Camelia Pasandaran, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has taken his ministers to task for doing exactly what critics have frequently accused him of: staying silent on pressing issues.

"I really hope you – as part of the government – become more diligent and proactive in responding to issues," the president said on Monday during a cabinet meeting. "Don't hide, don't stay silent and don't think you can avoid trouble. That's just wrong."

Yudhoyono's call comes amid a recent wave of public criticism of government policies and institutions, especially the system of sentence cuts for prisoners, including corruption convicts, which critics say is too lenient.

"We do our job according to the prevailing regulations, so when an issue is raised by the public in the media or other forums, I expect you to respond rationally, professionally and proportionately," he said.

Yudhoyono said the issue of prison sentence cuts had grown out of hand because of the late official response to it.

"I notice that on some issues you take up to four days to respond, and sometimes the response is inadequate," he said.

"This shouldn't be happening in the case of remissions, because we acted according to the rules, and this is what you should have made clear."

The issue came to the fore last week when it was revealed that former Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Aulia Pohan, serving a three-year sentence for embezzling Rp 100 billion ($11.2 million) from the central bank, was handed a remission and a day later released on parole. Aulia is the father-in-law of Yudhoyono's eldest son.

The president also highlighted recent border tensions with Malaysia and demonstrations against the suspiciously large bank accounts linked to several high-ranking police officers.

"Your job is to clarify these things for the public, to put it in the right context," he said. "Our's is a democracy in which the people have the right to criticize us, but we also have the right to offer an explanation."

Yudhoyono called on his ministers to offer their explanations through print, electronic and online media in order to reach the most people. "I shouldn't be the one explaining everything," he said.

Yudhoyono, who has long been criticized for his indecisiveness, said he was now keeping abreast of pressing issues by following Twitter posts.

Bare bottomed Golkar legislator will get 'warning'

Jakarta Globe - August 20, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – A senior Golkar official expressed regret on Friday over a local legislator from the party who mooned female reporters last week in Riau province, promising a harsh warning would be issued.

Golkar chairman for political affairs Priyo Budi Santoso, who is also deputy speaker of the House of Representative, said on Friday that his party was ashamed of what the local legislator, Yose Saputra, had done.

"Regardless of whether or not he has a beautifully shaped rear, what he did was outrageous," Priyo said. "Our party will immediately process the report on his action and will give him a warning."

Priyo also called for the ethics body of Riau's legislative council to immediately investigate the incident and punish Yose for inappropriate action. "[Yose] should exhibit respectful behavior because his position as legislator is a respectable position," Priyo said.

On Thursday, a group of journalists held a demonstration in front of the Riau legislative council building in Pekanbaru, accusing Yose of sexual harassment.

The demonstrators said Yose's exposing of his rear to reporters Nur Azizah and Zulfikri merited Golkar's legislative faction dismissing him from the local legislature.

Dian Sukheri, the deputy speaker of Riau legislative council, promised to push for an immediate investigation into the case. "With this complaint, we have a reason to probe the matter," Dian said.

The incident took place last week at the Riau legislative office complexes, Zulfikri said.

"Yose called to us and he said, 'Both of you are reporters, right?' Then he took off his pants and showed us his behind. He said, 'This is my behind, take a picture of it and put it in your newspaper,' " Zulfikri said.

Nur said she and Zulfikri left the room immediately. "We have been waiting for Yose to apologize for his actions but there is no apology forthcoming. That's why we have lodged a report with the police," she said.

In June, Yose also got bad press for pouring a glass of water onto the head of Kamaruzzaman, the secretary for the council's Commission I, during a plenary hearing.

He also yelled at and attempted to throw a chair at Kamaruzzaman. The plenary hearing was suspended for 20 minutes. Kamaruzzaman reported the incident to Pekanbaru Police, but the investigation has not begun because police are awaiting an approval letter from Riau Governor Rusli Zainal.

Indonesia observes Independence Day solemnly

Antara News - August 17, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesia observed its 65th Independence Day solemnly on Tuesday marked with flag hoisting ceremonies, particularly at government offices, throughout the country.

The main event was a flag-hoisting ceremony in the front courtyard of Merdeka Palace, central Jakarta, which began at around 10 am and was led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Among those sitting on the main podium of the ceremony were First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Vice President Boediono and his wife, Herawati Boediono. Columns of military and police troops in ceremonial uniforms tightly guarded the palace during the event.

At 10 am sharp, the commemoration of Indonesia's Independence Proclamation was marked with 17 cannon shots, the sounds of sirens, drums in mosques, and bells tolling in churches for around one minute.

The Independence Proclamation text was later read by Chairman of the People's Representatives Council (DPD) chairman Irman Gusman, and the flag hoisting ceremony followed.

Among VIP guests present at the ceremony at the presidential palace were children of the late Soekarno, Indonesia's first president, such as Sukmawati and Guruh, former vice president Try Soetrisno, and a number of foreign ambassadors.

Cabinet ministers and National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri were also present at the ceremony.

Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for about 350 years and by the Japanese for around 3.5 years.

On August 17, 1945, Soekarno, accompanied by Muhammad Hatta (Indonesia's first vice president), read the Indonesian Independence Proclamation text in Jakarta at 10 am.

Indonesian president's state-of-the-nation speech gets fail grade

Jakarta Globe - August 16, 2010

Jakarta – Analysts and opposition politicians have criticized Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's state-of-the- nation address on Monday, labeling it "flat" and lacking in solutions needed to overcome the nation's pressing concerns, including corruption and stalled bureaucratic reforms.

Academic Komaruddin Hidayat, speaking on Metro TV, said the speech failed to inspire. "SBY's speech was normative. It did not touch on substance – it was just flat," Komaruddin said.

"I was hoping there would be a vision, a commitment and a clear idea but the speech did not give me any optimism at all. He is a good public speaker but the speech was not inspiring at all," he said.

Political communication expert Effendy Ghazali said Yudhoyono simply outlined the government's achievements and failed to take responsibility for his leadership.

Political analyst Eep Saefulloh Fatah, also speaking on Metro TV, questioned Yudhoyono's statement about religious tolerance. "How could SBY say that our unity as a nation is intact when religious tolerance is abused and the State Palace takes no concrete action over this?" Eep said. "Now that he's a president, the public expect him to actually do something instead of just making promises as if he were a mere political campaigner."

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Effendy Simbolon, the deputy head of House of Representatives Commission VII for energy and the environment, labeled the speech "narcissistic."

"SBY's speech was narcissistic and it was very normative," Effendy said. "The president did not offer any solutions regarding religious tensions even though he has the power to resolve the situation.

"When he won the election in 2004 with 60 percent of the votes, he could have achieved many breakthroughs but five years afterwards, his leadership has been normative," Effendy said. "SBY has achieved nothing special. Now we can only pray to God."

Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung, also from the opposition PDI-P, also said the president failed to provide concrete solutions, and even failed to mention anything about the continuing spate of deadly explosions involving state subsidized liquefied petroleum gas cylinders.

Yudhoyono is scheduled to return to the House to deliver a speech about the draft state budget at 2:30 p.m.

Actions, demos, protests...

Demonstrators arrested for throwing feces at anti-Malaysia rally

Jakarta Globe - August 23, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Three people were detained by the police for throwing human feces into the Malaysian Embassy on Monday.

They were part of a rally held by about 50 members of the People's Democratic Defense group, also known as Bendera, to protest about the arrests of three Indonesian maritime patrolmen by Malaysian authorities last week.

The rally, guarded by 300 policemen armed with two water canons, started with public oration but tempers erupted when a demonstrator threw a bag of human feces at the embassy's gate. Police detained the person who threw the bag and two other people who were also carrying bags of feces. The rally is still ongoing.

Bendera was formed in 2009 when the tensions between the neighboring countries reached a fever pitch due to unresolved sovereignty claims in the Ambalat waters.

There were also accusations that Malaysia had claimed Indonesian cultural heritage as its own, including the Balinese pendet dance, various culinary dishes and batik.

This was followed by a more recent parody of Indonesia's national anthem which was perceived in some quarters as offensive.

There have also been diplomatic issues between the two countries regarding the treatment of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia.

Last year, Bendera attracted public attention with its protests calling on Indonesians to "kill Malaysians." The group set up roadblocks in Menteng, Central Jakarta, in an attempt to detain Malaysian citizens.

Prayer protesters demand action in Jakarta

Jakarta Globe - August 16, 2010

Arientha Primanita, Jakarta – Hundreds of Christians prayed near National Monument Square in Central Jakarta on Sunday afternoon, in protest against what they say is government inaction over attacks on churchgoers and the forced closure of churches.

A spokesman for Religious Freedom Solidarity Forum, Saor Siagian, said those praying came from churches and nonprofit organizations across the capital.

They had planned to hold their prayer session outside the State Palace but were banned due to preparations for Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday.

"It is our right to demand the state guarantee our religious freedom," Saor said, adding that they were disappointed they were not able to gather in front of the palace.

The prayer protest followed a series of incidents in the Greater Jakarta area and West Java in which churches have been shut down, churchgoers terrorized and followers of a minority Islamic sect confronted by public-order officers trying to shut down their mosque.

"The state has been inconsistent in protecting its citizens," Saor said. "There are so many vigilantes let loose and allowed to behave as they want, even taking over the duties of the state authorities."

He said they were not demanding these organizations be disbanded but simply that those who violated human rights be brought to justice.

Saor was referring to hard-line groups like the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which is facing fierce criticism following the church attacks.

FPI has consistently denied being behind the attacks on the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKPB) of Pondok Timur Indah in Bekasi.

The HKBP's church house was sealed by authorities in June as part of an agreement between Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Muhammad and Murhali Barda, the leader of the Bekasi chapter of the FPI.

Nurkholis Hidayat, director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said attacks against churches and the Islamic minority sect Ahmadiyah had steadily increased in the past four years and the government had done nothing to stop them.

"The government does not seem to consider this a serious issue. If it continues to allow this to occur, it could result in a massive conflict," Nurkholis said.

Innayah Wulandari, the youngest daughter of the late President Abdurahman Wahid, was there to lend her support. She said that her father, better known as Gus Dur, had been renowned for pluralism and for never allowing the faiths of any Indonesian citizens to be restricted.

"I am sure if my father were still alive he would condemn any acts that violate religious freedom. That is why I am here as a representative of my family," Innayah told the Jakarta Globe.

Luspida Simajuntak, who leads the HKBP congregation that was recently attacked by hard-liners, said that earlier in the day the church had held its regular prayer service on a vacant plot in Ciketing, Bekasi, under police protection.

On Friday, Bekasi Mayor Mochtar Mohammad met Islam-based organizations and representatives of the congregation. Mochtar offered the congregation use of a municipal building but they refused.

"We had our morning service in peace. We had no trouble this time. There were no disturbances like in past weeks," Luspida said.

Luspida said they had decided to continued using the field for worship despite resistance. "It is our basic human right to pray wherever we want," she said.

She added that the congregation was very disappointed with the Bekasi municipality. "They were the ones who directed us to have our activities in our field after they sealed our church in Pondok Timur Indah," she said.

Luspida said she was not worried by possible future disturbances, saying that "God gives us strength whilst we each practice our faith."

She urged the government to open its eyes. "There is no majority nor minority when it comes to religions protected by the Constitution," Luspida said.

Aceh

Outrage, ridicule leveled at Aceh politician after rape comment

Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2010

Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – The Indonesian Council of Ulema have rejected comments from West Aceh district head Ramli Mansur that woman who fail to wear Islamic clothing are "asking to be raped."

Amidhan, chairman of the council, also known as MUI, said there was "no such thing" in Islam. "A scantily-clad women might trigger certain thoughts in a young man's head but it doesn't mean that she's asking to get raped."

Ninik Rahayu, deputy chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women, criticized the West Aceh bylaw that prohibits women from wearing tight clothing, including pants. "Even if a woman wears a ragged sack as clothing, men with perverted thoughts will still want to rape her," she said.

Ninik said the bylaw was an attempt to discriminate against women. "Why does the state, or in this case regional government, have to regulate how a woman has to dress herself?" she asked.

The Jakarta Globe Facebook and Twitter communities, meanwhile, reacted with outrage and open hostility to Ramli's comments. "What a douchebag, wrote Pratomo Hartono on the Globe's Facebook fan site. "Whoever said that should go kill himself with a fork.

Nino Candra, also on Facebook, described Ramli's answers to a sit-down interview with Globe journalist Dewi Kurniawati as "idiotic."

"I do pity Mr. Mansur for the narrow-mindedness. A man who says such things has perverted fantasies in his mind," noted Yoshua Budin on the social networking site.

Jodi Baskoro said she believed Ramli regarded women has little more than "chunks of meat without feeling," adding that she dared the politician for the sake of women in the world to study different perspectives and "learn to respect."

Selena Tiedoll, also on Facebook wrote: "Yes, I agree women should dress properly, but asking to be raped? Women get raped because it's their fault? You must tell men to control their lust, too! Even if all women wear burqa, but the man is very horny, rape will still occur anyway...."

The Globe's Twitter community was also incredulous, with one member simply stating that Ramli's comments were "crazy."

Aceh leader says shariah law needed or there will be hell to pay

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Dewi Kurniawati, Aceh – Meet Ramli Mansur, a 46-year-old leader of the Aceh Party, whose members are mostly drawn from the ranks of former combatants of the disbanded Free Aceh Movement. Ramli made headlines earlier this year by sponsoring a controversial Islamic bylaw that banned Muslim women from wearing tight pants.

Aceh first implemented Shariah bylaws after gaining greater control over its judiciary and legislative process when former President Megawati Sukarnoputri's administration granted the separatist province special autonomy in 2001.

Today, Shariah officers scour Aceh's streets on the lookout for violators of Islamic offences, which include women not wearing head scarves, gambling, the sale and consumption of alcohol, and "illicit relations" between men and women.

However, Ramli felt more was needed, leading the head of West Aceh district to introduce the pants bylaw in May. Despite facing sizeable opposition to the law, Ramli defends his agenda by saying that the bylaw is needed to teach Muslim women how to dress properly.

Bahtiar Effendy, a political expert from Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic State University, says this type of "incompetent leadership" is a growing problem in the archipelago.

"It's not just him – many of our local and national leaders are basically incompetent, which is why they come up with foolish policies," he said.

The Jakarta Globe asked the chief architect of the ban, Ramli Mansur, about why he thinks Sharia law is important for Aceh and its people. Below are excerpts from the interview:

How did you come up with this idea for the bylaw?

Many women asked me how they should dress to abide by Islamic law. To answer that, I organized a national seminar attended by many professors. The problem occurred because the 2001 Autonomous Regions Law didn't give specific details on a dress code. Before this bylaw, there was hardly any difference between Meulaboh [the capital of West Aceh district] and Medan or Jakarta.

There should be a distinctive difference between a place that implements Shariah law and one that doesn't. This is about pride. We asked the central government to give us Shariah law, but we failed to implement it thoroughly.

How is that more urgent than bigger issues such as health and education?

It has nothing to do with those issues. This is about the thorough implementation of Shariah law. You sin when you allow people to see the contours of your body.

As a leader, I think about those issues too [health and education] but religion is far bigger than those issues. If people follow their religion they will gain peace. Your kind of question is characteristic of rebellious people with short-term views. You're considered an apostate if you hate Islam.

People don't hate Islam, they just dislike your bylaw.

But that's Islamic law. If you're against it, you're blaspheming. The law gives you guidance for your own safety. If you choose to be a Muslim then you have to follow the law.

The opposition to it is supported by Zionism, a devious form of infiltration by foreigners under the guise of freedom of expression.

People don't follow their religion anymore in this country. If you think the bylaw is too harsh, then you should get out [of Islam].

You think if people obey this bylaw then prosperity will automatically follow?

This law doesn't waste public money, it just ordains how they must dress. In fact, it's cheaper to make a skirt than pants. It's also stated in the Koran that if a woman imitates a man [by wearing pants], then she will spend 500 years in solitude before she ever gets to heaven.

The same goes for men. For instance, men are forbidden from wearing earrings. If you do that, you've challenged Allah. It's my obligation as a leader to help the people so they won't suffer in the afterlife.

Besides, when women don't dress according to Shariah law, they're asking to get raped. It's a fact that men go wild when they see a woman's breasts and thighs. It arouses them.

Isn't that the man's problem to contend with?

This bylaw is about blind faith, so let's not bring reason into it. The law is firm. People are so used to freedom they find religion difficult. Again, if you question it, then you're an apostate.

Do you realize that the Acehnese anticolonial heroine Cut Nyak Dhien wore pants?

Yes, and in the bylaw she's excused on the grounds that the pants were Islamic war clothing. It's difficult to wear those kinds of pants today. They were designed for guerilla warfare.

You're not worried this kind of policy will hurt your bid for re-election?

I hope to get re-elected, but that's up to the people, of course. I'd rather take this risk then go to hell later. If a leader doesn't apply this kind of bylaw, there will be protests from clerics. I'm sure 70 percent of residents support this bylaw. I'll work on the 30 percent later.

Shariah in Aceh: Eroding Indonesia's secular freedoms

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – Agnes Monica, the famous Indonesian actress and singer, is a given to wearing sexy clothes, whether on stage, TV or advertising billboards. But not here, in the provincial capital of Aceh province.

Just across from the 19th-century Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is a large billboard that features Agnes wearing a headscarf – even though she's a Christian. Also absent is the tank-top exposing her bare arms and navel that Monica wears in the ad for cell- phone service running in the rest of the country.

Although the headscarf, or jilbab, is familiar attire in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, only in Aceh is it required for Muslim women.

Failure to wear "Islamic dress" is a violation of one of Aceh's Islamic bylaws, and violators can either be reprimanded or hauled into court by the Shariah Police.

Despite Indonesia having a secular Constitution, devoutly Muslim Aceh was allowed to adopt parts of Shariah law, presumably to prevent the Acehnese from joining the rebellious Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

In 1999, then-President BJ Habibie signed a special law on Aceh that, among other things, granted the province a special status and the right to partially implement Shariah. However, the law did not stipulate how Islamic law would be implemented.

Two years later, President Megawati Sukarnoputri signed into law an autonomy package that included comprehensive regulations on establishing Shariah courts and Shariah bylaws.

Based on these two pieces of legislation – that were drafted, discussed, and approved in Jakarta, Aceh established its first Shariah court in 2003, and publicly caned its first violator in 2005.

Five years later, the obvious question has yet to be asked: why was Shariah rammed through the national legislative system and "given" to Aceh when neither the populace nor the GAM guerrillas ever asked for it and perhaps few people, with the exception of the provincial ulema council, actually want it?

The answer has become increasingly crucial given that scholars, activists and politicians believe Shariah goes against the basic principles of Indonesia's Pancasila state ideology, which asserts that the country is multi-religious but secularly governed.

Worse, it has allowed a creeping Islamic fundamentalism to gain a foothold, with other provinces and districts steadily applying Shariah-inspired bylaws since 2003 under pressure from hardline groups.

"Just like the majority of Acehnese, I was born a Muslim, but we don't need Shariah," said Muhammad Chaidir, a rental car driver in Banda Aceh. "Shariah doesn't bring us prosperity."

Indeed, the Islamic bylaws seems to have brought the strife-torn province trouble, as well as negative publicity.

Chaider's comments are typical of many Acehnese who long for security, prosperity and a sense of belonging after the protracted 29-year civil war between GAM and the Indonesian military killed at least 20,000 Acehnese and the 2004 Asian Tsunami, which killed an additional 177,000 people in the province.

Today, the Acehnese are governed by both national criminal law and local Islamic bylaws.

And as if that weren't enough, the chief of the West Aceh district began enforcing a new regulation in May that bans Muslims there from wearing tight clothing.

This bylaw – clearly aimed at women – as well as other controversial events including religious police breaking into a United Nations compound looking for Westerners drinking alcohol, and numerous instances of public caning, have put Aceh in a negative international spotlight.

"After being wracked by conflicts, the central and local governments should focus on a truth and reconciliation program, not Shariah," said Evi Narti Zain, executive director of the Aceh Human Rights NGO Coalition.

"If we raise objections to Shariah, then we will be labeled as infidels and accused of disturbing the peace in Aceh."

Independent reports on the implementation of Shariah in Aceh have concluded that it discriminates against the poor, in particular women, who are at the mercy of the Shariah Police.

Middle and upper-class Acehnese, meanwhile, have ways to skirt around Shariah stipulations so they can enjoy their share of romance and alcohol. "They go to fancy hotels, or spend the weekend in Medan," in nearby North Sumatra Province, Zain said laughing.

But some of the side affects of Shariah are no laughing matter, including abuse of power by those sworn to uphold it.

On July 15, the Langsa District Court in East Aceh district sentenced two members of the Shariah Police to eight years in prison each for the rape and torture of a 20-year-old female student they had in custody.

What happened?

So where did it all start and why? Experts have a number of theories.

Some believe that implementing Shariah in Aceh was a scheme hatched by conservative Islamic clerics who saw an opportunity to expand their own political power and so they heavily lobbied Jakarta politicians.

Others said they assumed the military was behind adding Shariah to the 1999 autonomy law so it would have a tool to divide the independence-minded province and further isolate the GAM fighters.

And still others said that Shariah was a consolation prize for the province after the military and the nation's political elite rejected a proposal by the president at the time, the late Abdurrahman Wahid, to allow Aceh to hold a referendum on independence, just like East Timor did in 1999.

It was indeed under the Wahid administration that Jakarta first attempted to go down the road to peace after years of applying brutal military force during the Suharto regime.

According to Ahmad Suaedy, an expert on Aceh from The Wahid Institute in Jakarta, Wahid had even enlisted members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the southern Philippines to lobby self-exiled civilian leaders of GAM residing in Sweden to start communicating with Jakarta.

"I belief Gus Dur would never allow them to implement Shariah because he was very committed to the unitary state of Indonesia," Ahmad Suaedy said, referring to Wahid by his popular nickname.

Hoping to initiate ceasefire talks and hold off pessimistic Army generals in Jakarta, Wahid sent acting State Secretary Bondan Gunawan to meet the rebel group's field commander, Abdullah Syafi'i, in a secret jungle location in Aceh in March 2000.

Syafi'i was later killed in a special military operation in January 2002, further straining tensions between GAM and the military.

"When I met Syafi'i in the jungle, he never requested that Shariah be implemented," Gunawan told the Jakarta Globe. "That never crossed their minds."

Researchers on Aceh have pointed out that GAM separatists were driven by a nationalist ideology aimed at gaining independence from Javanese-dominated Indonesia, not by religion, and never wanted Shariah to be pushed down their throats by the government in Jakarta.

Dharmawan Ronodipuro, a former spokesman for Wahid, recalled that there had once been a discussion about actually implementing Shariah in Aceh during a cabinet meeting. "The original idea was to separate GAM members from civilians," he said.

However, some scholars and political observers said that implementing Shariah in Aceh was "historical sabotage" carried out by various factions including hard-line Islamic groups, right-wing political parties and elements within the military.

"If we look clearly at the history of Aceh, I believe what the Acehnese desired was not Shariah, but political and economic justice," said Bachtiar Effendy, a political expert from Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University in Jakarta.

"They had given everything they had for the establishment of this country, including their trust and natural resources, but they have been repeatedly betrayed.

"GAM obviously did not want anything to do with Islam, because they wanted support from Western countries for their [independence] struggle. It is so strange that suddenly Shariah was inserted into the autonomy law. We should all question that," he said, noting that the Aceh conflict dragged on even after Islam became part of the laws of the land. "Peace was only established after the Helsinki Agreement of 2005."

A former minister said that the decision to grant Aceh implementation of Shariah was taken while three key government positions were in the hands of retired military officers – the Minister of Home Affairs, the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Security and Law and the Cabinet Secretary.

The Minister of Religious Affairs was a Shariah expert. The International Crisis Group's Sidney Jones said that allowing Aceh to implement Islamic bylaws, "even though in very vague terms," was seen by Jakarta and members of the Acehnese elite as a political solution to stave off more rebellion.

"It was partly the result of concern about the reaction in Aceh to the granting of a referendum to East Timor," Jones said, noting that the Acehnese people "overwhelmingly" wanted a referendum of their own.

Enter the Shariah Police In Aceh today, Shariah Police officers patrol the streets looking for violations. Their main targets are women not wearing headscarves, people gambling or drinking alcohol, and couples having sex out of wedlock.

Far from being supported for upholding morals, the Shariah Police are largely hated for heavy-handed tactics that have on more than one occasion turned mobs of angry residents against them.

"They act like a military force. It shows that at the subconscious level, militaristic hegemony is successful after decades of conflicts in Aceh," Zain from the NGO coalition said.

But some groups in Aceh have attempted to go even further. In September 2009, the outgoing Acehnese provincial legislature passed a Qanun Jinayat, a bylaw with a revised and more comprehensive version of Shariah, which included a section stipulating that convicted adulterers be stoned to death.

Governor Irwandi Yusuf, who is a former member of GAM's civilian leadership, refused to sign the bylaw, effectively quashing it. Following embarrassing international news stories, officials in Jakarta asked for the controversial bylaw to be withdrawn.

"Conservative [clerics] backed by organizations such as Hizbut Tahrir and conservative Islamic parties like the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) badly wanted to implement the Qanun Jinayat in Aceh," Zain said.

The overall implementation of Islamic bylaws has thus far been far from flawless. "We have seen many violations with the implementation of Shariah. Basically, it's women who suffer the most," Zain said.

"There are no guarantees that even when women cover themselves, they will not be raped or molested," she said, highlighting the gang rape last January in East Aceh's Langsa district that involved Shariah Police officers.

"Many see the implementation of the Qanun in Aceh as a successful pilot project, and it is prompting [leaders in] other areas in Indonesia to also promote Shariah. They copy-paste Aceh's Qanun for their areas," she said.

Playing follow the leader

Bachtiar, the political analyst, said Aceh has become something of a Pandora's box for the central government because other regions can now claim they are being discriminated against if they cannot implement Shariah-inspired bylaws.

"If it's not wrong for Aceh, then you can't criticize the emergence of Shariah bylaws elsewhere," he said, adding that "those who criticize local Shariah bylaws don't have the guts to criticize Aceh."

Eva Kusuma Sundari, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, questions the central government's commitment to upholding Pancasila. She said that since Aceh began to partially implement Islamic law, hundreds of Shariah-inspired bylaws have been passed nationwide.

"By accommodating too many Shariah bylaws, the government is betraying the national Constitution," she said. "In the unitary state of Indonesia we have agreed to use a national criminal law, and condoning Shariah bylaws is an act of subversion."

Sundari claimed that an "elite group with a certain political agenda is playing a big role in the Shariah-based bylaws."

The Ministry of Home Affairs reviews regional bylaws and should quash them if they contradict national law. Suhatmansyah, head of the ministry's social and political desk, said "the state can't do much about Aceh because the people asked for Shariah."

But activists and scholars differ. The only people in Aceh who back Shariah are local Islamic clerics and politicians from Islamic parties, they said.

One such cleric is Muslim Ibrahim, chairman of the Aceh Ulema Assembly and a prominent lobbyist for Shariah in Aceh. Ibrahim told the Globe he rejected claims that Aceh was given Shariah as a means to isolate the GAM separatists.

"That is nonsense. GAM didn't want Shariah to be implemented," he said. "This is the fruit of a long struggle by us clerics."

According to Ibrahim, Shariah had been enforced in Aceh centuries ago before being halted by the Dutch colonial administration as it was considered cruel. But Ibrahim says Shariah "is the best law for the Acehnese."

He claimed gambling had decreased by 40 percent within six months after the first public caning, adding that Shariah punishment serves as shock therapy because it is purposely humiliating.

However, Zain from the NGO coalition said public punishments discriminate against women because afterwards, unlike men, they are shunned by society.

"Instead of creating justice, Shariah creates injustice among the Acehnese because we see how powerful people who violate Shariah are free and never punished. So the poor are punished twice: by national criminal law and now by Shariah," she said.

Aceh: A province born to be different

Dec. 17, 1949: The province of Aceh is established and Teungku Daud Beureueh is elected governor.

Sept. 20, 1953: Daud Beureueh declares Aceh an independent nation.

1965: General Suharto seizes power.

Dec. 4, 1976: Teungku Hasan Mdi Tiro forms the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in a bid to establish an independent state.

1990: The Indonesian Army designates Aceh as a "special combat zone." Eight years of fighting follow, leading to the death and disappearance of hundreds of people.

August 1998: Growing protests from locals and human rights activists, plus the resignation of President Suharto see Aceh's military rule lifted.

June 2, 2000: A three-month cease-fire comes into effect in Aceh.

August 2001: Indonesia's new leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri, signs a law granting Aceh special autonomy – including the implementation of partial Shariah law and greater revenue-sharing of its natural resources – in an attempt to ease separatist tensions.

March 2003: First Sharia courts open.

May 19, 2003: Indonesia declares "martial law" in Aceh after peace talks in Tokyo between Indonesian officials and rebels collapse.

May 19, 2004: Martial law ends and is replaced by a state of civil emergency.

Dec. 26, 2004: A powerful earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggers a tsunami. Over 140,000 Indonesians are killed, most of them in Aceh.

January 2005: Government-GAM peace negotiations begin in Helsinki, facilitated by the Conflict Management Initiative headed by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.

June 2005: Aceh's first public caning.

July 17, 2005: Government and GAM negotiators announce a Memorandum of Understanding, detailing the terms of a peace agreement.

Aug. 15, 2005: The MOU is signed in Helsinki.

December 2006: Elections for the provincial governor, in which local and national parties participate. The election is won by Irwandi Yusuf, whose supporters consist largely of ex-GAM members.

Acehnese gays face a climate of fear and abuse

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – It doesn't take much to notice "Echa," a transvestite who lives in Banda Aceh. With his masculine figure and flamboyant make-up, he instantly draws attention.

And so does the fact that he is wearing a short dress with a plunging neckline to one of the city's popular coffee houses instead of a headscarf and other conservative Muslim attire. Of course, Echa is a man so he poses a dilemma for the morality police.

His baritone laugh echoed through the coffee shop when a reporter asked about the absence of a headscarf. "The Shariah Police are confused about what they want to do with me. I am enjoying my freedom," he said.

That freedom has to be struggled for daily, however. Echa is the executive director of Violet Grey, a nongovernmental organization that provides assistance to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents of Aceh.

In a country where homosexuality is taboo and where many Indonesians still refuse to acknowledge gay people, it's especially challenging for an organization such as Violet Grey to operate in Aceh, which is allowed to implement partial Shariah law.

Continuously living in the shadows, gays, lesbians, and cross- dressers are seen as a disgrace to the province's self-proclaimed "religious society." Not surprisingly they suffer frequent discrimination and often abusive treatment.

"We were born as Muslim, as Acehnese. Is it true that we are not part of Islam?" asked "Toni," a gay activist and member of Violet Grey.

"In Aceh, the implementation of Shariah touches on symbols such as headscarves or changing street names to Arabic letters without really addressing people's desires of prosperity and justice. I think we are in the process of Talibanization."

Toni grew into his homosexual identity when he was studying at an Islamic boarding school at the age of 14. "I thought by studying in a pesantren [Islamic boarding school], it would cure my homosexuality."

He was wrong. "In an Islamic boarding school, where life is segregated by gender, I met my first love," he said, laughing.

Toni added that when Islamic boarding schools separate boys from girls as a way to prevent promiscuity, it actually enables some boys to discover their homosexual identity.

"Because of this segregation, aside from finding our sexual orientation, we were also sexually abused by our classmates, seniors and even teachers," Toni said. "That is why the rape of boys is not considered a huge issue compared to [the rape of] girls here in Aceh."

Shariah, which is obsessed with keeping unmarried men and women apart, at first ignored homosexuality here.

The province's Qanun, a local Islamic bylaw implemented in 2003, forbids illicit sexual relations between men and women. Homosexuality was not mentioned, so the gay community actually found a safe haven within the bylaw.

However, homosexuality was specifically addressed in a contentious revised provincial bylaw, or Qanun Jinayat, that was passed by the provincial legislature in October 2009.

The bylaw, which Governor Irwandi Yusuf has refused to sign and officials in Jakarta have asked to be withdrawn, would punish homosexuals with 100 cane lashes. The bylaw also says adulterers should be stoned to death.

"I hope the Qanun Jinayat will never be implemented, because that means there is no more room for us," said "Faishal," another member of Violet Grey.

Whatever the law says, Violet Grey claims that homosexuals and transsexuals have been repeatedly harassed and intimidated by Shariah police officers.

In one infamous case in 2007, a local gay man named Hartoyo was abused by Shariah Police officers after a raid on his house, sparking widespread public anger.

Hartoyo and his partner were told to strip naked and then were beaten by police officers. They were released two days later after being instructed to sign a statement agreeing to stop homosexual behavior. Hartoyo reported the incident to the National Commission for Human Rights.

"The case was closed and the police officers who tortured him only got minor punishments," Echa said. In the wake of that case, Aceh's gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transexuals are finding it harder to gain basic rights.

"Most transsexuals work in beauty salons, but even there, the Shariah police wouldn't allow them to touch women because we are considered men," Echa said.

Marzuki Abdullah, head of the provincial Shariah Police force, said that homosexuality is forbidden in Aceh, despite the absence of a local bylaw.

"We don't want to see transvestites standing on the street," Marzuki said. "We consider them men, and they should dress accordingly."

There are currently 6,300 Shariah Police officers patrolling Aceh's towns and villages on the lookout for "immorality," which keeps the gay and lesbian community hiding in the shadows. However, the members of Violet Grey haven't lost their resolve.

"We just want to be acknowledged as human beings. We are Acehnese and we are also Muslim, so please respect our basic rights," Echa pleaded. Toni added: "We were born Acehnese and we love Aceh. We won't leave just because of the Shariah Law."

Women of morality police fight for Islam, one sinner at a time

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Dewi Kurniawati, Banda Aceh – On a recent Friday afternoon, the face of a young woman detained at a Shariah Police station in Aceh's provincial capital Banda Aceh was contorted in anger.

The 21-year-old Aceh native was so upset that she refused to give her name. The girl was arrested by Shariah Police officers at a beauty salon where she was allegedly offering sex in exchange for money. She nodded when a Jakarta Globe reporter asked her if the prostitution allegation was true.

The man she was accused of propositioning was also arrested, and was being detained in a separate room. The could both face public caning if found guilty.

"We caught them during the transaction. She has been repeatedly warned," said Nur Aminah, a female officer with the Wilayatul Hisbah, the Shariah Police.

Nur, 35, is in charge at this station. An imposing figure in her dark-green uniform, she has spent the last five years fighting immoral behavior.

Fifteen female officers work alongside 35 men at Nur's station. They are part of a force of 6,300 officers in Aceh, including 120 in Banda Aceh, according to Marzuki Abdullah, the provincial head of the Shariah force. He says more are needed to monitor Banda Aceh's 250,000 residents.

On this day, Nur was organizing female officers for what she calls "Friday Patrol," which consists of driving around in a pickup truck to guarantee that all Muslim men are performing Friday prayers. "That is why today's patrol consists of female officers only," she said.

"We are making sure that Muslim men are in the mosques praying, because it is Allah's command," she said. The non-devout are warned to go to Friday prayers; formal charges could follow for repeat offenders.

Nur refused a request by the Globe to ride with the female officers in the back of the truck. "People will think you are a Shariah law violator and might throw stones or bottles at you," she warned. Instead, the Globe tagged along at a discreet distance in a car.

A graduate of Banda Aceh's Ar-Raniry Islamic State University, Nur said she joined the force in 2005 because "there were limited opportunities in the job market."

Nur soon began to enjoy her job, however, because she feels that helping fellow Muslims to obey God's Law, as she calls it, is a good deed.

"If you don't follow guidance from the Holy Koran, it will backfire on you," she said with the spirit of righteousness that has become a hallmark of the Shariah Police force since it was established in 2004 as part of Aceh's special autonomy.

But many residents have criticized the officers' militaristic behavior as counterproductive to winning the hearts and minds of the Acehnese in a region that was rocked by decades of protracted civil war between the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) and the separatist Free Aceh Movement.

"I don't care about them," said Maliyati, a female hotel worker. "They behave badly when they are off duty, so how can we respect them?"

Evi Narti Zain, who works with a human rights NGO, said, "Their behavior shows that subconsciously, militaristic hegemony has succeeded after decades of conflict."

Indeed, there's been no shortage of friction between provincial residents and the Shariah force over the years, including mob attacks against officers accused of abusing their power.

Shariah officers also described strained relations with the public, ranging from people refusing to heed their orders to physical altercations. "A man threw a coffee table at me once," Nur said, smiling. "That's part of the job."

Interestingly, many officers join the Shariah force after failing to get into the Armed Forces. Jalaluddin, a 32-year-old Shariah policeman in Meulaboh, West Aceh, joined the force after coming up short four times on the test to enlist in the Army.

"I failed so many times, I decided to join the Shariah Police in the end," he told the Globe.

The same goes for 29-year-old Abdurrazak, another Shariah Police officer in Meulaboh. "It's a decent job with good pay," he said proudly. "I'm helping to improve people's morals here."

For Abdurrazak, the job is about curbing temptation. He said he can't stand the sight of women wearing tight pants and leggings. "That is just too sexy," he said.

Junidar, a 37-year-old female Shariah officer in Banda Aceh, also gave up her goal of being an Army officer; she was too short to pass the physical. "It's too bad that I don't meet the minimum height requirements," she said. "So I applied for this job and got accepted."

Six years after the forces' creation, Nur conceded that it's not easy being a watchdog for the morality of society.

"Sometimes I am frustrated that after five years of working as a Shariah Police officer, I see no significant change in society's morals," Nur said. "So many punishments for violations are carried out publicly, but I still don't see people foregoing sinful acts."

West Papua

Population growth 'good for Papua'

Jakarta Post - August 23, 2010

In the past decade, the combined population of Papua and West Papua has grown 64 percent, making them the provinces with the fastest population growth in Indonesia.

The preliminary report of the nation's 2010 census reveals that Papua and West Papua's populations now stand at around 2.9 million and 761,000, respectively, or about 3.6 million people combined. The figure jumped from 2.2 million in 2000, when the two provinces were still one province before the government declared the western part a separate province, now called West Papua, in 2003.

Demographic experts told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that such high growth was due to massive migration and high birth rates in West Papua and Papua, the latter of which is Indonesia's largest province by area.

"In 2007, the fertility rate on the island was 2.9 children per woman, higher than the national average of 2.3 children per woman," University of Indonesia Demographic Institute director Sonny Harry Harmadi said.

Sonny added that increased migration into Papua had also contributed to rapid population growth in the region.

"In the case of Papua, this is actually a good sign as the population density there is still low and migration will bring knowledge spillover to local residents," Sonny said, adding that this would promote and increase productivity in the region.

"Overall, the country's population distribution is highly uneven, with Java still accounting for around 57 percent of the total population. Java's net migration is negative because it is overpopulated," Sonny said.

The 2010 census results showed that there were more than 136 millions people in Java alone, with West Java province topping the list with a population of 43 million, making it the most densely populated province in the country.

West Java's population growth rate remains the highest among all provinces in Java. At 20 percent, it is much higher than the growth rate of Central Java (3 percent), East Java (7 percent) and Yogyakarta (12 percent).

Sonny said West Java was choking under the weight of its people because it served as an outlier within which Greater Jakarta's population overflows were contained.

"The rapid migration flow to West Java will lead to the speeding-up of the conversion of farmland into other uses. We know that the soil there is fertile, therefore making it one of provinces of importance to national food security," he added.

Sonny said the population explosion in West Java, if unchecked, would pose a threat to the country's food security, adding that the province was the country's food bowl.

He added underdeveloped islands had to experience the positive impact of migration such as knowledge spillover, especially from Java.

University of Indonesia demographer Mayling Oey-Gardiner told the Post that many migrants seemed to have leveraged the momentum of regional autonomy, coming to Papua for economic reasons.

"Migrants are drawn to Papua because of money. Papua's low population, the richness of its natural resources and mild competition are among the pull factors of migration to the region," she said. (tsy)

Doubts that extra funds for province will get to Papuan people

Radio New Zealand International - August 22, 2010

An Australia-based Papua specialist says it remains to be seen whether an increase in state funding for Indonesia's Papua region will have any benefit for indigenous people.

Indonesia's President has announced a 63 per cent increase of special autonomy and regional funds allocated to Papua, West Papua and Aceh for 2011.

About a fifth of the money would be for public service, with Papua receiving US$340-million and West Papua receiving US$130 million. The two provinces would get additional 150-million US dollars for regional infrastructure as well as more money for education.

Jim Elmslie of Sydney University's West Papua Project says from the outset in 2001, Special Autonomy has sent large sums of funding to Papua.

"But very little of that funding has gone to actual services on the ground, to improve schools and aid posts and so. It's been gobbled up in the bureaucracy so the general level of health and education services is very poor."

NZ Police assistance making an impact in Indonesia's Papua

Radio New Zealand International - August 20, 2010

The New Zealand Police says that its community police training- the-trainers in Indonesia's Papua region is making a positive impact.

New Zealand Police is the first foreign force to be invited into Papua and West Papua provinces to undertake this mode of practical training. This follows an Indonesian decree that community policing must be adopted by its force.

The Senior New Zealand Police Liaison Officer based in Jakarta, Tim Haughey, says that, significantly, their training workshops for the Indonesian National Police have involved the community.

"Probably a first for many of the trainees, that they had actually sat down with members of the community and talked about problems in the community, things that worried them. And the feedback we got from the community was overwhelming support. They really welcomed the opportunity to talk to police in a non- threatening and collaborative fashion."

Churches demand probe of shooting incidents in Papua

Jakarta Post - August 18, 2010

Jayapura – Local church leaders have called for an independent investigation of a series of church shootings in Puncak Jaya, Papua, that started in 2004.

"An independent team must be set up to investigate what actually happened and who was behind the incidents. The shootings have been taking place for the past six years," Rev. Socrates Sofyan Yoman told reporters in Jayapura.

Authorities previously stated that there were suspected perpetrators or groups of perpetrators behind specific shooting incidents but stopped short of bringing suspects to justice, said Socrates, who is president of the Fellowship of Baptist Churches of Papua.

"This has raised the question of what has been actually happening. [Shootings] have taken place for years," he said.

Other religious groups in Papua – such as the Indonesia Christian Churches (GKI) of Papua, Indonesia Bible Churches, the Kingmi Synod of Papua, the Catholic Diocese of Jayapura – have also issued statements of concern and echoed Socrates' call for an independent investigation.

The Fellowship of Baptist Churches of Papua has urged the provincial council and the Papuan People's Assembly (MRP) to immediately invite the Governor and police and military chiefs to explain about the violence to the public and appealed to people to remain calm.

Why Jakarta needs to pay more attention to Papua

Time Magazine - August 16, 2010

Jason Tedjasukmana – Rising tensions in Papua have Indonesian authorities worried about possible international intervention in the nation's easternmost province, reports the head of a government-funded study on how to solve the simmering conflict in the restive territory.

"The government is afraid that dialogue [between Jakarta and Papua] will invite the intervention of a third party and affect the integrity of the Republic of Indonesia," says Muridan Widjojo, lead researcher of the "Papua Road Map," the English- language edition of which was launched last week. "If the government is afraid of the issue being internationalized then they should solve the problem domestically."

Reports of deteriorating conditions in the impoverished province, which ranks last of Indonesia's 33 provinces on the Human Development Index, are leading local human-rights campaigners to speak out on the fate of their resource-rich homeland. The province's special-autonomy status, which was meant to give greater political and financial control to Papuans, has largely been deemed a failure in raising living standards since it was granted in 2001. Papuan activists allege that the military is using agents to weed out critical voices in the press and sending in more battalions to protect vital natural-resource facilities. "The government has decided to use a military approach up until now," alleges Frederika Korain, formerly a representative of the Office for Justice and Peace in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province. Although torture of radical students and separatist sympathizers by security forces was no longer in practice, she told foreign reporters last week that there were "still rights violations, arbitrary arrests and detentions of Papuans voicing their opinions, especially the young."

In some quarters bitterness still lingers over the loss of East Timor, the former Portuguese colony annexed by Jakarta in 1975 until it voted to secede from Indonesia in 1999. But if East Timor has been "a pebble in the shoe" of Indonesia, as it was once described by a former Foreign Minister who had to deal with international condemnation of Indonesia's actions there, Papua could potentially become a boulder, given the disparity between the province's poverty and its massive natural wealth. Despite being home to vast copper reserves and the world's largest gold mine, operated by US company Freeport since 1973, more than half of Papua and West Papua's 4 million people live in poverty and the population suffers from HIV/AIDS in greater numbers per capita than those living anywhere else in the country. "Papuans have no role in the modern economy," says Brigham Golden, a Papua scholar and a doctoral candidate at Columbia University. "The danger now is what happens when crushing disappointment falls on the Papuan population."

That disappointment is echoed in the words of the well-liked governor of Papua, one of two provinces on the Indonesian side of New Guinea island. "Quantum leaps need to be made if we are ever to find a breakthrough," explains Barnabas Suebu. "The local people are being marginalized so much that our identity will be extinct before long." Activists allege that the central government is doing nothing to slow the monthly arrival of ships carrying thousands of migrants from other parts of Indonesia in search of opportunity in Papua – the least densely populated area in the country. "The influx of migrants is a very big problem," says Korain. "In the cities, Papuans are becoming a minority."

The tension between aggressive traders from more developed islands and local Papuans, most of whom are poorly educated, is leading to increased conflict as faith in the government's ability to guarantee a better livelihood for indigenous people in this remote corner of the world is eroding. "The trust is gone," laments Suebu. "It is not zero, it is below zero." He estimates that the province would need a budget of at least $55 billion to bring it in line with other provinces. "We are still living in the same conditions as Java 250 years ago," he added, referring to the country's most populous and developed island.

Jakarta denies that Papua is becoming an issue of international concern, which may explain why it still remains off-limits to foreign researchers and journalists, whose movements are restricted when they do manage to get access. "The potential hurdles to [the central government's] diplomatic efforts would be on the mishandling of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) and the human-rights baggage," explains Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah. The Free Papua Movement is a ragtag group of separatist-minded rebels in the province that the national police and military have been trying to eliminate for decades. "Essentially the status of Papua, as an integral part of Indonesia, is not a foreign policy issue."

Still, most experts agree rebels in Papua are nowhere near as strong as they were in East Timor, which seceded, or in Aceh, where separatist leaders reached a peace agreement with Jakarta in 2005. "Nobody believes [the OPM] poses a real threat to the overall security of Indonesia," says Sidney Jones from the International Crisis Group. Nor, she says, is money the answer to the province's problems; she says dialogue between small groups in Papua should be the first step toward larger negotiations with Jakarta. "Not even 500 trillion rupiah [$55 billion] will solve the problem if the people's dignity is not restored."

Human rights & law

Six years after Munir's murder, justice is yet to be served

Jakarta Globe - August 22, 2010

Farouk Arnaz – The government is not serious enough in its attempt to bring to justice those behind the death of Munir Said Thalib, critics said ahead of the sixth anniversary of the murder of the leading human rights activist.

Munir was poisoned with arsenic on a Garuda flight from Jakarta to Amsterdam on Sept. 7, 2004. An off-duty pilot on board that flight, Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto, was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

However, rights groups allege that other perpetrators, including higher-ups in the country's intelligence community, should also be held liable for the conspiracy.

The key suspect in the case, former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy director Muchdi Purwopranjono, was acquitted of all charges in the murder case by the South Jakarta District Court in December 2008, despite incriminating phone records showing he had held more than 40 conversations with Pollycarpus prior to the activist's death.

Muchdi's trial was also marred by controversy when a slew of witnesses who had previously implicated him in the murder conspiracy recanted their testimonies. Critics allege that Muchdi, a former commander of the Army's notorious Special Forces (Kopassus), orchestrated the murder as revenge for Munir's role in his ouster as Kopassus chief in 1998. Muchdi's dismissal is widely attributed to Munir's fierce criticism of the alleged kidnapping of activists by the elite unit.

Meanwhile, the Committee of Solidarity Action for Munir (Kasum) over the weekend called for Rohainil Aini, a former Garuda secretary who was sentenced to a year in prison for assisting Pollycarpus, to finally be jailed.

Rohainil was previously acquitted of all charges by the Central Jakarta District Court, but in 2009 the Supreme Court quashed that verdict and handed her a one-year jail sentence. However, she has never seen the inside of a cell due to a technicality.

"The Attorney General's Office should bring her to justice and finally lock her up," Kasum program coordinator Andi Panca Kurniawan said.

"For more than a year and a half she's been allowed to remain free, and whenever we ask the AGO why, they tell us that they can't jail her until they get an official copy of the ruling from the Supreme Court," Panca said, adding that this showed that the AGO was not taking the case seriously.

"It's almost as though they're stalling until the public has forgotten all about Munir's case."

Munir, who started out as a legal aid advocate in Surabaya, East Java, rose to prominence by challenging the military's human rights record, accusing it of gross violations in the restive provinces of East Timor, Aceh and Papua, and of running illegal logging operations in those provinces.

Kasum has planned a number of events to commemorate Munir, most importantly the Munir Memorial Lecture at Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, on Sept. 29.

Hundreds of Indonesians on death row in Malaysia

Jakarta Post - August 21, 2010

Arghea Desafti Hapsari – Human rights and labor activists on Friday called on the government to take immediate action to assist 345 convicted Indonesians facing the death sentence in neighboring Malaysia.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid) and Migrant Care said Friday that 345 Indonesians, mostly migrant workers, had received death sentences in Malaysian courts for various crimes.

On Wednesday, the Malaysian Supreme Court turned down an appeal made by two Indonesian migrant workers from Aceh who were sentenced to death on drug charges. Kontras said the two had requested the Acehnese governor to request amnesty from the Malaysian government.

Migrant Care director Anis Hidayah said the number of Indonesians on death row in Malaysia was enormous. "There aren't that many Indonesians on death row in any other country. I find it strange that [President] Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the government can remain calm given the huge number of our own people sitting in cells waiting to be killed," she said.

She added that the capital punishment handed down to the hundreds of Indonesians could have been avoided if the government had thoroughly assisted the Indonesians throughout the legal process.

Infid program manager Wahyu Susilo said the government "should take Australia's example in fighting for [the freedom] of its citizen, [Schappele] Corby."

"They are going all out [in fighting for Corby's rights]. Indonesia, on the other hand, has made no effort whatsoever to protect the citizens who are the responsibility of the state," he said. He added that the government could request an examination of the Malaysian court rulings.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry director for justice and protection of Indonesian nationals Teguh Wardoyo said the government had provided protection for the convicts through the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia. "We have been assisting them in their legal process, we give them lawyers. It is part of our daily work," he added.

Protection for Indonesian citizens who are convicted, he said, is not aimed at clearing them of the charges. Teguh said he did not see the importance in requesting an examination of the death sentences issued for the Indonesians by Malaysian courts.

Kontras deputy coordinator Haris Azhar said in a release that Malaysia's repeated arrogance had offended Indonesia. "The Indonesian government needs to immediately end all political diplomacy with Malaysia, which has so far been nothing more than a mere illusion of harmony."

The NGOs said Yudhoyono and his government needed to immediately based their diplomacy with Malaysia on human rights principles. "Human rights diplomacy is important because the right to live is guaranteed in Indonesia's Constitution. In the future, all relationships, cooperations or disputes [with Malaysia] should also observe the principles of human rights," Haris said.

Freedom of expression & press

After journalist's death, calls for better protection of press

Jakarta Globe - August 23, 2010

Ismira Lutfia & Made Arya Kencana, Jakarta – The death on Saturday of journalist Ridwan Salamun during a clash between villagers in Tual, Maluku, was met by demonstrations and calls for greater protection for journalists.

Ridwan, a contributor for Jakarta-based Sun TV, was killed while covering a clash between residents of Banda Eli and Mangun, a hamlet in Fiditan village, in Tual, Southeast Maluku.

According to reports, the violence was triggered by a minor disagreement that quickly escalated. Some residents of Banda Eli reportedly told a motorcyclist from Mangun to slow down while driving through their neighborhood. The motorcyclist then went to his neighborhood and gathered together some friends to attack those who had rebuked him.

Ridwan, whose family was from Banda Eli, was assaulted by the mob from Mangun and died from multiple machete slashes, said Dien Kelilauw, from the Maluku Media Center.

He was taken to a hospital but died two hours later, the Indonesian Television Journalists Association said on Sunday. His camera is still missing. Dien told the Jakarta Globe the MMC had met with Maluku Police Chief Brig. Gen. Totoy Herawan Indra on Saturday and had requested a thorough investigation into Ridwan's death.

Totoy said the police would pursue the assailants, according to the state-run Antara news agency. "We will investigate after collecting evidence and finding witnesses. We will go after the suspects," he said.

On Sunday, a group of 70 journalists marked Ridwan's death by staging a demonstration of solidarity in Denpasar while a similar rally was held in Jakarta by members of a journalist forum.

"The police should be able to solve the case just like they did with the murder of Radar Bali journalist Anak Agung Narendra Prabangsa," said Rofiqi Hasan, head of the Denpasar chapter of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).

AJI Denpasar also called on all media companies to protect their journalists by providing them with insurance.

Imam Wahyudi, chairman of the Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI), said more needed to be done to protect journalists. "Media outlets must provide proper training and protection for their journalists, especially those covering conflict areas," he said.

Imam said the intimidation of journalists was "basically the terror and intimidation of the public," which relies on journalists for information.

Putu Setiawan, coordinator of the Bali IJTI chapter, said journalists should never be victimized in the course of their work,

"No matter how good the news coverage is, it will be useless if the journalist comes home in a body bag," he said. Putu acknowledged the inherent risks in journalism, but said it was important to minimize these risks.

Police must probe Papua death: AJI

Jakarta Post - August 23, 2010

Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) said in Papua on Saturday that the police must thoroughly investigate the death of Merauke TV journalist Ardiansyah Matrais.

The 31-year-old's body was found floating in a river near a coal warehouse in Merauke, Papua, last month.

"We urge the Papua and Merauke Police to handle the case seriously. According to a spokesperson for the National Police there was evidence of violence on the journalist's body, including loose teeth," AJI Papua chapter chairman Viktor Mambor, told The Jakarta Post in Jayapura on Saturday.

He said Ardiansyah's death also happened when threatening text messages had been sent to several Merauke journalists prior to the regional election that was held on Aug. 2.

"The cause of the death must be clearly revealed. If he was murdered, the murderer must be captured so we can learn the motive," said Viktor, adding that violence against Merauke's journalists had increased ahead the elections.

The police have not named a suspect in the case. An autopsy concluded that Ardiansyah was still alive when thrown into the Maro River.

"He was strangled to death in the water," a National Police re- presentative, Untung Yoga Ana, said on Friday as quoted by tem- pointeraktif.com, adding that the autopsy also found evidence of violence.

According to the AJI's investigation, someone had been looking for Ardiansyah at home claiming to be a college friend, but was unknown to his family.

After Ardiansyah died, the unknown friend never showed up, Viktor said. "We are now looking for information on who Ardiansyah talked to before his death," Viktor said.

Papua Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Wachyono said that Ardianysah had been depressed and was once treated at a mental hospital. "Let's wait for the result of his autopsy to make sure of the cause of his death," he said.

Wachyono also declined to comment on a possible connection to the threatening text messages received by the Merauke journalists.

Local journalist Lala Fakaubun said she stopped received threatening text messages after the National Police's antiterrorism unit, Detachment 88, arrived in Merauke.

Some have speculated that Ardiansyah's death was linked to his coverage of illegal logging practices in Papua, which had been published in Jubi magazine last year.

Other journalists in Papua, such as Bintang Papua reporter Lala, Papua Selatan Pos chief editor Raymond, Jubi tabloid reporter Indri and Cendrawasih Pos reporter Sulo have also received text message threats or letters written in blood, Indonesian Human Rights Watch said.

Journalist killed in communal clashes

Jakarta Post - August 22, 2010

M. Azis Tunny, Ambon – SUN-TV journalist Ridwan Salamun was killed on Saturday while covering a communal clash between villagers from Banda Ely and Fiditan in Tual, Maluku.

The clash reportedly occurred at 8:30 a.m. local time. Ridwan suffered fatal injuries from a spear wound and a cut to his head. His body was evacuated to the provincial capital of Ambon City on a Wings Air flight, where Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Totoy Herawan Indra confirmed Ridwan's death. "He was killed while covering clashes in Fiditan village," Indra said.

Elders and religious figures from the two opposing groups came to an amicable settlement on Friday after clashes initially flared on Thursday. However, unrest erupted again on Saturday, damaging three houses. "One injured resident was rushed to the hospital," Indra said.

The police deployed 100 mobile brigade officers to contain the conflict, who were assisted by Southeast Maluku Police, he said.

The Indonesian Television Journalist Association (IJTI) condemned the killing and urged the police to bring the perpetrators to justice. "We deplore the incident. Ridwan came to the conflict site purely in his capacity as a television journalist," IJTI's Maluku office head Hamdi Jempot said.

Holding posters and wreaths, fellow journalists associated with IJTI and the Maluku Media Center (MMC) rallied before the Maluku Police headquarters, demanding an investigation.

"Upholding justice is part of our responsibility, and we will immediately look into this case to help catch the perpetrators," Indra said.

Southeast Maluku Police have identified the perpetrators, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said in Jakarta.

"We have identified those responsible for the killing and we are pursuing them right now, but we need time to investigate the case," Iskandar told journalists via text message on Saturday.

The Tual incident came almost a month after Merauke TV journalist Ardiansyah Matrais was found floating in the Maro River, Merauke, Papua.

Martais's death was allegedly linked to his coverage of illegal logging practices in Papua published in Jubi magazine last year. He reportedly received text threats beforehand.

Autopsy results indicated Matrais was murdered and dumped in the river, the National Police confirmed.

Several other journalists in Papua – Lala (Bintang Papua daily reporter), Raymond (Papua Selatan Pos chief editor), Indri (Jubi tabloid reporter) and Sulo (Cendrawasih Pos reporter) – had also received text threats and letters written in blood, Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial) said.

"The state has failed in its duties to protect defenders of human rights," Imparsial managing director Poengky Indarti said on Saturday.

Imparsial data indicates that there have been 18 cases of violence against journalists in Indonesia this year.

"Violent incidents [against journalists] commonly occur in regions far away from the Indonesian capital," Indonesian Press Alliance representative Nezar Patria said. "Journalists are threatened if they criticize local politics or monitor abuses of power," he said.

The government should be required to put forth all efforts to investigate violence against journalists because they are protected by the freedom of the press law, Nezar added.

Ridwan was born on Aug. 19 1982. He worked for Ambon TV from 2006 to 2008. When the station ceased operation, Ridwan reported to Jakarta-based TPI as a stringer in 2009 and to RCTI in 2010. He was more recently appointed as a contributor to SUN-TV, which like RCTI and TPI, is a subsidiary of the MNC Group. He was stationed in Tual and Southeast Maluku.

Ridwan is survived by his wife, Nurfi Saoda Toisuta, and 3-year- old son, M. Rizky Zaky. (lnd)

[Dicky Christanto contributed to the story from Jakarta.]

Politics & political parties

Soetrisno, once PAN chairman, leaving party

Jakarta Globe - August 23, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Former National Mandate Party chairman Soetrisno Bachir has announced his resignation from the party he once led.

Soetrisno served as chairman of the party, known as the PAN, from 2005 until January of this year, before being replaced by Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for the economy and a close ally of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Soetrisno had long been at loggerheads with influential party co-founder Amien Rais over the latter's backing of Yudhoyono's re-election bid in 2009, and had preferred supporting rival presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

Soetrisno did not reply to text messages for comment sent by the Jakarta Globe.

On Monday, Amien played down the significance of Soetrisno's resignation. "If the PAN makes a fuss each time a member leaves, we'll become a small party," he said at an event to mark the anniversary of the party's Aug. 6, 1998 founding.

He added that the Islamic-oriented party would remain committed to upholding the people's interests in economic, environmental, educational and health care matters.

PAN secretary general Taufik Kurniawan confirmed that Soetrisno had resigned, but said he had not yet submitted a formal letter. He also denied that Soetrisno felt marginalized by the current leadership of Hatta and Amien.

"He was a good leader and teacher for five years," Taufik said. "We'll continue to implement his programs."

While Hatta declined to comment, Amien praised Soetrisno's contributions to the party, saying he had been key in steering it to fifth place in the 2009 polls. "If he now opts to join another party, that's his decision and we should respect it," he said.

Meanwhile, party deputy chairman Drajad Wibowo called Soetrisno's departure a loss to the party, adding that he would always remain a good friend.

"I haven't heard from him about what he plans to do next," he said. "I don't know if he'll continue with politics, but lately we felt he was growing more distant from the political stage."

Drajad added he was certain that Soetrisno's resignation would not lead to fragmentation within the party. "We won't have problems in the lower ranks," he said.

Indonesia lacks qualified leaders to replace Yudhoyono in 2014

Jakarta Globe - August 22, 2010

Armando Siahaan & Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Although the suggestion that the Constitution be amended to allow President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to have another term was soundly rejected, the fact that it was even aired raises the question of whether the country lacks people with the incumbent's popularity and electability.

Some political analysts are not hopeful in this regard, but others argue that a suitable candidate will emerge by 2014.

Sunny Tanuwidjaja, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there was no single public figure who could match Yudhoyono. "In the eyes of Indonesians, especially at the grassroots level, Yudhoyono is perceived as a calm and wise leader," he said.

Arya Fernandes, an analyst from Charta Politika, said the four main political parties did not have a figure who could dominate the 2014 elections.

He said Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum had a long way to go before he could match Yudhoyono as the party's figurehead. "Anas is still working on boosting his popularity within the party by going on political safaris to the party's regional branches," Arya said.

He said Golkar had national leaders such as chairman Aburizal Bakrie, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono XI, Surya Paloh and Priyo Budi Santoso. "But they're locked in an internal struggle for power" that could severely split the party in backing one national leader, he said.

Arya said Bakrie may have nationwide popularity and financial strength but his reputation was tarnished because of issues such as the Lapindo mudflow and alleged tax evasion.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) also was suffering from a dearth of impressive figures. "[Chairwoman] Megawati is too old. If she decides to run again in 2014, she will damage herself and the party," Arya said.

Megawati's daughter, Puan Maharani, is too young to compete in 2014, while Pramono Anung, a House deputy speaker, is the next best contender but lacks popularity at the national level, he said.

Arya said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the country's largest Islamic party, would most likely revisit its pragmatic approach of backing someone from another party instead of naming its own candidate.

Sunny said other parties had figures who could thrive at the national level. But even so, they had nowhere near Yudhoyono's electoral strength. "I doubt that these people would be able to dominate the country's political scene like Yudhoyono does," he said.

This did not mean that the country should keep him in the top job by amending the Constitution, as it would lead to a moral hazard. "If we keep relying on one person, then the country will lose the incentive to produce more qualified leaders," Sunny said.

Neither did it mean there was no one among Indonesia's 237 million people qualified to lead the country.

Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the system did not allow new, qualified leaders to emerge.

Ikrar said there was no shortage of qualified politicians to assume the highest positions in the country, but these positions frequently went to other figures. "Some politicians are afraid to emerge for fear they will be eclipsed by more popular and wealthier candidates," he said.

At the national level, Ikrar said, the system was limited because it still adopted the political culture that only Javanese and Islamic figures could assume state leadership positions.

"These criteria shouldn't matter as there are non-Java and non- Islamic leaders who are better than, say, Yudhoyono," he said.

Others argue that although no one on the current political scene can match Yudhoyono's popularity, by 2014 a suitable presidential candidate could emerge.

"The era of Yudhoyono, Megawati, Prabowo, Wiranto and Aburizal has passed," said Maarif Institute executive director Fajar Rizal Ul Haq. "This is their last period to rule. In 2014, we will need new leaders, and don't worry, we have plenty of stock."

Anis Matta, a deputy House speaker from the PKS, said similar myths that the incumbent was irreplaceable had surfaced during the presidencies of both Sukarno and Suharto.

"That's only a myth aired by the incumbents that no one could lead the country as well as they do," Anis said.

"But as a matter of fact, it proved wrong. Sukarno was ousted Suharto, who went on to lead this country, and so on and so forth. Indonesia is a big nation. I'm sure there are many figures out there who will be qualified to lead this country by 2014."

Anis said the two-term limit for the presidency was conceived to encourage the system to rejuvenate itself.

"All political parties, including the PKS, are regenerating," he said. "We have many contenders, like Anas from the Democratic Party or Golkar's [Deputy House Speaker] Priyo. I'm sure there will be someone new in 2014 to lead this country."

Culling small parties: Will fewer factions improve legislation?

Jakarta Globe - August 16, 2010

Armando Siahaan, Jakarta – With the debate over a proposal to double the legislative threshold intensifying, discussion is also heating up over whether the move would improve the legislative process.

Four of the largest political parties have now backed the plan to increase the threshold – the minimum amount of votes a party needs to earn a seat in the legislature – from 2.5 percent to five percent.

The plan's supporters say this is the only viable way to reduce the number of parties in the House and streamline the legislative process, which has recently been sluggish. This year the House passed a dismal seven of 70 priority bills.

However, the plan's critics, who are mostly affiliated with smaller parties at risk of not winning a seat in the next legislative elections, argue that the plan will harm the democratic process.

"There is no direct correlation between [an increased] legislative threshold and the effectiveness of legislation," said Teguh Juwarno of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Instead, Teguh said that the main legislative limitation is a lack of a support system of expert advisers in fields to which lawmakers are assigned.

As a result, "legislators could quickly make political decisions without first engaging in substantial discussions [with experts in the field]," he said.

But House Speaker Marzuki Alie of the Democratic Party argued that legislators would be able to focus better if they did not serve dual posts in the House. For example, many legislators from smaller parties serve on both an oversight commission and a special committee.

"We've had cases where legislators leave a commission meeting to attend [another] meeting," he said, adding that this called for an amendment to the 2009 Legislative Bodies Law.

"Thus it would help to restrict the number of parties at the House by increasing the legislative threshold," said Marzuki.

Mahfudz Siddiq, a legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), added that fewer parties and adequate representation within commissions would ease the bill deliberation process.

Currently, smaller parties have as few as two to three legislators serve on each commission, which Mahfudz said is not enough to significantly influence the outcome of a bill discussion.

When a faction is only represented by a few legislators, there is a high likelihood that their opinion will be overlooked by larger factions, he said.

"Having just two legislators serve on each commission is inadequate and makes it very difficult [for them] to contribute anything," Mahfudz said.

However, he said he was also aware that having less factions in the House did not necessarily mean that conflicts of interest between parties could be prevented.

But at the very least, Mahfudz said, having more legislators per party in each commission would allow parties to better strengthen their stance on a bill.

Bima Arya Sugiarto of the National Mandate Party said that in theory, fewer parties in the House could reduce the complexity of bill deliberations.

"The idea is that the fewer the factions, the less complex the process in passing a bill," he said. However, he said, the current state of Indonesian politics suggests that political differences are inevitable.

Indeed, having less factions in the House could make political stalemates more likely if the House is divided between two equally strong camps.

The legislature is currently composed of six coalition factions and three opposition factions. "It's easier to have a deadlock when there are less parties that can be divided evenly," Bima said.

Moreover, he added, the legislative process cannot be improved unless lawmakers themselves improve. "The legislation process is weak because many of the legislators are weak and incompetent themselves," Bima said.

Along with the Democrats, the other major parties backing an increase in the House threshold are Golkar and PKS, both members of the ruling coalition. The main opposition party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is also supporting the increased threshold.

These four parties control 407 of the 560 seats in the House.

Electoral commission & elections

Third-term proposal shot down in flames

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2010

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asserted he had no intention to extend his tenure and would leave office in 2014.

Speaking at the People's Consultative Assembly on Wednesday, Yudhoyono said holding on to power for too long was prone to corruption. "I underline that I will end my term of office in 2014," he said.

Politicians from major political parties were also quick to reject a proposal for a constitutional amendment that would allow the President to extend his tenure beyond the existing maximum of two four-year terms, saying it was an attempt to snuff-out democracy.

The controversial idea was proposed Wednesday by Ruhut Sitompul, a legislator from the Democratic Party – the party founded by Yudhoyono. Ruhut said Indonesia was grappling with a leadership crisis, and that no other figures of authority, except the incumbent were fit to become the next head of state.

Politicians from other major parties, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar, said they found the idea "disturbing".

Legislator Trimedya Panjaitan from PDI-P told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that Ruhut was testing the water. "I already suspected the Democratic Party would eventually broach this subject, which, I think, is part of their political scenario, given the President's rhetorical ability to convince the public that everything is on track."

If implemented, the amendment would set a historical precedent and would have a high political cost, seriously upsetting students and activists who strove for democracy during the inception of the 1998 reform movement, Trimedya said.

Legislator Nudirman Munir from the PDI-P said the Democratic Party needed to stop revering President Yudhoyono as a demigod, adding that the Ruhut proposal would resurrect the "dictatorial majority" Soeharto ruled with in the New Order regime.

"If the Democratic Party doesn't have any potential presidential candidates for the next elections, they must allow for healthy competition to thrive in the political arena," Munir said.

Lawmaker Nasir Djamil from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) speculated that there could have been two scenarios underlying Ruhut's controversial idea.

"On the one hand, the Democratic Party or the President could have used Ruhut to [propose the idea to]judge people's opinions before taking further action," Nasir said.

On the other, the idea could have been proposed by a group of sycophants from the Democratic Party hoping to curry favor with the President, he said.

Meanwhile, in defense of the President, Anas Urbaningrum of the Democratic Party said Yudhoyono was only willing to serve for two terms. "He has never thought of staying in office for a third term," Anas said.

Ruhut, who is also a prominent lawyer, said he had proposed the idea as an individual, and had not done so on behalf of the President or the Democratic Party. "It was said with my deepest sincerity, out of my respect for the President," he said.

Political expert Adrianof Chanigo said the country needed to move on from a paradigm where leaders and figures were venerated.

"Also, political parties need to fix the way in which they exercise democracy internally, as many are still trapped in oligarchies," he said. (tsy)

Yudhoyono distances himself from talk of third term as president

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday backed away from comments from a member of his party that the Indonesian Constitution should be amended to allow Yudhoyono to run for a third five-year term.

Speaking during a ceremony to mark Constitution Day at the House of Representatives, Yudhoyono said he "rejected" any moves to amend the Constitution in his favor.

"We should not play tricks in politics. Although everybody may have their own opinions, we should not be tricky by changing the Constitution, laws and regulations for personal interests," Yudhoyono said.

"We should also consider whether it is ethical for a person in power to give way for family members to continue the power, such as a wife or child. Though they are elected by democratic means, we should consider ethical standards."

Yudhoyono, earlier in his speech, said it was "not good" to have a president for life as in the past. "Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely," he said.

The Jakarta Globe Facebook community, asked on the social networking Web site whether they thought Yudhoyono should be allowed a third term, responded overwhelmingly in the negative, with 39 of 40 comments posted in three hours saying "no."

"Hell no!" wrote Panji Winanteya Ruky, who was topped by Reyner Ferdinand, who penned: "?+10000 to 'HELL NO!!!!'"

"Definitely not," wrote Dede Prabowo. "Clinging to the status quo will only suppress the possibility of a new, younger and possibly better leader emerging from the crowd. The 31-years of Suharto regime did exactly this, and that's why we haven't seen any strong leaders post-Suharto...."

"No way," remarked Peter de Young, "all the ordinary people are waiting for Sri Mulyani to come back and give the nation what she gave as Minister of Finance."

Feri Zh, in the opposing camp, said if the government could continue to increase economic growth, reduce unemployment and provide a climate of stability, then "why not?"

"If not him, who else has at the very least command and control at the moment?" wrote Daud Abdullah.

"Look at the past presidents before him n after Bpk Suharto, ask yourself this question also? Who in the next generation can hold down the fort.. Is Indonesia ready for them, 2 terms as president to govern the state of what the indonesian economy is going through is insufficient considering the workload of infrastructures needed to be built, uniting a nation of this magnitude is by no means an easy feat!! Think abt it.."

Environment & natural disasters

Seven trillion rupiah sought for Timor oil spill

Jakarta Globe - August 23, 2010

Fidelis E Satriastanti, Jakarta – The Rote Ndao district administration in East Nusa Tenggara will seek Rp 7 trillion ($780 million) in compensation for last year's Montara oil spill in the Timor Sea, an official said on Monday.

The news comes ahead of an expected announcement later this week by the government of a final figure for the payment being demanded from Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production Australasia, which operated the Montara oil rig that blew up in August 2009.

The government is set to name the figure in its second round of negotiations with PTTEP on Wednesday, which will be conducted in Perth, Australia.

Rote Ndao district head Leonard Haning, who is also a member of the Indonesian negotiating team, said the Rp 7 trillion included the long-term cleanup and rehabilitation costs.

"We're no longer talking about the pollution, but also about the damage caused by the incident and how much it will cost," he said on Monday. He added that the total financial liabilities of PTTEP will be determined at their meeting with the company.

"The purpose of this second meeting is to present our compensation claims based on scientific research," Leonard said.

"In my district, fishermen and seaweed and pearl farmers are up in arms about the spill. The oil has affected seaweed and pearl farms, mangroves, beaches and coastal areas."

The Indonesian team argued in the first round of negotiations that PTTEP should be made liable for the oil spill which has spread into Indonesian waters.

Masnellyarti Hilman, the head of the negotiating team, said the government's final compensation demand also included the cost of environmental restoration.

"The previous estimate that we put out was only for the direct losses stemming from the oil spill, but now we're also looking at the prospects of the environment recovering completely," she said.

Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said direct damages resulting from the spill had been estimated at Rp 500 billion.

Indonesian executives held over illegal logging

Jakarta Globe - August 20, 2010

Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Three logging company executives and a forestry department official are among 10 people arrested and charged with illegal logging.

"All 10 were last week named suspects for using fake documents to carry out logging in Sorong [in Papua]," National Police special crimes director Brig. Gen. Suhardi Alius told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.

The three executives, Hari Rahman, Yuwono and Subagyo, have since been transferred to National Police custody in Jakarta, while the rest remain in the custody of the Papua Police.

"We don't have the names of these seven others yet, but we can confirm it includes a Sorong Forestry Department officer," Suhardi said.

He said the three executives had been transferred to Jakarta because they were the "key suspects" in the case. "We want to ensure they face the full extent of the law," he said. "We'll let the Papuan authorities deal with the rest."

The three executives are from logging firms Diah Diani and Hasrat, from which police have seized more than 7,000 cubic meters of merbau logs. The shipment was seized in Semarang, Central Java, to where it had been sent from Sorong on the way to markets in China and Taiwan.

The rare wood is particularly sought after by consumers in China, which is the world's biggest importer of merbau, as well as in the United States and Europe, where it is widely used for flooring and furniture, mostly because of its very durable and termite-resistant characteristics.

Most of the merbau trees in Indonesia are in Papua, where large tracts of virgin forest remain unexploited, unlike in the more developed provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan.

However, with loggers having exhausted the western forests, many are now turning their attention to Papua's trees, resulting in the province losing a quarter of its forests over the past 12 years.

The tree is categorized as vulnerable to extinction by the Red List of Threatened Species published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the leading authority on conservation status.

Sinar Mas back on defensive over deforestation audit findings

Agence France Presse - August 20, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesia's biggest palm oil producer on Friday rejected fresh allegations of illegal forest clearing after foreign auditors suggested it had misrepresented the findings of an independent investigation.

Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology, part of the Sinar Mas Group, has been struggling to repair its image after a Greenpeace name-and-shame campaign led several foreign buyers to cancel major contracts.

Its credibility took another blow on Thursday when British auditor BSI Group complained that elements of an independent probe that Smart commissioned to verify the legality of its activities had been misrepresented to the public.

Smart had trumpeted the auditor's report as evidence that Greenpeace's allegations were false, but BSI said the probe's "key findings" included that the company had violated Indonesian law on forest management.

It also found that the company had launched operations on almost 38,000 hectares of land on Borneo before mandatory environmental studies had been completed.

The company was also found to have planted palm oil crops in high-value deep peatland, but not to the extent claimed by Greenpeace.

Smart president director Daud Dharsono rejected any suggestion the company was trying to dodge the findings of its own audit or mislead shareholders.

"We've always emphasized that the independent verification exercise report be shared in an open and transparent manner and that is exactly what we have done," Dharsono said, adding it was published in full on the firm's Web site.

"Palm oil is a strategic economic product for the alleviation of poverty in Indonesia. We care for our people, the environment and all biodiversity, including the important orangutan."

Peat forests are massive stores of carbon and their destruction for timber or agriculture is a major contributor to emissions of gases blamed for global warming.

Government says deforestation ban to begin small, grow later

Reuters - August 20, 2010

David Fogarty, Jakarta – As part of $1 billion deal with Norway to fight carbon emissions through a partial deforestation ban, Indonesia plans to initially protect less than half its remaining forest cover.

The two-year ban on clearing natural forest, which begins in 2011, has spooked palm oil and mining firms who fear it would stifle expansion and earnings. In a nation noted for corruption and the power of its resources firms, the move will test resolve to use donor cash transparently.

"If we surrender to the negative forces, there is no solution," Agus Purnomo, the president's special adviser on climate change, recently told Reuters.

"But if we go with concrete action, step by step, if we go with the very minimum level of commitment and then expanding the commitment in the future, we will be able to do it," he said. He also sought to reassure investors that firms holding licenses to clear forested land would be exempted from the ban.

For the program to succeed, it was crucial to start off small and then expand later, Agus said from Jakarta.

An exact definition of "natural" forest was not crucial, he said, but the aim of the deal is to initially protect much of the 40 million hectares of primary forest that remain in Indonesia. The country has 100 million hectares of total forest area, according to Ministry of Forest data.

Many details of the $1 billion deal have yet to be worked out, officials say, including how to handle the Norwegian funds earmarked for a special agency and pilot projects. Agus said the goal was to finalize the financial situation by next month, and have the initial funding of $30 million ready by October.

Indonesia faces heavy international pressure to slow deforestation and the destruction of peatlands, which release vast amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases when cleared or burned.

The country is now destroying about one million hectares of forest a year. Government-controlled forest estate makes up 71 percent of Indonesia's total land area.

Primary forests cover a third of that area, with over-logged areas sprawling over another third and other vegetation covering the rest, the Center for International Forestry Research says.

Agus said the government would issue a map before next year showing protected areas. "The map will be the delineation of the area under the moratorium," he said, adding that companies with valid licences could still clear natural forests.

"What's important is we will not issue the new licenses. That's the spirit of the moratorium. And if those companies are afraid their existing licences will be affected, I would like to assure them that they will not be."

Project head Kuntoro Mangkusubroto told Reuters on Wednesday that some firms' existing permits could be revoked, a claim Agus denied.

'Super-extreme' weather is the worst on record

Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2010

Nurfika Osman, Jakarta – Indonesia has been experiencing its most extreme weather conditions in recorded history, meteorologists warned on Wednesday as torrential rains continued to pound the capital.

All regions across the archipelago have been experiencing abnormal and often catastrophic weather, an official from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said.

"We have reached a super-extreme level of weather this year, the first time in our history, and this is much worse than what we experienced back in 1998, when the La Nina caused extreme weather in the country," Edvin Aldrian warned.

Edvin, who leads the climate change and air quality division at the agency, told the Jakarta Globe that a combination of a heating planet and the La Nina climate cycle were behind the unseasonable downpours.

"The combination of global warming and the La Nina phenomenon makes everything exceed normalcy," he said, adding that global warming causes higher temperature in sea waters, and La Nina boosts humidity and the likeliness of rains.

Sea temperatures, Edvin said, were also at a level considered normal for Indonesia's rainy season, not for the dry season. "It is about 28 to 29 [degrees] Celsius now. Normally, for August it should have been around 24 to 26 degrees."

Generally at this time of year, Indonesia is supposed to be in the midst of the dry season and entering the transition to wetter months.

"In conditions like this, tornadoes are likely to occur," Edvin warned. It can happen in any region in the country, starting from the western part of Indonesia to the east."

He also said the extreme conditions were causing high waves, posing a threat to ships in Indonesian waters. "At the least, the waves will reach 3.5 meters and can reach up to more than five meters. And strong winds can make the waves even higher.

"The Southern part of Sumatra and Java are the most affected areas so far," he said. "This condition is forecast to start to reach the eastern part of Indonesia within one to two weeks."

Based on a BMKG forecast, the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, West Java, West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Maluku, West Papua and Papua would see prolonged high rains, with more than 400 millimeters falling from now through October. More than 100 mm of rain is categorized as high intensity.

The rest of the country is expected to begin entering the rainy season again in November.

The extreme weather has already affected the country's agricultural output, especially in Java where there are many farms, said Winny Dian Wibawa, the Agriculture Ministry's director for horticulture.

"Crops like melon, mango and mushrooms are experiencing delayed harvests. It puts the farmers at a disadvantage as they now cannot produce many good quality crops," he said, adding that the excess rains made fruit softer and less sweet.

Izzul Waro, an analyst from the Transportation Study Institute (Instran), told the Globe that the extreme weather would also cause headaches for commuters and truckers, especially in big cities like Jakarta.

"The conditions become worse because the drainage system in the city's roads is bad. Puddles of water will occur with just a bit of rain," he said, adding that traffic would only worsen during the extended rainy season.

The capital has seen heavy downpours in the past two days, causing deep inundations and burst river banks. On Tuesday, at least five neighborhoods in South Jakarta reported flooding.

Massive coral bleaching disaster hits Aceh's coral reefs

Reuters - August 18, 2010

Indonesia – A dramatic spike in ocean temperatures off Indonesia's Aceh province has killed large areas of coral and scientists fear the event could be much larger than first thought and one of the worst in the region's history.

The coral bleaching – whitening due to heat driving out the algae living within the coral tissues – was first reported in May after a surge in temperatures across the Andaman Sea from the northern tip of Sumatra island to Thailand and Myanmar.

An international team of scientists studying the bleaching event found that 80 percent of some species have died since the initial assessment in May.

More coral colonies were expected to die within the next few months and that could spell disaster for local communities reliant on the reefs for food and money from tourism.

"I would predict that what we're seeing in Aceh, which is extraordinary, that similar mortality rates are occurring right the way through the Andaman Sea," said Andrew Baird of James Cook University in Townsville, in the Australian state of Queensland.

If so, that would make it the worst bleaching recorded in the region, Baird said.

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Syiah Kuala University in Aceh have also been assessing the damage. "This one of the most rapid and severe coral mortality events ever recorded," the United States-based WCS said in a statement.

It also fits a pattern of climate extremes, from heatwaves to flooding, that have hit many areas of the globe this year.

Between April and late May, sea surface temperatures in the Andaman Sea rose to 34 degrees Celsius or about 4 degrees C above the long-term average, according to the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Hotspots Web site.

"Similar mass bleaching events in 2010 have now been recorded in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and many parts of Indonesia," the WCS statement said.

Baird, of James Cook University's ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, said climate change could have played a role in the extreme ocean temperatures around Aceh.

"There might be one of these cyclic climate phenomena driving it but it's much more severe than you would predict unless there was something else forcing it, which is almost certainly global warming," he said on Tuesday.

The bleaching is a blow to local communities in Aceh still recovering from the 2004 tsunami. That disaster caused relatively little damage to reefs and Baird said some areas had showed a dramatic recovery.

Baird said reefs in Indonesia would normally take 5 to 10 years to recover from localized bleaching. But if the event was spread across a much wider area, recovery would take longer.

"I suspect the scale of this event is so large there is unlikely to be many healthy reefs in the rest of Aceh."

Health & education

Sex counseling will lower mortality rates: Democrats

Jakarta Globe - August 20, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The ruling Democratic Party has called for premarital sex counseling for young couples in a bid to stem infidelity and eventually achieve the UN-mandated Millennium Development Goals on eradicating poverty.

Democrat legislator Subagyo Partodiharjo, from the House of Representatives' Commission IX, which oversees health care, said on Friday that the idea was prompted by a party survey that showed only 1 percent of marriages in Indonesia lasted to the 50-year mark.

All the marriages that ended before reaching this milestone finished either in divorce or in the death of one or both of the partners, Subagyo said.

"The mortality rate in Indonesia is 79 per 10,000 citizens, which is very high compared to other countries in Southeast Asia," he said.

Other sources, however put the country's mortality rate at 63. The rate in Malaysia is 50 per 10,000 people, while in Singapore and Thailand it is 46 and 70 respectively.

Subagyo said the Democrats' survey also showed 40 percent of married Indonesian women were either unaware of what an orgasm was or had never experienced one.

About 200,000 were effectively forced into having sex by their husbands, while the large majority engaged in it reluctantly, thus accounting for the high divorce rate, Subagyo said.

"It's indicative of poor sexual awareness," he said. "The husbands don't like their wives' hostile approach to sex, and so they seek out prostitutes or mistresses, or marry a second or third wife.

"This results in families breaking up, which impacts negatively on the children and the family members' health," he added. "And so we get high rates of morbidity, mortality, maternal mortality and infant mortality. In short, the human development index in Indonesia is very low."

Subagyo warned that to make progress on the MDGs, the country must end its reluctance to provide sex education and set up a new body to offer couples premarital counseling on how to maintain healthy sex lives.

The Democrats' idea, he went on, involved setting up counseling offices inside existing community health centers and staffing them with a doctor and midwife.

"We're calling on the Health Ministry, the Religious Affairs Ministry and the BKKBN [National Population and Family Planning Agency] to consider the idea and hopefully begin implementing it," Subagyo said.

Rosmawati, the Democrats' adviser for health issues, said this new body would also help ease the social burden on married women without children.

In such families, she said, the husband almost always blamed the wife for being infertile, yet he himself was unwilling to undergo tests to gauge his fertility. "Studies show that in half of these cases, it's the husband who is infertile," she said.

Separately, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Caroline Margret Natasa, also of House Commission IX, said her party approved of the idea of premarital sex counseling.

However, she said that setting up a new body to address the issue would be a waste of money. "It would be far better to use the health budget to first improve services for the poor, including providing health insurance for workers," she said.

Caroline added the counseling could be provided by existing institutions, such as the Catholic Church, which already offers a similar service for couples about to be married.

Indonesia to pay bills for all citizens' births

Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2010

Dessy Sagita, Jakarta – The government on Thursday announced a plan to provide free birth care to all, helping to prevent cases of mothers selling their babies to pay for the deliveries and hospitals holding the infants ransom until the medical bills are paid.

In the next year, the state will start a pilot program to pay for all births in community health centers (Puskesmas) and state hospitals nationwide.

Although the benefit is aimed at low-income mothers, even the wealthy qualify, so long as "they are willing to give birth to their babies in third-class wards in hospitals," Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said.

But the scheme comes with a caveat, she said. After the project's first year, free delivery benefits will be limited to a mother's first two children. "This is expected to boost our stagnant family planning program," Endang said, adding that the country was at risk of a population explosion.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono stressed on Monday that the latest census put the population at 237.6 million people, a 32.5 million increase in a decade.

The rapid rise showed that the nation's family-planning program, remarkable for reining in a population boom during the three decades under President Suharto, was no longer effective, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi has said.

Health Ministry officials said the free delivery program was also expected to reduce the country's extremely high maternal and infant mortality rates.

The latest maternal mortality figure for Indonesia is 228 deaths per 100,000 births, one of the highest in Southeast Asia, while 34 out of every 1,000 infants born die within their first year.

Budiharja, the Ministry of Health's director general for community health and education, said the program should bring maternal deaths down to 102 per 100,000 births and reduce the infant mortality rate to 24 out of 1,000 births by 2015. The progress would meet UN Millennium Development Goal targets.

"We hope that the number of births handled by the professional medical workers will increase to 100 percent," Budiharja said.

A normal delivery at a Puskesmas or state hospital costs from Rp 300,000 to Rp 500,000 ($34 to $56). However, recent cases of women selling their newborns in order to pay for their medical bills have highlighted the fact that many low-income mothers still can't afford deliveries.

Others who can't afford care opt to give birth at home, contributing to the high mortality rate.

Budiharja said the free care was intended for all birth procedures, including those requiring Caesarian sections or postpartum complication treatments. The government is developing Puskesmas capable of providing basic obstetric, neonatal and emergency services, Budihara said.

"Out of 7,000 Puskesmas in Indonesia, more than 2,500 of them have been able to provide those three services, but only 1,600 of them provide the services 24 hours," he said adding that all regional hospitals in Indonesia were expected to be able to provide more comprehensive care.

The 2011 draft state budget revealed on Monday included Rp 26.2 trillion, an almost 26 percent increase, in funding for the Ministry of Health.

Indonesia's water woes just beginning

Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2010

Hamong Santono – Last month, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring access to clean water and sanitation a fundamental human right.

By a vote of 122 in favor and none opposed, the assembly on July 28 adopted language affirming "the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights." Forty-one countries abstained.

By supporting the UN resolution, signatories commit to play a greater role in meeting the need for adequate, safe and affordable access to water. Indonesia voted in favor of the measure.

The UN stated its "deep concern" that around 884 million people are without access to safe drinking water and more than 2.6 billion people lack access to basic sanitation.

The Assembly expressed alarm at the fact that 1.5 million children under 5 years of age die each year as a result of water- and sanitation-related diseases, according to data from the UN's "Water for Life" Web site.

Though it is widely recognized that water will be a major source of conflict in the future, Indonesia has yet to include water resource issues among its top development priorities.

This can be illustrated by the many rivers that have suffered extensive damage from pollution in our country. In the 1970s, there were 22 severely damaged rivers. Toward the end of the 1990s, that number rose to 62. Last year, the figure stood at 64.

Tragically, for the past three decades, there has been no serious effort to restore these rivers. The problem is made worse by the fact that the annual deforestation rate is still growing. From 2000 to 2005, deforestation across the country stood at an average of 1,089,560 hectares per year.

Although Indonesia still has a surplus of water, deforestation will inevitably affect the availability of water in many provinces, mainly in Java, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

The threat is made worse by the condition of the country's water resource infrastructure, which is no longer capable of supplying clean water to the public through either private operators or state-owned water supply company Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum.

As of 2009, PDAM only covers 24 percent of households nationwide and many of its branch offices are strapped for cash. The company's inability to expand its services is becoming more pronounced as environmental damage and regional rivalries limit supply.

State budget allocations for clean water and sanitation, worth around Rp 3 trillion to Rp 4 trillion ($340 million to $450 million) a year, are low compared to the government allocation for electricity subsidies, which is worth about Rp 40 trillion per year.

Securing the people's right to clean water requires the state to play a larger role. Indonesia's willingness to adhere to the new UN resolution would, of course, impact positively on the development of water resources across the country.

As a first step, the government should have the political will to meet the public's need for clean water and sanitation. It should hold public discussions and debates on the technical aspects of water resource problems and its impact on people's lives.

The debate on the future of our water resources should involve all sectors of society because it is an issue of justice, especially for the poor and communities in isolated regions that badly need access to affordable clean water.

Healthy debate coupled with the government's commitment could pave the way for a major policy initiative on clean water resources. This would not only address ways to develop water resource infrastructure, but also answer the question of which sectors of society need the most help.

Several countries have already taken steps to meet the water needs of their people. South Africa, for example, conducted a survey on its people's hopes for the new government shortly after the end of apartheid.

The survey results showed that people wanted the state to provide job opportunities, build adequate housing and urgently provide clean water and sanitation.

Based on the survey, the South African government prepared a grand plan to achieve those targets. As a result, public access to clean water reached 100 percent in urban areas and 80 percent in rural areas, according to a 2008 World Health Organization report.

In Uruguay, the government even amended its Constitution in 2004, giving priority to social considerations in issuing policies on water and sanitation.

In another example, the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre introduced a participative budgeting system that included the development of clean water supplies.

These countries have shown that water, as a public commodity, should be well managed and protected, and that water resource problems should always be addressed in a democratic way.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has an important role to play in addressing Indonesia's water troubles. We are all watching and waiting.

During the remainder of his second and final term in office, Yudhoyono has no choice but to include water and sanitation issues among the nation's development priorities. Our future depends on it.

[Hamong Santono is a national coordinator of the People's Coalition for Water Rights (Kruha).]

Women & gender

Indonesian train now has women-only carriages

Associated Press - August 20, 2010

Irwan Firdaus, Jakarta – As the train rattled into Indonesia's capital, 19-year-old Wiwit Wahyuningsih leaned back in a soft, pink-cushioned seat in a carriage newly designated exclusively for women.

It was a great feeling, the university student said, knowing she didn't have to worry about being ogled at, pinched or even groped.

"The trains are always so packed, there are thousands of people crammed up against one another," she said as she arrived at her station, books tucked beneath her arm. "Especially during morning and evening rush hours, it's very common to be harassed or touched by men, intentional or not."

Indonesia, a secular nation home to the world's largest Muslim population, is often held up as a beacon of modernity. Women wearing headscarves – for religious reasons, fashion or in some cases to avoid unwanted attention – can be seen walking alongside friends in shorts and tank tops in glitzy shopping malls. Flirtatious teens fill coffee shops and male and female co-workers sit side-by-side at outdoor food stalls.

Except in mosques or religious schools, segregation between the sexes is rare.

But the state-run train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia decided to set aside two cars in an eight-coach commuter train that runs between the capital and outlying suburbs after being flooded by letters of complaint from women. As they increasingly enter the work force, women now account for half the 500,000 passengers riding the train in the greater Jakarta area every day.

The new train service for women had a soft launch on Thursday and went into full swing Friday. "We need to protect them," said Makmur Syaheran, a spokesman for the company, adding that if the service is a success, it could eventually be expanded to other trains in the sprawling archipelagic nation.

Stories about sexual harassment have made headlines in local papers in recent months and have filled up commentary pages. They also have become popular topics on blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Coincidentally, the controversy peaked just as two high school students posted a video on YouTube showing themselves singing to "Keong Racun," which translates as "Poisonous Snail," about a slimy old man who relentlessly pursues a completely uninterested young girl. With more than 3.6 million views, the teens, and the song, became an overnight sensation.

Women packed into the train, quickly filling up the 58 seats in each of the two male-free cars. Many reached in their bags for mobile phones and immediately started sending text messages or making calls. Others, who couldn't find a seat, crouched down in front of their friends to chat, or grabbed onto the swinging ceiling handles.

Asmawati, an acupuncturist who for 15 years has traveled into Jakarta daily to treat private clients, said she was impressed. "It feels so relaxed, I love it," said the 41-year-old who, like many Indonesians, goes by only one name. "Clean, air conditioned, no one bothers you... I hope they keep it up."

Yanti Sumarni, 28, agreed, describing how a man once pressed up against her and then leaned his head on her shoulder. "I hated it," she said as her friend Helena, added: "If anything, two cars isn't enough. Look! There are more than 200 women here. It's a good start, but we really need more."

Government officials were quick to point out that it is not obligatory for women to use the carriages. They're free to ride with men in the other six cars if they so choose.

Imam Prasodjo, a sociologist from the University of Indonesia, said any form of segregation, especially in public places, can be viewed as a setback in a modern, newly democratic society. But the women-only carriages should be considered in the context of the country's strong tradition of egalitarianism.

"In this case, it really has nothing to do with discrimination," he said, noting that, while sexism undoubtedly exists, men and women do work alongside one another in rice fields and in tall office buildings. "It's about making their journey safer. I think most people will welcome that."

Indonesia is not the first Asian country to offer same-sex carriages. Neighboring Malaysia recently reserved several pink coaches for women. Japan has offered the service during morning rush hour for years. And in India, female passengers have entire trains to themselves.

Indonesia's comfort women break the silence

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Report Katrin Figge – "As a 13-year-old girl, Ronasih was picked up on her way home from school by a soldier nicknamed Sideburns and locked up in a nearby barracks. There, she was raped systematically for three months by Sideburns and his pal."

This is the story of Ronasih, from Serang, West Java, but it is shared by many other young Indonesian girls who became victims of sexual violence during World War II.

They were forced into prostitution by the Japanese military or repeatedly raped and sexually abused in factory warehouses, railroad cars and even their own homes.

It is a dark chapter in history that few people openly talk about. These women, known as comfort women or the Japanese term jugun ianfu – jugun means following the military and ianfu means comfort women – still carry the stigma and shame of what they had to endure.

"Her father visited the barracks several times and in vain offered himself as free labor in exchange for his daughter's release. Not until the end of the war was Ronasih, very thin by then, released. 'I had to crawl home, I couldn't even walk anymore, it hurt all over.'

"Immediately after the war, she underwent surgery for internal injuries. 'I only married late because I first wanted to think, my wounds hadn't healed yet, I was afraid, I wanted to get better first.'

She's been married five times, divorced several times after just a few months, and has never been able to bear children. 'I did get injections from the doctor, but it's God who determines whether you have children, not people.'?"

Ronasih's narrative is part of an ongoing photo exhibition, "Jugun Ianfu – Comfort Women," by Dutch journalist Hilde Janssen and photographer Jan Banning at Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta.

Encouraging comfort women to break their silence, Janssen and Banning traveled the country to hear and record their stories.

The exhibition is a result of this undertaking – portraits of 18 women, most of whom are now in their late 70s or early 80s, accompanied by text that tells their stories.

It also features Japanese war propaganda posters found in archives in the Netherlands. These posters stand in stark contrast to the pictures of the women, which present a rarely talked about side of the story.

In addition, Janssen and Banning published al book, "Shame and Innocence: The Suppressed War Chronicles of Indonesia's Comfort Women," in both English and Dutch. Banning also published book of his photographs, "Comfort Women."

"I so much wanted to be ugly because the ugly girls they quickly sent away. But the beautiful ones had to stay." These words accompany the portrait of Emah, from Kuningan, West Java.

The photo shows an old woman wearing a black blouse with purple flowers and a serious look on her wrinkled face. The two sentences sum up the horror and desperation she still feels to this day. Even though she later got married, Emah was never able to have children of her own.

Even without the accompanying text, the women's portraits, which exude pain and sadness, speak for themselves.

Janssen said the project was not easy to complete. Finding the women was difficult, and once they were located, some were unwilling to talk about their experiences. Many others had already passed away.

"We had to approach them discretely because feelings of shame remain severe," Janssen said. "Often, they couldn't bring themselves to say the word rape, were reduced to nervous giggling and called it 'forced adultery' or 'doing it.'

"Even in their 80s, some women still face abusive sneers," she added. "As much as they would like to erase the traces of their wartime history, they drag it along all their lives: the humiliation and pain, their childless existence, the failed marriages."

But despite the topic's sensitive nature, Janssen felt that bringing it into the open was the right thing to do.

"While [these women] struggle with the physical and emotional impacts, the Japanese perpetrators have gone free," she said. "The circle of silence needs to be broken, the voices of the women no longer suppressed."

Yuniyanti Chuzaifah, chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan), who opened the exhibition last week, agreed that it was time to shed light on this issue.

"The great characters that emerge before us through these portraits are women who had the courage to share personal experiences of sexual violence that have been undermining their lives for over six decades," she said.

"They have raised their voices not only to demand a formal apology and compensation; they broke the silence to prevent future generations of women from falling victim to similar acts of sexual violence."

According to Banning, it is estimated that there were at least 200,000 comfort women in Asia, with 20,000 in Indonesia. He previously worked on a similar project about men who suffered abuse as forced laborers on the Burma and Sumatra railways during the war.

"A lot of the men had trouble talking about this experience," he recalled. "They felt humiliated and ashamed."

He added that the comfort women would have felt the same way, even worse. "In fact, we also tried to include Dutch [comfort] women in this project," he said. "Out of the estimated 200 to 400 [Dutch comfort] women, only a handful have ever come out in the open."

Yuniyanti said: "The fate of comfort women forms an integral part of our national history. Not only does it concern a period that is a crucial part of the Indonesian independence story, the issues related to comfort women are also still relevant today. This is evident in the way in which this sensitive issue was suppressed and shelved by the New Order regime [of former President Suharto]."

She said the stories of comfort women were kept secret because they were seen as tarnishing the nation's honor. She added that the same thing has been happening for the last four decades regarding cases of sexual violence against women.

The issue of the May 1998 riots, when women of Chinese descent became victims of mass rape and sexual attacks, has been largely ignored until now, Yuniyanti said.

"While praising the 1998 events as a starting point for the democratization process in Indonesia, the May 1998 tragedy itself is only mentioned as a mere riot, ignoring the faces of the grieving mothers who lost their children and the women who are not able to talk about their personal experiences without risking being criticized for undermining Indonesia's reputation," she said.

"Female victims of sexual violence are also being silenced by their own families and communities, as they prioritize safety and want to avoid the disgrace and cultural shame attached to the 'sins' of these women."

The physical and psychological harm that these women have experienced can never be undone. Nevertheless, their stories need to be told.

"I think we do not only live for ourselves," Banning said. "I think we should try to play a role in society with whatever means we have. We wanted to bring this story to the surface."

Graft & corruption

Critics want clemency ban for Indonesian corruptors

Jakarta Globe - August 23, 2010

Anita Rachman & Dessy Sagita, Jakarta – Lawmakers are expected to discuss banning prisoners convicted of corruption from receiving sentence cuts or presidential pardons, or tightening the system.

The move comes in response to public outrage over the sentence reductions given to several corrupt officials last week.

Tjatur Sapto Edy, deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission III dealing with legal affairs, told the Jakarta Globe the law clearly regarded corruption as a serious offense warranting severe punishment. This, he said, was undermined by awarding perpetrators sentence cuts, assimilation periods, leave passes and parole.

"I think it is important to review remissions, assimilations and parole regulations," said the lawmaker, who is also head of the National Mandate Party (PAN) in the House. "We should consider a total end to remissions et cetera, like China has done."

The public outcry followed the release of several high-profile corruption convicts after they received sentence cuts to mark Independence Day on Aug. 17.

One of the convicts, Aulia Pohan, a former deputy governor of Bank Indonesia and an in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was released on parole after receiving a total of nine months in sentence cuts, meaning he served less than two years of his three-year sentence.

Businesswoman Artalyta Suryani, jailed for bribery, was granted a sentence cut for "good conduct" despite having been found to be enjoying many comforts and luxuries in her jail cell.

Critics said the sentence cuts raised doubts about the government's commitment to battling graft. They demanded that the system for granting sentence reductions be made transparent.

Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, called for a standardized remission process. He said ICW research showed remissions were easily manipulated and had great potential for bribery and graft.

Commission III member Nudirman Munir, from the Golkar Party, wants the system to be tightly regulated.

Nudirman, who wants to see the death penalty for corruption, said the House should urge the government to set up an independent body to review any clemency granted by the president.

"The public should know who is asking for clemency, and this body should then review these people's records," he said.

However, Commission III member Ahmad Yani, from the United Development Party (PPP), said he disagreed with stopping graft convicts from getting reduced sentences. "As long as the system is weak, getting rid of remissions will not deter people."

Activists from pro-democracy group Petisi 28 said they would file a protest to the president through Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar today. Group coordinator Haris Rusli Muchti said clemency for graft convicts insulted all Indonesians. "It makes Indonesians look stupid, as if we are totally blind to legal matters," he said.

Petisi 28 lawyer Ahmad Suryono called the system "unfair" and showed Yudhoyono's inconsistency, while his colleague Catur Agus Saptono questioned the reasons for granting a sentence cut to Artalyta.

"She has been proven as a corruptor protector. She has been linked with many names, and a task force found she was enjoying very special treatment in prison, so it was surprising she was granted a remission," he said.

Yudhoyono relative's release raises doubts about corruption fight

Jakarta Globe - August 21, 2010

Nivell Rayda & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jakarta – Just a day after receiving a sentence reduction, Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's eldest son, quietly walked out of prison this week, raising questions about the government's commitment to be tough on corrupt officials.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar confirmed on Friday that the former Bank Indonesia deputy governor was released on Wednesday, a day after receiving a six-month remission on his three-year jail term. He was one of 53,000 convicts nationwide who received sentence remissions on Independence Day.

Aulia and three other BI officials were each sentenced in June 2009 to four and half years in jail for their roles in the embezzlement of Rp 100 billion ($11.1 million) from a central bank foundation in 2003. The sentences were cut to three years after an appeal to the Supreme Court in March.

Patrialis said the other three – Maman Sumantri, Bunbunan Hutapea and Aslim Tadjuddin – were also paroled. "They all served two-thirds of their sentences," he said. The four had been in prison for over 20 months, as they were first taken into custody in November 2008.

Topo Santoso, a legal analyst from University of Indonesia, said that by releasing corrupt officials, the government had failed to live up to its promises of zero tolerance for graft.

"It is about sensitivity. We can only guess the reasoning behind the parole. A lot of convicts who aren't as well connected have been denied time and again despite the fact that they too are eligible for parole," he said.

Eryanto Nugroho, executive director of the Center for Law and Policy Studies, a judiciary watchdog, said the early release "betrays the people's sense of justice. It shows that the government's commitment toward eradicating corruption is merely lip service."

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Deputy Haryono Umar demanded revisions to regulations on remissions and pardons. "The government needs to evaluate the effectiveness of its regulations concerning corruption in the country," he said.

"Part of the function of the penal and law-enforcement systems is to deter crime and curb repeat offenders. I don't see that happening if these conditions continue."

Martin Hutabarat, a lawmaker from the opposition Great Indonesia Movement party (Gerindra), said any leniency shown to corruption convicts was intolerable, given the effect of their actions on the public.

"To be fair, besides being sent to prison, there must be a new mechanism to seize the wealth of those who commit corruption and put it in the state treasury," Martin said.

Other lawmakers were more forgiving. Gayus Lumbuun, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), hesitated to criticize the decision. "Let the people decide whether the remission is in line with the government's anticorruption program and whether the president has done his job properly," he said.

Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, from the Golkar Party, was surprised to hear of Aulia's parole, but urged the public to view the decision positively.

"Maybe we feel that their time in prison was very short, but it still means that they have served the punishment," Priyo said. "If the Minister of Justice and Human Rights approved the decision, then it's legitimate."

Too many scandals, not enough action, in Gayus case

Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2010

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The revelations of institutionalized bribery unearthed in the saga of rogue tax official Gayus Tambunan paint a bleak picture of the state of the country's judiciary, antigraft watchdogs say.

The most recent allegation was made by Gayus on Wednesday at the bribery trial of the judge who acquitted him in March. He claimed he gave Judge Muhtadi Asnun $40,000 in cash on the eve of the verdict.

"This incident alone shows that Gayus's trial in March was completely bungled," Andri Gunawan, secretary general of the nongovernmental Indonesian Judicial Watch Society (Mappi), said on Thursday.

"It flouted the rules prohibiting a judge from meeting with a defendant in a personal capacity." Andri said if the judge had solicited the bribe, "then our justice system is truly in danger."

He said it was common for judges to meet defense lawyers "for private negotiations". "Nowadays, lawyers prefer to invite judges out to lunch someplace away from the courthouse so they can talk without fear of being spotted by snooping journalists or watchdogs," Andri said. "We've received plenty of reports of such meetings."

Gayus was tried at the Tangerang District Court after being found with Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) in his bank accounts. He has since confessed to bribing the judge, prosecutors and police investigators in his efforts to get the more serious charge of money-laundering dropped.

Investigators Arafat Enanie and Sri Sumartini are also on trial for taking bribes. Arafat is accused of extorting witnesses in the Gayus case for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle by threatening to name them suspects along with Gayus. The officer is said to have even picked the model himself in the showroom.

At least two police generals were implicated when it was revealed that they had provided rooms for Gayus's lawyers and investigators to negotiate a split of Gayus's money, but a so- called "independent team" set up by the National Police later absolved them of any wrongdoing.

No prosecutors have been named suspects, despite testimony from witnesses, including Gayus, of their involvement. The Attorney General's Office has handed them token demotions for "unprofessional conduct."

Neta Pane, chairman of the nongovernmental Police Watch, said the revival of the case against Gayus, sparked by whistle-blower and chief detective Susno Duadji, would prove no more successful because the "independent team" was handling it.

"The team is wholly staffed with police officers, so it'll be no surprise if they flub this one, too," he said. "The KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] should have taken over this case from the get-go."

While six of nine suspects named in the case have now gone on trial, critics argue that the net needs to be spread wider to address the worrying allegations of tax fraud unveiled so far.

Gayus is believed to have amassed his wealth by taking bribes from corporate taxpayers seeking to cheat on their taxes. He has since testified that the companies include subsidiaries of the Bakrie conglomerate, controlled by the family of Golkar Party chairman and political heavyweight Aburizal Bakrie.

Police finally said they would question Bakrie executives over Gayus's claims, but did not say when.

Those same firms were the target of a tax investigation quashed immediately after the resignation in May of then Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, with whom Aburizal has had a long-running feud.

Susno tells Indonesian court he fears for other whistle-blowers

Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran & Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Former police chief of detectives and whistle-blower Susno Duadji was on Thursday refused a stay of prosecution by the Constitutional Court.

Susno, who faces bribery charges, filed the motion after being placed in the witness protection program last month.

He claimed that the 2006 Witness Protection Law, which guarantees immunity from prosecution for witnesses, contained a conflicting article stipulating that such witnesses could face prosecution if they were also suspects in a case.

However, the court ruled that an additional request for the stay of prosecution was not necessary pending a judicial review. "The judges consider that the request for the stay of prosecution is not pertinent to the main substance of the hearing," Chief Justice Mahfud MD said on Thursday.

Susno is known for exposing in March so-called case brokers active within the police force, the prosecutors' offices and the judiciary. The brokers were allegedly instrumental in carrying out large-scale institutionalized graft on behalf of their corporate and private clients, who were facing investigations.

His allegations raised a massive public outcry against law enforcement agencies. As a result, several police officers and alleged case brokers have been charged with graft.

However, Susno was later charged with taking a Rp 500 million ($56,000) bribe, allegedly in exchange for expediting a criminal investigation on behalf of a case broker. Susno has denied the allegations.

"I don't want other whistle-blowers to go through the same experience," Susno told the court on Thursday.

"If a serving officer can be treated this way, imagine the obstacles facing lower-ranking officers or ordinary citizens who are trying to report on graft in their offices.

"Technically I'm supposed to be under the care of the LPSK (Witness and Victim Protection Agency]) but in reality I'm in police custody."

Legal expert Saldi Isra, from Andalas University in West Sumatra, testified at the Constitutional Court on Thursday that the lack of clarity in the witness protection law would discourage people from reporting on graft.

"They'll be reluctant to act because there's this threat hanging over them that they could be charged too," he said. "For a crime as serious as corruption, a whistle-blower already faces threats both from inside and outside their institution. And the law does nothing to alleviate this."

Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a director general at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, testified on behalf of the government that Susno's motion had no legal basis.

"His arrest was well within the law, and highlights the principle of equality before the law," she told the court.

"The article in the witness protection law that stipulates witnesses who are suspects may be charged is not unconstitutional, and therefore the government asks that this judicial review be rejected," Harkristuti added.

Meanwhile, a group of prominent public figures handed over a petition to the Attorney General's Office on Thursday, requesting Susno's release on humanitarian grounds so he could observe the month of Ramadan with his family.

"We believe Susno, as a high-ranking police officer, is a law- abiding citizen," said petitioner Syafii Maarif, a former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-biggest Islamic organization.

6 years in jail not enough for Anggodo, Indonesian watchdog says

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Despite the prosecution pushing for alleged case broker Anggodo Widjojo to be jailed for six years, an antigraft group has slammed it for not taking his alleged attempts to paralyze the Corruption Eradication Commission into account.

"On paper, Anggodo was charged with obstructing justice and attempting to bribe state officials," Emerson Yuntho, of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said on Tuesday.

"But the real story behind his criminal case is that he has been involved in a conspiracy to paralyze the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK]."

Emerson was commenting on Monday's hearing at the Anti-Corruption Court, when the prosecution demanded Anggodo be jailed for six years.

The country was shocked last year when wiretapped conversations between him and officials at the National Police and the Attorney General's Office were made public. The evidence indicated a plot to bring criminal charges against two deputy chairmen at the anti-graft agency.

"According to the official charges, six years is quite tough for him. But he should get a heavier punishment for the plot against the KPK, so we hope the judges will consider this when delivering the verdict," Emerson said.

Prosecutor Anang Supriyatna urged the court to declare Anggodo guilty of attempting to bribe KPK officials with as much as Rp 5.1 billion ($566,000) in a bid to get it to drop a corruption case against his brother, Anggoro Widjojo, who is still at large. The prosecutor also recommended Anggodo be fined Rp 200 million.

Presiding judge Tjokorda Rai gave Anggodo and his lawyers until Aug. 24 to present their defense. The KPK deputies, Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, were named suspects in September for abuse of power and extortion, but their case was dropped after the shocking recordings were played by the Constitutional Court.

Prosecutors, however, denied they were lacking evidence against the two deputies and said the termination of the case was based on "sociological reasons," that is, it would be more harmful than beneficial to bring the matter to court.

While in detention, Anggodo managed to win a court ruling that the termination was unlawful and that the two deputies must stand trial.

Adding controversy to the complicated case, the police and the AGO were unable to meet a court order to present the evidence of alleged phone conversations between a KPK official and a suspected case broker who allegedly channeled Anggodo's money to the KPK.

The AGO and police claimed to have such recordings, but when Anggodo's lawyers demanded they be presented in court, police admitted that all they had were data records of phone conversations, not the actual recordings.

Police admit no KPK official in controversial CDR

Jakarta Post - August 17, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The police admitted on Monday they had never had evidence that case broker suspect Ary Muladi had phone-called Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officials.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said the call detail records (CDR) they held only contained call data between Ary and "somebody".

"Yes, that's all we have. It probably won't satisfy the lawyers [of graft suspect Anggodo Widjojo]. But we've tried to obey court's order," Ito said at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

He added that the police had never wiretapped either Ary or Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy for enforcement Ade Rahardja. "We got the CDR from cellular provider," Ito said.

The police and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji have repeatedly said they believed Ary had frequently made phone calls with Ade.

Three weeks ago, the Corruption Court ordered the National Police to hand over the recorded conversation between Ade and Ary. The order was made during a trial with defendant businessman Anggodo Widjojo.

Ito has previously said the CDR had been handed over to the Corruption Court but the court officials said they had yet to receive the document. The police denied they had ignored the court's order althouth they admitted it was only a CDR instead of a tape recording.

Anggodo's lawyers requested to present the tape before the court because they believe the tape would prove that KPK official was involved in a case broker in the investigation into a corruption implicating Anggodo's brother, Anggoro Widjojo.

War on terror

Cleric's trial told of Poso's bloody reign of terror

Jakarta Globe - August 23, 2010

Ulma Haryanto, Jakarta – No remorse crossed the faces of three terrorists on Monday as they told a court how terror defendant Eko Budi Wardoyo had explained jihad for them and described why a traditional market had been selected as one of their targets in Central Sulawesi.

The West Jakarta District Court heard Amril Ngiode, Irwanto Irano and Yudi Heriyanto Parsan – all flown in from Palu, Central Sulawesi – provide graphic details in their testimony against Eko Budi, aka Munsif, an Islamic cleric who is facing 20 years in jail.

Prosecutors say Munsif was the primary adviser behind the attack on the Efatha Protestant Church in Poso in 2004 and the Tentena market bombing in 2005. The church attack saw the fatal shooting of minister Susiyanti Tinulele, while the market bombing claimed 22 lives.

"Munsif was my teacher. I knew him since 2002, when he taught me to read the Koran from zero at a local mosque," Amril told the hearing, presided over by Judge Supeno. Amril. Munsif had often spoken of "a different kind of jihad" in his sermons.

"He used to say that jihad meant paying back the Christians for what they had done to the Muslim communities in Poso," Amril said.

Poso was the scene of bloody fighting between Muslim and Christian gangs beginning in 2000 that left at least 1,000 people from both faiths dead.

Islamic extremists have been blamed for sporadic bombings, shootings and other attacks since then. Security forces have carried out several operations on Sulawesi against Muslim militants they accused of being behind the attacks.

Sentenced to 10 years in prison for conducting a survey of the bombing site and acting as a messenger for Eko, Yudi said 40 of his relatives had been butchered by Christians.

"I wanted revenge. Every Muslim will speak of revenge when they lose brothers and sisters," he said.

Eko's lawyer, Nurlan, told the Jakarta Globe it was "normal" at the time for people to speak of hatred and revenge. "Munsif was not the only one. All Ustadz [Muslim clerics] talked of the same things," he said "The fact that somebody really did what they were preaching was the only difference."

Scores of people involved in the Poso riots have been arrested, tried and sentenced, but police are still hunting down alleged bomb maker Taufik Buraga, alias Upik Lawanga.

Amril also told the court how he helped Upik assemble the bombs. "He filled casings with TNT and sulphur. I helped stamp the powder mix with a wooden stick," Amril said, adding that a wooden stick was preferred over iron since the heat caused by the friction could set off the bomb.

"To increase the damage, pieces of iron, each five inches long, were added to the mix. The detonator was to blow off 15 minutes after it was switched on. Our initial target was actually a Catholic school next to the Tentena market, but during our survey the market was more crowded."

Amril and three others, including Irwandi Irano, who was also involved in the church shootings the year before, decided on two spots in the market where it was the most crowded. The four split into two and approached the designated targets.

"We concealed the bomb in a cardboard box and we carried it around in a black plastic bag. We also bought vegetables so that the box was covered," Amril said.

He then waited outside with a motorcycle ready while his partner, convicted terrorist Ardin Djanatu, asked a vegetable-seller to watch the plastic bag while he went to buy something else. The timer was already set.

"He left the seller and exited the market to where I was waiting with my bike and we left," Amril added.

The witnesses said Tentena was selected because most residents were Christians who had scared the Muslims away by slaying those who dared stay.

Nurlan insisted that Eko had a minor role in the incidents and he was hoping his client would get a 10-year jail sentence at most.

Ba'asyir promoted Aceh terror group: Police

Jakarta Post - August 18, 2010

Dicky Christanto – The police said they had evidence to charge firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir with funding and promoting terrorist activities in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Ba'asyir is alleged to have used US$5,000 from unidentified donors to help establish a paramilitary camp in the once restive province.

"Ba'asyir and supporter Dulmatin gave money to Yudi Zulfahri to start the camp. Ba'asyir had the camp's training exercises recorded, and later used the video as a promotional tool to attract other donors," an officer with the National Police's Detachment 88 antiterror squad, who declined to be identified, said Monday.

Dulmatin was shot dead in March during a police raid in Pamulang, South Tangerang, following a series of raids in Aceh which left four police officers dead.

Ba'asyir is suspected of gathering another Rp 800 million (US$88,800) from other donors to fund additional militant training, the police official said. "Ubeid was among those [suspects] who have confirmed Ba'asyir's role," he said.

Ubeid is one of 102 people being detained for questioning about their involvement with the Aceh paramilitary training camp.

The police have long suspected that Ba'asyir has been involved in Indonesian terrorist activities, and acknowledge that he is seen as an inspirational figure by some convicted terrorists. The police previously faced difficulties arresting Ba'asyir because they often failed to present solid evidence linking the cleric with terrorist activities.

One of Ba'asyir lawyers, Mahendradatta, denied the cleric had ever received funds prior to the establishment of the military camp, and accused the police of fabricating evidence against his client.

"Ba'asyir has never been given money. He doesn't even carry it. Ba'asyir does not need money to support his life. When he is in need of rice, he is given rice by those who care for him," Mahendradatta said. Ba'asyir was arrested last week on his way home from providing sermons to local Koran recital groups in Banjar Patroman, Ciamis, West Java.

He was initially stopped by traffic police and later escorted by police officers from the counterterrorism detachment to the National Police headquarters, where he was placed in police custody for a seven-day preliminary interrogation period.

The Antiterror Law stipulates that a potential suspect may be questioned for a week before police name him a terrorist suspect.

"Ba'asyir has been named a suspect and would be detained for the next four months for further questioning," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said.

Ethnic & religious conflicts

Religious minorities in Indonesia push back

Associated Press - August 16, 2010

Irwan Firdaus, Bekasi, Indonesia – Tired of government inaction, Christians and other religious minorities in Indonesia are pushing back against rising violence by Islamic hard-liners.

For months, Christians in the industrial city of Bekasi have been warned against worshipping on a field that houses their shuttered church. They've arrived to find human feces dumped on the land and sermons have been interrupted by demonstrators chanting "Infidels!" and "Leave now!"

But last week, tensions finally exploded. Twenty worshippers were met by 300 Islamic hard-liners, many of whom hurled shoes and water bottles before pushing past a row of riot police. The mob chased down and punched several members of the group.

"The constitution guarantees our right to practice our religion!" Yudi Pasaribu of the Batak Christian Protestant Church said, vowing to return every Sunday until their request for a place of worship, made more than two years ago, is approved.

"And we want to do that on our own property, in our own church." Indonesia, a secular country of 237 million people, has more Muslims than any other in the world. Though it has a long history of religious tolerance, a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.

Hard-liners have also become more violent, according to the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, a human rights group, which said there have already been 28 attacks on religious freedom in 2010, including everything from preventing groups from performing prayers to burning houses of worship. The institute said there were 18 such incidents in all of 2009 and 17 in 2008.

Though most Indonesians are moderate and oppose violence, critics say President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government has been slow to intervene because it relies heavily on the support of Islamic parties in parliament.

Acting on the orders of local officials, police helped hard- liners forcibly close several mosques owned by Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect they call "deviant," last month in Manis Lor, a village in West Java province.

But members of the sect, who differ from other Muslims about whether Muhammad was the "final" monotheist prophet, have so far refused to buck under.

"We're tired of being harassed and attacked," said Yati Hidayat, a 48-year-old Ahmadiyah member. "We have the right to pray just like any other religious community. If anyone tries to stop us, we're ready to fight."

Recent attacks have largely been led by the Islamic Defenders Front, or the FPI, which is pushing for the implementation of Islamic-based laws in regions across the nation.

They are known for smashing bars, attacking transvestites and going after those considered blasphemous with bamboo clubs and stones. Perpetrators are rarely punished or even questioned by police.

Yudhoyono has in recent days urged his countrymen to be tolerant of others, especially during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But he has made no direct reference to attacks making headlines in Bekasi, just 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the capital, or Manis Lor, 180 miles (300 kilometers) farther east.

Hundreds of people held an interfaith rally in Jakarta over the weekend demanding the government take a tougher line.

"Those attackers have to be arrested, otherwise they will feel their actions are right," said Saur Siagain, a rally organizer, standing in front of a banner that said: "The president has to be responsible in guaranteeing freedom of religion."

Minority groups, who represent less than 15 percent of the population, have long tried to keep a low profile.

Though thousands of churches dot the countryside, groups complain that getting permits to build new ones can be nearly impossible. Construction is often put on hold for years as local authorities weigh the risks of angering hard-liners.

In the meantime, some congregations have held services in apartments, office buildings and even shopping malls.

But as attacks become more frequent and more brutal, religious minorities – together with moderate Muslims – appear to be losing patience.

"The Batak Christian Protestant Church and Ahmadiyah were around long before FPI," said Hilmar Farid from Indonesia's Social History Institute. "They are getting tired of being intimidated."

In a rare show of force, hundreds of police showed up to protect the Batak Christians on Aug. 8. But they made little effort to stop FPI members as they got increasingly vitriolic.

"The Batak Christians deserve to be stabbed to death," yelled Murhali Barda, who heads the FPI chapter in Bekasi. "If they refuse to go home we are ready to fight."

An argument broke out between Barda and three female members of the congregation. The hard-liners shoved and started punching them. All the while, men chanted from a truck and clerics made speeches saying "Leave.... We will not let you perform prayers here!"

The crowd, made up largely of children, cheered in response: "God is great!"

Islam & religion

Proposal to bar funeral prayers for graft convicts falls flat

Jakarta Globe - August 20, 2010

Dessy Sagita & Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's biggest Islamic organization with as many as 30 million members, has drawn a mostly negative response from religious scholars after it called for corruption convicts to be denied prayers at their funerals.

Din Syamsuddin, the chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-biggest Islamic group, said on Friday that while he respected NU's antigraft stance, he would not make the same suggestion for followers of Muhammadiyah.

"No matter what crimes a person has committed, if they are a Muslim, it is our obligation to pray for them and give them a proper burial according to Islamic rites," he said.

However, Said Aqil Siradj head of NU, said his organization's mandate stated that anyone convicted of graft from 2002 onward did not deserve to be prayed for.

"When we pray at someone's funeral, we're wishing them all the best, asking God's forgiveness for their sins and wishing them the best possible place in heaven," he said. "Corruptors just don't deserve to get that."

Said added that the Prophet Muhammad had once refused to pray for his own best friend because he had once pilfered war booty. "Our stance is clear: it is haram [forbidden] for NU clerics to pray for anyone who has any unpaid debts, especially public money," he said.

However, the Rev. Gomar Gultom of the Indonesian Communion of Churches said that even though his organization had denounced corruption since 1972, it would not go as far as NU and Muhammadiyah in calling corruption convicts "infidels."

"We'll hand down moral and social sanctions, but it is the government's authority to take any other kind of action," he said.

Syafi'i Maarif, a prominent cleric and former chairman of Muhammadiyah, said the idea of denying corruption convicts a funeral prayer was an ijtihad, or a legal decision made from personal interpretation.

"It might serve as a deterrent [to further offences]," Syafi'i said. "But looking at this idea, it suggests that most corrupt people are Muslims."

He went on to ask for increased debate on the idea floated by NU, adding it reflected public concern about the country's civil service, which is widely viewed as drowning in endemic corruption.

Syafi'i said this trend belied President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's campaign promise in 2004 to eradicate corruption.

Hasyim Muzadi, a former chairman of NU and now a member of its advisory council, said the organization's definition of "corruptor" did not just include those arrested and later convicted of graft, but also those who slipped under the radar of the law enforcement agencies.

"We must not only define corruptors as those caught by the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission]," he said. "The KPK may be doing it's job well, but it can't possibly catch all of them."

'Sharia' rules a manipulation of religious norms: Senior cleric

Jakarta Post - August 20, 2010

Ridwan Max Sijabat – Indonesia seems far removed from Afghanistan, where the Taliban recently stoned to death a couple that had eloped after a long hiatus in applying the sharia punishment.

Aceh province gained the right in 2006 to apply Islamic law and practise as part of its special autonomy; while several regencies and provinces have also passed sharia-inspired bylaws and rules. Masdar Farid Mas'udi, a deputy chairman of the law-making body of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), recently talked to The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat regarding the issue.

Question: What is your comment on the growth of the sharia- related bylaws and regulations in the regions?

Answer: Such bylaws, instructions and circulars violate the 2004 Regional Administration Law and the amended Constitution [which gives equal rights to all citizens]. The phenomenon has to be viewed in light of the emergence of sectarianism and of formalism [of that sectarianism] among local elites, mainly politicians and religious leaders.

The implementation [of the resulting policies] has disturbed the harmony among religious communities, national integration and unity.

How did the movement for sharia-related regulations emerge?

It has to be understood in the context of decentralization and regional autonomy.

The issuance of sharia-based bylaws is really an extreme reaction to poor law enforcement. Religious leaders and clerics have proposed bylaws banning gambling, liquor consumption and prostitution because the public has long been disappointed by the enforcement of the Criminal Code [which criminalizes pimps, not prostitutes - Ed].

Further, many hard-line groups have emerged with their main mission to enforce Islamic law and take the law into their own hands. They have manipulated the situation to fight for their own interests; it is not uncommon for them to use violence in the name of religion to make money as indicated by the crackdown on entertainment centers known to offer call girls, hotels providing gambling facilities and liquor.

Do you think hard-line groups are groomed and nurtured by security authorities?

Many mutual interests are behind the issuance of sharia bylaws and the emergence of a pro-sharia movement.

The various interests could eventually serve each other. What is most important is that the police should first uphold their authority in enforcing the Criminal Code. The emergence of hard- line groups to enforce Islamic law is really a slap in the face of police and other law enforcers.

How do you assess the sharia-based bylaws?

The sharia bylaws must be evaluated because they are against the Constitution. It is an absolute deviation. They could not be treated as public policy because they are issued only for a certain group of people from a certain religious community.

The issuance of sharia-based bylaws indicates an abnormality and strangely the national leader has taken no action against them. I don't understand why national leaders have no political courage to take action against any regulations deviating from the Constitution.

Why don't regional administrations have the courage to review the sectarian bylaws?

They are really part of the problem. Regional heads have joined the pro-sharia movement to win political support in local elections. Many of those aspiring to public office have pledged to uphold sharia to improve their popularity.

They do not realize that sectarianism and religious formalism are a manipulation of religious norms and should not be manipulated for political interests. That is why the pro-sharia movement continues to be touted by religiously-based political parties.

The government and political parties should not interfere deeper into the private affairs of religion; their main task is to deal with politics and public administrations, as opposed to morality, ethics and religious norms.

The main task of religious leaders and clerics is to educate the people on how to behave well and abide by religious norms and implement their faith, instead of manipulating religious norms for political interests.

What should be done regarding the sharia-inspired bylaws and rules?

First, law enforcers have to enforce the law and uphold justice for all. All citizens are equal before the law and nobody, even the President, has impunity.

Religious leaders, clerics and their institutions... should not seek out differences and sow hatred, but promote religious freedom and harmony among religious communities. There must not be any space for sectarianism and formalism in religious tolerance.

They should prevent people from falling into formalism to avoid the emergence of sectarianism and hard-line groups taking the law into their own hands.

How can we reach a situation with a clear distinction between political and religious leaders?

Indonesia really needs an inspiring national leader with strong leadership to bring the nation back to the Constitution. Regional heads [governors, mayors, regents] have focused on making money to get back funds they spent during their candidacy.

As such, electoral reform is also a must to achieve low-cost local elections and seek legitimate and pro-people regional heads.

Regional autonomy must not stop at local elections but go on to provide better public service, improve social welfare and maintain political stability through strong law enforcement, religious harmony and a conducive investment climate.

Muslim groups denounce corruption, say thieves won't go to heaven

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Indonesia's two main Muslim organizations decreed on Wednesday that corrupt officials were "infidels," or a person without faith.

The stance was laid out at the launch of book titled "Corruptors Are Infidels" by the nongovernmental organization, Partnership for Governance Reform. It features theological studies by both the Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah.

"Corruption is against the Muslim faith. In the saying of Prophet Muhammad, a man would not steal if he is faithful to God," said Malik Madany of the NU. "In no way is corruption justifiable in the eyes of God."

Abdul Malik Gismar, the NGO's chief researcher for the book, said that in Indonesian society today, there were virtually no psychological and social consequences against corruption.

"We need to reorientate society's value and place corruption as not only illegal but also immoral. Corruptors have acted shamelessly by swindling people's money as if they have no responsibility at all," Gismar said.

Gismar added the book was a continuation of a similar book released by Partnership in 2006 called "Corruption from an Islamic Theological Perspective" and repackaged this year with a much stronger message.

Bambang Widjojanto, a legal analyst from Trisakti University in Jakarta, said that there were countless examples where corruption was not socially frowned upon.

Former Bank Indonesia governor and former corruption convict Burhanuddin Abdullah received a hero's welcome upon his release from the Sukamiskin Prison in West Java this year after serving two years imprisonment for embezzling Rp 100 billion ($11.1 billion) from a central bank related foundation.

And hundreds of supporters welcomed Abdillah after he was paroled from his three year sentence this year. The former Mayor of Medan, North Sumatra, was paraded across the country's third largest city, despite the fact that he was sentenced for embezzling more than Rp 50 billion from the city's coffers.

Muhammadiyah scholars say in the book that corruption contains eight different sins known to the Muslim faith, including greed, betrayal and theft, which according to Islam carries sanctions ranging from the severing of the hand to the death penalty.

NU scholars meanwhile, highlighted, judgment in the afterlife for corrupt officials. "Every flesh and bone that grew from illicit fortune shan't be accepted in heaven," the book quoted a saying of Muhammad.

The organization also forbids blessing the remains of a corruptor and warned that none of a corruptor's deeds would be accepted unless the person repented.

Wicaksono Sarosa, executive director of Partnership, said that through the book the message of anticorruption should resonate well in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

Land disputes & evictions

New law will allow government to 'force' land sales

Jakarta Post - August 20, 2010

Jakarta – The draft law on land acquisition soon to be submitted to the House of Representatives will ensure fair compensation to residents displaced by public infrastructure projects, a senior minister has said.

Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa told reporters Thursday the proposed law would also give the authorities the right to "force" land owners to sell their land for public use.

"We need a simpler mechanism in the acquisition of land for public use in relation to both land pricing and financing," he said.

Hatta said he hoped the new law would be a breakthrough in dealing with difficulties in the current process. "We all know land acquisition is quite complicated in this country. The development of about 82 sections of toll roads have been hampered by problems," he said.

National Land Agency (BPN) chairman Joyo Winoto said the problems were partly caused by weaknesses in existing regulations.

"As we have seen before, any organization can operate as a land broker to provide land for certain projects. Such practices should be stopped because all activities related to land procurement should be handled by the BPN," he said, adding that the proposed legislation would correct such weaknesses.

Under the proposed law, he said, land acquisition could be completed in 246 days per project, far quicker than the current time period. "If possible, it can be sped up further."

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo earlier said the government would support land development for public infrastructure by establishing PT Pusat Investasi Pemerintah (PIP). "We are ready to lend money for any public private partnership [PPP] projects that require the acquisition of land," he said.

"If an infrastructure project can't be carried out because landlords refuse to sell their properties, the proposed law will enable the government to press ahead with the land acquisition," Agus said.

PIP chairman Soritaon Siregar said land acquisition remained one of the biggest obstacles in the implementation of PPP projects since the company's establishment in 2005. "Investors... have no hesitation in investing here if it is clear they can get the land needed for their projects," he said.

PIP, he said, provided four kinds of support for PPP projects: land development for infrastructure, financing for the construction of infrastructure, financing through joint ventures with enterprises and financing for project preparatory.

"We are preparing a sufficient fund worth Rp 300 billion to finance PPP projects in 2010," he said.

The National Development Planning Agency said five PPP projects were ready to go – the Manggarai Soekarno-Hatta airport railway, a coal-fired power plant in Central Java, Tanah Ampo port in Bali, a waste energy project in Bandung and a coal railway in central Kalimantan. (ebf)

Legislation & parliament

House absenteeism remains high despite criticism

Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – Legislators have seemingly turned a deaf ear to the recent furor over their poor attendance at House of Representatives hearings by failing spectacularly to show up at Thursday's plenary session.

Only 393 of the 560 lawmakers turned up, according to the House Secretariat, with not a single party fielding its full roster. Two of the four deputy speakers also failed to show.

Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso, from the Golkar Party, said the turnout was very disappointing, given Speaker Marzuki Alie's promise on Monday that the chamber would try to improve attendance.

"We in the House leadership have repeatedly asked the legislators to attend plenary sessions," Priyo said on Thursday. "I'm saddened to see such a poor turnout."

Thirty-three legislators from the Democratic Party, the House's largest, failed to appear, while 28 from Golkar, the second- biggest, were missing.

Meanwhile, 39 legislators from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), including Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, were not present. Some of the smaller parties had more than 10 members absent.

"We'll talk to the party leaders to try and instill some discipline in their legislators," Priyo said.

The House previously vowed to pass 70 pieces of priority legislation this year, but has since slashed that target to 17. So far it has passed only seven, all amendments to existing laws, with not one new bill being passed into law.

Habitual absentee Abdul Kadir Karding, from the National Awakening Party (PKB), said he "can't understand why so many people skipped [Thursday's] plenary session." Abdul himself has missed four plenary sessions in the previous three months.

House Ethics Council Deputy Chairman Nudirman Munir said the council had logged all the attendance data from Thursday's session and sent warning letters to the parties about the absentees.

He also said the council had filed requests with the House Secretariat to subpoena several legislators implicated in disciplinary problems, but declined to name the individuals in question.

"We plan to call for questioning next Thursday those legislators whose data we have verified," Nudirman said. "We're very serious about instilling some discipline around here. We're going to scrutinize attendance records and even make spot inspections if need be."

The council previously identified two of the worst absentees as Jeffrie Geovanie of Golkar and Ratu Munawaroh of the National Mandate Party (PAN), both of whom could face dismissal after skipping six straight plenary sessions.

Experts say house too powerful for our own good

Jakarta Globe - August 18, 2010

Anita Rachman, Jakarta – It seems no on has a kind word for the House these days. After weeks of intense criticism of legislators for failing to attend plenary sessions and their poor record of passing laws, experts on Wednesday said the House of Representatives was too powerful, at the expense of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and democracy.

The solution, they said, is to amend the Constitution to give the council more power and put it on more of an equal footing with the House. As it stands now, the DPD can draft bills, but only the House has the power to pass these bills into law.

Adnan Buyung Nasution, a lawyer, constitutional expert and former presidential adviser, said evening out the balance of power between the House and DPD would help both bodies better look after the people's interests.

"The DPD should rightfully have a greater share of power, given that it represents regional interests," he said during a joint session of the People's Consultative Assembly, the collective term for the House and the DPD, to mark Constitution Day.

"It must be allowed to stand on an equal footing with the House so that together they can more comprehensively address the people's concerns. A fifth amendment to the Constitution is called for."

The Constitution has been amended four times since 1999. The amendments include a restructuring of the national legislature and the imposition of a two-term limit on the president.

Saldi Isra, a law professor at Andalas University in West Sumatra, agreed that the DPD needed to be strengthened through an amendment to the Constitution.

With a more powerful Regional Representatives Council, Saldi said, the country would have a truly bicameral legislature, which he said would be good for democracy.

"Two chambers of the legislature will always be better than one," he said. "Any bill going through the House could then be monitored by the DPD, and vice versa. That would finally give us a national legislature with its own checks."

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, from the ruling Democratic Party, however, dismissed the idea that the DPD was ignored and in need of empowering.

"We listen to their suggestions during bill deliberations, so it's unfair to say we ignore them," he said. "If you want to devolve power to them, then devolve it to everyone else while you're at it. We're the legislators so we're the only ones who should be doing the job of legislating."

Judicial reviews 'reflect poor-quality laws'

Jakarta Post - August 18, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih – It's quality, not quantity, as the saying goes. But when it comes to the parliament's lawmaking function, it has received poor grades in both.

Take the following figures for example. Of 70 bills targeted for endorsement this year as mandated by the 2010 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), only 20 have been completed, and there are now only four months left for it to meet this target.

The fact that most of the 20 bills passed by the House of Representatives were not urgent is an issue, but critics are more concerned about their quality, since many of these laws have been challenged by the public at the Constitutional Court within days or months after they were passed.

Since January this year the court has followed up 20 judicial review requests on six different laws and granted nine of them. Since 2003, the court has ruled on a total of 300 judicial reviews, 67 of which were granted.

The figures are a reflection on the quality of legislation, since the public evidently feel that their constitutional rights have been violated by existing laws, Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD said Monday.

"How can a law be regarded as offending our Constitution? There must be some problems in the legislation process. Sometimes lawmakers overlook the principles of human rights and people's constitutional rights for the sake of 'democracy'," Mahfud told The Jakarta Post.

He said that the passing of laws that had been found to be unconstitutional was not always legislators' fault. "They were made so by design as a political trick," Mahfud said.

Political parties were often trapped between public interests and those of their respective party, he said. Mahfud said political interests were a normal part of parliament in democratic nations, but that these should not override human rights and the constitution.

"Parliament should know this. Otherwise people will keep filing judicial reviews with us. And if they are indeed unconstitutional, the Constitutional Court will annul them."

Indonesian Society of Parliament Monitors coordinator Sebastian Salang said the parliament's failure to produce high-quality laws had been going on for years.

"We truly regret this. Making a law costs so much in terms of state funds, time and energy. From the Constitutional Court data we can say the parliament has wasted a huge amount of taxpayers' money," he said.

Mahfud, however, said parliament was not the only party to blame. "The government, and particularly the Justice and Human Rights Ministry as the party which drafts most of the bills, is also responsible," he said.

Lawmaker Gayus Lumbuun of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) admitted that parliament could do better. "We are continually working to improve ourselves," he said.

Gayus, also a member of House Commission III on law and human rights, recommended lawmakers make use of their expert staff to help them examine bills and find loopholes. "Their contributions can be very valuable in producing good laws," he said.

Gayus said the increase in number of laws reviewed by the Constitutional Court did not necessarily mean the parliament's lawmaking performance was worsening. "It could also be because the public's awareness of the function and presence of the Constitutional Court has improved," he said.

Armed forces & defense

Police attacked by soldiers over ticketing

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2010

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Dozens of soldiers Tuesday night attacked the Siantar Police station in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, over news that a police officer had earlier issued a ticket to a motorcyclist said to be a relative of a soldier.

No casualties were reported in the incident that coincided with Independence Day, but two motorcycles and a police car were damaged.

Eyewitnesses said the attack took place at around 9 p.m. local time. A local resident, Tagor, said several police personnel were on duty when more than 40 people, believed to be Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers, arrived on motorcycles and began the offensive.

The hosts, he said, did not put up a fight. Some of them chose to avoid confrontation, while others watched the attackers vandalize a number of facilities at the station. "The soldiers destroyed a police car and two motorcycles in the attack," Tagor told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Oegroseno rejected the fact attacks had occurred and denied a number of facilities at the Siantar Police station had been damaged by TNI soldiers. He clarified that only a rear-view mirror of a motorcycle was damaged.

"There was no attack. Some TNI soldiers came to the police station asking for the immediate release of a motorcycle impounded by the police earlier. After it was released, the soldiers left and broke a rear-view mirror of a motorcycle parked at the station," said Oegroseno.

Siantar Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Fatori also confirmed there was no attack, saying only that a number of TNI soldiers had come to the Siantar Police station.

Oegroseno said the case was instigated by the ticket issued to a motorcyclist who was a soldier's relative. Upon receiving the complaint, he added, the soldier gathered his colleagues and went to the police station.

He added that the situation at the Siantar Police station was currently normal and the police were not on standby because there was no attack. Bukit Barisan I Military Command spokesman Lt. Col. A. Nasution said the local TNI and police top brass had held a meeting following the incident.

He said the soldiers involved in the incident had apologized to the local police chief and the entire Siantar Police force. "We will explain this to the respective members of both sides to prevent a misunderstanding which could have a negative impact on the rapport between the TNI and Pematang Siantar police, which has been cordial thus far," Nasution told the Post on Wednesday.

He said the military police would still process the TNI personnel involved in the incident according to their respective roles. The incident has precedence where there were volatile relationships between low-ranked personnel since the two institutions were separated in 1999.

The most deadly clash occurred in September 2002, where eight people, including two civilians, were killed and five others seriously injured when the Army's local airborne unit attacked the police headquarters in Binjai. The attack was triggered by a police refusal to release a drug trafficker under police detention.

Judiciary & legal system

Experts call for overhaul of judicial system

Jakarta Post - August 20, 2010

Jakarta – Legal experts agree that Indonesia needs to overhaul its legal system, including restructuring judicial institutions and reapportioning work between courts.

The experts agreed that the legal current system has created bottlenecks at higher levels, such as the Supreme Court.

Former Constitutional Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie said that the country needed an honest and integrated legal system that clearly defines the connections between judicial standards, structures and functions.

"We have to have an integrated concept on the norms of the administrative, ethical and legal systems to make them an integrated whole," he said. "If administration runs smoothly and ethics are practiced, violations of the law won't happen," he said.

The legal system, from initial investigations to correctional facilities, must be viewed as parts of a unified system and not as separate parts due to regulations, he said, adding that legal reforms implied amending the Constitution.

"The Supreme Court will always be overloaded with cases if there is no limit on the amount of its cases. Don't expect the management of cases to be professional and competent as long as this continues," Jimly said.

The number of cases could be limited by granting judges the authority to dismiss cases that do not meet requirements and by creating five separate courts for every type of case, he added.

There should be five courts, each specializing in a specific area such as religious, criminal, civil or state administration law. Without such an arrangement, similar cases could be judged differently, Jimly said.

A case where a person steals his neighbor's chicken could result in a more severe sentence when handled by judge with a religious law background when compared to a judge with a different background, he said.

"This can be done by creating a specially integrated law that manages the administration of judiciary powers and courts," Jimly added.

Lawyer and human rights activist Bambang Widjojanto said that the judicial authority of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission must be integrated by developing a joint blueprint regulating the work of each institution.

He added that the differing recruitment and monitoring systems of the three institutions must be reviewed to eliminate any sense of rivalry.

"The general monitoring of judges as outlined in the law on the authority of judges remains discriminative because Constitutional Court judges are not required to be monitored due to their status as self-monitoring state officials," he said.

Judicial Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas said that judicial institutions would be empowered if the commission were transformed into a Judicial Court.

"A Judicial Court would be part of an integrated criminal justice system," he said, adding that it would effectively combat corrupt law enforcement officials who had systematically entrenched themselves in the legal system.

Integrated criminal behavior requires an integrated legal system, Busyro said.

"A solution for police officers and prosecutors who act as a judicial mafia is amending the 1945 Constitution," he said.

Indonesia has been rocked by a series of high-profile graft and tax evasion cases, such as those related to former low level tax official Gayus Tambunan, which have implicated high-ranking police officers, police detectives, prosecutors, attorneys and one judge. (gzl)

Police & law enforcement

President slammed for silence on police scandals

Jakarta Post - August 23, 2010

Jakarta – Activists and community figures voiced concern Sunday on corruption in the National Police, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's silence.

Attorney and Community Legal Aid chairman Taufik Basari read out a petition – signed by more than 500 people and calling on the President to take an affirmative stance on police reform – to demonstrators at the Constitutional Court in Central Jakarta on Sunday.

"We strongly urge President Yudhoyono to take extraordinary, courageous, fundamental and firm measures," he said at the rally.

It was also attended by prominent community figures, such as Danang Widoyoko of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, police observer Bambang Widodo Umar and Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence coordinator Haris Azhar.

The activists demanded the President take concrete action to revamp the police force, including firing top-ranking police officials allegedly involved in case brokering and evidence tampering, "cleaning" the police of all corruption and reforming the National Police to make a more professional, responsible and honest force.

"We hope that the President and other authority figures keep the promises they made to the people and adopt good governance and take strategic role in upholding justice in this country," Taufik said.

Activists and community figures then wrote personal messages they affixed to a tree called "the tree of hope".

There is growing public sentiment that states that the police force is no longer capable of investigating high-profile corruption scandals, as many police officials have been implicated in such scandals.

The most recent case that marred police credibility was a Tempo magazine's expose on the implausibly large bank accounts allegedly held by several high-ranking police officers, a controversial subject that was first broached in 2005.

Police officials were also alleged to have lied about the existence of evidence corroborating graft within the KPK, at first promising to provide taped wiretapped conversations between KPK enforcement deputy Ade Rahardja and alleged case broker Ary Muladi and then claiming no such tapes existed.

Both experts and the public have criticized Yudhoyono's silence or unresponsiveness on substantive issues, contending that the President has been content to respond to trivial matters, such as a controversial plan to remove the Constitution's presidential term limits.

Democratic Party legislator Ruhut Sitompul proposed an amendment that would allow Yudhoyono to run for a third presidential term, which some have speculated was done at the request of Yudhoyono or his advisers.

Speaking at his home in Cikeas, West Java, Yudhoyono said on Sunday that Democratic Party members should be patient and composed, despite "attacks" and public criticism directed against him as president and the party, which he founded, in the wake of Ruhut's controversial proposal.

"When emotions are pitted against one another, the outcome is conflict," Yudhoyono said as quoted by Antara. He said that his political cadres had to act rationally, as well as to use appropriate and controlled language, when dealing with certain issues.

Yudhoyono also urged his party members to support his administration until 2014, adding that they also had to help him boost the economic growth and succeed in the democratization process – both are part of the government's reform agenda.

Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said that he hoped fellow party members would restrain from issuing unwarranted or "unfathomable" statements.

"It is necessary for us to apply political asceticism in life, meaning that we should base our political activities on religious values."

"If the Democratic Party could do such, the people would love us more, and we would be able to communicate [with each other] better," Anas said. (tsy)

Police chief denies speculations on his absence

Jakarta Post - August 17, 2010

Jakarta – The National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri has denied all speculations and assumptions related to his unclear absence over the past three days.

Bambang said that his absence in several important agendas over the weekend was because of his "limited ability as a human being." He, however, did not elaborate further.

"Some even said I was mysteriously missing, I committed suicide. So be it. I will just return all things that may have happened to God Almighty. Anything could happen to anyone," Bambang said Monday during a swearing-in ceremony of seven generals at the police headquarters in Jakarta, as quoted by kompas.com.

The ceremony was scheduled to be held last Friday. However, Bambang failed to show up without clear reasons.

There was a widespread speculation that Bambang was summoned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But it did not happen. He is reportedly under pressure following a string of high-profile problems at the institution.

Criminal justice & prison system

Review Indonesian prison remissions system: Activists

Jakarta Globe - August 21, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Antigraft activists have slammed the remission system for corruption convicts following the release of high-profile embezzler Aulia Pohan on Friday.

Aulia, a former deputy governor of Bank Indonesia and the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's elder son, was sentenced to four years in prison last year for embezzling Rp 100 billion ($11 million) from the central bank in 2003.

In March, he had his sentence cut to three years after appealing to the Supreme Court and on Tuesday he received a remission, for Independence Day. A day later, he was granted parole, and walked free the same day. Three other BI executives jailed in the same case were also released.

"They all are eligible for parole," Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said. "They all received sentence reductions, which means that they have already served two-thirds of their sentence."

The ministry oversees the penal system and is in charge of granting remissions, which are traditionally given during major national holidays to prisoners who have exhibited good behavior after having served three-quarters of their sentence.

Eryanto Nugroho, executive director of judiciary watchdog the Legal and Policy Study Center (PSHK), said there was no clear definition of "good behavior."

"The whole process must be accountable and transparent," he told the Jakarta Globe. "The decision should not rest solely with an institution like the Justice Ministry but also involve the law enforcers who prosecuted the case and strict monitoring from members of society."

Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, called for the remission process to be standardized.

"The definition of good behavior is very subjective and loosely interpreted by prison officials," he said, adding that ICW had interviewed several inmates about the system. "Our research shows remissions are easily manipulated. There's lots of potential for bribery and graft," Emerson said.

Teten Masduki, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia, said the government should focus on other sanctions than jail time, such as heftier fines and asset seizures.

Topo Santoso, a legal expert from the University of Indonesia, said the system could work if the officials in charge were more committed to eradicating graft. "Many of the regulations and procedures on remissions and parole are modeled after those in developed countries," he said.

"The Justice Ministry has a department specializing in reviewing parole and remission requests. There are dedicated judges who monitor parolees, but the system doesn't work because it's run by incompetent or corrupt people."

Topo said that giving preferential treatment to corruption convicts in terms of remissions and parole betrayed the public's sense of justice and victimized the rest of the prison population.

"There are inmates who have been waiting for parole for years and have been rejected, despite being gravely ill," he said. "It's different for corruption convicts. The moment they become eligible for parole, they file for it and the next day it is granted."

Separately on Friday, graft convict and former legislator Yusuf Erwin Faishal arrived at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) office for questioning as a witness over a bribery scandal, with no prison official in sight.

Yusuf said the Justice Ministry had put him on an "assimilation program" to allow him to gradually reintegrate back into society and only spend limited time in prison. The former National Awakening Party (PKB) politician also said the ministry had cut his four and a half year sentence by three months.

High-profile convicts get jail term remissions

Jakarta Post - August 18, 2010

Jakarta – In recognition of Indonesia's 65th Independence Day, on Tuesday the government reduced prison terms of most inmates nationwide, including high-profile graft convicts such as former Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor Aulia Pohan and businesswoman Artalyta Suryani, and convicted murderer Pollycarpus Priyanto.

Corruption convicts who have served one-third of their sentences deserve remissions, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said.

"All inmates deserve their right [to remissions], especially those who have met our requirements," Patrialis said after attending the Independence Day celebrations at State Palace.

Aulia, the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yuhdhoyono's son, is currently serving a two-year prison term after being convicted of bribery.

The Corruption Court sentenced Artalyta to four-and-a-half years in prison in 2008 for bribing senior prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan.

Garuda pilot Pollycarpus is serving a 20-year sentence after he was found to have played a part in the murder of human rights activist Munir.

ICW slams Patrialis over remission for graft, terrorist convicts

Jakarta Post - August 18, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch has criticized Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar over his inconsistency in upholding restrictions of jail-term remission to graft and terrorism convicts.

"There is a rule that forbids corrupt officials and terrorists to receive a jail term remission," ICW activist Emerson Yuntho told tempointeraktif.com Wednesday, citing 2006's government regulation.

Previously, Patrialis said that all inmates, including graft and terrorist convicts, deserve their right to receive jail sentence reductions if they meet the required conditions.

"The minister has violated the government regulation," added Emerson.

Analysis & opinion

Old and new faces of Indonesian terror

Asia Times - August 20, 2010

Clifford McCoy – The arrest last week of radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was the highlight of a government crackdown on Islamic militants following the discovery in February of a training camp in Aceh province.

Once regarded as the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group, Bashir's popularity has wavered in recent years and his position is emblematic of the evolving nature of militant Islam in Southeast Asia.

The 72-year-old Bashir was arrested together with his wife and five bodyguards on August 9 while traveling to deliver a sermon in West Java. The arrest came only a day before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and a week before Indonesia's nationally celebrated independence day on August 17. Bashir has denied any involvement with the camp, and even claimed that his arrest was arranged by the United States.

Bashir's arrest is the latest in an ongoing crackdown since the discovery of a jihadi training camp in northern Aceh run by a new coalition of militant groups. The training camp was established by seven groups who joined together to form the lintas tanzim, or cross-organizational project.

The coalition was led by one of Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorists, Dulmatin, who is also believed to have been one of the leaders of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people. Until February, Dulmatin was believed to be in hiding in the Philippines.

Analysts and counter-terrorism officials see the group as a new strain of militant Islam in Indonesia. The grouping was highly critical of JI and rejected what it perceived as its overly passive and soft approach to jihad.

Members of the new group have also reportedly criticized now deceased Noordin Top's more violent form of terrorism for its lack of long-term direction. Noordin Top masterminded the July 2009 bombings of the JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta, among other bombings, and was killed in a police raid in September 2009.

Instead, the new group aims to establish Islamic law across all of Indonesia, and to do so without the collateral killing of fellow Muslims, as happened with JI attacks. According to an April 2010 report by the International Crisis Group (ICG), the new group's enemy has become defined as "not simply the US or allied countries, but as anyone who obstructed the application of Islamic law – and that meant that many Indonesian officials were high on the list."

Indonesian authorities say the group was allegedly planning a Mumbai-style attack on luxury hotels in Jakarta frequented by foreigners, as well as several assassinations of high profile public figures, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Although the group referred to itself as "al-Qaeda in Aceh", there is so far no evidence of any concrete ties to Osama bin Laden's organization.

Since the raid on the camp in February, some 100 members of the group have been captured or killed by police, including Dulmatin. Among those arrested, and only two days before Bashir's arrest, were five suspected terrorists in three different locations in West Java on charges of plotting a car bombing. An explosive device and bomb-making materials were reportedly found in one of the locations. Police claim all five men are members of an organization established by Bashir in 2008 called the Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT).

With Bashir as its alleged chairman, JAT reportedly aims to establish Islamic sharia law across Indonesia. As an above-ground organization, the group largely concentrates on religious outreach, albeit with a distinctly jihadi bent. Combined with Bashir's celebrity status, the group rapidly expanded a nationwide membership in only two years.

Bashir's involvement in the organization made it suspect to counter-terrorism officials from the start and this was reinforced by the group's embrace of individuals with known ties to extremist organizations, especially JI and Noordin Top's splinter group. According to ICG, many members of JI either became members of JAT or maintained dual memberships in both organizations.

Police claim that many suspected terrorists, captured or killed in the raid on the Aceh camp, have links to JAT. One JAT executive committee member, Lutfi Haedaroh, alias Ubeid, had previously spent time in prison for involvement in Noordin Top's bombing campaign. Ubeid was captured fleeing the Aceh camp in February. A May 6 raid on JAT's offices nabbed three officials charged with providing funds to the training camp.

Counter-terrorism officials say Bashir, through JAT, was involved in setting up and providing funding for the Aceh camp and received regular reports from the field. He is also believed to have had a role in appointing operational leaders to the new group. According to ICG, the establishment of the camp is in line with what Bashir has been preaching for years.

Radical past, evolving future

It is not the first time that Bashir has been linked to a violent and radical Islamic movement. Intelligence agencies have claimed he was the spiritual head of JI, although the cleric has consistently denied any involvement with terrorist activities.

Two prior attempts to convict Bashir on charges related to terrorism, including his alleged role in the 2002 Bali bombing and the 2000 Christmas bombings that killed 18 people, were unsuccessful due to lack of evidence. While he was widely believed to lead JI at the time of the 2002 attack, no conclusive evidence has ever been produced that he ordered or endorsed the attack. Bashir was eventually sentenced to 18 months for immigration violations and illegally sending Indonesians abroad for military training.

Bashir was also charged in October 2004 with inciting the 2003 JW Marriot Hotel bombing and another charge related to the 2002 Bali bombing. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, but released in June 2006 after his conviction for conspiracy in the Bali bombing was overturned.

Indonesian security officials must be more confident of their evidence this time around if they intend to avoid a third strike. That legal confidence is reflected in the nature of the charges against the cleric. While past attempts have only linked Bashir to JI and terrorism through his spiritual and moral leadership as a well-known Islamic cleric, this time he is accused of direct involvement in funding and organizing the training of militants, appointing key leaders and receiving reports on the group's activity from extremists in the field.

One other notable difference amid the new charges is Bashir's flagging popularity and shifts in Indonesian attitudes towards violent Islamic movements since 2002, which so far has limited the domestic political fallout from his arrest. Frequent terror bombings have not been popular among the majority of Indonesians and Bashir's message of violent jihad and public moral support for both the Bali bombers and the suicide bombers in last year's hotel bombings has dented his mass appeal.

According to a July 2010 report by the ICG entitled "The dark side of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT)", the cleric has been a problem for successive Indonesian governments since the 1970s and is recognized as the "elder statesman of the radical movement". However, the report argued, he is no longer that movement's driving force or even its most influential ideologue.

In recent years, Bashir has come under criticism even within jihadi circles for his poor strategic judgment and a lack of managerial talent. He is also believed to be at odds with JI over their current preference for religious outreach over violent jihad. JI members have allegedly said that it lacks the resources and that the timing is not right to wage a militant campaign against Yudhoyono's secular elected government.

Bashir's declining influence may mean that his arrest will have little impact on extremism in Indonesia. He does, however, remain the most prominent radical figure in the country and is believed to maintain the respect of many extremists. His sermons and pronouncements have made him a potent symbol of defiance towards the US and West, although this message has carried less resonance with Indonesians in recent years.

Bashir's popularity could grow with his imprisonment if authorities are not watchful. Given Indonesia's notoriously lax prisons, Bashir may be able to use the time to preach, recruit and even lead his followers from inside prison walls. As an unconvicted prisoner, he is by default a symbol of government repression to his followers, especially if public prosecutors again fail to prove his direct involvement in terrorism.

More worrying for security officials, however, is the changing nature of terrorism in the country. Jakarta has received international praise for its recent counter-terrorism efforts. But while analysts say terrorism is not necessarily increasing, it also has not been entirely eradicated. As shown by Noordin Top's splinter group, a small cell can inflict serious damage and loss of life.

What is taking place instead is a mutation in the nature of militant Islam in Indonesia. Previously prospective militants gravitated either towards JI, even with its current passive stance based on simply teaching jihad and religious outreach, or to Noordin Top's attack-oriented splinter group. With the discovery of the lintas tanzim, there is now a third option of targeted assassinations that avoid killing Muslims in order to bring Islamic law to Indonesia. Its a worry that extends to the nearby Philippines, considering the cross-border nature of the group.

With Bashir now in lockup and the lintas tanzim at least temporarily upended, there is still the prospect for further evolution of Islamic extremism in Indonesia. Indonesia deserves praise for the way it has recently handled its domestic terrorist threat, but as long as figures like Bashir are able to arouse extremist sympathies, the government cannot rest on its laurels.

[Clifford McCoy is a freelance journalist.]

MPs should kick New Order mindset, reform working mechanism

Jakarta Post - August 19, 2010

Pandaya – The House of Representatives needs to make a breakthrough to improve its poor legislative performance as indicted by its almost certain failure to reach its target of endorsing 70 priority bills by the end of the year.

While they have only four months left this year, they have passed only 20 bills into law so far this year, most of them nonpriority ones dealing with the establishment of new regional administrations.

The delays can be blamed on a web of complex problems ranging from sheer laziness, misplaced priorities, incompetence, intricate in-House rules and the absence of legislative grand designs.

Legislators' laziness is legendary, and was made obvious in a recent revelation by the House Secretariat. Meetings have been marred by the conspicuous absence of most lawmakers supposed to attend, including those who usually stand out for their loud objections to government policies.

Although the revised 1945 Constitution has shifted the lawmaking power from the executive branch of government – which made Soeharto's New Order regime so powerful – to the House, most of bills still come from the former.

In the past, legislators enjoyed the House's status as a "rubber stamp parliament" and every government-initiated bill had price tags to complete but such allegations were impossible to prove under the then authoritarian regime.

Now, when the 1945 Constitution empowers the House with wider range of authority, legislators still put too much emphasis on their supervisory role and somewhat neglect their legislative duties.

The best example of this misplaced priority is the legislative inquiry into the Bank Century Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) bailout scandal, which has wasted formidable time and resources.

Tragically, their recommendation for criminal investigations has fallen on the government's deaf ears. It has also sparked fears of a secretive political settlement that mutually benefits the government and political parties.

The overly strong supervisory function also makes legislators active in selecting officials for state institutions such as the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the Corruption Eradication Commission, the Constitutional Court, the Human Rights Commission, and ambassadors.

Even though the present legislators come from a new breed of better educated politicians, their competence is questionable when it comes to the art of lawmaking. The low productivity and the many laws filed for review with the Constitutional Court provide ample evidence.

If the current endorsement rate of two-and-a-half bills a month prevails until the end of the legislators five-year tenure, then they will only be able to pass about 150 bills – way below the targeted 247 – into law when they have to get off their seats in 2014.

Quality-wise, the laws are so-so if the many laws filed for review with the Constitutional Court is a credible yard stick. So far this year, the Court have been handling 20 provisions in six laws that plaintiffs believe are against the Constitution. Nine of the disputed provisions have been dropped in favor of the petitioners.

In addition, there are countless laws that legislators have had to overhaul after just a few years in force. Many laws have been made without adequate public participation. The pornography law, for example, has been rejected in such areas as predominantly Hindu Bali and Christian North Sulawesi, which see it as Islamic bias.

It is high time the House reformed its law-making mechanism. Although it has been 12 years since the reformation period began, the House is still sticking to the New Order's working methods. Every lawmaker represents their respective political party and they are controlled by the party factions in the House. Therefore, laws are tailored to suit political parties instead of the public at large.

The House and the government are yet to have a grand design of future legislation that will guide them in deciding laws they should make or amend within, say, five to 10 years, the targets they mean to achieve, the priorities and so forth. The absence of a grand design explains the many flaws in the laws and keeps legislators busy patching up the holes in their products.

All the law-making chaos should humble the House to consider experts' advice that it rework its working mechanism by reducing its 11 commissions, which oversee everything under the sun, to three in line with its function: legislation, state budget deliberations and government supervision.

Only if the House reforms its working mechanism and quits its New Order mindset will Indonesia have legal certainty and democracy grow.