see [my child]."

Munawaroh, a poor woman who gave birth in Bali to a daughter with lung problems, was also faced with a Rp 6 million bill. Her husband, a laborer at a furniture store, had disappeared and her hospital bill grew by Rp 1.5 million per day.

"I am willing to give up my baby if someone wants to buy it, as long as I can get out of the hospital," she told the Jakarta Globe.

Usman Sumantri, the head of the Health Ministry's financing and insurance unit, told the Globe that parents who were not covered by Jamkesmas, the national health insurance scheme for the poor, should have been covered by Jamkesda, the local insurance plan.

"There should have been another health care scheme to help the parents," Usman said. "Selling the babies is not the way to solve the problem."

Bondan Agus Suryanto, head of the Yogyakarta Health Office, said patients had options available to help pay hospital bills. "We are also going to warn the hospital that when there are patients who do not have insurance, it should give them information on other options."

A hospital employee declined comment, saying the press officer had left for the day.

Syahrul Aminullah, chairman of the Indonesian Public Health Association (Iakmi), said hospitals could be sued if they did not provide care to the poor. Local governments are also responsible for providing health insurance to poor residents, Syahrul said.

[Additional reporting from Made Arya Kencana and Antara.]

Graft & corruption

Government keeping Tommy's riches

Jakarta Globe - July 16, 2010

Nivell Rayda & Setya Adi – The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a decision it made two years ago and sided with the government in a civil case against Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra to seize Rp 1.22 trillion ($135 million) in assets belonging to his defunct carmaker, PT Timor Putra Nasional.

Supreme Court spokesman Nurhadi revealed that the court had reviewed the case and ruled in favor of the Finance Ministry after it had presented two fresh pieces of evidence.

Thursday's "decision overruled previous rulings by the Supreme Court all the way [back] to the district court," Nurhadi said. "There will be no more suits or appeals."

The ruling supercedes its decision in 2008 that the assets, which the government had seized from state-owned PT Bank Mandiri, should be returned to Tommy along with interest.

Tommy, the youngest son of the late President Suharto, had established TPN in 1995 to build an Indonesian national car. Instead, he imported South Korean-made vehicles and sold them under his label.

The legal wrangling began when TPN failed replay loans of Rp 4.05 trillion from state-owned Bank Dagang Negara and Bank Bumi Daya in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The two lenders, along with several others, were later merged to become Bank Mandiri.

In 2003, TPN's assets were taken over by the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, which managed assets taken from companies that collapsed during the crisis.

IBRA sold TPN's assets to a little-known company called PT Vista Bella Pratama for Rp 444 billion, not knowing that Vista Bella was also owned by Tommy.

Prosecutors argued in 2008 that the deal was illegal as Tommy controlled both TPN and Vista Bella, and filed a lawsuit demanding that he and the companies pay back the difference.

Vista Bella and the government settled the case out of court and it was agreed that the government would take over all of TPN's assets, including its Rp 4.05 trillion debt.

The Supreme Court spokesman said that the settlement between Vista Bella and the government had been the basis for the court to overrule its earlier decision.

"Vista Bella had agreed that all of TPN's assets belong to the government. So automatically the assets in Bank Mandiri also belong to the government," Nurhadi said.

The Finance Ministry's other piece of fresh evidence was a letter from Tommy and TPN's former board of directors guaranteeing repayment to the state. Tommy's lawyers did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Teten Masduki, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia hailed Thursday's ruling. "Tommy had many times controversially escaped the law. This is a real milestone," he said.

In 2008, the Attorney General's Office dropped an embezzlement case involving the Clove Marketing and Buffer Agency (BPPC), also founded by Tommy, on the grounds that he had already repaid all losses incurred by the state in connection with the agency.

Tommy was accused of misusing the funds after the BPPC was disbanded after widespread complaints that it engaged in corrupt and monopolistic practices.

Tommy, 46, was freed from prison in October 2006 after serving five years of a 15-year sentence for ordering the murder of a Supreme Court judge who had convicted him of corruption.

Golkar objects to beefed-up graft body

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Armando Siahaan – The Golkar Party has protested key points in a money-laundering bill that would have granted unprecedented powers to the agency in charge of flagging violations, warning of the creation of an unchecked superbody.

The bill is currently being deliberated by a special committee within the House of Representatives' Commission III, overseeing legal affairs, and contains articles proposing radical new changes to the functions of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK).

It seeks, among other things, to grant PPATK officials immunity from criminal or civil liabilities linked to their duties.

It also proposes granting the body the power to investigate money-laundering claims and to wiretap suspects, as well as to freeze their accounts and confiscate funds.

One of the more controversial articles calls for the PPATK to be given the right to breach existing laws on confidentiality in the course of an investigation, while another demand is that it receive a 25 percent commission from all funds recovered from prosecuted money-laundering operations.

A Golkar legislator, however, said the proposed changes went too far. "The PPATK seems to be trying to overreach its authority," Bambang Soesatyo, from Commission III, said on Tuesday.

He argued some of the articles in the bill conflicted directly with existing articles in the Criminal Code, banking laws and various laws on the police and Attorney General's Office.

Bambang said the immunity clause was particularly worrying. "All citizens should be equal before the law," he said. "Granting immunity to PPATK officials for criminal or civil charges would be unconstitutional."

He added that Golkar was also opposed to any calls for the PPATK to be given powers to conduct its own investigations.

The body is currently authorized only to report on suspicious transactions it identifies to the police and AGO, which are then responsible for following up with an investigation as they see fit.

Bambang argued that granting the body the right to carry out its own investigations would only undermine the role of the existing law enforcement agencies and cause overlaps, leading to ineffective probes.

However, antigraft activists have previously made the case for the PPATK to follow up on its own findings. They cite numerous cases where the body has reported on suspicious bank accounts linked to high-ranking police officers, which the force has consistently failed to investigate.

Meanwhile, Bambang also took issue with the clauses on wiretaps and confidentiality breaches. "It doesn't make sense that the PPATK should get a waiver for flouting existing laws or codes of ethics on confidentiality," he said.

Just as offensive, he added, was the idea that the body should get a 25 percent cut of all the laundered funds it managed to recover. All these "extraordinary proposals" pointed to the PPATK trying to cast itself as a superbody answerable only to the president, Bambang said.

"We suspect PPATK chairman Yunus Husein may have an ulterior political agenda," he said. "His appointment to the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force means he answers directly to the president, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that people are beginning to question whether the State Palace is pulling the PPATK's strings in a bid to further its own political agenda."

Bambang argued the PPATK should remain true to its original function, which was to help law enforcement agencies collect and analyze data.

Police promise arrests over activist attack

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Farouk Arnaz & Ismira Lutfia – Under mounting public pressure to quickly solve the violent attack on an antigraft activist last week, the National Police on Monday promised rights activists the first arrests would be made this week.

The vow was made during a closed-door meeting between several rights and antigraft organizations and National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri at police headquarters.

"The police chief asked us to be patient, because they promised to make arrests this week," Usman Hamid, former head of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), told reporters after the meeting.

Usman, who came with representatives from several nongovernmental human rights and anti-corruption organizations, quoted Bambang as saying that the group behind the attack had been identified and evidence was being gathered to allow for their arrests.

However, he said Bambang had not elaborated on their identities or motives.

Indonesia Corruption Watch activist Tama Satya Langkun was attacked in the early hours of Thursday by four unidentified men. Tama suffered serious injuries in the brutal assault.

The attack came just days after Molotov cocktails were thrown at the office of Tempo, a weekly magazine that recently reported on suspicious bank accounts belonging to several high-ranking police officers.

The attempted firebombing and the assault on Tama prompted a public outcry and led President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to call for thorough police investigations.

"We asked the police to be transparent in their investigation of this case. The National Police chief has promised us the case will be resolved within the week," said Danang Widoyoko, from Indonesia Corruption Watch.

Usman said: "We wanted a clear explanation about what happened to our friend Tama and, if possible, we want to get involved in the investigation."

He said Bambang had also promised to announce the results of separate investigations into more than 1,000 suspicious financial transactions involving police officers, including some linked to the bank accounts in the Tempo report.

Bambang told the activists that the announcement would cover which accounts had been investigated and which cases had been resolved or dropped due to a lack of evidence.

Hendardi, from the Setara Institute, who was also present at the meeting, said police would have to work to convince people they were not involved in the two attacks.

"The police have to be serious in unraveling these cases, because only by doing so and providing a transparent explanation of what took place, will the suspicion evaporate," Hendardi said.

Bambang earlier asked the public not to jump to conclusions and blame police for the attacks.

Meanwhile, religious leaders on Monday spoke out against the increasing cases of violence against journalists and human rights and antigraft activists in the country, and the authorities' perceived lack of seriousness in solving these cases.

"We have the impression there are systematic attacks aimed at them," said Abdul Mu'ti, from the Islamic group Muhammadiyah.

Speaking at a news conference with other prominent leaders from various faiths, he said those behind the attacks should be exposed "as soon as possible."

Father Benny Susetyo, from the Indonesian Bishops Conference, said the country "is becoming a place that allows thugs to terrorize activists over their quest to uphold justice and human rights."

"We should not bow to people who want to ruin the country, and we should not let corruption eradication be compromised," he said.

Police must present alleged wiretaps and suspected case broker

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Nivell Rayda – The Anti-Corruption Court on Tuesday ordered the National Police to disclose wiretapped recordings between a Corruption Eradication Commission official and a suspected case broker.

National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri told House of Representatives Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, last November that it was right to declare commission deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamza extortion suspects.

Bambang told the House that police had obtained 64 recordings between the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) chief of graft enforcement, Ade Rahardja, and Ary Muladi, who police suspect channeled Rp 5.1 billion ($565,000) from businessman Anggodo Widjojo to Bibit and Chandra.

The KPK deputies' lawyer, Alexander Lay, welcomed the court's decision. "This will prove once and for all whether police indeed had obtained such recordings, because as far as we know there never was any contact between Ade and Ary Muladi," Alex said.

"If police do not present the recordings to the court we will urge the National Police to apologize to the Indonesian people for making a case against Bibit and Chandra out of little or no evidence."

Anggodo's lawyer, Thomson Situmeang, said the recordings did exist. "We asked the police to disclose the recordings but our request was denied by Ito because there was no court order," Thomson said, referring to chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi.

Anggodo is on trial at the Anti-Corruption Court for attempting to bribe Bibit and Chandra in exchange for the halting of a KPK case against his brother, Anggoro Widjojo. Anggoro is believed to have fled to Singapore.

The KPK claims Ary gave the money to a middleman named Yulianto, who is now missing.

During Anggodo's trial last month, Ade told the court that police had never questioned him about the recordings, nor had his voice been taken for comparison with the voices on the tapes. "I never contacted Ary Muladi directly or indirectly," he said.

The prosecution on Tuesday was given the opportunity to present its wiretapped recordings.

Lead KPK prosecutor Suwarji said they included some of the 67 recordings between Anggodo and several law enforcers previously presented to the Constitutional Court on Nov. 3. That hearing was televised live across the nation and caused a public outcry after it revealed an alleged plot to fabricate a bribery case against the KPK deputies.

Recordings from both sides are scheduled to be presented when Anggodo's trial resumes next Tuesday.

The Attorney General's Office dropped the case against Bibit and Chandra in December following the public outrage over the wiretapped conversations and after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had called for the termination of the case amid a media uproar.

But the South Jakarta District Court and the Jakarta High Court accepted a motion by Anggodo and ruled that the case against the two KPK deputies must be brought to court.

Public backing former Suharto foe in KPK bid

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Nivell Rayda – Muchtar Pakpahan, who as a union organizer was jailed by former strongman Suharto's regime, has won the most public support for his bid to chair the country's top anticorruption watchdog, a selection committee official said on Tuesday.

Muchtar received 398 letters from the public backing his bid to head the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said selection committee secretary Achmad Ubber.

In 1996, Muchtar, then the chairman of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (SBSI), was sentenced to four years in prison by the Supreme Court for inciting hatred against the government. He was later accused of embezzling more than Rp 1.8 billion from the union's social security fund, but was acquitted in 2005.

The KPK has been without a leader since March, when the House of Representatives annulled the appointment of interim chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean.

Last month, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, who chairs the 13-member selection committee, said 145 out of 287 applicants had met the administrative requirements for the vacant post. They are now ready to proceed to the next round of the process, which includes interviews and the writing of a paper on corruption.

The committee is expected to conduct two more rounds of screening before presenting two final candidates to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for approval on Sept. 15. Once approved, the candidates will undergo a so-called "fit-and-proper" test before House Commission III, which oversees legal and judicial affairs.

The selection committee has welcomed input from the public on candidates prior to the House screening process.

Former Constitutional Court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie and Judicial Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas – both seen as leading contenders by analysts, activists and legislators – – only garnered 14 and four letters of support respectively. There was also one solitary letter that criticized Jimly.

However, selection committee deputy chairman Muhammad Ritonga said letters of support did not necessarily reflect a candidates' suitability for the body's top job.

"We obviously value each letter of support from the public as input for our consideration, but what's more important for us are the letters of criticism, especially if they highlight an integrity flaw in the candidate," he said.

Of the 623 letters the committee has received, only 22 are critical of the candidates. Ritonga said the committee would verify all of the claims with the police, prosecutors and independent watchdogs.

"It'd make our job easier if people referenced their claims or provided evidence to back them," he added. "Otherwise we could be dealing with personal opinions," he went on. "The last thing we want is for the KPK to be led by someone of questionable integrity."

Mysterious witness comes forward in activist's assault

Jakarta Globe - July 12, 2010

Nivell Rayda – Badly beaten antigraft activist Tama Satrya Langkun on Sunday highlighted inconsistencies in the sudden reappearance of a key witness to his attack.

On Saturday, the witness, Toriq, who has refused to disclose his full name to reporters, visited Tama at Asri Hospital in Duren Tiga, South Jakarta, where the Indonesia Corruption Watch activist is being treated.

"I was shocked to see him come," Tama told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. "This is the guy from that night. My heart was racing. I asked myself, 'What does he want with me'?"

At about 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, Tama was savagely attacked by four unknown assailants as he was returning home from watching a World Cup football match at a cafe in Kemang, South Jakarta.

Many observers have speculated the assault was connected to a corruption case allegedly involving senior police officers. Tama had reported to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force that a number of police generals had suspiciously large bank accounts.

The activist, recalling the attack, said he was knocked off his motorcycle before being physically assaulted. "I don't know if it was a car or another motorcycle [that hit me]. I skidded off at least five meters and my right leg was badly injured from the fall," he said.

As he was trying to pick himself up, a man drove up on a motorcycle, got off and hit him in the back of the head with a plank of wood, knocking him to the ground again. Another man soon joined in and kicked Tama in the abdomen, while the first man tried to pull off Tama's helmet.

It was at this point that two more men came running toward him, Tama said. "I thought the other two were trying to help me. But they also beat me with bare fists and blunt objects. At that point I thought to myself... this is the time for me to die," he said.

During the ordeal, Tama noticed a silver Toyota Avanza van nearby. The driver of the van, Toriq, watched the assault from behind the steering wheel.

"I assumed that the driver was an accomplice of my attackers," Tama said. "So when he finally got out of his car and tried to help me, I instinctively refused."

Nearby residents eventually came and offered help. "There was this one guy who looked like a college student and he offered to take me to the hospital on his motorcycle. I went with him instead," Tama said.

Tama sustained multiple injuries in the attack. His head was cut in three places, with one wound deep enough to reveal his skull. He also suffered severe bruising all over his body. Police later asked Tama to describe his attackers, but he could only identify Toriq.

"I kept my hands up to protect my face the whole time, so I didn't get a good look at the men who attacked me," Tama said. "I made the sketch [of Toriq] because if it turns out that he was not an accomplice after all, at least he is a witness who could possibly identify my attackers."

The sketch of Toriq was never made public but was distributed to all police stations across the country.

Mysterious witness

Interviewed by telephone on Sunday, Toriq said he became aware that Tama had identified him after someone from the South Jakarta Police headquarters had contacted him.

"I have many friends on the police force and some of them alerted me," he told the Globe. "That's why I went to see Tama, to clarify the matter."

Toriq denied he had any involvement in the attack and also denied allegations he had been following Tama that morning. "I tried to help," he said. "I was the one who stopped a taxi for him. I asked the taxi driver to take him to the nearest hospital."

But Tama noted that during his visit on Saturday, Toriq used police terminology little known to most laymen, such as " lakalantas", short for kecelakaan lalu lintas (traffic accident).

Toriq also used police terminology in his interview with the Globe. "This is a 1-355 case," he said, referring to the first paragraph of Article 355 of the Criminal Code, which deals with premeditated assault.

But Toriq said he was not a police officer, describing himself as a civilian who owned a car rental business. "I only know several officers. I am not one of them. I can't explain to you my relationship with the police," he said.

"I contacted my [police] friends and offered to help catch the perpetrators. Police quizzed me but not at a police station – they needed me so I determined the time and place. Because they all knew me, they agreed.

"I think about ten officers showed up, we met near the hospital. It was right after my visit to see Tama. I think it lasted around four hours."

Attempts to contact the South Jakarta Police via telephone and text message to discuss the case were unsuccessful on Sunday.

Tama said there were inconsistencies in Toriq's version of events, such as his assertion that he waited for five minutes before finally assisting Tama because he was "examining what was going on."

"If [Toriq] wanted to stay away, why didn't he just leave in the first place? If he wanted to help, why wait so long?" Tama said.

The fallout

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Tama in the hospital on Saturday, urging the activist to continue his fight against corruption.

National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri has called on the public not to jump to conclusions and blame the police for the attack.

"I ask for all of you to do us a favor – please don't accuse us," Bambang said on Thursday. "Don't blame the police for these problems. We never asked our members to do it."

ICW's deputy chairman, Emerson Yuntho, however, said the burden was now on the police to prove they were not involved in the assault by arresting the perpetrators and the mastermind behind the attack.

"We challenge the police to solve the case and also investigate the bank accounts," he said. "We will not be deterred from fighting corruption."

Emerson said Tama could be discharged from the hospital today or on Tuesday morning. ICW will also seek protection from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), he said.

ICW last month reported to the KPK there were indications of bribery and illegal gratuities connected to two Bank Central Asia accounts said to belong to a senior officer identified only as BG and another account belonging to BG's son. The accounts were estimated to contain more than Rp 95 billion ($10.5 million).

Several recent attacks targeting antigraft groups are suspected to be connected to the report.

"But this is the worst incident," Constitutional Court head Mahfud MD said on Saturday after visiting Tama. "The police have a good record solving difficult cases such as mutilations, baby thefts and others, so it should be easy for them to find the perpetrators."

Court justice believes Tama beating linked to police corruption

Antara News - July 11, 2010

Constitutional Court Chairman Mahfud MD says the attack on Indonesian Corruption Watch activist Tama Satya Langkun was the manifestation of resistance to the national antigraft drive.

"The motive of the attack is resentment against the corruption eradication efforts. However, the incident must not make us too afraid to continue the fight against corruption," he said after visiting Tama, 25, in a Jakarta hospital on Saturday.

Mahfud said he believed the attack was linked to reports about suspicious accounts of several high ranking police officers. Tama was among the ICW activists who provided the Corruption Eradication Commission with details of the suspicious accounts.

"According to me it is because of the allegations. Therefore the police must be able to stop it and be impartial if later it was found that police officers had asked some persons to do it," he said of the attack that left Tama with injuries to his head, body and legs.

Mahfud, however, said it remained to be proven who had attacked Tama and what their motivations were. "I have observed series of incidents that happened before the ICW made a stance. I believe it was done by those who oppose corruption eradication but who they are and where they come from still have yet to be unveiled," he said.

Mahfud believed the police would be able to uncover the case if they were serious. "The police have good records of unveiling difficult cases such as mutilation, baby theft and others," he said adding that police must solve the case "so that the people would not become restless."

Four people attacked Tama in Duren Tiga, South Jakarta, early on Thursday morning.

Attack on activist fuels anger

Jakarta Globe - July 9, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran & Dessy Sagita – Thursday's brutal attack on an antigraft campaigner has sparked more public outrage, coming hot on the heels of an attempted firebombing on Tempo magazine's offices this week.

Tama Satrya Langkun, an investigator for Indonesia Corruption Watch, was attacked by four men on motorcycles. He suffered multiple wounds, including a head injury from a blunt object.

Tama featured prominently in an ICW investigation alleging millions of dollars stashed in the bank accounts of a number of police generals, while Tempo named the generals in a report.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono demanded police find out who was behind the assault on the investigator and the attack on the magazine's office.

"We have to be very responsive and find out who did them," Yudhoyono said on Thursday. "I want the ones who did these to be found, what the motives are and for what purpose."

The Tempo bombing came on Tuesday, a few days after it published a report alleging six police generals had huge bank accounts. The bombing did minimal damage and there were no injuries.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri called on the public not to immediately accuse the police of being behind the violence.

"I ask for your favor, please don't accuse us now," Bambang said. "Don't blame the police for these problems. We never asked our members to do it."

He said police were already questioning witnesses and searching for clues. "Hopefully it will be solved soon," Bambang said.

Yudhoyono suggested the attacks could be the work of a third party bent on sullying the image of the police. "It is very possible that when two parties have differences and want to solve their problems, there's another party," he said.

Djoko Suyanto, coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said that if any law enforcers were involved they would not escape punishment. "They will be punished. Law enforcers are not immune to the law," he said.

Activists from nongovernmental organizations across Indonesia expressed outrage about the attack on Tama.

The activist and a friend were riding a motorbike when two motorcycles blocked their path at Duren Tiga, Pasar Minggu at 3:45 a.m on Thursday. He was stabbed and beaten about the head until he nearly lost consciousness.

ICW chairman Danang Widoyoko said that despite the cowardly attack, the graft watchdog would not bow to "terror". "The terror attack carries a strong warning – whoever did this wants us to stop talking about corruption but we must remain brave," he said.

Danang said the South Jakarta Police had posted two officers outside Tama's hospital room but that he would not seek protection for other ICW staff members. Agus Sugandhi, secretary general of Garut Government Watch, condemned the act as "total thuggery, done in the name of power" and "unacceptable."

Agus, whose house was burned down in 2007 while he was investigating a corruption case in Garut, West Java, said a national movement was needed to force authorities to act firmly.

"When I reported the arson, police accused me of burning my own house to gain popularity and pity. That is why a national movement is needed to pressure them," he said.

Hendardi, the chairman of the Seatara Institute for Democracy and Peace, said the attacks were a serious threat to anticorruption efforts and should not be underestimated.

House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso said police should vigorously investigate the Tempo incident to determine if it was linked to the article. "If they don't there will be growing suspicions against the national police among the public," he said.

Benny K Harman, the chairman of House Commission III overseeing law, said he would ask police "to be objective in handling this case because there is a possibility the perpetrator is backed by a police general."

Benny said the commission had demanded police set up an independent team that included outside representatives to probe the questionable bank accounts of high-ranking police officers.

[Additional reporting from Armando Siahaan, Farouk Arnaz & Arientha Primanita.]

Cops challenged to probe activist's assault

Jakarta Post - July 9, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The police have been challenged to prove their claim that its officers were not involved in Thursday's assault on an antigraft activist who reported the suspiciously large bank accounts of police generals to the antigraft body.

"This is a real terror to silence activists. But let me tell you, we are not afraid at all. This [incident] only boost our courage and solidarity in combating corruption," said Teten Masduki, the secretary-general of the Transparency International Indonesia (TII) and a former ICW leader.

Tama S. Langkun, who heads Indonesia Corruption Watch's investigation division, was assaulted by four men on two motorcycles at 4:30 a.m. on Thursday. He sustained severe head injury after being hit with iron sticks.

"This isn't going to stop me. There's still a long way to go [to win the fight against corruption]," he said from his hospital bed in South Jakarta.

There is widespread belief the police are responsible for the incident given Tama's role in the efforts to disclose the suspicious nature of the wealth of high-ranking police officers.

Tama reported National Police internal affairs division chief Insp. Budi Gunawan, one of the police officers whose Rp 95 billion wealth was deemed questionable, to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) last month. ICW researcher Febridiansyah said Tama was also in the middle of investigating other graft cases still to be made public.

Al Araf of human rights group Imparsial challenged the police to arrest the attackers as soon as possible. "Given their success in arresting and killing so many terrorist suspects, the police should find it easy to arrest the perpetrators. Otherwise, the public will suspect the police themselves were involved in the incident," he said.

Usman Hamid of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said he found it difficult not to link the assault to Tama's efforts to disclose the officers' bank accounts.

"I think it was also somehow related to the Molotov cocktail attack on Tempo magazine's office. The police must prove that they were not behind the incidents," he said.

Last week's edition of the weekly news magazine ran a cover story about seven high-ranking officers who allegedly amassed billions of rupiahs.

Human Rights Working Group (HRWG) deputy executive director Choirul Anam alleged that the attacks had two goals. "First, to terrorize activists. Second, to divert public attention from corruption issues, which allegedly involve many senior officers."

Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) senior activist Erwin Usman said there had been many attacks against activists that had never been investigated by police.

"Tama is not the only victim. In other regions, many activists have been victims of violence. Some have even been killed and the perpetrators were never caught," he said.

Usman cited the intimidation of Papuan human rights activist Albert Rumbekwan as an example. Albert received threats when he and other human rights defenders met with UN Special Representative Hina Jilani in 2007.

"Other human rights and anticorruption activists in Aceh and Timor Leste [when it was still Indonesian territory], were killed and the police never investigated," Usman said.

A 2009 report released by Imparsial showed there had been at least 96 cases of violence and threats against rights activists from 2005 to 2009 nationwide.

The report said police officials were among the main perpetrators of violence against human right defenders, followed by military officials and hired thugs.

War on terror

One year after terrorist attacks, has justice been served?

Jakarta Globe - July 16, 2010

Heru Andriyanto – Not long after the capital was rocked by twin hotel bomb attacks in the heart of Jakarta's central business district a year ago today, the public was reassured by what appeared to be a systematic effort to track down the perpetrators and take them to court.

In one raid after another, police officers hunted down, arrested and killed terrorist suspects. And by February of this year, seven months after the attacks that killed seven people, plus the two suicide bombers, the trial of the first suspect – Amir Abdillah, a driver and courier for the late militant Noordin M Top – began.

However, despite the speedy police operations and legal proceedings, all six suspects, whose trials all concluded with guilty verdicts, received jail terms shorter than what the prosecution had asked for.

Big fish, small sentence

Even Amir, who was not only found guilty of a role in the bombings but also for a plot to assassinate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was sentenced to only eight years in jail, two years less than what was sought by the prosecution.

"Amir appears to be the biggest fish among those tried by the South Jakarta District Court and he was the only one to face multiple charges that also carried the death sentence," said Mohd Adhe Bhakti, an independent researcher on terrorism who monitored the hearings.

"I expected that he would get at least 20 years. But the judges considered that he had been very cooperative and helpful in providing information that led to the arrests of other suspects," Adhe said in a recent interview with the Jakarta Globe.

"No wonder he immediately accepted his verdict without wasting any time consulting with his lawyers. That's a rarity in a terrorism trial."

A former hotel employee in Jakarta, Amir was present at nearly all occasions before, during and after the attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels.

He accompanied Noordin at the meeting to discuss the attacks, picked up the explosive materials from a West Java town, drove the field coordinator who instructed the suicide bombers through a cellphone on the day of the bombings and took part in the post-attack gathering in a Bekasi home.

He also admitted in court to being involved in a reconnaissance trip to map the route of the presidential motorcade near Yudhoyono's private residence in Cikeas, Bogor, with a group that was planning a car bomb attack.

The president was targeted for giving his blessing to the execution of a trio of militants convicted for the 2002 Bali bombings.

"Yes, Amir was everywhere, but he is nobody," his lawyer, Asludin Hatjani, said in a separate interview. "His job was mainly as a driver for Noordin and it was only business. Noordin paid for the car, and Amir borrowed it from his brother."

Other convicted terrorists include Muhammad Jibriel, who runs an Islamic Web site that supports violent jihad and offers rationales for martyrdom. The judges convicted him of concealing information about wanted terrorist suspects, because he had met Noordin before the attacks but failed to report the meeting to authorities. He was acquitted of another charge of helping to finance terrorism.

By the time the dust cleared at the courthouse, he was sentenced to five years in jail, again, two years less than what the prosecution wanted.

Three more defendants – Aris Susanto, Supono and Rohmat Puji Prabowo – also got jail terms for harboring and concealing information about the bombers. But again, none of them received the maximum sentence.

Al Khelaiw Ali Abdullah, the only foreigner among the defendants, escaped a terrorism conviction, but will serve 18 months in jail for an immigration offense. Prosecutors had recommended a nine- year term for financing the bombings, but the panel said they couldn't find evidence that linked him to the attacks.

The judges said Abdullah had relationships with several militants in the Noordin group because he used them as interpreters and they helped him establish a business in Indonesia.

Recidivism risk

The problem with the relatively lenient sentences for the hotel bombers, said intelligent analyst Dynno Cresbon, is that it could further cultivate recidivism among terror convicts, a trend authorities have been aware of since multiple attacks rocked Indonesia following the 2002 Bali bombings.

"The perpetrators of those attacks were basically the same people. And several suspects arrested or killed after last year's hotel bombings had earlier participated in the 2004 attack on the Australian Embassy compound in Jakarta," Dynno said on Friday.

"Courts need to hand down more serious sentences to convicted militants, otherwise they may plan more attacks in the future. We have learned that one hotel, JW Marriott, has been attacked twice by the same group."

In the wake of the Bali bombings, the government issued its tough antiterror law under which five militants have been sentenced to death for the attacks in Bali and on the Australian Embassy in the capital.

Dynno said several defendants in last year's bombings were able to escape more serious charges in part because the judges were unable to understand the IT-based evidence.

That may have been the case with Jibriel, who was accused of funding the attacks based on an e-mail sent to his brother. But it remained debatable if an e-mail could be used as evidence in a terror trial and the judges eventually only convicted him of concealing information about Noordin.

Aside from the six who have already received verdicts, the South Jakarta District Court is trying four other suspects. Two students and a recent graduate of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in Ciputat, Tangerang, are still awaiting verdicts, with prosecutors demanding seven years for each.

The three defendants – Afham Ramadhan, Sonny Jayadi and Fajar Firdaus – are charged with harboring militants Saefudin Zuhri and Mohammad Syahrir, who were wanted by police for carrying out the attacks. The defendants allegedly rented a room at a boarding house near the university for Saefudin and Syahrir and occasionally brought them food.

The two were eventually killed in a shootout with police at the boarding house.

The last and the only female defendant at the South Jakarta Court is Putri Munawaroh, who claimed she had already paid dearly for a crime she never committed even before the court delivered a verdict.

Prosecutors have urged the judges to sentence her to eight years in jail.

Radical & extremist groups

Government should 'end violence, not disband organizations'

Jakarta Post - July 16, 2010

Jakarta – More parties have called on the government to crack down on violence conducted by mass organizations, while also raising concern that such violence should not be used as a reason to revoke the right to form associations.

Legislator Rieke Diah Pitaloka of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) called on the government to take stern measures against violent acts by mass organizations, which she called "extremist groups".

"I don't agree with [the idea of] disbanding them as it will only stimulate the emergence of similar organizations, even more militant ones," she said in a discussion titled "State vs mass organizations" by the Journalist Association for Diversity (Sejuk) here on Thursday.

Actress-turned-legislator Rieke was among three members of the House of Representatives' Commission IX overseeing health and manpower affairs whose meeting in Banyuwangi, East Java, last month was broken up by members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI). The protesters alleged the meeting was a gathering of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which was di banded in 1966.

Experts have said that reform of the police force is key to ending thuggery and violence in the country.

"We can't imagine what they [rogue organizations] would do to ordinary people with no political power because they have even committed violence against lawmakers," Rieke said.

She said such groups were often used as tools to exert power in political maneuvering. "They have been employed to shift people's attention from more substantial issues, such as those threatening our country's economic stability," Rieke said.

She cited as examples controversy over the pornography law in 2004 and an attack by the FPI on members of the National Alliance for the Freedom of Faith and Religion at the National Monument park in 2008. She said both were meant to deflect the public's attention from oil price hikes at the times.

"We should tackle the perpetrators of violence, but we must also seek out the hidden agendas and the puppet masters behind them," she said.

Experts have expressed concern that the more effective violence becomes, the more likely it is to replace dialogue in communities. The police have repeatedly said they will eradicate violence in the country.

Chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Usman Hamid said the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guaranteed the right of assembly and association and the right to express opinion, which were essential to democracy. However, he said, the rights were also subject to several restrictions.

He said the government of France had legalized a neo-Nazi organization, but took measures against violent acts the group committed against immigrants. He said the United States had conducted a similar policy in dealing with the Ku Klux Klan.

"Restrictions to the right of association in this case should be viewed from the level of 'threat to the national security or public safety, public order, the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others'.

"This will determine how far the state can limit freedom, whether to just the right to express opinions or the right to assembly or the right of association," he said. (lnd)

Islam Defenders mutating into splinter cells for hire

Jakarta Post - July 16, 2010

Indications are rife that the vigilante group the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) is degenerating into an unchained organization, allowing various vested interests to use the group's revolting elites to instill the threat of violence in regions where they see fit. The Jakarta Post's Rendi Akhmad Witular and Hans David Tampubolon explored how the FPI is mutating into a new kind of threat.

Upon entering Jl. Petamburan 3, the main road heading to the FPI headquarters-cum residence of FPI chairman Habib Rizieq, in Central Jakarta, a string of cautious eyes greet unknown visitors.

A couple of men guarding and working on the renovation of Rizieq's modest residence question the purpose of any visit to the site.

"Habib is currently sick and cannot meet anyone for the time being. He is very tired," said Amat, one of the guards. After being released from prison in July last year, Rizieq's health has been deteriorating.

Rizieq was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for instigating the FPI's bloody attack on members of the Alliance for the Freedom of Religion and Faith in the National Monument park, Central Jakarta, on June 1, 2008.

The firebrand cleric, who earned his degree in Saudi Arabia, now spends most of his time resting in bed or preaching at the FPI's mosque every Thursday night.

While Rizieq stays low, other FPI elites, mostly from regional chapters, have been busy becoming political mercenaries without consent from FPI's headquarters. The elites have used the FPI franchise to form splinter groups to support political parties and regional leaders.

In his statement on Monday, Rizieq said the recent raid of a meeting attended by legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in Banyuwangi, East Java, in late June was not authorized by headquarters.

"The FPI Banyuwangi chapter has been frozen since late April due to an internal dispute. Thus, any activities representing the FPI are forbidden. But somehow they happen," he said.

FPI leaders in Banyuwangi have been marred by conflagrations for supporting certain political parties.

Aside from the Banyuwangi raids, Rizieq also highlighted several illegitimate raids in Bekasi and Depok in West Java, and Singkawang in West Kalimantan.

He claimed the Bekasi raid, in which the Tiga Mojang (Three Ladies) statue was torn down because it was deemed to represent the Christian Trinity, was actually conducted by proxies of the Bekasi mayor.

Several FPI members, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, said that while Rizieq remained the group's patron, he no longer had a firm grip on consolidating the personal interests of the FPI elites, who were now competing with each other to replace him at the 2013 congress.

Retired intelligence officer Soeripto said he believed Rizieq had gradually lost control of the organization, which was very prone to being used by intelligence community and law enforcers to serve the interests of the ruling elite.

"It seems now the FPI has a different patron and backing," said Soeripto, who is among the patrons of the Islamic-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

"The Banyuwangi incident has shown how Rizieq can no longer maintain a grip on his followers and how the FPI is prone to being infiltrated by the intelligence community either for national or foreign interests."

However, FPI secretary-general Ahmad Sobri Lubis denied the suggestion that Rizieq was unfit to lead the organization. "Habib is still in control of the situation. But the regional chapters have full autonomy to act."

Over the past three years, raids and street rallies carried out by the FPI have mostly been organized by its regional chapters, notably those in Banten, West Java and East Java.

Analysts believe the FPI will eventually break apart into several autonomous splinter cells similar to those of the Pancasila Youth organization, which no longer holds allegiance to their original patron Japto Soerjosoemarno. The organization is now breaking up into smaller groups widely associated with thugs, operating independently from each other.

"If the FPI is mutating into smaller independent factions, it will be more difficult for the authorities to shut them down as there will be numerous leaders claiming to be operating under the FPI brand," said Soeripto.

Chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Movement (GUII), Abdurrahman Assegaf, said the FPI would not mutate into smaller factions as long as Habib Rizieq remained in power.

"Habib is still functioning as a kind of moral figure that at some level still unites the FPI elites. He is so instrumental in keeping the group intact," said Abdurrahman, who has joined forces with the FPI in clamping down on Ahmadiyah – a religious sect considered blasphemous to Islam because it does not recognize Muhammad as the last prophet.

Abdurrahman said the FPI was unlikely to be dissolved as long as law enforcers were not cooperative in complying with demands from the Muslim community to eradicate activities deemed to threaten Islamic teachings.

"There's always demand for a vigilante group like the FPI because of the law enforcement vacuum, coupled with abundant uneducated Muslims who are prone to be lured into committing violence."

The FPI is a splinter group of the Pamswakarsa civil guard formed by the military to support the Habibie regime. The group has been marred by acts of violence allegedly ordered by political parties or businessmen.

Unlike any other hard-line group, the FPI's struggle is aimed at crushing activities deemed unfit according to Islam, such as prostitution, gambling, drinking and atheism.

The group's use of ultra violence, which has triumphed over the rule of law in secular Indonesia, is still less potent than that of Jamaah Al Islamiyah, the terrorist group involved in a string of bombings, or Laskar Jihad (Jihad Troops), which incited a sectarian conflict in Maluku.

Sobri Lubis said it was not unusual for the FPI to receive orders from the police to raid establishment deemed to violate Islamic teachings.

Police have repeatedly denied such allegations. National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri told activists Wednesday that all violence "had to be eradicated" in the country.

According to FPI Consultative Assembly secretary Misbahul Anam, then TNI territorial chief Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (now the President) asked for the group's assistance in dealing with insurgencies in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

In July 1999, FPI leaders met high-ranking military generals, including Yudhoyono, at the TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, to discuss solutions for the insurgencies in Aceh, according to media reports at the time.

The administration of President Yudhoyono has thus far proven unable to crack down on the organization, which has regularly committed violence freely under the noses of law enforcers.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said he was not aware of the cooperation between Yudhoyono and FPI leaders. He said the President had shown strong commitment to bring to justice any criminal groups without prejudice.

He said the FPI may now become a tool in a turf war between governing elites with authority for policy-making. The turf war includes clandestine battles between the military and the police, between Islamic organizations and liberal wings, between pro- democracy and antidemocracy, and between political elites over the Bank Century bailout scandal.

"The FPI has been nurtured for almost 12 years as a tool for state terrorism. It can be used to discredit Islam, or to sideline the police or certain political parties, or even to divert public attention from certain high-profile scandals involving policy makers," he said.

Since its birth in 1998, the FPI has been involved in at least 50 incidents.

The FPI's most infamous incidents

1998 Nov. 22: Ketapang incident in Central Jakarta.

1999 September: Raids on prostitution and gambling dens in Jakarta

2000 Dec. 14: Raids on prostitution den in Subang for allegedly harboring thugs involved in the attack on the residence of an FPI senior member.

2001 Oct. 15: Jakarta police deploy around 1,000 officers to storm FPI headquarters. The raid ends in a clash between the police and FPI members.

2002 March 15: A string of massive FPI raids on several clubs in Jakarta. June 26: The FPI raids several pubs along tourist-packed Jl. Jaksa in Jakarta

2003 April 20: Habib Rizieq is detained by Jakarta police for slandering the force. Aug. 20: The court sentences Rizieq to 7 months in prison.

2004 Oct. 3: Raids on Catholic school Sang Timur, demanding the shutting down of the school. Oct. 22: The FPI raids clubs in Kemang, Jakarta

2005 Aug. 5: Raids on the headquarters of the Liberal Islamic Network in Jakarta. Sept. 19: The FPI raids an Ahmadiyah residential compound in Cianjur, West Java.

2006 April 12: Raids on the office of Playboy Indonesia magazine.

2007 March 29: Attacks on women's movement group Papernas

2008 June 1: Attacks on members of the Alliance for the Freedom of Religion and Faith in the National Monument park, Central Jakarta

Oct. 30: Rizieq and the commander of the Islam Defender Troops (LPI) were sentenced for 18 months for inciting violence.

2010 March 26: FPI members forced their way into a hotel in Surabaya, East Java, demanding that foreign participants of the 4th regional Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Intersex Association conference.

May 4: FPI members storm a government-backed human rights workshop for transgender individuals in Depok, West Java.

June 24: A raid on a meeting of legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in Banyuwangi, East Java.

FPI elites gearing up to replace Habib Rizieq

Jakarta Post - July 16, 2010

Rendi Witular/Hans David – The Islam Defenders Front (FPI) will not hold its congress for new leadership until 2013, yet several of its elites are already in competition to wrest the chairmanship from the frail Habib Rizieq.

A source within the FPI said internal rivalry has intensified since 2005 between the founding elite and those who have since joined the organization. Rizieq previously showed preference for fellow Arab-descendant Habib Faiz Alatas, a graduate of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, to take over the hard-line group's leadership.

Faiz, then FPI secretary-general, was among the key provocateurs of the raids on the Liberal Islamic Network (JIL) headquarters in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta, in August, 2005.

His preaching at the Al-Azhar Mosque in South Jakarta ignited a wave of anger among FPI members and followers against the JIL movement led by liberal Islamic figure Ulil Abshar-Abdalla.

Rizieq's concealed support for Faiz eventually stirred up debate within the FPI elite, particularly the founding figures who considered Faiz to have no root in the organization and no strong network.

Just two years before the 2009 congress to elect a new FPI leader, Faiz died in an accident. "Habib Faiz died in a traffic accident around three years ago," said FPI secretary-general Ahmad Sobri Lubis.

Sobri said Faiz was remembered by fellow FPI members as a young, inspiring and enthusiastic cleric, who often replaced Rizieq when he could not deliver the Thursday night sermon.

"Faiz was not the crown prince of the FPI. There's no such thing as that. Everyone has an equal chance to lead," said Sobri.

As for leadership regeneration, Sobri said it would only be done in the upcoming congress in 2013.

"Several years ago, Habib Rizieq had called us to prepare younger figures to replace him because he was too exhausted to lead. However, so far, no one been deemed suitable to replace him," said Sobri.

Sobri was optimistic the upcoming congress was likely to see new leadership. FPI secretary for the Consultative Assembly Syeikh Misbahul Anam said he was preparing the next generation of leaders to replace Rizieq.

"We have some potential members who deserve to lead, and we are continuously developing them for the next congress. Anyone can be named leader," said Misbahul, whose boarding school Al-Umm was FPI's first headquarters. "We do not recognize seniority. Everyone has the same obligations, rights and chances."

Sources at FPI said among candidates to replace Rizieq included Sobri Lubis, Misbahul and Munarman, the commander of the FPI's militia, the Islam Defender Troops (LPI).

Sobri and Misbahul are among the founding figures of FPI while Munarman is a new figure, who joined the organization less than four years ago.

Munarman, who spent 18 months in prison with Rizieq for inciting the Monas incident in 2008, is a former chairman of the high- profile Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI). Munarman also deals with FPI legal affairs.

Cops asked to take a hard line with FPI

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Farouk Arnaz – The National Police should no longer tolerate religious hard-liners such as the Islamic Defenders Front, which are using violence and intimidation under the guise of piety, a number of rights groups – including Muslim organizations – said on Wednesday.

"We are worried about several recent incidents and the fact that the police have not done anything to stop the violence and uphold the law, no matter which group is involved," said Usman Hamid, a coordinator from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), who was among those meeting National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri at his office to air their concerns.

Rumadi, a program coordinator from the Wahid Institute, another rights group taking part in the talks, said Bambang gave his personal guarantee that the police would crack down on violence committed by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). "It was a positive meeting," he said.

Aside from Kontras and the Wahid Institute, activists also present at the meeting included those from the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), Arus Pelangi, Imparsial, Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), Setara Institute and Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia.

Usman said the FPI not only attacked people of other faiths but also human rights activists and those with unorthodox sexual orientations. "This can no longer be tolerated," he said.

The activist groups, he said, had agreed the FPI had caused social instability and undermined the authority of the state, and that the police should move to uphold the law.

But the police have denied accusations that they have not done enough to prevent hard-line groups, including the FPI, from conducting illegal raids to intimidate others, such as a sweep on a meeting hosted by lawmakers in Banyuwangi, East Java, last month.

The June 24 meeting, called by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislators Ribka Tjiptaning Proletariati and Rieke Dyah Ayu Pitaloka, was broken up by as many as 15 members of the Islamic People's Forum because they believed it to be a communist meeting. The FPI is said to have incited the raid.

The incident was reported to the police and has led to numerous calls from civil society and political organizations to disband hard-line groups.

Usman said Bambang had vowed to take action against the Banyuwangi Police chief for his lack of action over the incident, although he would discuss the issue with the legislators first.

Maman Imanulhaq, an Islamic scholar from Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Muslim organization, went as far as saying Bambang should dismiss local police chiefs who allowed hard- liners to use violence and intimidation tactics.

I Wayan Sudirta, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) from Bali, said the activists hoped the meeting did not produce more rhetoric. "We need concrete action, not just promises," he said.

Kontras urge police to take firm action against hardline groups

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Usman Hamid, a coordinator from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, or Kontras, and activists from other non-governmental organizations met with National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri and urged him to take firm action against hardline groups that perpetrate violence.

"We are not asking to disperse the organizations but we are asking the National Police Chief to take firm action against violent ones," Usman Hamid told reporters at the National Police Headquarters on Wednesday.

He said the organizations claimed their actions were on behalf of religion or were anti communist.

Usman said the activists had seen that no action had been taken by the National Police. In fact, he said, the police seemed to ignore the violence by such groups and very few of the perpetrators had to face the legal consequences of their crimes.

"No wonder the public suspect that the National Police is backing up the groups – the most effective way to muzzle the hardline groups' violence is by upholding the law," he said.

"The National Police Chief must give serious attention to this matter. If there is no firm response, we are worried there will be conflict among the public."

Islam & religion

If you're praying toward the west, you're doing it wrong

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Dessy Sagita – The country's highest Islamic authority is refusing to take the blame for issuing an incorrect edict in March, which stipulated that worshipers had to face westward in order to be praying toward Mecca.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) announced on Wednesday that Mecca was actually to the northwest of Indonesia, and not to the west as it said earlier.

"Just because we revised our edict doesn't make the previous ruling completely wrong," MUI councilor Umar Shihab told the Jakarta Globe.

"We're just fine-tuning it to make it more precise. It's not a big problem, as not all Indonesian mosques are incorrectly oriented," he added. "Many have pointed toward the wrong direction for years."

Mecca is located on the 21st parallel north, while the northernmost point of Indonesia is on the 5th parallel, Umar said.

He called on local worshipers not to be too concerned about the change, saying their previous prayers would "still be valid". He also made assurances that mosques would not have to be renovated to reflect the change.

Intentionally praying in the wrong direction is considered a sin in Islam, while unintentional mistakes are not.

"There's no need to change the building structure," he said, adding the MUI would officially inform mosque managers through an edict. "Just make a minor adjustment by rotating the prayer mats slightly," he said.

Said Aqil Siradj, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Islamic organization, said the MUI's edict in March was a regrettably poor decision by the body.

"They shouldn't have rushed to such an important decision," he said. "Anything concerning public law should be made after a long contemplation.

"It's good that the MUI realized their mistake and took steps to rectify it, but let this be a lesson to them not to churn out edicts in such haste."

Said added that top NU scholars would meet in the near future to discuss the issue.

In January, Islamic scholar Mutoha Arkanuddin claimed that anything between 50 and 80 percent of the country's mosques and graves were not properly oriented toward Mecca, drawing the ire of conservative clerics.

Chinese Muslims increasing rapidly in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe - July 14, 2010

Pontianak, West Kalimantan – The number of Chinese Muslims in Indonesia, particularly in Jakarta, Surabaya and Semarang, has experienced rapid growth, a Chinese Muslim leader said.

"The number of Chinese Muslims in Jakarta alone has reached hundreds of thousands," Budijono, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chinese Muslims Association (PITI), said here on Wednesday.

Budijono, whose Muslim name is Nurul Fajar, made the remarks in a dialog on the development of the multicultural horizons of the Muslim leadership. He said of the 238 million people in Indonesia, 15 percent were Chinese Indonesians of whom five percent were Muslims.

Budijono said that Islam entered China 1,400 years ago when Said bin Abu Waqos built a mosque in Guangzhou, China. In Indonesia meanwhile, Islam arrived about 700 years ago.

"So, basically in China Islam developed in advance and was embraced by millions of people. If there is an attempt to separate Chinese Indonesians from indigenous Indonesians that is simply a political move aimed to create disunity," he said.

Hostility in Bogor puts end to Ahmadiyah plans

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Zaky Pawas & Ulma Haryanto – In the latest attack on the rights of minority religions, hundreds of public order officers in Bogor on Monday demolished the foundations for a planned mosque for worshippers from the Ahmadiyah sect.

"We had to dismantle the foundations, which were steel pillars, and the base framework, because the mosque had been rejected by local residents," Adj. Comr. Roni Mardiatun, police chief for Ciampea subdistrict, told the Jakarta Globe.

According to Roni, residents had objected to the plan to build the mosque in Cisaladah village, claiming it violated a 2006 decree by both the ministries of religious affairs and home affairs on the establishment of houses of worship, which require the approval of local residents before they can be built.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the country's highest authority on Islamic affairs, has labeled Ahmadiyah a deviant version of Islam and called for it to be banned.

The government has stopped short of banning the group, but has forbidden it from conducting its rites publicly. Ahmadiyah members recognize their sect's founder as a prophet, which contradicts a tenet of mainstream Islam that sees Muhammad as the last prophet.

"The local residents think that the mosque will be made into a place to spread Ahmadiyah, and besides, the mosque doesn't have a permit from the local administration," Roni said.

The building's foundation had already been built on the 500- square-meter property in preparation for a two-story mosque, he added.

About 400 police officers stood guard in front of a nearby existing Ahmadiyah mosque. Residents and police scuffled earlier on Monday because residents also wanted the smaller mosque pulled down.

Roni said 50 more police officers were dispatched after the foundations had been demolished in order to secure the area.

The head of the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) in Bogor, Dace Supriadi, said his officers removed the foundations following a decision by the Ciampea Council of Leaders, which included the heads of the local administration, police and military.

"The Ahmadiyah mosque was still just some pillars and a foundation. We had to dismantle it before the building could be built," he added.

Cisaladah village elder H Deden argued that Ahmadiyah's activities in the area had been banned under a 2007 decree from the subdistrict administration.

"The decree states that no activities on behalf of Ahmadiyah should be allowed in the region. Apparently they ignored the decree," he said.

Deden also said villagers wanted the existing Ahmadiyah mosque torn down. "The residents' demands cannot be negotiated and must be carried out," he added.

According to Deden, 40 local community leaders had sent the Bogor administration an ultimatum to destroy the mosque within two weeks. "If not, we fear residents could run amok," he added.

Politicians, clerics mourn unifying Muslim leader

Antara News - July 11, 2010

Indonesian statesman and Muslim cleric Dr. Idham Chalid passed away on Sunday at his home at the Darul Ma'arif education complex in Cipete, South Jakarta.

The 87-year-old was believed to have succumbed to a gastric ailment that had plagued him for the past 10 years.

Born in Satui, South Kalimantan, on Aug. 27, 1922, Idham served as speaker of both the House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly between 1972 and 1977, and was also chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Muslim organization, from 1956 to 1985.

Idham also served as deputy prime minister under the country's founding president, Sukarno, and was one of the co-founders of the United Development Party (PPP), the country's oldest Islamic-based party.

His son, Saiful Hadi, said a funeral would take place on Monday at the family's Darul Quran Islamic boarding school in Cisarua, West Java. "We ask for the public's prayers and forgiveness for my father's sins," said Saiful, who is editor in chief of state- run news agency Antara.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono offered his condolences to the family and praised Idham's "remarkable service to the nation during his lifetime," presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said.

Said Aqil Siradj, the current chairman of NU, said Idham had been a successful religious and political moderate. "He was received well everywhere he went and always took the middle path, never veering to the extremes," he said.

Former NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said Idham was renowned for the ease with which he adapted to changing political circumstances.

"Those who knew him would attest to the strength of his faith, but those who didn't would brand him an opportunist trying to cling to power," he said.

PPP secretary general Irgan Chairul Mahfiz said the party had lost a great leader in Idham, whom he called a "humble, charismatic and wise leader who contributed his thoughts, energy and funds to the Islamic cause."

Achmad Mubarok, from the advisory council of the ruling Democratic Party, praised Idham's pragmatism and powers of persuasion. "His brilliant thoughts and amicable personality were what inspired the NU faithful's continued trust in his leadership of the organization for so many years," he said.

He said that one of Idham's masterstrokes was to persuade several Muslim parties to unite as the PPP despite their minor ideological differences, and to make each of the parties feel they were a key part of the union.

PPP stalwart and prominent cleric Zainuddin MZ said Idham was a "multidimensional figure." "Politically, he was an unadorned figure who survived the independence, Sukarno and Suharto eras," he said.

"He was a religious leader, politician and bureaucrat, and could transition between all three roles seamlessly," he said, adding that Idham and former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid personified NU's golden era.

Sex & pornography

Minister sets timeline for plan to ban web porn

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran & Ismira Lutfia – The government on Wednesday announced plans to block access to pornographic Web sites, but many doubt it actually has the means to effectively enforce such a ban.

The minister of communications and information technology, Tifatul Sembiring, said the contentious Internet filter plan would be up and running within one or two months. "We should not wait too long because more people will copy the material," he said.

Tifatul, who is from the conservative Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the plan was driven by a request from the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) to restrict access to pornography on the Internet.

According to the minister, the move was in keeping with the controversial Anti-Pornography Law passed in 2008. One of its articles states "that the state should protect its citizens from the dangers of pornography."

"So, God willing, we will fulfill our obligations, otherwise the continued presence of this material will undermine our laws," Tifatul said.

The Anti-Pornography Law has been the subject of heated public debate, with critics arguing that it lacks clarity and is open to interpretation.

Some provinces, including Bali and North Sulawesi, have refused to comply with the law on the grounds that its vague articles could lead to many cultural dances and traditions being classified as pornographic. Numerous civil society organizations challenged the law at the Constitutional Court earlier this year, but their case was rejected.

Tifatul said pornographic Web sites based overseas would be filtered out, while those based in Indonesia would be simply closed down.

"For international Web sites, as they have to go through Indonesian Internet service providers, we will request the ISP block them," he said.

He dismissed concerns that compiling the blacklist would be highly subjective, saying the ministry would use specialized software to develop a "standard" definition of pornography.

KPAI chairman Hadi Supeno said the government controls would only cover Web sites with "harmful content," such as pornography, gambling and excessive violence.

He said Web sites with explicit images, videos and text depicting sexual activities would harm children, who he claimed made up the majority of Internet users.

According to Hadi, KPAI data showed there were 4.2 million Web sites and 400 million Web pages displaying pornographic material, including 200,000 sites featuring child pornography. "We cannot just do nothing about this, and we are waiting for the minister to make good on his promise," he said.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Jumadi, from the Indonesian Telecommunications Users Group, said filtering content would be far from easy.

"It would only be possible for specific porn Web sites, for example Playboy, but there are countless Web sites that are less obvious," he said, adding that it would be nearly impossible to monitor every blacklisted site individually because they could easily be moved or camouflaged.

He also said measures to filter content would be largely ineffective because most people accessed the Internet from home on their personal computers.

Valens Riyadi, from the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII), said the plan would only be feasible if the ministry provided ISPs with a list of Web sites it deemed harmful.

"The clearance to block access to these sites should come from the ministry so that we have a clear reference," he said.

Celebrity sex-tapes case a test for anti-pornography law

The Australian - July 12, 2010

Gerhard Hoffstaedter – Indonesia has recently been in the thrall of its first celebrity sex-tape scandal. The now-notorious sex tapes allegedly show pop singer Nazril "Ariel" Ilham engaged in sex acts with actresses Luna Maya and Cut Tari (in separate tapes).

While Ariel made the tapes for personal viewing, the videos appeared on the internet after his laptop was stolen. Now everyone from school kids to office workers has been downloading, sharing and watching them. The affair has been dubbed "Peterporn", a play on the name of Ariel's pop band, Peterpan.

The appearance of these videos, and the huge public interest afforded them in the media, have produced an interesting test case for Indonesia's far-reaching anti-pornography law, which was passed in 2008 by the Indonesian parliament in Jakarta. Even though anti-pornography laws have existed for a long time, their enforcement was subdued until the passing of the Rancangan Undang-Undang Pornografi – the Pornography Bill of 2008.

When launched, indigenous groups and the tourist region of Bali were seen to be threatened by the law. As it turns out, neither the penis gourds of West Papuans nor Bali's lucrative tourism industry have been targets so far, with both provinces declaring they will ignore the law.

Early this year, the High Court ruled to exempt traditional and cultural customs from the bill as they cannot be seen to be pornographic. This is little legal reprieve, as definitions remain fuzzy and enforcement of so-called pornaksi (indecent behaviour) remains arbitrary.

Ariel has been arrested and charged. If convicted, he faces fines of up to 6 billion rupiah ($750,000) and up to 12 years in jail for sharing the sex videos. The two female leads have been treated as witnesses, not suspects, in the case.

Policing morals has a long history and Indonesia is not alone in wanting to curb what in the region is seen as the negative effects of Westernisation.

New technology is making it harder to police access to what religious organisations, religious leaders and some self- appointed protectors of morality see as immoral. School children are exchanging the clips via Bluetooth, downloading it in internet cafes and watching it on their mobile phones. Some schools have begun to stop and search pupils, and internet cafes are being raided by the police.

Meanwhile, internet sites crash under the surge to download and share the clips.

The government has reacted with calls to screen the internet, following China and Malaysia in trying to filter internet content. This sort of censorship is doomed to fail as it has in other countries, as tech-savvy individuals find ways to circumvent controls.

What is more worrying is the sort of self-censorship it engenders. After the publication of Indonesian Playboy in 2006, and the violent reactions it sparked among some reactionary Islamic groups, some newsagents began to self-censor, going so far as to black out pictures they deemed inappropriate or cutting out entire pages featuring nude models.

Indonesia is often considered a tolerant and pluralistic Muslim country, in which diverse cultures can coexist and express themselves. The fall of Suharto and his New Order administration in 1998 opened the country to processes of democratisation, economic liberalisation and a revival of public religiosity.

However, these moves also sparked increased tensions and violence across the archipelago, as religious groups demanded their views on morality be enforced locally and nationwide.

Sharia laws have already been enacted, and policed, in parts of the country. Organisations such as the Front Pembela Islam – the Islamic Defenders Front – fight against prostitution, gambling, drinking and other vices against Islam. Their targets are Muslims who behave in ways that contradict FPI's orthodox and fundamentalist views on Islam. They cite government inaction on vices as their impetus to take action.

In this case, FPI demanded swift government action to stop the distribution of the videos and charge the three entertainers involved. Calling porn a form of "moral terrorism", they urged Indonesians to stop worshipping celebrities, whom they regard as a bad influence on public morality.

This spells trouble for the diversity of religious practices in Indonesia: not only are non-Muslims in the firing line, but also the heterogeneity of Islam. For much of the nation's history, regional customs and ethnic peculiarities have made Indonesian Islam a showcase against the often deterministic and ethnocentric Western view of Islam.

Dangdut dancers in racy outfits still dance at weddings in villages across Indonesia, and their style of music, which blends Indian, Malay and Western influences, remains popular. It is performed by Muslims, for Muslims, yet crosses newly drawn lines of what is appropriate behaviour and morally acceptable.

The issue is one of who gets to shape the nation and what sort of Indonesia will emerge out of the post-Suharto and post-reformasi period. If the government follows the convenient populist drive to appease the loudest and most intolerant groups, the brittle national consensus is in danger.

Islamist groups have managed to sway the government more than once and any more ground given to them will endanger the peace in a multicultural and pluralistic nation built on tolerance and the accommodation of difference. Any more erosion of these principles has the potential to destabilise the nation, something that is in no one's interest.

[Gerhard Hoffstaedter is a research fellow with La Trobe University's Institute for Human Security.]

Luna Maya, Cut Tari declared suspects in sex tapes scandal

Jakarta Globe - July 9, 2010

Farouk Arnaz – Indonesian celebrities Luna Maya and Cut Tari have been named suspects for their alleged starring roles in the Peterporn sex tapes scandal, National Police said on Friday.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto said that though the two women would be charged and taken to court, they would not be taken into custody because they had been cooperative during the investigation and were the "victims" of Peterpan lead singer Nazril "Ariel" Irham who had shot both videos.

It is understood the women will be charged with the same offenses as Ariel, who is facing the prospects of a lengthy jail term if convicted under the controversial Anti-Pornography Law, Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) Law and sections of the Criminal Code covering public indecency.

Marwoto said he could not provide further details but is expected to hold a news conference after Friday prayers this afternoon.

Luna and Cut Tari apologized to their fans on Thursday but neither, in separate interviews, admitted to being the women in the videos that became viral sensations when they were released online. Police have so far been unable to determine how the videos were made public.

Land disputes & evictions

Residents left in the lurch after land grab

Jakarta Post - July 12, 2010

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Residents of Sebalang village, Lampung, have urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to immediately name suspects in what they allege to be a case of illegal land grabbing for a steam-powered power plant (PLTU) project.

The residents claim to have been forcefully evicted from their land to make way for the plant and received a mere token sum in compensation.

The KPK is currently questioning a number of witnesses. Lampung Governor Sjachroedin Z.P. went to KPK headquarters in Jakarta last week to testify about the acquisition of 65 hectares for the project.

The residents suspect an organized criminal syndicate may be operating behind the project. "The compensation of only Rp 500 (about 5 US cents) per square meter of land is inhumane. But we have no choice because we risk attracting violence," Sebalang resident Rosihan said recently.

Construction of the PLTU Sebalang project, estimated to cost Rp 1.9 trillion, commenced in 2007 when South Lampung was led by regent Zulkifli Anwar.

The project, also called the PLTU Tarahan Unit III and PLTU Tarahan Unit IV, has been built on 65 hectares of land in Sebalang hamlet, Tarahan village, Katibung district, South Lampung, some 20 kilometers from provincial capital Bandar Lampung.

Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) activist Mukri Friatna said that in 2007, hundreds of Sebalang residents complained to Walhi about intimidation and requested protection.

He said they feared forceful eviction and confrontations with thugs. They have also sought protection with the police, but, according to Mukri, their fate remains unclear.

"Besides the PLTU project, a reclamation project for a planned port and resort have also been driving residents off their land, with many of them resorting to move in with relatives," said Mukri.

Village chief Hasan Wahab has blamed a nearby 20-hectare land reclamation for difficulties in irrigation.

"The compensation was for the land located south of the Trans- Sumatra highway for the PLTU project, while the land located north is for the resort area and housing owned by PT Tanjung Selaki," said Wahab.

Wahab said he was unclear of the amount of compensation. "But, for sure, the eviction has deprived us water access as our farmland can no longer be irrigated," said Wahab.

The Lampung Anticorruption Committee (Koak) said it had found markups in the reclamation project, whereby the administration office had budgeted Rp 26 billion to compensate residents, while only Rp 13 billion was spent.

The KPK, according to spokesman Johan Budi S.P. in Jakarta, is still gathering evidence.

Administration & government

Ministers get red marks for missing targets

Jakarta Post - July 9, 2010

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – A quarter of 45 ministries and state institutions have been given "red marks" for failure to implement dozens of national development priority programs in the first half of the year.

Chief of the Presidential Work Unit for Development Monitoring and Control (UKP4), Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, said Thursday that the low-performing institutions included the Public Works Ministry, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, the Communications and Infor-mation Technology Ministry, and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

He said that of the 14 sectors President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had marked out in February as targets of the government's accelerated development program, infrastructure was the sector with the most red marks.

The sectors include bureaucratic reform, education, health, poverty eradication, food resilience, energy security, and improving the business and investment climate.

"As of the end of June, of the 369 sub-action plans, 58 received very satisfactory marks, 235 satisfactory, 15 unsatisfactory, and 49 disappointing," Kuntoro said, adding that the red marks were recorded with the offices of all the coordinating ministers.

Kuntoro stopped short of mentioning the failed sub-action plans of each institution, but said that "among the sub-action plans that have failed to reach the targets are the establishment of a national agency for the management of boundary regions and the completion of the bill on goods and servi-ces procurement at government departments".

"Another is the construction and development of 19 new penitentiaries by the Justice and Human Rights Ministry," Kuntoro told a press conference after Thursday's Cabinet plenary meeting at the Presidential Office.

The meeting agenda covered the half-year evaluation on the implementation of the 2010 Presidential directive on the acceleration of the 2010 national development priority programs.

While some of the institutions were given red marks, others were commended for surpassing the targets.

Kuntoro said these included the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry for the domestic coal market obligation and the North Sumatra and Riau administrations for completing regulations on feasibility studies on environmental impact analysis for business plans. He added there were no rewards or punishment for high and low performers.

The President said while opening the plenary meeting that although the ministers had signed an integrity pact and performance contract, the only outcome that he and Vice President Boediono wanted to see was "good performance".

"If there is an evaluation [of the Cabinet's performance], then it will not be conducted subjectively," he said, acknowledging that some of his ministers failed to meet their targets.

"Poor performance can be improved. Officials can make mistakes and fail, but they have to immediately mend their mistakes. They have to be responsible," he added.

During a gathering with reporters last month, the President said he would evaluate the performance of his Cabinet annually and did not rule out the possibility of conducting a reshuffle should some of them not perform.

Legislation & parliament

Indonesian lawmakers stall on financial disclosure

Jakarta Globe - July 16, 2010

Armando Siahaan – Whether it's because of negligence or a malicious intent to hide something, the failure of more than a hundred lawmakers to comply with the law and submit their personal wealth reports is unacceptable, antigraft activists said on Friday.

Fahmi Badoh, who leads the political corruption division of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said the tardiness indicates that there are lawmakers who fail to show a strong commitment in the country's fight against corruption.

"This depicts how our politicians feel like they are immune to the law," he said. Or worse, he said, some lawmakers may have deliberately not filed reports in order to hide illegal or questionable assets. "We have seen a lot of corruption cases that took place in the House."

The criticism comes days after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said 127 out of 560 lawmakers had yet to report their assets. The reports are due within two months of taking office. Lawmakers took office last October. According to the KPK, the Democratic Party had 42 tardy lawmakers, Golkar 27 and the National Mandate Party (PAN) 26.

"Unfortunately, there are no criminal sanctions [stipulated in the law] against them," Fahmi said. "Right now, all [the KPK does] is just warn."

Fahmi said that there should be concrete repercussions against such tardiness, as covering up personal assets could be a strong indication of a financial crime. "[Criminal sanctions] should be included in the anti-corruption law," he said.

At the very least, he said, there should be an in-house punishment mechanism within the House. "The House Honorary Council needs to be given more authority to punish because these lawmakers are perceivably damaging the honor of the [legislature]" Fahmi said.

House and party leaders should also push legislators to be more responsible in wealth asset reporting, he added.

Max Sopacua, deputy chairman of the Democratic Party, claimed lawmakers still had until July 21 to file reports. "Our party had instructed us all to report it as soon as possible," he said.

Many new lawmakers needed time to become familiarized with the practice, he said. "Besides, we were very busy in the last recess visiting our constituents."

Taufik Kurniawan, the House deputy speaker from PAN, denied that lawmakers from his party have been tardy, and that most members have yet to submit their reports because they were going to submit them collectively.

Tjahjo Kumolo, chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that some PDI-P lawmakers' reports had to be returned to be corrected. "And we had instructed them to return it as soon as possible to be forwarded to the antigraft commission," Tjahjo said.

Justice minister blasts media for broadcasting nap footage

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Embattled Minister of Justice and Human Rights Patrialis Akbar has jumped to the defense of his colleagues pictured nodding off during a briefing at the State Palace and blamed the media for portraying Indonesian officials in a negative light.

Speaking at the presidential complex in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, Patrialis said that because the ministers had watched the final of the World Cup together early on Monday morning, it was only natural that they would be sleepy in the morning.

He said it was "only human" that the cabinet ministers and senior government officials would be sleepy if they had only slept for an hour after the match had finished before assuming their state responsibilities.

"So nodding off is a little bit normal," he said, referring to television images of the senior officials close to or dozing off during a news briefing on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's new situation room, which has been built for, among other things, keeping a closer eye on the performances of the ministers.

Patrialis then set his sights on the media, saying that "I also saw some journalists yawn, only not being shown on camera."

Despite saying that being sleepy was "normal," the minister, recently one of 25 percent of Yudhoyono's cabinet given a failing grade for his performance since taking office last year, suggested that journalists refrain from broadcasting images that could portray them in a negative light and be seen by the international community.

"It will shame our officials and should not be shown," he said. "They have to work hard, so why bother with small mistakes."

Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring, another minister to make Yudhoyono's list of ministers to have "red marks" recorded against their names, said that though he did not sleep during the meeting, he may have yawned.

"But yawning a little bit is normal," he wrote on his Twitter account. "Yawning and sleeping are only human if we watch the World Cup."

The House of Representatives on Monday morning was forced to delay its first plenary session after a monthlong recess for several hours until enough lawmakers bothered to turn up to form a quorum.

Since the House was elected late last year, it has failed to pass a single piece of legislation, already drawing negative comparisons with the last batch of legislators, many of whom were blasted as tardy, corrupt and passing poorly thought out pieces of legislation, if at all.

Legislators feel the heat after catching case of World Cup fever

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Young revelers weren't the only ones struggling to drag themselves out of bed the morning after the late-night World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands, with legislators coming in for criticism after apparently sleeping through their alarm clocks.

Many lawmakers who made it to the House of Representatives on Monday morning nodded off or rubbed their bleary eyes, while others did not turn up at all for the first plenary session following a monthlong recess.

As the clock struck 10:30 a.m., a half hour after the House plenary session was scheduled to open, House Speaker Marzuki Alie, from the Democratic Party, was sitting with House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, from Golkar, staring at a half-empty chamber

The session had to be postponed with just 260 of the 560 lawmakers in their seats. A visibly angry Marzuki said each of the House factions should punish those members who failed to attend Monday's plenary session.

Sutan Bhatoegana, a Democrat, suggested the meeting be postponed to give lawmakers more time to catch up on their sleep and struggle into work after a late night of watching the World Cup final.

Finally, enough lawmakers turned up to meet the quorum requirement. In the end, just 283 lawmakers signed in for the session. This included 78 of the 148 Democrats; 48 out of 106 Golkar lawmakers; and 46 out of 94 Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmakers.

It was a completely different story on Sunday night, when almost 1,000 people showed up at the House to watch the final into the early hours of Monday morning. The standing-room-only crowd was there in response to an invite sent out by Marzuki.

Marzuki was the only lawmaker who attended the event, along with some high-ranking officials from the House's Secretariat General, including Nining Indra Saleh, the secretary general. They were joined by about 100 journalists who were also invited to watch the broadcast.

The attendees were divided into two groups – those wearing Spanish red, and those decked out in Dutch orange.

Meanwhile, in the wake of recently released quarterly performance reports showing that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet members have failed to live up to expectations, a live television broadcast on Monday showed a string of ministers nodding off during a briefing at the State Palace.

The ministers seen catching 40 winks included Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono, State Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs Andi Mallarangeng, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto and State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar.

The performance reports showed a quarter of the cabinet had received "red marks."

The chief of the Presidential Working Unit for Development Supervision and Control, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, said earlier that those evaluated were ministers and heads of state institutions.

Regional autonomy & government

Lawmakers clash over regional autonomy

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Legislators from the oversight commission for home affairs have called into doubt the president's claim that the creation of new administrative regions was a failure, and also lambasted their leadership for playing along.

Chairuman Harahap, chairman of the House of Representatives' Commission II, said he had received many positive reports following the establishment of the new regions.

"The government's statement that regional autonomy is a failure is highly debatable," the Golkar Party lawmaker told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

On Wednesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said 80 percent of the 205 regions created over the past decade had not been successful.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, from the president's Democratic Party, agreed and pledged Commission II's support for an extension to the moratorium on creating new regions.

However, Commission II member Basuki Purnama, from Golkar, said Marzuki was not qualified to speak on behalf of the commission. "He said Commission II had agreed to the idea, when in fact we've always opposed the moratorium," he said.

"The whole issue is getting hazy. Does the speaker believe the rest of the lawmakers are his subordinates? We demand an explanation for his comments."

Ganjar Pranowo, deputy chairman of Commission II, said Marzuki may have been kowtowing to the president when he made the statement. He said he had contacted the deputy speakers to confirm whether they shared the same view on regional autonomy.

"They told me the situation was really complicated during Wednesday's meeting at the State Palace," the legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said.

"None of them had the chance to speak, so Marzuki did all the talking. No matter what the case, we'll definitely demand clarification for why they pledged our support for the government's stance."

Marzuki, meanwhile, denied that he had gagged his four deputies at the meeting, saying they had all unanimously decided three months earlier to support the government's position.

"So at the State Palace on Wednesday, I spoke not just for myself but for them and the House leadership too," he said.

Ganjar argued that technically there was no moratorium on the creation of new regions, only a presidential decree suspending the practice.

"How are we supposed to support a moratorium when it isn't even defined in our legal parlance?" he said.

"We refuse to side one way or another on regional expansion until the government makes it clear what their policies vis-a-vis the issue really are. "We also want them to lift this blanket ban and begin considering cases for creating new regions."

Fellow commission member Teguh Juwarno, from the National Mandate Party (PAN), urged the government to proceed cautiously on the issue.

"We want them to be more careful in any future decisions they make," he said. "We also want to make sure that the taxpayer money used to fund these new regions is accounted for."

Since 1999, a total of seven new provinces, 164 regencies and 34 municipalities have been created from existing regions.

Transport & communication

Riders' litany of complaints nearly as long as wait for bus

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Arientha Primanita – The millions of people who ride the city's troubled busway system are not a happy bunch, the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation has found in a recent survey.

The foundation, also known as the YLKI, said on Thursday that the poll showed that passengers were most upset by the long waiting times between bus arrivals, never-ending queues, overcrowding, late buses, defective air-conditioning, clueless staff and, of course, being groped.

YLKI chairman Tulus Abadi said that at least 41.5 percent of passengers on the TransJakarta service disliked waiting for buses that were usually late, 26.2 percent believed that the buses and shelters were overcrowded, while 6.48 percent complained about the lack of air-conditioning.

"Other complaints included of people feeling lost and confused, and the clueless busway staff who never helped," he said, adding that only 1.57 percent of people complained of being groped while traveling on the busway and just 1.06 percent had been involved in accidents or had fallen off the transit vehicles. Another issue, he said, was either the busway staff or passengers smoking inside the buses.

Tulus said the TransJakarta Management Unit should prioritize improving the lead time between buses, because the survey showed that most problems occurred during the long waits at the busway shelters.

He said the survey also revealed that passengers would not wait more than 30 minutes for a bus before leaving the busway shelter to find alternative transport.

"At least 29.12 percent of respondents say that they would not use TransJakarta again if the trip from the original shelter to their destination exceeded 30 minutes," he said. "This means that the busway could be abandoned by its customers, which would just lead to more people and vehicles adding to the city's traffic jams."

The survey was conducted between March 14-21 and involved 3,000 passengers from all eight busway corridors.

According to TransJakarta records, more than 42 million passengers have used the busway this year through June, and ridership looks set to break last year's record of 82 million passengers.

Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, said that his office, together with the TransJakarta Management Unit, would focus on keeping the restricted busway lanes clear of other vehicles, beginning with three corridors – Pulogadung-Dukuh Atas, Kampung Melayu-Ancol and Ragunan-Dukuh Atas.

Separately, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar told the Jakarta Globe that uniformed police officers would soon be deployed at shelters and on buses to curb recent incidents of sexual harassment and assaults.

"We will focus on Corridors I, II and III because they are the most crowded," he said. "Ideally, every bus shelter will be guarded by two officers and every bus by one officer."

Activist hits law as toll road fees are raised again

Jakarta Globe - July 11, 2010

Ulma Haryanto – A law allowing road tolls to rise every two years is unfair, transportation activists said on Sunday as the government raised the tolls on two major roads.

The move sees the fee on the Sedyatmo toll road to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport increase Rp 500 to Rp 5,000 and the toll for the Jakarta-Cikampek road go up from Rp 11,500 to Rp 12,500.

"Because the government made the law, it seems to think it is compulsory for it to implement it," Joko Setijowarno, from the Indonesian Transport Society, told the Jakarta Globe. He urged people who disagreed with the law to complain.

"We should question whether the law was issued to benefit only certain parties," Joko said. "Those who commute frequently on intercity toll roads will not be affected as much as those who use inner-city connections.

"People use the toll roads to get away from the traffic. But there are also traffic jams on the toll roads. The Ministry of Public Works should check whether toll road operators are providing the minimum service requirements. If not, then maybe it's time for a judicial review."

Etty Minanmi, head of public information and services at the Public Works Ministry, said the toll increases reflected the rise in operating costs.

She said that according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the operating costs of the Sedyatmo toll road rose 9.52 percent between June 1, 2008 – when the toll was last raised – and May 30 this year, while those for the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road rose 10.6 percent.

"Nevertheless, Jasa Marga also has to carry out its obligations according to the minimum service requirements," Etty said.

Frans Sunito, the executive director of toll road operator Jasa Marga, claimed the company had exceeded the minimum service requirements.

"Our services such as electronic transactions or automatization and a 24-hour call center that provides accurate and real-time information on all of our toll roads across the nation are proof that we have done more," he said.

Frans said the company had also increased the capacity of its toll roads. The Cibitung-Cikarang section of the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road had been increased from three lanes to four, and the Sedyatmo toll road had been expanded from two lanes to four in each direction.

"If they blame us for the traffic jams on the toll roads then they are wrong," Frans said. He said the traffic going through the inner city toll roads "is three times more than the capacity."

Police & law enforcement

'Satpol must not be armed'

Jakarta Post - July 11, 2010

Jakarta – Several regions have objected to proposals that public order officers be allowed to carry guns, even if they only contain blank rounds.

"I received offers by several companies who wanted to sell guns but I have and always will oppose that," Surabaya Mayor Bambang Dwi Hartono was quoted as saying Saturday by Antara news agency.

He said public order officers should not use any kind of ammunition, be they rubber bullets or blank rounds, let alone live bullets.

"The only protection the officers should be allowed to use is helmets, body armor and shields. Guns are not necessary," he said.

A decree endorsed in March this year by Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi allows the use of blank rounds, tear gas and tasers by middle-ranking officers and above, including the agency head, division head, section head, platoon leaders and group heads.

The decree stipulates that public order officers could be armed with gas-powered revolvers or blanks and electric shock sticks. This was a revision to a 2005 regulation.

The revision came in the wake of a deadly clash between officers and residents in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, in which three officers were killed and 130 people injured.

In Semarang, Central Java Governor Bibit Waluyo also opposed the decree. "Allowing the use of revolvers is not a simple issue. The users must meet strict requirements," Bibit said.

He added that public order officers did not need the use of guns to enforce regional bylaws.

Bibit said special skills and training were needed for someone to use a gun. Unintended consequences could occur if the person was not psychologically ready to use a firearm, he said, adding that the task of public order officers was different from that of the police or armed forces.

"It's better for public order officers to carry out their duty with the equipment they currently have," Bibit said.

Opposition to the new proposal has also come from some public order agencies themselves. "We don't need to use guns [in Madiun, East Java]. Our martial arts skills are what we need most," Madiun Public Order Agency head Edi Purwanto was quoted as saying by Antara.

However, the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) provincial administration said it would allocate more than Rp 50 million to purchase two Black Guard SS gas-powered revolvers to arm its officers despite criticism from local councilors.

"We are in currently in the tendering process. Some companies have made offers," NTT Public Order Agency head Yohanes Hawula said in Kupang.

He added his officers were only armed with sticks and lacked shields. He said they need sufficient equipment to carry out their duties.

The revolvers, Yohanes said, were expected to optimize the officers' function and role. "We will also eventually purchase electric shock devices," he added.

Yohanes said that to control the use of the guns, only the agency head, section heads and commanders would be allowed to use them.

Provincial councilor Antonius Landi of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle criticized the plan, arguing that the function and role of public order officers was to enforce the implementation of regional bylaws and to monitor civil servants.

[Yemris Fointuna and Suherdjoko contributed to the story from Kupang and Semarang, respectively.]

Mining & energy

Government will rethink electricity rate hike

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran, Dion Bisara, Arti Ekawati & Faisal Maliki Baskoro – Smarting from a barrage of criticism from businesses and industries, the government on Wednesday acknowledged that a recent decree raising electricity rates may increase some firms' bills by much more than a 15 percent ceiling it had promised.

When announcing the rate increase that took effect this month, the government had advertised the increase at between 6 percent and 15 percent. But business and industry associations, citing their own calculations, this week warned it could reach up to 100 percent for some.

The country's top economic officials, including the coordinating minister for the economy, Hatta Rajasa, and the ministers of finance, industry and energy, met throughout Wednesday to formulate a response to the associations' claims.

The coordinating minister later acknowledged that with the new rates, plus additional fees, some users would see their bills go up by as much as 40 percent, although he said others would actually see their rates fall. He did not address claims that some businesses were seeing rate increases of 80 percent to 100 percent.

Hatta said the government had asked state utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara to lower the "extra variable fees" that he blamed for the skyrocketing rates. These fees impose additional fees for large industries during peak usage hours and for those that exceed average consumption levels.

"I asked for the fees to be adjusted to a reasonable rate, so that they will not burden [industries]," Hatta said.

However, he said the fees were still a crucial conservation incentives, given the country's chronic power shortages. "In the future, when we can meet electricity demand, we probably won't need them any longer," Hatta said.

Most industry representatives acknowledged the need for a rate hike, though many warned of possible layoffs as a result.

Irvan Kamal Hakim, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Iron and Steel Industry Association (IISIA), on Wednesday said he welcomed the government's plan to review the rates. He acknowledged that a rise was unavoidable, but asked that it be limited to a maximum of 20 percent.

Sofyan Wanandi, chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said the association supported an increase of 9 percent to 15 percent.

Franky Sibarani, secretary general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said that at this point all that companies really wanted was for the government to clarify the situation and allow them to get back to business. "What we want is certainty, not confusing regulations on the rates," Franky said.

Industry Minister MS Hidayat said the new rates should be announced within a week.

The rate increases were introduced to enable PLN to invest in the nation's power infrastructure, and to limit the government's electricity subsidy, which was Rp 56 trillion ($6.2 billion) last year. PLN has been forced to sell electricity at below production costs for years, and the nation's power grid has suffered as a result, with blackouts a continual problem.

As anxiety over explosions rises, some are capitalizing on fear

Jakarta Globe - July 15, 2010

Arientha Primanita & Ulma Haryanto – The Three-kilogram gas cylinders may be subsidized, but for West Jakarta resident Rahmono, 50, they are little more than cheap time bombs.

On Tuesday, he said he found out what terror felt like. At around 5 a.m., his wife woke him saying their neighbor Samini was standing outside their house, shaking and speaking in a trembling voice.

"Samini was in a dreadful condition," Rahmono told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday. "She told us that there had been an explosion in her home, and that the gas cylinder was still leaking. She asked us to please help her son, Arjun, who was still in the house."

The residents of the densely packed Kalimati village in Kedaung Kaliangke subdistrict gathered around and screamed for 14-year- old Arjun to run out of the burning house, he recounted.

Samini's son eventually came out. "He looked fine from a distance. But as soon as someone touched him, his skin fell off his body," Rahmono said. "I have no idea what would have happened if the cylinder had been full."

Samini and Arjun – just two of the numerous victims of the gas explosions that have rocked the nation since this year – are now being treated in a sterile burn unit at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.

Government response

The government and state-owned energy company PT Pertamina have announced various plans to address the explosions involving the three-kg canisters, tens of millions of which have been distributed since 2006 under a program to reduce fuel subsidies by swapping kerosene for cheaper liquefied petroleum gas.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered thorough investigations, Pertamina has started distributing certified hoses and regulators to replace faulty ones identified to be the cause of most of the explosions, and police have initiated a crackdown on illegal distributors and those who transfer the contents of the subsidized cylinders to the 12- or 50-kg containers.

But the explosions continue and the number of victims is rising.

Wianda Pusponegoro, Pertamina's media relations manager, said the company would cover the cost of medical care for Samini and her son, including necessary plastic surgeries. That, at least, provides some comfort to 37-year-old Dalim, Samini's husband.

"I work in Bengkulu. I am an ordinary construction worker. I spent all I had and left for Jakarta immediately," Dalim told the Globe on Wednesday, at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.

"Before I arrived in Jakarta, my relatives and friends helped cover the cost at the previous hospital [Sumber Waras hospital where mother and son had first been taken].

A Pertamina officer also came to check when they were still in Sumber Waras. So far we have already spent more than Rp 1 million [$110] for their medication, such as ointments and painkillers," he said.

He said that his family had never applied for regional health care schemes such as SKTM or Gakin because he was not well informed about insurance plans. "Maybe after this I will apply for it, God willing," he said.

Wianda says Pertamina has so far spent about Rp 3 billion treating people injured by canister blasts since 2007.

The company also provides Rp 25 million in compensation for deaths, and those permanently disabled will receive the same amount.

"For incidents that involve three-kg gas cylinders we dispatch a checker to examine the victim, and we then discuss with the family whether they want us to take over the financing or receive reimbursement," Wianda said. "There is no limit to how much that can be spent for treatment, including surgeries."

State of fear

The compensation, however, does nothing to take away the fear the explosions has created.

Rahmono's wife, Yuli, said she was so terrorized by what happened to their neighbors that she was seriously considering switching back to kerosene, despite the higher costs.

"I literally turn on the gas nozzle with my feet stretched out behind me, as far as possible, and my face as far away as possible. I'm afraid that it will literally explode in my face," Yuli said.

Vendors sell kerosene for Rp 8,000 per liter, but the three-kg gas cylinders cost just Rp 13,000.

"At this point, I will buy kerosene. My life is more important," Yuli said, echoing a sentiment that has been expressed by many throughout the country.

It therefore comes as little surprise that enterprising individuals are trying to capitalize on the situation.

As Yuli was speaking, two men in red shirts down the alley, who seemed at first to be demonstrating the safety of using the gas canisters, drew a small crowd.

Claiming to be employees of IndoGas, the men showed the traumatized residents of Kaliangke how to safely use the fuel. As they took out the regulators, one of the men said: "With this regulator, it is guaranteed that the gas will not leak."

The other then said: "See! There is no fire here," as he sparked a lighter around the tube. One of them, named Rian, said that IndoGas was a private company based in Medan.

"We expand our business here and all the regulators and pipes are delivered from Medan," Rian told the Globe.

The two men sold the regulator for Rp 219,000, which could be paid in three installments. They sold the pipes for Rp 79,000 if paid in cash and Rp 99,000 if paid in installments.

"We are not forcing you to buy it. But remember, the safety of your family lies in your hands," Rian said, adding that the company would provide a one-year guarantee and they would install the equipment themselves.

"We can make sure that the regulator can last up to five years," Rian said. But when the Globe asked what number to call in case of complaints, he declined to give the information and said "officials" would regularly conduct checks.

Pertamina's Wianda said the government, through the Ministry of Industry, was already providing residents with replacement regulators and hoses – Rp 20,000 for regulators and Rp 15,000 for hoses.

"Those are the valid accessories that are government verified and based on the national standard," Wianda said.

"Anyone who charges more should be questioned, because the government provides safe and cheap accessories through the formal agents," she said, adding that Pertamina is collecting reports on such companies and will report them to the Ministry of Industry.

But Tia and Masti, two housewives from Kaliangke, seemed to be interested in what the IndoGas agents had to offer and asked about the installment schemes. "I have not cooked using my gas cylinder" since the explosion on Tuesday, Tia said.

Industries shocked by steep electricity hikes

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Arti Ekawati – Manufacturers are up in arms over the recent electricity rate hikes, with some saying their rates have doubled and accusing the Energy Ministry and state utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara of deceiving them about the true extent of the increase.

Franky Sibarani, secretary general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), told the Jakarta Globe that some industries faced a doubling of their rates and others of at least 55 percent.

The ministry last month issued a decree, with the approval of the House of Representatives, which superseded a 2003 presidential decree and authorizes PLN to raise electricity rates on affluent households and industries by 10 percent to 18 percent. Businesses had argued for a 5 percent hike.

The rate rises took effect on July 1, and most businesses have yet to receive their first bills after the adjustment. But Franky and others say the new decree actually sets electricity rates much higher than advertised.

Under the old presidential decree, industries using 2,200 volt- amperes to 14 kilovolt-amperes were charged Rp 455 (5 cents) per kilowatt hour.

But Franky said the new ministerial decree sets the rate at Rp 915. "It's more than a 100 percent increase," he said. The tariff for those using 14 kVA to 200 kVA has been raised from Rp 440 per kilowatt hour to Rp 800, an increase of 81 percent.

Those using more than 200 kVA will see their rates rise from Rp 439 per kilowatt hour to Rp 680, a 55 percent hike.

Agus Triboesono, director of business electricity supervision at the ministry, rejected the industries' claims, insisting that the hikes would only be an average of 10 percent, although he offered no details. PLN officials could not be reached for comment.

Eddy Widjanarko, chairman of the Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo), said apprehension over the rates had forced foreign companies to reconsider, or at least put on hold, their plans to relocate here from Taiwan and China. "The investors will wait until there is certainty on the electricity tariff," he said.

Franky said businesses had already passed on their concerns to the ministries of industry and trade, and asked the government to put the increase on hold until its effect on industrial users could be determined.

He also questioned the legality of the ministerial decree since it was used to annul a presidential decree. Agus said it was perfectly legal but did not elaborate.

Industry Minister MS Hidayat on Monday said he was surprised by the reports of the steep increases. He did not say whether it was possible to rescind the rate hike, but said he would discuss the issue with the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy on Tuesday.

Analysis & opinion

The Thinker: Fueling the debate

Jakarta Globe - July 13, 2010

Johannes Nugroho – The government is moving steadily toward a sizeable reduction in fuel subsidies, arguing that budgetary discipline mandates it. The Ministry of Energy is aiming for a complete dismantling of subsidies by 2014 through a series of gradual measures.

Such measures are set to start as early as the end of this year by cutting subsidies to private motorists and restricting them to just the mass transportation sector. Yet the policy is bound to be difficult to implement as it is fraught with logistical and emotional booby traps.

On the one hand, citing a staggering figure of almost Rp 90 trillion ($9.9 billion) spent on fuel subsidies for 2010, the government says their abolition is essential to a healthy state budget.

While a pertinent point, the government must also bear in mind that the fact it has had to subsidize fuel is because of miserable spending on public transportation.

Most mass transportation – especially land transportation, including the humble angkot – is run by the private sector, with the exception of PT KA train services and the sea carrier PT Pelni.

As a result of neglect, the state and quality of mass transportation is abysmal. Angkots, whose drivers are under constant pressure to meet their daily quota, cram in passengers without regard to safety or comfort. Muggings are common on both angkots and buses.

To make matters worse, angkots and buses are not part of an integrated system, which means commuters have to pay separate fares when they change vehicles.

In the end, our disorganized and high-cost transportation system encourages the sales of motorbikes, which grow at 9 percent a year, increasing fuel subsidies even further.

Yet if the subsidies are scrapped, ordinary motorists face paying an extra 45 percent for gasoline. This is unpalatable when public transportation is so bad.

Logistically, the government's immediate plan to provide subsidized fuel only to yellow-plate or licensed mass transportation also looks ominous.

The common wisdom is that such public-spirited limitations almost never work in this country.

The government's kerosene-to-LPG conversion program for home cooking is a clear example of an initiative gone wrong.

The 3-kilogram gas cylinders, provided at a 25 percent discount compared with the 12- kilogram cylinders, are meant for use by low-income families only.

But in practice there is so much abuse of the subsidized scheme that it is doubtful it benefits the poor at all. The spate of gas cylinder explosions around the country is testimony to the extent of abuse.

Coveting the 25 percent price difference, local businesspeople have been transferring the gas from 3-kilogram cylinders to 12- kilogram ones, selling the latter at the unsubsidized price.

So, in this case, the subsidy only benefits these illegal dealers, and their bulk buying of the 3-kilogram cylinders often means the needy find it difficult to obtain them, forcing them to revert to their kerosene cookers.

In a similar vein, if the government did limit subsidized Premium fuel to mass transportation vehicles and motorbikes, would it really be far-fetched to assume that similar abuses would take place?

Owners of mass transportation and motorbikes may end up moonlighting as illegal hoarders and sellers of subsidized fuel. They could spend the whole day filling up their tanks from one station to another, only to drain the gasoline and sell it later at a price lower than the unsubsidized Pertamax.

Any gas price rise also has the potential to bring overnight inflation. Due to a lack of infrastructure, the economy is more dependent on cheap fuel than it would be if our roads, bridges and other modes of transportation were in better shape.

Fresh produce providers and small industry depend on private carriers for distribution, and these independent freighters would certainly be affected by an end to subsidized fuel.

The abolition of fuel subsidies does indeed make sense in the long term. However, certain conditions must be met if the initiative is not to turn into another fiasco, similar to what we have seen with other government programs.

So far the government has not explained sufficiently what it plans to do with the savings that would flow from dropping subsidies. The question is whether the funds would be diverted to developing our transportation system and infrastructure.

The figure in question represents almost 10 percent of the state budget, and if spent in these areas would go a long way toward rectifying the government's previous neglect.

[Johannes Nugroho is a writer based in Surabaya.]